Being an immortal wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. After imagining it for so long, I had expected more fanfare and congratulations. All I got instead was a molten hellscape and more work. I carefully adjusted the grip on my sword and swung.

I hesitated for a single moment and by then it was too late. A spatial slash cut the intervening space and all one had to do was step through. The problem was that if your step was off, the slash was disrupted, or there was another problem you would be in for a very bad time.

While one part of your body was hurtling forwards, another would lag behind. When space snapped back into place, the results of anything in between was not good. Like an egg being thrown out of a car into several fans not good. While my body was tough, spatial effects were quite deadly. They were better as an attack technique instead of a movement technique.

Floating there in the air, I took a break to recover all my spent energy so I was at full strength once again before trying to practice. The issue was my control over energy once it left my body. While I might have reached the rank of immortal and become a lot stronger, I still wasn’t a master.

The countering and flying aspect of the technique was much easier. The sword was just used as a visualization process and since I was focusing on my energy, it was much easier. Projecting energy outwards meant I had to get the initial conditions perfect.

“Greetings, senior immortal!” I turned in air to see a group of weaker cultivators on a flying platform a distance away. I counted five people, three men and two women. Based on the similarities in their robes, they were most likely all from the same super organization. I felt pleased at being called a senior immortal. While it was a standard greeting between cultivators of different strengths, it felt good to be on the higher end for once.

This vessel was a large flying brick, most likely repurposed from whatever crashed vessel they came in on. Now they had gotten this far in the Gu Container, they were probably wondering what was next and what was going on.

“Greetings,” I replied back and turned in mid-air to face them while I kept my sword in hand at my side.

“Sorry to disturb you senior immortal, but we were looking for the exit to this space. We got pulled in here and barely managed to make it past everything to get here,” the cultivator said. They were clueless juniors.

“Welcome to hell, or the immortal battlefield. You are trapped inside of a Gu Container created by a demonic cultivator of immense power. Where is the current edge of this place, how close to the ocean of blood?” I asked using my terms for this place, the privilege of the strong.

“We arrived just above the great storm and crashed into the red liquid. We barely managed to escape, but the surface was too stormy and the pressure downwards was immense. That is why we retreated downwards towards the center of this place. We just finished getting through the metal and the molten layer, senior,” the cultivator said.

Well that was too bad for the table people. They were probably swept away if they hadn’t tried to make the journey to the center of the Gu Container. There was no way the demonic cultivator would make a nice and easy path as this place collapsed. The storms were a sign that the dark gas was being pushed into the ocean of blood.

Soon the ocean of blood would be pushed into the barrier sphere. The barrier sphere was probably half molten. While I hadn’t noticed any deformation yet, the weak points of people passing through it would probably give out first. However this place broke down, it would be devastating.

“I am Immortal Yuan Zhou,” I declared. I was no longer of the Heavenly Alliance and didn’t need to use their name. I was a free immortal with no affiliation.

“Junior greets senior immortal Yuan Zhou. I am Longwei. My companions are Deming, Shunyuan, Meixiu, and Xiaoling. We are cultivators of the Heavenly Tiger Cult,” he introduced himself and his companions. I noticed little tiger insignias. For a moment there I thought he would say Heavenly Alliance, which would have been quite surprising.

“My advice is to not bother war machine over there and watch out for vultures looking to pick off weak prey. There is spatial suppression over this place that gets worse the closer you get to the star. The demonic cultivator’s citadel is hidden there with powerful defenses,” I explained out of kindness. I had been helped along by my seniors in the past, so I would give some help to these junior cultivators.

They had nothing I wanted. Fighting would just be a headache. The only thing for me was to practice. “Thank you senior immortal,” Longwei said with a deep bow. I used to be like that. Scraping my head towards the ground so it wouldn’t get cut off. It was amusing and felt nice. “May this junior ask a question?” I waved my hand for him to continue. “The energy of this place…it is off.”

