Chapter 1731: Qianhu Zhenjun

“This little guy has been spoiled by my husband. With no good food available, it naturally set its sights on the Heavenly Azure Sect's spiritual medicine garden.” Wang Ruyan said with a smile. The Heavenly Azure Sect has tens of thousands of spiritual medicine gardens scattered across various locations. The Twin-Eyed Rat had always lived a life of luxury, eating when it woke up and sleeping when it was full. When it lost contact with Wang Changsheng and suddenly lost its food source, its attack on the Heavenly Azure Sect's spiritual medicine garden became understandable.

“Senior Wang, could it be that this spiritual rat of yours possesses the bloodline of a Sky-Devouring Rat, to actually reach the fourth rank?” Huang Fugui said in a fawning tone. Sky-Devouring Rats are extremely rare great demons. Just from their name, you can tell how powerful these spiritual rats are, capable of even devouring the sky. High-ranking rat demons are exceedingly rare, and among them, the Sky-Devouring Rat is the most famous.

“It doesn't possess the bloodline of a Sky-Devouring Rat. It was simply fortunate enough to reach the fourth rank after consuming a vast amount of rare treasures. All right, let's not dwell on this. We should first find a place to lay low. Once its injuries heal, we can have it lead us to Fellow Daoist Fu.” Wang Changsheng conjured a spell, and the Flying Snow Boat transformed into a white streak of light, soaring into the distance.

Three days later, Wang Changsheng and his group gathered in an underground cave located fifty thousand zhang beneath the surface. Inside the cave, there were over a dozen simple, independent stone chambers. Runes flickered on the stone walls, indicating that restrictions had been set up. Unless a Nascent Soul cultivator used their divine sense to probe deep underground, their presence would remain undetected.

“Let's hide here for a while and allow the Twin-Eyed Rat to heal. Once its injuries recover, we'll go look for Fellow Daoist Fu. Do not wander off.” Wang Changsheng instructed. Wang Qiuming and the others agreed and returned to their respective dwellings to meditate and rest.

Wang Changsheng took out a fist-sized Azure Frost Crystal. He planned to refine the cold energy contained within the crystal to enhance his own divine abilities. Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Jade would be more effective, but it's more suitable for refining into a magical artifact, worn on the body to aid cultivation. Soon after, wisps of light blue cold energy seeped out from the Azure Frost Crystal, causing the nearby temperature to plummet. Even blue ice shards appeared in the air. Dense blue runes emerged on Wang Changsheng's body, accompanied by a misty vapor. The blue cold energy surged into his body. Soon, a thin layer of blue ice shards appeared on Wang Changsheng's body. He closed his eyes, focusing on refining the cold energy.

In the Thousand Gourd Realm, a black palace floated high in the sky. The palace's surface was carved with numerous patterns of demons and monsters, and a golden plaque above the entrance bore the three characters "Ju Sheng Palace". Four men and one woman were discussing something, and Ouyang Yu was among them. A gaunt-faced, square-jawed, small-eyed old man in a gray robe sat in the main seat. Judging by the immense spiritual pressure he exuded, he was clearly a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator. This was Zhao Qianfeng, who hailed from the Profound Talisman Palace, one of the top-tier powers in the Demon Realm.

“The person named Situ Mei, I've already released her. I've made an agreement with her: as long as she works for us, we can use true demonic energy to infuse her body and help her transform into a demon. The condition is that she must be able to withstand it,” Ouyang Yu said solemnly. She had captured a cultivator named Situ Mei and subdued her with minimal effort.

“If she can help us find True Monarch Thousand Gourd, we could indeed use true demonic energy to infuse her body. Our kin are too few,” Zhao Qianfeng sighed.

“There's nothing else we can do. If not for the great chaos in the Demon Realm back then, with multiple Sacred Ancestors fighting amongst themselves, we wouldn't have accidentally stumbled into a realm passageway and ended up in this lower realm. If we could communicate with the Demon Realm, why would we need to plant Demonic Sky Trees and force the cultivators of the Thousand Gourd Realm to convert to demonic cultivation? Wouldn't it be better to just slaughter all the spiritual cultivators and let our demon race take over?” Ouyang Yu sighed.

