Forging Immortality through the Dao Seed

Ribbit Ribbit! The terrifying frog croaks continued incessantly, echoing across the sky.

It seemed as if the sound carried a special Dao principle that, upon reaching one's ears, caused Zhang Jing's consciousness to become deeply disoriented. And even when he delved into the depths of the void, he was unable to block out this demonic noise.

"What a formidable Golden Toad!" Zhang Jing's eyes flashed.

Hum! A projection of the Qingyun domain behind him thrummed deeply, as an infinite worldly power surged like a reversed torrent from the Milky Way, instantly flooding into the Immortal Cloak of Invisibility.

In an instant, Zhang Jing felt his senses swiftly expanding outward, spreading until the entire fourth layer of space was enveloped.

With a single thought, the strength of the void within his mind's reach rapidly boiled, transforming into waves and swords, surging tumultuously towards the Three-legged Golden Toad from all directions.

At the same time, Zhang Jing also tried to split the void around the Golden Toad, repeating his old trick to create a prison for it.

However, things didn't go according to plan.

The Three-legged Golden Toad just turned its head and looked straight at Zhang Jing's position, uttering another earth-shaking croak.

It had clearly seen Zhang Jing hidden in the depths of the void.

Ghostly Dao chains shimmered around the Golden Toad, its robust single leg bent slightly and then pushed off powerfully. In an instant, the creature's body disappeared from its spot, leaving behind only an afterimage.

Boom! A violent explosion resounded, and waves of powerful sound energy rapidly spread, tearing apart the void prison that Zhang Jing had just constructed.

At this moment, the Golden Toad seemed to teleport, arriving right in front of Zhang Jing, a thousand miles away. Its terrifying immortal body, radiating thousands of golden lights, smashed through hundreds of layers of void barriers before it finally stopped, exhausted.

Facing a nearly within reach foe, the Three-legged Golden Toad could only issue a reluctant croak, then with a slight jump, it landed on a mountain peak a thousand miles away, its eyes radiant with divine light, staring intently at the direction where Zhang Jing was.

Its gaze was full of caution and vigilance.

During this process, Zhang Jing also activated Divine Skills and Spiritual Treasures, attempting to strike the opponent, but alas, to no avail—not even leaving a single mark.

There, with only less than ten layers of protective void barriers remaining, a sense of lingering fear flashed through Zhang Jing's eyes.

So this is a Feathering True Immortal-level beast? Truly terrifying beyond measure.

It's already formidable in body, and now after integrating a Dao principle, it has undergone an earth-shattering transformation, every movement connected to the grand Dao of heaven and earth, unleashing unimaginable power.

The key was that terrible defense!

Zhang Jing had already tested it; ordinary attacks without the force of a Dao principle simply couldn't penetrate the creature's skin. In other words, only the strength of acquired Spiritual Treasures or Harmonized Dao Cultivators wielding Great Divine Power could injure it.

And to really threaten it, even if multitudes of Harmonized Dao True Immortals below the Feathering stage were to attack, it would be futile, as the damage they could inflict would not even come close to the beast's recovery rate.

Thinking of this, "What trouble!" Zhang Jing felt a sense of helplessness in his heart. It would have been great if he himself were at the stage of Combining Dao, but unfortunately, he was not.

Although he couldn't inflict fatal damage on the Golden Toad with the Five-Color Cloud Flag, he still posed a threat. However, the creature was unable to completely break through the void barriers he had set up.

So theoretically, he could grind down the Golden Toad little by little.

As for the consumption, with the Qingyun realm now expanded to a width of 130,000 miles, it should hold up.

"Really absurd, how come I'm back to this kind of endurance competition?" Zhang Jing felt somewhat bewildered, involuntarily recalling his previous experience on the second level of the God-Demon Tower.

How similar!

So the root cause was— His gaze fell, looking at the Five-Color Cloud Flag in his hand.

"Once I get out, the first thing is to enter the Inner City Ghost Market, buy an innate divine object and re-sacrifice the Five-Color Cloud Flag, making it advance completely into a post-natal Spiritual Treasure. Otherwise, my offensive abilities just won't keep up," Zhang Jing vowed in his heart.

Yet at that moment, an abrupt boom of void explosion sounded, snapping his attention back to reality.

Zhang Jing looked towards the source of the noise, seeing a golden glowing tongue spanning a thousand miles, sweeping directly towards him. Wherever it passed, the rolling mountain ranges were cleaved in half, kicking up a sky full of dust.

