The Last Immortal

Chapter Twenty-Four

Demon Monarch Purple Moon was the title the Lower Three Realms had used for that Divine Lord since ancient times. However, after the battle at the Vault of Heaven, the Three Realms learned that the Demon Monarch who had secluded himself in Purple Moon Mountain was actually one of the four True Gods who had ruled the world since antiquity—Tian Qi.

That Divine Lord, rumored to have the most unpredictable temperament, who would destroy or save the world on a whim, and who had created the ghostly realm of the Nine Nether Purgatory.

Back then, he had recalled the Purple Moon, causing the Demon Realm’s power to decline overnight and suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of the Immortal Tribe. He then resided in Clear Pond Palace for a century, showing no concern for the survival of the Demon Realm. Over the past two hundred years, though it was said he still occasionally descended upon Purple Moon Mountain to cultivate, no member of the Demon Tribe dared to enter Purple Moon Mountain to pay their respects to him.

For a moment, silence fell in the council hall. Apart from the oblivious Ayin, everyone’s expressions shifted subtly.

Chang Qin’s face remained calm as she scrutinized every flicker of emotion on Gu Jin’s face. The other Elders looked astonished, their earlier resentment and indignation gone. Only Gu Jin, his youthful face still bearing traces of inexperience, showed a flicker of surprise but no panic.

Even though Feng Ran and Chang Qin were close friends, he knew Feng Ran would not have revealed his identity to Chang Qin.

Seeing his composure, a hint of satisfaction flashed in Chang Qin’s eyes. She spoke again, “Well? As long as you make a trip to Purple Moon Mountain on behalf of my clan, I will allow you to enter the Tranquil Abyss Lake to retrieve Feng Yin’s soul.”

Gu Jin narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, “Chief Chang Qin, since you cannot enter Purple Moon Mountain, how do you know your nephew is inside?”

Gu Jin would eventually have to go to Purple Moon Mountain anyway, and finding Hong Yi would be a convenient task. But at the very least, he needed to understand why the lost prince of the Fox race had ended up in Purple Moon Mountain.

“My nephew lost his parents at a young age and was raised by me. He has been mischievous and solitary since childhood. Three years ago, he left to train and never returned. The spirit jades of our Fox race’s underage cubs are kept within the clan. I followed his spirit jade to search for him and found his aura vanished outside Purple Moon Mountain. The Barrier of Divine Lord Tian Qi is beyond my power to break. Three years ago, when I discovered his trail, I sought an audience with the Divine Lord outside Purple Moon Mountain but was turned away.” Chang Qin glanced meaningfully at Ayin. “I heard that Divine Lord Tian Qi once had a Water Condensation Divine Beast by his side. You hail from Great Marsh Mountain, so you must have some connection to Clear Pond Palace. I hope you can enter Purple Moon Mountain on my behalf and inquire with the Divine Lord about my nephew’s whereabouts.”

Chang Qin, with her profound Demonic Power and tens of thousands of years of life, naturally recognized at a glance that Ayin’s true form was a Water Condensation Beast.

Hearing Chang Qin’s words, Gu Jin couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly. So she had discerned Ayin’s true form and assumed Great Marsh Mountain had ties to the Water Condensation Beast by Tian Qi’s side, which was why she wanted him to seek an audience at Purple Moon Mountain.

“Very well, I agree to go to Purple Moon Mountain on behalf of the chief. If I bring back your nephew, I ask that you honor your promise and allow me to enter the Tranquil Abyss Lake.”

Gu Jin nodded, accepting Chang Qin’s request, and led Ayin out of the Fox Demon Clan.

