Ascension

"I've managed to get some of the trivial matters sorted out, but as for the rest... there's no need for me to do everything myself."

In the cultivation room of the City Lord Mansion, Gu Jinlai let out a long breath.

For the past four or five days, he has been so busy that his feet barely touched the ground, with almost no rest.

Now, all departments in Fengyu City are finally back in operation.

Yes, it's just restarting.

As for winning people's hearts and minds, and getting them to genuinely obey his commands...

This is not something that can be done in a short time.

Gu Jinlai, the need to maintain the operation of various city departments has been repeatedly demonstrated by making an example of someone.

This includes some people who are not bad by nature, but are stubborn and inflexible.

These people killed some people, and as a result, he himself reached the point where his Karma was as heavy as blood.

"There are two more key issues. One is the demonic tide swept by the Dragon Cry Demon Emperor, and the other is... the death of the Sixth Princess Duanmu Shan in Wind and Rain City."

Gu Jinlai have pondered this.

Duanmu Shan is the sixth princess of the Holy Dynasty.

He is already a high-ranking official in the Holy Dynasty and a prominent figure who is qualified to compete for the throne in the future.

Such a prominent figure died in Wind and Rain City, and the royal family didn't even react...

This is very wrong.

There are only two possibilities for this to happen.

One possibility is that the royal family is preoccupied with some major event, leaving them overwhelmed and unable to spare any attention.

But this possibility is very small.

In order to maintain the dignity of the royal family, as long as there is even a little bit of strength left, the royal family will definitely send people to investigate. Otherwise, how can the royal family maintain its rule over the forty-nine cities of the Holy Dynasty?

Gu Jinlai, the second option has been preferred.

The royal envoy has arrived.

However, realizing the seriousness of the situation, they remained hidden and did not reveal themselves immediately.

"Jin Fantian and the others all guessed that I was able to unleash combat power far exceeding that of a Martial Saint, and even close to that of a Void Immortal, because I was originally a Void Immortal who had transformed into a Martial Saint. And Void Immortals... are among the top existences in the royal family!"

The Way of the Heart, from Gu Jinlai.

Behind the Holy Dynasty are the Wuji Cave Heaven, Taixuan Cave Heaven, Taihao Cave Heaven, Zhenwu Cave Heaven, Taisu Cave Heaven, and Piaomiao Cave Heaven.

The masters of the six great grotto-heavens discussed and decided that the six families would jointly elect a suitable person to rule the holy dynasty, with each term lasting thirty years.

Among the six great grotto-heavens, Wuji Grotto-heaven was the most powerful, and it was Wuji Grotto-heaven that served as the first thirty-year term leader.

During the leadership transition, the Holy Dynasty and the surrounding demon gods fought a great battle. The six great grotto heavens realized the power of the demon gods, and with the Wuji Grotto Heaven lobbying everywhere, the Wuji Grotto Heaven was ultimately re-elected.

As the most powerful family, the Wuji Cave Heaven has thirteen publicly known Supreme Elders, and perhaps three or five more hidden in the shadows, but the total number would not exceed twenty.

The remaining five grotto-heavens each have around ten Supreme Elders at the Void Immortal Realm.

The weakest of the Tai Su Cave Heavens only has seven Supreme Elders at the Void Immortal Realm.

Although each of the six great grotto-heavens has more than two illusory immortals serving as attendants in the royal court, it is still not an easy task for the royal court to dispatch illusory immortals during the "investigation" phase.

Not to mention...

Duanmu Shan's blood pact Curse was on Zhao Hua, but his part of it was directly eliminated.

Given that he was not the primary suspect, it was understandable that royal investigators would keep a close watch on him.

"If I'm not mistaken, the demonic tide stirred up by the Dragon Cry Demon Emperor is also a test for me by the royal family. If I... or rather, the Li Yang Cave Heaven behind me that they mistakenly believe can defeat this demonic tide and kill the Dragon Cry Demon Emperor, then the matter of Duanmu Shan's death will basically be pinned on Zhao Hua."

As for him...

He is either the lord of Wind and Rain City or a royal retainer.

However, despite the speculation, Gu Jinlai has never been a tradition of placing one's hopes on others.

His attention quickly drifted into the mental world.

In the spiritual world, there are as many as 403 clear lights.

This number alone gives you an idea of just how many people have been personally executed in the Gu Jinlai few days.

This is because even important figures have the habit of having multiple burrows.

Before taking action, like Cao Wudao, they made two preparations, allowing some key figures to escape from the city in advance.

"More than four hundred beams of clear light... Next..."

All eyes, Gu Jinlai, immediately focused on the chaotic star body.

Without the slightest hesitation.

A steady stream of clear light flowed in.

His body is transforming at a rate that is visible to the naked eye.

The more light is injected, the faster the efficiency will be improved.

Later on, he experienced an intense hunger pang from within his body.

They paid no heed to Gu Jinlai, continuing to pour in the clear light one stream after another.

Finally...

When only thirty of the Clear Light remained, the hunger became extremely intense, as if only through a large amount of food or a massive energy replenishment could the final enhancement and transformation be truly achieved.

Gu Jinlai and present for a moment, he waved his hand, and a box appeared in front of him.

Inside the box were two hundred portions of Thunder Magnetic Gold.

He took out a portion of Thunder Magnetic Essence and put it into the Eternal Furnace for refining.

Before long, he had reached a conclusion.

"It will take about 3,900 portions of Thunder Magnetic Gold."

This was pretty much what he had guessed.

After refining 3,900 portions of Thunder Magnetic Essence, his body will undergo a complete transformation, evolving from a human to a primordial divine beast.

