Chapter 541: Aurora Illuminates, Jiuzé Divine Realm

Six-Wing Mountain, when viewed from the side, appears wing-shaped, as if enveloped by six pairs of wings. From above, it takes the form of a heart, its top flattened as if half had been sliced away.

When the Agronomists of Primordial Hill used the mountain-opening method to open Six-Wing Mountain, everyone preparing to ascend the mountain heard a tremendous roar. It was urgent and piercing, like a rough-voiced strong man shouting at the top of his lungs. Many yao couldn't stand steadily, their legs turning to jelly. Some weaker yao, filled with dread, prostrated themselves on the ground, constantly kowtowing, believing they had offended the Six-Wing Mountain God.

"Envoy Langping, go maintain order," the King of Myriad River Yao Nation immediately ordered a wolf yao standing beside him. "Spirit mountains roar, spirit seas shriek; people often say 'mountain roars and sea howls,' which refers to the sounds made by spirit mountains and vast seas. This is a normal phenomenon. Do not let the people of Primordial Hill laugh at us."

"Yes, my King." A wolf yao, crowned and robed, immediately went to maintain order among Myriad River Yao Nation's formation. These young members of the yao royal family had only recently emerged from chaotic ignorance. Although their bloodlines were powerful, they were still merely inexperienced youths.

Among the climbing party, Zhao Xing stood at the very front. Behind him were the four Mountain Masters: Yuanshan, Yunshan, Lushan, and Hongshan, as well as the thirteen Peak Masters of Meishan.

"It's clearly a joyful mountain, but this mountain's cry is truly unpleasant," Palace Master Luya said, standing on Zhao Xing's shoulder and disdainfully flapping his wings.

Zhao Xing chuckled wryly, then immediately took out the divine artifact, Primordial Mountain, to stabilize the fluctuations of the mountain's spiritual ley lines. After the first roar, streams murmured and purple bamboo gently chimed. The sound immediately transformed from deep and rough to clear and melodious.

Winding up the mountain path, after less than two days of travel, they reached a mountain spring. Zhao Xing ordered a halt.

"Where is Mountain Master Hongshan?"

"Your subordinate is here," Venerable Hongshan immediately stepped forward.

"You lead the Shrine Department to establish an altar at this mountain spring using the Underground Palace method, connecting four ley lines and suspending it at the ninth latitude of the semi-pole, facing south from the north. This will be the first auspicious gathering point."

"As you command."

After another half-day of winding through the mountains, Zhao Xing found a purple bamboo forest.

"Where is Mountain Master Lushan?"

"Your subordinate is here."

"You lead the Shrine Department to set up the Spirit Returning Earth Treasury Formation. It needs to absorb the three peaks: Brocade Wing, Purple Wing, and Twin Star Wing. The formation must connect to thirty-six ridges. This will be the second auspicious gathering point."

"Your subordinate obeys." After Mountain Master Lushan noted it down, he immediately went to deploy it.

"Opening a mountain to gather auspiciousness requires very particular methods," Zhao Xing explained to the Peak Masters, Mountain Masters, and disciples of Primordial Hill while setting up. "For ordinary blessed lands—whether creating cultivation caves or building tombs—as long as one follows the Five Elements Earth-Splitting Method or the Earth Passage Circulation Method, it's easy to gather good fortune."

"Ley lines give birth to ridges, and high ridges form peaks. The five Earth Treasury fortunes rise and condense within the mountain body. The situation becomes more complex; one must consider not only ley line fortune and seasonal fortune, but also form fortune."

"Using methods to harvest mountain fortune is like harvesting vegetables from the ground. If cut too deeply, it will damage the roots, affect future growth, and even destroy a spirit mountain. If cut too shallowly, it will waste the earth's bounty."

"Among the world's Known Mountains, their rankings frequently fluctuate, most of which is due to improper fortune-harvesting methods."

