Upon entering the Emperor's Fall Heavenly Pool, Han Yi transformed into a gaunt Evil Immortal with graying hair. His aura radiated a chaotic malevolence, a quality he had emulated from the Chaos Evil God he had encountered in the Omniscient Immortal City.
He proceeded at a deliberate pace, neither hurried nor leisurely, toward the location where the Life Seed had last alerted him. Following the same path, he continued to venture deeper into the Emperor's Fall Heavenly Pool.
Traveling at this unhurried speed, it took Han Yi three full days to reach the depths of the pool. Along the way, he encountered numerous Evil Immortals. However, these malevolent entities rarely interacted, merely acknowledging each other's presence before parting ways.
Among them were two Immortal Monarchs. One was Guangpu the Evil Immortal, who had once pursued Han Yi. Guangpu glanced at Han Yi's disguised Evil Immortal form but failed to detect any falsehood. This allowed Han Yi's tense heart to gradually relax.
His boldness grew.
He constantly sought opportunities to venture deeper into the Bottom Emperor's Fall Heavenly Pool. Whenever he encountered an Evil Immortal with an even more terrifying aura, he would hastily retreat, just like the others.
As Han Yishen delved deeper, he realized that the Evil Immortals lurking in this void were not organized. Though bound here, they could never establish a major power like normal cultivators, immortals, or sacrificial daoists.
These malevolent entities, inherently twisted, were further influenced by the Chaos Evil God, their auras tainted with chaos. This made them even more difficult to control than they had been on Evil Mountain.
Half a month later.
Han Yi finally seized an opportunity to push deeper. After crossing a certain boundary, the text on his Proficiency Panel changed:
Life Seed detected. Absorb?
Life Seed detected. Absorb?
The pale red text cascaded down like a waterfall, causing Han Yi's heart to lurch. Almost instinctively, he thought, "Absorb!"
In the next moment, the panel changed:
Life Seed absorption progress: 1/100.
After three breaths, the progress bar jumped directly to 2/100.
Han Yi's tension had already peaked. At the slightest change, he would flee for his life.
He recalled the incident at the World Barrier, when he absorbed the power of the Wisdom Realm's Wisdom Core. That powerful entity within the Mechanical Divine Battleship had discovered him. If Immortal Venerable Hongwu hadn't intervened, escaping would have been far more difficult.
Now, he faced the same peril once more.
Yet, fortune lies in danger. He had spent thirty years cultivating the Fetal Transformation Disguise to the Sixth-Tier Immortal Art, and several months searching for this opportunity, all to get close enough to absorb the Life Seed.
He wouldn't abandon it now.
Time seemed to slow for Han Yi. With each breath, his anxiety intensified. When the progress bar updated, his excitement surged accordingly.
Han Yi could feel his heart pounding.
Logically, having reached the Golden Immortal stage and his combat strength being infinitely close to that of an Immortal Monarch, he shouldn't be unable to control his heartbeat.
Yet that was precisely the case. His heart was pounding wildly, his blood surging through his veins with such force that, if he didn't suppress it, it would surely erupt like a roaring river.
This was due to his overwhelming excitement.
When the progress bar reached 10/100, a chaotic and malevolent aura surged upward from the depths of the Emperor's Fall Heavenly Pool, shattering Dao Principles and shaking heaven and earth. A voice, filled with suppressed fury, roared:
"Ah!"
"Who... who is stealing my Dao Fruit?"
"Get out here! Show yourself!"
A colossal figure, ten thousand feet tall, burst through the void, roaring toward the heavens.
Han Yi initially tried to hold on, but as the entity erupted, an overwhelmingly powerful aura of chaos and malevolence surged forth from its depths, radiating in all directions.
Dozens of Evil Immortals, their demonic eyes wide with terror, fled in disarray.
Han Yi knew he couldn't continue "absorbing" any longer. Even Immortal Monarchs were fleeing in disgrace. If he persisted in this position, he would inevitably draw attention. If discovered by that thousand-foot-tall Evil God emitting an aura of extreme terror, he would be doomed.
With a desperate cry, Han Yi was sent flying by the malevolent waves radiating from the depths of the Emperor's Fall Heavenly Pool. He fled toward the pool's central region.
As he turned to escape, he glimpsed in his peripheral vision four additional Chaos Evil Gods emerging from the depths of the Emperor's Fall Heavenly Pool. These entities emitted a profoundly malevolent aura that clashed violently with the surrounding Dao principles, causing them to shatter, melt, and evaporate. Yet, as these shattered principles approached the first Chaos Evil God, they suddenly stilled, as if suppressed, returning to normal.
Han Yi dared not linger. Regaining his footing, he blended into the fleeing ranks of Evil Immortals. After reaching the outer perimeter, he continued onward, distancing himself from the others. There, he transformed back into the guise of an ordinary Profound Immortal—the same treasure-seeking Immortal he had encountered earlier, who had been killed by the Evil Immortals.
