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Qiao Mu squinted.

The words of this young master sounded like a sign of weakness… but in reality, he was a clever fox.

Qiao Mu’s words were not insults spoken before death, but a test made with his life.

Meanwhile, this young master clearly played along, intentionally praising the other Immortal Gate masters, saying that he was the weakest among the four great kings…

In truth… if Patriarch Qingmu is the source of the Incense Path, then the Long Life Gate master is also the source of the Spiritual Refining Martial Art in the mortal world!

Not long after.

Qiao Mu, beneath the palm, had been completely drained into a dry corpse, and there was no more breath left in him.

"It seems there are no more members of the Qiao family?" The young master looked around.

"That’s true, after all, this is the Return Ruins, not the vast world of Jiu Province. It seems I have been overly suspicious and self-indulgent."

Qiao Mu was not mistaken; the young master had heard many stories about the Qiao family and was naturally cautious.

The words he just said were intentionally meant for the "next elder of the Qiao family who might save the day."

The Nine Immortal Gates are like fire and water.

Nowadays, the chance to become an immortal has appeared, but no one knows how many cultivators in the Return Ruins can truly become immortal.

Even if there is a chance for six people to ascend here in the Return Ruins, it is destined not to be a happy ending where they all ascend together to the immortal realm.

The first person to become an immortal will surely eliminate the other masters of the Immortal Gates… This is their common understanding and agreement.

So what he said earlier was actually a diversion.

The young master glanced at the distant Sky Piercing Water Spirit.

The latter trembled in fear and immediately turned into a stream, merging into the sea.

"Has it slipped into the drowning waters? This is a bit tricky."

If he had enough time, he would naturally kill the Sky Piercing Water Spirit to eliminate future troubles.

However, there are still several comparable Mahayana cultivators in the Return Ruins.

The young master was very interested in the Qiao family member; he was willing to spend time solving the issue with Qiao Mu, but the Sky Piercing Water Spirit was not worthy of his time.

"Never mind, if I miss the chance to become an immortal, that would be a regret too late to fix."

The young master glanced at Qiao Mu’s corpse and said calmly:

"So, your accumulation of over eighteen thousand years will now belong to me. If I can achieve immortality today, I will remember your name, Qiao Yao."

After confirming that there was no one around, he quickly transformed into a flash of light and disappeared far away.

It was only after he had left for some time that a figure appeared from a distance.

Without mourning Qiao Mu’s death for even a moment, Qiao Mu was the first to arrive at the battlefield!

"The price of a hundred years is still worth it."

Qiao Mu glanced expressionlessly at his own dry body.

Two flesh clones, each over ten thousand years old, were killed by the Grandmaster of the Long Life Gate and Patriarch Qingmu, and now the real body had come forward to weigh things for himself.

He began to understand a bit about the strength of Mahayana cultivators.

"Even if I act myself, I may not be able to kill a Mahayana cultivator directly, and my opponents number three in total…"

Qiao Mu squinted his eyes, gazing into the distance where the young Grandmaster had vanished.

This ghostly place has no sense of direction, and that Crazy Luck Beast Di Ting only guided them here.

But Qiao Mu did not discover where the Heavenly Palace was at all…

Now, let’s let the young ancestor of Long Life Gate lead the way ahead.

……………

After Qiao Mu and the Sky Piercing Riverwater spirit left.

Among the mountains scattered with the remains of Giant Kuafu, a rainbow light appeared and finally landed beside the corpse of the ancestor of Liangyi Sect.

The newcomer was an old man with white hair, his sword-like eyebrows flying up into his temples, and his eyes sharp.

He was the Supreme Elder of Tongtian Sword Sect.

"The friend of Liangyi Sect has indeed died," the Ancestor of the Sword Sect said with a slow shake of his head.

In the Nine Immortal Gates of Jiu Province, although everyone is equal, there is indeed a difference in strength.

The Great Dao Sect has the deepest foundation, with an unpredictable Mountain Protection Formation, two Supreme Elders, one of whom is only one step away from ascending, at the peak of the Mahayana Stage.

Sects like the Tongtian Sword Sect, Liangyi Sect, Blood Lotus Sect, and Yunxiao Sect occupy the remote areas of Jiu Province. They have fewer followers and are naturally at a disadvantage in the competition among Immortal Gates.

He and this Supreme Elder of the Liangyi Sect are both at the Tao Achieving Stage.