Everyone listened attentively. Even the accompanying King of Myriad River Yao Nation and several envoys from the Yao God Temple pricked up their ears to listen, even if they didn't understand.

"Zhao Xing, according to your explanation, the previous Mountain Chief, Wei Zizhan, lowered the ranking of Six-Wing Mountain by three places. Wasn't his auspicious gathering method too crude then?"

"You said it's like this for the Known Mountains. What about the Unseen Mountains then? The Ten Directions Mountain has been ascended so many times. Will its magical effects ever diminish?"

Palace Master Luya on his shoulder seemed eager to talk, asking several questions in a row. Each art has its own specialty; even though Palace Master Luya was a Divine General, he didn't understand the intricacies here. He only vaguely felt that the several ritual sites Wei Zizhan had left behind back then were like tiny scars left on Six-Wing Mountain.

His first question was very rude. Although the others couldn't hear their conversation, Wei Zizhan was Zhao Xing's senior brother and could even be considered half a teacher. How could one speak ill of him directly? But the little yellow duck didn't care about any of this. Wei Zizhan? It was already giving him face just to comment on him!

"Replying to the Palace Master, I can only say that each generation has its own ideas," Zhao Xing said. "Senior Brother Wei must have had a reason for doing so back then." This was an indirect acknowledgment that Wei Zizhan's fortune harvesting back then had led to a three-place drop in ranking, but he phrased it very tactfully.

"As for the Unseen Mountains, they are difficult to judge by common reasoning," Zhao Xing said. "For example, for Layered Realm Mountain, even if 70% of its soil were excavated, it would still return to its original form years later, or even become larger."

"Whether the effects of Ten Directions Mountain are constant, this junior also finds it difficult to know." Zhao Xing recalled the Eight Directions Divine Mirror with the Linen-Robed Diviner, and mused, "Perhaps it's less, perhaps it's not. We don't yet know the limits of this mountain."

The mountain-opening ritual and the gathering of auspicious fortune—the entire process lasted one year and nine months.

Once everything was ready, the climbing party had arrived at a valley halfway up the mountain. The final collection point was designated by Zhao Xing as the place called "Chess Valley." Zhao Xing placed Primordial Mountain on the altar, and twelve Earth Treasury Divine Needles were inserted around it.

Whoosh!

A green breeze encircled the valley. A hundred flowers bloomed from between the rock walls, quickly covering every surface. A waterfall gushed from a crack in the cliff behind the altar, and heavenly fire stained the clouds crimson. With the desolate valley suddenly transformed in this way, everyone felt that something good was about to happen.

The little yellow duck had flown off Zhao Xing's shoulder. If he were still there, the mountain's fortune would have gathered towards him. He flew into the sky and stood with Yan Ao.

"Quack, quack! Seven young yao had their destinies greatly transformed, undergoing an immediate rebirth and elevating their future potential to a new level. Yan Ao, you also guarded Wei Zizhan in the past. How does today's scene compare to then?"

Yan Ao had been gazing upwards. Hearing Luya's voice, he lowered his head, as if detaching himself from a certain state and descending into the mortal world. He glanced at the valley teeming with blooming flowers and nodded lightly: "It surpasses it by three tenths."

"Only three tenths better?" The little yellow duck felt somewhat disappointed. "Wasn't Zhao Xing said to be the most talented Mountain Chief of Primordial Hill?"

Yan Ao silently looked up at the sky.

Zhao Xing held Primordial Mountain in his hand, quietly observing its changes. Then he raised his head and looked at the humans and yao present.

"The fortune of Six-Wing Mountain caused my fortune to fluctuate from Derivation Thirty-One towards Derivation Thirty-Two." Reaching the level of Derivation Thirty-One, it was as difficult as ascending to heaven for fortune to rise another rank. The Fortune Divine Bone of the Self-Sufficient Deity Xuerui was already the limit of augmentation. Since then, his fortune had stabilized at rank 31 and never broken through. Today, after opening the mountain and gathering auspicious fortune, it briefly reached rank 32. However, it was not stable; once he left the mountain, it would revert to rank 31.

