Chapter 182: Soul Star

Just as Hua Changxi lay in a deep slumber at the bottom of Tang Gu, various factions aware of the changes occurring there arrived one after another at Qianmen Pass, and some well-informed cultivators, catching wind of the news, followed suit.

In an instant, a large number of cultivators appeared outside Qianmen Bao.

"The nine great castles guarding the Demon Prison truly live up to the saying: one man guards the pass, ten thousand cannot force it open."

The towering and majestic Qianmen Bao exuded an ancient aura, crouching on the ground like a colossal beast, blocking anyone who wished to cross over it.

"Before, I always thought places like Qianmen Pass and Kunmen Pass were merely nine ghost market trading hubs; I never expected them to be the nine checkpoints guarding the Demon Prison. Indeed, only by following the actions of the noble families can one learn the truth of this world."

"Exactly. The noble families knew about the resurgence of spiritual energy hundreds of years ago and hold countless ruins in their hands; the information they possess far exceeds ours. At first, I even thought the Ghost Market was a secret realm; who could have imagined it was actually the Nine Netherworlds of the Earth Realm?"

"Do not be misled by the vast area occupied by the Nine Passes; neither you nor I could fully explore even a single checkpoint. Yet, within the Nine Netherworlds, the Demon Prison is but a tiny corner; the immensity of the Nine Netherworlds is beyond what you or I can imagine."

"It is not just the Nine Netherworlds; the vastness of the Human Realm is also beyond our imagination. Although the Great Jin where we stand is at the center of the Central Continent, beyond the Central Continent lie the four great continents of East, South, West, and North, separated from each other by vast oceans. There are still too many places in this world unknown to us."

"Indeed, this is merely the situation within our own plane; beyond this plane lie other worlds. I truly wish to visit those other worlds."

"Do not be so overly ambitious; let us first fully explore this world of ours."

"Below lie the Nine Netherworlds, above soar the Nine Heavens, and in between exists the Human Realm. We have only glimpsed a corner of the Nine Netherworlds, while of the Nine Heavens we know nothing; the only place where you and I can develop and grow is the Human Realm."

After gathering before Qianmen Bao, the cultivators formed small groups of three or five, whispering among themselves. Those capable of arriving here the moment the Fusang Divine Tree manifested were all individuals of extraordinary insight; their knowledge and experience far surpassed that of ordinary people.

Gu Jinfan stood within the crowd, looking at the surrounding cultivators, her expression complex.

In this life, the matter of spiritual energy's resurgence was exposed prematurely, resulting in many more cultivators across the Four Spirit Realms, and furthermore, a batch of individuals with outstanding talents had emerged, just like these cultivators who arrived today.

These people would surely cause turmoil in the future as they fought over resources; however, with more cultivators and more powerful experts, when cultivators from the outside world attempted to seize the Four Spirit Realms in the future, the Four Spirit Realms should not be as helpless and unable to resist as they were in her previous life.

"The Demon-Suppressing Army has arrived."

Hearing the commotion, Gu Jinfan turned to look and saw the Demon-Suppressing Army approaching, their leaders wearing Qilin masks and clad in black armor.

Looking at the person leading them, Gu Jinfan's eyes flashed slightly.

Chu Junyi...

Recalling how in her previous life, in order to prevent the demonic qi from the Demon Prison from spreading into the Human Realm, he had used his own body as a vessel to devour the demonic qi, and after demonifying himself, he had voluntarily sealed his own being, transforming into the gate of the Demon Prison and merging with it entirely.

This man, until his death, had stood like a mountain range, guarding the Demon Prison!

Chu Junyi sensed someone watching him and followed the gaze over; seeing it was Gu Jinfan, he felt slightly surprised, but recalling that when Genmen Pass underwent changes, the Gu family had also arrived immediately and seized White Bone Mountain, he felt relieved.

His Master had told him that this Gu Jinfan either possessed the ability to foresee the future or was a chosen one with heaven-defying luck; such a person was best befriended.

Chu Junyi nodded slightly toward Gu Jinfan before withdrawing his gaze, directing his attention instead to Qianmen Bao.

Gu Jinfan also withdrew her gaze, looking at the silent Qianmen Bao, which seemed as if it had been sealed away by dust; seeing the cultivators gathering in greater numbers outside the city gate, she could not help but sigh silently in her heart.

With so many outsiders gathering, once Qianmen Bao sensed the crisis, this fortress, which had lain dormant for countless ages, would likely awaken.