The latter rushed to Tongtian Mountain to enter the Return Ruins right after the reverse flow of the Sky Piercing River, to seize the chance for immortality… and then was defeated by the ancestor of Long Life Gate.

"The Mahayana Stage is the last realm before becoming immortal, and its power is several times greater than that of the Tao Achieving Stage. Competing with the four Mahayana Stage elders is indeed a slim chance of success, and this friend of ours indeed perished because of it."

The Sword Eyebrow Patriarch sighed.

The reverse flow waterfall of the Sky Piercing River is actually located at Tongtian Mountain, which is the closest to the Tongtian Sword Sect.

However, he remained calm, knowing his lower cultivation level made it difficult to compete with the other Mahayana cultivators, so he kept a lookout and arrived last.

Nowadays, it seems that this strategy is indeed good…

"Stay back and follow me. If they find us, all our efforts will be wasted," thought Sword Eyebrow Patriarch.

…………………..

"Water spirit, you can just call me Qiao Chonggui…"

(PS: Four ‘earth’ characters together are pronounced ‘kui.’ It is a rare character that the input method cannot type, but you can use it if needed. Otherwise, it may display a bunch of boxes on your phone.)

Qiao Mu walked alongside the returning Sky Piercing Water Spirit and continued moving forward.

"No, you were right to hide earlier. With your strength, joining the battle would be like throwing an egg against a rock. It’s not wrong to protect yourself."

"However, if we go further, the dangers we face will only increase. Are you sure you want to follow me?"

The Sky Piercing Water Spirit showed a look of shame.

As the water spirit of Sky Piercing River, he did not wish to become an immortal; instead, he was swept into this world along with the flowing Sky Piercing River… He certainly did not want to visit Return Ruins.

Return Ruins was desolate, with hardly any living beings.

Every creature he had met so far was stronger than him; without a member of the Qiao family by his side, he truly did not have the ability to explore Return Ruins alone.

"I just want to return to Jiu Province… But in Return Ruins, where is the way back?"

"Moreover…" the Sky Piercing Water Spirit hesitated to speak.

"That crazy Di Ting said that even the Heavenly Court of the immortal realm has fallen into this Return Ruins."

"No one knows if he was speaking nonsense or telling the truth… But since we are here, if we don’t see the ruins of the Heavenly Court with our own eyes, how can we bear it in our hearts…"

When the Sky Piercing Water Spirit reached this point, he and Qiao Mu suddenly stopped at the same time.

They looked up.

I saw a staircase, as white as jade, slanting up along the desolate mountainside, as if it led straight to the heavens.

At first glance, it seemed to be surrounded by a mystical aura, but looking closer, I could see that this staircase, which appeared to be made of white jade, was already covered in scars, filled with marks of decay and ruin.

It was not much different from the ruins seen everywhere in Return Ruins; this white cloud staircase was just a bit brighter in color, yet still part of a lifeless wasteland.

As my gaze continued upward, I saw that the end of the staircase led to a collapsed grand door.

The door, much like the staircase, was also ruined and crumbling on one side, with only half of a pillar still standing, trying to support the swaying sign above.

The golden letters on the sign gleamed softly, casting a faint light that, even from a distance, allowed one to clearly see the words:

South Heavenly Gate.

"It doesn’t seem fake…" Sky Piercing Water Spirit gasped, sensing carefully.

"This ruin is filled with abundant spiritual energy, far greater than that of Jiu Province, and the quality of the energy is entirely different… Could it really be that the heavenly realm fell into Return Ruins?"

He is like a water god, a natural deity whose instinct is to absorb the energy of the world, and he is as sensitive to this energy as any celestial cultivator.

Even before stepping onto the stairs to the heavens, he could sense the overwhelming energy nearby.

"Isn’t what Di Ting said crazy? Even the heavenly realm has fallen into the Return Ruins?"

While the Sky Piercing Water Spirit was still in shock, Qiao Mu had already moved.

"Let’s go."

Qiao Mu leaped into the air, stepping with the Heavenly Dragon Eight Steps, but just as he lifted off, he felt heavy and fell back to the ground.

He frowned and tried again; whether using his lightness technique or Martial Saint’s Ex-human Transformation, nothing could lift him off the ground.

Not to mention flying, even simply hovering for a moment was extremely difficult.

"Maybe this really is the ruins of the heavenly realm. Even though it is abandoned and has fallen into the Return Ruins, it must still have its extraordinary features," the Sky Piercing Water Spirit also tried but soon gave up.

So the two of them climbed up the white jade steps, moving higher with each step.

