When news of Qi Ze's successful forging of a divine artifact reached the Myriad Sword Sect, Tian the Slayer was coordinating the setup of the Immortal Slaying Formation with eight other great masters in the Tribulation Transcendence stage. The formation required a level of cooperation that was so precise that any lack of focus from a participant could result in not only the failure to vanquish the devil but also in a backlash upon themselves.
The fifth elder waited until the nine cultivators had dispersed the sword formation before hurrying forward. He reported, "Sect Leader, Qi Ze has successfully refined a 'Ten Thousand Ghosts Soul Devouring Banner', said to be a divine artifact."
"Hmm?" Tian the Slayer's eyes darkened slightly, and the expressions of the eight other great masters changed. They inquired, "Is the information accurate? If we remember correctly, Qi Ze is only around fifteen or sixteen years old this year, still cultivating in the Golden Core stage. How is it possible for him to refine a divine artifact?"
"The information is accurate. The esteemed elders, please have a look." The fifth elder presented a bronze mirror with both hands. After activating it with spiritual energy, it could replay the scene of that day. The Heavenly Dao sent down the ninety-nine Heavenly Lightning Tribulations to strike the white banner, yet it couldn't destroy it, and Qi Ze remained unscathed.
"Qi Ze's cultivation is also above the Tribulation Transcendence stage; I would never make a mistake." One of the great masters spoke with concern.
"If he were a master at the Tribulation Transcendence stage, how could he have watched the sect be destroyed without intervening? It must be that he obtained some opportunity during the time he was being pursued." Another great master speculated.
"In any case, the Ten Thousand Ghosts Soul Devouring Banner has been completed. Even if we set up the Immortal Slaying Formation, the devil could still use the Yin-Sha Formation to break it, unless we also possess a divine artifact as the eye of the formation." Tian the Slayer gently caressed the sword at his waist, his heart churning. His sword was named 'Dragon Roar' and was a half-divine artifact, unparalleled and invincible in the Qianyuan Continent. When he had obtained this sword, he was just a child in the Foundation Establishment stage who had just entered the sect. To hide its extraordinary nature, he had indeed made great efforts, but it had not been in vain. In just a thousand years, he had become a great master at the Tribulation Transcendence stage, wielding power in the Qianyuan Continent as he pleased.
He once believed that he was the favored child of the Heavenly Dao, for how else could he have obtained such a unique divine sword? But now, the fifth elder was telling him that Qi Ze, whom he had once regarded as a mere ant, could forge a divine artifact with just one attempt. This was simply unreasonable!
"Find the Sect Leader of the Wuji Sect and see if he has a way to forge a divine artifact. Although there is only a single character difference between a half-divine artifact and a divine artifact, and only a small step separates them, they are as different as heaven and earth. Without a divine artifact as the eye of the formation, our Immortal Slaying Formation will certainly be no match for the Yin-Sha Formation." Tian the Slayer looked at the great masters and said seriously, "Forging a divine artifact is not a task that can be accomplished in a day. It requires the consumption of countless heavenly materials and earthly treasures. I will open my private treasury and allow the Sect Leader of the Wuji Sect to select the materials he needs. If there are any shortages, I hope that the esteemed elders will be generous."
"Expelling the devil is the top priority for the cultivation world, not the responsibility of the Sect Leader alone. How could we shirk our duty? As long as we can forge a divine artifact to resolve the crisis, we will search high and low to find the materials." The great masters declared their willingness to take on the task without hesitation.
"Thank you all." Tian the Slayer bowed in gratitude and, after pondering for a moment, continued, "I always feel that there is something peculiar about Qi Ze's cultivation. He was only at the Golden Core stage on the day the sect was destroyed, there's no reason why he would have become a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator just two months later. I must send a few peak masters to test him."
"I also want to check his true state. Why don't we go together?" Several great masters harbored doubts and each selected capable subordinates, ordering them to set out immediately.
