Gu Mei'er wasn't originally supposed to be born so early, but because the Brilliant Swift Immortal Formation was a Yang Gang type array, it inadvertently promoted Mei'er's incubation. Li Qiang took the spirit pearl and held it in his hands, not even bothering to look at what was on the other side of the cloud table, and waited quietly with complete concentration.
The pink spirit pearl pulsed incessantly, with rings of white light rolling within it. Li Qiang watched intently, holding his breath. This was the first time he had ever experienced something so strange, and he was terrified that something might happen that would hinder Mei'er's birth. Suddenly, he realized that the temperature here was unbearable for most people, so he raised his hand and released the Heavenly Silk Purple Gold Xun to block the intense heat around him.
A moment later, the spirit pearl detached from Li Qiang's hands, floated in the air, and began to expand. Li Qiang rubbed his hands together, closed his eyes, and felt uneasy, even more nervous than when he was trying to collect the Heavenly Fire. Suddenly, he heard a soft sobbing sound. Li Qiang opened his eyes and was stunned by what he saw.
A tiny baby, its little red mouth agape, was crying. Enveloped in a thick pink mist, emanating a faint fragrance of ambergris, it floated up and down before his eyes. Li Qiang was dizzy with disbelief. He frantically picked up Mei'er; he couldn't believe a baby had actually hatched.
Mei'er, nestled in Li Qiang's arms, immediately stopped crying. She suddenly opened her eyes, her pupils darting around, and said sweetly, "Brother, where am I? Huh, brother, you seem to have changed. Why do you have a mask on your face? It looks so ugly."
Li Qiang shuddered at her words and said with a wry smile, " Mei'er still remembers me?" He had thought Mei'er wouldn't remember anything after her transformation.
Mei'er flew up, floated around inside the protective barrier, and said, "Of course I remember, Mei'er seems to have taken a nap... Oh dear! This place is so strange! Where is this?"
Li Qiang thought to himself, "It's strange that such a small baby can talk. How could this be?"
Mei'er said sweetly, "Brother, can I grow up a bit?"
Li Qiang was even more puzzled. " Mei'er, you... you want to grow up a bit? How will you grow?"
Mei'er sat cross-legged in mid-air, her chubby, pink hands forming a magic seal. Because she was so small, every movement seemed so comical and awkward, yet she appeared so dignified. Li Qiang opened his mouth but couldn't utter a word. Slowly, pink mist began to condense around Mei'er, and she grew little by little.
She stopped growing when she looked about eight or nine years old. Mei'er sighed and said, "Sigh, brother, I can only grow this big. Unless my power increases in the future, I won't be able to truly grow up. Hmm, oh well, I still have time to cultivate later." She leaped into Li Qiang's arms, hugged his neck, and said with a grin, "Brother, Mei'er missed you so much, hee hee." She touched Li Qiang's shoulder. "Oh dear, where did my Blue Light go?"
Li Qiang shook his head and said, " Mei'er, the little Sea Demon isn't here. It's a long story, but I'll explain it to you when I have time. There's no time now. This is a celestial array, and I've been trapped inside for a long time."
Mei'er was very obedient. She tugged at Li Qiang's arm and said, "Okay, brother, Mei'er will stay with you."
Li Qiang estimated that Mei'er could already tolerate the high temperature in the room, so he withdrew the Heavenly Silk Purple Gold Xun. Mei'er was indeed worthy of being Spirit Sword Body; she didn't care about such a temperature. She looked around and exclaimed softly, "Heavens, there are so many Ink Fire Purple Cloud Crystal here! Hmm, what are those things?" She was referring to the treasures on the cloud table on the other side.
She floated to the cloud table and observed it carefully. Li Qiang also stepped forward slowly and saw two things on the cloud table. One was a small pile of dark blue, rice-grain-sized, sand-like treasures, and the other was very special, a small roll of soft leather.
