Chapter 236: Ruling the World (5) — Purple Gold Furnace

By the time the crowd came to their senses, Saint Teacher Mo had already stepped forward and gestured for Jiuyou to proceed, guiding him through the air toward the inner grounds of the Headquarters.

Jiuyou did not linger, following him under the watchful eyes of the crowd. Wherever he passed, the gathered cultivators parted to clear a path, bowing their heads slightly in deference.

The other Saint Teachers followed silently in their wake. Saint Teacher Bao and Saint Teacher Ma exchanged a glance before subtly shaking their heads at the remaining six. They dared not explain further, leaving the other six completely baffled. Yet with Jiuyou present, none dared risk a voice transmission to ask.

Before long, they arrived at a grand council hall perched atop a mountain peak—a structure far more imposing and magnificent than the one where Jiuyou had been received upon his first arrival years ago.

Once everyone took their seats, the Saint Teachers put on warm expressions. Their words carried deep respect blended with a carefully measured intimacy, though none dared overstep. Knowing their Saintess shared a past connection with this senior, they dropped quiet hints about that old acquaintance at every turn. Their only voiced regret was that the Saintess was currently in seclusion attempting a breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Late Stage and could not be there in person.

Afterward, they each brought out prized treasures from their private collections to celebrate Jiuyou's breakthrough to Deity Transformation.

Among them, Saint Teacher Surnamed Gong presented the skull of a Tenth-Level demonic beast, while Saint Teacher Surnamed Hua offered a sprig of a unique ten-thousand-year spiritual herb. Some even began mentally reviewing the exceptionally gifted female cultivators among their younger generation, hoping to forge a closer tie through them.

Though Jiuyou cared little for such empty formalities, he declined none of them, accepting each gift in turn. It put their minds at ease, and there was no sense in turning down free resources that might well prove useful down the line.

Now a Deity Transformation Cultivator, he stood at the summit of this cultivation world. His divine sense spanned a thousand li; not the slightest stir could elude his perception. Ambient spiritual qi within a thousand li answered his call, and with the amplification of the Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring, that range stretched further still, granting him even finer command over spiritual qi and origin qi. Coupled with the foundation of the Daoyang Ten Palaces Art and his host of trump cards, he would hardly find himself at a disadvantage even against veteran Deity Transformation Cultivators.

Having achieved Deity Transformation, he no longer needed to wear a mask of benevolence. Yet he did not cast it aside. This posture was not an act put on for the people before him, but for his fellow Deity Transformation peers watching this place from the shadows.

Word of his breakthrough could never be kept secret; by now, it had likely reached the ears of the other Deity Transformation Cultivators. Between a bloodthirsty overlord of the demonic path and an upright, honorable sword cultivator of the Righteous Path, which would they rather deal with? Even a fool knew the choice to make.

Only in this way could he integrate more swiftly into the circle of Deity Transformation Cultivators, and thereby seek the path beyond Deity Transformation.

His sights had never been confined to this small world, nor had he ever been satisfied with his current realm. Bound by the suppression of heaven and earth, a Deity Transformation Cultivator lived for no more than two thousand years; after another millennium, what remained would be nothing more than a handful of yellow earth.

The crowd's enthusiasm never waned, each trying every conceivable angle to forge ties with him, until Jiuyou personally spoke up to dismiss them one by one. He maintained that upright facade throughout—neither overly warm nor distant, leaving no flaw for anyone to criticize.

They departed the grand hall soon after.

Led by Saint Teacher Mo, Jiuyou arrived at the base of the mountain range. Behind a stone cliff face stood a quiet stone house, modest in size, capable of holding roughly a hundred people.

A single sweep of his divine sense told Jiuyou that exactly eighty-one interlocking sets of rhombic formations were buried here. Had he still been in the Nascent Soul Stage, he would never have stepped inside so rashly. But things were different now; to him, this entire set of formations was child's play.

