CHAPTER 1140: CHAPTER 862: SECLUSION

"Followers, Holy Spirits, Subordinate Gods, Divine Spirits."

Gu Jinlai recalled the number of Divine Spirits he had slaughtered over the past hundred years, and the Holy Spirits erased through the Void Projection Technique behind each Divine Spirit. He deeply understood why cultivators needed to make a clean sweep of the Divine Spirits.

One general’s success results in countless bones withered.

Only those lives with a devout belief in Divine Spirits can be called followers.

Based on different degrees of belief and control, this ratio is at least ten to one, and normally, it can reach a hundred to one.

Each Holy Spirit requires at least tens of thousands of followers to be born.

But a Divine Spirit within their Divine Country often wields over a hundred thousand Holy Spirits.

Some powerful Divine Emperors and Divine Kings can even possess millions of Holy Spirits.

This means that all living beings in dozens of worlds must completely lose themselves to become followers to achieve one Divine Spirit.

Moreover, because Divine Spirits can evade the cleansing by Daoist Ancestors with their Divine Country, if unchecked, all immortal golden immortals will inevitably walk the path of Divine Spirits. Ultimately, all Divine Spirits will certainly transform all living beings into followers.

Once one becomes a follower, it is difficult to form their own will again, and the path of cultivation is forever severed, and over time...

The entire cosmic space will become a realm of Divine Spirits and followers, leaving cultivators without any soil for survival.

The contention between dao lines can only end when one side completely exterminates the other.

Gu Jinlai made a virtual step.

A powerful Divine Thought spread like a storm, instantly permeating the Divine Countries of numerous Divine Spirits in the Dark Sand Star Domain.

Even though there were many Divine Spirits in this star domain, without a single Divine Emperor, faced against him at the peak of the Eternal Life Dao Realm, they were incapable of defense.

Within merely one day, the Divine Spirits in the Dark Sand Star Domain were already exterminated.

Except for some incarnations of Divine Spirits used for enjoying affluent life outside suddenly dying, causing some chaos, the entire star domain was untouched by the war between Immortal Venerables and Divine Spirits.

Surprisingly...

With the fall of these Divine Spirits, the key positions they occupied were liberated. In the coming period, if someone can seize the opportunity, they might create legends of wealth and cultivation.

...

"The number of Qingguang has already surpassed one billion."

Gu Jinlai recalled the first opponent he slew back in the days—the Blood Demon Ancestor!

At that time, one or two Qingguang were extremely significant to him.

But now...

A billion!

This is an utterly astonishing number!

During this century, the number of Divine Spirits that have fallen at the hands of Gu Jinlai is vast, too vast.

Divine Spirits, Divine Kings, Divine Emperors, and even Divine Emperors as the top of the Divine Race—all were present.

Having exterminated so many Divine Spirits, naturally, the accumulated Qingguang has reached an unprecedented level.

"Despite my deliberate misleadings, many Divine Spirits ’obediently’ chose to stay in place, allowing me to track them down and kill them one by one. But the deaths of tens of thousands of Divine Spirits couldn’t be concealed. Only due to my continuous overtime work throughout the century could I inflict such significant losses on the Divine Spirits. After the deaths of tens of thousands of Divine Spirits ferment, the other Divine Spirits will certainly relocate, being on guard, and by then, finding them will become extremely difficult..."

Gu Jinlai knew well.

Especially when...

Following this trend, to elevate the Spirit level to the seventeenth rank, fearing it would require the annihilation of the entire Divine Race, and this...

Is almost not something achievable in a short time.

"It is foreseeable that once I achieve the status of a Great Power, the speed of cultivation will drastically decrease. No longer will it be possible to advance a rank in a few centuries; rather, it might take tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years to see any progress in the Spirit level..."

However, Gu Jinlai was not anxious.

Great Powers already stand at the peak of the Universe.

Except for a few supremely powerful beings wielding Creation Divine Artifacts and those eighteen Evil Gods, no one else can kill them.

Even when faced with Daoist Ancestor cleansing, Great Powers can rely on "Silent Annihilation" to evade.

In other words, Great Powers already possess sufficient capability for self-preservation.

Therefore, at this point, even if it takes tens of thousands of years or hundreds of thousands of years to recover to the seventeenth rank of Spirit level, or millions of years to reach the eighteenth rank again, he can accept it.

Historically, those reincarnated Great Powers did the same.

Though their recovery from weakness took indeed thousands or tens of thousands of years, a thorough restoration usually demanded more than a hundred thousand years.

Considering the unexpected issues during the "Primordial" reincarnation, needing a million years to return to the peak of the Universe seems reasonable.

"Next, find a quiet place to retreat for hard practice."

Gu Jinlai spoke, taking out the Star Map.

Moments later, he put away the Star Map again.

"Speaking of a safe and quiet place, is there anywhere more suitable than Blue Star?"

As a star domain far from the heart of the cosmic space, Blue Star is surrounded by practically no cultivation civilization; even if there are, they are the kind of civilizations that at most nurture True Immortal level or Profound Immortal level entities.

Worlds with Golden Immortals on guard are rare.

Retreating to advance to the Great Power, it’s perfectly suitable.

"Just right, as I strive for the Great Power realm, I can carefully observe Blue Star to see if I can find traces of ’Primordial’... With good fortune, I might encounter the backup he left on Blue Star, potentially saving me time reaching the Silent Annihilation Realm."