In the council hall, Chang Mei watched the two young figures recede into the distance and pursed her lips. “Chief, if he brings back A Yi, will you really let them enter the Tranquil Abyss Lake? Our Fox race has relied on that phoenix tree to nurture our cubs for thousands of years…”"The Fox race has produced hundreds of five-tailed and six-tailed foxes thanks to this phoenix tree, but in twenty thousand years, aside from me, only A Yi has been a nine-tailed fox." Chang Qin's expression was grave. "Having long endured the battlefield, my stubborn ailments remain unhealed, and in recent years, I have made no progress in cultivating demonic power. The stronger the Fox race becomes, the more it needs a leader with greater spiritual power. A Yi's aptitude for cultivating demonic power far surpasses mine. If he can return to the clan and take up the position of tribal chief, practicing our clan's secret techniques, perhaps he can become the legendary ten-tailed divine fox of our race, breaking through the constraints of the Three Realms and ascending to godhood. Only then can our clan truly be free from future worries. Relying on the protection of divine artifacts from other races to enhance our strength is not a sustainable method."

Hearing Chang Qin's words, the Elders nodded in agreement, with only Chang Yun voicing dissent: "But, tribal chief, can those two youngsters really enter Purple Moon Mountain?"

Even the Demon Emperor dares not approach Divine Lord Tian Qi's cultivation grounds lightly. For a disciple of Great Marsh Mountain to recklessly accept this task without knowing the immensity of heaven and earth—isn't that too arrogant?

A faint smile curled at the corner of Chang Qin's lips as she gazed at the two departing figures, her eyes lingering thoughtfully on Gu Jin.

The second Fire Phoenix to emerge in the ancient Phoenix clan in 130,000 years was a hundred times rarer than their Fox race's nine-tailed fox. Back then, when that young man mistakenly intruded into the ancient Phoenix Tree Grove and ruined Feng Yin's Nirvana Rebirth, causing the entire Phoenix Tree Island to lose its young master, such a catastrophic event only resulted in Feng Ran confining him to the Forbidden Valley for self-reflection. Chang Qin would never believe it was merely out of regard for Dong Hua's sake.

Given Feng Ran's temperament, aside from the people of Clear Pond Palace, whose face would she spare? It was said that this young disciple of High God Dong Hua's origins were unknown, and she guessed there was a ninety percent chance he was connected to Clear Pond Palace.

"Young people are ambitious and proud; they need to experience more. Perhaps High God Tian Qi takes a liking to this child and allows him into Purple Moon Mountain?" Chang Qin chuckled, waving her hand dismissively before smiling as she left the council hall.

Gu Jin led Ayin out of Tranquil Mountain and headed straight for the Third Heaven.

Ayin, being young and low in spiritual power, grew weary after several days of travel and simply dozed off on the cloud. As an immortal beast, she couldn't endure the cold, harsh demonic power of the Demon Realm. Sleeping restlessly, she shivered and snuggled closer to Gu Jin, soon rolling instinctively into his arms, finding a warm spot to sleep comfortably. Gu Jin had no choice but to take out a cloak from his Cosmic Bag and wrap it around the little Water Condensation Beast clinging tightly to him.

After the purple moon disappeared from the Demon Realm, the Third Heaven had long abolished the decree that only the top hundred demon monarchs in demonic power could enter, and the Gate of Life and Death had vanished along with it. Concealing their traces, Gu Jin and Ayin arrived outside Purple Moon Mountain in the western region of the Third Heaven after half a day.

Having slept soundly and heard Gu Jin recount the origins of the master of Purple Moon Mountain, Ayin gazed at Purple Moon Mountain from afar and couldn't help but exclaim in awe, "A Jin, as expected of True God Tian Qi's cultivation grounds! Look at this grandeur—ten of our Great Marsh Mountains couldn't compare!"

Gu Jin looked up, his expression shifting unpredictably, a spectacle in itself.

Purple Moon Mountain was crescent-shaped, stretching for thousands of miles, with the Purple Moon Hall atop its peak almost level with the sky of the Third Heaven. The purple moon, reclaimed by Tian Qi years ago, now shone upon the mountain's summit, transforming into a magnificent light-purple barrier that enveloped the entire Purple Moon Mountain. The faintly discernible demonic power on the purple moon barrier was several times more profound than the protective formation of Great Marsh Mountain.No wonder Chang Qin returned to Tranquil Mountain in silence after being refused entry to the mountain three years ago. Such a vast chasm in divine power already transcends the Three Realms—who among Immortals, Demons, Gods, and Devils would dare offend it?