But Zhao Xing's inherent fortune had risen to twenty-three. This meant that even if the bonuses from the Five Emperor Coins and the Fortune Divine Bone were removed, his own fortune would still be at rank twenty-three.

"Elder Bowie, do you know what level is required to become a Self-Sufficient Deity of Fortune?" Zhao Xing sent a wisp of his consciousness to converse with Bowie in his inner world.

"A Self-Sufficient Deity of Fortune only requires rank twenty-five, but this is just a prerequisite," Bowie said. "To become a Self-Sufficient Deity of Fortune, one also needs the method of fortune refinement."

"Without a divine fortune method, even if it constantly increases, one cannot be called a Self-Sufficient Deity of Fortune."

"If one does not become a Self-Sufficient Deity of Fortune, their inherent fortune's limit is rank thirty-one. Even with fortuitous encounters that briefly break the rank thirty-one barrier, it will eventually fall back down."

Bowie mused, "It is rumored that becoming a deity with rank twenty-five fortune makes one a Self-Sufficient Deity, while refinement at rank thirty-one makes one a True God, immune to tribulations. However, this method has been lost."

Zhao Xing asked, "Elder, with all your knowledge, you don't know the divine fortune method?"

"The more I know, the less I know," Bowie said self-deprecatingly. "When I first became a deity, I thought I knew all the mysteries of the universe. Only later did I discover that my knowledge, compared to the mysteries of the entire universe, is still just a drop in the ocean."

While they were conversing, the King of Myriad River Nation and three envoys from the Yao God Temple came forward to thank Zhao Xing.

"Many thanks, Agronomist Zhao, for bestowing blessings upon our clan's geniuses."

"Indeed, thank you, Agronomist Zhao. The changes this time are too evident."

"Back then, there were no clan members who underwent such an immediate rebirth."

"Agronomist Zhao is indeed worthy of being the youngest Mountain Chief."

The four yao demigods all praised him. Myriad River Yao Nation had experienced the mountain-opening and auspicious gathering of Six-Wing Mountain before. Although both Mountain Chiefs performed mountain-opening and auspicious gathering, the benefits Wei Zizhan had given them back then were far inferior to Zhao Xing's.

"This is not my credit, but the credit of the previous Mountain Chief, Venerable Wei Zizhan, my senior brother," Zhao Xing said. "Without his sealing and naming of the mountain for ten epochs, there would be no such great fortune today."

"Agronomist Zhao is right," the four yao demigods all agreed. Although they said so verbally, they all felt in their hearts that Zhao Xing was much stronger than Wei Zizhan. Because the Mountain Chief before Wei Zizhan had also sealed the mountain for roughly the same duration. How was it that when it came to Wei Zizhan, he needed to absorb so much fortune himself, leaving less for the yao? Wasn't it because he was weaker than Zhao Xing? Thus, the four yao demigods' evaluation of the new Mountain Chief was naturally higher than that of Wei Zizhan.

"King of Myriad River Nation, three Divine Envoys, I would like to visit the Deserted Sea after the mountain sealing concludes. May I please go take a look?"

"The Deserted Sea? Of course you can go!" The King of Myriad River Nation and the three Divine Envoys exchanged glances and immediately agreed readily.

The Deserted Sea was the birthplace of the Nine Swamps God, but after who knows how many years, it had lost its former divine charm. Nowadays, it was just an ordinary divine ruin. If he had asked to visit the ancestral land of the Yao God Temple, they probably wouldn't have readily agreed. But since Zhao Xing made this small request, they naturally wouldn't refuse.

"Many thanks, everyone."

Zhao Xing cupped his hands in greeting. After ending the conversation, he quickly proceeded to the next step: collecting Mountain Spirits. This stage was rather secretive. Zhao Xing would act alone, searching for the spiritual bodies of mountain spirits within Six-Wing Mountain.

