Chapter 1321: Unfathomable and Sinister

In the Middle Earth Immortal Domain, the South Sea.

On an immortal domain landmass called Nanzhan Continent, the extreme south is a coastal mountain range stretching hundreds of thousands of miles, within which are distributed ninety-eight terrestrial volcanic veins, all active volcanoes.

These active volcanoes, almost every hundred years, have one or two that erupt, each time attracting countless rogue cultivators and numerous small to medium-sized immortal sects from the Nanzhan Continent to come and watch.

These people are not idle just to see this grand spectacle, but to try their luck, hoping to find a spiritual material called 'Fire Refining Stone' from the magma ejected by the volcanic eruptions.

In previous years, the Heavenly Court turned a blind eye to such matters, allowing them to rely on luck to obtain immortal opportunities, but this year the situation was somewhat different.

Although it was predicted that seventeen active volcanoes would erupt simultaneously, just as the signs of eruption began to show, the immortal envoys from the Town Heaven Tower of Nanzhan Continent intervened, diverting the fire veins into the West Sea, and ultimately no eruption occurred.

The various rogue cultivators and small to medium-sized sects on the continent had no complaints about this, all because the greatest grand gathering in the True Immortal Realm—the 'Bodhi Banquet'—was about to be held.

Among the ninety-eight volcanic mountain ranges of this extreme western land, there was a critically important location of the Heavenly Court—a Yingtian Gate standing at the center of the mountain range.

This Yingtian Gate was the southern gateway from other immortal domains into the Central Earth Immortal Domain, often also called the “Southern Heavenly Gate.” Though referred to as a “gate,” it was in fact a massive teleportation array, housing tens of thousands of large, medium, and small teleportation formations that could connect to the other thirty-five of the thirty-six great domains, simultaneously transporting hundreds of thousands of people.

When the heavenly gate opened wide, it could even establish a spatial passage linking the other thirty-five immortal domains, allowing unrestricted travel between the two realms.

In fact, there were three more such Yingtian Gates, just like the Zhentian Towers, respectively.

The Central Earth Immortal Domain was the core of the True Immortal Realm, comprising nine prefectures and four seas. Each prefecture was a boundless continent, separated from one another by four vast oceans, thus forming the current layout.

Among them, aside from the Heavenly Palace Continent, which lay at the center of the nine prefectures and four seas and was the orthodox seat of the Heavenly Court, there were also the Eastern Victory Continent, the Western He Continent, the Southern Zhan Continent, and the Northern Ju Continent, located within the Eastern, Western, Southern, and Northern Seas respectively.

On each of the four continents stood one Zhentian Tower and one Yingtian Gate.

Each Yingtian Gate was a heavenly gate connecting to other immortal domains, guarded by巡天神将 (Patrolling Heavenly Generals), and each Zhentian Tower was the core stronghold guarding that immortal domain, with Dao Ancestor-level powerhouses stationed there year-round.

As the Bodhi Feast approached, large numbers of cultivators from various immortal domains in the True Immortal Realm had begun to gather toward the Central Earth Immortal Domain. Among them, besides those who had obtained Bodhi tokens and were fortunate enough to participate in that Heavenly Court feast, more people came to witness the splendor of the number one immortal domain in the realm, while also hoping to enjoy the benefits brought by the grand event.

Because although the Bodhi Feast was held on the Heavenly Palace Continent, various medium and small-scale celebrations would also take place on the other continents. At that time, all kinds of rare treasures scattered throughout the True Immortal Realm would gather here, and appraisal and auction events could be seen everywhere.

Which cultivator would not want to take this opportunity to feast their eyes and try to profit from it?

However, to welcome this eternal grand event, the Heavenly Court also bore considerable pressure. After all, by the time the feast officially began, the entire Central Earth Immortal Domain might be flooded with ten or even dozens of times the usual number of cultivators from all realms. No matter how strict the defense, it would be difficult to ensure that no fish slipped through the net.

…

Bark Anti Immortal Domain.

On a snowfield stretching for over a hundred thousand miles, clusters of crimson flames blazed everywhere, like red lotuses blooming across the ground, scarlet and eerie, scorching black marks into the plain originally covered by a blizzard.

A colossal crimson spiritual domain enveloped this desolate snowfield. The snowflakes that continued to fall thickly were instantly evaporated by the rolling heat upon entering the domain space, unable to reach the already scarred earth.

In the center of the snowfield, within a massive pit tens of thousands of zhang in circumference, lay the body of a demonic cultivator clad in bronze armor, with only half of his head remaining. From the golden blood flowing from his body, one could tell that his cultivation base had been considerable in life.

From the remaining half of his head, one could still discern his original wolf-dog visage, though it appeared too ferocious and bloody.

In fact, this man was the ancestor of the Ten Thousand Demon Cave, the largest demonic cultivation sect in the Barking Rebellion Immortal Domain, at the late-stage Da Luo realm.

He had originally been prepared to take several of his personal disciples to the Central Earth Immortal Domain to attend the Bodhi Banquet, but on the way to the teleportation formation, he was ambushed here.

