Chapter 1946 : Forbidden Powers and Cosmic Wounds

Exquisite Jiang [the Immortal Lord of peerless grace and power], Nyssa Qu [the Immortal Maiden of ethereal beauty], Verdant Consort [the sovereign consort of the verdant realm], and the wielder of the Reincarnation Body [a supreme avatar technique born from the cycle of rebirth]—these four pinnacle combatants were also forced to unleash their Forbidden Divine Ability [ultimate techniques that exact a severe toll on the user] and burn their True Spirit Path Fruit [the condensed essence of a True Spirit's cultivation path, representing immense power and lifespan]. To recover from such grievous wounds would require at least one full Kalpa Tribulation [a grand cosmic cycle spanning billions of years], even with the aid of vast resources.

This estimate already assumed the expenditure of immense quantities of healing treasures. Left to heal naturally, without such aid, recovery would be impossible for several hundred Kalpa Tribulation [immense cosmic cycles].

As for the others—Violet Consort Yan [the noble consort clad in violet], Lila [the young maiden with a mysterious past], Gentle Deer [a being of serene and peaceful nature], Ethan Chen [a valiant scion of the Chen Clan], Ao Hong [the Primordial Chaos Black Dragon], the Flaming Phoenix [a mythical bird wreathed in eternal flames], and the Primordial Era Ice Phoenix [an ancient demonic beast of frost and majesty]—their injuries varied in severity. Among them, the members of the Chen Clan [the illustrious and powerful Chen family] retained barely enough strength to continue fighting.

The Primordial Era Ice Phoenix [the ancient frost phoenix] and the Flaming Phoenix [the blazing phoenix], however, teetered on the brink of death, their wounds catastrophic. Without several Kalpa Tribulation [cosmic eras] to recuperate, their recovery was utterly unthinkable.

The primary reason for this disparity lay with the Chen Clan [Chen family]. Each of their Great Encompassing Golden Immortals [supreme immortals who have mastered the Great Encompassing Dao] possessed a suit of Great Encompassing Divine Armor [divine armor forged with the principles of the all-encompassing Dao]. This Great Encompassing Divine Armor [divine armor] was not only peerlessly durable, possessing nigh-indestructible resilience, but was also inscribed with Chaos Limitless Great Path's Mana Resistance [runes that grant profound resistance to the energies of the Limitless Chaos Path], capable of reducing both physical and magical damage from peers by more than half.

These nine suits of Great Encompassing Divine Armor [divine armor] served as life-saving treasures for the nine Great Encompassing Golden Immortals [supreme immortals] of the Chen Clan [Chen family]. Yet, the cost was monumental. After this battle, three of the nine divine armors were shattered beyond immediate repair, while the remaining six would require exorbitant resources and immense effort to restore.

Furthermore, the thirty-five Immortal Domain True Spirits [the innate divine spirits born from and bound to the Immortal Domain itself] suffered devastating losses in this conflict.

They succeeded in surrounding and slaying eight early-stage Great Encompassing [Great Encompassing realm] Chaos Demon Gods [primordial demons born from chaos], but at a terrible price. More than half of their number perished. Including the Blazing Phoenix [the Daoist titled 'Blazing Phoenix'], a total of twenty-three Immortal Domain True Spirits [divine spirits] met their end.

Fortunately, the essence of the Immortal Domain True Spirits [divine spirits] resides within the Immortal Domain's Four Extremities Celestial Pillar Spiritual Roots [the foundational spiritual roots that anchor the four corners of the Immortal Domain]. As long as the Immortal Domain [the supreme realm of immortals] remains Indestructibility [unbreakable and eternal] and these Spiritual Roots [the vital, energy-channeling roots of the realm] are not destroyed, the True Spirits [beings at the True Spirit realm] will not be utterly annihilated.

However, after the fall of these twenty-two True Spirits [True Spirit realm beings], it will take at least one Kalpa Tribulation [cosmic era] for them to begin their initial resurgence.

