The system's notification popped up in front of Lu.

  As always, it was the same dry, uninspired opening line...

  Like some pre-programmed script—boring, unoriginal, and laced with that smug, self-satisfied cold humor.

  Tedious.

  Lu shook his head, skipped past the prompt, and mentally confirmed his choice to break through.

  He was curious: after this advancement, would he finally reach the fourteenth layer of Qi Refining?

  The odds were slim, but Lu couldn't help feeling a flicker of anticipation.

  The system text faded away, then slowly reappeared before his eyes.

  Host: Lu

  Title: Qi Refiner (Permanent)

  Special Title: God-Demon Hunter

  Qi Refining Layers: 13

  Spiritual Energy Reserves: 89/100 (Trillions)

  Primordial Spirit Power: 100,000 (Myriad Units)

  Innate Purple Qi: 10,000 (Strands)

  Current World Rating: Five Phoenixes Great World [Immortal-Martial]

  The system panel materialized in front of Lu. Not much had changed. As expected, his Qi Refining layer hadn't jumped to fourteen, leaving him with a twinge of disappointment.

  But the feeling passed quickly, replaced by calm acceptance.

  The higher one climbed in Qi Refining, the harder it became. Each new layer demanded an astronomical increase in spiritual energy reserves.

  This time, he'd absorbed the immortal origin from the Primordial Immortal Domain, essentially shearing the "wool" from countless cultivators there. Yet even that massive haul hadn't been enough to shatter the barrier to the fourteenth layer.

  Lu felt a pang of regret inside, though his expression remained impassive.

  Failing to break through was within expectations. The real issue was that he couldn't harvest from human Quasi-Saints like Tonggu Daoist or Xuan Cang Elder. If he could skim spiritual energy from Quasi-Saints or true Saints, filling that final gap would have been trivial.

  "Now... I should be at the Quasi-Saint level," Lu murmured to himself, narrowing his eyes. "And not just any ordinary Quasi-Saint."

  His primordial spirit power had surged again. By his estimation, it now far surpassed that of the Elemental Gods.

  If they clashed primordial spirits now, Lu could likely suppress the Fire Elemental God with a single thought.

  And breaking ten thousand strands of innate purple qi—that was a monumental milestone.

  Overall, Lu's strength had grown immensely compared to before.

  Closing his eyes, purple qi gently poured from every pore, enveloping him in a violet haze.

  His essence, energy, and spirit were all elevated. Each strand of purple qi tempered his body, scouring and refining his flesh.

  "Congratulations, Host, on reaching the thirteenth layer of Qi Refining. You are progressing further on the path to becoming an exemplary Qi Refiner."

  "Congratulations, Host, on receiving the reward: Indestructible Demon Body (Water Origin Source)."

  Lu froze.

  He'd been looking forward to the system's reward.

  But this breakthrough yielded only one—and it was the predictable one he'd already anticipated.

  "So only the Indestructible Demon Body rewards are left..."

  Lu was momentarily speechless.

  He had a vague sense that he'd drained the system dry, or at least exhausted all the rewards it had been programmed to offer.

  "Now that the Five Elements Indestructible Demon Body is complete, what kind of reward will breaking through to the fourteenth layer bring?"

  Lu whispered, genuinely intrigued.

  The Water Origin Indestructible Demon Body was mediocre. He accepted it without much excitement, as if it were simply his due.

  In truth, Lu had noticed the system's rewards dwindling for a while now, like a scripted program running out of actions.

  The origins of the system seemed on the verge of revealing themselves.

  Lu reached out, feeling as though he could almost touch the secret.

  "The system's mystery..."

  "Qi Refiner."

  Lu took a deep breath. It all felt as opaque as the thick purple mist swirling around him—impenetrable, elusive.

  He didn't pursue it further; there was little point.

  "Fuse the Water Origin Indestructible Demon Body."

  Lu said calmly.

  "Confirm fusion?"

  The system prompt appeared.

  Without hesitation, Lu confirmed. As he did, the profound mysteries of water origin erupted around him. His white robes shifted to deep blue, his hair turning a vivid azure.

  Boom!

  The surrounding vast sea began to boil, waters drawn by an invisible force from Lu's body, dancing like lively spirits.

  "Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth—the Five Elements Indestructible Demon Body is now fully fused..."

  Lu's eyes glinted as he drew a deep breath, sensing his strength reach a new peak.

  Quasi-Saint?

  No... even against someone like Tonggu Daoist, Lu now felt no fear.

  He could easily suppress any Elemental God.