“The demonic cultivator has contaminated everything. Too much of his energy and you will start to melt or break apart. At your strength, there is no place to move forward to, no exit. Everyone is waiting for when this place breaks apart more to try and assault the citadel at the very last moment, or something else to intervene,” I explained. The junior cultivators all exchanged nervous looks with each other, knowing they were clearly outclassed in this place.

“Thank you, senior immortal. You have honored me with your answers. Do object if we discuss our next move over there?” he asked.

“Do as you wish. I do not want to be disturbed unless it is important,” I replied. They all gave their thanks before leaving. Ah, juniors, probably on their first mission outside of their super organization. Maybe a trade or an exchange. Probably an exchange of some kind. Their guardians might have been killed or heavily injured entering the Gu Container.

Regardless, they weren’t my responsibility. I might be their senior, but only in terms of power not in terms of authority. It would have been rude to take command of them. And even if I did, there was nothing they could do in this place. I might be practicing, but I was a table person as well. Waiting for something to happen.

There was an explosion and I looked in the distance. Oh, someone had emerged near the war machine and it was giving everyone a light show. It had changed shape slightly, with less secondary guns. Overlapping shields, impressive. It was a self-updating war machine. Now that was just cheating. While I might be an immortal, I was still a man. And a giant self-updating war machine appealed to something inside of me.

Sorry Hissk, but if I ever have to travel, I want to do it with something like that. Rapid fire anti-air lasers and drones, okay that really was cheating. I almost felt sorry for whatever being had poked the war machine. I noted my juniors looking in the distance to watch the show. Watching the war machine was a treat and broke up the monotony of this hell.

It hadn’t pulled out its super cannon. Oh, the being had been hit and whatever defenses they had broken. Personal shields were only good against ranged attacks. As I had learned from Hissk, they had limited effect in close combat. If I had to fight war machine I could last a little bit longer. The same was true for when I had to ascend to the citadel and get past it defenses.

I had recovered my energy and swung my blade and stepped without hesitation. It was disorienting, but I crossed the space. It was scary and my sense of danger had spiked massively, but I had done it. The distance had only been a handful of meters, but I had done it. I smiled slightly and looked around in case a vulture decided to take advantage of me at this moment.

There was nothing. Maybe I was considered like the war machine. Well with the junior cultivators over there, other cultivators might come togeather for the final assault. There was no chance of teaming up with war machine, which had settled back down.

If I had to make an army, Hissk’s lizard people were out, and war machines were in. Just throw one of those at anything that annoyed me in order to unleash an insane amount of fire power. I couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous. Being reincarnated into a war machine would have made life easier and harder in different ways.

Oh, you don’t want to talk? Have a taste of my world shattering super cannon. Oops, I just blew you away and nine of your generations as well. You have an army, I have lasers, all the lasers. You are going to get stronger by going into seclusion for a millennia. Well I will improve myself in a decade. But it would make traveling a headache.

I would need to figure out how to move vast distances on my own. If this place broke down, escaping quickly was very important. That was why I was looking into this specific spatial slash. I doubted there would be escape vessels like the Infinite Ring Complex had. This was a Gu Container, not a place for people to live in or escape.

That meant my escape had to be carried out by myself. If the demonic cultivator succeeded, everything nearby would probably be killed instantly by his wave of power. If he failed, then the resulting fight over the Gu or explosion would be equally as massive. That meant that once I could get out of this place, I needed to put as much distance as I could before it was all destroyed.

My energy had recovered once more and I swung my blade aiming to cut through the spatial effects. It worked for a moment, but then effects reasserted themselves. I got to thinking about the arrays and the formations made up of those arrays that would be needed to manage such a large area.

I swung my blade twice more in rapid succession, targeting the spatial suppression above me. It was very slight, but there was a small difference in the spatial suppression reasserting itself. The formation, since it was probably a formation for a space this large, was struggling to adapt.

