Forging Immortality through the Dao Seed

The world before his eyes darkened.

When his vision returned, Zhang Jing found himself standing on a grassland. The terrain around him was flat, and he could see to the very ends of it.

"Is this the interior space of the God-Demon Tower?"

He looked around at the region under his feet—about three hundred miles in radius—and thought with surprise.

This was completely different from what he had anticipated.

That's right—

Zhang Jing seemed to suddenly remember something and began checking his person. Fortunately, the Virtual Immortal Robe was still there, as was the Five-Color Cloud Flag.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

This meant that the God-Demon Tower did not prohibit bringing in external items.

With these two treasures, Zhang Jing had enough confidence to pass through the third layer and obtain the citizenship of an upper dweller.

Even if he couldn't do it this time, he could still wait until the next time the Virtual Immortal Robe was fully refined.

Worst comes to worst, he could wait until the Five-Color Cloud Flag was re-crafted.

By then, with two post-celestial Spiritual Treasures in his possession, if he still couldn't make it... it was impossible not to make it!

With that thought—

A faint smile quietly emerged on his face. Even the gloom that had risen in his heart due to being targeted by forces like the Mysterious Pavilion began to dissipate a bit.

"I'll just wait and see, there are almost a hundred years left. When the cart reaches the foot of the mountain, a way will appear; when the ship reaches the bridge, it will naturally straighten out. There will always be a way."

He murmured.

His awareness returned to the present.

Zhang Jing's eyelids lifted slightly, and a ranking list shining with a deep black light slowly appeared before him.

[First: Bai Yuzi (Level Eight)]

[Second: Zuo Qingtian (Level Six)]

[Third: Four-armed Rakshasa (Level Six)]

...

...

"Over eight thousand people, has it already been so many?"

He quickly scanned the ranking list from top to bottom, his expression briefly freezing with confusion.

Ninety percent of the names on the list were marked with the word 'Level One.' It was clear that this either meant they had passed through the first layer, or they were currently still on the first layer.

Zhang Jing was more inclined to the second interpretation.

Besides that, there were over eight hundred people that had entered the second layer—not an insignificant number. However, the number of entities combining Dao who had entered the third layer had sharply declined to just over thirty.

As for those who had reached even higher layers, there were only a handful.

Seeing this, a playful expression crossed Zhang Jing's face.

"Interesting, the God-Demon Tower is truly fascinating! The strong and the weak are clear at a glance. Of course, that's if you discount those who deliberately hide their true power."

His eyes flashed, and his gaze immediately fell on two names towards the front of the list.

[Eleventh: Nightmare Corpse (Level Five)]

[Twelfth: Yingquan King (Level Five)]

If his guess was correct, these two should be two of the five True Immortals who had been following him.

The Yingquan King was undoubtedly the dog-headed shadow being from the Mysterious Pavilion, while the Nightmare Corpse was likely the powerhouse from San Wangwen.

"...Level Five? No wonder they dared to talk so tough just now."

Zhang Jing chuckled to himself and immediately connected his mind to the consciousness of the God-Demon Tower, saying, "I want to challenge the God-Demon Tower."

In an instant—

A vast and cold consciousness descended: "To challenge the first layer, you must pay a Copper Coin."

"True to the Bliss Immortal City, entering the Bliss Ghost Market requires Copper Coins, and challenging the God-Demon Tower also requires Copper Coins, everything demands Copper Coins!"

Zhang Jing muttered to himself, then as if he had come prepared, he directly tossed a Copper Coin.

The next moment—

Roar!!!

Before Zhang Jing could react—

A terrifying roar that could shake heaven and earth suddenly erupted from behind him, and the ground began to tremble violently.

That was—

He instinctively turned towards the sound, and a massive and ferocious figure, more than a dozen feet tall, entered his field of vision.

Looking like a cross between a lion and a wolf, with gnarled fangs and a back bristling with spikes, its body covered in a layer of gray-white scales, it had an unassailable and difficult air about it just by sight.

Moreover, from the moment it appeared until now, just a short breath, the grass under its feet had already turned gray-white and lifeless.

Zhang Jing involuntarily detected a stench of decay, deep in his soul, as if there were endless piles of flesh and excrement before him, red, white, and yellow mixed together, all rotting and fermenting.

Seeming to sense something—

He lifted his head, and in his pupils, the rapidly expanding figure of the gray beast was reflected.

On that beast's figure, Zhang Jing faintly sensed danger.

But that wasn't the most important thing.

As it drew closer, that rotten stench became so intense that it was hard to even keep one's eyes open.

Zhang Jing's face showed a trace of panic. Without a moment's hesitation, he sealed his nose and mouth and in the next step, he plunged into the spatial rift.

