"Poison-attributed spiritual materials!"
The moment Luo Qing opened the storage pouch brought by the Phoenix Clan Mystic God, his spirits immediately lifted.
Originally, Luo Qing had only hoped to lure the Phoenix Clan over and see whether he could rely on them to escape.
But after learning that the Phoenix Clan needed to borrow the power of Hundred Gods Mountain to exterminate the Fierce Beast Remnants,
Luo Qing knew that this plan was temporarily unworkable.
The slightest move on his part would certainly provoke Hun Xing into using thunderous methods.
He had not expected the Phoenix Clan to send such a generous gift at this juncture.
The poison-attributed spiritual materials in the storage pouch were more than enough to refine three Acquired Spiritual Treasures.
What delighted Luo Qing even more was that the poison origin within these poisonous materials was exceptionally rich.
They were sufficient even for refining a mid-grade Acquired Spiritual Treasure.
In fact, this was precisely why You Feng Gold God had deliberately sent the materials.
You Feng Gold God did not care about the Acquired Spiritual Treasure that would be refined. He was merely taking this opportunity to befriend Luo Qing, an Artifact Refining grandmaster.
Three sets of mid-grade Acquired Spiritual Treasure materials were nothing to peak-stage Metal God You Feng.
You Feng Gold God did not know that these poisonous materials were like timely aid in Luo Qing's hour of need.
If he wanted to scheme against a Grand Unity Golden Immortal, was there anything more convenient than poison?
A hundred years later, a low-grade poison-attributed Acquired Spiritual Treasure was delivered to You Feng Gold God.
"Nine Acquired Restrictions! Not bad, not bad! With a little more refinement, it might even be upgraded to a mid-grade Divine Treasure in the future. It seems this Chi Lingzi truly possesses great talent."
After seeing the Divine Treasure refined by Chi Lingzi, You Feng Gold God became even more determined to recruit him into the Phoenix Clan.
However, with a great battle imminent and the support of Hundred Gods Mountain still needed, You Feng Gold God could only postpone his plans.
The five-hundred-year deadline was approaching.
After refining ten Innate Spiritual Peaches, Luo Qing's cultivation became stuck at the late Mystic God stage.
"I have disappointed Master. After refining ten Spiritual Peaches, my cultivation is still only at the late Mystic God stage!"
With the great battle imminent, Luo Qing came before Old Bai and reported dejectedly.
"It is fine. Do not rush. The Mountain Lord only asked you to give it a try. Since you failed to become a Metal God, calmly cultivate in the mountain during this battle."
Old Bai Metal God swept Luo Qing with his divine sense, confirmed that he was only at the late Mystic God stage, and offered a word of comfort.
"I shall obey Master's instructions!"
Luo Qing bowed toward the main cave abode before returning to the subsidiary hall.
Within the core cave abode.
Hun Xing had watched every part of Luo Qing's conversation with Old Bai.
As an old schemer, how could the minor tricks Luo Qing had played in Hundred Gods Mountain over the past ten thousand years escape his notice?
It was merely that Hun Xing was confident he could control the overall situation and did not care.
"Heh! It seems my disciple has noticed some clues after all! I'll play along and see what tricks you can come up with."
Once the five-hundred-year deadline arrived,
one hundred thousand deities from Hundred Gods Mountain surged toward the distant lair of the Fierce Beast Remnants, blotting out the sky and covering the earth.
As the Mountain Lord of Hundred Gods Mountain, Hun Xing naturally had to personally lead the expedition and oversee the battle.
The group from the Phoenix Clan also followed Hundred Gods Mountain's battle formation toward the lair of the fierce beasts.
The nearby fierce-beast lairs were extremely far from Hundred Gods Mountain. Even a Grand Unity Metal God traveling at full speed would need an entire day.
Leading a great army would take even longer—at least half a month.
After the gathered deities left, Hundred Gods Mountain immediately became deserted, with only a small number of people remaining to guard the mountain gate.
Luo Qing's eyes darkened as he calculated the time when Hundred Gods Mountain's army had departed.
Not until three days later
did Luo Qing finally activate his Azure Dao Eye and probe the entirety of Hundred Gods Mountain.
One, two...
There were four Metal Gods guarding Hun Xing's core cave abode in total.
Their auras faintly locked onto the subsidiary hall where Luo Qing was staying.
That old ghost Hun Xing really wasn't at ease leaving me in the mountain.
After arranging for four Metal Gods to watch him, Luo Qing truly felt that Hun Xing thought highly of him.
"The opportunity is rare. Since matters have come to this, I can only risk my life in one desperate gamble!"
Luo Qing's gaze hardened.