Before the group had gone far, the Sect Leader of the Wuji Sect arrived on a cloud. After seeing the bronze mirror, he was filled with shock. The Wuji Sect was also a major forging sect; although it couldn't compare to the Supreme Divine Creation Sect, it was a powerful force in the Qianyuan Continent and possessed the necessary discernment. Others might only pay attention to the resulting product, but in his eyes, Qi Ze's refining technique was exquisite. It was not just something to be imitated, even looking at it for too long could cause an impact on one's spirit sea.
The Sect Leader of the Wuji Sect hurriedly closed his eyes and secretly suppressed the uncomfortable feeling in his spirit sea.
"What do you think?" Tian the Slayer asked in a deep voice.
"It is indeed a divine artifact." The Sect Leader of the Wuji Sect dared not hide anything and replied honestly, "This banner is extremely yin and evil. Only a divine artifact of extreme yang and righteousness can suppress it."
"Can you forge a divine sword of extreme yang?"
The Sect Leader of the Wuji Sect hesitated, and after a moment of silence, he said, "I can try my best." As the Sect Leader of the second-largest forging sect in the Qianyuan Continent, he hadn't had a single day when he didn't think about surpassing the Supreme Divine Creation Sect. When he thought Qi Zhongshu was dead, he believed he would become the number one artificer in the Qianyuan Continent, but then the other party's son appeared and slapped him in the face.
He was also a cultivator at the Tribulation Transcendence stage, and with the full support of Sect Leader Tian the Slayer, there was no reason he couldn't forge a divine artifact. With this thought, he immediately laid out the writing brush, ink, paper, and ink stone, saying, "I will make a list of materials, please help me collect them, Sect Leader."
"Just write it down." Tian the Slayer looked around at everyone and added, "After we exterminate the devil, we will join forces to set up a new boundary. We will use this divine artifact to suppress it. What do you all think?"
"Of course!"
"Could not be better!"
"Sect Leader is just!"
The great masters all agreed.
After pacifying the devil, the divine artifact left behind would inevitably cause a bloody storm, and the hard-won peace of the cultivation world would be sacrificed. Instead of letting it be, they should bury it underground forever sealed. They even considered the aftermath of the battle, as if the cultivation world was bound to defeat the devil realm, and the hope of victory was entirely dependent on the divine sword that was about to be born.
The Sect Leader of the Wuji Sect listened to their conversation while writing, and his originally eager heart gradually became heavy. If the forging failed, what would the consequences be... This thought emerged but was quickly suppressed. However, in his heart, a seed of unease was planted.
Ever since Qi Ze had refined the Soul Devouring Banner, a steady stream of devils had come to pay their respects at the Supreme Divine Creation Sect. The four sect leaders wished they could move their sects closer to the Supreme Divine Creation Sect to be the first to benefit.
"How many bribes did you receive today?" Yan Junyu hugged his beloved from behind and whispered to his ear.
"Just a few hundred chests." Qi Ze turned around to kiss him, his expression joyful.
"Now, they don't recognize any devil master, they only recognize the devil master's wife. It's said that devils are profit-driven and unrighteous, and that's true." Yan Junyu teased, "Regardless of which realm we end up in, it's all up to my wife's skilled hands to support and feed me. I feel truly ashamed."
"Knowing that you're a gold-digger, you should serve your sugar daddy well." Qi Ze's hand had already slipped into his robe, caressing down along his strong chest muscles.
Yan Junyu chuckled, picking up his beloved and settling him on his lap, thoroughly indulging himself. Within the palace, the atmosphere was one of warmth and intimacy; outside, however, there were cries of battle and the tension of swords being drawn. Dozens of cultivators from the Beast Taming Sect arrived on black dragons, and without a word, they charged through the mountain gate.
"Bad news, that's a black dragon on the verge of transforming. We can't handle it. Hurry and report to the Sect Leader!" The disciple guarding the mountain gate immediately activated the protective formation of the sect and then ran to seek reinforcements.