"According to tradition, the Mountain Chief of Primordial Hill can only take one mountain spirit body from here."

"One chance. If you're going to catch one, catch a big one."

Zhao Xing held the divine artifact and entered Six-Wing Mountain. Two months later, he returned to the valley. Upon his return, he was accompanied by a plump mountain spirit with six glowing wings. The mountain spirit looked like a jellyfish with wings. With each breath it took, Six-Wing Mountain also emitted melodious feather-like sounds.

"Oh? He actually caught a Six-Wing Mountain Spirit?" The King of Myriad River Nation was immediately filled with envy. "Last time Wei Zizhan came, he only caught a Five-Wing Mountain Spirit. This Agronomist Zhao has great capabilities."

The space within Six-Wing Mountain was also vast. Mountain spirits were sentient, hiding within the vast mountains and extremely skilled at concealment. Even Five-Wing Mountain Spirits were rarely seen, let alone the strongest, the Six-Wing Mountain Spirit.

"Congratulations, Agronomist Zhao!" The King of Myriad River Nation and the three Divine Envoys all congratulated him simultaneously.

"Congratulations, Mountain Chief!" The people of Primordial Hill also offered their congratulations in unison.

A Six-Wing Mountain Spirit could be nurtured to co-exist within one's innate realm. At critical moments, it could help the Agronomist survive one True Spirit Tribulation. Of course, at Zhao Xing's level—a fifteen-tribulation demigod—ordinary mountain spirits were already useless; only a Six-Wing Mountain Spirit could be effective.

"Thanks to all of you," Zhao Xing humbly cupped his hands. This was yao territory, and being able to obtain the Six-Wing Mountain Spirit indeed required thanking the yao.

It took a few days to absorb the mountain spirit into his body for co-existence. This journey to Six-Wing Mountain had now reached its final step: sealing and naming the mountain. Zhao Xing ranked Six-Wing Mountain fourteenth among the Known Mountains, raising its rank by three places, restoring it to its ranking during the tenure of the Mountain Chief before the previous one. A mountain's ranking was a form of honor. This increase in ranking was not significant, but the Myriad River Yao were already very satisfied.

***

Desolate Realm, Third Epoch, 205th Boundary Star Year, Deserted Sea.

After the mountain sealing ended, Zhao Xing was invited as a guest to the capital of Myriad River Yao Nation. In reality, he arrived at the Deserted Sea region of Myriad River Yao Nation. The Deserted Sea was a star region filled with sand and oceans. Countless shifting sands, like comets, flew out from the oceans, trailing long tails, drifting erratically through space, eventually settling back into a primordial ocean. In the Deserted Sea region, many valuable mineral stars and stellar continents would form, but life-bearing boundary stars and stellar continents were rare. Even the yao who could endure harsh environments rarely settled and lived in the Deserted Sea region. Apart from mining yao and mechanical puppets, only one ten-thousandth of the Deserted Sea region had yao residents.

Zhao Xing sat cross-legged on a meteorite, moving along with a river of cosmic sand.

Poof, poof, poof!

The Heavenly Transformation Divine Needle was expelled from his body. The purple fur on Zhao Xing's body gradually receded, transforming him into his human form.

"The Nine Swamps God Transformation, fifth layer, finally perfected!"

After more than twenty years, Zhao Xing had cultivated from the fourth layer to the fifth layer of the Nine Swamps God Marquis Transformation Method. "The Nine Swamps God's nine talents—Severing Void Claw, World-Incinerating Divine Eye, Celestial Ruin Five Organs, Longevity Wheel, Myriad Tribulation Golden Marrow, Darkwater Transformation Aspect, Earth Realm Divine Stride, Thunder Body, and Instant Eternity—now, after my Marquis Transformation, I also possess the fifth one: Myriad Tribulation Golden Marrow."

