Approaching Spirit Mountain
Once Zhang Xuezhou embarks on the path of favor, the time it takes to travel to West Ox Hezhou can be measured in minutes.
The ability to instantly traverse five hundred miles of favored lands allowed him to easily reach West Ox Hezhou.
Although the place left by 'Bai' leads to Mount Milu, Zhang Xuezhou still needs to fly the last stretch of the road, but this stretch is not long.
Outside the Mahabodhi Temple, the Yuanshi Celestial Venerable and other cultivators were already in charge, and more immortals were constantly flying over, gathering outside the temple in groups of several dozen.
Although the number of immortals may seem small, this is actually the last remaining foundation of the Immortal Court.
Many incompetent immortals were scattered and sent to the mortal realm to make a living. Less than two hundred great immortals remained in the Immortal Court, and some were trapped in Mount Ling and Mount Milu. Only a few dozen to a hundred people were still capable of making a living.
Zhang Xuezhou's swift arrival drew the attention of many immortals, while others shook their heads and sighed.
"It's been so long and the fight still hasn't started?"
After scanning the area, Zhang Xuezhou found the invited group of loose immortals. Divine Lord Zhenyuan and the new emperor were there, and Zhang Xuezhou even saw Nine Spirits Primal Sage prostrating nearby, while the leader of the Fire Worship Cult was sitting uneasily to the side.
Zhang Xuezhou asked a question, which left Divine Lord Zhenyuan speechless.
"Nezha is dead, and the Immortal Court has no powerful general to lead the charge," the new emperor said, shaking his head. "Furthermore, with the invitations and other forces involved, there are various conflicts to varying degrees. These past few days have been spent resolving these conflicts and waiting!"
"Lingshan is currently guarding the entrance to the shuttle array. Anyone who goes in will take a beating. It's one thing if they encounter an ordinary cultivator, but if they get hit by Zhunti, no one can withstand it," Divine Lord Zhenyuan shook his head and said, "If we want to fly into the secret area, someone has to be willing to risk everything, and the others have to be able to keep up. Otherwise, we'll not only lose face for nothing, but we might also get stuck in Lingshan and unable to escape!"
Nezha's eccentricities made him unpopular in the Immortal Court, but this kind of crazy immortal was terrifying when he charged into battle.
Lock-on Technique Method cannot target Nezha. The Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover is impervious to attacks, but if Nezha charges into it, it will become a weak point, and even the two leaders will be caught off guard.
But there is no second Nezha in the world. Even Yang Jian cannot replace Nezha's position, and Yang Jian never does things like leading the charge in battle.
Many cultivators have gathered here, but a trigger for war is still missing.
"You won't know the outcome until you try!"
Zhang Xuezhou looked up and gazed upwards.
He not only wanted to find Houtu Niangniang and thwart her descent as soon as possible to put his mind at ease, but he also wanted to search for Donghua's whereabouts.
Erlang True Lord could transform into a bird and infiltrate the sacred mountain, but Zhang Xuezhou did not have this ability.
If he hadn't broken through the current stalemate by force, he wouldn't have been able to sneak into the Spirit Mountain Secret Realm to search for the Eight Treasures Merit Pool; if he had tried to fly there to search, he would have been kicked out.
"The older a cultivator is, the more composed they become; they need to plan things out before acting," Divine Lord Zhenyuan shrugged.
"To put it simply, the older people get, the more afraid they are of death," the new emperor muttered. "Different age groups have completely different styles of doing things. I think it makes no difference who is in charge of the Immortal Court. Listening to their repeated discussions makes my skin crawl. I feel like I'd rather go back to Chang'an City!"
The Immortal Court's strength lies in its mystery, but the more the new emperor gets to know it, the more he realizes that this ancient power, which once ruled the Southern Jambudvipa Continent for eight hundred years, is indeed no longer viable.
Although the Immortal Court still has top-tier cultivators, its execution is extremely poor.
These great cultivators are fearless when fighting alone, but they are almost helpless when facing a group.