Mei'er scratched her head and said in confusion, "Brother, this seems to be refined Great Marsh Divine Sand, but it's strange. Great Marsh Divine Sand should be a light blue color, but this is a dark color. Maybe Mei'er is mistaken?"
Li Qiang hadn't read many ancient texts and his knowledge wasn't as extensive as Mei'er's. He asked, "What's the use of the Great Marsh Divine Sand? This is a celestial array; this pile of sand must have been used by immortals for cultivation. It's not some magical Law Treasure from the Cultivation Realm."
Mei'er was puzzled for a moment, then suddenly laughed, "A celestial array? Hehe, brother, you're amazing! How did you manage to wander into a celestial array again? Um, brother, tell Mei'er quietly, what place is this? How did you find it?"
Seeing her greedy expression, Li Qiang laughed and said, "Little girl, don't talk nonsense! I was incredibly stupid this time. I was tricked into coming here and almost burned to death by the raging fire in the immortal array. Luckily, I'm not afraid of fire, so he didn't succeed."
Gu Mei'er stuck out her little tongue and said with a hint of regret, " Mei'er knew my brother was amazing! By the way, if immortals were cultivating, this might not be the Great Marsh Divine Sand; it would be an even more powerful treasure. It's a pity it's sealed." She tried to reach out and grab it, but the golden light surrounding the divine sand easily repelled her hand. Mei'er shook her head and said, "The protection is really strong; we can't take it."
Li Qiang smiled slightly and reached out to grab it. With a soft sound, the pile of dark blue sand was sucked into his palm.
Mei'er looked at Li Qiang in disbelief. "Brother... Brother, what kind of technique is this? It's amazing! He can break the immortal restriction with just one grab. My God, did you take some kind of magic pill?" She was extremely surprised.
Li Qiang put the sand into a black jade box, then reached out and grabbed the roll of soft leather. The leather was extremely thin, made of some kind of animal skin, and seemed to be woven with silver threads. When unfolded, it was about the size of an eight-immortal table.
Mei'er suddenly exclaimed, "There are words on it! There are words on it! Oh my, Mei'er recognizes these words! Hmm, it's some kind of Immortal Spirit Instruction... Such strange content, Mei'er doesn't understand."
Li Qiang's heart skipped a beat. " Immortal Spirit Instruction? What does that have to do with immortals?" He hurriedly asked, " Mei'er, what kind of Immortal Spirit Instruction is it?"
Mei'er examined it carefully for a while and said, "It seems to be a cultivation method, but Mei'er has never heard of it before." She tried to translate it for Li Qiang.
After hearing just a few words, Li Qiang understood that it was the cultivation method of immortals, and his heart was immediately filled with excitement.
Mei'er added, "Brother, this cultivation method is incomplete; it only has a part, and much of it is missing..."
Li Qiang scooped up Mei'er in his arms and exclaimed excitedly, " Mei'er, this is exactly what I needed! Haha, with this, I won't be afraid of those immortals anymore!"
Mei'er was baffled. "What immortal?"
Li Qiang briefly explained the situation, then said, " Mei'er, you are truly my lucky star! With the Immortal Spirit Instruction, I can now cultivate immortal artifacts to fight against those immortals! Haha, that's fantastic!"
Mei'er was stunned. After a long while, she said, "There really are immortals... there really are immortals? Brother, you are too brave. It would be easy for them to kill you. What should we do?"
Li Qiang found Mei'er's appearance both amusing and touching. She looked only eight or nine years old, but she acted like a little adult, her charming little face full of worry.
Li Qiang squatted down and said very seriously, " Mei'er, there's nothing to be afraid of. With the Immortal Spirit Instruction, we have the means to fight against immortals. Hmph! I refuse to believe we have no way out." His tone was full of confidence.