"However, the Nine Swamps God's talents are of little use to a human body," Zhao Xing felt a bit regretful. As a naturally born deity, any of the Nine Swamps God's innate secret techniques were divine-tier. For example, the Myriad Tribulation Golden Marrow, rumored to allow one to survive ten thousand tribulations without dying? Of course, there's a lot of exaggeration in that. Who could possibly survive ten thousand tribulations? However, after Zhao Xing's transformation, he felt it would be quite easy to withstand the sixteenth tribulation.

"The sixteenth tribulation can be endured using the fifth layer of the Nine Swamps God Marquis Transformation Method. After all, my soul core is still human, so fundamentally, I am still undergoing the tribulation." Zhao Xing felt a sense of anticipation. "The Six-Wing Mountain Spirit can help me withstand one more tribulation, and I will soon reach the level of a seventeen-tribulation demigod."

"The great mountains of the Xuanling Starfield—if I collect mountain spirits from the top ten levels once, that should still be able to help me pass one more tribulation. That would be eighteen tribulations."

An eighteen-tribulation demigod—that was the level Bowie had reached during his demigod stage. "The more tribulations a demigod undergoes, the stronger their combat power will be after becoming a Self-Sufficient Deity."

"When Bowie became a Self-Sufficient Deity as an eighteen-tribulation Venerable, he could disregard Hall Master Tunning and even alarmed the Great Emperor himself to personally apprehend Bowie." Zhao Xing still remembered the scene he saw in the Xuanling Historical Records. After Bowie became a deity, if the Great Emperor hadn't appeared, Hall Master Tunning alone would not have been able to make Bowie surrender.

"Bowie, who became a deity after eighteen tribulations, soon became a Divine General."

"Guluo He, who became a deity after twenty-two tribulations, directly entered the Divine General rank."

Cultivating to become a deity through one's origin—the more one accumulates during the demigod stage, naturally the stronger one becomes. Bowie and Guluo He were both favored by the era, and after becoming deities, they were incredibly powerful.

"If all my 200 True Spirits undergo eighteen tribulations, then after becoming a Self-Sufficient Deity, I will have at least Divine General-level combat power." The deadline for the path protectors would also end once he became a Self-Sufficient Deity. "If I have Divine General combat power, then even if Yan Ao and Luya leave in the future, I will have the capital to establish myself and protect myself."

"As for whether I can reach Guluo He's height, that depends on the Nine Swamps God Marquis Transformation Method," Zhao Xing mused inwardly. "Using the Fundamental Self Divine Method to overcome True Spirit tribulations seems relatively difficult at present." The five Fundamental Self Divine Methods are fine when facing tangible tribulations, but if intangible tribulations are encountered, they become very difficult to defend against.

The Cangwu World Method, Void Divine Seed, One Realm Divine Radiance, Primordial Unity Divine Foundation, and Fundamental Self Divine Sacrifice are the five divine methods. Among them, only the Cangwu World Method, Void Divine Seed, and Fundamental Self Divine Sacrifice could be considered offensive techniques. However, Fundamental Self Divine Sacrifice is ineffective against True Spirit tribulations. This parasitic method certainly can't parasitize heavenly tribulations. The Void Divine Seed is a variant method; first, it requires a certain casting time and works best in conjunction with the Cangwu World Method. In the pursuit of extreme tribulation transcendence, the Nine Swamps God Marquis Transformation Method of the naturally born deity is still more effective.

"If I can reach Guluo He's level, after I become a deity, my divine power foundation will be robust enough to absolutely support the simultaneous advancement of my three schools of secret techniques," Zhao Xing mused inwardly. "However, cultivating three schools also has a problem: insufficient magic power." The divine methods he had learned consumed too much. If used to cast the Fundamental Self Divine Method, it would drain him completely, allowing only one casting. Layered Realm Mountain, Space-Time Earth Passage Method, Underground Palace Method, etc., would then be completely impossible to cast. Everyone knows that cultivating three schools simultaneously makes one stronger, so why are there so few who do? Primarily because simultaneous cultivation is fraught with difficulties.

