Chapter 523: Aurora reflects, Nine Marshes Divine Domain!

Mount Liuyi looks like feathers from the side, as if surrounded by six pairs of wings.

Viewed from above, it is heart-shaped, with a flat top, as if it had been sliced in half.

When the Agricultural Officials of the Primordial Hill opened Mount Liuyi using the Mountain-Opening Method, everyone preparing to climb heard a massive "whooshing" sound.

It was urgent and sharp, as if a burly man with a rough voice were shouting at the top of his lungs.

Many demonkind could not stand, their legs turning to jelly. Some weaker demonkind, terrified in their hearts, prostrated themselves on the ground, kowtowing incessantly, believing they had offended the Mount Liuyi God.

"Envoy Lang Ping, go maintain order." The Sovereign of the Ten Thousand Rivers Demon Kingdom immediately ordered a wolf demon beside him.

"Spiritual Mountain whooshing, Spiritual Sea screaming—people often say 'mountain whooshing and sea screaming,' which refers to the sounds emitted by spiritual mountains and vast seas. This is a normal phenomenon; do not let the people of the Primordial Hill see us make a fool of ourselves."

"Yes, Sovereign." A wolf demon wearing a crown and ceremonial robes immediately went to maintain order in the Ten Thousand Rivers Demon Kingdom's phalanx. These young demonkind royals had only recently emerged from chaos and ignorance; although their bloodlines were powerful, they could still only be considered inexperienced youths.

In the climbing team, Zhao Xing stood at the very front, followed by the four Mountain Lords of Yuan Mountain, Yun Mountain, Lu Mountain, and Hong Mountain, as well as the thirteen Peak Lords of Mei Mountain.

"It's clearly a joyous mountain, yet it sounds truly unpleasant." Palace Master Lu Ya stood on Zhao Xing's shoulder, flapping his wings in disgust.

Zhao Xing chuckled, then immediately took out the divine artifact 【Origin Era Mountain】 to stabilize the fluctuations of the mountain's spiritual veins.

After the first whoosh, the sound of flowing water and the light chirping of purple bamboo immediately changed from thick and rough to clear and melodious.

Winding upward along the mountain path, after walking for less than two days, they arrived at a mountain spring, and Zhao Xing ordered a halt.

"Where is the Hong Mountain Lord?"

"Subordinate is here." The Venerable of Hong Mountain immediately stepped forward.

"Lead the Society Office to open an altar here at the spring using the Earth Palace Method. Connect the palace to the four veins, suspend it at the ninth latitude of the flat half-pole, and sit facing south from the north. This is the first auspicious location."

"As you command."

After winding through the mountain for another half day, Zhao Xing found a purple bamboo forest.

"Where is the Lu Mountain Lord?"

"Subordinate is here."

"Lead the Society Office to deploy the Spirit-Returning Earth-Hidden Array. It must encompass the three peaks of Brocade Wing, Purple Wing, and Twin Star Wing, and the array must connect to thirty-six ridges. This is the second auspicious location."

"Subordinate obeys." After noting this down, the Lu Mountain Lord immediately went to deploy it.

"Opening a mountain to receive auspiciousness requires very particular methods." While deploying on the side, Zhao Xing was also teaching the Peak Lords, Mountain Lords, and disciples of the Primordial Hill.

"For ordinary blessed lands, when building cultivation caves or cemeteries, as long as you follow the Five Elements Earth-Splitting Method or the Earth-Movement Operation Method, it is easy to gather blessed fortune."

"When earth veins produce ridges, and ridges rise to form peaks, the five fortunes of the earth-hidden follow the ascent and condense within the mountain body. The situation is more complex; one must consider not only vein fortune and seasonal fortune but also shape fortune."

"Using methods to harvest mountain fortune is like cutting vegetables in the field. If you cut too deep, you will damage the roots, affecting the next growth or even destroying a spiritual mountain. If you cut too shallow, you waste the earth's gift."

