Entanglements!

Wow!

The void rippled.

The girl named ' Xiangcao ' vanished from Zhou Hao's sight without warning.

When she reappeared, she was already a hundred feet away, standing with another female immortal who had just broken through the boundary and teleported over.

The female immortal was dressed in a gray robe that looked like linen, and stood barefoot on a golden bougainvillea flower. It seemed that the combined spiritual energy of all the sacred Buddhist flowers covering the mountains and fields could not match that of the gray-robed immortal.

The mere sight of her was enough to drive any man, whether immortal or demonic, mad. The bald monk and the blond-haired strongman in the distance were completely mesmerized.

Zhou Hao's attention, however, was only focused on the girl.

"So similar..." Zhou Hao looked at Xiangcao's face, which was eight or nine parts similar to the one in his memory, and his heart was filled with waves.

Although he had thought countless times that there might be a day when they would meet again, Zhou Hao never expected it to happen so suddenly, especially in the Heavenly Realm.

Xiangcao was actually reincarnated as a plant demon and even reached the Void Return Realm.

It's well known that it's difficult for plants to become spirits; it often takes hundreds of years for them to gain sentience, and then tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years to cultivate to the level of Earth Immortal of the Void Return.

"It's only been a hundred years since Xiangcao spirit was reincarnated. Even if she were to be reincarnated immediately in the underworld as a flower, normally she would only have just begun to develop sentience."

"Not only has Xiangcao reached the Void Return Realm and possessed an innate spiritual treasure, but her elder sister... such a stunningly beautiful and peerless pure yang female immortal, who is also a flower and grass incarnation, in the Three Realms, only the ' Withered Grass Fairy,' the leader of the female immortals of Hundred Graves Mountain, fits the bill."

Various speculations flashed through Zhou Hao's mind.

Upon seeing the gray-clad female immortal, and comparing it with the information he knew about true immortals and gods, he quickly guessed her identity with a high degree of accuracy.

This Hundred Graves Mountain is a place where spiritual energy gathers in the Heavenly Realm.

It was originally the burial place of the powerful gods and demons who perished in an ancient war, hence the name ' Hundred Graves Mountain '.

However, it is precisely because of the many powerful gods and demons buried here that this Hundred Graves Mountain becomes even more magical.

Many of the flowers and plants that grew on the Hundred Graves Mountain developed sentience and even began to cultivate on their own.

After these flowers and plants took human form, they were all women.

Over countless ages, numerous Earth Immortal and Loose Immortal have been created, and even six Celestial Immortals and one Pure Yang True Immortal have emerged, making them a very famous force in the Three Realms.

The ' Withered Grass Fairy ' is the only Pure Yang True Immortal in Hundred Graves Mountain, whose true form is a seemingly withered weed.

Yet this very weed is incredibly extraordinary. Not only did it transform into Earth Immortal of the Void Return upon first taking human form, but it also easily passed the Heavenly Tribulation and became the first Heavenly Immortal of Hundred Graves Mountain. Now, it is already a Pure Yang True Immortal, and its strength is at the top level.

As Zhou Hao was speculating about the identity of the gray-clad fairy, Xiangcao suddenly appeared in front of her, immediately tugging at her sleeve, pouting, and complaining like a child reporting to their parents:

"Sister, if it weren't for that brother saving me just now, Xiangcao would have been captured and eaten by that monk and ugly man."

"Serves you right for being disobedient. Our Hundred Graves Mountain is so big, isn't it enough for you to play with? You had to be naughty while I was in seclusion." The gray-robed female immortal reached out and touched the top of Xiangcao's head. "The people outside are complicated, especially the humans, who are the most treacherous. Don't be fooled by his act of saving you; he might have other intentions."

"How could that be?" Xiangcao shook her head. "That brother was so kind. He even said that if I ran out of Origin Power and passed out, he would carry me back."

"What!?" The gray-robed female immortal frowned, her gaze towards Zhou Hao becoming as sharp as a knife.

Zhou Hao was extremely embarrassed.

When he suddenly saw the Xiangcao, his soul sensed the connection between them, and he blurted out the name in a moment of excitement.

Looking back now, those words about fainting and being carried back sounded more like something someone with malicious intentions would say.