Mei'er touched the mask on Li Qiang's face and smiled sweetly, "Anyway, Mei'er will always follow brother. If any immortal dares to come, Mei'er will beat him up! Hehe." She carefully put the soft leather away and added, " Mei'er will organize this text carefully, brother, don't worry."
Bi Wuzi was restless all day long. He had inexplicably killed many people. Servants who displeased him even slightly were almost impossible to kill. The mortal servants in the immortal palace were all trembling with fear.
Since the Lonely Old Immortal left the Immortal Palace, over the course of more than three hundred years, Bi Wuzi used extremely despicable means to lure and kill all the cultivators in the Immortal Palace. He even secretly refined the nascent Nascent Soul of one of the most powerful cultivators, allowing his own power to rapidly advance from the Nascent Soul Late Stage stage to the Spirit Severing Realm.
From then on, he reigned supreme in the Immortal Palace and cultivated many Nascent Soul Puppet Body to command monsters and plunder people from the Mengzhan Kingdom and Chelie Kingdom. However, he dared not occupy these two countries, fearing that he would not be able to explain himself when the Lonely Old Immortal returned.
This time, he attacked Mengzhan Kingdom, attempting to plunder some people. However, just as he gathered all the monsters, he encountered this hunting force. When Li Qiang unleashed his power, he knew things were going badly. However, he was an extremely cunning person, very good at disguising himself. After seeing Li Qiang, he was unsure of his opponent's strength, so he tricked Li Qiang into the Brilliant Swift Immortal Formation, attempting to use the power of the array to destroy him.
However, after so much time, Bi Wuzi became increasingly unable to understand the situation inside the immortal formation, and he couldn't find a trace of Li Qiang. He was a very cunning person, and he would never take a risk without being absolutely certain of victory. He summoned three of the most powerful Nascent Soul Puppet Body and forced them to enter the immortal formation to search for Li Qiang's Nascent Soul.
These three Nascent Soul Puppet Body were his fellow disciples whom he had killed. He had refined their Nascent Soul into puppet bodies, but because Bi Wuzi needed manpower to help him, he did not take away their consciousness.
Knowing that their journey was fraught with peril, one of the three Nascent Soul Puppet Body angrily exclaimed, " Bi Wuzi, while the Old Immortal may be bad, you are far more cruel than him... You... Oh! You..."
Bi Wuzi grinned maliciously, " Gan Ling'er, you've got some nerve, daring to talk to me like that, very good! Very good!" He held a green crystal tablet in his hand, scratching at it with his sharp fingernails. Flickering blue-phosphorus sparks flashed on his fingernails. With each scratch, Gan Ling'er screamed in agony as pieces of his armor fell off, revealing a body cultivated from the skin and bones of monsters, covered with deep, bone-revealing scratches.
The other two Nascent Soul Puppet Body kowtowed repeatedly, pleading, "We'll go! We'll go! Please spare our third senior brother!"
Gan Ling'er rolled on the ground in pain, while Bi Wuzi sneered, "You're the most dishonest one! Hmph, let me tell you, if you can't find that guy after entering the formation, don't blame me for making you all start over. Haha, you'll definitely enjoy that wonderful feeling, won't you? Won't you?" He roared Fengzi.
The three Nascent Soul Puppet Body trembled with fear. Resuming cultivation meant a new round of torture, and they might even lose their consciousness, in which case they would never have a chance to rise again.
After venting his anger, Bi Wuzi gradually calmed down. He felt strange; why had he become increasingly impatient these days, easily losing his temper over the slightest inconvenience? He understood that this was the invisible pressure Li Qiang was exerting on him, a pressure he couldn't resolve, which made him appear more and more unpredictable.
With a grim face, he said, "You all wait here." He put away the crystal token in his hand, turned around, and walked into the inner palace.
When he activated the immortal array again, he was so frightened that he almost lost his soul; the array had completely stopped.
