Chapter 1481 : The Price of Immortal Restoration

Such combat prowess was not inferior to that of an Eighth Rank Middle Stage Netherworld Ghost Ancestor. Throughout the entire battle, he had scarcely suffered any truly grievous wounds.

Fortunately, for these fallen Divine Spirits, resurrection was not an overly difficult matter, provided the World-Creating Divine Spirit was willing. It merely required expending a vast amount of World's Origin [the foundational energy that constitutes and sustains a world] once more, along with tens of thousands of years.

Thinking of this, Eldrin Chen spoke, "I still possess a portion of Immortal Source [the primordial, condensed essence of immortality, used to replenish foundational vitality]. Lila, Violet Consort, Fellow Daoist Heaven Abyss—you three should refine it first. Replenish your depleted foundational essence swiftly and resurrect the fallen Divine Spirits and Imperial Lord as soon as possible."

"Understood."

Upon hearing this, the three of them accepted the portion of Immortal Source.

An Imperial Lord who governs a Rule Mandate [a cosmic authority over a specific natural law or principle] is fundamentally an emanation of the World's Origin. Their demise directly impacts the combat strength of the Earth Immortal Patriarch they serve.

This is especially true for these Imperial Lord. With each Imperial Lord that falls, the Earth Immortal Patriarch's power diminishes somewhat.

Should half or more of the Imperial Lord perish, the Earth Immortal Patriarch's strength would drop by at least thirty percent. If all Imperial Lord were slain, the Earth Immortal Patriarch's power would plummet by half.

Therefore, for these three, replenishing their foundational essence was a matter of urgency.

Watching them receive the Immortal Essence, Eldrin Chen gave a slight nod. Without further words, he immediately made his way into the depths of the Soaring Serpent Ancient Star.

The Soaring Serpent Ancient Star served as a Netherworld Blessed Land [a region of exceptional spiritual richness and fortune], its treasures exceedingly abundant. Yet, the most precious among them was a dark, serpentine Immortal Sword [a sword of immortal-grade power].

"The Soaring Serpent Ancient Sword,"

Eldrin Chen remarked in admiration as he gazed upon the ancient blade before him, then tossed it to the Ancient Ruins Nether Lord.

This Soaring Serpent Ancient Sword was a top-grade Netherworld Ancestral Artifact [a supreme treasure passed down from ancient ancestors of the Netherworld]. Its power rivaled that of a High-Grade World-Opening Treasure [a treasure of the highest tier, capable of influencing the fabric of reality]. Most importantly, it could channel a portion of the Soaring Serpent's [a mythical winged serpent demon] might.

The Netherworld Ghost Ancestors had used this sword to form an array, summoning a phantom of the Soaring Serpent whose combat prowess was comparable to a Late Stage Earth Immortal [a cultivator in the advanced stage of the Earth Immortal realm]. Its soul-attacking capabilities even approached the level of an Earth Immortal Great Perfection [a cultivator at the pinnacle of the Earth Immortal realm], proving it was indeed no ordinary treasure.

Understanding the formidable power of this ancient artifact, Eldrin Chen stated, "The other three Ancient Stars must also hold three powerful Netherworld Ancestral Artifacts."

"Let us split up and retrieve these ancestral treasures first."

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded slightly in agreement.

After some discussion, it was decided that Exquisite Jiang, the Heaven Abyss Path Master whose origin had been damaged, Lila, and Violet Consort Yan would remain here. The four of them would guard the main force, allowing the army to rest and recuperate for the time being.

Among the remaining group, the Verdant Consort and Nyssa Qu would head to the Great Roc Ancient Star. The Ancient Ruins Nether Lord, Kael Chen, Ethan Chen, and Energy Abyss Chen would go to the Kui Ox Ancient Star. The final destination, the Dragon Turtle Ancient Star, was entrusted to Eldrin Chen.

When Eldrin Chen arrived at the Dragon Turtle Ancient Star, he discovered that after the Dragon Turtle phantom had perished, the power of this Formation [a complex arrangement of energy channels and nodes used for defense, attack, or cultivation] had been severely compromised.

Under his full assault, it did not take long for the grand formation to be shattered.