As for when they would Recovery [restore] their peak combat prowess, that depended entirely on the rate at which the Immortal Domain [a realm of immortals] could supply them with its foundational essence.

This was akin to the situation of the Four Heavenly Divine Spirits [four primordial divine beings] of the former Vast Azure Immortal Domain. For ages, the majority of that domain's foundational essence had been channeled into its own Recovery [restoration], leaving those divine spirits perpetually unable to reclaim their ultimate, most formidable power.

"First, focus on Recovery [recovering] from your wounds," Eldrin Chen instructed.

Seeing the grievous state of his companions, Eldrin Chen drew a deep, steadying breath.

He first administered to each a dose of the Heaven and Earth Great Path Water [a miraculous water of healing] along with restorative elixirs [pills that heal injuries]. Then, he channeled the power of his Great Path of Life [the supreme Dao of vitality and creation] to aid their bodies in the process of Recovery [healing].

Only once their conditions had stabilized did Eldrin Chen speak again. "This was a pyrrhic victory. To deny any opportunists a chance to strike, we must Recovery [recover] our strength with all haste."

Upon hearing this, Gentle Deer [a gentle-natured companion] furrowed her brow slightly. "A pity our supply of the Nine-Colored Immortal Elixir [a supreme-grade healing pill of nine radiant hues] is nearly exhausted," she said.

Eldrin Chen could not help but frown deeply at her words.

The relentless series of battles had consumed vast quantities of their healing resources. Furthermore, they had given six portions of the Nine-Colored Immortal Elixir to the Violet Ultimate Ancient Phoenix [an ancient phoenix of supreme violet radiance]. Now, only a single portion of the precious elixir remained in their possession.

Faced with this scarcity, Eldrin Chen could only sigh inwardly. The Violet Ultimate Ancient Phoenix had been in far more dire peril, making the choice unavoidable.

The Primal Chaos Kui Ox she lured away was also a top-tier Eighth Heaven of Great Encompassing entity. Had it joined the battlefield, even Eldrin Chen would not dare claim absolute victory in this battle.

In that scenario, the more likely outcome would have been mutual devastation. Both sides would have watched helplessly as over half of their Great Encompassing Golden Immortal forces perished, ultimately allowing the Nine Extremes Divine Lord and the Primal Chaos Kui Ox to break through and escape.

With this thought, Eldrin Chen retrieved nine Demon God Heartblood Pill [a precious pill that greatly nourishes one's foundational life force] from his sleeve. "Use these nine pills to Recovery [recover from] your injuries first," he said. "We shall assess the spoils of this battle afterward."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The Demon God Heartblood Pill was a supreme Precious Pill for replenishing one's foundational essence, making it the optimal choice for Recovery. However, its value was immense, requiring a Chaos Demon God Heart and the blood of a Demon God for its refinement. Using it merely for healing was, in truth, a significant waste.

Yet, given the severity of their current wounds and the need to guard against opportunistic attacks, conserving resources was no longer a priority.

Soon, after refining the nine Demon God Heartblood Pill and other healing elixirs, everyone's injuries stabilized preliminarily. Aside from the Primordial Era Ice Phoenix and the Flaming Phoenix, the others had Recovery roughly seventy to eighty percent of their normal combat prowess.

If they were willing to risk aggravating their wounds, they could even maintain their peak combat strength for a limited time.

Seeing this, Eldrin Chen gathered everyone once more. Surveying the resources in hand, he declared, "Although our losses in this battle were not insignificant, we have ultimately achieved a decisive victory."

"Let us first divide the captured treasures to compensate for our losses."

Upon hearing this, smiles blossomed on everyone's faces.

They understood clearly that while the cost of this battle had been immense, the spoils were equally staggering.

With this thought, their gazes all turned towards Eldrin Chen, each face alight with anticipation.

Eldrin Chen offered a faint smile and distributed the ledger in his hand to the fellow Mortal Path cultivators. "Take a look. Our harvest from this battle is far from insignificant."

Ethan Chen was the first to open the ledger. A single glance was enough to elicit a look of astonished delight.