"It's a misunderstanding," Zhou Hao said quickly. "I was just worried that the little girl was scared, so I made a joke to try and calm her down."

As he spoke, he hurriedly introduced himself, "My name is Zhou Hao, and I am a disciple of the Sanqing Ones of the Dao Sect. Are you perhaps the ' Withered Grass Fairy ' of Hundred Graves Mountain?"

"So it's the Heavenly Emperor Zhou." The gray-clad female immortal's expression softened slightly, but the wariness in her eyes only increased. "I am Withered Grass, thank you for your rescue, Your Emperor."

"It was just a coincidence." Zhou Hao noticed the Withered Grass Fairy's wariness, but he wasn't surprised. He just smiled bitterly to himself. It seemed that his identity as the Heavenly Emperor had not only failed to reassure the Withered Grass Fairy, but had instead made her even more wary.

It turns out that when this Withered Grass Fairy was still a celestial being, her reputation for unparalleled beauty resounded throughout the Three Realms.

The Heavenly Emperor who preceded the Jade Emperor was infatuated with her after meeting her once, and wanted to use his magical powers to steal her beauty and fragrance.

Who would have thought that the Heavenly Emperor would be kicked flying out of Hundred Graves Mountain the moment he entered...

Furthermore, the word "Get out" resounded throughout the Heavenly Realm, tarnishing the reputation of that Heavenly Emperor and sowing the seeds for his future downfall.

The fact that a Heavenly Emperor, a top-tier Pure Yang True Immortal, was kicked out without even seeing her face led the Three Realms to speculate that the Withered Grass Fairy must have True God Dao Ancestor behind her.

After all, with the Withered Grass Fairy ranking among the most beautiful in the Three Realms, it's not surprising that she could attract a True God Dao Ancestor.

The bald monk and the blond-haired strong man over there also heard Zhou Hao and the Withered Grass Fairy exchanging names.

Upon hearing that one was the newly crowned Heavenly Emperor Zhou Hao and the other was the withered Withered Grass Fairy, who also had a powerful background and was among the top Pure Yang True Immortal immortals, he was immediately terrified.

"Run!" The bald monk hurriedly used his escape technique, abandoning even the Vajra Pestle, a magical artifact that was sealed away in the distance, and transformed into a golden light, rushing straight towards the Milky Way outside the island.

The blond-haired burly man knew this was not the time to be reckless, so he also conjured a gust of evil wind and fled for his life.

"The people of Hundred Graves Mountain are not to be killed at will. You bullied my little sister and think you can just leave?" The Withered Grass Fairy's eyes flashed with a cold light.

Before the words were finished, two wisps of gray mist appeared out of thin air in front of the fleeing bald monk and blond-haired strongman, enveloping the two celestial beings.

The gray mist looked inconspicuous, but it exuded an eerie, desolate power. The bald monk and the blond-haired strongman were caught off guard and felt their blood and energy deteriorate. Neither their magic power nor their magical treasures could defend them. They watched helplessly as their bodies withered and decayed as if they had been eroded by billions of years of wind and frost.

Even if the bald monk revealed his Arhat form and the blond strongman reverted to his original form, becoming a strange snake with one head and two bodies, they still could not stop their bodies from decaying.

"Withered Grass Fairy, spare me! Spare me! I am a disciple of the ' Nine-Headed Celestial God,' and my grandmaster is the Patriarch Kunpeng..." The two-bodied monster snake was now completely black, its two bodies twisting in the air as if they were about to form a knot, and it roared in pain.

"Don't tell me you're just a disciple of the Nine-Headed. Even if you were a disciple of the Dao Ancestor Kunpeng, I could kill you without consequence," the Withered Grass Fairy said coldly.

Zhou Hao shook his head silently to himself.

"Now you think of begging for mercy? Why didn't you do that before?!"

With his discerning eye, he could naturally see that the gray mist emitted by the Withered Grass Fairy was a primordial power, just like his Taiji Power power, which was something that the two of them, both at the Heavenly Immortal level, could not withstand.

Moreover, according to the information he had, although the Withered Grass Fairy's true form was just a seemingly withered weed, it was incredibly powerful. When it first gained sentience, no other flowers or plants could grow in the surrounding area, which was extremely domineering.

