"Not exactly the top ten Immortal Dao sects. I still need to further my cultivation and comprehend spatial laws. Only by breaking through the realm of the Undying Body can I be unrivaled in the world, freely traverse various spaces, and apply my power with ease. Right now, the realm of the Undying Body merely makes me a regional overlord." Hua Tiandu smiled smugly. He made a grabbing motion, and a mountain peak a hundred zhang tall, located five thousand miles away, flew over following his gesture. A burst of earth, water, fire, and wind swirled around this mountain peak, turning it into another massive chess piece that landed heavily on the earth.
"Brother Chirong, it is your move!"
Chirong Tian did not show weakness either. He waved toward the distance, and a mountain peak eight thousand miles away also flew up. Amidst spiraling flames, it instantly melted into magma. The magma subsequently froze, transforming into a chess piece, and also fell onto the earth's chessboard.
These two people, using the earth as a chessboard and mountains as chess pieces, moved back and forth, playing with great delight. They displayed profound mana and the ability to move mountains and fill seas.
Such magical abilities could no longer be matched by ordinary Supreme Giants.
A thousand miles away from the two stood a few Supreme Giants, among whom were "Copper-legged Celestial," "Cloud-brushing Old Man," and "Beautiful-bearded Celestial." They were exactly the surviving members of the Three Celestials and Two Elders. Now, only these three remained; Ruyizi had been killed and refined by Fang Han, while Lu Lanpo had been completely delivered and had now become the artifact spirit of the Eight Sections Pagoda.
However, these three great Giants had now defected to the Taiyi Sect, becoming outer-sect elders, and held an additional identity as vice-leaders of the Tiandu Alliance.
During these past few days, the submission of giants from several alien planets to Hua Tiandu was partially thanks to the merits of these three.
Outside the Xuanhuang Great World, there were many alien planets. Basically, as long as a planet was rich in resources, large sects existed there. Though not comparable to the ten great Immortal Dao sects, every large sect certainly harbored Supreme Giants. There were even existences like the Great Xuan Empire. For instance, the ruling Ula Empire on Ula Star, where Fang Han had once impersonated Prince Ula, had many experts.
However, the majority of the Giants on these alien planets were experts at the first level of the Longevity Secret Realm, the Myriad Years Realm.
Once Hua Tiandu cultivated the Undying Body and brought along the influence of the Taiyi Sect, he could naturally make many Supreme Giants submit and establish a massive alliance.
Currently, besides "Copper-legged Celestial," "Cloud-brushing Old Man," and "Beautiful-bearded Celestial," there were other Giants watching Hua Tiandu and Chirong Tian play chess from afar. Seeing such miraculous mana, they were all engaging in animated discussions.
"Alliance Leader Hua Tiandu is truly formidable. According to rumors, Undying Body experts, even at the absolute peak, possess a strength of only two billion galloping fiery horses. But Alliance Leader Hua has clearly surpassed this level," a middle-aged man wearing bright yellow Daoist robes said with envy.
This middle-aged man was also a Giant. He was the master of a planet called "Fengyuan Star." The empire he established on Fengyuan Star, known as the Fengyuan Empire, had already ruled for five to six thousand years and had now also submitted to Hua Tiandu.
"That goes without saying. Alliance Leader Hua practices the Panwu Great Power Magic. Although breaking through realms with it is very difficult, once a breakthrough is achieved, one's strength surges explosively, surpassing all limits. In the past, the disciples of Immortal Venerable Panwu were all world-shaking figures. It is precisely because of this that, given time, Alliance Leader Hua is very likely to become the second Immortal Venerable Panwu."
Another Giant replied. This Giant was tall, with a bronze complexion. He was actually the star master of "Qiyuan Star" and the founder of the Qiyuan Sect. His power was extremely tyrannical, making him an outstanding figure among those in the first level of the Longevity Secret Realm, the Myriad Years Realm.