"In the world's Known Mountains, the frequent changes in rankings are mostly due to improper harvesting methods."

Everyone listened very carefully. Even the accompanying Sovereign of the Ten Thousand Rivers Demon Kingdom and several envoys from the Demon God Palace pricked up their ears to listen, even if they did not understand.

"Zhao Xing, according to your words, the previous Mountain Head, Wei Zizhan, lowered the ranking of Mount Liuyi by three places. Was his method of receiving auspiciousness too crude back then?"

"You say the Known Mountains are like this, then what are the Unknown Mountains like?"

"Mount Ten Directions has been climbed so many times; will its magical effects ever diminish one day?"

Palace Master Lu Ya on his shoulder seemed very interested in talking and asked several questions in a row.

In his own field, Palace Master Lu Ya was an expert, but even as a Divine General, he did not understand the ins and outs of this. He only vaguely felt that the several places where Wei Zizhan had performed rites back then seemed to have left tiny scars on Mount Liuyi.

His first question was very rude. Although others could not hear their conversation, Wei Zizhan was Zhao Xing's senior brother, and could even be called half a teacher; how could one speak ill of him to his face?

However, the little yellow duck did not care about this at all. Wei Zizhan? Being willing to comment on him was already giving him face!

"Reporting to Palace Master, I can only say that each generation has its own ideas," Zhao Xing said. "There must have been a reason why Senior Brother Wei did that back then."

This was a disguised admission that Wei Zizhan's harvesting had caused the ranking to drop by three places, but it was said very tactfully.

"As for the Unknown Mountains, it is difficult to judge by common theory," Zhao Xing said. "Take Mount Overlapping Realms, for example; even if you dig away seventy percent of its soil, it will return to its original appearance after many years, or even become larger."

"Whether the effects of Mount Ten Directions are constant, this junior also finds it hard to know." Zhao Xing thought of the Eight Directions Divine Mirror held by the Hemp-Clad Divine Physiognomist and said thoughtfully: "Perhaps it has decreased, perhaps not; we still do not know where the limits of this mountain lie."

Opening the mountain to perform rites and harvesting auspicious fortune—the entire process lasted one year and nine months.

When everything was ready, the climbing team had already arrived in a valley halfway up the mountain.

Zhao Xing set the final harvesting location in a place called "Chess Valley."

Zhao Xing offered the Origin Era Mountain on the altar, with twelve Earth-Hidden Divine Needles inserted around it.

"Whoosh."

A green wind circled the valley, and hundreds of flowers bloomed from between the stone walls, quickly covering everything. Waterfalls gushed from the cracks in the cliffs behind the altar, and heavenly fire dyed the clouds red.

The barren valley suddenly turned into this state, and everyone felt that something good was about to happen.

The little yellow duck had already flown off Zhao Xing's shoulder; if he stayed here, the mountain fortune would gather toward him. He flew into the sky and stood with Yan Ao.

"Quack, quack, the fortune of seven demonkind little ones has changed drastically; they have been reborn on the spot, and their future potential has risen by a level. Yan Ao, you also protected the path for Wei Zizhan back then; how does today's scene compare to the past?"

Yan Ao had been looking up and staring at the top, but upon hearing Lu Ya's voice, he lowered his head, as if detaching from some state and descending to the mortal world.

He glanced at the valley where hundreds of flowers were blooming and nodded slightly: "Even better by three parts."

"Why only three parts?" The little yellow duck felt a bit disappointed. Wasn't it said that Zhao Xing was the most talented Mountain Head of the Primordial Hill?

Yan Ao looked at the sky speechlessly.

Zhao Xing held the Origin Era Mountain in his hands, quietly observing its changes, then looked up at the humans and demonkind present.

"The fortune of Mount Liuyi has caused me to fluctuate from Derivative 31 toward Derivative 32."

Reaching the level of Derivative 31, it is as difficult as ascending to heaven for fortune to rise another rank.

