Cultivation Begins From The Desert-Chapter 753 - 736: 800 Years Later!

"What does Fellow Daoist Zhou think? Is the scenery of this Chixia Mountain pleasing to your eyes?"

Amidst the Wilderness Jungle, atop a magnificently grand red mountain, the "Vermilion Bird Demon King" Zhu Zizhen and Zhouyang sat on a stone platform at the summit, sipping tea and admiring the picturesque landscape below.

"It is indeed a pristine Immortal Mountain, quite different from the demon king grotto heavens I've seen elsewhere."

Zhouyang casually agreed with Zhu Zizhen's words, but his gaze was somewhat evasive, appearing absent-minded.

Noticing this, Zhu Zizhen's expression slightly tensed, her phoenix eyes narrowing slightly as she straightforwardly said, "Fellow Daoist Zhou seems a bit distracted. Could it be that my hospitality has not satisfied you?"

Hearing this, Zhouyang immediately came to his senses, quickly waving his hand to explain, "No, Elder Zhu, you've misunderstood. My distraction has nothing to do with your hospitality; it's just that there's something on my mind."

"Oh, with your current cultivation strength and connections, is there really something you cannot resolve?"

A gleam of interest flashed in Zhu Zizhen's eyes, and she looked at him with curiosity, asking, "Would you mind sharing, Fellow Daoist Zhou?"

"It's nothing that cannot be spoken of. Since Elder Zhu is also cultivating in the Wilderness Jungle, perhaps you could offer me some guidance."

As he spoke, Zhouyang recounted the entire story of how he had escorted Jiang Fengxian and her daughter to the Celestial Phoenix Race, and how they went missing, without omitting any details.

After learning the full details from Grand Elder Qing Lan of the Celestial Phoenix Race, he realized that with his current cultivation strength, he could not continue investigating the matter. Consequently, he returned the way he came and then headed towards the underground magma sea's grotto heaven, before being invited by Zhu Zizhen to her true grotto heaven as a guest.

Yet this matter remained on his mind, unable to be forgotten.

Upon hearing his account, Zhu Zizhen first frowned her willowy eyebrows, seemingly pondering something. After a while, as if having contemplated well, she looked at Zhouyang with a crisp voice and said:

"I have also heard of the Realm of Ten Thousand Spirits. Several demon kings who have cultivated in the Wilderness Jungle for a long time have entered it before. I happen to have some acquaintanceship with one such demon king, and I might be able to ask about this matter on your behalf."

After saying this, she shook her head slightly and straightforwardly said, "But forgive me for being blunt, Fellow Daoist Zhou, if you plan to force your way into the secret realm, unless you have crossed the celestial tribulation and become a true immortal, there is no way you can emerge safely. The true strength of several major Barbaric Alien Races like the Cyan Li Race might not even be weaker than the Dragon Taming Clan!"

Compared to Zhouyang, who had been cultivating in the Wilderness Jungle for a long time, she was evidently more aware of the strength of the most powerful tribes among the Barbaric Alien Races.

Although there were many demon kings with strength comparable to hers in the Wilderness Jungle, the most recognized powerful forces remained the Barbaric Alien Races, demonstrating their might.

"I naturally understand the difficulty of forcing into the secret realm, which is why I have not dared to act rashly!"

Zhouyang sighed and nodded, expressing his agreement with Zhu Zizhen's words.

Then he looked at Zhu Zizhen with an expectant gaze and asked, "Elder Zhu, you are knowledgeable. In your opinion, is what the Celestial Phoenix Race's Grand Elder said about the cause of the Realm of Ten Thousand Spirits' drastic change true?"

This "knowledgeable" was not just a polite phrase.

Given Zhu Zizhen's background, she truly deserved this praise.

Zhouyang had learned only after specifically inquiring with Master Cyan Yang that Zhu Zizhen, aside from being a demon king, was also a member of the Spirit Realm's most powerful demon force, the Demon Saint Palace.

The Demon Saint Palace is a demon force established since ancient times, and its palace master, the Red Abyss Spirit Saint, is an ancient existence who participated in the Immortal-Demon War, making it the oldest and most powerful presence in the Spirit Realm.

Although this existence has not appeared publicly for tens of thousands of years, those top-tier demon kings all claim it is still alive, and none of the Human Race's Tribulation Crossing True Immortals deny this point.

As the most powerful force of the Demon Race, although the number of members in the Demon Saint Palace is extremely rare, each member is a Tier Six Demon King, and only those demon kings with great potential to become Tier Seven True Spirits can be absorbed into it.

Naturally, as a strong force established and passed down since ancient times, the Demon Saint Palace is rich in records of ancient secrets, no less impressive than the Great Brightness Immortal Palace, a Human Race force of similar ancient heritage and perhaps even stronger.

