Chapter 22

Fu Feng sat on the cloud summit, gazing into the distance.

The sky was empty and vast, only a few clouds at the horizon serving as decoration; a breeze blew, and the clouds stretched with the wind, sometimes forming an S shape, sometimes a B, mocking his life that was not under his own control.

After sitting idly for over ten days, Fufeng felt his brain growing stiff, his reactions becoming sluggish.

This place is a fringe area of the Cloud Sea Realm, the kind that even grandparents and uncles don't care about—not to mention merchants never come here, and even the hundred-thousand-year conflicts of the Cloud Sea Realm have never disturbed it once.

He was responsible each day for patrolling for abnormalities; normally he would first go to logistics to collect that day's medicinal pills, then find a patch of cloud to sit on and refine the pills.

Over ten-plus days of doing nothing wore away the fighting spirit he had painstakingly built up, leaving it completely gone.

He had spent three straight days browsing forums and abandoned his cultivation; each day watching the absurd maneuvers of meme players, he felt envy from the bottom of his heart, then moved on to watch the next player's actions.

If nothing unexpected happens, today will be the same; with good luck he might even run into two cloud beasts to practice on.

As he was thinking, Fufeng's divine sense detected something approaching—what could it be?

After a moment of stunned silence, the thing arrived before his eyes, and he realized it was a cloud beast! Avian type!

Fufeng hurriedly manipulated the formation to attack; fortunately, being fond of convenience, he directly commanded his own spirit cloud, otherwise he would have been flustered for a while.

The formation locked onto the target, and the cloud beast didn't even try to dodge, charging straight in.

【Kill!】

A white light shot straight at the cloud beast, easily piercing it; cloud vapor dispersed from the hole, and soon only two feathers remained.

With an inhale and exhale of spiritual power, the two feathers were drawn to Fufeng's side; after a brief look, he fed them to the cloud essence beneath his feet.

Just a second-grade spiritual material!

He and Xiao Yi had not been assigned to the same place, and their parting had been sudden, so he felt justified in claiming it as his own.

Time smoothed over the ripples the cloud beast had just caused; Fufeng opened the forum again, wanting to see what absurd meme stuff was around today.

By comparison, the atmosphere in the lord's manor was much more solemn.

Recently the Cloud Sea has frequently suffered cloud beast assaults; whereas once the beasts were merely violent, they now astonishingly can organize attacks on merchants, which undoubtedly raises concern.

What makes people angry is that behind the incident lie the shadows of three other Cloud Sea factions.

"Looks like I'm the first to be eliminated this year," Weiyi said with a faint smile after reading the transmitted message.

Those who know him well understand that the young master is angry—he has never shown such an expression before.

"Hmph, only the weak band together; the strong always go it alone!" Weiyi's body suddenly erupted with a startling aura that made even those of Nascent Soul cultivation glance askance.

He actually cultivates the heretical path!

In the Cloud Immortal Realm, the prevailing path is Qi Cultivation, progressing from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Divine Transformation, ultimately attaining the true immortal Dao.

Other paths are not impossible, but due to the unique environment Qi Cultivation is easier to practice, so it has become the mainstream method.

Weiyi, however, follows the family's Artifact Cultivation Way. He has already refined his natal magic treasure to the point where it is only one step away from opening the realm; after a period of refining the Five Elements, he will be able to create a world of his own.

His Qi Cultivation level is merely a pretense to deceive others.

Back then his father relied on this to single-handedly challenge the Cloud Sea Realm, sweeping through wherever he went like a bamboo splitter.

And he, Weiyi, son of the lord of Cloud Sea City! will replicate that legend!

"Pass the order down: have each battalion hold the gates tightly and await further commands!"

"Yes!" The signal soldier departed excitedly, intending to spread this news throughout the Cloud Immortal Realm.

Far out in the heavens, the striving Weiyi will not know that his father and all the true immortals of the Cloud Immortal Realm are plotting something outside the realm.

From the outside, the Cloud Immortal Realm looks like it's ensnared in a fishing net, but this is actually a protective formation designed to shield the realm from demonic invasion.

Where these demons come from is unknown, but their purpose is clear: to destroy the world that still teems with life before them.

At intervals, low-level demons strike the great formation, only to be shredded by it; their bodies are refined into spiritual energy that the Cloud Immortal Realm absorbs.

This formation acts like a filter, screening out harmful substances and leaving only pure spiritual energy.

But when too much is filtered, the filter itself is affected, so someone must be responsible for cleaning it; only true immortals can move freely in the outer heavens.

Although Divine Transformation cultivators can still roam the void, outside the world lurk tigers‑eyed demons, and only the true immortal realm can guarantee one's safety.

Moreover, the purpose of their expedition is not merely to clean the filter.

All that could be seen was an old man transforming into a towering mountain thousands of ren high, attracting the countless scattered demons and then suppressing them.

"Ugh! These guys are too foul!" the old man's face looked somewhat unpleasant.

A burly man with fiery red hair laughed and said, "Old Man Thunder is indeed formidable—he can even endure this!"

The old man called Old Man Thunder waved his hand, saying, "One must give to gain; otherwise how could one aspire to a position in the Netherworld? Heavenly merit doesn't come easily."

Lord Weiyi then spoke solemnly: "We must also thank Old Man Thunder for understanding the greater good and delivering our Cloud Immortal Realm from its predicament."

The other true immortals likewise offered their respects, and Old Man Thunder hurriedly dodged.

"I dare not accept, I dare not accept! I too am doing this for myself. When the Stone Immortal Realm fell, I was greatly indebted to your taking me in; offering the method to open the Netherworld is only fitting, and besides, when the Netherworld is established I will still have a place there—how could I deserve such great courtesy from you all?"

"Enough, quit the nitpicking! Shame on you for still being true immortals! If you spent this effort killing more demons, the Netherworld could be built sooner." The female true immortal spoke with a sharp tongue, and the others all nodded in agreement.

When the great formation refines demons, a trace of demonic qi inevitably seeps into the Cloud Immortal Realm; over a hundred thousand years this has accumulated considerably, all of it sealed deep within the Cloud Sea.

The true immortals are aware of the harm demonic qi can cause, but they are powerless to stop it; one cannot give up eating because of choking, and the world's growth inevitably requires drawing spiritual energy from the outside.

As they spoke, another batch of demons rushed forward; the true immortals, without a word, went to kill them, for these demons were of such low quality that they were wiped out in the blink of an eye.

"Pah!" Old Man Thunder spat a mouthful of saliva onto the formation, and as it refined, a wisp of black qi rose up.

"I can't go on, I need to rest!" Old Man Thunder waved his hand; this time the stench was even worse.

The other true immortals also halted, waiting for him to return to normal.

What they failed to notice was that a thread of this black smoke had broken through the formation's interception and appeared directly within the Cloud Immortal Realm.

Following the demonic qi's sensing, the black qi found a serpent‑shaped cloud beast and merged with it.

The cloud beast suddenly blinked, gaining awareness and learning of a plan.

"Hehe, I like this plan." The cloud beast continued flying northward across the Cloud Sea.

"I hate snakes!" Fufeng watched the approaching cloud beast, and without a word cranked the formation's power up to the maximum.

Boom!

Thick mist obscured the view.