Zi Yang took a long time to come to his senses from the simulated Great Sun Star he had created.
He looked at Gu Jinlai and sized him up for a while until he felt something might be amiss. Then he finally said, "Why don’t you put in a little more effort and see if you can also pass the Hidden Dragon Pass? Then, I can directly pass on the legacy of the Lord Star Lord to you, including the Aries Star Palace. You can take whatever you want from there."
"Hidden Dragon Pass?"
Compared to Shenglong Pass and True Dragon Gate, Hidden Dragon Pass was the most dangerous.
It was equivalent to actual combat and practical use.
Previously, the Heavenly Masters who unfortunately perished in the opportunity assessment of Aries Star Palace died in the Hidden Dragon Pass in over ninety percent of the cases.
The few who were left either tried to forcefully create a satisfactory spiritual artifact but failed, ultimately leading to a collapse in spiritual nature and death from exhaustion.
Or their personal philosophies were completely dismantled, their worldviews collapsed, and they died from a loss of control over their spiritual nature.
Gu Jinlai’s Great Sun Core was extremely powerful, and he considered his combat abilities far superior to those of an ordinary Heavenly Master. Even if he was somewhat lacking in spiritual sense, he would not be inferior to anyone in a battle of soul secret techniques.
Yet facing the extremely perilous Hidden Dragon Pass, he still chose not to venture forth.
"It took another day to verify that I really could create the actual Great Sun, can you still sustain the operation of the Aries Star Palace, Lord Zi Yang?"
Zi Yang paused for a moment, then recalled that the Heavenly Dragon Wood had been reminding him half a day ago to shut down the Aries Star Palace; he had been distracted at a critical moment simulating the Great Sun with Gu Jinlai and had ignored it.
The current situation in the Aries Star Palace...
With a hint of hope, Zi Yang said, "The Hidden Dragon Pass mainly tests a Heavenly Master’s spiritual nature, True Spirit strength, and the mastery of soul secret techniques through actual combat, and the difficulty standards vary for different individuals. Heavenly Monarchs are different from Heavenly Masters, and twenty-year-olds are different from sixty-year-olds. You... are over seventy years old, and since you have already cultivated True Spirit, your opponents should be two rebellious Heavenly Monarchs controlling five or six third-rank top spiritual beasts, or... why don’t you hurry and give it a try?"
"Two Heavenly Monarchs and five to six third-rank top spiritual beasts..."
Gu Jinlai pondered for a moment; the difficulty level seemed manageable.
"Actual combat using spiritual nature, True Spirit strength, and mastery of soul secret techniques? Does this mean... I can only use these abilities?"
Suddenly, the difficulty of the assessment surged.
Gu Jinlai possessed a series of soul secret techniques or similar techniques such as Great Sun Eternal Radiance, Eternal Heavenly Curse, Eternal Divine Light, all of which, in fact, derived from the Grand Sun Nine Refinement Visualization Method.
The limit of the Grand Sun Nine Refinement Visualization Method was the Heavenly Monarch level.
And his assessment opponents, being Heavenly Monarchs, would likely have no shortage of such soul secret techniques.
Add to that his recent achievement of the Heavenly Monarch level, and it wasn’t unusual for a veteran Heavenly Monarch to have accumulated two or three top spiritual beasts or four or five supreme grade spiritual artifacts.
In that case, to endure through this stage relying solely on Heavenly Monarch techniques...
The difficulty was tremendous.
"Looks like my advanced age of seventy-two is really dragging down the average among the generally younger Heavenly Masters and Heavenly Monarchs..."
Gu Jinlai glanced at Zi Yang: "If I say that I have only been on the Heavenly Master Path for three years, would you believe me, Lord Zi Yang?"
"It’s not about whether I believe you or not, but Aries Star Palace operates by rules that determine opponents based on two criteria: Heavenly Master realm and age," Zi Yang replied.
Gu Jinlai expressed some regret.
However, things in the world often do not go as one wishes, and he wasn’t excessively insistent.
To have obtained two supreme treasures, he was already quite satisfied.
"Not planning to venture forth?"
"Not venturing forth,"
Gu Jinlai responded, "May I choose two out of those three treasures?"
Zi Yang said, his expression tinged with regret.
He was still curious to see how Gu Jinlai’s potential in the Heavenly Master Path would unfold.
The Aries Star Palace ran out of energy, so it would have to wait until the next time.
"In just a few years at most, the Aries Star Palace will be recharged. By then, I will seek you out. Prepare yourself, as I wait for you to pass the Hidden Dragon Pass and to receive the day when the Lord Star Lord acknowledges your legacy,"
Zi Yang said with a note of expectation.
Zi Yang waved his hand dismissively: "From these three items, what do you wish to choose?"
Gu Jinlai’s gaze swept over the Heavenly Spirit Pearl, refined trace elements, and array plate along with array formation technique.
Among these three items, the Heavenly Spirit Pearl was undoubtedly the least cost-effective.
With his cultivation speed, even without the Heavenly Spirit Pearl, he could accumulate his spiritual sense to the Heavenly Monarch level in a few years.
Currently, his Eternal Furnace had achieved Mahayana; its energy was almost infinite, and the greatest limitation to the output of the Eternal Furnace was the strength of his spiritual sense.
If he could truly elevate his spiritual sense to the Heavenly Monarch level, both the power unleashed through the transmission characteristic and the efficiency of tempering his body when co-spirit with heavy hydrogen or super heavy hydrogen would significantly increase.
Moreover, after the enhancement of Spiritual Sense, the power of Soul Secret Techniques such as the Eternal Heavenly Curse would also increase.