The earlier damage had caused issues, or it would always struggle. Now it was just a matter of seeing if I could specifically stress one part of the spatial suppression formation to make it easier to ascend when the time came.

A small smile came to face once more. I had found a way forward. If I could get to the demonic cultivator’s citadel, then I just needed to hide away and wait for everything to be completed and then escape at the precise moment. I doubted the process of integrating the Gu would be instant and there were sure to be loads of last-minute complications.

That would be the best time to escape. I adjusted my stance and my grip slightly. By the time I was done, I would be an expert at cutting through spatial suppression. I would swing upwards, and rapidly close the distance.

Time continued to pass as I swung over and over. The junior cultivators were looking more and more stressed, but they didn’t bother me again. They were probably afraid I would shoo them away and then they would be attacked by more powerful beings.

“Hello. I am Shin of the Seven Secrets Alliance,” I looked at approaching immortal. How their energy in their body moved compared to the junior cultivators made it obvious they were an immortal.

“Greetings. Yuan Zhou,” I declared my name in return.

“I saw another cultivator and was wondering if you would be interested in sharing information and teaming up to escape this Gu Container,” he replied.

“There isn’t much to share if you already know this is a Gu Container. As for teaming up, I have no objection to other people rushing upwards at the same time,” I replied and Shen smiled at that. It wasn’t so much of a team up as an understanding that we wouldn’t backstab each other as we all raced for the citadel in order to escape.

“Then, I am going to wait over there,” he said, and I gave him a nod. I wasn’t planning to lead a charge, but I guess floating out in the open and swinging my sword made other cultivators look up towards me as some kind of trend setter.

It also helped that I hadn’t killed the junior cultivators nearby, so people would know I wasn’t instantly hostile like the war machine. I glanced over towards the war machine and it was still in its usual spot. When it made a move, I would make a move. Since if it started firing its super cannon, I didn’t want to get caught up anywhere near that level of world shattering attack.

More time continued to pass as I continued to practice countering the spatial suppression. The effect was specifically weaker in this area. More energy was being channeled into the formation to handle this location, but that was also degrading the formation more quickly. It was clear that the demonic cultivator wasn’t doing minor maintenance and didn’t have helpers or golems. A hidden weakness, but one I was slowly taking advantage of.

Shen would look over at me occasionally but didn’t come over to speak with me. I hadn’t told him what I was doing, and it would be rude of him to ask. I thought about asking for help, but there was a good chance that more beings acting in a specific location would draw the attention of the demonic cultivator.

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With just me, it could be brushed off as one person practicing. More than one person would be considered an attempt to disrupt this place. The demonic cultivator had weapons on his citadel, powerful ranged weapons. I would prefer to not be targeted by such weapons.

“Hello, you accepting other people in your group?” a large buff woman that was hardly wearing anything flew over. She was big, at least twice as tall as me.

“You are free to wait here if you want. There is no leader, but no fighting. I am Immortal Yuan Zhou,” I said.

“She Who Crushes All,” the massive woman declared. “My fists will smash aside the powers that control this place when it is time to attack.”

“That would be welcome,” I said and she flew over to another location.

That was apparently the sign for other beings to start joining our group of anyone who wanted to try safety in numbers. The vultures and desperate began to join as well. I told them all the same thing. No fighting other people in the group and there was no expectation of teamwork beyond that.

There were too many different beliefs and cultures to try and wrangle everyone into a single plan of attack. Then there would be the egos. Everyone would have opinions that their stupid idea was the best idea. It might be, but I didn’t want to get caught up in all of that. It was too much trouble.

I kept glancing at the war machine, but no one disturbed it. Everyone clearly knew it was the second strongest thing here after the demonic cultivator controlling this place. Anyone who had any common sense would stay far away from it.

As time continued to pass, our group soon grew to around 30 beings. I noticed that three other groups were forming across the sphere. That put the final confrontation at around 120 beings of immortal power and one war machine versus one demonic cultivator.

