Chapter 1194: Reaching the Great Encompassment Stage
Greater Golden Origin Immortal Region, Nine Origins Temple.
There was an undulating mountain range comprised of hundreds of mountains of different shapes and sizes, and among them was one that wasn't particularly tall, but stood out for its stunning scenery.
The mountain was partially concealed in the clouds with only a section of its lush surface exposed, and there were three majestic waterfalls flowing their way down the mountain like three bands of shimmering rainbow light, presenting a stunning sight to behold.
The sound of ape cries could be heard ringing out incessantly on the mountain, while cranes soared through the air overhead, giving the entire place the appearance of an immortal paradise.
On the mountain summit was a ring-shaped observation deck that extended out of the mountain, upon which stood a middle-aged daoist priest in a dark green daoist robe.
The man had a very upright posture and a square face that didn't bear the most remarkable facial features, but there was an ethereal, glowing quality about him that made it apparent that he was no mortal.
Despite the splendid scenery currently laid out before the daoist priest, his brows were slightly furrowed with concern.
Right at this moment, a thin, azure-robed elderly man arrived on the plaza on the mountain summit, then extended a respectful salute as he greeted, "Disciple Qing Xu pays his respects to Senior Martial Uncle Chun Jun."
The middle-aged daoist priest was known as Daoist Master Chun Jun in the immortal region, and he was the final disciple of the Nine Origins Temple's founding patriarch, so he was a very senior figure both in the sect and in the entire immortal region.
Most importantly, he was also a late-Great Encompassment cultivator, and he was temporarily serving as the abbot of the Nine Origins Temple.
"How did your investigation go?" Daoist Master Chun Jun asked.
"I have determined that the Heaven Controlling Vial has indeed reappeared, and that it's currently in the possession of a man by the name of Han Li," the elderly man replied.
"Han Li?" Daoist Master Chun Jun asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"He's a cultivator who ascended to the Northern Glacial Immortal Region from a lower realm, and he previously stayed in the Blaze Dragon Dao for a very long time," Qing Xu reported.
"All ascended cultivators are generally quite remarkable. Are there any records of him at the Ascension Platforms?" Daoist Master Chun Jun asked.
"I did manage to find some records, but... At the time, he was received by a Stone Ditch Palace cultivator by the name of Gao Sheng, but he intentionally withheld a great deal of information, seemingly intending to recruit Han Li to join the Stone Ditch Palace. However, Han Li didn't become a member of the Stone Ditch Palace. Instead, he disappeared on the way there," Qing Xu replied.
"Oh? What happened?" Daoist Master Chun Jun asked.
"I wasn't able to find out exactly what happened. All I know is that from that point, he disappeared for three hundred years, and he only reappeared in the Heavenly Court's line of sight during the fall of the Blaze Dragon Dao. From there, he's traveled to many immortal regions and engaged in frequent conflicts with the Heavenly Court, but has been able to get away every single time.
“His most notable feat was storming into the lesser Golden Origin Immortal Palace on his own to wipe out a large number of cultivators, including Palace Master Dongfang Bai," Qing Xu replied.
"What's his cultivation base?" Daoist Master Chun Jun asked.
"He's at the pinnacle of the High Zenith Stage," Qing Xu replied.
"Just as I thought, all ascended cultivators are remarkable figures. The fact that he possessed the courage and power to eradicate an entire immortal palace on his own is certainly nothing to scoff at. I'm assuming She Chan also perished by his hands as well, is that right?" Daoist Master Chun Jun asked.
"Prior to the return of Junior Martial Niece Lan Yan, she did report back that She Chan had perished by his hands. After that, Junior Martial Sister Miao Fa had gone after Han Li in person, but he was able to escape again due to Chi Meng's untimely intervention. From there, he's disappeared once again, and we are currently unaware of his whereabouts," Qing Xu replied.
Daoist Master Chun Jun's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he said, "Recovering the Heaven Controlling Vial is an extremely important matter for our Nine Origins Temple, so this matter must be taken seriously."
"At the moment, Junior Martial Sister Miao Fa is still searching for him, and a third of all of our Nine Origins Temple's spies have been sent out for that cause as well, so it should only be a matter of time before we track him down," Qing Xu replied.