When she began cultivating, she was born with a natural talent and supernatural power containing some of the profound mysteries of the 'Great Dao of Desolation', and later she even became Pure Yang True Immortal through the Great Dao of Desolation.

It should be known that this 'Desolate Great Dao' belongs to the Destruction of Heavenly Dao, and cultivators skilled in this path are unlikely to be benevolent.

The Buddhist monk didn't beg for mercy, presumably because he knew it would be useless.

Whew! Whew!

The golden Arhat and the monstrous serpent turned to dust in the gray mist. In the air, apart from the serpent's desperate and unwilling roar, only the monk's final sigh remained.

"My master said my gluttony caused me trouble, and today it's my gluttony that has led to my death! Feiyi Fei Yi, you've ruined me so much..."

Leaving aside the fact that the Withered Grass Fairy killed two celestial immortals, there is a fairy mountain in the north of the Cloud Immortal Realm. Although it is not as famous as Penglai and Yingzhou, it is occupied by various rogue immortal cultivators. In recent years, however, it has gained increasing popularity because a great Buddhist master came here to establish a cave.

That great Buddhist master was none other than Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, who had received the decree of the Rulai and was bestowed the title of "Heaven-Emulating Earth Treasury Great Emperor".

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is the foremost of the four great bodhisattvas under the Buddha. Since the formation of the Three Realms, he has been stationed in the underworld, making a great vow. "I will not become a Buddha until hell is empty." He is a supreme being among true immortals and gods, only one step away from becoming a Great Luo Dao Ancestor.

Since the underworld suffered a calamity decades ago, Six Paths of Reincarnation collapsed, the three thousand great worlds and the Heavenly Realm have all been rebuilt into smaller reincarnation systems by many powerful beings, which has truly emptied the hell. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva then came to the Heavenly Realm, and after assuming the throne, he opened up a cave abode on this immortal mountain, which is called ' Ninefold Splendor Buddhist Land '. He led a group of monks and bhikkhus, and often preached Buddhist scriptures, attracting many cultivators and immortals without much profound lineage to come and listen.

On this day, the Ninefold Splendor Buddhist Land held its annual lecture as usual.

On the endless sea of clouds, a colossal pagoda floats suspended in the air.

The resounding chants emanated from the top of the pagoda, and even those on the Penglai and Yingzhou Island could faintly hear the scriptures.

This scripture is also strange.

If you listen attentively, you will hear it clearly, as if it were right next to your ear. It contains profound Buddhist qigong techniques and many mysterious explanations of the Great Dao.

If one is not attentive to listening, then one will hear nothing at all, which is exactly in line with the Buddha's method of guiding those with affinity.

Many cultivators, upon hearing the Buddhist chants, left their caves and flew towards the Ninefold Splendor Buddhist Land. From afar, they could see not only golden Buddhist light emanating from the pagoda, but also a cloud of dark clouds churning and rolling beside it, almost rivaling the golden Buddhist light.

"Where did that great being come from, to be ranked alongside Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva?" The cultivators were all awestruck upon seeing this.

Listening to lectures outside is certainly not as effective as listening from the top of the pagoda, so they suppressed their curiosity and went straight to the pagoda.

When they entered the pagoda, they saw that there was no roof above them, and a huge lotus platform stretched across the void, upon which sat Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva with a sorrowful expression.

On either side of the lotus platform stood more than ten novice monks, all of whom were Pure Yang True Immortal who had attained the Bodhisattva level and whose heads shone with Buddha's light.

Opposite these Buddhist bodhisattvas was a platform with a huge demon banner standing on it.

Beneath the demon banner stood a throne of white bones, upon which sat a middle-aged man with an unusual appearance, clad in emerald green armor.

The dark clouds that were locked in combat with the Buddha's light originated from the demonic banner behind the middle-aged man.

"We parted ways in the Netherworld years ago, and today we discuss the Dao and expound the Dharma again. Fellow Daoist Nine-Headed has made further progress, which is truly gratifying." Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva clasped his hands in a gesture of respect. Although his voice was not loud, it seemed that the entire Buddhist land could hear him clearly.

