Five Immortal Sects-Chapter 155: Two Gifts

Having lost three drops of its origin power, Pingtu's strength was severely diminished, and it soon fell into a deep slumber.

Meanwhile, the cultivators within this secret realm continued their endless cycle of cultivation, day after day, year after year. Slowly, these individuals began to notice a difference: they hadn't seen the True Monarch with unfathomable spiritual power and a penchant for slaughter in a very long time.

Even his disciple, who had occasionally appeared, had not been seen for a long time. Upon realizing this, they observed for a period, and then, some daring individuals began to attempt crossing the previously designated boundaries.

Their initial attempts involved using the demonic beasts they raised, fearing the True Monarch's thunderous wrath if he were truly still present. This way, they would have an excuse, claiming their demonic beasts had inadvertently broken free and escaped, assuming the True Monarch's anger would be within a tolerable range.

After several times of demonic beasts "escaping" the designated area and living leisurely for a period, this further confirmed their suspicions. Their courage grew, and they began to send their disciples little by little into the forbidden zone under the pretext of capturing escaped demonic beasts.

However, no one appeared to stop them. The cultivators of the various sects began to tacitly expand their territories and continuously brought in more disciples from the outside.

While expanding their territories, they extensively raised demonic beasts, breaking through one restriction after another, establishing one cave abode and cultivation sect after another.

At that time, Pingtu was deep in a long slumber, completely unaware of all this.

Yet, there were two places in this secret realm that those cultivators had always been unable to breach. No matter how much their cultivation improved, even if some later cultivated to the Void Refinement stage, which shouldn't exist in the mortal realm, they still couldn't open them.

These were the Wheel of Life and Death and True Monarch Qianchong's cave abode!

Thus, time passed in millennia, until one day, Pingtu temporarily awoke from its slumber. When its divine sense swept across the secret realm, it witnessed a sight that left it disbelieving.

For a moment, it was filled with shock and fury. Apart from the True Monarch's cave abode and the Wheel of Life and Death, the rest of this secret realm had become a cultivation ground teeming with sects.

Moreover, the passages between the secret realm and the mortal world had increased from one to ten, causing the spiritual qi here to dissipate more rapidly. The outer perimeters of True Monarch Qianchong's cave abode and the Wheel of Life and Death had been designated into three major regions.

These were occupied by two top-tier sects and one top-tier cultivation family, with countless smaller dependent sects densely packed around them.

And outside the Wheel of Life and Death and True Monarch Qianchong's cave abode, various array flags and array artifacts were strewn about. Clearly, these three super-forces had been attacking these two locations for a long time. Some outer restrictions had already been breached by them, and if this continued, these two places would eventually be opened.

In its immense rage, Pingtu's killing intent arose. It was a murderous weapon that had followed True Monarch Qianchong for hundreds of thousands of years, and its killing intent was inherently profound. Seeing its master's secret realm defiled by these ants, who even dared to attempt to occupy its master's cave abode, filled it with boundless fury.

Disregarding its temporarily awakened state, it immediately launched a great massacre.

First, Pingtu thoroughly destroyed all ten external passages, thereby cutting off these individuals' retreat and preventing a continuous stream of reinforcements from entering.

It knew that its strength had greatly diminished after losing three drops of origin power, equivalent only to a late-stage Soul Transformation human cultivator. Therefore, its first move was to sever all escape routes and support.

Pingtu's strike initiated a cataclysmic battle. For a time, corpses lay strewn across the secret realm, blood flowed like rivers, turning the entire secret realm into a confined slaughterhouse.

But shortly after, it encountered five top-tier human cultivators. Under the nourishment of the secret realm in earlier times, each of them had reached the Void Refinement Realm.

Facing Pingtu's sudden internal sneak attack, the five were enraged. In an instant, only two or three tenths of the human cultivators here remained after Pingtu's sudden assault.

These five Void Refinement cultivators jointly besieged Pingtu. Each of them was stronger than Pingtu at that time, so Pingtu was at a disadvantage. But it forcibly withstood their attacks, leaving the five Void Refinement cultivators aghast with terror.