It was not a matter of weak resolve, but rather that the captured spoils were so overwhelmingly vast, so astonishingly rich, that even he could not suppress a surge of elation.

In this engagement, they had trapped and slain a full sixteen Chaos Demon God [primordial beings of pure chaos and destruction]. Among them were one at the Eighth Heaven of Great Encompassing [the eighth and penultimate stage of the Great Encompassing Realm], three at the seventh level of Great Encompassing, four at the mid-stage of Great Encompassing, and eight at the early-stage of Great Encompassing.

The seized materials alone included a staggering fifty-eight strands of Innate Indestructibility Spirit Light [a primordial, unbreakable spiritual essence used for forging supreme treasures] and twenty-eight Innate Spiritual Treasure [magical artifacts born from the primordial chaos of creation].

Among these treasures was one quasi-Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, seven Upper Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, eight Mid-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, and twelve lower-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure.

Furthermore, there were over a dozen Great Encompassing Rank Immortal Pill [elixirs of immortality], more than twenty portions of Innate Heavenly God Object and Innate Heavenly God Herb [primordial materials used by heavenly deities], whose combined value was estimated to be equivalent to seventy or eighty strands of Innate Indestructibility Spirit Light.

Among the various treasures, the most precious Innate Spiritual Treasure [a treasure born from the primal chaos of heaven and earth, possessing innate laws] was the 'Nine Extremes Immortal Swords' [a set of nine immortal swords embodying the ultimate principles of the nine extremes]. Although each sword was only a Mid-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure [a mid-tier treasure born from primal chaos], their combined power was sufficient to surpass even an Upper Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure [a high-tier treasure born from primal chaos].

According to Eldrin Chen's estimation, this set of treasures might not rival a Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure [the pinnacle grade of treasures born from primal chaos], but it should possess sixty to seventy percent of such a treasure's power. Its value was equivalent to half of a twelve-patterned Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure.

Therefore, Eldrin Chen classified this set of Nine Extremes Immortal Swords as being in the quasi-Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure category.

There were seven Upper Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure: the 'Nine Extremes Fan' [a fan embodying the power of the nine extremes] belonging to the Nine Extremes Divine Lord [Divine Lord of the Nine Extremes], the 'Desolate Silence Heaven Halberd' [a halberd that brings desolate silence to the heavens] and 'Desolate Heaven Divine Armor' [divine armor imbued with the power of the desolate heavens] of the Desolate Silence Divine General, and the 'Eternal Azure Gold Armor' [armor of eternal azure gold] and 'Extinction Crossing Blade' [a blade that cuts across extinction itself] of the Pixiu Divine General.

The final two items were the 'Bixia Shield' [the shield of Bixia] and the 'Heaven-Disrupting Pearl' [a pearl with the power to disrupt the heavens] belonging to the Bixia Divine General.

Among these seven Upper Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, the 'Nine Extremes Fan', having been refined by the Nine Extremes Divine Lord for many years, was a top-tier specimen among its grade, possessing immense power.

The two treasures of the Desolate Silence Divine General could also be considered superior items within their tier.

However, in Eldrin Chen's view, the 'Bixia Shield' of the Bixia Divine General was the most precious among them.

This Bixia Shield was refined by the Bixia Divine General from his own Indestructibility [the state of being unbreakable and everlasting] tortoise shell. It contained the principles of a Great Path [a supreme cultivation art or law] that approached the Immortality [the divine ability of eternal life and indestructibility] and Indestructibility. Its defensive capabilities were peerless even among Upper Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure.

Theoretically, relying on this treasure for defense, even a Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure would find it exceedingly difficult to breach.

The reason we were able to slay Bixia Divine General this time was primarily because he was trapped within the formation, utterly bereft of any chance to escape to safety.

Even so, Bixia Divine General held out for a considerable time under the combined assault of the group, ultimately being ground down to death only when all other options were exhausted.