There were probably individuals scattered about, but it seemed like everyone had come to the realization that groups were the best the shot at surviving this final battle. The other people would act as meat shields.

The position of the other groups was arranged to attack the star at the most optimal angles. The sunspot wasn’t far from my location and I noted that the war machine had placed its august self directly below that location. It wanted to take advantage of the earlier damage it had caused to the demonic cultivator’s citadel.

Everyone was just waiting. We were all table people, but no one wanted to be the first to act and die in a stupid manner. Death would be instant, but the shame would be eternal. The outcome of this event would be recorded in the annals of a lot of super organizations. No one wanted to be the idiot in that record.

‘Right before the final battle, that one cultivator from that super organization rushed ahead thinking they were clever. Then they died horribly. That is why you need cunning juniors, so you don’t end up like that idiot. It was so embarrassing their super organization was wiped out, since everyone thought they were weak.’

I could imagine what would be recorded and while I had discarded pride and face long ago, being made a mockery of for a very long time would anyone hesitate. While I didn’t have a super organization, I wasn’t going to die like an idiot by rushing in first. It was a question of nerves.

How long would each group would wait? You didn’t want to be first, but being last also carried risks. Then there was the war machine to consider. I wouldn’t let others influence me, I would make my move when I felt it was right. If others wanted to go that was their choice.

I noticed that the molten barrier sphere was beginning to deform from a sphere. It was slowly getting wider or bending inwards in some places. I compared our location to the changes that were slowly occurring. I didn’t want to move since I had specifically weakened this area of the spatial suppression formation.

Thankfully, this location didn’t seem to be undergoing any adverse effects as far as I could tell. It was only a matter of time before the barrier sphere would break apart. I pulled out my devices and checked. The edge of the Gu Container was into the ocean of blood. All that pressure being forced downwards would deform the barrier sphere which was currently happening.

I swung my sword once more. The spatial suppression had grown weaker by around 20% from the start of this little project. I just needed to keep working at it. Most of these people would die when we tried to ascend, but that was okay. Being a meat shield was an important part of teamwork.

It was surprising that the demonic cultivator hadn’t attacked the groups yet, but he was probably waiting until we attacked so he would have an easier time of targeting people. The star was quite a distance away. Even the attacks the demonic cultivator had used in the past had taken a second to cross the distance. If someone was prepared for such a thing, then they might be able to dodge.

Or the demonic cultivator might not even care. We would be viewed as bugs at best to someone of his power. Regardless groups had formed up and we were all waiting, which was stressful. Some of the beings talked to each other to form closer teams or if they were from the same super organization.

There were no lizards in our group. That wasn’t surprising, since they had probably smelled Hissk on me and realized I had consumed him. I wouldn’t want to join a team that had consumed fellow lizards.

It was impressive that so many powerful beings were choosing to work togeather if the situation wasn’t so desperate. While super organizations had thousands of beings at the level of immortals, there were only so many who were capable of getting this war without dying along the way.

The weak and incompetent had been thoroughly weeded out. There were no garden flowers in these groups. Even the weak junior cultivators had some ability to get this far.

Shen, one of the first people to join my group, came over to me. “So, what do think?” he asked me. He was clearly nervous and wanted to understand my thinking.

“I am going to continue to wait. There is nothing else to do at the moment. I would look to when the war machine acts. That is a sign that we should get moving as well,” I said. The war machine was a very obvious point of interest to direct focus towards and would be a trigger for all the groups to act.

Shen nodded at this. “That makes sense. Then we rush forward?” he asked.

“Everyone can act as they see fit. But rushing towards the citadel inside the star is the best option for when this place collapses,” I replied. Shen nodded and then went back to his spot. That was annoying, but not surprising. I noted that several other beings were listening in as well. Several of them looked in the direction of the war machine considering its presence more deeply.

I wasn’t about to handhold anyone. This was a life and death struggle. One misstep and death was the best outcome. I did not want to be trapped inside of the Gu. I swung my blade again. Some of the beings probably realized what I was doing, but no one said anything. A few had started practicing certain techniques.