"Quack, quack! Zhao Xing, I've found another familiar place!" Palace Master Luya flapped his wings. "Quick, let's go check it out."

"Alright, Senior."

Zhao Xing immediately flew in the direction indicated by Palace Master Luya. Luya had once visited the Nine Swamps God's lair. Even though it was now completely transformed, any place Luya could point out would have some traces left behind by the Nine Swamps God.

Time flowed by, and a century passed in the blink of an eye. In the vast Deserted Sea, Zhao Xing passed through a sand river.

Swish!

Suddenly, a wave of energy swept over. The light was too intense, and Zhao Xing couldn't react in time. However, Yan Ao immediately swallowed Zhao Xing whole.

Hum!

The next moment, the light swept past the meteorite where Zhao Xing had been. The entire meteorite shattered instantly, and the rushing sand river was also suddenly pulverized, turning into even finer particulate matter.

"Quack!" Palace Master Luya swiftly landed on Yan Ao's shoulder. He even lost a feather!

Inside Yan Ao's stomach, Zhao Xing belatedly felt a heart-stopping fluctuation. Even after being swallowed by Yan Ao, he still felt somewhat unsafe.

"Seniors, what did you discover?"

Yan Ao frowned, scanning the surrounding starry sky. At this moment, after the light fluctuation swept through, the entire starry sky had changed. "We've entered an independent space-time. It's completely isolated from the Deserted Sea."

The next moment, after Yan Ao confirmed it was safe, he released Zhao Xing once more. Zhao Xing glanced at his panel, finding that the coordinates displayed on it were still within the Deserted Sea, but now included a more specific domain coordinate.

*You have entered a grain of sand in the Deserted Sea. The aurora reflects the former Nine Swamps Divine Realm.*

"A grain of sand, preserved an aurora? And this wisp of aurora reflects the former Nine Swamps Divine Realm?" Zhao Xing was startled. According to the historical records of the Aurora Chasing Society's exploration of auroras, powerful polar star radiance can reflect the existence of divine realms, giving birth to "aurora-reflected spaces" that preserve extremely real and precious historical images. Many cosmic historians, after discovering these auroras, would experience rapid leaps in their cultivation, and could even condense powerful origin chronicles or cross-realm avatars from them.

Zhao Xing gleaned information from the coordinates, but he still released Bowie. Luya's opinion couldn't be taken as reference. Perhaps Yan Ao and Luya might find it too dangerous here and break through space to take him away. He released Bowie to identify it. This divine-level scholar did not disappoint. With just a glance, Bowie reached a conclusion before Yan Ao could act.

"The aurora reflects space-time, like a mirage preserving historical scenes."

"However, it's unknown which specific segment of space-time it has preserved."

"If he can see the Nine Swamps God's true form, it will be beneficial for Zhao Xing's cultivation."

"What's the level of danger?" Yan Ao only cared about whether there was danger, and if it was within Zhao Xing's endurance.

Bowie calculated with his fingers, then said, "The aurora is mixed with temporal divine power, and it returns to this space-time every seventy-two hours."

"As long as he is withdrawn before the temporal divine power sweeps through, it will be safe."

Zhao Xing looked eagerly at Yan Ao. The path-guarding Divine Generals' decision-making power also had distinctions; Bowie only had the right to advise. Yan Ao, as the primary path-guarding Divine General, was fully responsible for Zhao Xing's safety. If he felt it was dangerous here and insisted on leaving, then Palace Master Luya, as the Divine General most skilled at escaping, would certainly carry it out.

Yan Ao ignored Zhao Xing's hopeful gaze. After pondering for a moment, he nodded. "Let's observe for now and decide after the aurora returns again."