Chapter 2011: Integrated Late Stage (Part 1)

A Mortal's Journey to Immortality, Volume 10: The War in the Demon Realm

After the Elder Council reached a resolution regarding Qinglong's death and Han Li's matter, the City of Heavenly Abyss remained peaceful for a period of time.

As the silver-haired elder had stated, with no one leaking information, the ordinary inhabitants of the city had no idea that a top-tier Human Integration mid-stage cultivator had fallen.

Naturally, this news was not kept from Immortal Lin Luan.

Upon learning the news, she was visibly shocked at first but showed no other unusual reactions afterward. However, she never mentioned Reverend Qinglong again, as if she had never known him.

The efforts to win over Han Li, however, did not go smoothly.

During this period, Han Li never reappeared. The official explanation was that he was in seclusion, cultivating a powerful divine ability.

This left Zen Master Jinyue feeling helpless, with no choice but to wait patiently.

He doubted that Han Li would remain in seclusion once the demon army began its decisive assault on the city.

However, apart from Zen Master Jinyue, Immortal Yin Guang, and a few other Integration stage cultivators, the other elders of the council were soon preoccupied with the increasingly frequent harassment attacks from the demon race, leaving them no time to concern themselves with Han Li.

Even the silver-haired elder, after a few inquiries, became fully engrossed in the complex task of responding to the demon race's relentless attacks.

At this point, although the demon army had not yet launched its main assault on the city, the harassment attacks, which used to occur every few days, had become fiercer.

Furthermore, in these attacks, cultivators at the Void Refinement stage began to frequently perish.

As a result, the elders of the City of Heavenly Abyss became even more vigilant. Whenever the demon race attacked, two or three elders would personally oversee the defense to ensure some peace of mind.

Correspondingly, the entire City of Heavenly Abyss began to operate at full capacity!

Various artifact-forging workshops operated at full manpower, forging spiritual artifacts and tools without regard for materials. Cultivators skilled in talisman crafting were gathered together, also drawing a large number of low-tier spiritual talismans day and night.

In a battle of this scale, some mid- and high-tier spiritual talismans were less effective than these low-tier ones.

After all, with the materials and time required to craft one mid-tier spiritual talisman, dozens or even hundreds of low-tier talismans could already be forged. Not to mention, the success rates between the two were vastly different and incomparable.

As for high-tier spiritual talismans, only master talisman crafters could produce them; others simply could not.

Besides the mass production of artifacts and talismans, many newly arrived low-tier cultivators and ordinary laborers in the city were also mobilized. They were organized into several large teams of varying sizes to serve as the City of Heavenly Abyss's reserve forces.

In addition to these preparations, the City of Heavenly Abyss thoroughly re-examined all the spell formations and restrictions within the city, from top to bottom, several times, ensuring that these vital defenses against the demon race were absolutely flawless.

In short, the City of Heavenly Abyss was now fully prepared for an impending major war.

Time passed quickly in this manner, and about half a year went by in the blink of an eye.

One day, in the main assembly hall of the City of Heavenly Abyss, the silver-haired elder and Zen Master Jinyue were discussing an important matter concerning the demon race when suddenly the hall doors were forcefully pushed open from the outside, and a silver-armored guard rushed in.

It was a Heavenly Abyss Guard who had been stationed outside the door!

"Who allowed you to enter without permission!" the silver-haired elder demanded, his face darkening with a commanding presence.

"Reporting, Venerable One! The spiritual energy outside feels unusual. It seems a senior cultivator is about to undergo tribulation for advancement!" the guard replied hastily, bowing nervously.

"Advancement? Could it be a fellow Daoist advancing to the Integration mid-stage? If so, that's good news. But there's no need to be so flustered," the silver-haired elder said, slightly easing his expression.

"But the celestial phenomenon in the distance is too powerful; it doesn't seem like an advancement to the Integration mid-stage. It appears even more terrifying than the tribulation of an Integration late-stage cultivator, as rumored," the guard said, swallowing nervously and sounding rather fearful.

"Such a thing! Master, let's go outside and take a look," the silver-haired elder exclaimed, his thoughts racing before he turned to Zen Master Jinyue.

"Very well. This old monk is also very interested in which fellow Daoist is undergoing tribulation at this time," Zen Master Jinyue readily agreed.

Thus, led by the guard, the two walked out of the hall.

As soon as they stepped beyond the hall's restrictions, the silver-haired elder's expression subtly changed.

With his Integration mid-stage spiritual sense, he naturally sensed the abnormal spiritual energy outside. The previously stable spiritual energy was now distinctly active, as if some terrifying force was subtly influencing it.

The elder's steps unconsciously quickened.

In the blink of an eye, he and Zen Master Jinyue arrived at a massive outdoor platform, dozens of meters wide.

On this platform, more than a dozen guards were gathered, staring wide-eyed in the same direction.

The silver-haired elder frowned and let out a cold snort.

Only then did the startled guards notice the arrival of the elder and Zen Master Jinyue. They cautiously stepped forward to bow. Just as the silver-haired elder's eyes flashed with a sharp gleam, about to reprimand his subordinates, Zen Master Jinyue beside him suddenly let out a soft "Eh?"