Purple Moon contains half of the Purple-Haired Uncle's True God essence. Why didn't he keep it within himself, instead placing it on Purple Moon Mountain? Could it be displayed atop this palace as a deterrent to intimidate the Three Realms?

Even though Gu Jin had known since childhood how domineering and arrogant his Purple-Haired Uncle was, he was still stunned for a moment by the grand scale of Purple Moon Mountain's protective barrier before regaining his composure.

"This protective barrier can't even be breached by a Demigod. Our Great Marsh Mountain truly can't compare," Gu Jin admitted honestly, suddenly feeling that the Clear Pond Palace where his mother once cultivated seemed pitifully shabby in comparison. He couldn't help but sigh deeply.

As they drew closer to Purple Moon Mountain, Gu Jin showed no intention of stopping.

Ayin hurriedly called out to stop him: "A Jin, aren't we going to stop at the foot of the mountain to present our request for an audience? This is Divine Lord Tian Qi's divine residence. If we barge in like this, aren't you afraid a Heavenly Thunder might strike us and burn us to a crisp?"

"Who dares trespass upon my Purple Moon Mountain!" Before Ayin's words had fully faded, a deep voice echoed from within the mountain, and a fiery red mass flew out from the palace toward the two of them.

The scorching heat of the flames was overwhelming, emitting sizzling sounds wherever they passed. Ayin saw a legendary three-headed fire dragon roaring as it flew toward them. The immense and domineering demonic power radiating from the dragon terrified her so much that her heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys seemed to twist into knots.

Ayin suddenly clung to Gu Jin, closed her eyes, and began wailing frantically: "Ahhhh, A Jin, we're going to be burned to death! Wuwuwuwu, I haven't drunk enough Drunken Jade Dew yet! What do we do, what do we do? I promised Qing Yi I'd bring back nine-tailed fox tail hairs to make brush tips, and now I won't be able to! Wuwuwuwu..."

Ayin's unseemly, howling cries echoed outside Purple Moon Mountain, but the rolling heatwave she expected never struck. Opening her eyes, she happened to meet Gu Jin's utterly exasperated gaze.

"How many heads do you and Qing Yi have, daring to hatch such a ridiculous scheme?" Gu Jin's voice was filled with frustration.

"Hehe, we were just thinking about it, just thinking."

Only after regaining her senses did Ayin remember what she had just blurted out, her face flushing bright red. Flustered, she jumped down from Gu Jin and looked ahead, only to freeze in surprise.

A Water Condensation Beast, its entire body emerald green, stood between them and the three-headed fire dragon, its two large eyes gleaming. With just a light tap of its wing toward the fire dragon, the dragon halted several meters away, not daring to advance another inch.

The Water Condensation Beast tilted its chin toward the fire dragon, its voice crisp and clear: "San Huo, go back, go back. What good are your six eyes if you can't see? If you scorch my family's...?"

Gu Jin's timely cough interrupted, and the Water Condensation Beast smoothly changed its words mid-sentence: "...my seventh aunt's distant nephew's neighbor's cousin, this divine beast will not spare you!"

Before San Huo could untangle the convoluted kinship terms to figure out the relationship between the Water Condensation Beast and the visitors, the beast had already folded its wings, wiped its tears, curled its body into a ball, and shot toward Gu Jin like an arrow.

"Wahhhh, my dear nephew! You've finally come to see me! This past hundred years, your old uncle has missed you to death, ahhhhh!"

After a full century, Yuan Qi once again heard Bi Bo's voice.But how much genuine joy this howling and wailing truly brought, only our great young master himself knew in his heart.