Wu Tao, seeing this, let out a long laugh to the heavens. The Chu Xi Sword slashed out the next second.
The five-colored sword qi, infused with the power of heaven and earth, was so sharp and potent that even the sun, moon, and stars would pale in comparison.
...
Just then, the pillar of Beidou starlight moved from slow to fast, colliding perfectly with the five-colored sword qi.
With a resounding boom, howling winds erupted instantly, and residual power ravaged the entire land.
...
Simultaneously, the Beidou Star Map underwent another change.
The Big Dipper, shaped like a ladle, began to rotate slightly.
With each rotation, as the handle shifted its position, faint starlight would emanate, and the power at the dipper's head would strengthen by a notch.
At this moment, Wu Tao's expression finally changed. His face darkened, and his pupils contracted.
"Hahaha, they say your Zhuge Jin's Xuan Tian Beidou Grand Array, with the East Dipper calculating, the West Dipper recording, the Beidou bringing death, the Nan Dou bestowing life, and the Zhong Dou as the chief controller of all beings..."
"Seeing it today, it truly lives up to its reputation."
The Beidou Star Map, after collecting the starlight of the heavens, finally revealed its fearsome might.
As the Beidou Star Map moved, countless stars, as if solidified, rained down upon Wu Tao.
If it were merely this, it would be acceptable.
The crucial point was that within the coverage of the Beidou Star Map, the circulation of spiritual energy within Wu Tao's body had also slowed considerably, clearly being suppressed to a certain extent.
"The Beidou, as the righteous path of true qi, forms a profound celestial image, residing at the center of the heavens, serving as the pivot of the cosmos, regulating the four seasons, all influenced by it."
When the handle points east, it is spring for the world; when it points south, it is summer; when it points west, it is autumn; and when it points north, it is winter, its power unparalleled.
Trapped within the Beidou Star Map, Wu Tao resisted the numerous stars hurtling towards him while calculating the time.
As time passed, a cold glint flashed in Wu Tao's eyes.
Half an hour had long passed, yet Zhuge Jin, that old fellow, showed no intention of dispelling the Beidou Star Map. Instead, he continuously strengthened its power.
Wu Tao naturally understood Zhuge Jin's ulterior motives.
If Wu Tao were in Zhuge Jin's position, he would do the same.
The so-called promises and the outcomes of bets are built upon a foundation of equality...
If the relationship between two parties is not equal, then what good are credibility, honor...
And anything else, are all empty words.
...
However, although Zhuge Jin was acting shamelessly, Wu Tao, having dared to accept this bet, naturally had a way to escape the Beidou Star Map.
Wu Tao's third Nightmare Eye on his forehead opened wide, and he found a slight flaw in the Beidou Star Map.
Without hesitation, Wu Tao then unleashed the power of time, freezing the Beidou Star Map's rotation for a single breath.
...
Then, seizing this opportunity, Wu Tao, wielding the Chu Xi Sword, blasted open a path and burst out of the Beidou Star Map.
Seeing that he had no chance to eliminate Wu Tao, Zhuge Jin also ceased the operation of the Beidou Star Map.
Knowing that neither of them could defeat the other, Wu Tao and Zhuge Jin, after ending their battle, quickly became as close as could be, their camaraderie escalating at an astonishing pace...
On the surface, they appeared to be old friends who had known each other for many years.
...
With a few words, Zhuge Jin handed over the ruling authority of Wei City to Wu Tao and then gracefully departed, no longer concerned with matters here.
And thus, Wu Tao resolved his first immediate major trouble.
Next, Wu Tao also summoned his four disciples, Ye Yu, Ye Qingyi, Nangong Nan, and Nangong Xing, to Wei City.
...
After Wu Tao's battle with Zhuge Jin, his previously restless subordinates quickly settled down, determined to follow their sect master.
Now, after this battle, Wu Tao was regarded as the backbone by his subordinates, though Wu Tao himself paid it little mind.
What truly occupied Wu Tao's thoughts were other matters.
Although he had previously killed several early Nascent Soul stage cultivators and had a general understanding of the Nascent Soul realm, the battle with Zhuge Jin had overturned his assumptions.
One must remember that Zhuge Jin was merely a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, yet Wu Tao was unsure if he could defeat him without resorting to his full strength.
While one cannot judge the combat power of an entire realm by a single individual, it still offers significant reference value overall.
This is because the Nascent Soul realm represents a significant hurdle.
Among ten thousand people, it would be fortunate if one could cultivate to the Nascent Soul realm from the Qi Condensation stage.
Cultivators who reach the Nascent Soul realm are, without exception, at the pinnacle of their mental faculties and capabilities.
To be able to fight above one's level within the Nascent Soul realm is an exceedingly difficult feat.
Furthermore, Wu Tao clearly sensed that Zhuge Jin had not used his full power, so in a true life-or-death struggle, it was truly uncertain who would emerge victorious.
It was precisely because of this that Wu Tao shed the pride he had held upon advancing to the Nascent Soul realm.
It seems I still cannot underestimate the people of this world. The advantages of time manipulation and other fortuitous encounters have indeed made me more powerful.
