Everlasting Immortal Firmament Book 5– C198– Refining the Animal Path Secret Realm

Lu Ya City:

Not long after Long Zhanguo entered the Animal Path Secret Realm, he exited with Gu Hai and Bing Ji.

Then, Long Zhanguo took out his immortal firmament with a flip of his hand.

Lifespan Beiming had laid a lifespan ritual array at the side. Now, he formed a hand seal.

Countless chains suddenly erupted from the Animal Path Secret Realm's entrance and shot towards the immortal firmament in Long Zhanguo's hand.

Rumble…!

As Long Zhanguo collected the Animal Path Secret Realm, space shuddered. Many holes tore open in space.

“What's going on?” Countless experts fighting in the surroundings turned their heads to look.

They could vaguely see the area in the center.

“Your Holy Eminence?” The distant Ao Tianhuang appeared shocked.

“Long Zhanguo? Why are you here?” The Supreme Genesis's expression changed.

The Supreme Genesis did not know what Long Zhanguo was doing. However, he knew that he had to stop Long Zhanguo.

Just as the Supreme Genesis was about to rush over, Ao Tianhuang blocked the Supreme Genesis and guffawed, “Hahahaha! Supreme Genesis, this is not the time for you to leave. Let's continue!”

High in the starry sky, Kong Xuan's expression changed.

“Kong Xuan, right now, you only have one opponent, me! Break!” Sima Zongheng shouted.

The Qian Nation's military formation suddenly charged forward, a humongous, dark-yellow fist that punched the sky and crashed into the Cyclic Star Ritual Array.

Boom!

Caw! Caw! Caw!

A string of crow cries rang out. Then, what seemed like nine suns rushed towards Long Zhanguo.

“Jiangchen zombies, go!” A bellow rang out as nine coffins suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Each of the nine coffins had a figure wearing imperial robes. They stood up and blocked the nine suns.

Long Zhanguo showed a ferocious expression as he quickly worked on capturing the Animal Path Secret Realm. At the same time, he kept his guard up, glancing at the Eastern Monarch Palace above.

The Supreme Singularity should be making his move soon, right?

However, the Eastern Monarch Palace seemed very calm. The Supreme Singularity did not appear at all.

In fact, Heaven's eye did not appear to check on the situation, either. Does Six Paths not care about my collecting the Animal Path Secret Realm?

Long Zhanguo narrowed his eyes. “In the Heavenly Realm? Humph!”

Long Zhanguo showed a sullen expression amid the chaos.

The Supreme Singularity and the Six Paths Immortal were not here. They were preparing for something more important.

Rumble…!

Whoosh!

A loud sound rang out as the Animal Path Secret Realm tore free of space and entered the immortal firmament in Long Zhanguo's hand.

“Congratulations on obtaining the Animal Path Secret Realm, Your Holy Eminence!” Lifespan Beiming said, beaming with excitement.

“Gu Hai, go on in,” Long Zhanguo said.

Gu Hai nodded. Then, Long Zhanguo waved his hand, pulling Gu Hai into the Warring Nation Immortal Firmament.

At the same time, countless humans in the Animal Path Secret Realm instantly got transferred to Lu Ya City.

“Are we out?” Old Wu looked around in confusion.

The surrounding battles were extremely intense, as if the end of the world had come. All the humans were at a loss.

“We are out! This is the Solar Divine Palace! It can't be wrong! It's the fusang tree!” someone called out excitedly.

Long Zhanguo had brought the Animal Path Secret Realm into the immortal firmament in his hand and had not refined the world within yet. However, he already had rudimentary control over it.

Gu Hai manifested his one-hundred-sixty-three-meter-tall soul body once more.

He collected the True Flame Calabash, the Vine World Calabash, the Immortal Slaying Calabash, and the Life Executioner Saber, then looked around, holding up the Life Ender Saber.

“Alright. Qian Heavenly Emperor, bring them over!” Gu Hai called out.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

An immense force suddenly dragged all the animal spirit deities in the Animal Path Secret Realm over to Gu Hai.

“Ah! Ah! Why can't I control myself?!”

“Be careful of that human!”

“Are the humans rising up? Previously, I ate them. Now, things are turning around?!”

“You bastard, let go of me! Otherwise, I will eat up three of your human tribes!”