Upon completion of his transformation, his Chaotic Star Body, at the peak of its development, will naturally reach the level of perfection, unleashing power far surpassing that of a Void Immortal.

That power...

"A True Immortal Residing in This World!"

From Gu Jinlai, they have murmured to themselves.

A power comparable to that of a mortal immortal!

"Nine hundred portions of Thunder Magnetic Gold..."

Gu Jinlai took a deep breath.

Very quickly, extremely quickly.

Without hesitation, he reached out and threw portions of Thunder Magnetic Gold into the Eternal Furnace.

One serving, three servings, ten servings, thirty servings, one hundred servings...

One box, three boxes, ten boxes...

He quickly refined thousands of thunder and magnetic elements into his body.

The thirsty body was quickly filled.

He completely disregarded the turmoil, fear, and exchanges of interests among the major external forces.

Even when Liu Feiyun, Qi Sheng, and others finally arrived in Fengyu City with ten million refugees, he did not show up.

He spent the entire five days refining the Thunder Magnetic Elemental Gold.

Although three thousand portions of Thunder Magnetic Essence were not enough to completely transform him, he was like a previously malnourished person...

Although he hasn't fully recovered, after eating something to fill his stomach, his condition has changed dramatically compared to before.

Gu Jinlai, I have quietly felt the surging power of thunder within my body, and the vague resonance between this power and a certain special power of the Great Dao in the world...

At that moment, he felt an unprecedented power.

"Before I swept through the Chilong Territory, I knew that as long as I had enough Thunder Magnetic Essence, I would definitely be able to obtain a new round of enhancement, but... at that time, I only thought that this enhancement would allow me to reach the ninth level of Saint, which means I could fight the Demon Emperor for a short time. If I wanted to truly fight the Demon Emperor, I would still have to rely on the city's protective formation... but now it seems..."

Gu Jinlai clenched his fist. "I underestimated the Chaotic Star Body technique, which can transform a person's life form into an innate divine Cultivation Method."

His previous reference was the eternal furnace.

However, the Eternal Furnace and the Chaotic Astral Body have different focuses.

The Eternal Furnace does not require an undying will or resonance with the Great Dao; when fully unleashed, it can unleash an attack comparable to a great Divine Ability.

And...

It has advantages that other Cultivation Methods do not have.

That's accumulating power!

Given a sufficiently powerful vessel for him to accumulate power, the offensive force he can ultimately unleash will be far more than just a simple supernatural Divine Ability.

It may even surpass great Divine Ability.

And great Divine Ability...

That was the power that only a true immortal who had survived to this world had mastered.

Just as only saints can truly master a Divine Ability.

Power beyond the Great Divine Ability...

It could probably even kill a true immortal who has remained in the world.

Therefore, the Eternal Furnace cannot be viewed with conventional perspectives.

But the Chaotic Star Body is different; it is a Cultivation Method that can truly transform a person's life and evolve them into a primordial divine beast.

When a Martial King advances to the Martial Saint level, he also undergoes a physical transformation, but that transformation is far inferior to the transformation brought about by the Chaotic Starlight Body!

This is almost equivalent to a Celestial Person who originally thought he had forged the immortal golden body of a saint, but in reality...

However, it is the energy manifestation of a mortal immortal.

Currently Gu Jinlai, it is still a little short of completely transforming into a primordial divine beast.

But if his transformation progress was only one percent before refining three thousand portions of Thunder Magnetic Essence, now it has soared to over seventy percent.

His every move seemed to unleash the power of thunder.

Furthermore, the thunderous power within his body and his status as a child of the stars are resonating in a peculiar way, similar to the resonance between the cultivator's own Dao and the sword of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, yet it seems to be a completely different kind of power.

The specifics will only be revealed once the Chaotic Astral Body reaches its full potential.

"Although it hasn't completely transformed into a true innate divine beast, reaching a level comparable to a demon god, but... Dragon Cry Demon Emperor?"

Gu Jinlai gathered the surging thunderous power within his body, took a step, and left the cultivation room.

Just as he sensed from inside, a dozen or so people had already gathered outside the training room.

These dozen or so people were almost all Celestial Person or martial kings.

Of course, Zhao Yushu, whose cultivation level had somehow reached the Core Forming stage, significantly lowered the average cultivation level of everyone else.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Gu Jinlai emerge from the pass.

Liu Feiyun immediately said, "City Lord, the Demonic Beasts Dragon's Cry Valley are less than three thousand miles away from Wind and Rain City... We sent out a request for help in the name of Wind and Rain City several days ago, hoping to get support from surrounding cities, but they have managed to evade it..."

"I see."

Gu Jinlai interrupted Liu Feiyun and turned his gaze to his deputy city lord, Su Shi'an. "How is the evacuation of the people in the outer city going?"

"Time is too tight, especially given the recent chaos in the government's directives. Although the city lord purged the situation beforehand, evacuating 80 million people into the city is still not something that can be done in just a few days. Currently, about 30% of the civilians have not yet been evacuated into the city..."

"No need to evacuate."

This Gu Jinlai.

Su Shi'an was slightly taken aback, then quickly said, "City Lord, please give me a little more time, three days... no! Two days! Give me two days! I will safely evacuate everyone to the Inner City and place them under the protection of the city's defensive array, I promise..."

"I said, there's no need to retreat."

Gu Jinlai reached out again, stopping Su Shi'an from speaking.

His gaze swept over Han Qing, Su Shi'an, Qi Sheng, Yan Lie, Liu Feiyun and others in the arena. "Gather our forces, and we will intercept the demonic tide at Feilong Mountain, a thousand miles away from Fengyu City, and annihilate all the invading Demonic Beasts!"