Zhong Tianyi stood silently at the center of the nine nether underworld lotus, his black robe billowing without wind, his aura both demonic and immortal, his eyes profound.
At this moment, he had stepped into Ascension to Immortality - Four Extremes, his Realm at Perfection, his Nine Revolutions Cultivation Technique flawless, the Nether Qi within his body like a sea, and his Primordial Spirit as mighty as the midday sun.
But he was not satisfied.
What he wanted to temper was the even more astonishing "Nine Nether Immortal Demon Body"!
This was not a Legacy from any Ancient Sect, immortal clan, or Dao lineage in the world, but rather an extreme immortal demon body he had forcefully deduced, using the Netherworld Great Dao as a blueprint and integrating his own Bloodline.
If he succeeded, he would transcend the limits of the Physical Body and Divine Soul, transforming into a unique immortal demon Dao body throughout the ages!
When immortal and demon merged, and Dao and tribulation fused, after the Physique was formed, the whole world would bow down.
"The Nine Nether Demon Body... is the body of the Evil Demon Supreme from beyond the domains, the Foundation of their eternal indestructibility," Zhong Tianyi murmured, his gaze deep.
"But I am originally of the Human Race; to control a demon body, my own Bloodline is still an obstacle... If there is no 'immortal nature' to neutralize it, once it loses control, it will backlash against my soul, leading me to eternal damnation."
"I must nourish the demon body with a large amount of innate immortal liquid, so that it possesses the Dao charm of an immortal..."
"But the key to all of this..."
His gaze fell upon an empty jade platform beside the altar, and his eyes instantly turned as cold as iron.
"The transformation dao stone... I am still missing the transformation dao stone!"
That was the final crucial element for tempering his demon body, a Supreme treasure for neutralizing the power of immortals and demons and stabilizing his Dao body.
Without this stone, he would be utterly unable to bring his Nine Nether Immortal Demon Body to true Perfection.
"Damn it..."
Zhong Tianyi roared in a low voice, his face as dark as night.
"How many tens of thousands of years have I planned for this? I have endured until now, all for this moment of achieving Dao! When the future Golden Great Era arrives, I will be able to seize the Opportunity to rise again, crush the Myriad Domains of the Heavens, make all races submit, and truly step into that Realm!"
But he intended to use the "power of the Netherworld" to temper himself, refine his self-created Nine Nether Immortal Demon Body, and use his Netherworld Great Dao to forge an unsurpassed Foundation, ascending to the Realm of a Saint.
He gritted his teeth, his gaze coldly sweeping over the Children of the Netherworld writhing in pain beneath his feet.
These Clones were merely a corner of his body Dao, but they had cost him immensely, bearing tribulation fire, devouring good fortune, and evolving the Netherworld Foundation for him.
Now, everything was just one step away.
His gaze suddenly turned cold, his voice like a sharp blade:
"Longevity Jiang Clan..."
Zhong Tianyi's plan was meticulously crafted; one could say he had been laying the groundwork for countless tens of thousands of years.
But now, he lacked the transformation dao stone, this crucial item.
Thinking of this, Zhong Tianyi's face became increasingly gloomy.
He had returned from slumber countless eons ago, having once swept across the Myriad Domains, gazed down upon the Heavens, a peerless expert who commanded the winds and clouds, almost ascending to the true position of Eternal Supreme.
At that time, he was full of ambition and vigor.
But what he never expected was this.
The Longevity Jiang Clan, that ancient immortal clan that had existed since the dawn of heaven and earth, actually possessed Foundations and trump cards comparable to a Heavenly Emperor!
In that battle, he suffered the most devastating Waterloo of his life.
At that moment, the heavens collapsed and the earth shattered, he was afflicted with Dao injuries, his Primordial Spirit was fractured, and he could no longer return to his Peak.
Time flowed, and years were like a knife.
The once invincible figure, proud of the world, gradually withered and weakened, his aura decaying, and the fate of sitting in meditation seemed to be inevitably approaching.
He refused to submit to the hand of fate; instead, at the brink of death, he laid down a plan for all eternity, placing himself in a situation of certain death to find life!
Abandoning his crippled body and burning his ancient soul, he finally reopened the path to life.
