After the commanders of the two armies had been decided, the Loose Immortals returned to the central tent and began discussing the details of the expedition in greater depth.
The meeting continued until dusk, when the Loose Immortals finally left and returned to the camps where their respective armies were stationed.
Ju Hua lifted the flap of his military tent. Then he froze for a moment: at some point, a figure with long, flowing hair had appeared inside.
After briefly discerning the figure's aura, Ju Hua cupped his hands and said, "Zhuanshui Juhua pays his respects to Ancestor Tianyang!"
At the sound of Ju Hua's voice, the figure turned around. Sure enough, it was Ancestor Tianyang, whom Ju Hua had met not long ago.
"Ju Hua, there's no need for formalities!" Ancestor Tianyang chuckled, then continued:
"I didn't come here for anything else. A short while ago, I contacted the current head of the Zhuanshui Clan, and only then did I learn that you had just become a Loose Immortal?"
"Ju Hua is ashamed," he said.
"To have made such great progress so soon after becoming a Loose Immortal is truly incredible!" Ancestor Tianyang said with a sigh. "It's a pity you failed your tribulation!"
"I suddenly had a realization a few days ago, and that allowed me to complete the fifth form of the Great Sorrow Sword Art in one go," Ju Hua explained.
In truth, this was the excuse Ju Hua had come up with long ago. He couldn't explain the matter of enlightenment. When the opportunity came, one might suddenly have realization after realization and achieve greatness all at once. It wasn't hard to understand.
"If you've had a realization, that means your previous accumulation was deep enough. There's no need to be so modest!" Ancestor Tianyang waved a hand. "Focus on cultivating in this life. In your next life, reincarnate into the Zhuanshui Clan, and you'll still have a chance to become a Celestial Immortal!"
"Yes!"
"To reincarnate into the Zhuanshui Clan again, you'll need a Reincarnation Edict. You're still young, but it would be best to make preparations early," Ancestor Tianyang reminded him.
"Ancestor Shangyang gave me a Reincarnation Edict before, so there's no need to worry about that," Ju Hua said.
"Oh? My clan brother Shangyang has already recognized your talent?" Ancestor Tianyang nodded slightly.
"..."
Ju Hua said nothing. In truth, Ancestor Shangyang probably still didn't know about him.
The other man had been able to give him such a precious Reincarnation Edict outright, which showed that he had indeed treated Ju Hua well.
After a moment's thought, Ancestor Tianyang suddenly asked, "This time, Jiuhua split the army into three divisions. Have you already gained command of one of them?"
"Yes. I'll be commanding one division," Ju Hua replied with a nod.
"Mm. Having you command one division will benefit the Zhuanshui Clan's army," Ancestor Tianyang said with a faint nod. In truth, he didn't care about this. In his long life, he had seen far too many Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals. He wouldn't care even if the entire Zhuanshui Clan army on this expedition were wiped out.
But there was one thing.
"Ju Hua, although your strength now surpasses that of a top-tier Loose Immortal, you're still far behind Void-Return Fiendgods. The Void-Return Fiendgod you encountered last time was only average. Fiendgods are generally less perceptive than we humans, but there are exceptions. Some Void-Return Fiendgods have lived since the Three Realms first came into being, and their comprehension of the Dao is quite impressive. Some have even mastered incredibly defiant divine abilities. Those Void-Return Fiendgods can crush you completely. You mustn't act rashly!" Immortal Tianyang cautioned him.
"Ju Hua understands." Ju Hua nodded gravely.
Ancestor Tianyang's words had served as a warning. Even among people at the same level, the gap could sometimes be terrifyingly vast. Loose Immortals, for instance, ranged from ordinary Loose Immortals to top-tier Loose Immortals and million-year Loose Immortals. And according to legend, there were even Loose Immortals who had lived for ten million years!
Celestial Immortals were the same. Some had only comprehended an ordinary Dao when they underwent their tribulation, barely reaching the threshold for becoming Celestial Immortals. But perhaps they had been blessed with good fortune, and the tribulation was weak, allowing them to pass through it with ease.
Such Celestial Immortals were the most ordinary kind. The strength of a million-year Loose Immortal was generally around that level, as was the strength of some powerful Void-Return Fiendgods.
As for stronger Celestial Immortals, Ju Hua himself didn't know much about them. But according to the standards in Desolate Era, there were Celestial Immortals a level above ordinary ones. Their comprehension of the Dao was already extremely high; some were even no weaker than certain million-year Loose Immortals.
Above them were the top-tier Celestial Immortals!
Among the Celestial Immortals who appeared in Desolate Era, there were quite a few top-tier ones. Not only was their understanding of the Dao sufficiently advanced, but their treasures, secret arts, and other methods also far surpassed those of ordinary Celestial Immortals. They could even crush a group of ordinary Celestial Immortals by themselves. The most typical top-tier Celestial Immortal was Chixin Celestial of the Shaoyan Clan, who appeared in Desolate Era.
Stronger than top-tier Celestial Immortals were peerless Celestial Immortals. Ju Hua guessed that the Celestial Immortal who created the Great Sorrow Sword Art might have been one, because his comprehension of the Dao of the Sword was astonishingly high. He was only one step away from fully comprehending the complete Dao of the Sword!
Such a Celestial Immortal was only one step away from becoming a Pure Yang True Immortal. Calling him peerless was no exaggeration!
Peerless Celestial Immortals seemed to have reached the pinnacle, but in truth, there were beings among the Celestial Immortals even stronger than they were.
These Celestial Immortals had yet to fully comprehend a single Grand Dao, so they couldn't become Pure Yang True Immortals. But over the long years, they had comprehended one Grand Dao after another. Even more astonishingly, they could combine these Grand Daos to create perfect secret arts. Such secret arts were no weaker in power than a complete Grand Dao, and could even unleash greater power than an ordinary Grand Dao. This gave them strength nearly on par with Pure Yang True Immortals—an astonishing feat!
As for beings even stronger than that, Ji Ning, the protagonist of Desolate Era, had already comprehended the Power of the Sword and Heartforce when his second primordial spirit was only a Celestial Immortal and his true body was still a Void-Return Fiendgod. With his powerful divine abilities and considerable comprehension of the Dao of the Sword, he had forcibly surpassed the limits of Celestial Immortals and gained power fully comparable to that of a Pure Yang True Immortal.
"..."
Ju Hua thought of many things in an instant, but he quickly drove those distracting thoughts away. The Power of the Sword was still far beyond his reach. He had only just begun to grasp Heartforce, so there was no point in thinking about these things.
Ancestor Tianyang's warning, on the other hand, was quite useful to him!
Although his strength was actually already at the level of a million-year Loose Immortal, if he truly thought he could contend with Celestial Immortals, he was dreaming.
There were many powerful Celestial Immortals, and it wasn't uncommon for one of them to kill him with a casual flick of the hand. His current strength was nothing to be careless about. Otherwise, one slipup could still leave him dead, his Dao destroyed.
Seeing Ju Hua frown in thought, Ancestor Tianyang nodded with satisfaction. He knew Ju Hua had taken his words to heart.
"From now on, we Celestial Immortals will follow close beside the army, so you needn't worry about those Void-Return Fiendgods," Ancestor Tianyang said.
"Ju Hua understands," Ju Hua replied with a nod.
"Mm!"
Ancestor Tianyang said no more. With a flicker of his figure, he vanished from Ju Hua's military tent.