There were no more surprises, which was surprising. We had gotten a massive dragon, and a Chaos creature. But the beings outside the Gu Container had apparently given up in trying to throw things into it to stop the demonic cultivator. There was no way they would let him get away with this, which meant there was probably a final attack planned once the edge of the Gu Container was very close to the citadel to make launching a final attack much easier.

More time continued to pass as the barrier sphere continued to deform. There were very new arrivals. Everyone who was going to get pulled in and make it here had already done so. There might be some beings still in hiding under the molten metal but it was doubtful.

I felt slight shift in gravity acting on me. It was minuscule, but it was a sign that the edge of this place was getting closer. I noted several other beings had tensed up slightly as well as they noticed the change. I looked over at war machine, but it hadn’t stirred from its position. A shame there was no way to coordinate with it. That would have been the ultimate form of teamwork.

Floating in the air, I continued to work at the spatial suppression in this specific area. Right now, it had decreased to around 35% of the initial suppression. I was making slow but steady progress. Enough pinpricks would bring down even an elephant. A enough spatial sword slashes would put pressure on the powerful formation that the demonic cultivator had set up.

I had also honed my technique and energy manipulation during this time. While I was nowhere near Sword God Feng, I wasn’t completely helpless. It would take a long time to reach his level of control. Time that I now had once I could escape this Gu Container. It still made me happy thinking about how I had reached the level of an immortal.

My attention was suddenly pulled over to the war machine. Drones began to emerge and using some kind of matter assembler to build floating platforms on top of the molten metal. Everyone looked over as well. I then realized what the war machine was as it continued its rapid expansion.

It was a replicator. It was building up factories and a base to build more machines. Thankfully it was about 10% of the circumference of the sphere away from my group. The construction was rapid and I noted that the nearby molten metal was being consumed at a rapid pace.

After half an hour, the demonic cultivator finally noticed and took action. The plasma of the star began to concentrate into a single point, focused towards the war machine and its base. The war machine kept building along with all its drones. I knew it wasn’t stupid and it clearly knew that it was being targeted.

“Brace yourselves!” I shouted out and brought my sword up. Other beings quickly readied themselves and got ready to use defensive techniques.

A lance of plasma and energy struck down at the war machine. My body was forced to squint from the sheer brightness. I saw glowing blue shields form above and around the war machine’s base. Several of them broke, but more held on, protecting the core of its base.

The plasma beam stopped. The outer edges of the war machine’s base and drones had been vaporized, but it was okay along with the core of the base. The molten metal surged from the shockwave generated by the massive attack.

“One Swing To Accomplish Anything!” I swung my blade and several other beings swung as well as a massive molten tsunami surged towards us. We managed to partially split the tsunami, but also had to increase out altitude. The junior cultivators flying vehicle failed. The corrupting energy had damaged the equipment too much.

They let out screams as they plummeted into the molten metal. No one made a move to save them. They would only be burdens going forward. If you weren’t capable of surviving, then that was your fault for being weak.

The war machine then returned fire with its super cannon. A beam of white light and energy lanced upwards towards the exposed citadel. There was a massive explosion in the same location that had been damaged before. The citadel began to rotate and a massive barrage of smaller attacks began to constantly rain down upon the war machine and its base.

None of the other groups made a move. It wasn’t the right time. Enough people had seen the failed earlier attempts. While the demonic cultivator was rotating his citadel to spread out the stress on his weapon emplacements, that didn’t mean they couldn’t take us down if we attempted to ascend.

The war machine continued to rapidly expand its base and shield coverage while under constant barrage. It clearly had found a way to use all the energy of this place without suffering complications. That ability was far more impressive than its super cannon, construction, and shielding.

I could only imagine the demonic cultivator was regretting pulling such a mechanical construct into his Gu Container. It was like setting up a fish trap, but instead of catching fish the demonic cultivator had caught a shark that was trying to rip apart the net.