"My most highly regarded disciple has already formed a Golden Core and has now entered the Yuhua Sect. I hope he can learn superior Daoist techniques," yet another Giant smiled. "If he can learn the Yuhua Sect's Vacuum Yin-Yang Dao, that would be wonderful."
"Stop dreaming, Star Master Ayan. The Yuhua Sect's Vacuum Yin-Yang Dao is rumored to be one of the laws of heaven and earth, the foundational pillar of their doctrine. How could it be easily taught? Unless Hua Tiandu becomes the sect master, only then will he have such immense authority."
"Since that is the case, we simply need to support Alliance Leader Hua. With Alliance Leader Hua's Undying Body suppressing things, at the very least, some Demon Gods and Heavenly Demon armies won't dare to harass our star sector. By slaying several Demon Gods this time, Alliance Leader Hua truly eliminated a massive disaster for our star sector."
"Don't forget, Alliance Leader Hua still has an extremely formidable enemy: Fang Han!" another Giant said coldly. "Just over half a year ago, this Fang Han used a High-Grade Dao Artifact to slay Ruyizi. At that time, he was still just a figure at the ninth level of the Divine Ability Realm, the Heaven and Earth Dharma Form Realm. If he has now cultivated to the Longevity Secret Realm, what then?"
"Even if he has cultivated to the Longevity Secret Realm, Alliance Leader Hua is absolutely unafraid. He holds the tyrannical cultivation of the Undying Body! You all should be able to imagine the vast difference between the Undying Body and the early Longevity Secret Realm," said the "Beautiful-bearded Celestial."
"Alliance Leader Hua has already arranged eyes and ears everywhere to monitor Fang Han's forces. The moment Fang Han returns to the Yuhua Sect, news will immediately be received. When the time comes, we will lay out an inescapable net to deal with him. Are your Immortal-Trapping Great Arrays ready? Due to sect rules, it's inconvenient for Alliance Leader Hua to deal with him personally, but we have no such scruples."
"We've been prepared for a long time."
"Alliance Leader Hua has now controlled the vast majority of the true disciples in the Yuhua Sect and has also planted the personnel of the Tiandu Alliance inside. In just a few hundred years, when Feng Baiyu steps down, he will completely grasp the power of life and death over the Yuhua Sect. At that time, he can banish Fang Han at will."
"Hmph, why wait a few hundred years? We need to make Fang Han die right now!"
Several Giants watching the chess match communicated with each other using divine intent.
"Brother Tiandu, although you have cultivated the Undying Body, your main priority is still dealing with that Fang Han. This person must not be underestimated. On the Dragonwood Star, he snatched the Dragonwood Star Core in one fell swoop, and now no one knows where he has gone into secluded cultivation. Once he breaks through to the Longevity Secret Realm, I fear he will be even harder to suppress," Chirong Tian said to Hua Tiandu while playing chess.
"Hmph! With my current cultivation, killing that brat is as easy as flipping my hand!" A cold and sinister smile appeared on Hua Tiandu's face. "So what if he breaks through to the Longevity Secret Realm? I can suppress him all the same! He will never know how terrifying the Great Primal Origin Technique becomes after a breakthrough."
"Don't forget, he also obtained the Great Primal Origin Technique," Chirong Tian stated.
"It is precisely because of this that he will find it even harder to break through." Hua Tiandu placed a chess piece heavily onto the earth, radiating an aura of murder. "I have already arranged countless eyes and ears within the Yuhua Sect. The moment he appears, his movements will be immediately grasped. He is nothing but an ant in the palm of my hand. I can make him live or die as I wish!"
"Mm, it is good that Brother Tiandu has arranged everything. But Fang Han is of little consequence. What is important is retrieving the treasures from the Tianwu Treasury this time."
"That is naturally the top priority! The Tianwu Treasury is meant to be mine," Hua Tiandu said. "Only when I grasp the Key of the Desolate God inside will my strength truly advance by leaps and bounds, giving me greater certainty in taking over the Yuhua Sect as the Supreme Sect Master."
