Limitless Ascension: Strength Amid Adversity – Chapter 406

The most embarrassing thing in this world is when you’re bad-mouthing someone, and suddenly that person jumps right in front of you…

Facing the furious gaze of Xuantian Sect Master, Cangjian Peak Master awkwardly rubbed his nose and forced a laugh, “Uh, I like to joke around a bit. You don’t mind, right?”

Jiang Tianming sneered, “You wish! I mind a lot!”

Getting called an idiot right to his face? If it weren’t for Senior Ye’s reputation, he would’ve already strung this guy up for a beating!

Idiot?

I think you’re the only idiot here!

“Sorry, it was rude of me. Please forgive my mistake!” Cangjian Peak Master realized he was in the wrong and quickly bowed his head in apology.

“Humph!”

Jiang Tianming grunted coldly.

“Alright, let’s get to the point. Why are you here?” Ye Junlin waved his hand and asked seriously.

He could tell Cangjian Peak Master had rushed over from the Eastern Domain, so he definitely had something urgent to discuss.

Cutting to the chase.

Cangjian Peak Master hurriedly spilled the beans about what had happened in the Eastern Domain, like pouring beans from a bamboo tube.

It turned out that after Ye Junlin and the others left, the Eastern Domain had enjoyed a long stretch of relative peace.

But that peace didn’t last long. A batch of ancient cultivators suddenly showed up, establishing their turf across the Eastern Domain and snatching away the current heavenly fortunes, kicking off shadowy power struggles at the Immortal King level.

Fortunately, they mostly played by the rules and didn’t cause too much trouble, so many local cultivators didn’t resist too much—in fact, they were eager to hitch a ride on their coattails.

As the top sect in the Eastern Domain, Xuantian Sect’s position had diminished, but by remaining neutral, they could still manage to get by.

Then, half a year ago, the Hundred Thousand Immortal Mountains underwent a shocking upheaval, with beings claiming to be the Four Great Ancient Alien Races emerging. They first suppressed many ancient cultivators, asserting their strong deterrence, and demanded that all forces offer monthly tributes of a thing called Heavenly Source Crystals!

The amount each force had to pay depended on its level; any bit of noncompliance would lead to catastrophic consequences!

When the demands were made, all the forces in the Eastern Domain were left dumbfounded, having no idea what Heavenly Source Crystals even were.

Later, the four alien races provided samples and revealed the mining locations, telling everyone to just dig, and not ask questions about the rest.

This forced countless cultivators into the mining ranks.

If the quantity delivered wasn’t enough, the alien powers would not only punish the local forces, but also carry out indiscriminate massacres, causing rivers of blood across the various states!

In such a high-pressure, cruel environment, the cultivators in the Eastern Domain, from the bottom to the top, had no choice but to grit their teeth and meet the targets set by the aliens.

They thought the local cultivators would work together and mining the Heavenly Source Crystals would be a piece of cake; who knew it would be hellishly difficult!

To start with, the Heavenly Source Mines created a special magnetic field, severely suppressing the cultivators’ realms and invisibly injuring their bodies. This made mining incredibly tough and progress slow.

Even Immortals would be worn out like dogs, let alone low-level cultivators!

This left the fourteen states filled with grievances, and the entire Eastern Domain shrouded in an oppressive gloom.

Even so, the four alien races paid no mind and continued to force the Eastern Domain’s cultivators to work hard for them.

Casualties were rising day by day, leading to rising panic among the populace.

To prevent any cultivators from sneaking away, the four alien races stationed their own powerful beings to strictly guard the entrances, aiming to confine the beings of the Eastern Domain like a giant farm.

Hearing this, Ye Junlin was stunned.

Regarding the specific origins of the Hundred Thousand Immortal Mountains, he had previously learned from the Green Lotus Sword Immortal that terrible aliens with bizarre special powers lurked within, beings to be feared in ancient times.

He never expected these aliens to stir things up so much, treating all of the Eastern Domain’s cultivators like cattle!

Plus, they demanded regular tributes of Heavenly Source Crystals.

But what the heck were Heavenly Source Crystals?

He hadn’t even heard of them while he was in the Eastern Domain!

“System, what are Heavenly Source Crystals? What do they do?” Whenever he was puzzled, Ye Junlin immediately thought of the system and secretly asked.

[Beep! Heavenly Source Crystals are a very special type of crystal, naturally formed under the operation of the Heavenly Dao, containing extremely chaotic energy that is unsuitable for any cultivator to absorb or transform!]

In his mind, the system’s prompt rang out.

Ye Junlin raised his eyebrows, inwardly puzzled, “If that’s the case, then why are the four alien races making such a fuss?”

To put it bluntly, these things were like the Heavenly Dao’s waste, doing no good for anyone’s cultivation!

And those aliens that emerged from the Hundred Thousand Immortal Mountains must really have weird tastes, right?

“By the way, you just mentioned that the four alien races strictly guard the entrances; how did you manage to break out?”

Ye Junlin suddenly realized something and looked at the sword-hero-like man with a curious expression.

Cangjian Peak Master sighed, “To be precise, I didn’t break out alone; I was led out by a donkey.”

“A donkey?”

Ye Junlin glanced at the man, feeling mildly uncertain, “Could it be the one that ran out from my little courtyard?”

“Exactly! Just when we were at our wits’ end, that donkey came running from your place, claiming to take someone to the Central Region for help.”

“And fortunately, I was lucky enough to be the chosen one.”

“The donkey carried me along the way, stealthily breaking through the blockade, and that’s how I made it to the Central Region.”