Bi Wuzi made a hand seal to activate the Brilliant Swift Immortal Formation once more. Because the Brilliant Swift Heavenly Fire had been taken away by Li Qiang, the entire array lacked the energy to drive it. Although it was barely activated, its power was greatly weakened.
Bi Wuzi breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, "Perhaps Li Qiang has already been refined by the immortal array." With this thought, he became happy again.
Turning back to the main hall, he glanced at his three Puppet Master brothers, thinking to himself, "If these three bastards find Li Qiang, they'll definitely tell him everything about this place. Hmph, fine, I'll use this opportunity... to wipe you all out." He raised his head and said nonchalantly, "You three go into the formation and find someone. Once you find him, throw this thing on the ground, and I'll teleport you three out of the formation. Remember! If you haven't found him by the time it's over, don't come out! With your three levels of skill, you can only stay in the immortal formation for a maximum of five days. Don't cause any trouble in there!"
Bi Wuzi threw out a red bead, which the three puppets helplessly caught. Gan Ling'er lowered her head, filled with intense hatred.
A flash of white light, and the three puppet bodies were sent into the Brilliant Swift Immortal Formation.
Gu Mei'er looked around the treasure room, and said in confusion, "That's not right, there should be something else..." She stretched out her small hand and pinched back and forth, as if she was calculating something.
Li Qiang knew that Mei'er was exceptionally knowledgeable, and waited with a grin on his face. He was unaware that the immortal formation had stopped, and he had missed his chance to leave the formation.
Li Qiang laughed and said, " Mei'er, have you figured it out?"
Mei'er didn't answer, but raised a small hand and waved it, signaling Li Qiang not to disturb her. She floated back and forth in the room for a long time, then shook her head and said, "Brother, Mei'er can't figure it out, it's too contradictory... I can only calculate the direction of the exit." She pointed to the ceiling. "The exit is up there."
Li Qiang praised, "Mei'er is truly Mei'er; she found the exit so quickly. But... how do we open it?"
Mei'er spread her little hands. " Mei'er doesn't know, brother, how did you get in?" She threw herself into Li Qiang's arms and said with a grin, "Brother, you don't know, do you?"
Suddenly, the room trembled, and the cloud-shaped tables on both sides quietly shrank back into the walls.
Li Qiang exclaimed with delight, "Hey, there's an exit up there!" Without thinking twice, he grabbed Mei'er and flew towards the exit.
When Bi Wuzi activated the immortal array, all the exits opened in an instant.
Li Qiang quickly ascended from the entrance of the passage.
Mei'er suddenly exclaimed, "It's so hot!"
Li Qiang shouted, " Mei'er, shrink quickly and use the Mystic Pearl's chilling energy to protect yourself!"
Mei'er suddenly shrank, a faint black mist swirling around her. She flew to Li Qiang's shoulder, gripped the Fire Essence Armor, and said with lingering fear, "Brother, this immortal array is so powerful! Mei'er feels like she's about to boil over."
At the top of the passage was boiling magma, as if held up by an invisible force, churning and writhing above their heads. Mei'er was speechless with surprise; she knew very well the power of magma.
Li Qiang scooped Mei'er off his shoulder and tucked her into his arms, laughing, " Mei'er, why don't you hide inside my Fire Essence Armor? The lava here has been refined; you can't withstand it."
Mei'er was whimpering in his arms, and he couldn't understand what she was saying.
Li Qiang flew out of the Supreme Radiance Shuttle and plunged into the lava. The passage behind him vanished in an instant.
Li Qiang suddenly felt his body become heavy, and the pressure around him was immense. Undeterred, he charged forward. After all, the Supreme Radiance Shuttle was a celestial artifact, and with his long-term refinement, he had mastered the control over its power.
The magma was forced open by the Supreme Radiance Shuttle, creating a large cavity. Li Qiang still felt the speed was too slow, so he spat out the Star-Absorbing Sword, which conjured a giant spinning cone above his head, immediately increasing the speed.
