Chapter 182

Just as Hua Changxi was sleeping at the bottom of the Tang Yu valley, various parties who realized that a change had occurred in Tang Gu arrived at Qianmen Pass one after another. Some well-informed cultivators heard the news and followed as well.

For a time, a large number of cultivators appeared outside Qianmen Fortress.

"The nine great fortresses guarding the Demon Prison are truly 'one man can hold the pass, ten thousand cannot pass'."

The tall and towering Qianmen Fortress exuded an ancient aura, like a giant beast crouching on the ground, blocking everyone who wanted to cross it.

"Before, I always thought that places like Qianmen Pass and Kunmen Pass were just nine ghost market trading hubs. I never expected that they were actually the nine passes guarding the Demon Prison. Sure enough, one must follow the powerful aristocratic families to learn the truth of the world."

"Isn't that so? The powerful aristocratic families knew about the spiritual energy recovery hundreds of years ago and hold countless ruins in their hands. They know far more information than we do. At first, I thought the ghost market was a secret realm; who could have imagined that this was actually the Nine Nether of the Earth Realm?"

"Don't look at the nine passes as covering a large area; you and I cannot even fully explore a single pass. Yet, the Demon Prison is but a corner of the Nine Nether. The vastness of the Nine Nether is not something you or I can imagine."

"More than just the Nine Nether, the vastness of the human world is not something we can imagine either. Although the Great Jin where you and I reside is the center of the Central Continent, beyond the Central Continent are the four continents of the East, South, West, and North, and between each continent lies a vast ocean. There are still too many places in this world that we do not know about."

"Yes, and this is just the situation in our realm. Beyond the realm are other worlds. I really want to go and see other worlds."

"Don't be so ambitious; let's finish exploring our own world first."

"Below is the Nine Nether, above is the Nine Heavens, and in the middle is the human world. We have only glimpsed a corner of the Nine Nether, and we know nothing of the Nine Heavens. The only place you and I can develop and grow is the human world."

After the cultivators gathered in front of the fortress, they all discussed in small groups of three or five. Those who could arrive here at the first moment of seeing the Fusang Divine Tree appear were all people of extraordinary insight; what these people knew and saw was far above that of ordinary people.

Gu Jinfan stood in the crowd, looking at the surrounding cultivators with a complex expression.

In this life, the matter of spiritual energy recovery was exposed early, leading to a significant increase in the number of cultivators in the Four Spirit Realm. Moreover, a batch of exceptionally talented individuals appeared, just like the cultivators who came today.

These people will surely cause turmoil in the future to compete for resources; however, with more cultivators and more strong individuals, when outside cultivators attempt to seize the Four Spirit Realm in the future, the Four Spirit Realm should not be as defenseless as it was in the previous life, right?

"The Demon Suppression Army is here."

Gu Jinfan heard the commotion, turned her head to look, and saw the Demon Suppression Army wearing Qilin masks and black armor arriving.

Looking at the leader, Gu Jinfan's eyes flickered.

Chu Junyi...

Thinking of how in the previous life, in order to prevent the demonic aura in the Demon Prison from spreading to the human world, he used his own body as a container to swallow the demonic aura. After being demonized, he voluntarily sealed himself, turned into the gate of the Demon Prison, and merged with the Demon Prison.

This person remained like a mountain until his death, guarding the Demon Prison!

Chu Junyi sensed someone looking at him and followed the gaze. Seeing it was Gu Jinfan, he was slightly surprised, but thinking that when the Genmen Pass changed, the Gu family also arrived at the first moment and even occupied White Bone Mountain, he was relieved.

His master had told him that this Gu Jinfan either possessed the ability to foresee the future or was a chosen child of heaven with heaven-defying fortune; it was best to be on good terms with such a person.

Chu Junyi nodded toward Gu Jinfan and then withdrew his gaze, casting his eyes toward Qianmen Fortress.

Gu Jinfan also withdrew her gaze and looked at the silent Qianmen Fortress, which seemed to have been sealed by dust. Seeing more and more cultivators gathering outside the city gate, she could not help but sigh silently in her heart.

