Chapter 292 The Rise of Newcomers, The Passing of Oldtimers

Of course, Golden Core cultivators were 1 in a 100 million. For countless individuals, even possessing a Variant Spirit Root—the seed of Golden Core—was already an unattainable pinnacle.

Even if 1 forges a Great Luo Golden Core, attaining immortality remains a distant and uncertain prospect. It merely grants a sliver of possibility to ascend, with no guarantee of any substantial chance to achieve divinity.

"The path to immortality is long and arduous, the way fraught with obstacles." "The only thing I can do is take each step before me with care."

Eldrin murmured to himself, then confirmed the list of participants for this battle with the others.

In addition to the 3 individuals—Silas (Person Name), Caleb (Person Name), and Lior (Person Name)—who remained behind, all Zifu cultivators, including Eldrin (Person Name) and the Old Patriarch, would join the battle.

The Foundation Establishment cultivators will mobilize 50 of their ranks, while the Qi Refining cultivators will deploy a contingent of 5,000.

Mobilizing such a vast number of personnel for battle was no small feat, requiring more than a single day's effort. Nevertheless, the Council of Elders would naturally oversee the arrangements.

Meanwhile, Eldrin accompanied the old clan leader to Mount Qingyang. With the beast tide imminent, Lyra had summoned all major immortal clans under the Heavenward Alliance to discuss strategies for the impending conflict.

Upon arriving at the Sky Ruins Alliance, the 2 discovered that the leaders of all major immortal clans had already assembled.

Upon arriving at the main reception hall of Qingyang Mountain, Eldrin discovered there were 20-some Zifu cultivators present this time.

After over a 100 years of development, the Zifu cultivators under the Heaven's Ruins Alliance had restored their former glory. By this time, the dozen or so Zifu immortal clans under the Alliance collectively boasted nearly 50 Zifu cultivators.

The Chen Clan, with 9 Eldrin (Person Name) among their ranks, naturally stood as the most powerful lineage, followed by the Fang and Xu Clans.

The Xu family had now developed over the years, boasting 4 Purple Mansion cultivators among their ranks—including Xavier of the False Core Realm.

The Fang Clan had gained the upper hand, now boasting 5 Purple Mansion cultivators in total. Their leader was none other than Patriarch Fang Qingmei of the False Core Realm.

Among the remaining immortal clans, the Qian Clan stood as the most powerful. Their ancestral elder had now passed away in seclusion, and with the death of Qian Xingming at the hands of Mordecai (Person Name), they had lost 2 Purple Palace, Late Stage (Cultivation Realm) experts over the past few decades.

However, a starved camel is still larger than a horse. Relying on compensations and accumulated resources, the Qian Clan managed to nurture 3 more Zi Mansion cultivators.

In terms of Purple Mansion cultivators alone, the Qian Clan currently still possessed 6 Purple Mansion cultivators, second only to the Chen Immortal Clan. However, without a False Core cultivator to anchor their foundation, they ultimately could not compare to the major immortal clans that had risen to prominence in recent years.

After greeting Xavier (Person Name), Patriarch Fang, and the others, Eldrin (Person Name) turned his gaze toward Xu Daoyuan with a light chuckle.

"Fellow Daoist Xu has now reached the Purple Palace, Late Stage (Cultivation Realm). This is truly a cause for celebration."

"How could I compare to the 2 of you, advancing with such astonishing speed?"

Xu Daoyuan smiled politely. Though he was nearly the same age as the old clan patriarch—just over 2 100 and 50 years old—he had already reached the seventh layer of the Zi Palace. His future prospects appeared exceedingly promising.

A century ago, when this man had been at the third level of the Violet Mansion, the old clan leader was merely at the ninth level of Foundation Establishment. Yet 1 100 years had passed, and the old clan leader had now reached the eighth level of the Violet Mansion, clearly having caught up and surpassed him.

This is because the spiritual peach tree possesses boundless wonders, and the value of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Root (Spiritual Root) needs no elaboration. Any Purple Mansion immortal clan obtaining a single plant would instantly see their foundational strength surge dramatically.

After all, even the lowest-grade fourth-order Heaven and Earth Spiritual Root (Spiritual Root) represented a foundation that only a Golden Core immortal clan could possess.

Thanks to the nourishment from the spirit peach tree, the old clan leader's cultivation progress was remarkably swift. At this rate, he would most likely attempt to form his Golden Core around 2 100 and 70 to 80 years of age.