Mei'er quietly pulled back the Fire Essence Armor to peek outside, and couldn't help but exclaim, "How beautiful!"
Under the golden light of the Supreme Radiance Shuttle, the crimson magma appeared bizarre and fantastical. Looking inside, the viscous magma revealed streaks of black and red, with bubbles constantly bursting, making it feel even more unreal than a dream.
"Splash!" Lava sprayed everywhere, and Li Qiang had already rushed to the top of the fire eye.
This is a hemispherical space where fiery red magma resembles a pool of boiling molten steel. The rising heat distorts everything around it, and the dark rock walls reflect the red light below, with countless points of light flashing like stars, appearing and disappearing in a illusory fashion.
Li Qiang looked around and said, " Mei'er, it seems there's no way forward again."
In such high temperatures, Mei'er dared not come out. She said, "Brother, turn around and let me see."
Li Qiang obediently turned around a few times, Mei'er said, "Hehe, brother, what are those Jingjing things on the rock wall? Shall we go take a look?"
Upon hearing this, Li Qiang almost fell back into the fire-eyed world. " Mei'er, why are you still concerned about this at a time like this?" He really couldn't understand why Mei'er was interested in these things, but he still flew closer to the rock wall to take a closer look, and couldn't help but be secretly surprised.
Mei'er saw it clearly too, and she exclaimed excitedly, "It's Gemstone! So many Gemstone! Brother, Mei'er wants them!"
Li Qiang couldn't help but laugh. It seemed like every girl liked these Jingjing things. The cave walls were covered with all sorts of strangely shaped Gemstone. Li Qiang only recognized a few types, the most precious being diamonds, some as big as chicken eggs, and all different colors. He raised his hand and unleashed a faint golden light, which caused a loud bang, shaking the entire cave wall.
After a series of cracking sounds, Gemstone mixed with rocks fell from the cave walls like raindrops.
Mei'er squealed with excitement, "Brother, hurry and put it away! Hehe, it's beautiful!"
Li Qiang gave a soft shout, "Chirp!" The Star-Absorbing Sword transformed into countless shimmering silver pincers, dancing swiftly in the air. He targeted only the larger ones, and soon, each pincer held a Gemstone, hovering silently in mid-air. Li Qiang stretched out his hand and smiled, "Collect!"
Jingjing Gemstone cascaded down into Li Qiang's palm like a colorful waterfall, and as soon as Gemstone touched Li Qiang hand, he collected them into his bracelet.
Mei'er said sweetly, "Great! Brother's Swordsmanship is even more amazing." She could tell that Li Qiang's sword technique just now was extraordinary; it was a display of complete control and execution, something that only a true master could do.
Li Qiang said, " Mei'er, hide well, I'm going to force my way in!"
Mei'er was startled and quickly withdrew her head, no longer speaking. She was very obedient and would never disturb Li Qiang at this time. Moreover, she blindly trusted Li Qiang; if Li Qiang said he would force his way in, he would force his way in; if he said he would fight, he would fight. She would never object.
Li Qiang had already checked with his Divine Sense and it seemed that there was only a gap on the left. To save energy, he raised his hand and shot out a Thunderbolt Pearl, a treasure of the Hidden Thunder Pavilion, and it was easy to obtain.
After the Thunderbolt Pearl left his hand, it immediately swelled to the size of a soccer ball, emitting a dark, shimmering blue light, and flew away.
With a deafening roar, Li Qiang was caught off guard and thrown aside by the violent shockwave. He hadn't expected the Thunderbolt Pearl to be so powerful and couldn't help but cheer loudly. He raised his hand and fired another Thunderbolt Pearl, causing the entire cave wall to shake violently. Large chunks of rock broke off from the cave ceiling and crashed into the fire eye below, splashing up large amounts of lava with an astonishing display.