As a formal member of the Demon Saint Palace, Zhu Zizhen certainly had the qualification to read those ancient secret information.

"In ancient times, a Great Power indeed descended a clone into this world, but the main body descending into this world should be impossible, as the Heavenly Dao Will of the world will not tolerate the existence of power exceeding its limits entering this realm!"

"However, the Realm of Ten Thousand Spirits itself is a Pocket World. Although it exists attached to this realm, it is, after all, a semi-independent world. Whether the Heavenly Dao Will of this world can monitor the inside situation promptly, even I can't be sure, and I guess even those Tribulation Crossing True Immortals might not know."

"With the divine technique of a Great Power from the Upper Realm, it might not be impossible to create a secret technique to bypass this."

Zhu Zizhen's answer was somewhat ambiguous, seemingly answering Zhouyang's question but not actually resolving his doubts, unable to give him a definitive answer.

"The descension of a Great Power's clone, as Elder Zhu mentioned, I have already witnessed when I was in the Beiting Continent's cultivation realm. Although the clone of a True Demon Realm's Great Power was formidable, it was mainly its divine techniques; the magical power itself was not overwhelmingly incredible."

Zhouyang calmly spoke of his past experiences, then mused thoughtfully, saying, "But the latter explanation indeed makes sense and resolves some of my doubts. I might know what to do now!"

He had thought of his master, Master Donglai, or rather, now it should be True Monarch Donglai.

True Monarch Donglai had given him a long-term mission, which was to extract the Innate Spiritual Object, Innate Five Elements Jade, buried beneath the Boundless Desert Sea, and then use the transmitted magic technique to send it to the True Immortal Realm.

Since things can be transmitted to the True Immortal Realm, communicating across realms with True Monarch Donglai again would not be difficult.

Perhaps he could ask True Monarch Donglai about Jiang Fengxian and her daughter then and see how the other party perceives this matter.

"It's good that Fellow Daoist Zhou knows what to do."

Zhu Zizhen nodded slightly, not delving deeply into Zhouyang's thoughts, handling the situation tactfully.

Then she picked up a cup of Spirit Tea beside her and took a gentle sip, softly saying, "Regardless of what you intend to do, Fellow Daoist Zhou, your own cultivation strength should be the priority. This time I invited you to my grotto heaven to thank you for the kindness of gifting the Vermilion Bird Fan and wish to repay you with something greatly beneficial to your cultivation growth!"

After speaking, she made a slight hand motion, and suddenly a crimson flame flew up from the mountainside, landing on her shoulder, revealing itself as a small crimson bird the size of a fist.

"Transformation Elixir!"

Zhouyang looked at the small bird on Zhu Zizhen's shoulder in surprise, involuntarily blurting out its true identity.

Chirping!

Startled by Zhouyang's voice, the small crimson bird, which resembled a sparrow, cried out sharply at him, full of spirit.

"Redbrow has been with me for over twelve hundred years. Its true form is a Red Fire Ginseng that's over thirty thousand years old, and its transformation occurred over ten thousand years ago, yet due to its roots being limited, it has almost no connection to the Great Dao!"

"As it lacks a connection to the Great Dao, Redbrow stores the spiritual qi it absorbs and exhales in the ginseng fruit formed by its true form. Every five hundred years, it can produce one Red Ginseng Fruit equivalent to a Tier Six Middle-grade Spirit Elixir. The spiritual qi inside this fruit is refined by Redbrow's true form, making it more suitable for cultivators to refine and absorb than any spirit elixir. A single spirit fruit can enhance an Early-Stage Nascent Soul cultivator's cultivation by seventy to eighty years!"

"Currently, there are still two mature ginseng fruits on Redbrow's true form that have not been picked. This item has little effect on me now, so I shall present it to Fellow Daoist Zhou as a token of my gratitude!"

Zhu Zizhen gently raised her jade hand, allowing the tiny red bird to perch on it. While soothingly stroking the bird's feathers, she softly explained to Zhouyang the origin of this red bird.

Zhouyang had long heard the various legends of "transformed spiritual medicine." Back on Donglai Immortal Island, the incident where two transformed spiritual medicines were destroyed by Old Demon Mu Qingyun was a memory that pained him greatly every time he thought of it.

Upon hearing Zhu Zizhen mention the origin and role of the red bird in her hand, his gaze at the bird instantly became fervent.

"Elder Zhu truly has great fortune!"

He sighed with envy, then stood up and cupped his hands toward Zhu Zizhen, saying, "I am grateful for Elder's kindness and ashamed to accept it."

At this moment, he indeed needed such a cultivation-enhancing spiritual object, and Zhu Zizhen's gift left him with no reason to refuse.