The silver-haired elder turned his head and saw Zen Master Jinyue gazing in the same direction the guards had been looking, his face filled with shock.

The elder's heart tensed. Disregarding the guards, he quickly looked in that direction as well.

High in the distant sky, the horizon was ablaze with red. Masses of crimson fire clouds gathered and swirled, like gigantic fireballs tumbling in the air.

Below the fire clouds, countless strands of multicolored light rapidly converged and intertwined, vaguely forming several rainbow bridges of seven colors.

The crimson clouds and fireballs, echoing each other, were dazzlingly bright, obscuring nearly half of the City of Heavenly Abyss below, creating an immense and awe-inspiring spectacle!

Yet, all of this paled in comparison to the immense spiritual pressure faintly emanating from the celestial phenomenon, which was even more terrifying.

Although the spiritual pressure was too distant to feel more than the tip of the iceberg, it still gave a terrifying, almost suffocating sensation, and it was continuously growing stronger and larger, as if brewing something even more dreadful.

"This celestial phenomenon truly doesn't resemble the tribulation of a mid-stage cultivator. Fellow Daoist Jin, let us go and investigate. If it truly is a fellow Daoist undergoing the late-stage tribulation, it would be a great blessing for our city. We must go and protect them to prevent any disturbance," the silver-haired elder said to the monk, filled with immense surprise and almost without thinking.

"Naturally," Zen Master Jinyue replied. "Even if Brother Gu hadn't mentioned it, this monk would still want to observe. The tribulation of a late-stage cultivator is a great opportunity for us as well. If we can observe it up close, it will greatly benefit our future cultivation," Zen Master Jinyue said with a solemn expression, naturally having no reason to refuse.

The silver-haired elder nodded at his words. Immediately, he shook his sleeve, and a white light flew out, enveloping his form before he instantly ascended into the sky and vanished into the distance.

Zen Master Jinyue, however, chanted a Buddhist mantra, and golden Sanskrit characters surged from his body, transforming into a ball of golden light that followed closely behind.

Only then did the guards, breathing a sigh of relief, stand up and gather in small groups of two or three, beginning to discuss the distant celestial phenomenon animatedly.

Not only the silver-haired elder and Zen Master Jinyue, but almost all high-tier cultivators in the entire City of Heavenly Abyss were alerted.

Countless streaks of light shot from all directions towards the source of the phenomenon.

Although the mid- and low-tier cultivators were also very interested in the source of this celestial phenomenon, they knew from the situation that it wasn't something they could get involved in. They could only watch eagerly from where they stood, naturally engaging in discussions with those nearby.

Their theories were diverse and varied!

Some said it was the appearance of some rare spiritual treasure, while others claimed it was a powerful spiritual beast exhaling clouds and mist. Of course, the most prevalent theory was that it was caused by a powerful cultivator undergoing tribulation.

Among them, some of the more knowledgeable cultivators vaguely guessed that only an Integration stage cultivator's tribulation could produce such an astonishing display.

Of course, these cultivators could never have imagined that those Integration stage entities, whom they considered unattainable, were equally astonished upon arriving near the celestial phenomenon!

The silver-haired elder and Zen Master Jinyue were not the first cultivators to arrive near the celestial phenomenon. Over twenty other cultivators, at the Void Refinement and Integration stages, who were closer to the phenomenon, were already hovering high in the sky, over a hundred li away, observing from a distance.

Immortal Yin Guang was conspicuously among them.

She immediately spotted the silver-haired elder and Zen Master Jinyue, nodded to them from afar, and then gravely looked back towards the distance.

Seeing that she had no intention of approaching for a conversation, the silver-haired elder and Zen Master Jinyue exchanged a look and then halted their escape lights nearby.

"Master, if I'm not mistaken, it seems only Fellow Daoist Han, an Integration stage cultivator, resides in this area, right?" the silver-haired elder asked Zen Master Jinyue, stroking the beard on his chin.

"Indeed, Fellow Daoist Han does live nearby, and it appears he is precisely at the center of the celestial phenomenon!" Zen Master Jinyue slowly replied.

"So, this celestial phenomenon was indeed caused by Fellow Daoist Han. Could it be that his seclusion this time was precisely for breaking through the late-stage bottleneck?" the silver-haired elder said with a slight exhalation, a hint of hesitation in his voice.

"I'm afraid that's the case. This celestial phenomenon indeed appears to be caused by an attempt to break through to the late Integration stage, but it seems much grander than any I've witnessed before. This makes this monk a little puzzled," Zen Master Jinyue said, gazing at the increasingly astonishing sky anomaly not far away, his words tinged with uncertainty.

"There's nothing strange about that. The celestial phenomenon for breaking through to the late Integration stage naturally varies slightly from person to person. However, such a grand spectacle isn't necessarily a good thing. Generally, the more astonishing the phenomenon, the more extraordinary the cultivator undergoing tribulation, but also the difficulty of breaking through undoubtedly far exceeds what ordinary people can imagine. With such an astonishing phenomenon, I'm not sure if Fellow Daoist Han will succeed in passing it," the silver-haired elder said thoughtfully after a brief moment of contemplation.