The Fierce Beast Clan had fallen, and the Divine Race had become the rulers of the Primordial Heaven and Earth.
First, the Five Elements Tribe had moved away, and then the Fierce Beast Clan had been defeated.
The fierce beast powerhouses near Hundred Gods Mountain had begun keeping their tails between their legs, no longer displaying their former arrogance.
Hundred Gods Mountain had completely established its dominance over the surrounding hundreds of thousands of miles and entered a period of rapid development.
In just five thousand years, Hundred Gods Mountain, which had originally held only twenty or thirty thousand deities, now had more than fifty thousand.
Ever since the Divine Race had defeated the Fierce Beast Clan, the number of Nature Spirits had also continued to increase.
The number of Innate Gods had risen as well, but not by much.
In the past, when fierce beasts ran rampant outside, the newly emerged Innate Gods nearby had been forced to seek refuge with Hundred Gods Mountain to protect themselves.
But now, the fierce beasts had become rats crossing the street. Their days were numbered.
With the arrogance of the Innate Gods, there was naturally no need for them to seek refuge with Hundred Gods Mountain anymore.
Inside a side hall of the core cave dwelling of Hundred Gods Mountain.
Luo Qing finished circulating his energy, and a mouthful of searing, turbid breath flowed from his lips.
Ever since breaking through to the True Immortal realm, he had dragged things out for six or seven thousand years.
Under Old Bai's urging, Luo Qing had no choice but to step into the Mystic Immortal realm.
At this point, he was only one final realm away from becoming a Golden Immortal.
Luo Qing also felt a greater sense of urgency.
He had not forgotten that the day he became a Golden Immortal would be the day he dueled with Mountain Lord Hun Xing.
Even after breaking through to the Mystic Immortal realm, Luo Qing had no intention of leaving seclusion immediately.
Over the years, Luo Qing had used his identity as an artifact-refining grandmaster.
By conducting a major artifact-refining session once every five hundred years, he had scraped up quite a few precious materials from the deities of Hundred Gods Mountain.
If all of them were refined into Immortal Artifacts, there would be no problem making over a thousand.
It was just that ordinary Immortal Artifacts were useless to Luo Qing in his current situation.
"Refining fifth-rank Immortal Artifacts is already foolproof now. I can put Acquired Spiritual Treasures aside for the moment. As for the Fire Spiritual Ring, I can begin making a replica."
Luo Qing muttered under his breath and took out the Flame Fire Pearl, his associated treasure.
Back when he had been at the True Immortal realm, he could already barely refine fifth-rank Immortal Artifacts.
As long as he did not complete the final step of fusion, making a replica of the Flame Fire Pearl was well within his ability.
But when it came to the top-grade treasure Fire Spiritual Ring, which possessed thirty-six Treasure Restrictions, his replication progress had always fallen short.
Now that Luo Qing's cultivation had broken through, he naturally had to try replicating the Fire Spiritual Ring again.
One Treasure Restriction, then two...
Only after inscribing thirty-six Treasure Restrictions onto the artifact embryo, with merely the final Innate Rune remaining, did Luo Qing finally stop in satisfaction.
Holding this Fire Lightning Pearl, which was comparable to a top-grade treasure, Luo Qing smiled, though a trace of regret remained in his eyes.
"What a pity. The final step still refuses to take shape, so I can only use it as a bomb." Luo Qing muttered in frustration.
Although he had reached the Mystic Immortal realm, Luo Qing still could not completely inscribe an Innate Treasure Restriction. Otherwise, the artifact would still self-destruct.
Moreover, a self-detonation on the level of a top-grade Innate Treasure posed little threat to Hun Xing, a Taiyi Mountain Lord.
He looked inward at the four Innate Spiritual Treasures in his body: the Metal, Wood, Water, and Earth Spiritual Rings.
Luo Qing's expression turned solemn. Fifth-rank top-grade Immortal Artifacts had already reached their limit.
He had also completely mastered the replication of top-grade Innate Treasures.
"Now, should I be qualified to refine Acquired Spiritual Treasures and replicate Innate Spiritual Treasures?"