Recalling the whole ordeal, Cangjian Peak Master’s expression grew complex.

“Wait a minute,”

Ye Junlin picked up on something critical, his face looking quite strange: “You’re saying that donkey rode you here?”

“Right…”

Cangjian Peak Master had a pained expression, “It has a magical concealment spell that allowed it to evade the aliens’ senses. So I ended up carrying it, running all the way to the Central Region.”

At first, he thought he’d ride that donkey out of the encirclement like it was nothing; who would’ve imagined it would end up riding him instead…

Thinking back to those annoying brays and that arrogant face back in his courtyard, Ye Junlin suddenly felt this bizarre situation wasn’t too unexpected.

“The problem is, what happened to the donkey? Why didn’t it come with you?” Ye Junlin looked over his empty back, puzzled.

“Ah, how embarrassing. I was so busy carrying it around that I was almost worn out, and it got bored and just ran off. It’s probably off goofing around somewhere.”

Cangjian Peak Master sighed helplessly.

He couldn’t even outmatch a donkey. All the way, he had to be the one getting ridden, enduring all sorts of disdain and complaints. Cangjian Peak Master even suspected that the donkey purposely picked him so it could slack off.

“Quite a rare occurrence. The beings of the four ancient alien races actually emerged from the Hundred Thousand Immortal Mountains. In the past, they wouldn’t even step out!” Canglang Jun exclaimed.

Although each of the four alien races possessed bizarre abilities, thankfully, they hadn’t expanded outside, choosing instead to hide inside the Hundred Thousand Immortal Mountains, keeping to themselves.

Who would’ve thought that in this new era, they’d choose to come out and wreak havoc?

“Hmph, what do you know? Those aliens are merely puppets controlled by someone behind the scenes; they are being used as guardian spirits!”

Gou Buli transformed into a knowledgeable master, his clear dog-like eyes sparkling confidently, “I assure you that those alien races’ mining of Heavenly Source Crystals is entirely driven by the four guardian spirits behind them.”

“And the true identities of those four guardian spirits are said to be related to the Heavenly Dao!”

Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked.

Canglang Jun’s face was astonished, “Senior Gou, are you sure? You can’t just say anything rash!”

After all, the Heavenly Dao was the god of Kunlun Realm! How could those alien races’ revered four guardian spirits have any connection with it?

“Don’t you remember who I am? Back then, I was Empress Fuyao’s watchdog, so I have a lot of insider knowledge!”

Gou Buli glanced sideways, then continued in a mysterious tone: “I’ve heard that the four guardian spirits’ true forms are chaotic evil spirits, remnants of the Heavenly Dao from ancient times, condensed by cutting off their own wicked thoughts. They began at the peak of the Immortal Emperor realm! When they first appeared, they planned to wreak havoc on the Kunlun Realm, but were defeated by the Four Absolutes who hadn’t yet achieved the Celestial Saint level at the time, forcing them to retreat back into the Hundred Thousand Immortal Mountains.”

“Later, when Empress Fuyao and the others achieved the Celestial Saint level, the four chaotic evil spirits settled down and no longer ventured out.”

“And the special abilities held by the four alien races were actually granted by the four chaotic evil spirits, which later just made them their lackeys.”

Hearing this, everyone felt utterly incredulous, realizing that such deep secrets lay behind all this.

“Senior Gou, you really know a lot!” Canglang Jun praised.

“Ah, it’s nothing,” Gou Buli waved his hand, seeming humble but actually showing off, “It’s just average; after all, during my years as a watchdog, I learned quite a bit!”

Liu Qingming slapped his forehead, smartly stating, “How about you write a book, Senior Gou, titled ‘My Years as a Watchdog’? It would definitely be a bestseller in the Kunlun Realm!”

Gou Buli stroked his chin, “That’s a good idea. I’ll think about it later…”

“Ahem!”

Ye Junlin interjected, “Let’s not get sidetracked.”

“Brother Ye, those four chaotic evil spirits sound incredibly powerful. What should we do next?”

Hearing about the formidable background of the guardian spirits worshipped by the alien races, Cangjian Peak Master felt uncertain, his head hanging low.

“Simple. I’ll go take care of them.” Ye Junlin said earnestly.

“You?”

Cangjian Peak Master was startled.

“What? You don’t believe me?” Ye Junlin raised an eyebrow.

“N-no, that’s not it! I just worry there could be pitfalls. It’d be best to invite stronger external help to increase our chances or something.”

Cangjian Peak Master quickly waved his hands, suddenly thinking of something. He leaned in closer to Ye Junlin, lowering his voice and speaking mysteriously:

“Brother Ye, with your current high status, can you perhaps invite the leader of the Immortal Dao Alliance to assist us?”

In his eyes, the Immortal Dao Alliance was the top force in the Central Region, and the alliance leader was rumored to be incredibly powerful—it’d be an absolute boon if they could get their support.

Ye Junlin: “?”

Then, he looked at Cangjian Peak Master as if he were a fool, speechless for a long time.

“What’s with that look?” Cangjian Peak Master felt a bit down.

Jiang Tianming patted his shoulder, looking sympathetic: “Idiot! Let me formally introduce you; this is the current leader of the Immortal Dao Alliance, the so-called Leaf Alliance Master!”

Taking this chance, Jiang Tianming got his revenge for earlier and felt secretly pleased.

“What?!”

Cangjian Peak Master was stunned.

Strutting around in the Eastern Domain was one thing, but to keep strutting in the Central Region?