Only then did he quickly recover from the terrible state of being on the verge of losing consciousness from the stench.

"A common Combined Dao-level beast, its strength is quite decent."

Zhang Jing's eyes shone, and a five-colored flag quietly appeared in his hand.

This guy was actually just a little bit disgusting, but his true strength was clearly not as good as that of the winged giant tiger, and he was not afraid.

Hum! Hum!

Behind him, the Qingyun realm's projection appeared, and the vast primitive world's power morphed into a surging river that continuously flowed into the Five-Color Cloud Flag. A dangerous aura quietly penetrated through layers of space, directly locking onto the gray-white beast.

On the spot.

The gray-white beast glanced around blankly without stopping. Then, it seemed to realize something, cautiously raising its paw and bringing its head close to take a careful look, releasing a moan filled with frustration and confusion.

But at that moment.

A ray of five-colored immortal light burst forth from the void like a sharp sword, slashing straight towards the beast's glabella.

With a ting! The immortal light shattered inch by inch, yet the scales on the forehead of the gray-white giant beast only showed faint signs of breaking.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Jing was not annoyed.

Having previously fought with the winged tiger, he naturally anticipated this kind of situation.

He threw the Five-Color Cloud Flag, and its body once again flew out strands of killing immortal light filled with danger.

"It's a pity the true power of the Five-Color Cloud Flag does not lie in offense, and since it is not an acquired Spiritual Treasure, otherwise, it would not be so troublesome."

Thinking this, Zhang Jing's Mind continued to control the Five-Color Cloud Flag, entangling in combat with the gray-white beast.

An hour later.

With a reluctant roar, the gray-white giant beast thunderously collapsed to the ground. In the next instant, its huge corpse rapidly vanished.

Only ten gleaming copper coins remained on the spot.

Zhang Jing slowly stepped out from the space between the voids.

A grand voice suddenly rang in his ear, "Congratulations on passing the first layer, your status has been promoted to a second-class citizen of Immortal City. Would you like to continue challenging the second layer?"

"Yes."

Zhang Jing did not have time to think, but quickly nodded in agreement.

"Please pay ten Copper Coins."

"This—"

He took a deep breath and involuntarily looked at the ten Copper Coins still on the ground that he hadn't picked up, complaining in his heart, "It's definitely on purpose, absolutely intentional!"

Soon after.

The light flashed.

Zhang Jing's figure quietly appeared in a desolate hilly region stretching thousands of miles.

He flew up to the top of a small hill not more than thirty feet tall, curiously surveying his surroundings, while trying to find the opponent for the second layer.

As he pondered.

A winged tiger with clear brows and beautiful eyes unexpectedly appeared in front of Zhang Jing, nearly giving him a scare.

"Is it actually this guy? But this aura... it reaches the peak of ordinary Combining Dao?"

A hint of a smile flashed for no reason in Zhang Jing's eyes.

Although the opponent was strong, after all, he had fought with it before, and was quite familiar with its weaknesses. Thus, to him, this winged tiger might be easier to handle than the gray-white boned beast from the first layer.

"But, is this the only strength of the second layer?" Zhang Jing then thought with some confusion.

However, in the next moment.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A series of ground-shaking noises came, and confusion gradually disappeared from Zhang Jing's face, replaced by an unmistakable shock.

"One, two, three... eight, nine, ten!"

He counted one by one, and for a moment, only felt his scalp tingle. There were actually a total of ten winged tigers at the peak of ordinary Combining Dao in the second layer.

A chorus of roars rang out.

One giant tiger after another leaped high, obscuring the sky as if Mount Tai was pressing down, pouncing towards Zhang Jing.

Seeing this, his eyes flashed with a sharp gleam.

With no other choice, he could only wear them down one by one.

Zhang Jing dove into the void, urging the Five-Color Cloud Flag, and attacked the underbelly of one of the winged giants, focusing on where their weakness lay.

At the same time, his figure kept flickering in and out of the entire world, drawing the attention of the ten tigers, not giving the enemy any chance to rest or recover.

The screams of pain were almost nonstop.

four hours!

Half a day!

One day!

Time passed by, and the number of giant tigers besieging Zhang Jing finally began to decrease.

Three days later.

The second layer of the God-Demon Tower regained its tranquility.

Sounds of clinking came from under Zhang Jing's feet; they were Copper Coins, totaling as many as a hundred.

However, he seemed not to notice this scene, just standing silently as if waiting for something.

After a while.

The grand voice rang as promised, "Congratulations on passing the second layer; your status has been elevated to a first-class citizen. To challenge the third layer, you need to pay one hundred Copper Coins."

"Yes!" Zhang Jing spoke through gritted teeth with a dark expression.

He had guessed it would be like this.