"Correct, this is our Taiyi Sect's grand plan. The Immortal Realm has long since passed down an edict! It states that the Xuanhuang Great World will face a great tribulation. If the tribulation is survived, those who performed meritorious deeds during it will be reported to the Immortal Realm by my Taiyi Sect. The Immortal Realm will provide opportunities to extradite those with great merit directly into the Immortal Realm!" Chirong Tian suddenly revealed a colossal secret to Hua Tiandu!
"What? Extradite into the Immortal Realm?" Hua Tiandu's entire body trembled. "How is this possible?"
"Nothing is impossible. The Immortal Realm is the origin of all the heavens and myriad worlds, of all universes. The predecessors of my Taiyi Sect hold tremendous authority in the Immortal Realm. Normally, experts only enter the Immortal Realm upon cultivating to the Celestial Realm. But there are loopholes in the rules of the Heavenly Dao that allow people to be extradited into the Immortal Realm. In ancient legends, back when the Xuanhuang Great World still possessed the World Tree, didn't even ordinary humans climb into the Immortal Realm? It is rumored that cultivating in the Immortal Realm is thousands or tens of thousands of times faster than in the mortal world! Moreover, the true path to eternal life lies only in the Immortal Realm." Chirong Tian licked his lips.
"Such things have indeed occurred. In the past, Great Emperor Huangquan wanted to bring all of his subordinates into the Immortal Realm. As a result, he suffered Heavenly Punishment and died instantly." Hua Tiandu nodded. "By the way, why hasn't Junior Sister Yan Shuitian come out from her cultivation yet, inside the Eternal Divine Furnace?"
"Junior Sister Yan Shuitian is still cultivating. Who knows what profound art she is practicing to actually require so much time? I also find it strange; logically, she should have emerged long ago. For her cultivation, our Taiyi Sect expended millions of pure yang pills just to distort time." Chirong Tian also felt it was a bit odd, his eyes flickering as various speculations arose.
"Millions of pure yang pills!" Hua Tiandu was greatly shocked. "That is equivalent to hundreds of billions of white yang pills! Only the Taiyi Sect can afford such expenditure."
"It is also a matter of necessity. Even I would need hundreds of years to accumulate millions of pure yang pills. But this time, heading to the Tianwu Treasury to extract the treasures, there is a layer of the Three Thousand Weak Water Great Array functioning outside. It necessitates Junior Sister Yan Shuitian's Origin Spirit of the Water God to cross it safely. Furthermore, if we retrieve the Tianwu Treasury, the pure yang pills rumored to be stored within are calculated by the trillions!" Chirong Tian placed another chess piece down. "At that time, Brother Tiandu must also give me some benefits."
"Pure yang pills calculated by the trillions!" Hua Tiandu nodded. "Such immense wealth is rare in the universe! Mm! I am going to utterly defeat you! Right with this move!"
"It's still too early!" Chirong Tian transported another mountain over, deployed a chess piece, and neutralized Hua Tiandu's offensive.
"Good, very good! Truly worthy of being the reincarnation of the Fire God, you can always turn danger into safety at my hands." Hua Tiandu beckoned with his hand, and Beautiful-bearded Celestial along with several other Supreme Giants flew over. "Has Fang Han not yet returned to the Yuhua Sect? Not even Fang Qingxue has returned?"
"Neither have returned. Thus far, the disciples within the sect have not sent out any news."
"Very well, I must employ a few methods then. Transmit my orders: let the experts I planted in the sect kill a few members of the Jialan Society and break the Samsara Peak for me," Hua Tiandu said sinisterly.
"What? If you do this, Heavenly Punishment Elder…" Beautiful-bearded Celestial was momentarily stunned.
"Let Heavenly Punishment Elder deal with them however he pleases. At worst, it's a life for a life. I subdued these people precisely to use them as my disposable pawns! Killing a few members of the Jialan Society, preferably Fang Han's direct subordinates—that Long Xuan and the crane demon. Then letting them pay with their lives does not violate the sect rules! Go!" Hua Tiandu tossed away a few chess pieces, abandoning them completely.