As the animal spirit deities flew towards Gu Hai, he showed no pity in his eyes. He simply and quickly cut them with the Life Ender Saber.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Gu Hai continuously struck the animal spirit deities, wounding them. Then, countless skulls swarmed these animal spirit deities.

There were simply too many animal spirit deities.

Previously, the Great Loach Deity commanded one hundred thousand animal spirit deities. However, those were just a portion of the millions of animal spirit deities in this world.

The remaining animal spirit deities continuously flew over. Now, Gu Hai was covered in a vast black fog teeming with countless skulls.

“Ah! Don't eat me!”

“I won't eat humans anymore! Let me go!”

“Save me!”

The miserable cries of countless animal spirit deities came from the churning black fog.

Long Zhanguo stepped into the Animal Path Secret Realm and raised his head to look at the black fog where Gu Hai was. Countless saber images of the Life Ender Saber flashed there. Any animal spirit deity that entered would instantly die.

“This saber seems very strange?” Long Zhanguo narrowed his eyes slightly.

Then, he waved.

Another one million animal spirit deities flew over in the next moment, heading to Gu Hai.

Boom!

Loud, miserable cries rang out as Gu Hai wiped out the animal spirit deities.

The skulls were still consuming the animal spirit deities' divine nature. The number of halos behind Gu Hai's head became like Long Zhanguo's, releasing beams of rainbow light into the sky.

Nine sets of bright lights shone radiantly.

When Gu Hai consumed the last animal spirit deity, a majestic aura suddenly burst out of his body, shaking the surrounding space.

“The Lower Heavenly Palace Realm's tenth layer?” Long Zhanguo narrowed his eyes slightly at the nearby Gu Hai.

Previously, Long Shenying had received information about the size of Gu Hai's mortal soul. Long Zhanguo had received the same information. Back then, Long Zhanguo did not think much of Gu Hai's chances, anticipating that Gu Hai's cultivation would stagnate forever. Unexpectedly, Gu Hai used the Animal Path Secret Realm to push himself all the way to the consummation of the Lower Heavenly Palace Realm.

This horrifying divine nature is actually no weaker than mine?

Gu Hai opened his eyes.

Buzz!

A beam of nine-colored light shot out from them.

“Qian Heavenly Emperor?” Gu Hai looked at the nearby Long Zhanguo in surprise.

“Are you done?” Long Zhanguo's gaze lingered on the Life Ender Saber. However, it was just for a while. He had no designs on it.

“I got pretty lucky, reaching the consummation of the Lower Heavenly Palace Realm. I just need an opportunity to break into the Middle Heavenly Palace Realm,” Gu Hai said with a smile.

“How is that just pretty lucky? It is practically impossible to fill up a consummate mortal soul with divine nature. Before this, no one would have thought you had any chance at all,” Long Zhanguo sighed.

“Oh?” Gu Hai felt slightly startled.

“Since you are done, we will start refining the Animal Path Secret Realm,” Long Zhanguo said.

Long Zhanguo raised his hand.

Boom!

The two suddenly vanished from where they were and appeared on a mountaintop in the next moment. Gu Hai's soul body shattered, and his mortal soul returned to his body.

“Is this still in your immortal firmament?” Some curiosity flashed in Gu Hai's eyes.

This was the same place as before. However, the sky was currently churning. Gu Hai understood that this movement was due to Long Zhanguo's refining the Animal Path Secret Realm.

“The Six Paths Immortal and the Supreme Singularity are setting up something in the Heavenly Realm. When we head there, the battle in the Heavenly Realm will determine the outcome,” Long Zhanguo said.

“Oh?” Gu Hai appeared somewhat puzzled.

“Previously, we promised to bring you to take a look inside the immortal firmament. We will take you around before the decisive battle with the Supreme Singularity,” Long Zhanguo said seriously.

“Alright!” Gu Hai nodded.

Long Zhanguo flew off with Gu Hai. A vast land lay before them. Soon, they arrived at a place where humans gathered.

The two stood in the sky as they looked at a battlefield below.

Rumble…!

Loud rumbling rang out as dozens of war machines shot artillery shells at each other. These war machines were aircraft, and Gu Hai recognized them. He had seen them on television back when he was on Earth. These were the propeller planes from the World War II era.

There were three kinds of planes, each sporting a different flag. However, Gu Hai had never seen these flags before.

