Chapter 679

Splash!

He Pingsheng leapt directly into the molten lava.

The crimson lava splashed up a wave.

He Pingsheng had already removed all his clothing.

Naked, he swam through the lava.

This surface lava and flame posed almost no threat to him.

Because he had already cultivated his body to the tenth level of the Soul Transformation chapter through the Nine Poison Golden Body, his body was extraordinarily resilient, and ordinary injuries could be ignored entirely.

However, if one began cultivating the Burning Flame Golden Body Scripture from the first level, these flames would still be useful.

He Pingsheng closed his eyes, and his fire-element dantian instantly activated, with fire-element spiritual power flowing through his meridians.

He began cultivating the Burning Flame Golden Body Scripture.

This cultivation was exactly like when he had cultivated his second dantian in the past.

For example, if one first brought the fire-element dantian to Foundation Establishment, then returned to cultivate the wood-element dantian from Qi Refining level one, it would become many times easier.

By the same logic, since He Pingsheng's body cultivation had already reached Soul Transformation through the Nine Poison Golden Body, returning now to re-cultivate the Burning Flame Golden Body Scripture from level one of the Qi Refining chapter would naturally be many times faster.

One year!

Two years!

Three years!

……

Before he knew it, another nine years had passed.

He Pingsheng's body had sunk from the surface of the lava to its depths.

Over the nine years, he had descended deeper and deeper into the lava.

Naturally, because the flame's intensity was insufficient.

Finally, after nine years, his Burning Flame Golden Body Scripture progressed from the Qi Refining chapter to the Nascent Soul chapter's peak.

Unfortunately, because the flame's intensity was still insufficient, He Pingsheng could not yet cultivate the Soul Transformation chapter.

Moreover, his own cultivation base had long ago reached Soul Transformation level ten during his previous seclusion.

He had hit a bottleneck!

So now, seclusion was useless!

Boom…

At some moment, He Pingsheng's body suddenly burst out of the lava and landed steadily on the shore.

His Dao robe instantly appeared.

Looking around, the structures scattered along the volcano's rim, once covered in snow, were now clearly visible.

The snow had retreated a thousand zhang.

The spiritual energy here had become abundant, surpassing even what it had been when He Pingsheng first arrived.

Massive arrays activated, enveloping the entire mountaintop, reflecting multicolored light under the sun's rays, extraordinarily magnificent.

He Pingsheng flashed once and landed inside a pavilion on Gusu Mountain.

Soon, Qiao Huizhu, Hao Cang, Ting Tong, Zhou Qingmei, and her clone arrived.

"Greetings, Young Master!"

Everyone bowed to He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng waved his hand: "No need for formalities—sit down and speak."

Over nine years, everyone's cultivation had barely progressed.

"How is the sect faring?" He Pingsheng asked Zhou Qingmei.

"Very well!" Zhou Qingmei smiled: "Over these years, I set up several sixth-rank arrays to guard the place. After planting the Spirit Dragon, the spiritual energy now surges even stronger than before!"

"A few foolish ones tried to seize this place, thinking it had become a divine paradise—I drove them all away one by one!"

Zhou Qingmei's cultivation had reached the terrifying level of Body Integration; ordinary cultivators stood no chance against her.

Not even opponents—just one glance would make them tremble in fear.

As for those cultivators who were already Body Integration, they had no interest in a place like Gusu Mountain, so it remained safe.

"Recently, I saw the 【Lunar Moon Immortal Lady】. She said she wished to join our Gusu Mountain, but since you were absent, I dared not agree on my own."

"May I ask, Young Master, what kind of future do you envision for Gusu Mountain?"

"Will we remain as we are, or will we recruit disciples and establish a sect?"

Zhou Qingmei looked at He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng had never considered these matters. He frowned slightly and said: "This is indeed a question worth discussing."

Qiao Huizhu said: "Gusu Mountain's territory is vast. With only us here, it feels too empty, and we have no lower disciples to handle tasks. I believe we should moderately absorb outsiders—preferably low-level disciples—to cultivate them gradually, which will benefit the sect long-term."

He Pingsheng's spiritual sense swept again over the entire volcanic rim of Gusu Mountain.

The structures, cultivation grounds, and resources here were sufficient for hundreds—even thousands—of people.

"Alright," He Pingsheng said: "Starting today, we establish a sect!"

"Hmm… that Lunar Moon Immortal Lady seems trustworthy. Let her become Sect Master. Hao Cang, you become Supreme Elder!"

"As for the rest of us… hehe… don't bother with this place—hide yourselves completely!"

"Especially—do not let outsiders know I am cultivating here!"

He Pingsheng was still being hunted!

Hiding was better.

"Agreed!" Qiao Huizhu said: "Starting today, Gusu Mountain begins recruiting low-level disciples. By the way… should we keep the sect's name as Gusu Mountain?" She tilted her head and asked: "I think the name is fine—why not call it 【Gusu Immortal Sect】?"

"No," He Pingsheng said: "Keep it as 【Gusu Mountain】. The name itself is fine, and I think it sounds good."

"Alright!" Qiao Huizhu agreed: "Then it's Gusu Mountain!"

The others naturally had no objections.

He Pingsheng pulled out countless jade slips and tossed them to Hao Cang: "These can fill the 【Scripture Repository】 and be made available to disciples."

"Er… Qingmei, how is your divine ability progressing?"

He Pingsheng had not forgotten the 【Spatial Wormhole】 divine ability.

That ability required Body Integration to cultivate—he could not practice it himself, so he had entrusted Zhou Qingmei and her clone to train it.

"It is already perfected," Zhou Qingmei said seriously: "My clone's divine ability is also perfected—we can open spatial passages across the entire Heavenfire Continent at will."

"Even pierce them through to other continents!"

The Spirit Realm contained more than just the Heavenfire Continent—it also held the Lei Huang Continent, the Western Extreme Continent, the Xuanbing Continent, and the Houtu Continent.

"Excellent!" He Pingsheng was overjoyed: "Are there any limits? Can it be opened infinitely?"

"No," Zhou Qingmei smiled bitterly: "My understanding of space is still limited. Each opening consumes vast amounts of spatial law energy—I need several days to recover before I can open it again."

That meant: after one opening, one had to wait days before the next.

Hmm…

This ability would be useless for escaping pursuers.

But for travel, it was more than enough.

"Sister!" He Pingsheng suddenly remembered something and handed Qiao Huizhu a golden bone: "I once obtained a demonic lineage inheritance containing an extremely powerful spatial divine ability!"

"Study it first—if you perfect it, you'll be invincible in battle."

What He Pingsheng gave her was naturally the 【Void Dash】 divine ability.