Once the formation was broken, Eldrin Chen indeed obtained a top-grade Netherworld Ancestral Artifact [a powerful enchanted artifact of ancient origin, often imbued with the essence of the underworld] from this place. It was a formidable ghostly treasure named the Dragon Turtle Ancient Shield.

By the time Eldrin Chen returned, the group had swiftly gathered all four of the Netherworld Ancestral Artifacts.

"The Soaring Serpent Ancient Sword, the Dragon Turtle Ancient Shield, the Great Roc Golden Wings, and the Kui Ox Heavenly Drum."

Gazing upon these Netherworld Ancestral Artifacts, Eldrin Chen could not help but reveal a faint smile.

The several Earth Immortals [cultivators who have ascended beyond the Primordial Spirit realm, achieving a profound connection with the earth's spiritual veins] all nodded in agreement. Kael Chen then spoke thoughtfully, "We have uncovered some records. It is said these four ancient treasures are replicas of the Companion Spiritual Treasures [treasures born alongside or deeply bound to a specific powerful being, sharing its fate and power] belonging to the four great Ancient True Spirit Beasts [legendary primordial beasts of immense power and spiritual purity] of the Solar Realm Small Universe."

"Those four companion ancient treasures are all artifacts of the Primordial Unity Ancient Treasure [a legendary grade of artifact representing the primordial, unified state of creation] grade, peerless ancient instruments counted among the most precious treasures within this Small Universe [a self-contained pocket dimension or miniature cosmos]."

"And those four Ancient True Spirit Beasts were all top-tier Half-Step Celestial Immortals [cultivators on the very threshold of ascending to become true Celestial Immortals], comparable to those who have attained the Dual Primordial Unity Path Fruit [a supreme cultivation achievement representing mastery over two fundamental, unified cosmic principles]."

Upon hearing this, everyone felt a slight tremor in their hearts.

Exquisite Jiang [the Immortal Maiden Exquisite] pondered briefly before speaking, "Four Ancient True Spirit Beasts [primordial beasts of immense power], each comparable to the Divine Lord of Ye Ruins [the powerful deity who once ruled the Ye Ruins] of old. It seems capturing the Solar Realm Small Universe [a miniature cosmos centered around a primordial sun] will be no easy feat."

Eldrin Chen [the Sword Immortal Eldrin] nodded in agreement. "From the intelligence we've gathered," he continued, "the Solar Realm Small Universe [a miniature cosmos centered around a primordial sun] is defended by at least a dozen powerhouses at the Half-Step Celestial Immortal [a realm just below that of a true Celestial Immortal] level."

"It appears that when this Small Universe [a self-contained miniature cosmos] opens in the future, a fierce and bloody battle will be unavoidable."

Energy Abyss Chen [the Patriarch Energy Abyss Chen] gave a slight nod, his tone calm. "A tiger's might lingers even in death," he stated. "After all, it is a Universe [a vast, self-contained cosmos] once comparable in scale to a Mid Celestial Immortal Realm [the middle stage of the Celestial Immortal cultivation realm] great cosmos. How could subduing it be a simple matter?"

With that said, Eldrin Chen [the Sword Immortal Eldrin] handed all four Netherworld [the realm of ghosts and spirits] treasures to the Ancient Ruins Nether Lord [the Nether Lord who rules over ancient ruins]. "These four treasures form a set of Formation Artifact [artifacts specifically designed to power grand formations]," he explained. "Once refined, they can activate the Four Divine Spirits Grand Formation [a mighty formation invoking the power of four divine beast spirits]. Its power is sure to be formidable, though I wonder if you, Fellow Daoist, will be able to refine them."

The Ancient Ruins Nether Lord [the Nether Lord who rules over ancient ruins] accepted the four Netherworld [the realm of ghosts and spirits] treasures. After a moment of contemplation, he replied, "In my previous life, I cultivated for over a million years, and my mastery of Formation [the art of creating and manipulating magical arrays] arts barely reached the threshold of the Middle Stage Earth Immortal [the middle stage of the Earth Immortal cultivation realm]. Now, having walked the Netherworld [the realm of ghosts and spirits] path, my understanding of Formation [the art of creating and manipulating magical arrays] has advanced a step further, allowing me to barely step into the Eighth Rank High-Grade [the high-grade tier of the eighth rank in formation mastery]."

