Chapter 3725

The Zhang family, to which Zhang Zhifeng belongs, boasts a heritage spanning over ten million years, making its history even longer than that of the Nine Immortals Sect.

During its peak, the Zhang family boasted three Golden Immortal cultivators and hundreds of True Immortals. However, this prosperity was short-lived. The three Golden Immortals of the Zhang family successively perished, and after several major calamities, the family rapidly declined. They were forced to seek refuge with the Nine Immortals Sect to ensure their lineage continued to this day.

Currently, the Zhang family has no Golden Immortals but possesses no fewer than forty True Immortal cultivators. It is one of the Nine Immortals Sect's ten largest affiliated forces, controlling multiple first-tier immortal mines and demonstrating considerable strength.

Forces with longer histories are not necessarily stronger than those with shorter ones; Cangyuan Palace and the Murong family are prime examples of this. In the Tianchen Sea Domain, the Murong family is currently the most powerful, yet their heritage is not the longest. Opportunity, it seems, is unpredictable.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, there's no need to be so modest," Zhang Zhifeng said warmly. "I am also an immortal artifact refiner; let us properly discuss the art of artifact refining."

"Many fellow Daoists must have arrived by now; let's go inside first!" Jin Tianlong suggested, striding into the Heavenly Sea Pavilion. Zhang Zhifeng and Wang Changsheng followed him in. The main hall was spacious and bright, but empty.

A spirit bird with five-colored feathers descended from above. This colorful bird had a phoenix crown on its head, making it look very beautiful.

"A Five-Colored Phoenix-Crowned Bird!" Zhang Zhifeng exclaimed, recognizing the bird's origin and praising profusely. "This spiritual beast is a descendant of the Heavenly Phoenix; it can speak human language from birth and is skilled at finding rare heavenly treasures. Madam Gao truly has remarkable ability to have raised such a bird and nurtured it to the True Immortal stage."

The Five-Colored Phoenix-Crowned Bird landed on the ground, its body glowing brightly as it transformed into a graceful young woman in a golden skirt, her eyes a vibrant array of colors.

"Seniors, please follow me," the golden-skirted young woman said, gesturing for them to follow. "My master has been awaiting your arrival upstairs for a while, and many seniors have already arrived." Zhang Zhifeng and the other two quickly followed her lead.

Wang Changsheng was somewhat surprised. Since the Five-Colored Phoenix-Crowned Bird could already assume human form, why did it appear as a spirit beast first? Could it be that the host of the gathering intended this?

Arriving on the ninth floor, Wang Changsheng saw over a dozen True Immortal cultivators, their cultivation levels ranging from early to late True Immortal. Black Scorpion Rogue was also among them.

"Junior Brother Jin, you've finally arrived! If you had come any later, Fellow Daoist Sun's Golden Apricot Brew would have been all gone," a graceful young woman in a white dress said with a gentle smile.

The young woman in white had arched brows, bright eyes, and pearly white teeth. Her long hair was styled into a flying immortal bun, adorned with a silver jade hairpin. Her aura was even slightly stronger than Zhang Zhifeng's.

"Senior Sister Gao, this is Fellow Daoist Wang, whom I mentioned to you," Jin Tianlong said, gesturing towards Wang Changsheng as he introduced him.

"I am Wang Changsheng; it's a pleasure to meet you, Madam Gao," Wang Changsheng introduced himself.

The young woman in white was named Gao Shuyao. Her clan brother, Gao Shuhao, was the chief disciple of a certain Golden Immortal cultivator in the Nine Immortals Sect. He hadn't appeared for tens of thousands of years, rumored to be in secluded cultivation attempting to break through to the Golden Immortal stage.

The Gao family's ancestor, Gao Qigong, was an ascended cultivator who directly joined the Nine Immortals Sect. He married a True Immortal female cultivator, conceived offspring by consuming special immortal pills during coitus, and all his descendants became disciples of the Nine Immortals Sect.

Over a dozen True Immortals from the Gao family were distributed across various halls of the Nine Immortals Sect, forming an intricate and formidable network of connections that should not be underestimated.

Gao Shuyao looked Wang Changsheng up and down, then smiled and said, "Junior Brother Jin mentioned that Fellow Daoist Wang is proficient in artifact refining. Unfortunately, my clan brother had an engagement and couldn't make it, otherwise, he would have loved to exchange artifact refining insights with you."