Luo Qing was somewhat uncertain. The name Innate Spiritual Treasure carried tremendous weight.
He was not sure whether, with his current cultivation, the Eye of the Great Dao could truly analyze an Innate Spiritual Treasure.
However, Luo Qing had no choice but to take this step. Innate Spiritual Treasures were the only means he had of posing a threat to Ancestor Hun Xing.
"It will definitely work!"
Luo Qing secretly steeled his resolve.
He hurriedly revealed his Mystic God cultivation to Old Bai, putting Ancestor Hun Xing's mind at ease.
Then Luo Qing entered seclusion once more.
This time, he would not leave seclusion again until he had analyzed the four Low-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures in his possession.
Time flowed like water. Ten thousand years passed after the defeat of the Fierce Beast Clan.
The Divine Race entered a period of vigorous development. Countless new Nature Spirits and Innate Gods were born.
Over those ten thousand years, the Three Clans of Creation had expended tremendous effort and manpower to eradicate the Fierce Beast Remnants.
They had suffered rather serious losses as well.
The Phoenix Clan saw this and realized that things could not continue this way.
Relying solely on their own clan, even if they killed all the fierce beasts in the Southern Domain, their lower-ranking clansmen would likely be wiped out as well.
By then, forget about occupying the entire Southern Domain. They would be lucky if the Phoenix Clan did not weaken to the point of extinction.
Thus, the Phoenix Clan began changing its strategy. Eradicating the Fierce Beast Remnants with only the Phoenix Clan would naturally be extremely difficult.
It was not that the Great Luo powerhouses were unwilling to act. The problem was that the Southern Primordial Territory was simply too vast.
Relying on just a few Great Luo powerhouses would take far too much time.
It would be better to bring in the Divine Race's various forces throughout the Southern Domain and have them participate in eradicating the Fierce Beast Remnants together.
Those who were willing would naturally be easy to deal with. As for those unwilling, the Phoenix Clan had its own thunderous methods.
As Hundred Gods Mountain ruled over the surrounding hundreds of thousands of miles and had a Grand Unity Golden Immortal guarding it, it was naturally one of the forces the Phoenix Clan sought to win over.
On this day, a Grand Unity Golden Immortal from the Phoenix Clan brought over a hundred avian deities to Hundred Gods Mountain.
As the overlord of the Southern Domain, the Phoenix Clan's status went without saying.
Although there were no traces of the Phoenix Clan near Hundred Gods Mountain, Hun Xing still did not dare offend the visitors. He respectfully invited them into the council hall of Hundred Gods Mountain.
"Eradicate the Fierce Beast Remnants?"
"This... The fierce beast lairs nearby contain Grand Unity Golden Immortal beast kings, as well as dozens of Golden God fierce beasts. I'm afraid Hundred Gods Mountain cannot handle this alone!"
Upon hearing the Phoenix Clan's purpose, Hun Xing wore a troubled expression.
Although Hundred Gods Mountain had grown considerably over the years, compared to the fierce beasts, it was still somewhat lacking in the number of Golden God powerhouses.
"Mountain Lord Hun Xing, rest assured. My Phoenix Clan naturally does not expect Hundred Gods Mountain to eradicate the nearby fierce beasts alone.
At that time, I and the ten Golden Gods who came with me will all assist Hundred Gods Mountain.
This is an extermination plan jointly established by the two founders of my Phoenix Clan. No Divine Race in the Southern Primordial Territory may disobey it. Fellow Daoist Hun Xing, do you understand?"
The Phoenix Clan's Grand Unity Golden Immortal spoke calmly, but the domineering nature beneath his words was unmistakable.
"Fellow Daoist Feng, rest assured. The fierce beasts are the great enemy of our Divine Race. Eradicating them is a duty Hundred Gods Mountain cannot shirk.
It's just that you came rather suddenly. May Hundred Gods Mountain have five hundred years to prepare?" Hun Xing asked, his eyes deep and shadowy.
"Five hundred years is hardly anything. Naturally, there is no objection! In that case, I shall be troubling your esteemed land for the time being!"
The Phoenix Clan's Grand Unity Golden Immortal did not press the matter too hard. Five hundred years was nothing more than a short period of meditative cultivation.