This was indeed an exceptional opportunity to escape. Once Hun Xing returned from exterminating the beasts, he would have no chance to flee.
Having made up his mind, Luo Qing released his aura without reservation.
He was clearly no longer at the late Mystic God stage he had shown before, but at the peak of the Mystic Immortal stage, only one step away from becoming a Golden Immortal.
What was a Golden Immortal?
The imperishable nature of the Great Dao.
The Divine Dao condensed an imperishable Dharma Form, using the Dharma Form to draw in a strand of imperishable aura that resonated with the Divine Body.
With the protection of imperishable aura, one could ignore the erosion of the river of time and enjoy the same lifespan as Heaven.
One had truly escaped the calamity of mortality.
This was called an imperishable Divine Body—the achievement of an imperishable Metal God.
The Immortal Dao, meanwhile, condensed a Golden Core within the body—a Great Dao Golden Core, the Dao's primal embryo—from which imperishable aura naturally gestated.
It protected the primordial spirit from the calamity of temporal erosion.
The Divine Dao leaned toward essence and spirit, with qi as secondary.
The Immortal Dao leaned toward qi and spirit, with essence as secondary.
Luo Qing was a mid-grade Innate God and possessed the Innate Crimson King Dharma Form.
When it came to breaking through to the Golden Immortal realm, the Divine Dao was still easier for him.
With a thought from Luo Qing, the Innate Crimson King Dharma Form hidden within his primordial spirit immediately lit up.
Boundless essence, qi, and divine sense surged toward the Crimson King Dharma Form.
Having cultivated both the Immortal and Divine Paths, Luo Qing's foundation was unfathomably deep.
In moments, the entire Crimson King Dharma Form was thoroughly illuminated.
A figure resembling the embodiment of the Great Dao of Fire appeared behind Luo Qing.
Its appearance was exactly the same as the Crimson King Dharma Form Luo Qing had condensed.
"The Crimson King Dharma Form is complete. The Crimson King of Fire has taken his place."
A strand of imperishable divine intent came from the Dao and descended upon Luo Qing.
The Innate Crimson King Divine Body began to transform rapidly with the aid of the imperishable aura.
Three days later.
Once everything in the cultivation chamber had returned to calm, Luo Qing had already become an imperishable Metal God.
"This breakthrough was even easier than I imagined. Innate Gods truly possess heaven-defying advantages."
Luo Qing sighed in admiration.
Moreover, during this era, the Primordial Wilderness had yet to develop the concept of a tribulation for attaining the Dao. It was not like later generations, when becoming an immortal or forming a Golden Core required enduring a bout of lightning strikes.
Now that he had become a Metal God, using his higher cultivation to cultivate downward and condense an Immortal Dao Golden Core was exceptionally easy for Luo Qing.
The essence and qi of his Metal God body frenziedly transformed into Immortal Dao Dharma Power, while a bottomless vortex seemed to appear in Luo Qing's dantian.
It wantonly sucked in the ownerless essence and spiritual qi between Heaven and Earth.
At this point, Luo Qing no longer had any intention of concealing himself.
Soon, a spiritual-qi vortex spanning a thousand li appeared above Hundred Gods Mountain.
The commotion caused by an Immortal Dao breakthrough was far greater than that of the Divine Dao, as it required an excessively vast amount of spiritual qi from Heaven and Earth.
The violent fluctuations in the spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth alerted Old Bai Metal God, who was guarding Luo Qing.
The others could not recognize what kind of change this was, but Old Bai had come here with Hun Xing from the central region of the Primordial Wilderness.
Regarding the Immortal Dao that had emerged in the Primordial Wilderness, Old Bai knew far more than the other people of Hundred Gods Mountain.
"This commotion... is someone breaking through to the Golden Immortal realm?" Old Bai's expression changed as if he had thought of something.
The disturbance came quickly and vanished just as quickly.
With Luo Qing's Metal God cultivation, gathering such a massive amount of spiritual qi was extremely rapid.
In only a few hours, a gleaming scarlet-gold Golden Core appeared in Luo Qing's dantian.
As for the legendary classifications of Golden Core quality, even the Heavenly Dao did not exist at present, and the Immortal Dao had only recently been established.
Where would there be so many meticulous grades?
A Golden Core was a Golden Core—the Dao's primal embryo. The heights it could reach depended on the future, not the past.
"Swallow a Golden Core into my belly, and from now on, my fate is mine to command, not Heaven's!"
This line, so often repeated in the online novels of his previous life, gave Luo Qing a profound understanding at this moment.
"The Golden Immortal realm is complete! It is time to take hold of my own destiny!"
Luo Qing's eyes swept over the four Metal Gods surrounding the cave abode, and he spoke coldly to himself.
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