"Madam Gao, you flatter me," Wang Changsheng replied modestly. "I've only learned a little; I wouldn't call myself proficient."

Gao Shuyao nodded, then turned her gaze to Zhang Zhifeng and asked with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Zhang, did your clan brother not come?"

"Brother Zhiheng had an engagement he couldn't get out of," Zhang Zhifeng replied politely. "If Madam Gao needs to reach him, I can contact him for you."

"I heard he recently slew a True Immortal-stage Chaos Beast on the Tianyan Continent, and I wanted to ask him for tips on dealing with Chaos Beasts," Gao Shuyao said in a gentle tone. "Please have him contact me when he's free."

"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Zhang, it's not easy to slay a Chaos Beast," a pot-bellied old man in yellow robes chuckled enviously. "Chaos Beasts are much harder to deal with than demonic beasts."

"Fellow Daoist Zhang must know some inside information, right? Tell us about it! It's not a secret anymore," Black Scorpion Rogue said, his face full of curiosity.

"The Chaos Beasts on the Tianyan Continent all originate from the Chaos Continent; their strength isn't particularly formidable," Zhang Zhifeng explained slowly. "Brother Zhiheng's innate spirit beast, the Mountain-Moving Ape, has already advanced to the True Immortal stage. He and several True Immortals had to join forces to eliminate that True Immortal-stage Chaos Beast." What he said wasn't classified information; it had long since spread. Having been in the Immortal Realm for over three thousand years, Wang Changsheng had gained a deeper understanding of the Chaos Continent and Chaos Beasts.

The Chaos Continent is a supercontinent, the primary habitat of Chaos Beasts, including those of Dao Ancestor level. The Chaos Continent has entrances in many immortal domains, and these entrances are controlled by the major forces in each respective immortal domain.

The Tianyan Continent is merely a continent within the jurisdiction of the Beihai Immortal Domain. It is said that its area is less than one-hundred-millionth of the Chaos Continent, though no one can confirm this.

The Beihai Immortal Domain has multiple entrances to the Chaos Continent, and the Tianyan Continent is not far from several of these. Occasionally, some Chaos Beasts escape from the Chaos Continent and proliferate on the Tianyan Continent. Forces within the Beihai Immortal Domain organize experts to suppress these Chaos Beasts on the Tianyan Continent.

Chaos Beasts are unique beings that never transform into human form, regardless of their cultivation level. Their strength far surpasses that of demonic beasts of the same rank. Having many open apertures doesn't guarantee the ability to defeat a Chaos Beast of the same rank; even Dao Ancestors have suffered losses at the hands of Chaos Beasts, let alone cultivators below the Dao Ancestor realm.

Generally, demonic beasts above the True Immortal stage can transform into human form. The Seven-Colored Sky-Devouring Python, which Jiang Tianming mentioned to Wang Changsheng, had naturally also transformed into human form and possessed an immortal artifact – this was information Wang Chuanming had gathered.

The Nine Immortals Sect's stated reason for wanting to eradicate the Seven-Colored Sky-Devouring Python was that it was causing havoc in a certain region. In reality, the Python had pledged allegiance to the Hao Yue Alliance, and several True Immortal cultivators from forces affiliated with the Nine Immortals Sect had died at its hands, prompting the Nine Immortals Sect to retaliate. Otherwise, Wang Changsheng would have been willing to participate in the hunt for the Seven-Colored Sky-Devouring Python.

"The Mountain-Moving Ape! It must have cultivated into a true spirit by now, otherwise, Fellow Daoist Zhang wouldn't have been able to slay that Chaos Beast so easily," Gao Shuyao said with a smile.

"Indeed, Madam Gao's Five-Colored Phoenix-Crowned Bird is also a true spirit. In terms of divine abilities, the Five-Colored Phoenix-Crowned Bird is much more formidable than the Mountain-Moving Ape," Zhang Zhifeng complimented.

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, you flatter me," Gao Shuyao replied with a gentle smile. "The divine abilities of the Five-Colored Phoenix-Crowned Bird and the Mountain-Moving Ape are different and cannot be directly compared. As for who is stronger, one would only know after a fight." She was a Spirit Master, famous for raising various spirit beasts and birds.

"I heard that a late True Immortal-stage Seven-Colored Sky-Devouring Python is causing trouble and has killed several True Immortal cultivators," Black Scorpion Rogue said. "If Madam Gao were to intervene, dealing with the Seven-Colored Sky-Devouring Python wouldn't be a problem."