Only after successfully escaping the Emperor's Fall Heavenly Pool and returning to the Immortal Realm's land did Han Yi finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Yet, he sensed five overwhelmingly powerful auras stirring deep within the Emperor's Fall Heavenly Pool, disrupting the Dao principles and causing the Four Extremes of the Immortal Realm to tremble.
Han Yi murmured, "Not four Chaos Evil Gods, but five."
"Something's not right."
"One of these Chaos Evil Gods is likely the Lord of the Evil Mountain, hidden in the shadows."
"Could it be the first Evil God that appeared?"
"The 'Dao Fruit' it mentioned must be the Life Seed I absorbed. But what exactly is it?"
Han Yi harbored doubts. He committed the term "Dao Fruit" to memory, then swiftly turned and fled without looking back, using the Escape Technique to reach the nearest Immortal City. From there, he activated the Transmission Formation to teleport back to the Sui Zhu Immortal Court.
With his current cultivation level, he could have used the True World Eternity, a Fifth-Rank Cosmic Light Thought Realm Immortal Art, to reach the Immortal Court in just two days at maximum speed. But rushing on foot couldn't compare to teleportation. If he were targeted during the journey, he'd regret it bitterly.
Back at the Immortal Court, Han Yi finally had time to check the information on his Proficiency Panel.
The progress bar for Life Seed absorption was frozen at 10/100, meaning he had absorbed only ten percent of the Dao Fruit claimed by the Evil God.
With a thought, the progress bar vanished, revealing the amount of Life Seed he had absorbed.
Just one glance, and Han Yi's breath caught in his throat, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Life Seed: 103,876 units
"Over a hundred thousand... over a hundred thousand! How... how could there be so many?"
"I'm rich! I'm finally rich!"
Han Yi was practically incoherent with excitement.
He thought back to when he had absorbed the Wisdom Core from the Scarlet Dimension, yielding just over a thousand units of Life Seed. Even when he had harvested the Wisdom Realm Origin from the Mechanical Divine Battleship beyond the World Barrier, he had only gained thirty thousand units.
Yet now, over a hundred thousand Life Seeds lay before him.
This meant that the Dao Fruit mentioned by the Chaos Evil God must contain over a million units of Life Seed.
If I could get it... if I could...
Han Yi quickly restrained himself. His strength was still insufficient. Even with cunning schemes, absolute power would render them ineffective, and attempting such a thing would only put him in grave danger. He mentally wielded the Sword of Intent, severing the greed within him. Such greed was a common human trait, like the Seven Emotions and Six Desires, impossible to completely eradicate. Even Immortals would occasionally experience it. Han Yi didn't resist it, but allowing it to grow unchecked or ferment could cloud his judgment, so it needed to be promptly extinguished.
Next, he turned his gaze to the panel, staring at the over a hundred thousand Life Seeds. His original plan was completely overturned; with these Life Seeds, there was no need to diligently grind out proficiency the old-fashioned way.
With a silent thought—Panel, allocate points—his cultivation naturally surged upward.
In short, this was the second layer of cheating, after the panel itself.
He took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to immediately use the Life Seeds for cultivation. He couldn't be impatient, and besides, he needed to keep an eye on the situation unfolding in the depths of the Emperor's Fall Heavenly Pool.
Then, Han Yi went straight to the Golden Immortal Pavilion in the Heavenly Candle Hall and began waiting. As expected, half an incense stick's time later, a Golden Immortal arrived to submit information about the incident in the Emperor's Fall Heavenly Pool.
After the Realm Spirit filtered the information, some was designated as premium content requiring Immortal Marks to access, while the rest remained public.
Han Yixian had ample Immortal Marks and didn't hesitate to exchange them for all the information.
As time passed, the data he gathered grew increasingly comprehensive.
Seven days later, he left the Golden Immortal Pavilion and returned to the Immortal Pavilion, his expression slightly grave.
Just as he had initially suspected, the Chaos Evil God that had manifested a ten-thousand-meter-tall body in the Emperor's Fall Heavenly Pool was none other than the Lord of the Evil Mountain.
Numerous reports mentioned that the Lord of the Evil Mountain had previously remained hidden in the shadows, never revealing his true form. But this time, for reasons unknown, he erupted in a furious rage. Although his True Body had never appeared before, the aura he radiated left no doubt as to his identity.
Furthermore, the Lord of the Evil Mountain had previously only demonstrated the power of the Immortal Sovereign realm. But during his enraged outburst, he fully unleashed his aura, revealing that he had already reached the Dao Ancestor realm. Moreover, Immortal Sovereigns from the Emperor's Fall Heavenly Pool judged that this Lord of the Evil Mountain was no ordinary Dao Ancestor.
In addition to this, his identity was likely that of a Chaos Evil God.
This was deeply terrifying.
For countless millennia, the Lord of the Evil Mountain had concealed himself within the Immortal Realm, hiding his identity as a Chaos Evil God. He had appeared as the Lord of the Evil Immortals, yet only ever displayed the power of the Immortal Venerable realm. Why?
A conspiracy, a massive conspiracy. The Lord of the Evil Mountain must be hiding a massive conspiracy.