After discerning the profound mysteries of these treasures, Eldrin Chen spoke, "Although these artifacts possess extraordinary power, they all require one to have broken through to the Great Encompassing Golden Immortal Mid Stage before they can be refined and wielded."

"Therefore, priority should be given to those who can soonest reach the mid-stage of Great Encompassing, with distribution thereafter based on the magnitude of one's contributions in battle."

Upon hearing this, no one present voiced any objection.

Seeing this, Eldrin Chen proceeded directly to allocate the treasures. As they were all comrades, the exchange wasn't based on sheer market value but rather on what best suited each individual.

Soon, all eight of these precious artifacts found new owners.

Among them, Nyssa Qu claimed the most valuable set, the Nine Extremes Immortal Swords. With these nine Immortal Sword and the aid of the Creation Cauldron, her Nine Absolute Immortal-Slaying Swords could be directly elevated to the rank of Mid-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, saving over a dozen strands of Innate Indestructibility Spirit Light in the process.

Exquisite Jiang took the Great Wasteland Divine Armor, Verdant Consort claimed the Eternal Azure Gold Armor, the Reincarnation Body claimed the Bixia Shield and also traded the Crimson Peak Divine Spear for the Desolate Silence Heavenly Halberd, while Gentle Deer selected the Nine Extremes Fan.

Watching them claim their prizes, Eldrin Chen gave a slight, approving nod. When the attributes didn't perfectly align with one's own cultivation path, choosing divine armor that didn't require vast amounts of personal spiritual energy to activate was undoubtedly the wisest course.

Seeing that the Heaven-Disrupting Pearl [a divine pearl said to possess the power to disrupt the heavens], the Crimson Peak Divine Spear [a divine spear as formidable as a crimson mountain peak], and the Extinction Crossing Blade [a blade capable of cleaving through the boundary of extinction] remained unclaimed, Eldrin Chen gathered them into his possession.

These three treasures were not attuned to the cultivation attributes of Lila or Violet Consort Yan, and their current cultivation levels were insufficient to wield them effectively. It was wiser to keep them for future exchanges to obtain divine weapons and treasures more suited to their paths.

Once the Upper Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure [a supreme-tier treasure born of heaven and earth, possessing immense innate power] had been claimed, the remaining cultivators proceeded to select the eight Mid-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure [a high-tier treasure of great innate power, though lesser than the Upper Grade].

Thus, Violet Consort Yan, Lila, Ethan Chen, and Ao Hong each received a Mid-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure.

Though Flaming Phoenix and Primordial Era Ice Phoenix had contributed less in terms of combat prowess and had not been central to the battle's fiercest moments, they had fought valiantly until the end. In recognition, Eldrin Chen bestowed upon each of them a Mid-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure as a reward.

Receiving a Mid-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure filled both Flaming Phoenix and Primordial Era Ice Phoenix with immense joy and surprise.

While they had sustained severe injuries in the conflict, their role had been largely supportive, assisting Ethan Chen and Gentle Deer. Their combat strength paled in comparison even to Ao Hong.

After all, Ao Hong's cultivation had now reached the third level of the Great Encompassing Golden Immortal [a profound immortal realm representing a major advancement], having forged his path upon a foundation of seven Indestructibility Foundation [a legendary, nearly unattainable level of foundational cultivation]. His power brushed against the threshold of the fourth level of the Great Encompassing Golden Immortal.

In contrast, their own cultivation was merely at the first level of the Great Encompassing Golden Immortal, creating a vast and undeniable gulf in strength between them.

Under such circumstances, being granted a Mid-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure was a clear testament to the exceptional favor and generous treatment Eldrin Chen had shown them.

Returning to the main narrative, after distributing the Innate Spiritual Treasure [a spiritual treasure born from the world's natural laws, possessing unique and profound powers], Eldrin Chen then sifted through the Innate [a primordial, foundational state of being] divine pills. He selected a number of Healing Immortal Pill [a potent elixir capable of mending severe injuries and restoring vitality] and distributed them among his companions for their recovery.