Gu Jinlai thought about this, waved his hand, summoned the Star Shuttle, and headed for the nearest Realm Gate.

However, just as he was setting out, the Communication Jade Token vibrated.

As he connected the Communication Jade Token, Emperor Bai’s Spirit wave quickly appeared within it: "Ancient Immortal Venerable, you’ve been slaughtering Divine Spirits everywhere lately?"

"Indeed, it is so."

Gu Jinlai nodded.

Although he acted discreetly, too many Divine Spirits had died by his hand.

Even though he had traversed nearly half of the New Fire Star Sea in the past century, the deaths of tens of thousands of Divine Spirits had still caused a tremendous stir.

As one of the three major overlords of the New Fire Star Sea, Fire Cloud Palace couldn’t possibly be unaware.

As for how he managed to master the magic skill for rapidly exterminating Divine Spirits...

Gu Jinlai no longer needed to be evasive.

He could easily attribute it to the Primordial.

"Recently, we’ve noticed an abnormal gathering of numerous Divine Spirits, showing a trend of forming a Super Divine System. Originally, our people were tracking this Super Divine System, planning to wait until the number of Divine Spirits accumulated significantly, then mobilize over a hundred Immortal Venerables to take them all down in one fell swoop. But not long ago... our monitoring of this Super Divine System encountered an incident..."

Emperor Bai said in a deep voice, "We lost track of this forming Super Divine System!"

Gu Jinlai was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, quickly thinking of something: "Is someone shielding them?"

"Moreover, the influence of the one shielding them is absolutely extraordinary."

Emperor Bai paused and then said, "I even suspect it might be actions taken by the other Five Great Races."

After speaking, he immediately added, "The strange movements of the Divine Spirits, combined with the fact that you have slaughtered many Divine Spirits recently... and a mindset some races have of not wanting to see our Human Clan gain another top-tier Great Power... many suspect that this Super Divine System’s first target is you. Therefore, if possible, I hope you can quickly head to the Heart of the Cosmic."

"The Heart of the Cosmic..."

A Super Divine System, possibly assisted by other supreme races...

Such a crisis can only be resolved by seeking the support of a Great Power stationed at the Heart of the Cosmic.

Even if he returned to Fire Cloud Palace, the current power of Fire Cloud Palace might not be enough to protect him.

But...

"The Heart of the Cosmic is even more dangerous."

Gu Jinlai said.

He had thoroughly investigated the legacy of the Primordial, and his reincarnation was rumored to be connected to Evil Gods.

Many incarnations projected by Evil Gods had been searching for his whereabouts.

If he truly went to the Heart of the Cosmic...

He feared he might be targeted by concentrated attacks from Evil Gods.

Thus, hiding on the outskirts of the Heart of the Cosmic would truly be the safest choice for him.

Furthermore...

Hadn’t he already prepared to announce his return to the world through a major battle?

"I understand, I will be cautious, but there’s no need to go to the Heart of the Cosmic."

Gu Jinlai said, adding, "It’s not the right time yet."

Hearing this, Emperor Bai contemplated for a moment, unsure of what he was thinking.

After a while, he replied, "Very well, we respect your choice. We will quickly uncover the Super Divine System and the forces secretly working with them. As soon as we have news, we will inform you immediately. Likewise... if danger truly arises, remember to seek help from the Immortal Immortal Realm at the first sign of danger. Our Human Clan, as one of the Cosmic’s Six Strongest Races, fears no enemy."

"I understand."

Gu Jinlai responded.

At this point, Emperor Bai ended the communication.

Gu Jinlai glanced at the destination set on the Star Shuttle...

"Blue Star, while a good choice for seclusion, given that I know someone’s watching me, they will surely allocate some forces to Blue Star waiting for me to appear. To avoid drawing the fires of war to Blue Star, the location for seclusion must be changed..."

With that thought, Gu Jinlai turned his gaze to the endless starry sky.

His upcoming cultivation did not rely on the environment of the Three Thousand Great Dao.

Staying far from the Heart of the Cosmic, and even away from worlds dominated by cultivator civilizations, was clearly the best choice.

With this in mind, the Star Shuttle began to travel at full speed, heading towards the void where the manifestation of the Three Thousand Great Dao became increasingly faint.

Three years later!

He appeared in a region where, even in his state as a "Great Power," he could no longer use the Space Avenue for space traversal.

After arriving in this Star Domain, he propelled himself along the Flowing Light Path, accelerating to light speed and continuing to fly for another year. Finally, a Constant Star System came into view.

This Constant Star System consisted of fourteen planets, among which two seemed to have developed civilizations, albeit at a very low level.

Compared to Blue Star, they were roughly equivalent to ancient times.

Gu Jinlai didn’t venture to those two stars; instead, he went directly above the Constant Star and fell into it.

The fluctuation of Constant Star Energy was intense, and even if he inadvertently released a trace of fluctuation during cultivation, he could slightly cover it with the power of the Constant Star.

Having arranged a Concealing Array on this Constant Star, Gu Jinlai summoned an Undying Immortal Level Weapon palace and entered it.

In his mind, thoughts concerning the Innate Star River Map and the recently acquired "Original Heaven Opening Method" flowed one after another.

He spent half a month getting into the appropriate state.

Once he had adjusted to peak condition, he did not hesitate further.

Tens of billions of Qingguang instantly illuminated his spiritual world in a bright halo.

"Become a Great Power, and it’s now!"