On this day,
Horse King was seated within the grand hall of the great carriage, consolidating his cultivation base, when he suddenly sensed something amiss. He stood up and darted out in a single swift motion. At that very moment, a group of over a hundred people surged onto the floating island.
These individuals were all clad in immortal armor robes and wielding immortal weapons and flying swords. One glance was enough to tell they meant trouble.
Horse King had once roamed the Jinwu Secret Realm. With just a sweep of his eyes, he immediately recognized them—they were all immortals from the Jinwu Secret Realm, and more specifically, immortals who scraped a living under the Jinwu Li Clan's banner. They were uniformly Grand Luo Golden Immortals, some at the First Heaven, most at the Second Heaven, and over a dozen at the Third Heaven, just like Horse King himself.
What was bound to come had finally arrived!
Horse King knew the Jinwu Li Clan would never let the matter rest, but he hadn't expected them to come so quickly, nor had he anticipated such a large force.
Immediately after,
A roar!
The fierce cry of a beast rang out.
It was unmistakably the roar of a Firecloud Beast.
Sure enough,
A group of over ten individuals appeared on the floating island, riding atop Firecloud Beasts.
Horse King also recognized these dozen or so people—they were all esteemed young masters of the Jinwu Li Clan, led by none other than Li Tianhua.
The Jinwu Li Clan was an immortal family.
Their ancestors had received formal enfeoffment from the Nine Heavens Immortal Dao, ascended to the Nine Heavens, stepped upon the Immortal Platform, and were purified by the great radiance of the Immortal Dao. Therefore, the descendants of such immortal families possessed spiritual roots far purer than ordinary people's. Some were even born with Innate Physiques, making their cultivation naturally incomparable to poor mortal immortals like Horse King.
Take these dozen or so esteemed young masters of the Jinwu Li Clan. Their cultivation periods were not long, yet their cultivation bases were each higher than the last.
Even more terrifying was that whether it was the immortal armor robes they wore or the immortal weapons and flying swords they held, all were of Innate grade. Their strength could be said to be exceptionally formidable.
A few among them were at the Third Heaven, just like Horse King, but Horse King had cultivated for over a thousand years, while those few likely hadn't even cultivated for a few decades.
Furthermore, there were others whose cultivation hadn't even exceeded fifty years, yet they were already Fourth Heaven Grand Luo Golden Immortals.
There was no helping it.
Reality was just this cruel.
They had Immortal Stones when they needed them, and lacked no cultivation resources of any kind.
Coupled with their superior spiritual root aptitude, their cultivation naturally achieved twice the result with half the effort.
And these were just the other esteemed young masters.
That Li Tianhua was even more formidable.
Hailed as one of the Seven Young Lords of the Jinwu Li Clan, he was a Fifth Heaven Grand Luo Golden Immortal.
The fame of the Jinwu Li Clan's Seven Young Lords was widespread. Their cultivation bases might not be the highest, but each one's aptitude and comprehension were considered the finest within the clan. Take Li Tianhua—having cultivated for merely thirty years, he was already a Fifth Heaven Grand Luo Golden Immortal. His aptitude could not be described as anything less than outstanding.
It was said that recently, the Jinwu Li Clan had even tailor-made a remarkable Creation for him. Exactly what this Creation was, no one knew. To this day, Li Tianhua had yet to unveil it.
However, any Creation, even if merely an Acquired one, possessed power far from ordinary.
Immediately after, three more individuals appeared on the floating island.
Upon seeing these three, Horse King's heart nearly leapt out of his chest in fright.
These three were all old seniors who had lived and worked within the Jinwu Secret Realm. Each had cultivated for several thousand years and were all Sixth Heaven Grand Luo Golden Immortals.
These old seniors, though like Horse King they came from humble origins, had spent most of their lives—thousands of years—scraping by in the Jinwu Secret Realm and had finally carved out a place for themselves. Each now commanded a group of mortal immortals who followed them to earn a living under the Jinwu Li Clan.
Seeing these old seniors, Horse King felt fear from the bottom of his heart.
Do not be fooled by the fact that these old seniors were only Sixth Heaven Grand Luo Golden Immortals; their strength was far from that simple.
The Grand Luo Golden Immortal realm spanned eighty-one heavens. With each breakthrough to a higher heaven, the immortal spirit and physical body underwent changes—a qualitative transformation.