Li Qiang didn't care about anything else; he didn't care if the fire eye collapsed. He bombarded it continuously with Thunderbolt Pearl, and a passage was blasted out. Just as he rushed into the passage, he heard a loud bang behind him, and the fire eye was completely buried by the collapsed rock layer.
Mei'er, hiding inside the Fire Essence Immortal Armor, shouted happily, "Brother, what amazing Thunderbolt Pearl! Where did you get these treasures? Mei'er wants some too! Mei'er wants Thunderbolt Pearl too!"
Li Qiang smiled and handed her a few, saying, "Don't throw them away, these things are very powerful."
Bi Wuzi knew something was wrong. The immortal array diagram on the jade wall suddenly dimmed, and the immortal array lost its Heavenly Fire and fire eye, breaking the entire array. Bi Wuzi was furious and hurriedly fled the immortal palace. He knew that since his opponent could break the Brilliant Swift Immortal Formation, he was no match for him no matter what. Staying in the immortal palace would only mean waiting to die.
The Brilliant Swift Immortal Formation was the linchpin of the entire Battle Circle Continent's restrictions. With the array broken, the restrictions lost their effectiveness, and the mountains and cliffs that surrounded the entire Battle Circle Continent began to collapse in many places as the restrictions failed. People finally discovered that there were vast lands and abundant resources outside the Battle Circle Continent. Mengzhan Kingdom and Chelie Kingdom began to seize the time to claim land outside, but they soon found that the outside world was simply too vast for them to completely occupy.
The monsters from the plains of the Battle Circle Continent also ventured out. Freed from the powerful control of the Celestial Palace, these monsters found their own paradise. The Heavenly Crow People also quietly departed, hiding far away in the desolate primeval forests, no longer needing to fight and risk their lives for the Celestial Palace.
Li Qiang rushed into a large hall, where three Nascent Soul Puppet Body blocked his path. There wasn't even a Mars around; the immortal array had completely stopped operating.
Mei'er poked her little head out. "Brother, is the fire out? Mei'er is coming out." She couldn't help but fly out.
The three Nascent Soul Puppet Body were terrified; Mei'er's Spirit Sword Body was far more powerful than theirs.
Before Li Qiang could speak, Mei'er shouted at the three Nascent Soul Puppet Body, "Do you want to die? How dare you fight my brother!"
Gan Ling'er and the other two looked at each other, then knelt down with a thud. "Immortal, have mercy! Save us, my fellow disciples!"
Li Qiang reached out to stop Mei'er and laughed, "Perhaps Bi Wuzi didn't dare to come down, so he sent you here to be his scapegoats? No need for so much formality. You are the cultivators who were harmed by Bi Wuzi?" Li Qiang was now also protected by golden light, and his appearance was already very similar to that of an immortal.
Gan Ling'er said tremblingly, "Immortal, that's exactly it. I beg you, Immortal, to grant this humble servant your permission."
Mei'er exclaimed in surprise, "A servant? Oh dear, brother, they call themselves servants? How strange." In the Cultivation Realm, there has always been only seniority, not the phenomenon of being a slave or servant. Mei'er found Gan Ling'er's self-designation very strange.
Li Qiang frowned slightly and said calmly, "I am not some immortal, there's no need to call yourself a servant. May I ask your names? I am Li Qiang from Sealed Fate Planet."
Gan Ling'er said sadly, "We are all cultivators captured by the Lonely Old Immortal. He forced us to be his servants. However, although the Immortal was ruthless, he rarely harmed us. He left hundreds of years ago and has never returned. We cultivators can only cultivate in the Immortal Palace and have to follow the rules he left behind, attacking a country every five years... Alas, later..."
Mei'er interjected, "Who is the Lonely Old Immortal? Is he very powerful?"
Gan Ling'er sighed, "He is an immortal named Tianshi, someone we cultivators cannot resist."
Li Qiang sighed inwardly, "Damn it! I've messed with another immortal." Then he thought, "I've already messed with two immortals, one more won't make a difference."