Therefore, the first item he chose, which seemed to have the worst cost-effectiveness ratio, was the Heavenly Spirit Pearl.
As for the second item...
Gu Jinlai reluctantly looked at the special trace element that could be used directly to produce a hydrogen bomb.
The value of such a massive weapon was undoubtedly immense.
If his Eternal Furnace had not yet reached Mahayana, lacking the ability to recast, he would have chosen this item as his trump card for critical moments.
Gu Jinlai’s gaze fell on the Array Plate, "I want the Heavenly Spirit Pearl and this Array Plate along with the Array Formation Technique."
"These two items then,"
Zi Yang was not surprised by Gu Jinlai’s choice.
Soon, the space within the palace surged.
A large box over one meter in diameter, a treasure bead, and a small booklet appeared in front of him.
"The Heavenly Spirit Pearl, the Ten Thousand Spirit Star Gathering Array Formation Technique, and the Gathering Star Plate to set up the Array."
Zi Yang handed these items over to Gu Jinlai and said, "Actually, if you could pass Lord Star Lord’s assessment, you could become the owner of the Aries Star Palace, within which are recorded Formations stronger than the Ten Thousand Spirit Star Gathering Array."
"One step at a time,"
Gu Jinlai said with a smile.
He was already quite satisfied with obtaining these two treasures.
Seeing this, Zi Yang said no more and handed over the items to Gu Jinlai, "Alright, you all can leave now; I’ll be closing the Aries Star Palace and departing soon."
Gu Jinlai took the items.
He immediately put away the Heavenly Spirit Pearl and the Ten Thousand Spirit Star Gathering Array Formation Technique, but he could only carry the box containing the Array Plate himself.
He then exited this private space.
at this point numerous Heavenly Masters had already left early.
But there were still many Heavenly Masters waiting here.
This included the people from Lingxiao City who had followed Gu Jinlai, as well as...
Zhang Daoyan and Wan Wusheng, two Heavenly Monarchs.
Seeing Gu Jinlai emerge from the private space, the people of Lingxiao City breathed a sigh of relief.
Upon seeing the box that Gu Jinlai was carrying, their expressions grew even more excited.
"Heavenly Monarch Gu."
"Venerable Daoist, congratulations on acquiring the Supreme Treasure."
Zhang Lihuo and others hurried forward to offer their congratulations.
Gu Jinlai nodded to them.
"Heavenly Monarch Gu."
At this moment, Zhang Daoyan and Wan Wusheng also stepped forward to bow.
"Heavenly Lord Zhang, Lord Wan."
As soon as Gu Jinlai opened his mouth, he said, "Would you two Heavenly Monarchs consider residing in Lingxiao City? I intend to transform Lingxiao City into a Heavenly Master’s Holy Land, and your joining would greatly support this endeavor."
Zhang Daoyan and Wan Wusheng exchanged glances.
They had intended to approach the Imperial Family to recruit Gu Jinlai, but unexpectedly...
He seemed to have seen through their intentions and had spoken out first.
Though they understood Gu Jinlai’s stance from this attitude, Wan Wusheng still couldn’t help saying, "Establishing a new Heavenly Master’s Holy Land from scratch takes much time, effort, manpower, and resources. If Heavenly Monarch Gu truly intends to establish a Holy Land and revive the prestige of the Heavenly Master Path, you should cooperate with the strongest local forces, forming a powerful alliance. In the Qiantian region, the mightiest are none other than the Imperial Family; they deeply value us Heavenly Monarchs and Heavenly Masters. Why not come to the Imperial Capital, where we together can explore the Great Dao between Heavenly Monarchs and creators?"
Zhang Daoyan also advised, "If the Heavenly Monarch hesitates to relinquish the position of City Lord of Lingxiao City, there’s still no harm. With Heavenly Monarch Gu’s stature, joining the Daqian Imperial Family and receiving a land grant in Central State to become a City Lord is easy."
"I appreciate your kindness, but after all, I was born south of Tianhe; with the north and south divided, and devils lurking around, aside from establishing the Heavenly Master’s Holy Land, I also wish to protect this region and ensure the land where I live is safe from devil invasions,"
Protecting a region and resisting devils represented a righteous cause.
Zhang Daoyan and Wan Wusheng could find no reason to argue.
They could only say, "The Imperial Family possesses nearly complete cultivation methods from the creator; your Grand Sun Nine Refinement Visualization Method, although a top-tier cultivation method, has its limit at the Heavenly Monarch level— it would be a pity to stop there."
"I still have time. When the Aries Star Palace opens next time, I’ll make another visit; perhaps then I’ll receive the inheritance of the Aries Star Lord and access the Great Dao between Heavenly Monarch and creator,"
Gu Jinlai said with an open-hearted laugh.
Unable to persuade Gu Jinlai, after some more conversation, they bid their farewells and left.
After their departure, several Heavenly Masters approached Gu Jinlai to pay respects and greet him.
Among them, Zhang Lihuo specifically introduced a Great Heavenly Master named Xiang Fengyun and five regular Heavenly Masters.
From his words, it seemed all six were inclined to follow them to Lingxiao City and join it.
Clearly, Gu Jinlai’s breakthrough at True Dragon Gate and his demonstration of True Spirit Crystalization had had an effect.
After expressing his gratitude for these six joining Lingxiao City, Gu Jinlai, along with the retinue from Lingxiao City, also left the Aries Star Palace.
No sooner had he exited the Aries Star Palace than he sensed all eyes upon him.
Some of these glances...
Seeing this, Gu Jinlai did not waste any time: "Let’s leave first."