The remaining treasures, including the Innate Indestructibility Spirit Light [a primordial light embodying the concept of unbreakable durability], the Great Encompassing Physique [a legendary physical constitution said to encompass and harmonize all things], and the Innate Heavenly God Object [an object of divine origin, born with the essence of a celestial deity], were all collected by Eldrin Chen.

With these matters settled, Eldrin Chen spoke, "Go and tend to your wounds. I shall take over the defense of the Seven Great Immortal Domains [the seven primary realms governed by immortal powers] from here."

Upon hearing his words, the group promptly dispersed to their respective retreats.

Meanwhile, Eldrin Chen began to maneuver the Seven Great Immortal Domains, creating greater distances between them to allow more space for the recovery of their depleted foundational essences. Concurrently, he initiated the process of reviving the Immortal [a being who has transcended mortality through cultivation] who had fallen in the recent conflict.

Reviving fallen Immortal came at a certain cost. Therefore, Eldrin Chen did not attempt to restore everyone.

He chose to resurrect only a select few whose innate talent and potential were particularly outstanding. For the rest, he imprinted them with a Reincarnation [the cyclical process of death and rebirth of the soul] mark and granted certain cultivation conveniences, entrusting their respective sects or masters to guide their Reincarnation souls back to immortality in their next lives.

Having attended to these miscellaneous duties, Eldrin Chen focused once more on recovering from his own injuries.

After several million years had passed, Eldrin Chen's wounds had largely healed. What remained required only quiet convalescence over the long flow of time.

Thus, Eldrin Chen made his way into the depths of the Returning Abyss Forbidden Land [a perilous and mysterious region shrouded in ancient power] and began the arduous task of refining the various spoils acquired from the recent battle.

He first processed all the remains of the Chaos Demon God and then refined sixteen furnaces of Great Encompassing Immortal Pill, obtaining a total of one hundred and eight Great Encompassing Immortal Pills.

The success rate of this batch of pills exceeded Eldrin Chen's expectations.

The bodies of the eight Great Encompassing Golden Immortals at the Early Stage yielded twenty-four Great Encompassing Immortal Pills, and the four at the Great Encompassing Golden Immortal Middle Stage also yielded twenty-four.

That a single furnace using a body at the Seventh Layer of Great Encompassing Golden Immortal could produce twelve pills was within Eldrin Chen's expectations. However, the body of the Nine Extremes Divine Lord also yielded twenty-four pills, which surprised him.

"It seems the gap between each cultivation stage grows increasingly vast after reaching the Late Stage of Great Encompassing Golden Immortal,"

Eldrin Chen mused aloud. Yet, after sensing the amount of foundational essence required for his Great Encompassing Physique to break through to the Fifth Layer of Great Encompassing Golden Immortal, he shook his head slightly.

Slaying sixteen Great Encompassing Golden Immortals had only yielded one hundred and eight Great Encompassing Immortal Pills. To cultivate his Great Encompassing Physique to the peak of the Sixth Layer Great Encompassing Golden Immortal would require at least two hundred such pills. This made the current harvest seem not particularly abundant.

"Enough, no need to dwell on it."

Eldrin Chen quickly suppressed his thoughts and continued his alchemy, refining ten more furnaces of Demon God Heartblood Pills.

These Demon God Heartblood Pills were of immense value. The three most precious ones had even reached the Great Encompassing Golden Immortal Upper Grade level and should fetch a considerable price.

After refining these Immortal Pill [a supreme-grade pill that can grant immense longevity and power], Eldrin Chen then handed over the remaining six sets of Great Encompassing Divine Armor [legendary armor forged from divine materials] to the Creation Cauldron [a primordial artifact capable of forging and repairing treasures] for restoration, infusing a significant amount of Great Encompassing Rare Treasure [extremely rare and precious materials] into them in the process.

Not only that, he also requested the Creation Cauldron to reforge the Desolate Heaven Divine Armor [Divine Armor of the Desolate Heavens], the Eternal Azure Gold Armor [Armor of Eternal Azure Gold], and the Bixia Shield [the Shield of Bixia, a mythical tortoise].

