What is an immortal?

As Yuan Ming entered the hall, the noise within instantly came to a halt, and everyone's gaze simultaneously turned towards Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming walked lightly towards the main seat in the center of the hall, his gaze casually sweeping over the assembled Dharma Phase Cultivators, a meaningful smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

The City Lords were all present in their true forms, and to some extent, they believed they were coerced by Yuan Ming to be there, which made their attitudes less pretense than usual.

In the face of Yuan Ming's gaze, some City Lords sneered repeatedly, some remained expressionless, only Long Shan gave him a concealed smile, while the others looked displeased.

Yuan Ming, however, seemed unfazed as he sat calmly on the main seat, composed and at ease.

"I won't say more than necessary. The matter to be discussed today is simple and direct. From today onwards, I will officially take over the Nineteen Cities of the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range. If any of you wish to continue serving as City Lords, aside from the necessary city operation costs, you must pay ninety percent of your profits as taxes." Yuan Ming's voice was calm and steady, yet it carried an unquestionable authority.

As soon as these words were uttered, they stirred up a thousand waves.

The City Lords were in an uproar, and the hall was filled with clamorous voices, as if they were about to lift the roof off this council hall.

Some City Lords even erupted with Dharma Phase auras in anger, attempting to pressure Yuan Ming into retracting his decree.

Among the crowd, even Long Shan frowned, particularly displeased with Yuan Ming's policy.

"Have you all finished arguing? I haven't finished speaking yet." Yuan Ming seemed oblivious to the crowd's reaction and merely spoke slowly, his voice instantly overwhelming them.

The City Lords immediately fell silent, casting hostile glances at Yuan Ming, eager to see what more he had to say.

"I know you are unwilling, but I am not a tyrant. I can give you a chance. Today, if you can defeat me, I will swear to relinquish control over the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range forever and never interfere in the affairs of the cities. Otherwise, you must swear to follow my orders from now on and never defy them." Yuan Ming spoke calmly.

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall was again filled with an uproar.

"Fine, I'll test you first!" As soon as Yuan Ming's words fell, Qu Lixiang shouted in anger and stood up immediately. His cultivation was the highest among the City Lords, just one step away from the Late-stage Dharma manifestation. Seeing him take the lead, the other City Lords fell silent, shifting their gazes to Yuan Ming, waiting for him to accept the challenge.

Just as everyone was expecting a fierce battle to erupt, Yuan Ming waved his hand and said indifferently, "City Lord Qu, you seem to misunderstand me. I did not mean to challenge you one-on-one."

"Ha, are you afraid?" Qu Lixiang sneered, the corners of his mouth curving into a sardonic smile.

"I just think a one-on-one duel is too much of a waste of time." Yuan Ming smiled slightly and said.

With that, he slowly stood up, his gaze sweeping across the venue, a hint of wild War Intent flashing in his eyes, and he said word by word, "All of you can come at me together."

These words left everyone astonished.

Everyone looked at Yuan Ming in surprise, unsure where he got the confidence to make such a bold statement.

Qu Lixiang laughed angrily instead and snorted, "City Lord Yuan, aren't you afraid of pulling a muscle with such boasting? You really underestimate us!"

Yuan Ming remained unmoved, simply saying, "There's no point in saying more. If you wish to challenge, then follow me outside the city."

He said this and, without caring about the reactions of the crowd, turned and walked out of the hall.

Qu Lixiang snorted coldly and followed closely, the other City Lords and Dharma Phase Cultivators exchanged glances and then rose, trailing behind Yuan Ming without exception.

The group quickly arrived above a vast mountain range outside the city.

Yuan Ming stood in midair, expressionlessly looking at the City Lords, seemingly without the intention to strike first.

"Everyone, strike with all your might and let City Lord Yuan see that we are not the worthless that he can easily handle!" Qu Lixiang encouraged, his whole body surging with mana as he summoned his Dharma manifestation.

Following his call, the Dharma Phase Cultivators all summoned their respective Dharma manifestations.

In an instant, twenty-eight Dharma manifestations appeared simultaneously in the sky, the dispersed mana causing the sky to change color.

The multicolored spirit light, carrying overwhelming momentum, bore straight down on Yuan Ming.

In the face of this immense mana pressure, if it were an ordinary Dharma Phase Cultivator, their Divine Soul might have been quivering in fear.

Yuan Ming merely chuckled dismissively, not even bothering to summon his Dharma manifestation, only a flash of the Dream Butterfly Dao Seal at his brow, directly casting an Illusion Technique.

Just as he made his move, it seemed the Dharma Phase Cultivators were prepared, as they collectively took out a talisman and slapped it onto their brows.

In an instant, a light blue spirit light emerged from each Dharma manifestation, connecting them into lines, linking everyone's Sea of Consciousness.

At this moment, the Illusion Technique descended.

To everyone's surprise, this Illusion Technique had no effect whatsoever.

Under the protection of the light blue spirit light, the Dharma Phase Cultivators instantly broke free from the Illusion Technique's shackles, their eyes regaining clarity.

"It seems you all came prepared today." Yuan Ming's lips curved slightly, offering a light smile, his voice laced with a hint of mockery.