However, the various factions within the Immortal Realm were not united. The five Chaos Evil Gods remained confined to the Emperor's Fall Heavenly Pool, rarely venturing out. This posed little direct threat to the numerous Dao Ancestor-level factions in the Immortal Realm, so naturally, few were willing to expend real effort.
Therefore, even though the Lord of the Evil Mountain's identity and true strength had been revealed, it only caused a flurry of wild speculation in the Immortal Realm, without any substantial upheaval.
Han Yi's solemn expression stemmed from his realization that the Lord of the Evil Mountain's aura was preventing the Dao Principles of the four Chaos Evil Gods from causing a catastrophic conflict. This, combined with the Great Abyss Divine Blade's mention of the Nine Paths of Chaos and the All-Daoist, led him to a conjecture:
Could the Lord of the Evil Mountain be the All-Daoist Taiyuan spoke of?
And is condensing a Dao Fruit a prerequisite for becoming an All-Daoist?
Puzzled, Han Yi pondered these questions before consulting the Great Abyss Divine Blade within the Immortal Spirit Realm. This time, Taiyuan responded, though his answer was vague:
"I don't fully understand the All-Daoist myself," he said. "I only know that each of the Nine Paths of Chaos can give birth to an All-Daoist. The exact conditions for becoming one, and how they relate to your 'Dao Fruit,' remain unknown."
"Even in the Chaos, the All-Daoist is merely a legend."
"Even if the Lord of the Evil Mountain is an All-Daoist, he's likely only at the very beginning of this path, having barely taken a few steps."
A note of uncertainty lingered in the Divine Blade's voice. Truthfully, although he had accompanied the Abyssal Heavenly Venerable through the Chaos years ago, their stay had been brief. The Abyssal Heavenly Venerable had hastily returned to the Primordial Era, and shortly after, the Emperor's Fall Heavenly Pool tragedy had unfolded.
The Great Abyss was silent, and Han Yi cleared his mind of distractions, focusing his attention on the Life Seed.
The Life Seed was a primordial substance that, when unleashed at critical moments, could serve multiple purposes. Han Yi even speculated that it could be burned directly to power the Yueguang Ancient Divine Artifact, bypassing the need to harmonize three separate forces and unleashing terrifying power capable of confronting an Immortal Monarch.
In short, it had countless uses.
However, Han Yi didn't intend to save it all for a life-or-death situation to activate the Yueguang Ancient Divine Artifact. Instead, he allocated a portion for cultivation, to advance his Cultivation Realm and enhance his skills.
Within the Immortal Pavilion, Han Yi focused his thoughts, channeling the Life Seed into the Immortal Technique he was cultivating:
Great Unrestrained Cosmic Light Profound Scripture (Golden Immortal Chapter 16/100)
In an instant, as the Life Seed merged, a torrent of enlightenment flooded his mind.
Cultivation was like drilling wood to start a fire: relentless friction built up until the wood finally ignited. The friction represented daily cultivation accumulation, while the burning wood symbolized the final breakthrough to a higher realm.
The Life Seed, however, was like kindling—no drilling needed, just direct ignition.
Thus, as he continuously invested the Life Seed, the progress of this Immortal Technique on his Proficiency Panel surged at an unprecedented rate.
As the Immortal Technique advanced, Han Yi sensed a growing hunger within his Immortal Body. The Immortal Energy he had absorbed could no longer keep pace with his rising cultivation realm.
With a wave of his hand, he activated the Immortal Gathering Formation and released hundreds of thousands of Immortal Spirit Stones from the Immortal Spirit Realm, piling them behind him in the Immortal Pavilion.
Spirit Light flickered, Immortal Stones cracked continuously, and surging Immortal Spirit Qi transformed into Immortal Liquid, absorbed through Han Yi's skin. His absorption speed accelerated until he was completely engulfed by the liquid.
The Immortal Pavilion fell silent as a metamorphosis unfolded, its duration drastically shortened from centuries to mere years, thanks to the addition of the Life Seed.
Nine years later.
Inside the Immortal Pavilion, Han Yi opened his eyes. Behind him, all the Immortal Stones had shattered, leaving layers of rubble piled high.
His aura pulsed with subtle fluctuations, yet Han Yi's face radiated joy.
"Senior Golden Immortal."
"To reach Senior Golden Immortal so quickly... this speed is astonishing."
Han Yi glanced at the Panel, which showed a dramatic change in his Cultivation Realm compared to nine years ago.
Great Unrestrained Cosmic Light Profound Scripture (Golden Immortal Chapter 51/100)
Normally, reaching 51/100 progress indicated a Senior Golden Immortal's cultivation level.
Han Yi knew that even the most gifted Golden Immortals typically required several centuries, or even close to a millennium, to advance from ordinary to Senior Golden Immortal. Yet with the Life Seed's assistance, he had achieved this breakthrough in just nine years.
This was the heaven-defying power of the Life Seed.
He looked at the Life Seed again and saw that it had only consumed slightly over 7,000 units.