After a round of polite exchanges, Eldrin greeted everyone with a smile.

Aside from Xavier, the Pan family's Percival had also advanced in his cultivation, breaking through to the 7th level of the Violet Mansion.

After all, this individual possessed an anomalous spiritual root. It was said that he had merely consumed 1 Purple Aura Cloud-Vein Pill and successfully broke through the threshold of the seventh level of the Zi Mansion.

Aside from these familiar faces from Bianzhou, Eldrin also noticed several new ones and the absence of some old acquaintances.

Time flew by swiftly. Although Zifu cultivators possessed long lifespans, they too ultimately faced their limits.

New Zi Palaces emerged, while veteran Zi Palace cultivators passed away. In the vast wilderness of the Chu Kingdom, there were always those who rose to prominence and those who faded into obscurity.

Eldrin spotted 2 new Purple Palace, Late Stage cultivators. At first glance, he mistook 1 for Wang Qingxuan from the Earl of Boyang's household, while the other was Su Qianming, current clan leader of the Su Immortal Family from Qingzhou.

At the celebration of Varen's breakthrough to the Violet Mansion realm, Wang Qingxuan (Person Name) had already reached the fifth level of Violet Mansion cultivation. Now, after 70 or 80 years had passed, she finally broke through to the seventh tier of Violet Mansion.

However, this individual was already over 3 100 and 70 years old. Even with the aid of life-extending elixirs, his remaining lifespan was limited, and there was virtually no hope left for him to break through to the Golden Core realm.

Su Qianming, on the other hand, had some connection with Lyra's disciple Su Mingwei. It was said that Su Mingwei was a rogue cultivator who had emerged from the Su Immortal Clan, though the 2 had since drawn a clear boundary between them.

After greeting the crowd, Eldrin noticed Lyra had already approached. He stepped forward to stand beside her.

The 2 exchanged a glance, and Lyra (Person Name) said with a smile, "It seems your secluded cultivation has yielded significant gains."

"Mm." Eldrin nodded calmly, taking her hand as he said, "This cultivation session with the 5 Elements Divine Thunder has yielded considerable gains. You may attempt to practice the Pure Yin 5 Elements Divine Thunder yourself in the future."

"Is that so?"

Lyra's eyes flickered slightly. The Pure Yin 5 Elements Divine Thunder was even rarer than the Pure Yang 5 Elements Divine Thunder.

Over the years, she had only managed to locate 3 divine thunder techniques: the Yi Wood, Ding Fire, and Xin Metal. The remaining 2—Ji Earth and Kui Water Divine Thunders—were exceptionally rare. Rumors suggested they might already be lost to time, as they had become nearly impossible to find within the Ji Continent.

"Take a look at this first."

Suppressing her thoughts, she handed a letter to Eldrin.

Eldrin accepted the letter and reviewed it, discovering it contained detailed intelligence regarding the demon race's capabilities.

After a brief exchange, the 2 moved to the head seats. Lyra (Person Name) swept her gaze across the assembly before proceeding to the main subject.

"Esteemed guests, since everyone has now arrived."

"Let us deliberate on strategies to counter this beast tide."

The crowd quickly quieted down upon hearing this, their gazes fixed on the 2 as they awaited what would come next.

Eldrin furrowed his brow as he folded the letter, then casually passed it to the others and said.

"Esteemed colleagues, this is the intelligence regarding the demonic tribes in this battle. Please review it first."

Everyone hastily took the letters and began reading the intelligence reports, their expressions soon turning grave 1 after another.

According to the letter, with the covert support of Emerald Wave Lake, both Celestial Python Lake (Location) and Earth Lion Ridge had seen their strength surge dramatically compared to previous years.

The cultivation speed of demonic beasts is somewhat slower than that of humans. It had only been a little over 1 100 years since the Earth Lion Demon King broke through to Golden Core, Mid Stage (Cultivation Realm). To advance 3 consecutive minor realms so rapidly and reach Golden Core, Late Stage (Cultivation Realm) clearly demonstrated that Emerald Lake had invested considerable effort.

Apart from that, there was the Golden Lion Mastiff. The Golden Lion Mastiffs under the command of the Earth Lion Ridge were originally a rare variant of the Demon Mastiff clan, equivalent to the rare mutated spiritual roots among the Sun Race.

This fiend had already broken through to the False Core realm several decades ago, and not long ago, he successfully weathered the Golden Core Lightning Tribulation, ascending to become a Golden Core Demon King.