The Quest for Immortality Chapter 2344: Viviparous Demon

From this point onward, the expedition grew considerably more arduous.

With the scholar absent, the Eight Diagrams Exorcism Plate lost, and their ability to divine fortune and misfortune gone, the very environment—the soil, the stones, the grass, and the trees—transformed into menacing and unpredictable elements. Doubt lingered over the presence of hidden malevolent spirits or insidious corrupting influences within them.

True Man Situ offered a silent sigh from his heart.

He should have foreseen this possibility earlier. The scholar was indeed the linchpin of their expedition and should have been safeguarded more diligently. Yet, he had never anticipated being so thoroughly incapacitated right at the outset.

What exactly had lured him astray remains a perplexing enigma for True Man Situ.

Ancient texts within Mystery Valley offered scant details regarding the Evil God.

Furthermore, their collective experience in confronting such entities was notably deficient.

The path unfurling before them was obscured by a dense fog, and the arcane laws governing their surroundings were disconcertingly unfamiliar. The slightest lapse in vigilance could precipitate a dire and irrecoverable mistake.

A soft sigh escaped True Man Situ’s lips.

Without the scholar's guiding presence, their sole recourse for prognosticating fortune and misfortune was to rely on their own telekinetic abilities.

Not only True Man Situ but every cultivator present now had to engage in personal observation and calculation to assess the perils around them, a necessary measure for a modicum of safety.

However, this heightened vigilance would inevitably escalate the consumption of their divine thought.

Throughout this arduous journey, their primordial spirits had been fully engaged. The expenditure of divine thought equated directly to a drain on their spiritual power.

This escalating drain might very well be an integral component of the Evil God's insidious stratagem.

But at this juncture, True Man Situ lacked the luxury to dwell on such apprehensions.

Simply reaching the presence of the Evil Embryo successfully could be considered a triumph. The former objectives of meticulously adhering to the plan, circumventing all dangers, and conserving their power had now receded into the realm of unrealistic aspirations.

True Man Situ declared, subsequently retrieving a Red Gold Lamp. He utilized its purifying light to fortify their collective defense, thus erecting an additional safeguard against unforeseen temptations that might ensnare primordial spirits, akin to the scholar's unfortunate fall.

This was the Six Yang Red Gold Lamp.

It represented the pinnacle of heavenly secret treasures, painstakingly acquired by True Man Situ after the loss of the Qiankun Clear Light Lamp over a decade prior during the chaotic events in Li State City.

The Qiankun Clear Light Lamp served as the ancestral treasure of Mystery Valley, harnessing the powers of Qiankun to manifest a radiant light, store heavenly insights, regulate causality, and influence life and death—possessing infinite, wondrous applications.

However, it was now employed to exert control over the karmic threads of a specific individual's existence.

This was a heavenly secret of paramount importance, the revelation of which would inevitably invite profound calamity upon Mystery Valley.

This matter was to remain unspoken, unmentioned, and carried to the grave.

True Man Situ resolved to completely suppress the memory, refusing to entertain any further thoughts of the Qiankun Clear Light Lamp.

Yet, in the absence of the Qiankun Clear Light Lamp, a suitable substitute was required—a convenient treasure to compensate for its loss.

The Six Yang Red Gold Lamp functioned as this surrogate artifact, drawing upon the celestial yang energy to provide protection and ward off malevolent forces.

While its miraculous capabilities were undeniably less profound than those of the Qiankun Clear Light Lamp, its utility in the current dire circumstances remained substantial.

As the golden lamp's radiance expanded, its Six Yang aura enveloped them, imbuing all with a comforting warmth.

Inspired, the others ceased their reservations.

A Taoist priest bit his tongue, drawing blood, which he then smeared onto his Peach Wood Sword, activating its power to repel malevolent entities.

A Buddhist monk produced prayer beads, adorned with protective Sanskrit inscriptions.

The female True Man, clad in white with an immaculate and lovely visage, invoked the Three Pure Ones Bell.

An elderly woman summoned the Six Ding and Six Jia spirits to form a protective perimeter around her.

The three brothers, sharing a common spiritual lineage with the old woman, had honed their skills in mystical evasion arts. Upon activation, ethereal armor composed of divine thought materialized around them, rendering them impervious to both blades and projectiles.

Within the Divine Thought Taoist sect, the number "three" held a mystical significance, bestowing certain wondrous advantages upon those who adhered to this numerical pattern.

This was particularly true for the three brothers; when united by familial bonds and collaborating in the cultivation of specific Taoist mystical arts, their efforts could yield results far exceeding their individual contributions, their spellcasting prowess occasionally manifesting unpredictable, miraculous effects.

Consequently, esteemed cultivators in the Cultivation World often showed preference for recruiting disciples with familial ties, especially siblings.

Certain practitioners of the Demonic Path, who engaged in the refinement of slaves, adopted a similar approach, showing a particular inclination towards mystical numbers such as three, five, and seven.

The final individual was a burly man adorned with intricate runes. He was a rare practitioner of divine thought known as a "Body Refinement Master," who harnessed the power of runes to fortify his divine thought-infused physique.

Although the remaining four Heaven Void Ancestors did not actively attack, they were covertly channeling their divine thought power, poised for any unforeseen dangers.

Thus, the expedition pressed onward.

As they ventured deeper into the Barbaric Wilderness Abyssal Swamp, inching closer to the genesis of the Evil God, the oppressive black aura intensified, and malevolent thoughts grew more profound.

The surrounding environment progressively turned more perilous.

The lurking evil spirits, masters of stealthy ambushes, became significantly more potent.

Yet, by fortunate happenstance, through their combined efforts, the majority of escalating dangers were navigated without major incident.

The malevolent spirits obstructing their path were consequently vanquished.

Despite the seemingly smooth progress, True Man Situ’s countenance grew increasingly somber.

The Feathered Immortals assembled at the Qianxue State Boundary, masters of the Divine Thought Technique, were renowned as premier experts of the Divine Way; capable of dominating entire regions and eradicating all manner of evil spirits, phantoms, and monstrous entities.

While the other four Heaven Void Ancestors’ proficiency in divine thought techniques was somewhat inferior, their raw divine thought power was undeniably immense.

Collectively, if they unleashed their full might and exerted their most potent divine thought techniques, this cadre was extraordinarily formidable.

The vast majority of apparitions posed no match for their combined strength.

However, True Man Situ possessed a keen intuition; he understood this particular journey was far from simple. Having lived a long life steeped in rich experience with divine thought, he was acutely aware of the insidious, deep-seated perils that lay ahead, recognizing that each foe vanquished paradoxically weakened their resolve.

The divine thought of cultivators, it must be understood, was exceptionally fragile and prone to depletion.

This particular affliction was the Evil God’s insidious strategy; the group was operating with their primordial spirits exoterically, and the constant exertion through telekinesis caused dissipation, making replenishment or recovery impossible.

Once their reserves were utterly exhausted, with their telekinetic abilities drained, they would be left facing imminent destruction.

Furthermore, primordial spirits harbored a deep-seated vulnerability to "pollution".