This time, it was his true path of re-Cultivation, his rebirth, his reshaping of an unsurpassed Dao Foundation, his new life to re-enter the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao!
For this, he had planned for far too long.
He recalled that day, hundreds of thousands of years ago.
It was the day he first successfully returned through Reincarnation.
By then, the Heavens had long changed beyond recognition, the seas had turned into mulberry fields; countless eons had passed since his true demise.
At that time, the Heavens were plunged into the Dark Ages.
The Great Dao of heaven and earth was severed, the Immortal Dao withered, all laws were incomplete, and the entire era seemed to be sealed by some invisible force, completely cutting off the path to becoming an Emperor.
In that era, like a silent ruin, he struggled to open his eyes, rebuilding his Foundation amidst the chaos.
Relying on his ancient experience and astonishing talent, he immediately Cultivated his Reincarnation body, "Tian Yin," to the Peak of a Quasi-Emperor, catching a glimpse of the residual light of the Great Dao.
But he knew this was not the end.
He needed a stronger Physical Body, a more suitable Physique, to bear the true extreme of the Great Dao!
The invasion of the Evil Demons from beyond the domains, instead, ignited hope within him.
He used this to glimpse an unprecedented new path.
The Nine Nether Immortal Demon Body!
From that moment on, Zhong Tianyi set up an even grander scheme.
For this, he voluntarily abandoned his Reincarnation body, "Tian Yin," refining it into a protective Dao chess piece for himself, lurking in the Heavens like a shadow, laying out plans, clearing obstacles, and seizing Opportunities for him.
Subsequently, he continuously reincarnated, experiencing nearly a hundred cycles of Reincarnation, each time stopping at Ascension to Immortality - Four Extremes, never delving deeper.
Each life was meant to adapt to different Physiques, searching for the ultimate perfectly matched vessel.
Until this life, Zhong Tianyi!
This Physical Body, regardless of Qi, Bloodline, bone patterns, or soul, perfectly matched the Nine Nether Immortal Demon Body!
He finally stopped Reincarnating and re-Cultivating, instead taking this body as his ultimate destination and beginning to step onto the true path of Dao Fusion.
From then on, he would also establish himself under the name "Zhong Tianyi."
Now, the "Netherworld" within the Dragon Vein Secret Realm was not formed by natural creation.
Instead, it was Zhong Tianyi himself who had refined and cultivated it thousands of years ago!
At that time, the Dragon Vein Secret Realm had not yet opened, and the Qi of heaven and earth's creation lay dormant and silent.
But what kind of person was he?
An existence whose name once made the Myriad Worlds of the Heavens tremble, and a top-tier Divine Origin Master from countless eons ago!
He used the Dao of Divine Origin to penetrate the subtle, borrowing the patterns of the heavenly veins, the Qi of the earth's roots, and the intersection points of the Void Realm, using unique secret arts to excavate the earth's core, plant the seeds of the Netherworld, gather the power of the Yin Nether, and nurture a sea of nine nether underworld lotus!
The current "Netherworld" was the fruit of his thousands of years of painstaking effort, all for this moment!
He used the Netherworld to devour the Spiritual Qi of creation from the Dragon Vein Secret Realm; once it was greatly depleted, the Heavenly Dao would naturally attempt to "repair" itself.
And the process of repair was precisely where the innate immortal liquid would flow out from the depths of the earth veins, a crucial step to replenish Origin Qi!
At that time, he would once again activate his Origin Arts Divine Methods, using the "Art of Stealing Creation" to collect those innate immortal liquid into his possession, nourishing the nine nether underworld lotus.
This would allow his "Children of the Netherworld" to refine the purest Nether Qi, selecting the nine most suitable "Children of the Netherworld."
Nine is the extreme number.
Ultimately, he would unify the nine children, merge them into himself, and achieve the unique "Nine Nether Immortal Demon Body" of all ages!
All of this was just missing the final transformation dao stone.
And precisely at this time, he encountered Jiang Ye.
Initially, this junior, Jiang Ye, this so-called young Prodigy, he didn't even put him in his eyes.
"But precisely when I was at the most critical juncture, this Jiang Ye suddenly appeared and, for some inexplicable reason, disrupted my entire plan!"