Generally, cultivators from higher realms cannot travel to lower realms, though there are exceptions, but these situations are extremely rare. Having accidentally stumbled into a realm passageway and fallen into this lower realm, they could only return to the Demon Realm by either constructing a Flying Demon Platform or cultivating to the late Nascent Soul stage. The Thousand Gourd Realm is a realm controlled by spiritual cultivators, completely lacking the materials needed to construct a Flying Demon Platform. They also didn't possess these materials themselves. Thus, they could only rely on arduous cultivation to improve their cultivation. However, the Thousand Gourd Realm is filled with spiritual energy, not demonic energy. Spiritual energy and demonic energy are two conflicting types of energy. Since the Thousand Gourd Realm lacked demonic energy, they could only plant Demonic Sky Trees to gradually improve the realm's environment. This served two purposes: first, to accelerate their cultivation speed, and second, to assimilate the Thousand Gourd Realm's cultivators and reduce their resistance.

“I wonder what the situation in the Demon Realm is like. Grandmaster Qianguang and the others actually ganged up against Sacred Ancestor Profound Talisman. I don't know if the Profound Talisman Palace will still exist when we return to the Demon Realm,” Zhao Qianfeng said with a worried expression.

“I firmly believe that Sacred Ancestor Profound Talisman will triumph. That venerable old man is a master of talismanic arts, with unparalleled talismanic techniques. Grandmaster Qianguang's power ranks among the top ten grandmasters in the Demon Realm, yet they needed to gang up to dare confront Sacred Ancestor Profound Talisman. This clearly shows how much they fear him,” Ouyang Yu said proudly, her face filled with admiration. Strictly speaking, they were all subordinates of Sacred Ancestor Profound Talisman, and their fate was intertwined with his.

“Let's talk about returning to the Demon Realm later. First, we must eliminate True Monarch Thousand Gourd. Once he's gone, no one in the Thousand Gourd Realm will be our match, and spiritual cultivators won't pose a threat. As for the Eastern Glade Realm that Situ Mei mentioned, we'll consider it after we've completely controlled the Thousand Gourd Realm. As long as we can return to the Demon Realm, anything is acceptable.” Zhao Qianfeng's gaze was resolute, his face full of killing intent.

The Golden Wind Mountain Range is located in the northeastern part of the Thousand Gourd Realm, stretching for a million li. The spiritual energy here is sparse, and few cultivators come to this place. A streak of yellow light cut across the sky, landing in a desolate mountain valley. The yellow light revealed a short, stout young man in yellow robes with a bulging belly. He had a round face and small eyes, presenting a benevolent appearance. The valley was overgrown with weeds. Not far away was a mountain cave about a zhang wide. The young man in yellow robes strode inside. The cave was dry and dark. After walking about a hundred paces, a simple stone cavern, over a hundred zhang wide, appeared before him.

The young man in yellow robes took out a pale yellow token. After infusing it with magical power, the yellow token blurred and suddenly transformed into a green gourd. He pressed the green gourd against an uneven stone wall. The green gourd immediately flared with brilliant green light, and the stone wall instantly lit up with countless green runes. A green light gate, about a zhang wide, appeared on the stone wall, from which a surge of pure spiritual energy gushed forth. This was the entrance to the Green Gourd Secret Realm, and also True Monarch Thousand Gourd's hiding place. The young man in yellow robes put away the green gourd, transformed into a streak of light, and flew into the green light gate. The light gate automatically closed, returning to its normal state.

Behind the green light gate was a space abundant with spiritual energy, where exotic flowers and strange plants grew everywhere, alongside ancient trees and peculiar vines. The young man in yellow robes landed before a pale green palace. The palace's surface was entangled with numerous gourd vines, giving it a somewhat dilapidated appearance. With a creak, the palace gate opened automatically.

The young man in yellow robes strode inside. The main hall was spacious and bright, furnished with many tables and chairs. A ruddy-faced old man in a green robe sat in the main seat. The old man had a walrus mustache and a benevolent expression, with seven miniature gourds tied to his waist. There was no trace of magical power fluctuations from his body. The old man in the green robe was indeed True Monarch Thousand Gourd. He possessed cultivation at the mid-Nascent Soul stage, had the Thousand Wood Spirit Physique, and was a disciple of True Monarch Qingfeng, a Nascent Soul cultivator. He was the Thousand Gourd Realm's greatest genius, having entered the Nascent Soul stage at 350 years old. The arrival of the demon race destroyed everything he had. He led the cultivators of the Thousand Gourd Realm in their resistance against the demon race, achieving significant results. However, during the decisive battle, he was ambushed by the enemy, suffering severe injuries from which he has only now fully recovered.