The Fortune Divine Bone of the Snow Auspicious Self-Existent God was already the limit of the bonus; since then, his fortune had stabilized at rank 31 and had never broken through.

Today, after opening the mountain to receive auspiciousness and harvesting fortune, he had briefly reached rank 32.

However, it was not stable; once he left the mountain, it would still be rank 31.

But Zhao Xing's inherent fortune had risen to twenty-three, meaning that even if the bonuses from the Five Emperors Coins and the Fortune Divine Bone were removed, his own fortune was already at rank twenty-three.

"Elder Bowei, may I ask what level one must reach to become a Free-Will God of Fortune?" Zhao Xing sent a sliver of his consciousness to converse with Bowei, who was inside his internal world.

"To become a Free-Will God of Fortune, one only needs to reach the twenty-fifth tier, but that is merely a prerequisite," Bowei said. "To truly become one, you also need the method for refining fortune."

"Without a divine method for fortune, even if your fortune continues to grow, you cannot be called a Free-Will God of Fortune."

"If you do not become a Free-Will God of Fortune, the thirty-first tier is the limit for your inherent fortune. Even if you have miraculous encounters and briefly break through the thirty-first tier, you will eventually fall back down."

Bowei pondered, "It is rumored that becoming a god at the twenty-fifth tier of fortune makes one a Free-Will God, while refining at the thirty-first tier makes one a True God, immune to tribulations. However, this method has already been lost."

Zhao Xing: "Elder, you are so learned; do you not know the divine method for fortune?"

"The more I know, the less I know." Bowei mocked himself, "When I first broke through to become a god, I thought I knew all the mysteries of the universe. Later, I discovered that my knowledge was still but a drop in the ocean compared to the mysteries of the entire universe."

While they were chatting, the Lord of Wanhe and three envoys from the Demon God Palace came to express their gratitude to Zhao Xing.

"Many thanks, Agricultural Official Zhao, for bestowing blessings upon the geniuses of our clan."

"Indeed, many thanks, Agricultural Official Zhao. The changes this time are too obvious."

"In the past, there were never clansmen who were reborn so suddenly."

"Agricultural Official Zhao is truly worthy of being the youngest Mountain Head."

The four demon demigods were all full of praise.

This was not the first time the Wanhe Demon Kingdom had experienced the opening of the Six-Wing Mountain.

When Wei Zizhan had opened the mountain in the past, the benefits he gave them were far inferior to Zhao Xing's.

"This is not my merit, but the merit of the previous Mountain Head, my senior brother, Venerable Wei Zizhan," Zhao Xing said. "If he hadn't sealed the mountain and set its name for ten epochs, there would not be such great fortune today."

"Agricultural Official Zhao is right." The four demon demigods all echoed. Although they said this, in their hearts, they all felt that Zhao Xing was much stronger than Wei Zizhan.

Because the Mountain Head before Wei Zizhan had also sealed the mountain for about the same amount of time, so why was it that when it came to Wei Zizhan, he needed to absorb so much fortune himself, leaving less for the demon clan?

It was simply because he was weaker than Zhao Xing!

Therefore, the four demon demigods naturally rated the new Mountain Head higher than Wei Zizhan.

"Lord of Wanhe, three divine envoys, I would like to take a trip to the Desert Sea after the mountain sealing ends. May I go and take a look?"

"The Desert Sea? Of course you can go!" The Lord of Wanhe and the three divine envoys exchanged glances and immediately agreed readily.

The Desert Sea was the birthplace of the Nine Marshes God, but who knew how many years had passed since then; it had lost its former divine charm and was now just an ordinary ruin of a deity.

If he had asked to visit the ancestral land of the Demon God Palace, they probably wouldn't have agreed so readily, but they certainly wouldn't refuse this request from Zhao Xing.

"Many thanks to you all."

Zhao Xing cupped his hands, and after ending the conversation, he quickly moved on to the next step.

