Chapter 930: Ghost Ascends to Immortality, Nether Lord of Jiuli

Chapter 930: Chapter 930: Ghost Ascends to Immortality, Nether Lord of Jiuli

Jiuli Mountain, not only is it the source of the Hidden Dragon River, an eight million mile long river, but also the largest Nether Ghost Zone on the Phoenix Continent, inhabited by billions of Soul Ghosts!

Several tens of thousands of years ago, this place was originally a Blessed land of the Immortal Realm, with innumerable immortal and mortal beings, until one day a sudden disaster struck, with endless ghostly Qi pervading and wreaking havoc, changing the color of the heavens and earth, causing Jiuli Mountain to completely fall into a Ghost Zone.

The sudden rise of boundless ghostly Qi, with unknown cause and origin, turned the mortal realm into a Ghost Zone in a very short time... It is a manifestation of eerie Evil Spirits, essentially the Residual Resentment of a decaying world’s "Heaven’s Will" affecting the normal world, even the Universal Realm could not avoid it.

Back then, similar Evil Spirits descended upon the Primordial Realm Chiyan Domain, including the Qing State where the Riverside Sect’s mountain gate is located, and ghostly Qi eroded various places, almost turning them into a Ghost Country on earth.

In the sealed historical records of the Riverside Sect, at that time, the sect was still in its early stages, and the Chiyan Domain had yet to unify its mountains and rivers, with many small countries standing; when the ghostly Qi and Evil Spirits descended, countless mortals, cultivators, demonic beasts, and Spiritual Monsters were infected by the ghostly Qi, turning into fierce ghost creatures, inflicting disaster upon the world, and allowing demons to roam free!

Just from the records, one can know that this disaster, triggered by the eerie Evil Spirits, is in no way inferior, in terms of scale, severity, and its impact on the cultivation world’s situation, to the Heavenly Demon invasion a thousand years later.

Under the disaster, various large and small immortal sects united and, after expending countless manpower and resources and making extensive arrangements, eventually succeeded in guiding the world’s ghostly Qi to Tianshun Country at the cost of "Heaven Obedience Country turning into a demon-infested Ghost Zone, with millions of creatures within turning into ghost creatures," averting this disaster for other creatures in the Chiyan Domain.

And the five sects, including the Riverside Sect, also successfully rose amidst this great reshuffle, gradually growing into the later Five Great Sects!

Due to the inglorious history of their rise, related records are all classified, and it is difficult for younger generations of cultivators to understand the upheaval of a thousand years ago, or to know the tragic situation of Tianshun Country.

Shen Mo, Chen Mengze, and others, during their training in the Ghost Nation Ruins, personally "witnessed" this segment of history after entering Death Jaw, and it was from then that they caught the attention of Guan Ling, forming an inexplicable connection with it.

Though similar in nature, it is clear that the Evil Spirits that descended upon Jiuli Mountain tens of thousands of years ago were far more terrifying...

Back then, the Protector of Jiuli Mountain already possessed a cultivation in the Formless Realm, and if he had abandoned everything, he could have escaped this calamity, but he resolutely chose to stay. Despite using every means, he still couldn’t resolve this tribulation, eventually turning into a ghost creature along with all the immortal and mortal beings of Jiuli Mountain.

This person is now the True Immortal who oversees Jiuli Mountain—the Jiuli Dark Lord!

Before the disaster, the Jiuli Dark Lord already had extremely profound cultivation and difficult-to-eradicate obsession in his heart, so even after becoming a ghost creature, he retained most of his strength from before life;

Since then, he became a Ghost King, continuing to protect the "followers of Jiuli Mountain," even if they are a mindless, bloodthirsty horde of Soul Ghosts!

After tens of thousands of years of arduous cultivation, the Jiuli Dark Lord even went a step further in cultivation, overcoming the Immortal Tribulation a million years ago, achieving the third grade of Earth Immortal among the five realms of True Immortal, causing a sensation; moreover, his deep understanding of the "great path of life and death" due to his transition from life to death and back made his cultivation unfathomably powerful, making even the average True Immortal reluctant to provoke him.

Yet what price did the Longevity Demon Lord pay to earn such a person’s protection?