He concluded firmly, "Setting up this formation from scratch would still be a stretch for me. However, merely wielding and activating this set of Formation Artifact [artifacts specifically designed to power grand formations]... that, I believe, I can manage."

Hearing this, a faint gleam of light appeared in Eldrin Chen's [the Sword Immortal Eldrin's] eyes.

With a cultivation base of only the Middle Stage Earth Immortal realm, yet possessing skills at the Eighth Rank High-Grade level, it was evident that the Ancient Ruins Nether Lord [the ruler of a domain of ancient ruins in the Netherworld] must have been a figure of truly heaven-defying talent and brilliance in his former life.

Such innate genius likely surpassed even that of the Heaven Abyss Path Master [a master of the profound and perilous Heavenly Abyss cultivation path]. No wonder he was able to open up a Ninefold Heaven [a legendary, supremely difficult-to-establish cultivation realm or domain] without relying on any External Elixir [a rare pill that can forcibly elevate one's cultivation realm].

Contemplating this, Eldrin Chen praised, "Your talent and brilliance, Fellow Daoist, are likely not inferior to the Divine Lord of Ye Ruins [a powerful deity associated with ancient ruins] and are comparable to the Western Abyss Dragon King [the mighty sovereign of the dragons in the Western Abyss]."

"You flatter me," the Ancient Ruins Nether Lord replied.

With a faint smile, the Ancient Ruins Nether Lord prepared to refine this set of Formation Artifact [a specialized magical treasure designed to establish or power a formation].

However, before beginning the refinement, he spoke again, "The Three Thousand Ghost Cities Grand Formation [a legendary, vast formation encompassing three thousand ghostly cities] will undoubtedly be Extraordinary [a person of remarkable talent]. It would be prudent for us to rest and consolidate our gains from the periphery before attempting to breach its core."

"Agreed," said Eldrin Chen.

Nodding, Eldrin Chen immediately dispatched his forces to begin collecting the treasures scattered throughout the outer regions.

Within the billions of star domains on the periphery, high-grade treasures were scarce, but lower-grade artifacts were far from rare.

After merely a thousand years of scouring the outer reaches, they had acquired over ten thousand Netherworld Ghost Treasure [magical treasures imbued with the power of the Netherworld, suitable for ghost cultivators], more than thirty thousand stalks of Seventh Rank Netherworld Immortal Herb [immortal herbs that grow in the Netherworld, ranked by their potency], and vast quantities of other resources essential for Ghost Cultivator [a cultivator who follows the path of the ghost, harnessing Netherworld energies].

Beyond these, there were also over forty thousand pieces of Incense Offering Celestial Silver [a special form of spiritual silver used in rituals and offerings]. This batch of Incense Offering Celestial Silver alone was equivalent to four million units of Immortal Source [a high-grade spiritual energy source used by immortals].

After a comprehensive tally, they found that just these resources were worth nearly ten million units of Immortal Source.

More importantly, this was merely the periphery of the Netherworld Star Domain [a vast stellar region suffused with yin and ghostly energies]. The treasures within the inner ring of Three Thousand Ghost Cities [a legendary cluster of spectral cities] and the core Blessed Land [a land of profound spiritual fortune] were likely even more abundant than those found in the outer regions.

In addition to these lower-tier treasures, they had also seized over twenty Eighth Rank Netherworld artifacts [powerful treasures forged from the essence of the Netherworld] and nearly one hundred Eighth Rank Netherworld Immortal Herb [rare spiritual herbs that grow in yin-rich environments].

The most precious finds were four Eighth Rank Spatial Gemstone [extremely rare crystals that contain and stabilize spatial energies]. Though all four were only of Eighth Rank Low-Grade quality, their value was no less than that of a Eighth Rank High-Grade World-Opening Marvel [a treasure rumored to possess the power to cleave and shape new realms].

Regarding this, Eldrin Chen gave one of the Spatial Gemstone to Violet Consort Yan so she could refine it into her Violet Cosmos Void Escape Mirror [a mystical mirror artifact capable of traversing void spaces]. The remaining gemstones were set aside to be distributed after the campaign.