A large dynasty only needs one or two top experts to maintain a balance with the Immortal Court. If it weren't for the difficulty in accessing the Immortal Court's secret realm, such a force would likely have been wiped out during the Great Qin Dynasty.
"Take another look at those people lying down!"
The new emperor glanced sideways at Zhang Xuezhou before he noticed that several powerful cultivators were lying in their cloud palanquins, looking as if they could be buried at any moment.
"That is the Great Emperor Gouchen. He used to be in charge of killing and warfare, and his swordsmanship was comparable to that of the Celestial Venerable Lingbao!"
Zhang Xuezhou quietly introduced the seemingly dying Gouchen Emperor, with Nanji on one side and Ziwei Emperor on the other. These individuals could be considered the top figures in the Immortal Court; if compared to mortal dynasties, they would be high-ranking officials at the level of the Three Dukes.
The Immortal Court did indeed send its entire force to the Spirit Mountain Secret Realm, but it faced various drawbacks of the expedition.
If the passageway is unavailable, then the only option is to rely on large flying artifacts to break through the Bifeng layer and enter the sacred mountain.
But whether it's the former or the latter, it's a difficult task for the current Immortal Court.
"The celestial officials of the Immortal Court Horse Stables and the Jade Emperor are over there riding dragons, attempting to use dragon chariots as flying vehicles!"
"There are people over there calculating the celestial phenomena, trying to determine the best time and shortest distance to reach Mount Ling!"
"This is really troublesome!"
Zhang Xuezhou chimed in and muttered to himself for a while.
Relying on the favored spot left by 'Bai', Zhang Xuezhou could easily and conveniently enter Milu Mountain, but he did not have the coordinates of the Spirit Mountain Secret Realm.
The reason why Divine Lord Zhenyuan and the others were willing to wait patiently was simply that, without the method of entering Mount Ling through the shuttle passage, they lacked the ability to fly and find the secret place of Mount Ling.
The secret realm high in the sky is subject to the pull of the world, and its location changes every moment, unlike the secret realms on the ground and underground, which are fixed, making them extremely difficult to find.
Divine Lord Zhenyuan couldn't help but ask Zhang Xuezhou in a low voice if he knew the direct flight route to the Lingshan Secret Land. He didn't like waiting every day. If he knew the location, regardless of whether he could win or not, he could fly up and leave, and if necessary, he could just fly back.
"You should ask Buddha Son Shigong, not me!"
"You really don't know the direct flight route!"
"I really didn't know; the incident at Mount Milu was purely an accident!"
"Those two old bastards really know how to pick a location; they actually chose a secret place that we can't fly over to!"
Knowing that Zhang Xuezhou was also helpless, Divine Lord Zhenyuan had no choice but to give up in frustration.
He originally wanted to return to Broken Soul Ridge, but when he thought about how far he had flown and how many immortals had gathered there, he gave up the idea of leaving.
The new emperor was no different, just as Divine Lord Zhenyuan was in this mood.
Official documents from the imperial court are not child's play. No matter how many arrangements the new emperor makes, they cannot withstand the passage of time. Without his approval, people below dare not do anything.
If they hadn't already come all this way, the new emperor would have wanted to run away too.
"Think of a way, let's fight it out. Winning or losing doesn't matter, just knowing the result is enough," the new emperor said in a low voice.
"I want to too!"
Zhang Xuezhou was a hoodlum in Xiniu Hezhou. The matter of Donghua and Houtu Niangniang was of great importance to him. He was anxious to take advantage of the chaos to enter and leave Lingshan. He practically had his desire to fight written all over his face. Little did he know that these guys had been discussing things here and hadn't really gotten down to business yet.
"Shuo Xian, come over here and discuss this with us!"
Zhang Xuezhou was whispering and forming cliques when he was summoned by Yuanshi Tianzun.
As a cultivator who was once able to rival the Yuanshi Celestial Venerable, Zhang Xuezhou's certain strengths were indeed appreciated by the Yuanshi Celestial Venerable, and he was even included in the ranks of top cultivators.