Once they stepped inside the stone house, Saint Teacher Mo invoked a special secret art. The entire structure promptly sank into the earth, reemerging several hundred li deep underground. A hidden world unfolded before them, like an entire subterranean realm.

Jiuyou rolled out his divine sense, taking in the space with absolute clarity while picking up three distinct presences. One was quite familiar to him—it belonged to Graceful, the current Saintess of the Northern Plains. Judging by her aura, she was right at the critical juncture of her breakthrough, not far from success.

The other two presences lay deeper within, both at the Late Nascent Soul Stage Pinnacle. Their auras were unfamiliar, likely representing the hidden foundation of the Northern Plains that had never shown its face. It seemed the Northern Plains truly kept other cards up its sleeve.

Saint Teacher Mo led the way, while Jiuyou followed unhurriedly behind. After walking roughly three hundred zhang, they arrived before a massive stone wall. The stone slid aside to reveal the chamber beyond, and an odd wave of scorching heat washed over them.

Two elderly figures emerged from within, neither of whom Jiuyou recognized. At the sight of him, vigilance and shock flooded their faces; from start to finish, they had failed to sense his presence at all, assuming Saint Teacher Mo had arrived alone. The two instantly drew magic treasures from their dantians and leveled them at Jiuyou.

"Mo, have you forgotten the iron law laid down by the ancestral sages of our Northern Plains? How dare you bring an outsider into our tribe's sacred ground?" one of them barked, his gaze snapping back to Jiuyou. "Who are you?"

Jiuyou did not answer. These two were not qualified to make him waste his breath. His gaze fell upon the massive golden three-legged furnace behind them. Gilded with crimson plumage, the vessel was carved with three strange birds resembling crows, fire seeming to ripple across their feathers. Its three taloned feet gripped the ground, enveloped in blazing flames like a miniature sun frozen in place.

Seeing that Jiuyou did not even spare them a glance, the two let out furious shouts and moved to strike. Beside them, Saint Teacher Mo hurriedly intervened to stop them, but to no avail; he could only shake his head in resignation.

Jiuyou tilted his head slightly, sweeping a sidelong glance across them. Without so much as lifting a hand, he released a sliver of pressure that pinned them firmly in place.

In that instant, the vitality throughout their bodies was utterly suppressed; they could not muster the strength for even a shred of resistance. Trembling from head to toe, they stared at Jiuyou in sheer terror. Only now did they finally understand that this seemingly young cultivator before them was a living Deity Transformation Cultivator.

Deity Transformation Cultivators were all but extinct in the Northern Plains; how could one suddenly appear here? Their eyes drifted involuntarily toward the furnace behind them, their thoughts converging toward a single possibility.

'Could his goal be...?'

The two exchanged a glance. Neither gave voice to that suspicion, yet each already knew what the other was thinking.

Seeing this, Saint Teacher Mo hurried forward to plead on their behalf. Jiuyou could not be bothered to press the matter further, lifting a hand to withdraw the pressure.

The two sagged in relief, drenched in cold sweat as though they had just stepped back from the gates of the underworld.

By now, they understood all too clearly what kind of existence stood before them.

As guardians of this place, they should never have allowed an outsider anywhere near it. Yet the intruder was a Deity Transformation Cultivator; any struggle would be utterly futile. What was more, the Saintess was in seclusion here and could under no circumstances be disturbed. Anyone would know how to weigh those scales. The two fell silent.

Jiuyou moved past them, clasping his hands behind his back as his eyes settled on the Purple Gold Furnace before him. Probing it with his senses, he arched a brow slightly. He recognized it at a single glance.

This was not a true Heaven-grade Spiritual Treasure; it was far inferior to the Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring in his possession, nothing more than an exceptionally high-grade imitation. Yet even an imitation spirit treasure, possessing a mere ten to twenty percent of the original's might, was an extraordinary prize. Though he could not yet discern what specific divine abilities this spirit treasure held, one thing was certain: once claimed, it would add yet another weapon to his arsenal.