However, I am still far from being a true powerhouse!
I must become stronger!
With this thought, Wu Tao instinctively touched the hilt of the Chu Xi Sword. His path was still very long!
Shaking his head, he cast aside the myriad of reflections in his mind and began to plan his methods for becoming stronger.
There were two ways to become stronger: one was through oneself, and the other was by consolidating the strength around him.
As for himself, aside from diligently following the established path step by step, there seemed to be no other method.
And consolidating the forces around him simply meant looking at how many subordinates he had and their quality.
In this regard, Wu Tao held some advantage, especially since he had just taken control of a massive cultivator city.
Relying on the reputation of a Nascent Soul cultivator, he could indeed recruit many subordinates, though their cultivation levels and loyalty might be questionable.
...
However, Wu Tao possessed another significant advantage: his other identity as an alchemist of the Grandmaster level.
Any cultivator force finds rapid development to be difficult, but a force with an alchemist develops exceptionally quickly.
As long as he obtained the title of a Third-Rank Family at the upcoming Quality Ranking Convention ten years later, and with several decades of development, the force under Wu Tao's command would undoubtedly undergo a qualitative transformation.
With this thought, Wu Tao's mood improved considerably.
...
Ten years passed in the blink of an eye. Wu Tao's subordinate forces, due to his continuous alchemy, began to expand rapidly.
From the initial handful of small fry, it grew into a large force of nearly a thousand people.
There were seven or eight cultivators at or above the Core Formation stage, two to three hundred at the Foundation Establishment stage, and the rest were all Qi Condensation level soldiers.
While not outstanding, it was superior to many other Third-Rank families.
Wu Tao's four disciples, Ye Yu, Ye Qingyi, Nangong Nan, and Nangong Xing, under the abundant supply of elixirs, had advanced from the early to the late Foundation Establishment stage over these ten years.
In no more than a few years, they would all be able to break through to the Core Formation stage and, in a true sense, be able to assist Wu Tao.
On this day, at night!
Wu Tao entered an ice palace he had personally constructed.
At the center of the ice palace was a tomb, and within the tomb lay an ice coffin crafted from ten-thousand-year-old ice.
And the person lying within the ice coffin was none other than Lü Yuehua.
Caressing the ice coffin, Wu Tao secretly vowed to destroy the Blood Clan and avenge her, and then find a method to resurrect his beloved.
...
In Chang'an, the capital of the Great Jin Immortal Dynasty.
Chang'an was arguably the largest, most formidable, and most magnificent city not only in the Great Jin Immortal Dynasty but also on the entire Purple Continent!
Chang'an spanned millions of miles, housing tens of billions of mortals and over a million cultivators.
The imperial capital, Chang'an, was built directly upon the Tianqi Mountain Range, the largest mountain range on the Purple Continent.
From afar, it resembled a primordial beast crouching in the clouds, capable of devouring all life, or a celestial palace emanating a suffocating pressure.
Chang'an was bordered to the east by Dragon Head Peak, the tallest mountain on the Purple Continent, and to the west by the Vermillion Bird Cliff, tens of thousands of feet high.
The city walls of Chang'an were a million feet high and hundreds of thousands of feet wide, entirely constructed from incredibly hard "Black Obsidian," exuding an aura akin to an impassable natural barrier.
Near Chang'an flowed the "Emperor River," the river with the densest spiritual energy on the Purple Continent.
Within the Emperor River resided numerous valuable and unique spiritual materials, such as the White Jade River Mussel's White Jade Pearl, used for refining escape artifacts and treasures; the Void Bone Fish, used to forge void-traversing magical artifacts and treasures; and the Qinjiang Grass, which served as a medicinal guide for various elixirs.
In preparation for the Quality Ranking Convention held in Chang'an ten years later, Wu Tao had traversed nearly half of the Great Jin Immortal Dynasty and had witnessed many large cultivator cities.
However, upon first beholding the grandeur and magnificence of Chang'an, Wu Tao couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
It was heard that the various regions of the Great Jin Immortal Dynasty offered a large quantity of precious tributes annually, making Chang'an the most prosperous city in the cultivation world of the Purple Continent, without exception.
And Chang'an was so vast that it was artificially divided into twelve rings.
With the Imperial City as the core ring, the expansion radiated outwards.
Each of the twelve rings was incredibly prosperous, with buildings packed densely together, towering structures crisscrossing the landscape, a spectacle of splendor and grandeur that converged here!
Chang'an possessed three hundred and sixty-five rivers, corresponding to the three hundred and sixty-five brightest stars in the sky...
Three thousand six hundred and fifty bridge passes and locks suppressed a portion of the city's fortune, forming part of Chang'an's twelve Heavenly Dipper Immortal Suppressing Grand Formations.
Chang'an, nestled by the river and mountains, occupied the most central Dragon Vein of the Purple Continent, where water and mountains converged, forming the head of a dragon.
Beneath Chang'an, dragon energy surged.
From the perspective of Wu Tao, who had now advanced to the Nascent Soul stage, every street and alley of Chang'an held its own profound mystery.
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