Willow Daoist

"You can never be too careful."

Li Xuan flew forward at an unhurried pace.

At the same time, he muttered to himself.

A tenth-level Golden Immortal was nothing special.

Though that placed him among the stronger cultivators in the Primordial Wilderness,

there were still plenty who were stronger.

What if he ran into one?

And so he flew on...

Roaming freely through the Primordial Wilderness.

Picking fruit and drinking mountain spring water in his leisure, hurrying along when he had places to be.

He encountered plenty of battles along the way, including several clashes between Grand Unity Golden Immortals.

But Li Xuan avoided them all, keeping his distance, so nothing happened to him.

In the blink of an eye, five years passed.

A tenth-level Golden Immortal cultivator had spent five years traveling.

Anyone else who heard that would have thought he'd gone from the far south to the far north, crossing half the Primordial Wilderness.

But for Li Xuan,

it meant traveling from Mount Taixuan to the western region where Phoenix Mountain stood.

As for Mount Taixuan's location, Li Xuan had more or less figured it out.

It lay in some remote corner of the eastern Primordial Wilderness, where spiritual energy was exceedingly scarce.

It was a desolate place.

Still, he had cultivated there for so many years. It was hard to leave his homeland.

Besides, Li Xuan knew that the density of spiritual energy had no bearing on how much his cultivation could improve.

So there was no need to move.

And besides, it was safe there.

Who would go to such a barren place?

The closer he got to Phoenix Mountain,

the more living beings he saw.

The battles grew more and more intense, too.

The Scaled Tribe, led by Ancestor Dragon, and the Bird Tribe, led by Yuanfeng, had evidently grown bloodthirsty and stopped holding back.

Corpses of all kinds of creatures littered the landscape.

Li Xuan shook his head as he went.

So many good ingredients!

What a pity he didn't have time to prepare them.

Otherwise, his Incarnation Outside the Body might have broken through to Grand Unity Golden Immortal.

An Incarnation Outside the Body could cultivate independently.

That was what set it apart from other methods of creating clones.

After all, an Incarnation Outside the Body could even serve as the main body.

The farther he went, the more cautious Li Xuan became.

The battles around him had shifted from duels to all-out brawls.

Hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of living beings gathered into formations, roaring and fighting together.

Seeing this, Li Xuan realized that he must be nearing Phoenix Mountain.

He kept his head down and hurried along, sneaking forward. If he was spotted, he killed anyone below the Golden Immortal level with a single thrust of his spear.

If it was a Golden Immortal—or someone whose cultivation was even higher than his—he immediately used Illusory Shift to flee.

He traveled for another three days.

At last, the way ahead became a sea of battle that Li Xuan could neither cross, hide from, nor escape through with Illusory Shift!

A towering peak, eighteen thousand zhang high, pierced the heavens!

Flames blazed across the entire mountain.

All around it, millions of living beings had formed a vast ocean of slaughter!

Boundless killing intent, roars, and blood stained the entire sky a murderous red.

Li Xuan's pupils shrank. He didn't dare go any closer.

Instead, he carefully moved to the top of a tall mountain and hid himself behind a boulder.

There, he watched the vast, bloody battle of the great calamity unfold!

"Yuanfeng! Surrender your Bird Tribe to me, and I'll spare your life!"

A gigantic shadow, more than a hundred thousand zhang tall, loomed in the blood-red sky.

His voice boomed across heaven and earth, brimming with dominance and majesty.

"Hahaha! Ancestor Dragon! Surrender your Scaled Tribe to me, and I'll spare your life!"

A high, sharp laugh rang out from Phoenix Mountain, filled with boundless arrogance.

A figure stood at the mountain's peak!

The figure was only seven chi tall, but Li Xuan could see him clearly.

He had a handsome, severe face. A nine-colored flame burned between his brows, and he wore seven-colored robes. His black hair fell over his shoulders, and his whole bearing radiated defiant battle spirit.

Though this figure was small, his pressure and imposing presence

were in no way inferior to that of the hundred-thousand-zhang shadow in the sky!

Unfortunately, though an Incarnation Outside the Body could rival its main body, it was still not the main body.

So the system couldn't come along.

Li Xuan couldn't check the figure's information.

But anyone with a brain could figure it out.

That arrogant figure had to be the boss of the Bird Tribe, the first phoenix born into the world—Yuanfeng!

Even from a hundred thousand li away, looking at her made Li Xuan's heart pound.

This was the pressure of a true Quasi-Saint powerhouse!

The shadow in the sky seemed enraged. He let out a roar, and countless bolts of lightning came crashing down.

His cold voice then rang out in every direction.

"Break Phoenix Mountain!"

Rumble!

In that instant, the entire sea of slaughter boiled over!

The creatures on both sides had nowhere left to retreat!

It was either kill or be killed!

Li Xuan watched, his heart and mind stirred. He almost wanted to rush in at once and kill a few—or get himself killed.

But the moment the thought came to him, he raised a hand and slapped himself.

"Trying to get yourself killed, trying to get yourself killed, trying to get yourself killed! What are you thinking? Has the Killing Qi gone to your head?"

Li Xuan cursed himself a few times, then steadied his mind and continued watching.

"Little friend, you have impressive self-control. When ordinary creatures are struck by such a bloodthirsty killing intent, they immediately succumb to their murderous urges and rush in to fight without a thought. I didn't expect you to break free of it so quickly. You truly have remarkable discipline. But tell me, little friend, do you belong to the Bird Tribe, the beasts, or the Scaled Tribe? I can't see through you."

Just then, a calm voice suddenly reached Li Xuan's ears.

In an instant, every hair on his body stood on end.

No way.

Had he just run into some big shot?

Was he really this unlucky?

Someone was speaking right beside him, and he hadn't even sensed their presence.

That had to be a big shot at least at the Grand Unity Golden Immortal level.

But since he hadn't immediately attacked and killed him,

there was still room to talk.

Li Xuan quickly forced a sincere, friendly smile and turned around.

He saw a plump old man with white hair and beard, dressed in a blue-and-white Daoist robe, smiling at him.

"Hello, old sir. I don't belong to any of the Three Tribes. I'm just here to watch the excitement. I imagine you are, too?"

Li Xuan couldn't see through the old man at all. In his eyes, the man seemed like an utterly ordinary mortal.

That made Li Xuan understand.

This old geezer probably wasn't as powerful as Hongjun.

But he was still a supreme expert.

So Li Xuan lowered his posture as much as he could.

He was practically ready to drop to his knees on the spot.

The old man heard this and smiled, nodding. "You don't seem to belong to the Three Tribes, either. You must be a primordial creature. Still, your aptitude is rather poor."

As if your aptitude's so great. What are you showing off for? Honestly...

Li Xuan cursed him inwardly, but put on an awkward smile. "I've been slow-witted since I was a child, and my aptitude isn't good. My cultivation has been hard to improve, so I came out to try my luck and look for opportunities. My name is Long Aotian. May I ask your name, old sir?"

The old man stroked his beard and smiled. "You have a fine name, little friend. As for me, I call myself Willow Daoist."