More large cannons were being built by the war machine. They can began to rise up. That was when a massive worm burst out of the molten metal. The war machine clearly hadn’t been expecting such a creature.

The massive worm crashed into the shields and floating platforms, smashing everything aside. A few of the large cannons finished building and began to fire upwards. More continent destroying explosions rocked the citadel. Huge chunks of metal went flying off of it.

There was nothing we could do. Trying to anything right now was asking to be crushed between two impossibly powerful forces. While I was an advocate of doing something, staying out of this fight was clearly the best and most prudent thing to do.

The worm lunged for the war machine. But it fired boosters blasting up into the air as its base was wrecked. Concentrated fire from the citadel targeted the war machine, but it had its own shields. That was when over a hundred of metallic platforms rose up around the sphere. These platforms split open and thousands of drones poured out of each one, swarming towards the citadel.

The war machine had been the one hiding in the molten metal, slowly building up all this time. Both sides were pulling out their trump cards in this battle of titans.

As they flew upwards, I felt a surge of panic. There was danger from every direction. The citadel began to rain down fire in every direction. The drones flying upwards were wiped out by the thousands. But there were thousands more. I noted one of the other groups was racing up towards the Citadel.

“We should go!” Shen shouted at me. I shook my head. They were idiots if they thought that the demonic cultivator had pulled out all his traps. He had been ready for Chaos, I had no doubt he was ready for replicator.

“I am waiting,” I declared loudly. Everyone looked at me, but no one left. A second group began racing up towards the citadel as the battle raged around us. But I still refused to make a move as the tension continued to increase. If I was wrong, then I was wrong.

“CRUSH!” The word echoed out through energy itself. I could see what was happening moment to moment. A massive surge of force was coming from the citadel, slamming everything back towards the molten metal.

I brought up my sword. If I was slammed down, I would take severe damage. “One Swing To Accomplish Anything!” I swung my blade and focused. The response from the demonic cultivator was incredibly quick and decisive.

As the wave of energy reached me, I tried to split it go around either side of me. Like a pebble resisting a hurricane by clinging to the ground.

“AHHH!”

“NOOO!”

The screams of the beings near me sounded out as they were slammed down into the molten metal, their physical bodies crushed under the force of the impact. Shen had positioned himself behind me, barely surviving, since I had barely survived. He quickly moved away and gave me an apologetic smile. I scowled at his shamelessness.

The drones of the war machine had been completely wiped out. The other teams that had been ascending had no time to react at all. Just over half of the beings that had been part of my team were gone, lost to the molten metal below. The rest were looking worn out.

The citadel continued to rain down fire on the war machine, which was struggling against the constant barrage of attacks and the giant worm chasing it and wrecking its base. Two of the cannons in the base were still working along with some of the shields, but everything was failing. More world ending explosions impacted the citadel, but the damage was not enough to make a difference.

“We go now!” I focused and began to fly upwards. This was our best chance. Everyone raced after me. I was exhausted after blocking the last attack, but the demonic cultivator had to be distracted and tired. Also, there was a large destroyed section of the citadel just above us, that had rotated from where it had been initially above the war machine. There were minimal weapon emplacements to stop us.

It was risky, but this was our best chance of reaching the citadel. There was no star surrounding the outside, the weapon emplacements were damaged, the demonic cultivator had just used a major attack, and the war machine was still active creating a distraction we could take advantage of. If we didn’t move now, then we could only wait until the Gu Container collapsed more. Since the war machine had made a move, it was in our best interest to make a move. It was clearly intelligent and powerful. It probably had access to information that we didn’t, which made acting now the best option.

As we ascended as rapidly as we could, the spatial suppression kept getting worse. It wasn’t time to act yet. I needed to close the distance as much as possible. I glanced over at the war machine just in time to see the massive worm swallow the building sized mechanical construct.

For a single moment everything seemed to freeze. Then the war machine exploded from inside the massive worm.