Another Metamorphosis Begins

Inside the Imperial Palace, Emperor Li Haotian lay on his side on the bed, his face pale and his body weak.

"Ancestor, so it seems that my final strike gave Zuo Qiu an opportunity to escape?"

Li Shi'an smiled wryly, "Your Majesty, you don't need to worry too much. Just focus on recovering your health. If I were to admit it, it was my mistake. If I had taken out that jade token earlier, Zuo Qiu might already be dead. We wouldn't have needed to expend the power of the Golden Dragon Seal. After this, I'm afraid it will be unusable for at least thirty years."

Li Shi'an never expected that Gu Yuanqing's so-called single strike would be so powerful. If he had known this earlier, why would he have wasted his Lifespan fighting so desperately?

Now that his Lifespan is waning and the emperor is also seriously injured, Zuo Qiu escaped with his life.

The old man in Hemp Robe, Ji Dai, sat casually to one side and said, "Why are you all frowning? Although Zuo Qiu escaped with his life, he lost an arm and was seriously injured. I think after this battle, he probably won't dare to cause trouble again. Before, we were afraid of him, but now he is afraid of us. I think he is probably hiding somewhere, waiting for the trial to end so he can leave this world."

The only pity is that I didn't learn anything else from his words.

Li Haotian coughed twice, forced a smile, and said weakly, "Senior Ji is right. The current result is not bad. At least we've protected Dayu Mountain, the people of Great Qian, and all the soldiers. The matter of Zuo Qiu is also temporarily resolved. However, Ancestor, you and Senior Ji..."

At this Ji Dai and Li Shi'an had graying temples. The Burning Dao Embryo Essence Blood had depleted their Lifespan. Even if they were to recuperate and their Vital Energy recovered, and their hair color returned to normal, the Lifespan they had lost would not be restored.

Li Shi'an smiled calmly and said, "Your Majesty, instead of worrying about us, you should worry about yourself. No matter how much my Lifespan is shortened, I still have at least another sixty years to live. As for you, you've already damaged your foundation, and with this latest setback, if you can't break through to the Grandmaster, you'll be lucky to live another thirty years."

As he spoke, he glanced at Prince Qing. These two were considered the best of the Li Family in these two generations, but neither of them had broken through to the Grandmaster.

Seeing these two glances, Prince Qing gave an awkward smile. He was quite old, but Li Shi'an was his uncle, and he had even practiced cultivation with him when he was young.

Prince Qing, not wanting to be distracted, quickly changed the subject, saying, "Third Imperial Uncle, are you saying that the jade tablet was obtained from Gu Yuanqing of North Spring Mountain?"

Li Shi'an nodded and said, "That's right. If there are no unforeseen circumstances, this jade tablet was made by him personally after I went to his Mountain!"

Li Haotian and Prince Qing exchanged a glance, both seeing shock and surprise in each other's eyes.

If Gu Yuanqing's jade tablet could suppress Zuo Qiu, a force they could barely handle even with the combined strength of the entire nation, then how powerful must Gu Yuanqing himself be?

Just thinking about how, a little over a year ago, he was a Origin Scholar imprisoned in the Mountain, and suddenly he has become this kind of person, it all seems unbelievable.

Li Shi'an said meaningfully, "Your Majesty, if Gu Yuanqing goes to the Heaven Ascending Path in two months, that's fine. But if he stays in North Spring Mountain, you should probably seriously reconsider."

Ji Dai sat up straight, his curiosity piqued, and asked, "Li Shi'an, what kind of riddle are you speaking of?"

In a desolate mountain wilderness, Zuo Qiu, covered in blood, lay motionless by a stream, his head tilted back.

A leopard, drawn by the scent of blood, cautiously crept forward. Upon reaching it, it suddenly leaped up and lunged at Zuo Qiu's throat.

Zuo Qiu raised his hand, pinched the leopard's head, pulled it to his mouth, opened his mouth and bit down. Blood flowed out, and he drank it down in large gulps.

The leopard struggled violently, its claws scraping across Zuo Qiu's body with a piercing sound, but it couldn't pierce the skin.

After a moment, the leopard stopped moving, and Zuo Qiu finally regained some of his strength and slowly sat up.