This greatly surprised the cultivators who had just arrived to listen to the lecture, who secretly thought, "So this is the person. No wonder he is ranked alongside Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva."

Nine-Headed is a renowned figure in the Three Realms, a celestial being who was cultivated from the demon beast ' Nine-Headed Insect '.

Later, the Nine-Headed Celestial God became a disciple of Dao Ancestor Kunpeng, one of the Four Ancestors of Source River, and even reached the Pure Yang True Immortal level in Qi Refining. He was among the top True Immortals and Heavenly Gods, no less than Lü Dongbin of the Daoist Dao Sect and Ksitigarbha of the Buddhist Earth Treasury.

"Earth Treasury, you have also made great progress. I thought that after mastering the Heavenly Demon Great Art taught by my master, I could defeat you, but I still can't do anything to you. Your Buddhist sect is truly remarkable in illusion and defense." The Nine-Headed Celestial God shook his head, "It's a pity that we can't have a life-or-death battle, just exchanging sparring and discussing the Dao, it's ultimately not satisfying."

His original intention in leaving Beiming was to stand up for his junior brother and cause trouble for someone in the Northern Kuru Continent.

Unexpectedly, that fellow escaped quickly, abandoning his lair and fleeing all the way to the Eastern Victory Divine Continent.

Given his reputation as Nine-Headed Celestial God, since he had promised to stand up for his junior brother, he naturally kept his word. In addition, having been in seclusion for tens of thousands of years and not having ventured out of the Heavenly Realm for a long time, he simply came to the Eastern Victory Divine Continent with his junior brother.

Now that his junior brother had gone to inquire about the enemy, he himself had nothing to do and, having heard that Earth Treasury, with whom he had once fought and discussed Dao in the Underworld, had become the Heavenly Court Emperor of the Heavenly Court and was currently in the Cloud Immortal Realm, came looking for him.

When people reach their level, ordinary opponents are no longer worthy of discussion or debate; it can be said that finding a worthy opponent is extremely difficult.

If one can fight to the death with an opponent of equal strength, one might be able to further improve one's abilities.

"This great calamity has begun, and hundreds of worlds in the Human Realm are engulfed in war. If Fellow Daoist Nine-Headed wishes to engage in combat, you are welcome to join the battle," Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva said with a smile. "I imagine that in those many great battles, Fellow Daoist Nine-Headed will find it not difficult to encounter worthy opponents."

"You wicked monk! I've already told you, our master has given orders that we disciples are not to interfere in the current factional struggle, yet you still try to test me indirectly," the Nine-Headed Celestial God sneered.

"Fellow Daoist, although you are a demon who attained enlightenment, you are still a being of the Three Realms, belonging to my Nuwa Faction. Now, the Wujian Faction has stirred up war again, intending to exterminate all beings of the Three Realms. Are you just going to stand by and watch?" Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva sighed. "Elder Yuan Dao Ancestor Kunpeng have always wanted us to coexist peacefully, treating us as their own people. But the guidance of fate is never wrong. Even if we are unwilling to destroy the Wujian Gate, they will not let us go."

"Right now, the two sides are restraining each other in their conflict, and it hasn't reached the final moment yet, so you four ancestral lineages of the Xiaoyao Four Ancestors of Source River can still live freely. But when the decisive battle comes, do you think either side will let you stay out of it and leave hidden dangers for yourselves?"

The Nine-Headed Celestial God remained silent.

He's not stupid; he naturally understands that two-faced people and opportunists never end well.

But how could a mere disciple like him possibly have a say in matters decided by the elder Dao Ancestors?

Just as he was silent, a cloud of demonic energy, several acres in size, flew over at lightning speed and landed on the platform where he was standing, revealing a man with long arms and legs, goldfish eyes, and an extremely ugly appearance.

"Senior Brother, I've found out. That Northern Land Immortal Elder, has joined the ranks of the newly crowned Ziwei Emperor, Zhou Hao, and is currently in Perching Dragon Gorge. Perching Dragon Gorge was originally a stronghold of the Asura Demon Cult Sect, which was just seized by Zhou Hao."

As soon as the man appeared, he shouted loudly, causing Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, who heard him, to frown.

How did she get involved with Zhou Hao again?