"With City Lord Yuan's ever-changing methods, how could we not be on guard?" Qu Lixiang smiled smugly, a trace of slyness flashing in his eyes.

Before the words were finished, the twenty-eight Dharma manifestations simultaneously performed incantations, and the Dharma manifestations behind them launched an attack at once.

Instantly, the void was ablaze with fire, as if the sky had been ignited. Fierce winds howled, raising waves upon waves on the flat ground... Countless magic spells poured down like a torrential rain, sealing off the space where Yuan Ming was, impenetrably tight.

The next moment, Yuan Ming's figure vanished in the midst of everyone's attack, as if swallowed by the endless firepower, transforming into a mist of blood.

Everyone was astonished, not expecting that one strike could force Yuan Ming into such a situation.

Just as they were stunned, a flash of light appeared in mid-air, and Yuan Ming's figure reappeared.

His body was intact, his clothes fluttering, as if the previous attack had been nothing but a false alarm.

He raised his head to look at everyone, a hint of disdain in his eyes, and spat out two words lightly, "Is that all?"

All the Dharma phase cultivators fell silent immediately, their hearts filled with immense shock.

Their attack just now had combined the Five Elements Power and had included special techniques targeting the physical body and divine soul, yet it seemed they hadn't even scratched Yuan Ming's skin.

"I understand now, it's the Undying Body!" Long Shan suddenly realized, his voice tinged with fear.

Upon hearing this, all the Dharma phase cultivators felt a heaviness settle in their hearts, knowing that Body Cultivation was troublesome. It now seemed Yuan Ming's courage to face many alone stemmed from this.

Qu Lixiang saw the morale dropping and hastily shouted, "Don't be intimidated! So what if he has an Undying Body? Body Cultivators are not skilled in group battles. We just need to guard against his Soul Cultivator techniques and swarm him; we might yet defeat him!"

Upon hearing this, everyone knew that there was no turning back now, and they must decide the outcome with Yuan Ming.

Thus, they all rallied their spirits and struck again, the glow of magic spells flickering as they attacked Yuan Ming together.

Yuan Ming, however, had no intention of entangling with them any further.

Then, a glow flashed on his forehead, the silver moon mark looming and fading.

The next moment, he vanished into thin air before everyone's eyes, as if merging into the void.

The multitude of magic spells crashed down wildly but hit nothing.

All the Dharma phase cultivators hurriedly extended their divine sense to search for Yuan Ming's trace, but wherever their divine sense swept, it found nothing, as if Yuan Ming had completely disappeared from the world.

Just at this moment, waves suddenly arose in the void beside them, as if something had broken through the space, yet they could see nothing of it, only feeling their bodies tighten, as if something was tightly binding them, unable to break free.

Not only that, the void around them pressed in simultaneously, completely imprisoning them where they stood.

They couldn't move their bodies, even the divine sense they extended was restricted within an inch around them, unable to extend further.

At this moment, they finally realized that Yuan Ming had reappeared.

Only now, his body had transformed into a towering ancient tree, and what was tightly entwining their bodies were precisely the roots of this tree.

Additionally, Yuan Ming used the World Tree's space-creating ability to confine them individually in small spaces.

This was also the reason their bodies and divine senses were both imprisoned.

Yuan Ming's World Tree transformation, after his continuous nurturing, had reached the Sixth Rank Upper Stage.

This tree was naturally of extremely high rank, effortlessly dealing with these City Lords, who at most, were only Mid-stage Dharma manifestation.

Having imprisoned everyone, Yuan Ming did not continue to attack.

After all, this was not a life-and-death battle; if he killed everyone, he couldn't explain it to Daoist Mu.

Though the City Lords were imprisoned, they were still trying to find ways to break free from the shackles.

But soon, they found they were utterly helpless against Yuan Ming's divine skill.

And the inability to communicate or contact the outside world only deepened their fear within.

"City Lord Yuan, I concede defeat. From now on, Yin Mountain City is willing to obey your commands, offering ninety percent of the earnings as tax!" Soon, the first to surrender appeared, and it was Long Shan.

He had already planned in his heart and had expressed his stance to Yuan Ming earlier. Now seeing the unfavorable situation, he naturally stood up immediately to demonstrate that his position had not changed.

With Long Shan being the first to stand up, the other City Lords, already intimidated by Yuan Ming's thunderous methods, also followed suit, expressing their willingness to submit under Yuan Ming.

Even the previously most arrogant Qu Lixiang lowered his head at this time, saying no more.

As the saying goes, circumstances are more powerful than people. In the face of absolute strength, all resistance is futile at any time.

To reach their current level of cultivation and position, they were by no means die-hard fools. Flexibility is necessary for longevity.

Soon after, everyone returned to the City Lord's Hall and took their seats. The hall was utterly silent, with no one daring to whisper or murmur, the atmosphere vastly different from before.

Yuan Ming once again sat on the main seat, looking at the City Lords below who dared not meet his gaze, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Soon, I will have someone bring the contract. Once you all sign, you may leave at your convenience." He waved his hand, his voice carrying an undisputed authority.