With so many outsiders gathering, after Qianmen Fortress senses the crisis, this fortress that has been silent for countless years is afraid it will awaken.

Since the Fusang Divine Tree has appeared, it doesn't seem strange for Qianmen Fortress to awaken early.

It's just that, regarding Qianmen Fortress, the Gu family is afraid they won't have the chance to claim it for themselves.

The nine great passes, including Qianmen Pass and Kunmen Pass, were established specifically to guard the Demon Prison.

The fierce beasts sealed in the Demon Prison are all extremely vicious. Suppressing the Demon Prison not only benefits the prosperity of the human race but also protects other living beings and maintains the stability of the realm.

Therefore, after the nine great passes were established, they accumulated quite a bit of merit power.

The Xiangguo Temple, through the efforts of several generations of abbots, only managed to nurture one Golden Lotus of Merit, while the nine great passes, in the ancient era, nurtured a whole pool of Golden Lotus of Merit.

Even though the Four Spirit Realm experienced the Great Extinction, the remaining merit power of the nine great passes is quite astonishing. Like the Demon Suppression Guards in the fortress, they were able to preserve their primordial spirits for five hundred years without dissipating by relying on the power of merit.

Because of the nine great passes, the Nine Nether never broke its inheritance. Some families of Demon Suppression Guards, relying on the protection of the Demon Suppression Guards, directly became soul-cultivator families.

The current Nine Nether is much more dangerous than the human world.

Gu Jinfan was very envious of the merit power of the nine great passes. Relying on her memories from the previous life, she knew that demon race members would come to Qianmen Fortress during this period to destroy the array eye, so she had arranged for the Gu Heir to contact Liu Chengxiong in advance.

She originally thought that with her intervention, the Gu family could take Qianmen Fortress. With the merit power of Qianmen Fortress, the strength of the Gu family cultivators would surely be able to increase by a large margin.

Who would have thought that a change would still occur in Tang Gu? Although the demonic aura did not overflow into the human world, it caused the Fusang Divine Tree to appear in the human world and the Nine Nether early.

Gu Jinfan really wanted to know what exactly happened in Tang Gu.

"Boom, boom, boom—"

The sound of war drums, each louder than the last, suddenly rang out, breaking the silence under the dim night sky, interrupting Gu Jinfan's thoughts, and causing a commotion among the cultivators present.

"What's wrong?"

"What happened?"

"It's the sound of war drums, coming from inside Qianmen Fortress."

"Hum—woo—"

Just as everyone was exclaiming and discussing, a deep, solemn horn sound rang out from within Qianmen Fortress.

The next moment, a brilliant white star appeared above Qianmen Fortress. The starlight directly dispersed the mist in the sky, and Qianmen Fortress, which could only be seen as a vague outline before due to the dimness, was now fully revealed.

"The Soul Star is lit; the silent Qianmen Fortress has awakened." Gu Jinfan sighed with emotion.

"There are actually stars in the Nine Nether; it's too incredible."

"That is a Soul Star."

"What Soul Star?"

"A planet condensed from soul power. In the human world, spiritual energy nourishes all things; in the Nine Nether, soul power nourishes all things. Don't you feel that after the Soul Star appeared, your whole person became relaxed and clear? This is because the soul power overflowing from the Soul Star is nourishing our soul bodies."

"The place covered by the Soul Star is like a blessed land in the human world. No wonder in the ancient era, even though guarding the nine passes was extremely dangerous, countless cultivators still wanted to be Demon Suppression Guards. As long as they didn't die, after five hundred years, their primordial spirits would surely be cultivated to be very powerful."

In the crowd, there were cultivators with extraordinary insight who did not keep what they knew a secret. Hearing someone ask, they readily shared the information they knew.

Just as the cultivators were marveling, countless Demon Suppression Guards wearing silver armor and holding sharp weapons appeared on the city walls, watching the various parties under the city walls in battle readiness.

"Kill, kill, kill!"

All the Demon Suppression Guards spoke at the same time, their weapons pointing directly at the cultivators under the city. The solemn aura of death made the air tremble.

The cultivators present were all intimidated by this scene, and many of them, through this solemn sound, seemed to see a battlefield of gold and iron horses, fighting in blood.