But sometimes, if the quantity was great enough, it could be equally terrifying.
Take these three Sixth Heaven Grand Luo Golden Immortal old seniors. Each had cultivated for several thousand years. Their immortal spirits were absolutely far more profound and powerful than those of Grand Luo Golden Immortals at the same realm. Relying on their profound Sixth Heaven immortal spirit power, even facing a Seventh Heaven or even Eighth Heaven Grand Luo Golden Immortal, they would absolutely not fear them, and it was highly likely they could even obliterate such opponents.
Just after these three Sixth Heaven old seniors appeared on the floating island, a great carriage also arrived.
Three people sat inside the carriage.
One of them was Li Jingya.
Another was none other than Jin Lie from that day.
Jin Lie was an old senior who had cultivated for ten thousand years and held considerable seniority within the Jinwu Li Clan.
However, due to a cultivation mishap in the past, his internal immortal spirit had nearly dissipated. Though he managed to salvage it in the end, his immortal spirit was severely damaged as a result. Not only was his strength far from what it once was, but his immortal spirit had also become extremely fragile. Usually, he avoided using his power if he could. Even when forced to act, he couldn't sustain it for long, and doing so would worsen the injuries to his immortal spirit.
It was precisely for this reason that when Gu Qingfeng used Heavenly Thunder Talismans to strike Li Jingya that day, Jin Lie could only choose to swallow his anger.
Because that day, in order to resist the Nine-Headed Flame Cloud Crimson Blaze Tiger Grand Carriage, he had already expended quite a bit. He dared not act again, fearing it would aggravate his immortal spirit's injuries.
If he hadn't been injured back then, with his ten-thousand-year Grand Luo Golden Immortal cultivation, he wouldn't have paid any heed to the mere few dozen Heavenly Thunder Talismans in Gu Qingfeng's hands—not even if there were hundreds or thousands of them.
Jin Lie's existence was like a toothless tiger, not worth fearing in the slightest.
Naturally, Horse King wasn't particularly afraid of him.
But when he saw the middle-aged man inside the carriage, Horse King's heart wasn't just afraid—it was gripped by a touch of terror.
He recognized this middle-aged man. His name was Ding Da.
Ding Da was not a member of the Jinwu Li Clan. He too had once been a mortal immortal drifting through the Jinwu Secret Realm, but later he was taken in as a direct disciple by Jin Lie. Thus, he could be considered half a member of the Jinwu Li Clan. By now, he was a formidable figure within the Jinwu Secret Realm. Sometimes, even the esteemed young masters of the Jinwu Li Clan showed him a degree of wariness.
This was because Ding Da's cultivation was exceedingly high—he was a Ninth Heaven Grand Luo Golden Immortal. The over hundred people present were all his subordinates, including Horse King himself, who had once scraped a living under his command.
The Grand Luo Golden Immortal realm spanned eighty-one heavens.
From the First Heaven to the Ninth Heaven, one comprehended the Metal of the Five Elements.
The Metal of the Five Elements was also known as Taibai (Venus).
Therefore, the nine heavens of the Grand Luo Golden Immortal were also called the Taibai Nine Heavens.
Within the Taibai Nine Heavens, although each heaven was different, what one comprehended was always the Metal of the Five Elements. The Metal of the Five Elements emphasized an unyielding, rigid quality. With each breakthrough to a higher heaven, the immortal magical power would become more refined and more forceful. If one cultivated to the Ninth Heaven, both the immortal spirit and the physical body would become as hard as unyielding rigidity—the legendary Taibai Gold Rigidity. Cultivating Taibai Gold Rigidity marked the Minor Perfection.
If one cultivated a Taibai Gold Heart, then every thought and every technique would contain the profound mysteries of the Metal element within the Five Elements, marking the Major Perfection.
This Ding Da had stepped into the Ninth Heaven over a thousand years ago. To this day, whether he had cultivated Taibai Gold Rigidity or even a Taibai Gold Heart, no one knew.
But even if he hadn't cultivated Taibai Gold Rigidity or a Taibai Gold Heart, his cultivation at the Taibai Ninth Heaven alone was enough to be hailed as a Grand Luo Taibai Golden Immortal.