He tore open the leopard's skin with his bare hands, then ate it whole, leaving him covered in blood and looking like a savage.

After finishing his meal, he seemed to have exhausted all his strength and collapsed to the ground again.

Not long after, another tiger appeared, growling...

Two days passed in this way, and various Beast Skin were scattered all over the ground, the stench of blood wafting far and wide, but no wild beast dared to approach again.

Zuo Qiu finally had the strength to stand up, wash away the smell of blood, and look at his severed left arm and the bones scattered on the ground. He remained silent.

He thought things had gotten bad enough a few months ago, but he never imagined that things would get even worse now.

"It's North Spring Mountain again, and it's Gu Yuanqing again!"

His remaining fist was clenched tightly, and his eyes were filled with hatred.

Those who can enter the Sacred Heaven Sect are all people with outstanding talents. Those who can become Trialist are even more outstanding. He once had the confidence to fight any person of his age with the Blood Tiger Yao Blade, but now he has become a piece of trash!

The Dao Embryo was weakened, and its lifespan, which was originally three hundred Lifespan, was now less than one hundred.

The Blood Escape Technique depletes one's Essence Blood and damages one's very foundation.

With his True Essence exhausted and no Spirit Stone available, he doesn't know how long it will take to recover in this barren land.

The culprit behind all of this is Gu Yuanqing.

Zuo Qiu heard the sounds of searching in the distance, knowing that although he had escaped using Blood Escape, he would still leave traces that could be used to track him after being seriously injured.

"I can't die. As long as I can leave this world alive, I still have a chance!"

He started walking and began to flee into the distance, just to avoid the group of Heavenly Strategy Gate constables behind him, who were at most at the True Martial level.

Gu Yuanqing quietly observed the changes in North Spring Mountain every day, and the speed of North Spring Mountain's growth was constantly accelerating.

Now, it has grown by almost One Zhang every day.

Moreover, North Spring Mountain is also widening. The diameter at the top of the mountain has increased by nearly 20 zhang, while the diameter at the foot of the mountain has increased by more than 100 zhang.

Strangely, nothing changed outside North Spring Mountain, as if the inside and outside of the mountain were connected but actually belonged to different spaces.

Meanwhile, the soldiers at the foot of the mountain began to notice something strange: they were getting lost on North Spring Mountain, a place they had traversed countless times before.

Especially the mountain path winding around the Foot of North Spring Mountain; if you accidentally wander in and get lost, you'll inexplicably find yourself in a completely different place when you come out.

Only the main entrance at the Front Mountain remains unaffected.

"This North Spring Mountain has truly become Immortal Mountain! Just today during my patrol, as soon as I entered that fork in the road, I felt that the surrounding environment had changed drastically; it was completely different from before."

"Me too. I just went in to relieve myself, and guess what? I couldn't find my way out at all, and there's been a thick fog in the mountains all the time."

"Everyone should be careful from now on, lest you go in and get stuck, and watch out for those monkeys in the mountains."

Hearing his subordinates' words, Zhang Zhuo went in to try it out and found that the Within North Spring Mountain had changed and was completely different from what he had seen outside the mountain.

Moreover, there was a group of burly monkeys. As soon as he entered, they surrounded him, opening their mouths wide and baring their canine teeth threateningly, as if they would Siege if he dared to go up the mountain.

There was even a time when I clearly remembered entering the mountain from the left, but after stepping in, it felt like I had passed directly through North Spring Mountain, and I almost fell headfirst into the river.

After several attempts, Zhang Zhuo ordered his soldiers not to enter the mountain from any other place except the main entrance.

Finally, the patrols on the mountain were simply stopped. There was no need for them to patrol the Forbidden Ground of North Spring Mountain. They only trained around the camp every day and then cultivated on their own.

Gu Yuanqing had witnessed all of this. He knew that this marked the beginning of another stage of Transformation for North Spring Mountain. It wasn't just about becoming taller, bigger, or having more Spiritual Qi; it was a fundamental change in the Transformation from Residence to a Daoist temple!

Please help me follow the story, especially the chapters on Monday and Tuesday, as they are important for the book's release and recommendations. Thank you, everyone!