Chapter 522: Chapter 428: Demon Subjugation in the Lower Realm

Within the Hall of Gathering Immortals, mist swirled like congealed fat.

The "Four Elephants Immortal Table" at the center of the hall was carved from a single piece of celadon immortal jade, exuding a gentle yet imposing pressure.

At this moment, four figures sat around the table, namely the four Heavenly Immortals of the Bright Light Realm—White Cloud Celestial Immortal, Purple Cloud Daoist, Sky Mending Daoist, and Jade Truth Daoist.

In recent years, after that Lower Realm Sword Cultivator caused havoc in the Heavenly Court and slew several Immortal Kings and Lords, the higher positions in the court were left vacant, prompting all the Heavenly Immortals to redouble their efforts in secluded cultivation.

The four were naturally no exception, typically spending time in their own abodes in arduous cultivation, hoping to break through to the Immortal King Realm.

This gathering was a rarity, occurring only once in several centuries.

White Cloud Celestial Immortal sat upright in the east, clad in a moon white Daoist robe, the corners embroidered with flowing cloud immortal cranes, his graceful appearance unable to conceal the gravity in his brows.

He broke the silence in the hall by speaking:

"Fellow Daoists, I have invited you here today for one person—Heaven-Cutting Daoist from the side sect."

"This individual has risen too quickly, advancing from a Tier Nine Celestial Soldier to a Celestial Captain of the Heavenly River in just a little over a century, at the peak of Profound Immortal Cultivation, and even gaining favor from the Immortal King of the Heavenly River. What do you all think we should do?"

From the western seat, Purple Cloud Daoist lightly waved a feather fan, purple clouds flowing across its surface, casting reflections that continuously changed his expression.

Upon hearing this, he sneered:

"Favored by the Immortal King, a Celestial Captain of the Heavenly River, and even comprehending top-level Dao Principles within just a hundred years, our Bright Light Realm truly has talents galore!"

Sky Mending Daoist in the north suddenly slapped the table with anger:

"A genius? Even if a genius, they should be nipped in the bud!"

"White Cloud Daoist, your sect oversees the monitoring of ascension cultivators in the Bright Light Realm, so why was this individual allowed to rise unchallenged?"

An intense look flashed in his eyes: "This person comes from a side sect, if he becomes a Heavenly Immortal in the future, our four sects’ influence and authority will be greatly diminished!"

White Cloud Celestial Immortal’s face darkened slightly, but he remained unangered, merely flicking his finger to send a green-white jade scroll floating to the center of the table, suspended in the halo of four-colored immortal crystals.

"Please calm down, fellow Daoist. It’s not that we have been complacent, but this person is truly troublesome."

He gestured for them to look:

"This jade scroll contains the details of three attempts we orchestrated to take action, each more perilous than the last, yet we could not harm him in the slightest."

Sky Mending Daoist reached out, capturing the jade scroll in his hand, then immersed his Divine Thought into it, his brows furrowing tightly:

"Indeed, it’s a death trap at every turn, any ordinary Profound Immortal would have long been dead and buried."

"In any case, an end must be brought to this!"

Purple Cloud Daoist gently waved his feather fan:

"This person now has great momentum. Not only is his strength formidable, but the Immortal King of the Heavenly River backs him. Even we may find it difficult to act."

The others nodded slightly, clearly without any better solutions.

Finally, Jade Truth Daoist, who had been silent in the south, spoke. Among the four, he had the highest cultivation and strength, thus his words carried the most weight.

He spoke slowly, his voice resonating like an ancient bell:

"In my view, it is better to watch and wait."

"In the long years of the Immortal Realm, many promising individuals have appeared, like fish crossing a river, yet few have ultimately become Heavenly Immortals and secured their position."

"The road ahead is long; though striking now, there’s no guarantee of smooth sailing in the future."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the others before finally settling on White Cloud Celestial Immortal, adding: 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"If this person truly becomes a Heavenly Immortal and joins our ranks, then I’m afraid White Cloud Daoist will have to endure a little hardship."

White Cloud Celestial Immortal’s face turned unpleasant upon hearing this.

He naturally understood the implicit meaning—if the other becomes a Heavenly Immortal, it would require him to put aside past grievances, extend goodwill, and pay a certain price to resolve the enmity.