  With a thought, Lu vanished from the spot, reappearing in the Five Phoenixes starry sky.

  Above the Water Origin Comprehension Star.

  On this star stood an iceberg shaped like a pyramid, with countless steps leading from its base to the summit, where a statue of the Water Origin Beast Ancestor rested.

  Lu appeared, swiftly taking the statue.

  He absorbed its boundless water origin mysteries, bolstering and perfecting his Water Indestructible Demon Body until it reached its pinnacle.

  The statue still held plenty of energy afterward, so Lu returned it to the ice tower's peak before teleporting away.

  Many cultivators on the star sensed something but detected no trace of him—Lu came and went like a ghost.

  Back on the lake island, Lu dispersed the Water Indestructible Demon Body.

  "The Five Elements Indestructible Demon Body is complete..."

  "What power will it unleash? How strong could it become?"

  Lu was deeply curious.

  Ideas flooded his mind.

  Suddenly, he thought of the Five Phoenixes Bow. Infused with all five elements, it might unleash terrifying might.

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  "Unity of the Five Elements?"

  Lu murmured.

  Could he achieve five elements unity without relying on the bow?

  After pondering, he realized it was impossible on his own.

  But with five Indestructible Demon Bodies... could he fuse them into one?

  Five elements as one—perhaps it would trigger a qualitative leap, unleashing unimaginable power.

  Could it reach the Saint level?

  For the first time in a while, Lu felt genuine excitement and curiosity.

  He acted immediately, sinking his mind into the Preaching Platform.

  Inside the platform space, the imprisoned Elemental Gods trapped beneath the Eight Trigrams Cauldron glanced at the entering Lu. Over the years, they'd been endlessly exploited.

  Yet Lu hadn't killed them, which gradually calmed their initial rage and suicidal impulses, giving them a sliver of hope.

  This day, as Lu appeared, the three Elemental Gods felt an unfamiliar oppressive pressure from him.

  A pressure that only a far superior primordial spirit could exert.

  "This kid... broke through?"

  "His primordial spirit has transformed. He must have advanced; otherwise, it couldn't pressure us like this."

  "Has he proven Quasi-Saint?"

  The Elemental Gods fell silent inside the cauldron.

  "Should we... just self-destruct?"

  The Water Elemental God spoke.

  "There's no hope of survival. He treats us like tools, farming our primordial spirits like livestock..."

  "Let's end it! No more serving him!"

  The Gold and Earth Elemental Gods echoed in agreement.

  The three exchanged glances, eyes burning with fury.

  The humiliation of their glorious status made continued captivity unbearable.

  The atmosphere grew heavy and still.

  They stared at each other, silently counting down.

  Three, two, one...

  But soon, awkward glances passed between them.

  You look at me, I look at you—embarrassment arrived fashionably late, but it always showed up.

  The Water Elemental God cursed inwardly. These two cowards had no intention of dying; their talk of self-destruct was empty bluster.

  She swore to herself: if she ever suggested it again, she deserved to be called a dog.

  The Gold and Earth Elemental Gods forced awkward smiles.

  Then silence returned.

  Self-destruct? At their level as Elemental Gods, who would willingly choose death?

  Unlike the tragic Fire Elemental God, repeatedly force-fed immortal pills driving him to desperate collapse...

  They didn't want to die. At most, they'd seek a slightly better outcome.

  Of course, Lu's faint glimmer of hope played a role too—unlike the Fire God, whose hope Lu had utterly crushed, leaving self-destruction as his only escape.

  The Elemental Gods made no move, and Lu ignored them.

  Time had long eroded their fighting spirit; he doubted they'd self-destruct anyway.

  Even if they tried, with his thirteenth-layer breakthrough, Lu was confident he could handle it.

  He sat cross-legged and began relentless deduction.

  He sought to fuse the five Indestructible Demon Bodies without the Five Phoenixes Bow.

  Lu was in no rush; he had plenty of time.

  The external threat from gods and demons was neutralized—for now, they posed no danger to the Five Phoenixes.

  He could take his time researching.

  ...

  At the Ascension Land.

  Lu Jiulian opened his eyes. After being stuck at half-step Quasi-Saint for ten thousand years, he had finally broken through.

  The breakthrough came unexpectedly, catching him completely off guard.

  It felt like he'd simply taken a nap and woken up as a Quasi-Saint.

  Boom!

  Purple qi surged from the east, as if welcoming his ascension or celebrating the birth of a new Quasi-Saint in the Five Phoenixes.