Shen Mo holds great admiration for this Jiuli Dark Lord in his heart.

After all, he had already cultivated to Formless before the calamity, could enjoy a lifespan of nine thousand years, yet still chose to live and die with the creatures of Jiuli Mountain, even cultivating step by step into an Earth Immortal after becoming a ghost creature;

In terms of character and ability, he is undoubtedly a remarkable individual!

But despite admiration, with the Longevity Demon Lord hiding in his cultivation ground, the Jiuli Dark Lord stands against Shen Mo and others, becoming the greatest obstacle on their path.

"Fellow Daoist Lingxiao, you must be joking? With the Longevity Demon Lord protected by a True Immortal, how could we possibly kill him?" Chu Yuanhui said with a somewhat unpleasant expression.

Because Lingxiao Zi is the key figure among them, and his cultivation level is the highest, the group naturally regards him as their leader, and any issues are directed towards him.

"Calm down, Sister Yuanhui! Lingxiao Zi has long known that the Demon Lord is hiding here, how could he not be prepared beforehand? Looking at his composed demeanor, he clearly has something in mind." The clear and icy voice of the dark ice creature Ning Qingnv resounded, like a spring of cold water, calming the restless Chu Yuanhui and restoring her expression to a calm indifference.

"Indeed! Wait."

Lingxiao Zi opened his mouth to speak, by habit, always in such a concise and forceful manner.

Thus, they all stood idly at the cloud head tens of thousands of miles outside Jiuli Mountain, quietly waiting, and soon, an ethereal, mysterious dragon’s roar resounded!

Shen Mo glanced down to see the waves of the Hidden Dragon River surging violently and a fierce and terrifying aura rippling forth, prompting him to instinctively prepare for defense.

In the next instant, a True Dragon, shrouded in mysterious light, soared into the sky, transforming into a handsome man in splendid imperial attire in the Ninth Heaven...

"Seventh-order True Dragon!" Shen Mo was slightly amazed at heart.

There has always been a rumor on Phoenix Continent that within the Hidden Dragon River, there exists a seventh-order True Dragon among the True Dragon Clan, comparable to a True Immortal, though wandering the four seas, but no one could provide solid evidence.

And recently, after the Longevity Demon Lord injured Ao Hua and took the Thunder Dragon Pearl from his Water Mansion, there was no sign of a seventh-order True Dragon appearing, so even Shen Mo thought it unlikely that a seventh-order True Dragon was actually stationed in the Hidden Dragon River!

Now, seeing Ao Tianhao this dragon in person, indeed surprises him somewhat.

Ao Hua and Ao Kang, the two True Dragons, immediately bowed reverently towards the handsome man in the Ninth Heaven, simultaneously transmitting a sound to introduce his identity to Shen Mo and others.

This seventh-order True Dragon named Taiao Tianhao, also hailing from the Hidden Dragon River, but unrelated to Ao Hua and Ao Kang by bloodline; this time, Ao Hua reportedly spent all his wealth to invite him out, intending to curb the Earth Immortal Jiuli Dark Lord!

Upon hearing the explanation from Ao Hua and his brother, Shen Mo, Ning Qingnv, and the others cannot help but feel even more puzzled.

"If there truly exists a seventh-order True Dragon comparable to an Immortal within the Hidden Dragon River, why did this senior Ao Tianhao not intervene when the Longevity Demon Lord seized the Thunder Dragon Pearl? Given Longevity Demon Lord’s state of cultivation, he ought to know, but after taking the Thunder Dragon Pearl, why didn’t he leave the Phoenix Continent but instead stayed at the source of the Hidden Dragon River?"

"Our True Dragon Clan has a mortal enemy in the Immortal Realm, and every True Dragon expert, upon advancing to the seventh Dao Realm, leaves the ancestral grounds, embarking on a path of conquest. Senior Ao Tianhao had not returned to Phoenix Continent for over twenty thousand years! It was the Longevity Demon Lord’s fate to suffer this death tribulation, and by chance, after he took the Thunder Dragon Pearl, Senior Ao Tianhao happened to return to the Hidden Dragon River."

"..."