He himself barely managed to keep a complete corpse, while the other disciples were utterly annihilated, leaving nothing behind.

With a dull thud, "Bang!"

A tall, bare-chested man jumped down from the edge of the giant pit, landing beside the demonic cultivator's mutilated corpse.

He had shoulder-length red curly hair, casually scattered down. His angular face was as calm as water, revealing no trace of emotion. On his exposed skin, streaks of fiery cloud-like red spots flickered on and off, and the scorching aura emanating from within made the surrounding void warp slightly from the heat.

He bent down, picked up a Bodhi Token from beside the demon cultivator, rubbed off the bloodstains, let out a sneer, and casually tossed it behind him out of the pit.

At the edge of the giant pit, a woman in a black skirt holding a silk umbrella reached out and caught it, glanced at it briefly, and put it away.

The woman had a graceful figure, skin as white as mutton-fat jade, and a face of flawless beauty. By all accounts, she should have been an exceptionally rare beauty, but the long hair hanging over her forehead covered half of her cheek, revealing a corner where obvious fish-scale scars could be seen.

"Yanzhuo, you've killed the man and taken the goods. We can leave now. According to the Hall Master's instructions, this Rongquan was merely an optional kill, but that Tongqiu Zhenren is the one we must eliminate." The woman's voice was very pleasant as she spoke.

"I know." The red-haired man replied, but still took a storage bracelet from Rongquan's arm, then leaped up and flew out of the deep pit.

"Sometimes your temper is really stubborn, insisting on coming here." The woman glanced at the red-haired man and sighed lightly.

"Killing him also serves as a warning to Tongqiu. He probably won't head straight to the Central Immortal Domain now. But that's fine, saves us the trouble of tracking him on the road. It's more satisfying to storm the mountain gate directly. Xuan Yu, you can ignore the sect disciples, but the Ancestral Hall must be wiped out to the last." Yanzhuo said.

"I only care about taking Tongqiu's head. Do as you please with the rest. The Hall Master said this is the first time all eight of us Reincarnation Sons have been deployed together, so the bigger the commotion, the better." The woman called Xuan Yu said casually.

"I know." Yanzhuo said expressionlessly.

"Let's go." Xuan Yu said.

With that, the two leaped up and flew side by side into the sky, disappearing from sight.

The spiritual domain that had shrouded this wilderness also vanished, and the heavy snow fell again, covering the vast land in a blanket of white.

Such ambushes on the road and assassinations within sects were playing out, overtly or covertly, across many immortal domains in the True Immortal Realm. Some succeeded, some failed, but in the end, more of the targeted were killed.

Yet, for some reason, such events—where a top powerhouse of a major immortal domain died in the wilderness overnight—would normally shake the entire domain, but now they were like stones thrown into the sea, barely stirring a ripple.

Most immortal domains were still immersed in the lively atmosphere of the "Bodhi Banquet," but beneath the excitement, undercurrents were already surging, and the situation was becoming treacherous.

……

Meanwhile.

In an unknown forbidden zone of an immortal domain, there was a huge gourd-shaped canyon filled with miasma, littered with corpses and filled with ghostly fires.

From the canyon entrance inward, scattered bones of various humans and animals could be seen everywhere, including remains of ordinary forest beasts, powerful demonic beasts, and even many immortal cultivators. Some skeletons still exuded a fierce aura.

Deeper in the valley, the miasma grew thicker, and faint sounds of "bang bang bang" could be heard.

Through the thick fog, a pretty young girl in a goose-yellow dress was sitting cross-legged on a huge, jagged rock, chewing on a blade of grass.

The girl was none other than Gold Devourer, who had left Han Li and traveled here alone.

At the moment, she was holding a long bone from some unknown demon beast, tapping it against the rock beneath her.

"Hey, I've been looking for you for so long. Hiding all the time is no solution. You're the last Da Luo-level Devourer Metal in the entire True Immortal Realm besides me. Once I devour you, restoring our Dao Ancestor positions is within reach. Don't you want revenge? Do you want to hide here forever? Haven't you had enough of eating garbage all these years?" Gold Devourer said.

The huge rock remained motionless, and apart from the "bang bang" sounds, there was no response in the valley.

"Since you refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit, fine... I'll grant your wish." Gold Devourer spat the blade of grass aside, her eyes glinting.

As her words fell, she suddenly leaped into the air, and the long bone in her hand, like a dog-beating stick, was thrown down like a javelin, wrapped in a force of wind and thunder, smashing directly into the huge rock.

With a thunderous "boom," the jagged rock burst apart, shattering into powder.

A beam of golden light shot out from within, and a giant golden beetle spread its wings and flew out, charging straight into the sky.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Gold Devourer shouted softly, leaped into the air, and also burst into golden light, revealing her true form, and began to fight with the Devourer Metal, whose aura was no weaker than hers.

The void trembled violently, golden law radiance intertwined with black spatial rifts, turning an area of hundreds of thousands of miles into a battlefield. For the time being, it was hard to determine who would live or die.