After a long contemplation, White Cloud Celestial Immortal sighed gently and nodded slowly:

"Very well, let’s follow Jade Truth Daoist’s advice. If he indeed attains the Dao, I shall accept it as fate."

Purple Cloud Daoist and Sky Mending Daoist both breathed a sigh of relief, while Jade Truth Daoist slightly nodded, taking a sip of the immortal tea on the table.

...

The Heavenly River flowed quietly, stars shifting and the clock ticking away over four hundred years.

With less than fifty years remaining until the once-in-a-millennium Peach Festival, celestial officials had long begun preparing the ceremony.

Meanwhile, in the Bright Light Realm.

On the Giant Whale Island of the Intercept Sect, nine coiled dragon jade pillars pierced the clouds, the ancient Heaven-Cutting script on the pillars radiating a pale golden glow, holding the sect’s fortune in place.

Beneath the jade tier, the current Sect Leader, Good Origin Daoist, stood solemnly with four Yin Spirit Venerables.

Before them on the plaza, thousands of sect disciples sat cross-legged, their aura steady as mountains, yet their gazes all focused on the sky.

There, a golden light pierced the clouds, carrying the vast pressure unique to the Heavenly River as it slowly descended.

As the golden light touched the ground, it transformed into a figure clad in purple-gold scale armor, the edges of the armor inlaid with Heavenly River divine iron, reflecting the cycles of the sun and moon.

Under Chen Sheng’s careful guidance over the years, the Eight Immortals of the Intercept Sect broke through the Profound Immortal bottleneck and have repeatedly achieved significant success in the Heavenly River Army’s expeditions to the Lower Realm.

Behind him, fifty celestial soldiers stood in the air, their silver armor as sharp as frost, their long spears pointing diagonally downward, causing the surrounding air to ripple slightly.

This was an elite force of celestial soldiers at the late stage of True Immortal, guarding critical parts in the Heavenly River Army. This time they followed Marina Child to the Lower Realm, originally to pursue a runaway Black Wind Demon Immortal.

Unexpectedly, the Demon Immortal fled into the Bright Light Realm, providing Marina Child an opportunity to return to the sect as a visit home.

"Greetings, Ancestor!"

The Daoist Shan Yuan was the first to bow, followed closely by the four Yin Spirit Venerables.

Fu Haizi laughed heartily, raised his hand in a gesture of support, and a gentle yet irresistible immortal power lifted everyone up.

That power carried the sound of the celestial river’s tides and the heavy weight of immortal iron, causing the Venerables to secretly marvel—indeed, the divine power of the Patriarch was beyond the Lower Realm’s imagination.

Meanwhile, Fu Haizi’s Primordial Spirit spread out like a spider web, instantly enveloping the surroundings, the scene within the Heaven-Cutting Sect’s mountain gate clearly reflecting into his sea of consciousness.

In the Scripture Pavilion of the rear hall, tens of thousands of Daoist classics radiated spirit light, and in the Alchemy Room, the smoke and clouds rising from the Pill Furnace condensed into pill patterns...

"I haven’t returned for hundreds of years; there have indeed been quite a few changes!"

But all changes have been for the better!

Even more satisfying to Fu Haizi was that although the sect’s momentum was not as fierce as it was at its peak, blazing like the midday sun, it was stable like the evening star, far surpassing ordinary minor sects and schools.

Fu Haizi stood with hands behind his back: "Not bad, you all have managed the sect with great success."

Behind him, the celestial soldiers had long restrained their presence and stood silently like statues, yet even so, they made the disciples on the plaza of the Heaven-Cutting Sect dare not lift their heads—the True Immortal’s pressure was like a mountain pressing down, even breathing felt stifling.

Daoist Shan Yuan bowed his head and cupped his hands, respectfully speaking:

"Without the protection of the patriarchs, how could our Heaven-Cutting Sect have such a glorious state today?"

And this was indeed true.

Ever since Chen Sheng secured his position in the Heavenly Palace, the Heaven-Cutting Sect had witnessed the grand scene of "one person attaining the Dao, even the chickens and dogs ascend."

Though unable to control the Lower Realm’s network of fortune like the Five Sects, in terms of resource supply and cultivation technique inheritance, it was already on par with the Five Sects.

Additionally, due to the refined numbers of disciples from the Upper Realm, Fu Haizi and others exchanged military meritorious service for privileges with the Tianhe army.