But as they got closer to the collapsed South Heavenly Gate, their pace slowed down once more.

Beneath the collapsed South Heavenly Gate, he saw an old Taoist priest in a blood-stained robe.

The old priest had messy hair, his robe was stained with blood in many places, and his face was as pale as paper; he had just rushed out from deeper within the ruins of this heavenly palace.

Behind him, there were traces of bloody footprints leading into the clouds, disappearing into the unknown.

He sat down casually on the ground, staring intently at the swaying South Heavenly Gate sign, looking as if he had turned to stone.

"Another trap just like the last one, is it happening again?" Qiao Mu frowned at that moment.

Suddenly, the blood-soaked old Taoist priest’s head tilted, lifeless, as he died right there.

From his mouth, which remained open even in death, a dim and dull Nascent Soul figure flew out, looking exactly like the old priest.

But the expression of the Nascent Soul little person was exactly the same as the old man’s before he died, he said in a frantic way;

"I did not make a mistake! I really did not make a mistake!"

"The chance to become a fairy is real, and the great calamity of the end times is also true!"

"It’s just… it’s just that after waiting for ten thousand years and enduring countless years of hard practice, it will all come to nothing, even if I become a fairy, it will be useless!"

The Sky Piercing Water Spirit reacted first, its gaze fixed on the old man’s Nascent Soul little person:

"Is this Ancestor Tianshu from the Soul Predicting Path?"

"His physical body has completely died, not even the immortals can save him. The Nascent Soul is dim and lifeless; was he heavily injured by several Immortal Gate ancestors working together?"

Qiao Mu’s furrowed brow grew even deeper.

He cautiously reached out a hand and, surprisingly without any resistance, directly grasped the Nascent Soul of Ancestor Tianshu, who offered no struggle at all.

Although Ancestor Tianshu’s physical body has died, he can still tell… this person, like the young ancestor from the Long Life Gate he met before, has also reached the Mahayana Stage.

Though the breath is slightly weaker, after all, he is a Mahayana cultivator who is just one step away from becoming immortal, and he could dominate a realm in the mortal world.

No matter how one sets traps, it would still be unlikely to degrade a Mahayana cultivator in such a way…

Moreover…

Even if his physical body is dead and his Nascent Soul is severely injured… as a Mahayana cultivator and an elder of the Immortal Gate, how could he possibly have no power to resist and allow his Nascent Soul to fall into Qiao Mu’s hands?

"This person is already out of his mind, his Nascent Soul is confused and dim."

At this moment, Qiao Mu only needs to exert a little force with his hand, and in the blink of an eye, he could easily crush this Mahayana cultivator.

Even if a few Mahayana Stage cultivators were to suddenly appear next to him, it would be impossible to save him.

"Isn’t this a trap?" Qiao Mu frowned.

Compared to the heavy injuries on his body and spirit, Ancestor Tianshu clearly seemed unusual and not quite normal, reminding Qiao Mu of the mad Luck Beast Di Ting at the ruins of Fangcun Mountain.

"The Supreme Elders of the Nine Heavenly Immortal Gates have hearts like stone; even if their sect is destroyed, they can remain calm and watch from the shore."

Qiao Mu looked back along the body of Ancestor Tianshu and saw mottled bloodstains stretching deeper into the ruins of the heavenly palace.

"This Ancestor Tianshu escaped from deeper within the heavenly palace," Qiao Mu thought for a moment and asked:

"What did you encounter in the deeper part of the heavenly realm?"

"I didn’t miscalculate, I didn’t miscalculate…" Ancestor Tianshu’s Nascent Soul murmured to himself, showing no other reaction.

Qiao Mu thought for a moment and changed his question:

"What did you miscalculate?"

"Is the end of the world catastrophe fake? Is the revival of spiritual energy coming soon? Or is this opportunity for ascension false, after all, this is Return Ruins—who would cultivate to become immortal here?"

When Qiao Mu asked this question, the mad Ancestor Tianshu immediately reacted.

"That’s right! I was not wrong! But I only calculated the surface; I saw just a glimpse of the patterns and could not see the truth within…"

The little Nascent Soul danced wildly in Qiao Mu’s hand, looking quite insane.

"I thought the Jiu Province world would face a great disaster, that after the heavens and earth changed, the human and immortal realms would lose their connection, and the spiritual energy would gradually fade. But who could have guessed…"

"It is not that the spiritual energy of the Jiu Province world is fading, but rather that this vast universe has reached its end!"