As the Phoenix Clan cultivators settled temporarily in Hundred Gods Mountain, the dozens of True Gods and Mystic Gods who had come with the Phoenix Clan's Grand Unity Golden Immortal also began moving around the mountain.
The Phoenix Clan's strategy in this campaign against the fierce beasts was naturally not solely intended to annihilate the Fierce Beast Remnants.
Investigating the strength and intelligence of the various Divine Race cultivation forces in the Southern Domain was also one of its objectives.
The Southern Domain was the future backyard the Phoenix Clan had designated for itself. Naturally, the clearer it was about the many forces, powerful deities, and treasures within it, the better.
Mountain Lord Hun Xing understood every move the Phoenix Clan made, but the Phoenix Clan was too powerful, leaving Hundred Gods Mountain no way to resist.
Moreover, Mountain Lord Hun Xing did not value Hundred Gods Mountain very highly. It was merely a tool he had created in his pursuit of the Dao.
Once his fifth disciple became a Golden God and his Foundation transformed into that of an advanced or even top-tier Innate God, Hundred Gods Mountain would become dispensable.
"Chihuo became a Mystic God the last time he emerged from seclusion. Now another five thousand years have passed, so becoming a Golden God should not be far off. Letting the Phoenix Clan have its way for now is no great loss."
Hun Xing muttered and once again closed his eyes, sinking into silence.
Meanwhile, in Luo Qing's cultivation chamber.
This time, the process of analyzing the Innate Spiritual Treasures lasted far longer than Luo Qing had imagined.
The Gold Spiritual Ring took Luo Qing two thousand years, while the Wood Spiritual Ring took fifteen hundred.
The Water Spiritual Ring and Earth Spiritual Ring together took another fifteen hundred years.
If not for the fact that the more Innate Runes and analysis experience the Eye of the Great Dao accumulated, the faster its analysis became, Luo Qing definitely would not have analyzed all four Spiritual Treasures at once.
At this moment, all four Spiritual Treasures had been fully analyzed.
Luo Qing could now be considered to have gained a thorough understanding of Innate Spiritual Treasures.
Innate Spiritual Treasures contained the Origin of the Great Dao and Innate Spiritual Restrictions. Luo Qing had already known this after refining the treasures.
Now, Luo Qing had figured out the structure of the Innate Spiritual Restrictions in all four Spiritual Treasures.
Whether in the number of Innate Runes or the complexity of their arrangement, they were several times greater than Treasure Restrictions.
If a comparison had to be made, roughly nine Treasure Restrictions were equivalent to one Spiritual Restriction.
With the enhancement of the Origin of the Great Dao, the power of even a single Spiritual Restriction far surpassed the combined might of thirty-six Treasure Restrictions.
"In the end, Spiritual Treasures are powerful because of the Origin of the Great Dao!"
Luo Qing muttered under his breath.
Setting aside the influence of the Origin of the Great Dao, a treasure with thirty-six Treasure Restrictions might not necessarily be weaker than a Spiritual Treasure with four Spiritual Restrictions.
"The Origin of the Great Dao... the Origin of the Dao! It seems that whether refining Acquired Spiritual Treasures or replicating Innate Spiritual Treasures, the key lies in the Origin of the Great Dao."
Luo Qing grasped the crucial point in refining Spiritual Treasures.
But this was also somewhat troublesome. Before reaching the Grand Luo Golden Immortal realm, how could he grasp the laws of the Dao?
Without precious materials that naturally contained the Origin of the Dao, even a Grand Unity Golden Immortal could forget about refining an Acquired Spiritual Treasure.
Whether the area around Hundred Gods Mountain was barren, or these deities were unwilling to bring their materials out for Luo Qing to refine, he had yet to receive any precious material containing the Origin of the Great Dao.
Suddenly, an idea struck Luo Qing. He did not have any precious materials containing the Origin of the Great Dao.
But he still had five Innate Gods containing the Origin of the Great Dao in his hands.
He wondered whether the Origin of the Great Dao within an Innate God could serve as an artifact-refining material.
"It's worth a try!"
Luo Qing's eyes lit up.
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