Since the Fusang Divine Tree had already manifested, it seemed not so strange that Qianmen Bao would awaken ahead of schedule.

However, regarding Qianmen Bao, the Gu family would likely have no opportunity to claim it for themselves.

Qianmen Pass, Kunmen Pass, and the other seven of the Nine Great Checkpoints were established specifically to guard the Demon Prison.

The creatures sealed within the Demon Prison were all ferocious beasts of extreme evil; suppressing the Demon Prison not only benefited the great rise of the human race but also protected other living beings and maintained the stability of the plane.

Therefore, after the establishment of the Nine Great Checkpoints, they had accumulated a significant amount of merit power.

Xiangguo Temple, through the efforts of several generations of abbots, managed to nurture a single golden lotus of merit, whereas the Nine Great Checkpoints, during ancient times, had nurtured an entire pond full of golden merit lotuses.

Even though the Four Spirit Realms had undergone extinction, the residual merit power remaining in the Nine Great Checkpoints was still astonishing; for instance, the Demon-Suppressing Guards within the fortress relied on this merit power to preserve their primordial souls from dispersing for five hundred years.

Because of the existence of the Nine Great Checkpoints, the lineage within the Nine Netherworlds had never been interrupted; some families of the Demon-Suppressing Guards, relying on the protection of these guards, directly became prominent soul cultivation clans.

The current Nine Netherworlds were far more dangerous than the Human Realm.

Gu Jinfan was extremely envious of the merit power possessed by the Nine Great Checkpoints; relying on memories from her previous life, she knew that during this period, members of the Demon Race would come to Qianmen Bao to sabotage the array nodes, so she had previously contacted the Gu heir and Liu Chengxiong ahead of time.

She had originally thought that with her intervention, the Gu family could seize Qianmen Bao, and with the merit power of Qianmen Bao, the strength of the Gu family's cultivators would surely increase dramatically.

Who could have expected that changes would still occur in Tang Gu; although the demonic qi did not spill into the Human Realm, it caused the Fusang Divine Tree to manifest prematurely in both the Human Realm and the Nine Netherworlds.

Gu Jinfan was very eager to know exactly what had happened inside Tang Gu.

"Bang, bang, bang~"

The sound of war drums, growing louder with each beat, suddenly erupted, breaking the silence beneath the dim night sky, interrupting Gu Jinfan's thoughts, and causing a stir among the cultivators present.

"What is happening?"

"What has occurred?"

"It is the sound of war drums, coming from inside Qianmen Bao."

"Weng~ Wu~"

Just as everyone exclaimed and discussed, a deep and solemn horn sound rang out again from within Qianmen Bao.

The next moment, a brilliant white star appeared in the sky above Qianmen Bao; its starlight directly dispersed the fog in the air, and Qianmen Bao, which previously could only be seen as a vague silhouette due to the darkness, now revealed itself completely.

"The Soul Star has ignited; the dormant Qianmen Bao has awakened," Gu Jinfan remarked with emotion.

"The Nine Netherworlds actually have stars; this is too incredible."

"That is the Soul Star."

"What is a Soul Star?"

"It is a planet formed by the condensation of soul power. In the Human Realm, spiritual energy nourishes all things; in the Nine Netherworlds, soul power nourishes all things. Have you not felt that since the Soul Star appeared, your entire being has become relaxed and clear? This is because the soul power radiating from the Soul Star is nourishing our soul bodies."

"The area covered by the Soul Star is like a blessed grotto-heaven in the Human Realm. No wonder in ancient times, even though guarding the Nine Passes was extremely perilous, countless cultivators still wished to become Demon-Suppressing Guards; as long as one did not die, after five hundred years, one's primordial soul would surely have been cultivated to great strength."

Within the crowd, some cultivators of extraordinary insight did not keep their knowledge secret; hearing others ask, they readily shared the information they possessed.

Just as the cultivators were marveling, countless Demon-Suppressing Guards clad in silver armor and holding sharp weapons appeared on the city walls, standing in strict formation as they looked down at the various groups of people below the wall.

"Kill, kill, kill!"

All the Demon-Suppressing Guards shouted in unison, pointing their weapons directly at the cultivators below the city; the killing intent shook the very air until it trembled.

The cultivators present were all stunned by this scene; through this sound of killing intent, many seemed to glimpse a battlefield filled with clashing metal and charging horses, where soldiers fought bathed in blood.