  Lu Jiulian sat in meditation, enveloped in purple qi, exuding profound mystery.

  Quasi-Saint represented the current pinnacle of cultivation in the Five Phoenixes.

  And Lu Jiulian had achieved it!

  The heavenly gate at the Ascension Land swung open.

  Luo Yang and Chai Feng entered together, immediately sensing Lu Jiulian's unfathomable aura.

  The vast purple qi swirled like a vortex.

  "Brother Jiulian broke through to Quasi-Saint... and so suddenly."

  "Yeah, we were just wondering when he'd make it. His reputation as the human race's ferocious god is even louder than ours..."

  Luo Yang and Chai Feng sighed in admiration.

  They watched his consolidating realm and smiled.

  The phenomenon of Lu Jiulian's breakthrough was immense.

  The entire Five Phoenixes seemed bathed in auspicious light—the birth of a Quasi-Saint, after all.

  Dantai Xuan, Overlord, Tang Yimo, and other Daluo Immortals soared into the sky, entering the heavenly gate. The once-quiet Ascension Land suddenly bustled.

  Nearby, Tang Guo's little face flushed red.

  She clenched her fists, jumping with joy.

  Her master had finally become a Quasi-Saint!

  Tang Guo was thrilled—from now on, she'd have a Quasi-Saint backing her!

  Strong experts arrived one after another to offer congratulations.

  Once stabilized, Lu Jiulian slowly opened his eyes, his expression serene and unruffled.

  This effortless, natural breakthrough felt almost routine to him.

  In his words: basic stuff.

  In reality, Lu Jiulian's talent for profound mysteries was exceptional; he mastered many beast ancestor statue insights—a true monstrous genius.

  His ascension to Quasi-Saint sparked high expectations among the human race for his transformation.

  "Brother Jiulian, how about a spar?"

  Luo Yang's battle intent soared, gripping his fire-tipped spear, eyes blazing.

  Lu Jiulian didn't refuse.

  Quasi-Saint... he'd stumbled into it so casually it still felt unreal.

  A fight with Luo Yang might help ground the sensation.

  Boom!

  Luo Yang's spear shook, shattering space at the Ascension Land. He strode boldly into the chaotic temporal currents.

  The endless turbulence made it the perfect battlefield for Quasi-Saints.

  Lu Jiulian stepped forward, his green lotus robes fluttering, entering the fray.

  The Five Phoenixes' peak experts watched intently—even Zhu Long, teaching little Yinglong weight loss atop Buzhou Peak, turned her attention to this battle.

  Facing the eager Luo Yang, Lu Jiulian raised his hand, his newly ascended primordial spirit surging.

  A green lotus quietly spun in his palm.

  His expression unchanged, colors shifted across the petals under his gaze: gold, red, green, blue, brown...

  Five colors emerged, representing the five profound mysteries.

  Their power converged into a five-colored raging lotus.

  The purest form of the five-colored raging lotus.

  Luo Yang's expression shifted slightly.

  Lu Jiulian tossed it out impassively.

  The utterly pure lotus drifted forward slowly.

  Luo Yang cursed inwardly: five-colored raging lotus, five mysteries... is this guy cheating?

  Wasn't everyone limited to comprehending one mystery?

  Mastering multiple brought only drawbacks, yet Lu Jiulian casually unleashed a lotus fused with five.

  Was this flaunting his overwhelming talent—bullying others shamelessly?

  Boom!

  Luo Yang swept his spear, unleashing world-shaking flames. Over ten thousand years, he hadn't idled; his strength had steadily risen, no longer the novice Quasi-Saint.

  With beast ancestor insights, he now matched mid-stage Quasi-Saints like Old He.

  The explosion erupted as the five mysteries bloomed into a lotus, its shockwaves piercing spacetime, shaking the entire Five Phoenixes starry sky.

  Their clash lasted only one move.

  Soon, both emerged from the chaotic currents.

  Luo Yang looked pale and disheveled, robes torn—he'd taken heavy damage. The extravagant fusion of five mysteries overwhelmed him, blood surging.

  "Worthy of the Brother Jiulian feared even by gods and demons. I concede defeat."

  Luo Yang smiled; no sore loser. Though Lu Jiulian's move felt like cheating, it was undeniable strength.

  One thing was clear: Lu Jiulian's combat power matched theirs.

  The Five Phoenixes were rising far too quickly.

  Once without Quasi-Saints, now Lu Jiulian led the way.

  Given the human race's weak foundation, producing a Quasi-Saint so easily was astonishing.