Harvesting the Mountain Essence.

This stage was relatively secretive.

Zhao Xing would act alone, searching for the spirit body of the Mountain Essence within the Six-Wing Mountain.

"According to custom, the Mountain Head of the Primordial Hill can only take one Mountain Essence spirit body from here."

"With only one chance, if you're going to catch one, you have to catch a big one."

Zhao Xing held a divine artifact and escaped into the Six-Wing Mountain.

Two months later, he returned to the valley.

When he returned, he was followed by a round Mountain Essence with six wings of light.

The Mountain Essence looked like a jellyfish with wings, and with every breath it took, the Six-Wing Mountain would emit a pleasant feathered sound.

"Hmm? He actually caught a Six-Wing Mountain Essence?" The Lord of Wanhe was immediately envious.

"Last time Wei Zizhan came, he only caught a Five-Wing Mountain Essence. This Agricultural Official Zhao has great ability."

The space within the Six-Wing Mountain was also very large, and the Mountain Essence had spirit, hiding in the vast mountains, extremely good at concealment.

Even Five-Wing Mountain Essences were rarely seen, let alone the strongest Six-Wing Mountain Essence.

"Congratulations, Agricultural Official Zhao." The Lord of Wanhe and the three divine envoys congratulated him in unison.

"Congratulations, Mountain Head!" The people from the Primordial Hill also offered their congratulations.

A Six-Wing Mountain Essence could be raised in the Extreme Land within one's body to coexist.

At a critical moment, it could help an Agricultural Official survive one True Spirit Tribulation.

Of course, at the level of a fifteen-tribulation demigod like Zhao Xing, ordinary Mountain Essences were already useless; only a Six-Wing Mountain Essence could have an effect.

"Thanks to everyone's blessing." Zhao Xing cupped his hands modestly. This was the demon clan's territory, and being able to obtain the Six-Wing Mountain Essence was indeed something to thank the demon clan for.

After spending a few days taking the Mountain Essence into his body for symbiosis,

this trip to the Six-Wing Mountain reached its final step: sealing the mountain and setting its name.

Zhao Xing ranked the Six-Wing Mountain fourteenth among the Mountains of Knowledge, raising it by three places and restoring it to the ranking during the time of the Mountain Head before the last.

The ranking of a great mountain was a kind of glory; this rise in ranking was not large, but the Wanhe demon clan was already very satisfied.

The third epoch of the Desolate Domain, the 205th star year, the Desert Sea.

After the mountain sealing ended, Zhao Xing was invited to be a guest in the capital of the Wanhe Demon Kingdom.

In reality, he had come to the 【Desert Sea】 region of the Wanhe Demon Kingdom.

The Desert Sea was a star sector full of sand and oceans. Countless quicksands flew out of the ocean like comets, dragging long tails, flowing in the starry sky with uncertain trajectories, and finally falling into a primitive ocean.

The Desert Sea region would form many precious mineral stars and star lands, but life-bearing star worlds and star lands were very rare.

Even the demon clan, who could endure harsh environments, rarely settled and lived in the Desert Sea region.

Except for the demon clan who mined and mechanical puppets, only one ten-thousandth of the Desert Sea region had demon residents.

Zhao Xing sat cross-legged on a meteorite, moving forward along a river of sand in the starry sky.

Poof, poof, poof!

The Heaven-Changing Divine Needle was expelled from his body, and the purple hair on Zhao Xing's body gradually faded, turning him back into human form.

"The fifth layer of the Nine Marshes God, finally achieved!"

Spending more than twenty years, Zhao Xing had cultivated from the fourth layer of the Nine Marshes God Marquis Transformation to the fifth layer.

"The nine talents of the Nine Marshes God: Severing Void Claw, World-Burning Divine Eye, Heaven-Ruined Five Viscera, Longevity Wheel, Ten Thousand Tribulations Golden Marrow, Profound Dark Transformation, Earthly Realm Divine Walk, Thunder Body, Instant Eternity. Now, after my Marquis Transformation, I also possess the fifth one, Ten Thousand Tribulations Golden Marrow."