Seeing this, Zhu Zizhen nodded slightly, accepting his gratitude, and then gently instructed the red bird in her hand, "Redbrow, be good, go and pick two ginseng fruits for Fellow Daoist Zhou."

Chirp, chirp!

The red bird chirped a few times unwillingly, and after glaring fiercely at Zhouyang, it transformed into a streak of firelight and flew towards a certain part of the mountain.

Shortly after, it returned with two chicken egg-sized crimson purple spirit fruits in its claws.

Zhu Zizhen opened her jade hand to retrieve the spirit fruits from the red bird's claws and handed them to Zhouyang, softly saying, "Once these ginseng fruits are picked, they can only be preserved for ten years at most. Fellow Daoist Zhou must consume and refine them in time to avoid wasting Redbrow's painstaking efforts!"

"I understand, thank you, Elder Zhu, for the treasure."

Zhouyang solemnly accepted the spirit fruits and placed them securely in a jade box, expressing his gratitude once more.

After this, he did not linger long in Zhu Zizhen's grotto mansion and soon bid farewell, heading to the underground magma sea cave mansion to go into seclusion.

The underground magma sea cave mansion had been occupied for cultivation by Zhu Zizhen for many years, and its current state was vastly different from when Zhouyang first visited.

The ruins on the ground had long been cleared, and a magnificent palace had been erected in its place.

To Zhouyang's astonishment, the building materials of this palace were entirely Tier Five Spirit Jade, specifically Thousand-Year Flame Jade.

He had considered himself to be quite wealthy, yet compared to Zhu Zizhen, he realized his fortune wasn't as impressive as he had imagined.

This palace, constructed entirely from Thousand-Year Flame Jade, had further enhanced the already rich and pure fire attribute spiritual qi within the grotto.

After cultivating there for a while, Zhouyang was reluctant to leave.

In terms of cultivation effectiveness, only the Extreme Yang Fire Pool in the Extreme North Icefield could surpass this place, even more so than the immortal cave mansion on Donglai Immortal Island.

Thus, Zhouyang almost forgot time and everything else, soon dedicating himself completely to secluded cultivation within the underground magma sea.

A Nascent Soul cultivator's seclusion could last from several decades to over a century.

This time, Zhouyang's seclusion set a record since he began his cultivation, lasting a full one hundred and forty-five years!

Had it not been for something suddenly changing and awakening him, he might have continued his seclusion.

"Has eight hundred years passed so quickly?"

In the palace, Zhouyang awoke from his secluded cultivation, gazing at the constantly vibrating Kunxu Token in his hand, his eyes dazed.

The memories of his experiences in the Kunxu Realm eight hundred years ago swiftly flashed through his mind.

Jiang Fengxian, the Poisonous Flood Dragon, the Wood Demon, Lu Xuanji, the mysterious black-robed man... and the disciple of the Great Brightness Immortal Palace left in the Kunxu Realm, Situ Xuan Yue, or Qin Yue'Er.

Within half an hour, Zhouyang recalled all the events from eight hundred years ago, then looked at the vibrating Kunxu Token in his hand, smiling slightly, he infused it with his magical power to activate it.

Just like the situation he experienced eight hundred years ago, upon receiving his magical power, the token immediately released a peculiar silver spiritual light, enveloping him completely, and then his figure vanished from this world.

Even with Zhouyang's present cultivation of the sixth layer of the Nascent Soul stage, he could not maintain any consciousness during the teleportation process.

When he regained consciousness, he once again saw that dark, deep void and the disk-shaped world emitting seven-colored spiritual light within the void.

Compared to his previous entry, this time, thanks to his cultivation advancement, Zhouyang saw some differences when observing the "Linghuan Realm" from within the Kunxu Realm.

To his eyes now, the seven-colored spiritual light emitted by the disk-shaped world was actually formed by some kind of force in the void rubbing against the world barrier protecting the Linghuan Realm, not the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi dissipating as he had previously thought.

As for what the force in the void was called, he did not know, having never read about it in any literature.

After scrutinizing the seven-colored disk-shaped object for a while without any additional findings, Zhouyang withdrew his gaze and began assessing his current location.

He found himself on an island, appearing to be within the waters where the Heaven-Reaching Peak was located. He recalled that there were quite a few such islands in that body of water.

However, with his current cultivation strength, the treasures on Heaven-Reaching Peak evidently did not catch his eye, and there was no need to go there.

As for other places that might yield gains, remember that the Kunxu Realm remains open for three years once it is activated. For him, time was plentiful.

After a brief contemplation, he made a decision.

"Eight hundred years have passed; I wonder if Qin Yue'Er has truly formed her Nascent Soul. I should first go see at the Holy Infant Valley!"