His face changed instantly, and he stepped forward, disappearing from where he stood.

With less than ten layers of the void barrier remaining in front of him, his fragile Dharma Phase Realm corporeal body couldn't withstand such a thick and long tongue.

After an indeterminate length of time, the projection of the Qingyun realm behind Zhang Jing appeared somewhat wilted.

And with that, the croaking of frogs disappeared without a trace, replaced by a grand voice, "Congratulations on passing the fourth level, your status has been promoted to the second-class upper citizen. Would you like to continue the challenge?"

"No!"

Zhang Jing decisively shook his head to refuse, while at the same time gathering up the six hundred Copper Coins scattered on the ground.

Merely facing a Feathering stage Golden Toad forced him to put forth all his effort, so without even thinking about it, he knew for certain that he couldn't pass the fifth level before the Five-Color Cloud Flag was re-cultivated.

Naturally, there was also no need to waste the precious Copper Coins.

The next moment.

With a flash of his figure.

Zhang Jing once again returned to the familiar grassland above.

The Devil God Ranking rapidly unfolded, a wisp of faint light rapidly climbed from after the hundredth place, and in an instant, it squeezed into the top thirty, then slowly came to a stop at the twenty-seventh position.

[Twenty-seventh: Qingyun (4/5 levels)]

Beyond this ranking, everyone ahead had entered the fifth level.

"So how many Feathering True Immortals have actually come to Bliss Fairy Island this time?" His gaze fixed tightly on his Devil God Ranking, Zhang Jing couldn't help but exclaim.

First of all, without a doubt, those who ranked ahead of him and had entered the fifth level were definitely Feathering True Immortals, and those ranked behind him also surely counted several Feathering True Immortals among them.

After all, the battle strength of ferocious beasts within the fixed spaces inside the God-Demon Tower were particularly fearsome. It was normal for some creatures of the same level to be unable to hammer through them.

"It seems quite lively around here. And I wonder, after I've finished cultivating the Five-Color Cloud Flag, what rank I could reach? The rewards of Bliss Fairy Island..."

A thick anticipation was clearly visible in Zhang Jing's eyes.

He suddenly had an indistinct feeling that those rewards were definitely good stuff, under the premise that one had to rank at the top of the Devil God Ranking!

...

...

After leaving the God-Demon Tower.

Zhang Jing did not pay attention to the sensation caused by his rapidly climbing ranking.

He simply returned to his quarters, quickly put things in order, and then made his way eagerly toward the Inner City.

Of course, he still kept the house, to continue drawing the attention of the many Cultivators of Combining Dao within Immortal City.

That night.

In a silent street within the Inner City.

In fact, because only less than a decade had passed, the Inner City was basically filled with Feathering True Immortals who had come in through the God-Demon Tower, as well as even higher-ranking powerhouses.

The total number, when added all together, was only less than fifty; spread out in the vast Inner City, they were like a drop in the ocean, unable to cause the slightest ripple.

In a courtyard that spanned a thousand acres, Zhang Jing's figure slowly appeared.

"The midnight hour has arrived." A sharp gleam flashed through his eyes.

The next instant.

In the very center of the courtyard, a menacing hundred-zhang-high arch gate quietly emerged, adorned with lights and decorations with an eerily jubilant atmosphere.

Zhang Jing did not hesitate and walked straight through it.

This time, he did not use any Ghost Market credentials because the gate to the Ghost Market had automatically appeared in the courtyard.

And it would be the same from now on.

"The status of upper citizen... The Inner City is truly extraordinary, with residence directly connected to the Bliss Ghost Market; come and go as you please, very convenient indeed," thought Zhang Jing, quite satisfied.

As soon as he entered the Ghost Market, he felt a faint sense of familiarity, it was exactly like the Bliss Ghost Market in the Outer City.

Except that there were almost no people to be seen on the streets.

However, Zhang Jing could understand that, first, there were originally few people in the Inner City, and second, because one could come and go at any time, the probability of encountering someone was naturally not high.

Following the familiar path and continuing forward, walking past one quiet and dark shop after another, a quaint nine-story pagoda that Zhang Jing was quite familiar with quickly appeared in his view.

Upon entering.

A familiar portly man stood behind the counter, opening his mouth with a beaming smile, "My dear guest, we meet again!"

"How come it's still you?"

A look of surprise flickered across Zhang Jing's face.