"However, the talents of the Nine Marshes God are of no use to a human body." Zhao Xing felt a little regretful.

As a natural deity, every talent and secret technique of the Nine Marshes God was god-level. For example, the Ten Thousand Tribulations Golden Marrow was said to be able to endure ten thousand tribulations without dying?

Of course, there was a lot of exaggeration in that; who could endure ten thousand tribulations without dying?

However, after Zhao Xing transformed, he felt that enduring the sixteenth tribulation would also be very easy.

"The sixteenth tribulation can be endured using the fifth layer of the Nine Marshes God Marquis Transformation. After all, my soul core is still human, and in essence, it is still me who is enduring the tribulation." Zhao Xing had expectations in his heart. "The Six-Wing Mountain Essence can help me endure one more tribulation, and I will soon be able to reach the level of a seventeen-tribulation demigod."

"If I collect the Mountain Essences of the first ten levels of the great mountains in the Profound Spirit Star Domain, it should help me survive one more tribulation, which would be eighteen."

An eighteen-tribulation demigod was the level Bowei was at during his demigod period.

"The more tribulations a demigod survives, the stronger their combat power will be after becoming a Free-Will God."

"Back then, Bowei became a Free-Will God as an eighteen-tribulation Venerable, and he could disregard Palace Master Tuning, even alarming the Great Emperor to personally go and capture Bowei."

Zhao Xing still remembered the scene the Profound Spirit History Book had shown him. After Bowei became a god, if the Great Emperor hadn't appeared, Palace Master Tuning alone could not have made Bowei surrender.

"Bowei became a god at eighteen tribulations and became a God General not long after."

"Gu Luohe became a god at twenty-two tribulations and stepped into the God General level in one go."

Cultivating the origin to become a god, the more accumulation one has during the demigod period, the stronger one naturally is.

Bowei and Gu Luohe were both children of the version, and they were incredibly strong after becoming gods.

"If all 200 of my True Spirits endure eighteen tribulations, then after becoming a Free-Will God, I will at least have God General-level combat power."

The deadline for the guardians would end after he became a Free-Will God himself.

"With God General combat power, even if Yan Ao and Lu Ya leave in the future, I will have the capital to stand on my own and protect myself."

"As for whether I can reach the height of Gu Luohe, it depends on the Nine Marshes God Marquis Transformation." Zhao Xing thought to himself. "Using the True Self Divine Method to endure the True Spirit Tribulation is relatively difficult at the moment."

The five great divine methods of the True Self are fine when facing tangible tribulations, but if they encounter intangible tribulations, they are very difficult to defend against.

Cangwu World Method, Void Divine Seed, One Realm Divine Splendor, Mixed Origin Divine Foundation, True Self Divine Sacrifice.

Among the five great divine methods, the only ones that can be counted as attack methods are the Cangwu World Method, Void Divine Seed, and True Self Divine Sacrifice.

However, the True Self Divine Sacrifice is ineffective against the True Spirit Tribulation; this kind of parasitic method cannot parasitize a heavenly tribulation.

And the Void Divine Seed is a variant method; it first requires a certain amount of release time and needs to be used in conjunction with the Cangwu World Method to be effective.

In the ultimate pursuit of surviving tribulations, the Nine Marshes God Marquis Transformation of the natural deity is still easier to use.

"If I can reach the level of Gu Luohe, after I become a god, my divine power foundation will be solid, and it will definitely support me in advancing the secret techniques of the three schools side by side." Zhao Xing thought to himself. Combining the three schools also had a trouble, which was that his magic power was not enough. The divine methods he learned now consumed too much.

If he used them to perform the True Self Divine Method, he would drain himself, and he could only perform it once. The Layered Realm Mountain, Space-Time Earth Connection Method, Earth Palace Method, etc., would be completely impossible to perform.