With the Creation Cauldron present, these three Upper Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure [supreme-grade treasures born from the world's essence] served as the perfect vessels for crafting Great Encompassing Divine Armor. However, lacking the power of a Primordial One Imperial Lord [a supreme cultivator at the peak of power] to drive the process, forging such treasures proved exceedingly difficult.

In the end, it took nearly ten million years and the fusion of vast quantities of Immortality Adamantine [an indestructible, immortality-granting metal] before three new sets of Great Encompassing Divine Armor were successfully forged.

Within these three sets of Great Encompassing Divine Armor, Eldrin Chen inscribed complete formations of the Chaos Limitless Great Path [a supreme defensive art harnessing primordial chaos], granting them formidable Mana Immunity [resistance to magical energy attacks] and physical resilience. Their defensive power ranked among the pinnacle of all Upper Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure.

Among them, the Bixia Divine Armor was the most powerful. It retained the innate Dao patterns [the fundamental laws of existence] of Bixia Divine General, elevating its defensive capabilities by another entire level.

Of course, as a trade-off, these three sets of Great Encompassing Divine Armor possessed pure defensive power and nothing else. They offered no auxiliary effects whatsoever, and unless one literally used them to bludgeon an enemy, they held not a shred of offensive capability.

After forging the three divine armors, Eldrin Chen distributed them: one to Exquisite Jiang, another to Verdant Consort. As for the Bixia Divine Armor intended for his Reincarnation Body [a powerful secondary body cultivated through reincarnation], after some thought, he decided to give it to Nyssa Qu instead.

According to Eldrin Chen's estimation, his Reincarnation Body would soon break through to the mid-stage of Great Encompassing [a supreme realm of cultivation]. At that point, with the combat power of the Reincarnation Body rivaling a Seventh Layer Great Encompassing Golden Immortal [a Golden Immortal at the seventh layer of the Great Encompassing realm] without issue, its own defensive capabilities would become even more formidable.

As for Nyssa Qu, while her Slaughter [a potent offensive ability] was not weak, her defensive prowess ultimately remained somewhat lacking.

After handling these matters, Eldrin Chen once again opened his alchemical furnace to refine a batch of 'Great Encompassing Soul-Nourishing Pill'. The Great Encompassing Soul-Nourishing Pill is a top-tier Precious Pill that nourishes and strengthens the Primordial Spirit [the spiritual core of a cultivator], offering some aid in breaking through from the early to the middle stage of the Great Encompassing [a profound cultivation realm] realm.

To refine this pill, Eldrin Chen had specifically cultivated a Soul Nourishing Wood [a rare spiritual wood prized for its soul-nurturing properties] of Innate Spiritual Root [a supreme grade of spiritual root] grade, paying no small price to successfully complete its refinement.

With this task concluded, Eldrin Chen realized his Primordial Spirit accumulation still fell somewhat short. He thus began to cultivate in seclusion while simultaneously gathering intelligence on the progress of the war.

As far back as one million years ago, the news of Nine Extremes Divine Lord's defeat and fall had sent shockwaves throughout the entire Eastern Departure Flame Domain [a vast celestial region].

The demise of one Eighth Heaven of the Great Encompassing Golden Immortal [a cultivator at the eighth layer of the Great Encompassing Golden Immortal realm] and three Seventh Layer Great Encompassing Golden Immortal [cultivators at the seventh layer of the Great Encompassing Golden Immortal realm] left the Chaos Demon God [powerful primordial demons] reeling. This was the most devastating single-battle loss the Chaos Demon God had suffered since the war began.

In the aftermath, several Chaos Demon God and Great Encompassing Golden Immortal [powerful immortal cultivators] came to investigate, seeking to uncover the reason behind their forces' catastrophic defeat.

In the end, they managed to glean fragments of the truth, piecing together intelligence that came close to the actual events.

"The Returning Abyss Immortal Domain [a powerful immortal territory] had long anticipated the Demon God [demonic deity] army's arrival and possessed detailed intelligence on their strength and composition, allowing them to prepare an ambush in advance."