The palace doors were tightly closed, and no matter how much they knocked, there was no response. The Supreme Divine Creation Sect had only recently been rebuilt, and the number of recruited disciples was not many. Even if they counted all of them, there were only a few hundred people, how could they match the Beast Taming Sect's army of spirit beasts? Unfortunately, both sect leaders were unreliable. In this time of crisis, they had actually gone missing. This left the disciples in a panic.
"Sect Leader, Sect Leader, the cultivators from the Beast Taming Sect have come to our doorstep!" Two disciples shouted anxiously.
"Dads are sleeping, don't go bother them, or you'll get into trouble." Number One said, feeling deeply affected.
The two disciples looked around but couldn't find anyone. Just as they were puzzled, Number One kicked them, "Your Young Master is right here."
"Y-Young Master!" The two bowed their heads, finally discovering the one-inch-tall puppet doll, and hurriedly reported the situation outside the mountain gate.
"What's the big deal? Is it worth your screaming and shouting?" Number One was quite impatient. He tapped the green cauldron placed in the side hall and coaxed, "Ball Ball, there are many foods outside. Do you want to eat?"
The green cauldron began to shake violently, then a soft, squishy ball of flesh crawled out, gently swaying its tentacles as it moved towards the mountain gate. As it moved, it transformed from a meatball into a mountain of flesh, its volume expanding to over a hundred times its original size. A dragon roar sounded from the mountain gate, causing it to become agitated. It immediately rolled down the steps with a loud rumble, finally arriving at its destination.
Seeing the mountain of flesh so cumbersome, the two disciples couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat. The disciples guarding the mountain gate were even more desperate. How could such a strange-looking thing be a match for the black dragons!
The cultivators from the Beast Taming Sect indeed burst into laughter, mocking, "Has the Supreme Divine Creation Sect run out of people? They actually sent out a pile of filth!"
"Senior Brother, you don't know this, filth has its own powerful aspects."
"Oh? What do you mean by that?"
"The filth may not be able to win, but it can disgust people!" Several cultivators exchanged words, embarrassing the disciples of the Supreme Divine Creation Sect to the point of not being able to lift their heads. However, that mountain of flesh had no sense of shame, shakily getting up and shaking its fatty body. It looked clumsy, but it quickly extended a tentacle and dragged one of the black dragons in the sky to its mouth, chewing it up in a few bites.
This process happened too quickly. The cultivators of the Beast Taming Sect were still laughing wildly, and the black dragon didn't even have time to resist. But the one-sided slaughter had only just begun. Finding that the black dragons tasted good and provided ample energy, the mountain of flesh became addicted. It simultaneously shot out many tentacles, tightly wrapping around the other three black dragons. Regardless of their struggles, their roars, their scratches, or even their poisonous breath and dragon breath, it refused to loosen its grip.
Gradually, the mighty black dragons were sucked dry by the tentacles into shriveled, empty shells. The cultivators who had tamed them also suffered severe backlash. The other spirit beasts were frightened by the gruesome sight of the black dragons and cowered on the ground, not daring to move recklessly. The provocation ended hastily before it even began. After the cultivators of the Beast Taming Sect fled, the spies hiding in the shadows scattered far away, delivering the news back to their sects.
Some sharp-sighted individuals immediately transmitted the message, "The Beast Taming Sect sent black dragons to test the depth of Qi Ze's abilities. They didn't encounter the main person, but they encountered a monster, shaped like a mountain of flesh, with vines growing from its lower body, extremely poisonous, immensely powerful, immune to all spells, suspected to be a Demon Resistant Body! The cultivators of the Beast Taming Sect joined forces to attack it, using various spells, but failed to harm it in the slightest!"
The news caused a tremor throughout the entire Qianyuan Continent. A Demon Resistant Body was even more precious and rare than a Fusion Body. Possessing it meant being immune to all spells and safe from all evils. Not to mention ascending, even cultivating from a Profound Immortal all the way to the Immortal Emperor level would not encounter any bottlenecks. How could this not make people covet it?