  Dantai Xuan, Tang Yimo, Overlord, and others watched silently before departing to focus on their own cultivation breakthroughs.

  ...

  As time passed.

  A millennium flew by while Lu secluded himself attempting to fuse the Five Elements Indestructible Demon Body.

  Close your eyes, and a thousand years slip away.

  The Five Phoenixes Continent had undergone earth-shaking changes.

  It was now truly an era of cultivators.

  Mortal kingdoms had risen and fallen; even the Great Xuan Dynasty was long gone.

  The mortal world was fragmented into warring states, but the true excitement lay in the cultivation realm.

  Holy lands dotted the continent, each backed by at least a Golden Immortal.

  For example, the Vast Righteous Holy Land in the far north, amid the Great Snow Mountain, founded by Kong Nanfei and Confucian scholars. It carried forward early Confucian ideals, advancing boldly on the path of cultivation—a pilgrimage site for countless mortals.

  Southward in the northern domain, beneath Buzhou Peak, lay the Black-White Holy Land, bearing the shadow of the Buzhou Peak witch.

  Further down in the central domain: the Nine Phoenixes Holy Land, established by Bai Qingniao, specializing in beast taming and phoenix blood transformations—a formidable power.

  Nearby: the Beiluo Holy Land, founded by Nie Shuang and Nie Changqing father-son duo, origin of the White Jade Capital.

  To the west: the Heavenly Demon Holy Land in the Demon Clan Royal Court, crafted by the Golden Crow.

  West of the royal court lay the Western Continent with the Ancestral Witch Holy Land— the Twelve Ancestral Witches revered like gods.

  In the southern domain: three major holy lands.

  The Immortal Painting Holy Land by Sima Qingshan, entering the Dao through painting, producing many outstanding painting path cultivators.

  The Heavenly South Holy Land by Tang Yimo, evolved from the former Body Sect, focused on physical refinement with his improved Eight Meridians Dunjia Demon Technique.

  And the Immortal Array Tower—a holy land of array masters, the most untouchable due to memories of the god-demon tribulation, where saint-killing arrays darkened the heavens and felled Quasi-Saints.

  The current landscape of the Five Phoenixes Continent was vast and grand.

  Most notably, cultivators were abundant.

  Breakthroughs to Mysterious Immortal occurred daily in the Destiny Tower; Golden Immortals less frequently.

  The Five Phoenixes grew ever more prosperous, nearly surpassing the former Primordial Immortal Domain.

  Over these ten thousand years, exchanges continued between the two realms.

  Every millennium, young cultivators competed in "exchanges"—friendly yet fiercely competitive matches that spurred progress.

  To keep the threat of gods and demons alive in young minds, Quasi-Saints like Luo Yang and Chai Feng led expeditions into the Primordial Starry Sky and Elemental Realm, hunting and battling gods and demons.

  Deprived of their Elemental Gods, the god-demon forces hadn't recovered in ten thousand years.

  They dared not provoke open war, enduring the humans' incursions while awaiting the return of their emperors deep in chaos.

  Should all emperors return, glory would surely follow for the god-demon race.

  ...

  The Five Phoenixes' prosperity most directly reflected in Lu's cultivation.

  Though focused on fusing the Five Elements body these years, he clearly sensed his spiritual energy reserves growing.

  But until it hit the bottleneck, Lu paid it little mind.

  Boom!

  Inside the Preaching Platform.

  Lu failed once more.

  Unifying the five elements—fusing the Indestructible Demon Bodies—proved impossible.

  "Is it because I haven't fully mastered the five mysteries?"

  Lu frowned.

  The thought spurred action.

  With a mental shift, he transformed the five bodies' powers into avatars.

  He separated them from his Indestructible Demon Body.

  Each headed to a mystery comprehension star.

  These avatars comprehended mysteries at astonishing speed, racing up the steps without hindrance.

  The sight stunned all present cultivators.

  The five avatars nearly simultaneously reached the nine-thousandth step, only slowing thereafter.

  But even that was terrifying.

  It alerted human Quasi-Saints like Luo Yang, Chai Feng, and Lu Jiulian.

  Lu sat quietly on the lake island, observing.

  Soon, the five avatars reached the nine-thousand-nine-hundred-ninetieth step...

  The remaining steps grew exceedingly difficult, yet each ascent brought profound insight elevation.

  Finally, amid Lu's calm indifference and the world's utter shock.

  All five mystery comprehension sites were summited simultaneously.

  And in that instant of ascension.

  Lu discovered that the five beast ancestor statues... had all undergone unexpected changes!