Everyone knows that cultivating the three schools together will be stronger, so why are there so few who do so? It is mainly because cultivating them together is fraught with difficulties.

"Gaga, Zhao Xing, I found another familiar place." Palace Master Lu Ya flapped his wings, "Quick, go over there and take a look."

"Okay, Senior."

Zhao Xing immediately flew in the direction pointed out by Palace Master Lu Ya.

Lu Ya had once been to the old lair of the Nine Marshes God. Even if it had become unrecognizable now, any place Lu Ya could point out would have some traces left behind by the Nine Marshes God.

Time passed, and a hundred years went by in the blink of an eye.

In the vast Desert Sea, Zhao Xing passed through a river of sand.

"Whoosh~"

Suddenly, a wave swept over. This light was too fast, and Zhao Xing couldn't react at all, but Yan Ao immediately swallowed Zhao Xing in one gulp.

"Yu~"

The next moment, the light swept past the meteorite where Zhao Xing had been, the entire meteorite shattered directly, and the rushing river of sand was also suddenly pulverized, turning into a state of even smaller particles.

"Ga!"

Palace Master Lu Ya landed on Yan Ao's shoulder at high speed; it had even lost a feather!

Zhao Xing, inside Yan Ao's belly, also felt a wave that made his heart palpitate, albeit belatedly.

Even after being swallowed by Yan Ao, he still felt somewhat unsafe.

"Two seniors, what did you discover?"

Yan Ao frowned, scanning the surrounding starry sky. At this time, after being swept by that light wave, the entire starry sky had changed.

"We have entered an independent space-time, which is completely isolated from the Desert Sea."

Swish~

The next moment, after Yan Ao confirmed it was safe, he released Zhao Xing again.

Zhao Xing took a look at the panel and found that the coordinates displayed on the panel were still in the Desert Sea, but there was a more specific domain coordinate.

【You have entered a grain of sand in the Desert Sea, and the aurora reflects the former Nine Marshes God Domain.】

"A grain of sand preserved an aurora? And this wisp of aurora also reflected the former Nine Marshes God Domain?" Zhao Xing couldn't help but be stunned.

According to the historical records of the Light-Chasing Society's exploration of auroras, the radiance of powerful polar stars can reflect the existence of the divine realm, giving birth to some "aurora reflection spaces," preserving extremely real and precious historical images.

Many starry sky historians have found these auroras, and their skills have advanced by leaps and bounds, even being able to condense powerful True Era and World-Passing clones because of this.

Zhao Xing obtained information from the coordinates, but he still released Bowei.

His opinion could not be used as a reference; if Yan Ao and Lu Ya felt that this place was too dangerous, they might break through the air and take him away.

Releasing Bowei to identify it, this god-level scholar did not disappoint. Just by taking a look, Bowei reached a conclusion before Yan Ao could act.

"Aurora reflection space-time is like a mirage preserving historical scenes."

"However, it is unknown which period of space-time scene is specifically preserved."

"If you can see the true body of the Nine Marshes God, it will be beneficial to Zhao Xing's cultivation."

"What is the degree of danger?" Yan Ao only cared about whether there was danger and whether it was the kind Zhao Xing could withstand.

Bowei calculated with his fingers and then said: "The aurora is mixed with time divine power and returns once every seventy-two hours in this space-time."

"As long as you take him away before the time divine power sweeps through, it will be safe."

Zhao Xing looked at Yan Ao with eager eyes. The decision-making power of the guardian God Generals also had levels. Bowei only had the right to suggest, while Yan Ao, as the first guardian God General, was fully responsible for Zhao Xing's safety.

If he felt that this place was dangerous and insisted on leaving, then Palace Master Lu Ya, as the God General best at running away, would definitely execute it.

Yan Ao ignored Zhao Xing's expectant gaze, pondered for a moment, and nodded:

"Let's take a look first and make a decision after the aurora returns again."