The battle between the two sides caused immense changes in the secret realm's heaven and earth. For a time, the sky and ground changed color, fierce winds raged, countless mountains collapsed, rivers flowed backward, vast forests were leveled, and stretches of flat ground became bottomless abysses.

The five cultivators' cultivation levels were all one major realm higher than Pingtu's. After a fierce struggle, the continuously solidifying "Five Elements Dao Malice Orb" was also riddled with holes. If not for the "Five Elements Dao Malice Orb" being made of the finest materials in this world, it would have long since collapsed and dissipated.

Pingtu, leveraging the boundless might of the "Five Elements Dao Malice Orb," managed to preserve its artifact spirit body from being utterly shattered. This only intensified Pingtu's ferocity.

Disregarding the risk of eternal annihilation for an artifact spirit, in a fit of savage rage, it instantly self-detonated a drop of its origin power. This brought about an immediate apocalypse within the secret realm.

The secret realm began to collapse on a large scale, with gale-force winds and turbulent currents sweeping in. The secret realm was instantly filled with chaotic currents, and spatial rifts, like flashes of lightning, constantly appeared.

Everything within the vicinity of the spatial rifts was instantly devoured, leaving no trace. The self-detonation of one drop of origin power completely destroyed two-thirds of the secret realm, and the remaining space was on the verge of collapse.

The self-detonation of that drop of origin power instantly killed two Void Refinement cultivators and countless disciples, leaving only one-tenth of the original number of cultivators here. The three remaining Void Refinement cultivators were all severely wounded. Facing such a fierce artifact spirit, they were terrified and also held a deep hatred for Pingtu.

At that time, Pingtu's cultivation was about to plummet again. Unless it ignited its last drop of origin power, causing the final portion of the secret realm space to completely collapse, along with everything within, it would be powerless to fight further.

In its fierce outburst, Pingtu no longer cared about the consequences of its eternal annihilation. With a sinister laugh, it actually unleashed its last drop of origin power again. This action sent shivers down the spines of the three Void Refinement cultivators, terrifying them to their very souls.

However, all their escape routes had already been destroyed by Pingtu. In their final desperation, the three, along with the few remaining survivors, actually fled into the collapsing spatial rifts.

In such a place, if they were lucky, they might temporarily survive. If their luck was extremely poor, they would be instantly killed by the turbulent currents within the spatial rifts, ground into nothingness, not even a speck of dust remaining. But given their caliber, there was at least a slim chance of survival.

Pingtu saw that the human cultivators had actually chosen to hide in the spatial rifts. In its condition, it was naturally unable to pursue further. It then withdrew its last drop of origin power.

Gathering the remaining origin power from its self-detonation earlier, and leveraging its knowledge of space gained from following True Monarch Qianchong, it sealed all the spatial rifts one by one. It then used great spiritual power to condense the remaining one-third fragment of the secret realm into a small space.

Then, it placed countless restrictions around the space, thus preserving this last fragment of the secret realm from collapsing and disappearing. This fragment of the secret realm then severed all contact with the outside world.

After sealing the last fragment of the secret realm, Pingtu fell into a deep slumber. It was extremely weak, and this sleep lasted for endless ages.

Meanwhile, some of the low-level demonic beasts that the original cultivators of this secret realm had kept, surprisingly and slowly developed sentience by relying on the two remaining supreme-grade spiritual veins here. Subsequently, they grew increasingly powerful, eventually becoming the masters of this place.

And the various resources within the secret realm became the demonic beasts' required cultivation resources. In the end, they even discovered the Wheel of Life and Death.

Because Pingtu had used its last remaining strength to reinforce the seal on True Monarch Qianchong's cave abode before falling into slumber, it was unable to activate the outer restrictions of the Wheel of Life and Death. Consequently, that place became a site for others' training and trials.

Pingtu had already fallen into a deep slumber. Everything that occurred within the Wheel of Life and Death operated autonomously based on the rules True Monarch Qianchong had originally set, until Li Yan entered the Wheel of Life and Death this time. The unique aura of the Five Immortals Sect on him caused the slumbering Pingtu to slowly awaken.

