Two Celestial Immortals

After leaving the battlefield, Ju Hua settled down to cultivate. About half a day later, the formation and restrictions he had set up were triggered.

"Two Celestial Immortals?"

Ju Hua's thoughts stirred slightly. Without hesitation, he rose and walked outside.

A moment later, Ju Hua met the two Celestial Immortals.

Ju Hua recognized them both: one was Tongyou Celestial Immortal from the Tianhe Clan, and the other was Jiumiao Celestial Immortal from the Dongfu Clan. Both the Tianhe and Dongfu clans were considered to have relatively lower strength among the clans participating in this expedition.

Of course, this "lower strength" was only relative to top-tier clans like the Zhuanshui and Heishen clans. When viewed across the entire Great Xia World, these two clans were still quite formidable existences.

"Zhuanshui Ju Hua greets the two seniors!" Ju Hua said, bowing with a calm expression.

"Zhuanshui Ju Hua?" The weathered-looking Tongyou Celestial Immortal pondered for a moment before asking, "You are the main commander of the Zhuanshui Clan, correct? And among the three armies sent to the Autumn Mountain Great Marsh, one is under your command!"

"That is correct!" Ju Hua nodded.

"Since you are a commander, why are you not with your army?" the elderly-looking Jiumiao Celestial Immortal asked.

"Thanks to the great kindness of Tianyang Ancestor, this junior has come here to temper his Dao heart," Ju Hua replied.

"You—"

Jiumiao Celestial Immortal wanted to say more, but Tongyou Celestial Immortal stopped her.

"Fellow Daoist Tianyang is indeed as protective of his kin as ever!" Tongyou Celestial Immortal said with a smile.

"The senior is absolutely right!" Ju Hua nodded in firm agreement. Tianyang Ancestor had gifted him an immortal-ranked magic treasure the very first time they met, and later personally retrieved the Mirror Stone from the Illusion Demon Realm for him. Such a Celestial Immortal ancestor was truly rare!

"Fellow Daoist Tianyang and I are old friends. Zhuanshui Ju Hua, let me ask you: during your time in the Illusion Demon Realm, have you discovered anything unusual?" Tongyou Celestial Immortal asked.

"This junior has been tempering his Dao heart here for over ten years, and for more than half of that time, I have been immersed in illusions," Ju Hua continued.

"As for the time I was awake, I did not notice anything unusual."

"Truly nothing?" Tongyou Celestial Immortal looked at Ju Hua, a faint, imperceptible light flashing in his eyes.

"Nothing!"

Looking directly at the other party, Ju Hua shook his head.

"What a pity!" Tongyou Celestial Immortal sighed. He continued, "Zhuanshui Ju Hua, I warn you: this Illusion Demon Realm is not safe. It would be best for you to leave as soon as possible!"

"Could the senior tell me what exactly has happened in the Illusion Demon Realm?" Ju Hua asked, bowing.

"Hehe, you can ask Fellow Daoist Tianyang about that. I shall say no more!" Tongyou Celestial Immortal chuckled, then nodded toward Jiumiao Celestial Immortal beside him.

The next moment, the two vanished before Ju Hua's eyes.

Staring at the spot where they had departed for a while, Ju Hua pondered briefly before turning back to the temporary cave dwelling he had carved out.

At the same time, Tongyou Celestial Immortal and Jiumiao Celestial Immortal had already appeared above the clouds.

"Fellow Daoist Tongyou, is there something wrong with this Zhuanshui Ju Hua?" Jiumiao Celestial Immortal asked.

"Why? Does Fellow Daoist Jiumiao suspect that this Loose Immortal killed Fellow Daoist Qianming?" Tongyou Celestial Immortal asked with an ambiguous smile.

"That's not it. I just think it's a pity to let him go so easily!" Jiumiao Celestial Immortal shook her head.

"This child's Dao heart is extremely strong. Unless other methods are used, ordinary soul-bewitching techniques likely won't work on him," Tongyou Celestial Immortal continued.

"But Fellow Daoist Tianyang has always been extremely protective of his own! For this Zhuanshui Ju Hua to leave his army and come here to temper his Dao heart, he must have received Tianyang Ancestor's support. This kid is nine times out of ten a junior highly valued by Tianyang Ancestor. Is a dead Qianming worth you and me offending Tianyang Ancestor? You know full well how strong Tianyang Ancestor is, don't you?"

"It's not a question of worth, but the Illusion Demon Realm has been searched by us for the most part, yet we haven't found a single clue. That is hard to justify!" Jiumiao Celestial Immortal said.

"If the Xia Emperor truly valued this matter, he wouldn't have sent only the two of us!" Tongyou Celestial Immortal shook his head with a smile. He added, "Besides, I have heard of that Fellow Daoist Qianming. It is said that he was narrow-minded, vengeful, and a bully who feared the strong while picking on the weak! It is hardly strange for such a person to be killed by an enemy."

Jiumiao Celestial Immortal said nothing more. Regardless of Qianming Celestial's character, the Xia Emperor might not truly value this matter as much as they thought.

A Celestial Immortal might be high and mighty in the eyes of mortal beings, but in the eyes of the Xia Emperor, a Celestial Immortal without outstanding strength was utterly insignificant!

Ju Hua was naturally unaware of the exchange between the two Celestial Immortals. By now, he had returned to his cave dwelling, packed his belongings, and was flying rapidly out of the Illusion Demon Realm.

Leaving earlier had been out of a guilty conscience, but with Tongyou Celestial Immortal's warning, his departure now was perfectly above board.

Before long, Ju Hua flew out of the Illusion Demon Realm and headed straight for Liufeng Mountain, where the main army was stationed.

At this moment, Ju Hua could not help but ponder the ins and outs of everything that had happened today.

He had simply been cultivating normally when that old man sought him out and tried to kill him! It was a disaster that had fallen from the sky.

He had no choice but to strike with all his might and slay the villain.

However, killing that person only resolved the immediate crisis. As time passed, no one knew if this matter would be exposed.

A Loose Immortal killing a Celestial Immortal was not unheard of; such things had happened throughout the endless years of the Great Xia World, and some had even become widely known!

But he had only been cultivating for a little over three hundred years. Furthermore, his first three hundred years had been "unremarkable," yet he had made rapid progress in the last thirty. How could such a strange occurrence not make others curious?

"Such a calamity descending from the heavens, yet I can only endure it; ultimately, it is because my strength is insufficient!" Ju Hua shook his head inwardly. "If I were to become a Celestial God, or even a True God, today's events would be nothing more than a joke."

"Celestial Immortals leap beyond the Three Realms and are not within the Five Elements, possessing infinite lifespans, yet when calamity descends, do they not die all the same? Only by possessing formidable strength is one the master of their own fate; otherwise, no matter how infinite your lifespan, you are ultimately just drifting with the tide!"

Ju Hua pondered incessantly, and gradually, the goal in his heart became clear.

In the past, he pursued passing the Celestial Tribulation to gain an infinite lifespan; now, he not only wanted to pass the Celestial Tribulation, but he also wanted to keep growing stronger.

If what was described in Desolate Era was true, then becoming a Celestial God was merely the beginning for him—True God, Ancestral God, and even World God.

As long as there was a path ahead, he would keep walking it! No matter what difficulties or obstacles stood in his way, he would sweep them all away!

Only in this way could he control his fate and truly protect those he wished to protect!

The goal in Ju Hua's heart became increasingly clear and firm, and his Dao heart underwent a transformation as a result. The accumulation from within the Illusion Demon Realm erupted all at once, and his heartforce, which had been stuck at a bottleneck for a long time, firmly and powerfully crossed that threshold.