"Right now, many signs of unrest are beginning to arise in the Immortal Realm. The immortal regions under our jurisdiction have also been far from peaceful, particularly the Heavenly Star Immortal Region and the Shared Fate Immortal Region. Even my two senior martial brothers have been forced to travel to those immortal regions to quell the unrest there.
“With Miao Fa also absent, there are only three holy envoys left in the palace, and half of the eight saints are also out on various missions. At a time like this, we must be extra vigilant to ensure that nothing disturbs the patriarchs from their seclusion," Daoist Master Chun Jun sighed.
"Rest assured, Senior Martial Uncle, no one would dare to cause trouble in our Golden Origin Immortal Region," Qing Xu replied.
"By the way, how is that Gold Devouring Immortal doing?" Daoist Master Chun Jun asked.
"Initially, she was very lively and difficult to deal with, but she's become a lot more docile now. It seems like she's already grown accustomed to living in our temple," Qing Xu replied with a faint smile.
"Our master examined her last time and told us that she's no ordinary Gold Devouring Immortal, and it's clear that he’s taken a liking to her. Hence, there's a chance that he won't offer her up as a gift during the Bodhi Banquet, so I'll have to trouble you to prepare a few backup gifts," Daoist Master Chun Jun said, and Qing Xu gave an affirmative response.
......
In the primordial land.
High up in the sky above a misty mountain range, bolts of five-colored lightning were flashing and rumbling incessantly.
The clouds in the sky were being stirred up by a burst of tremendous force, forming a massive tornado of cloud and mist that funneled its way straight into a mountain in the mountain range.
Inside a cave abode that had only been recently carved out into the mountain, a handsome young boy and a silver fire raven were both looking around in alarm as immense torrents of the world's origin qi converged from all directions to surge into a door of silver light before them.
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Xiaobai turned to the silver fire raven with a stunned expression, and the latter also took on its human form before nodding excitedly at Xiaobai.
"He's about to make a breakthrough after just twenty years! This is incredible!" Xiaobai exclaimed as he clapped his hands together in a joyful manner.
An unfathomably vast volume of the world's origin qi was gushing into the door of silver light, releasing such powerful energy fluctuations that the two of them had been forced to retreat far away.
Meanwhile, the enormous influx of the world's origin qi was testing the entire Flower Branch domain to its limits, and all of the spirit bamboo trees in the entire domain were absorbing the world's origin qi with all their might before distributing it throughout the domain through their root systems.
The newly constructed bamboo pavilion had grown three feet taller, as if it were a living being, and many of the spirit plants in the spirit medicine garden were also enjoying a period of rapid growth thanks to the extreme overabundance of spiritual qi.
Even the Twin Birth Tree, which had always been growing very slowly, was displaying a very encouraging rate of growth.
All of the water in the pond in front of the former bamboo pavilion was bubbling and churning incessantly, and the surface of the pond was filled with forty-nine golden lotus flowers that were in full bloom.
All of these changes had been brought by only a tiny portion of the world's origin qi that had entered the domain, while the majority of it was surging into the bamboo pavilion, which was trembling and swaying violently, but somehow managed to remain standing.
At this moment, the entire pavilion was glowing radiantly, and Han Li was seated inside with his entire body enshrouded in a layer of five-colored light.
All of his golden meridians were clearly visible through his translucent, jade-like skin, while his nascent soul was also seated with its legs crossed in his dantian.
The world's origin qi surging into the pavilion was rapidly flowing into his body, and while only twenty years had passed for Xiaobai, over two thousand years had already transpired for Han Li thanks to the Celestial Time Array.
Following the past two thousand years of tireless cultivation, he was finally able to establish a state of perfect equilibrium between his five time-attribute law treasures, and that was the moment that he successfully reached the Great Encompassment Stage.
All of a sudden, his eyes sprang open, and two beams of blinding golden light shot out of his pupils, while all of the lingering world's origin qi around him was sucked into his body at once.
All of his immortal acupoints were glowing radiantly, while a faint river of light suddenly appeared in the air above the bamboo pavilion.
Han Li slowly rose to his feet as he took a deep breath, and his senses had become unprecedentedly sharp, allowing him to observe every single one of the minute details in the space around him.