"In this battle, the Returning Abyss Immortal Domain first conspired with the Violet Ultimate Ancient Phoenix [a legendary phoenix of immense power], using it to lure away the main force of the Primal Chaos Kui Ox [a primordial chaos beast]. Then, they employed a hidden trump card left by Supreme Lunar Imperial Lord to slay Nine Extremes Divine Lord, thereby securing victory in this engagement."

Within the Thirty-Six Immortal Domains [a coalition of thirty-six immortal territories], a man of peerless elegance and bearing was delivering his intelligence report.

At the head of the hall, Blazeflame Imperial Lord [the Imperial Lord of the Blazeflame lineage] gazed at the intelligence report before him and fell into a deep silence. After a long while, he finally spoke with a wry smile, "I have long said that the Primal Chaos Kui Ox [a primordial bovine demon beast of chaos] is a creature of rash impulse."

"Appointing him as a commander of a front was a mistake by Departure Flame Demi-Ancestor [the Demi-Ancestor of the Departure Flame lineage], and it has indeed borne bitter fruit."

"However, the fact that the Returning Abyss Immortal Domain [the Immortal Domain of the Returning Abyss] managed to defeat this foe has significantly alleviated the pressure upon us. It seems we must show them some consideration in the future."

At this point, Blazeflame Imperial Lord suddenly inquired, "If my memory serves, has not the Returning Abyss Immortal Alliance [the alliance of immortals from the Returning Abyss] already slain more than twenty Chaos Demon God [powerful demonic deities born of primordial chaos] across these several campaigns?"

The man standing below hesitated for a moment before replying, "They have slain twenty-five, my lord."

"And we, fighting on the main front for all these years, have only managed to eliminate thirty-seven," Blazeflame Imperial Lord remarked.

He let out a sigh, then continued, "It appears the methods of Eldrin the Way Lord [the Path Lord of the Returning Abyss, Eldrin Chen] are far more ruthless and decisive than our own."

The Immortal Lord [a lord among immortals] below, seeing his master's concern, spoke up, "Master, you need not worry overmuch. It is precisely because our strength commands the respect of Departure Flame Demi-Ancestor that he has never found an opportunity to deliver a decisive, annihilating blow."

"The great victories of the Returning Abyss Immortal Alliance stem more from the overconfidence and underestimation shown by Nine Extremes Divine Lord [the Divine Lord of the Nine Extremes] and his forces."

"Underestimation?" Blazeflame Imperial Lord scoffed coldly. "Tell me, if you learned you were to assault a force of nine cultivators at the early Great Encompassing [a profound cultivation realm] stage, would you not also be tempted to underestimate them?"

The Immortal Lord [a title for a powerful immortal being] fell silent upon hearing this. After a long while, he finally spoke, his voice low, "I understand now. It was not arrogance or underestimation of their foe. It is that a cultivator at the Great Encompassing [the initial stage of the Great Encompassing Golden Immortal realm] was able to slay one at the Eighth Heaven of Great Encompassing [the eighth minor stage within the Great Encompassing Golden Immortal realm]. Such a feat inherently defies all expectation."

"..."

While the seven great powers were abuzz with discussion, the Great Encompassing Golden Immortal [the highest echelon of immortal cultivators] of the Returning Abyss Immortal Domain [a vast realm within the immortal worlds] had already begun to gradually recover from their injuries.

Roughly three million years after the battle, these Great Encompassing Golden Immortal began to emerge from seclusion one by one. Their wounds had already healed by eighty to ninety percent.

And so, on this day, Eldrin Chen convened the Great Encompassing Golden Immortal of the Chen Immortal Clan [the immortal clan founded by the Chen family] and once again called a council within Returning Abyss Heaven [the celestial palace at the heart of the Returning Abyss Immortal Domain].

During the council, Eldrin Chen swept his gaze over the assembly and said with a faint smile, "It seems your injuries have recovered almost completely."