“This is…,” Gu Hai said in shock.

“Human wisdom is boundless. Haha! My world has no six paths of reincarnation, no Spiritual Energy, no laws. Even so, human development has never stopped. It continues changing in all sorts of ways. In just a mere few thousand years since the discovery of gunpowder and steam, it has never stopped,” Long Zhanguo said seriously.

Gu Hai's eyelids twitched wildly. “Qian Heavenly Emperor, I do not understand. What is up with your Warring Nation Immortal Firmament? Also, what is the situation with immortal firmaments?”

“Immortal firmament? How do I explain it? It is just like this world; there was nothing at the start. Do you understand nothing?” Long Zhanguo looked at Gu Hai.

“An age of primal chaos?” Gu Hai asked, puzzled.

“Primal chaos? You can say that. At first, there was nothing. There was no sky, no ground, no space, and no time. However, everything changes. The Classic of Changes that you wrote in Divine Farmer City was right. Everything changes. At first, there was nothing. Then, the infinite birthed one, from nothing to something. The Six Paths Immortal Firmament came from the infinite, birthing something,” Long Zhanguo explained.

[TL Note: The Chinese for infinite here is Wuji or No Extreme when literally translated. The Chinese for one here is Taiji, which would be literally translated as Supreme Extreme, so it is a transition from nothing to supreme (or the one). Extreme here refers to polarity. Here is a Wikipedia entry on Wuji: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuji_(philosophy). Here is a Wikipedia entry on Taiji: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiji_(philosophy).]

“The Six Paths Immortal Firmament?” Gu Hai narrowed his eyes.

“The infinite birthed one; nothing birthed something. When the world was first born, there was nothing. That slowly changed—the infinite birthed one, from nothing to life. Soon, lifeforms appeared. The first lifeform is known as the immortal. He leads the reproduction of all life, leading everything. He controls everything. He is the immortal, he is the Heaven of all life. However, a Six Paths Veritable Lord appeared among the lifeforms. He killed the Heaven of all life and plundered everything of Heaven. Then, he became the new immortal, controlling the world,” Long Zhanguo explained.

“I roughly guessed that. According to what you said, your immortal firmament is a new something. You are the immortal of this world. You control everything, determining everything?” Gu Hai said.

Long Zhanguo nodded. “Something like that. However, my immortal firmament is far inferior to the Six Paths Immortal Firmament outside.”

“Oh?” Gu Hai said, puzzled.

“The world outside is a true, perfect oneness. It has the six paths of reincarnation to help it continue operating. It is an immortal firmament that exists eternally within the nothingness. That is a true world, a true immortal firmament. What is in my hand is incomplete. Every one million years, the world outside births an incomplete immortal firmament. Back then, Six Paths used an incomplete immortal firmament and a series of tricks to kill the previous immortal. I gained this immortal firmament only by coincidence. It was not birthed with me,” Long Zhanguo explained.

“Human civilization developed on its own in your immortal firmament?” Gu Hai looked at Long Zhanguo.

“That's right. I did not interfere with it.” Long Zhanguo nodded.

“Nothing birthed one. Aside from the Six Paths Immortal Firmament, are there other perfect immortal firmaments in the nothingness?” Gu Hai asked out of curiosity.

“Other immortal firmaments? Hah! There should not be. The immortal firmament represents life. The outside of the immortal firmament represents destruction. The immortal realm that you previously speculated does not exist, as there is nothing outside the world. Time slows down there or even stops. Space compresses there or even vanishes. There should not be another one,” Long Zhanguo said with a frown.

“There is none? Since the nothingness can birth the Six Paths Immortal Firmament, why can't it birth another immortal firmament?” Gu Hai asked with a frown.

If it was as Long Zhanguo said, then the Earth he came from was also an immortal firmament. Perhaps the edge of the universe was where time slowed down or even stopped. Perhaps space compressed or even vanished at the edge of the universe.

Earth truly existed. Otherwise, where did he come from?

Find the original at Hosted Novel.

Long Zhanguo entered deep thought. “You might be right. However, no one can prove it. Perhaps one would know everything only after becoming the immortal.”

Gu Hai nodded after some silence.

“You can observe everything in our immortal firmament. We will finish refining the Animal Path Secret Realm three days later. Then, I will march on the Heavenly Realm,” Long Zhanguo said seriously.

Chapter end