This was also possible because Li Yan had entered the main body of the "Five Elements Dao Malice Orb," resonating with Pingtu. Otherwise, if Li Yan had merely stayed in the secret realm and not entered the Wheel of Life and Death, Pingtu would have continued its slumber.

Li Yan listened silently as Pingtu calmly recounted all this, his heart filled with a mixture of emotions. He hadn't expected the Five Immortals Sect's survival to be so difficult, with only a few members in a sect. It was a stark contrast to the tens of thousands of disciples in a sect like the Wraith Sect, making them seem utterly destitute. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"The source of the treasures in the secret realm turns out to be this way: it was originally a series of cave abodes established by cultivators who betrayed the Five Immortals Sect. But tragically, the ultimate masters of this place were not them, but the low-level demonic beasts they raised."

"Senior, you brought this junior here. Is there something you require of me?"

Li Yan looked up at Pingtu. Although the middle-aged man before him was merely an artifact spirit, and the form appearing here might not even be its true artifact spirit body, but very likely just a wisp of divine sense that transformed, he still remained extremely respectful.

Even though this individual's strength had significantly declined, he was still a truly formidable and peerless weapon. Moreover, Pingtu's profound affection for the Five Immortals Sect alone merited Li Yan's respect.

Although Li Yan had joined the Wraith Sect and the Little Bamboo Peak lineage had treated him quite well, apart from some basic immortal arts, all his learning came from the Guishui Immortal Sect. Even his Fractured Poison Body was a result of a mutation within the Guishui True Scripture.

It was precisely the Five Immortals Sect's cultivation methods that allowed him to survive against Strategist Ji. From the depths of his being, he naturally considered himself a member of the Guishui Immortal Sect, but at the same time, he would not deny the Wraith Sect's role in nurturing him.

"Hehehe… I already told you, your arrival here will bring you a great fortune. But this is not given by me; it is bestowed by the Five Immortals Sect. The five immortal sects have been connected by the same spirit since ancient times. Their cultivation methods are similar, and they are closely related to each other; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they are one sect.

"Therefore, although the five sects each have their own branch, they made an agreement long ago: any time they first encounter a disciple of another sect below the Soul Transformation stage, they will present two great gifts.

"Hence, after True Monarch Qianchong established the secret realm, he left some contingencies to ensure that if members of the other four immortal sects arrived here in the future, they would not break faith.

"Firstly, a spatial magic treasure is bestowed; secondly, a round prism crystal is granted.

"The precious storage magic treasure given to you is a supreme-grade spatial magic treasure. Its internal space can store living beings, far beyond what your spirit-storage bags can compare to. It can also be used for spirit beasts.

"The size of its internal space will gradually change as your cultivation increases. When you one day comprehend the spatial intent, you can even create a small world within it yourself, this is its most precious aspect.

"Due to the Five Immortals Sect having too few disciples, they have this opportunity to obtain such supreme-grade magic treasures. Otherwise, the raw materials alone for refining a supreme-grade magic treasure are more than one sect could bear.

"At the same time, when you one day reach the mid-Unity stage, you must also go to the Jing Nie Domain in the outer starry sky to obtain a few grains of chaos earth and refine them into a similar magic treasure to be placed back in the sect, to be given to other four-sect or in-sect fated individuals.

"Therefore, you must sign a 'Blood Vow Curse' with your blood. As for the final round prism crystal, it is a teleportation talisman to and from this secret realm, but the distance between the two cannot exceed ten thousand li. The place you arrive at in the future will be this very secret chamber."

Pingtu finished speaking and looked at Li Yan, whose mouth was wide open, his eyes filled with shock and ecstatic joy.

All of Li Yan's expressions fell into Pingtu's eyes, and it was not surprised.

If such an opportunity were to appear outside, it could be said that even Nascent Soul grand old monsters would disregard their lives, even if it meant stirring up endless bloody slaughter, they would still seize it.

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