Every hundred years, they could usher in one or two disciples from the Lower Realm with exceptional aptitudes, nurturing them in the Heaven-Cutting Hall or the Tianhe army.

Such treatment was something even the cultivators of the Five Sects envied greatly.

Fu Haizi laughed heartily, his voice echoing among the clouds, startling the spiritual cranes to fly off in the mountains:

"In our own sect, there’s no need for such formalities."

"I’m rarely down in the Lower Realm; if you have any troubles, feel free to speak up. As long as it doesn’t violate the rules set by the master, I can solve them for you."

Daoist Shan Yuan’s eyes flashed with hope, exchanged glances with the four Venerables, hesitated for a moment and still spoke:

"Patriarch, could the quota for bringing disciples to the Upper Realm be increased by one or two?"

Upon hearing this, Fu Haizi shook his hand, the sound of the purple-gold scaled armor clashing produced a crisp sound:

"That won’t do. The quota for bringing disciples is set by the master himself, both to leave some legacy seeds for the Lower Realm and to ensure the caliber of the Upper Realm cultivators."

Upon hearing this, Daoist Shan Yuan and the others immediately looked disappointed.

Yet Fu Haizi raised his eyes towards the sky of Ming Guang realm, where countless entangled threads were indicating a sign of chaos in the celestial machinery.

Thus, he paused, changed his tone:

"However, I can give you all an opportunity, whether you can seize this chance, ascend to the Upper Realm, and elevate the prestige of the Heaven-Cutting Sect to another tier, depends on your own ability."

Daoist Shan Yuan and the Venerables upon hearing immediately had shining eyes, bowed down and said:

"Thank you, Patriarch, for your support! We will surely live up to your expectations!"

...

Half a month passed again.

On the Floating Mountain, the Treasure Mirror in the Observatory suddenly trembled violently, the gray mist within exploded, turning into a sky full of blood red.

At that moment, the celestial machinery suddenly became clear, yet carried an ominous silence.

"Not good!"

The contemporary Floating Daoist suddenly stood up, his Daoist Robe fluttering loudly under the awakened spirit light:

"The child of fortune... has fallen!"

At the same time.

A terrifying demonic roar came from the southeast direction, black wind swept up with heavy blood scent, soaring into the sky, it was the Black Wind Demon Immortal who escaped from the celestial river to the Lower Realm!

Clearly, it found the child of fortune and easily slaughtered several protector Venerables, even daringly devoured the child of fortune in an attempt to plunder the fortune of heaven and earth to break through its realm.

Just as the Black Wind Demon Immortal refined the fortune, its aura soaring, the clouds above broke once more.

Fu Haizi led fifty celestial soldiers stepping across the sky, the purple-gold scaled armor glimmering with cold killing intent under the moonlight, at some point, a water-polished steel whip appeared in his hand, its body entwined with the Dao Principle of Tianhe:

"Mischievous being, escaping from Tianhe is a mortal sin, and yet you still dare to wreak havoc in the human realm, you cannot be allowed to live!"

The Black Wind Demon Immortal transformed into a shadow over a meter high, still holding a blood-stained piece of innate Dao bone in its mouth, seeing Fu Haizi appear, a flash of fear crossed its eyes, and it turned to flee.

But the fifty celestial soldiers had long set the "Tianhe Demon Lock Formation," silver spears interweaving into a web of light, completely sealing off the space within a hundred miles.

Fu Haizi shook his wrist, the water-polished steel whip like a flood dragon emerging from the sea, striking at the demon immortal with a sharp sound tearing through the air, as the whip descended, countless water-pattern Dao Rhymes erupted, freezing the Black Wind into ice crystals.

With a "puff," the ice crystals shattered, the primordial spirit of the Black Wind Demon Immortal was caught by the steel whip, dissipating in the immortal light.

Fu Haizi raised his hand to catch a lingering remnant of fortune emanating from the demon immortal’s body, flicked his finger, and sent it into the Heaven-Cutting Sect’s fortune cauldron.

He glanced at the waiting Daoist Shan Yuan below and said loudly:

"The celestial machinery is now clear, act wisely."

With that, he and the celestial soldiers turned into a golden light, broke through the boundary membrane, and returned to the Heavenly Palace.

Daoist Shan Yuan gave a glance to his junior brothers, seized the moment, shook the battle flag, began to gather fortune, preparing to breakthrough to True Immortal and ascend to the Immortal Realm!