"What? The legendary Spring God really exists!" a youth exclaimed, "How old must he be?"
Yao chuckled, "There are no more than five beings in our clan older than him. Your chance to achieve Golden Immortal lies with the Ancestor."
He extended his hand, and a nine-petaled red flower slowly bloomed, floating upwards, its color like blood, vibrant and dazzling.
"The thirteen of you will follow this Luosheng flower. It will guide you to the Ancestor's location. Chi Li, you will lead the team to Du Guang Land to meet the Ancestor."
A young girl immediately stepped forward, respectfully received the Luosheng flower with both hands, and acknowledged.
The thirteen individuals followed the nine-petaled blood flower, heading southwest.
Along the way, these young kin eagerly anticipated meeting the legendary Spring God.
They flew for dozens of days, passing through countless spiritual veins and towering mountains within the Xi Shan clan's territory, finally reaching the southwestern border of their domain.
A youth looked at the quiet, undulating mountain range and a expanse of white ahead, and couldn't help but ask, "Why is there no one guarding our clan's southwestern border?"
Chi Li, leading the way, raised an eyebrow, "With the legendary Spring God Ancestor here, what need do we have for guards?"
Another girl asked with some confusion, "Then why has the Ancestor been in seclusion for so many years? Why hasn't he returned to the clan?"
Chi Li's expression changed, and she reprimanded, "How can we lightly speak of the Ancestor's affairs?"
Chastised by Chi Li, everyone became considerably more reserved. Chi Li was a blood descendant of Elder Chi among the nine clan elders, thus commanding immense authority.
As they emerged from the clan territory and traversed millions of miles of desolate land, the Luosheng flower, which had been guiding them, slowly descended.
Before them stood a colossal divine stone, towering into the heavens. Ancient Dao patterns inscribed on it bore the characters "Du Guang." Green vines, growing from the earth, coiled around the stone from its base upwards.
The group gasped in awe, realizing they had reached Du Guang Land!
In sight were undulating mountains, with layers of steep rocks.
But as they looked up at the sky, they all cried out in surprise, "Look! What is that?"
Before their eyes, a colossal pillar, impossibly tall and piercing the clouds, stretched across the sky. It seemed to support the heavens, standing there as if both near and far, yet undeniably immense and magnificent, surpassing everything they had ever seen.
Just as they were captivated by the grandeur of Jian Mu, dozens of figures plummeted from high in the sky, moving like meteors, descending upon them.
"Chirp~"
"Clang~"
The piercing cries were sharp enough to shatter the eardrums of beasts, carrying immense power as they descended, directly causing the thirteen young snakes to tremble and freeze, unable to move.
The snakes looked up, their faces drained of color. Dozens of colossal divine birds, their sharp talons retracted, their broad wings spread wide, surveyed them with eyes that struck terror into snakes.
None of them could escape; they were about to become prey for these ferocious birds of prey.
But at that moment, a black giant leopard leaped from a high mountain, roaring towards the sky. A massive sonic wave swept across the heavens, momentarily slowing the eagles' descent.
"Lie Jin Eagle tribe, do not be so presumptuous!"
In the sky, thirty-eight colossal divine eagles transformed into human figures at a thousand feet above the ground. They were all powerful, adult beast-folk, each a Golden Immortal Venerable, with three among them being Taiyi Grand Cultivators.
The leader was a middle-aged man, with an elder in brocade robes to his left and a woman in golden attire to his right.
The middle-aged man sneered, "Today, our tribe is determined to enter Du Guang Land! Let alone a mere Taiyi like you, even if the lords of all four realms were to arrive, they would be powerless to stop us."
But at that moment, white wisps of snow began to drift from the north, falling like a gentle snow. A woman in white clothes and white hair stepped into the air, smiling faintly, "Oh? Is that so? The Lie Jin Eagle tribe, this Du Guang Land is not yours to covet."
"Hmph, who do I think it is? It's Bei Xu, the Flower God of the Northern Lands. Your power is greatly diminished outside your flower domain," the middle-aged man said coldly. "A hundred years ago, I was defeated here. Today, with two Taiyi cultivators from my tribe present, I shall see how you resist!"
As he spoke, the elder and the woman in golden robes beside him stepped forward, their immense auras enveloping the black leopard and Bei Xu respectively.
Bei Xu chuckled lightly, "Patriarch of the Lie Jin Eagle tribe, you will lead your clan to ruin!"
The woman in golden robes wasted no words, her hand unleashing a torrent of golden swords that crisscrossed the air. The sword qi was as unyielding as Geng Metal, and the sound of ten thousand sword energies struck towards the black leopard with immense force.
Meanwhile, the elder in brocade robes conjured an octagonal pagoda, which instantly grew to a hundred thousand feet, like a falling mountain descending to suppress Bei Xu.
As for the other Golden Immortal Venerables, they advanced towards the thirteen Xi Shan clan members.
Bei Xu and the black leopard's expressions changed. If these youngsters hadn't come today, even if they couldn't stop these foreign tribes, their Taiyi Grand Cultivator strength would not have been in danger.
But these youngsters were only at the Heavenly rank.
Bei Xu's form instantly dispersed into a flurry of white wisps, vanishing, only to reappear in the same spot. Her expression darkened.
The middle-aged man sneered, "Flower God, this Ba Xuan Ding Qian Tower was prepared specifically for you. Your minor teleportation techniques are useless."
On the other side, the black leopard was also suppressed by the swordswoman, the golden light too intense. The black leopard was struggling to fend for itself.
The thirteen Heavenly rank snake clan members were now surrounded by a group of Golden Immortal divine eagles. The pressure from their bloodline, the suppression of their natural enemies, chilled them to the bone, their snake bodies trembling uncontrollably.
But Chi Li, looking at the approaching Golden Immortal Venerables, couldn't help but shout, "Venerable seniors, we are from the Xi Shan snake clan. We implore you to consider our nine Taiyi clan elders and spare us."
Upon hearing this, the Golden Immortal Venerables hesitated.
Their own tribe had only three Taiyi cultivators, while Xi Shan was a powerful, near-elite existence in the vicinity. If they provoked them...
The middle-aged man shook his head and chuckled, "Today, even if your clan leader himself came, escape would be impossible!"
Hearing their patriarch's words, the three Golden Immortal Venerables who had stepped forward grinned menacingly and unleashed three colossal golden palms, imbued with a trace of the law of the Great Dao, striking down heavily.
Even for thirteen Heavenly ranks, under the power of the Great Dao, there was only a path to death.
Despair flickered in Chi Li's eyes, and the twelve clan members behind her were also filled with despair. Yet, they did not cease their resistance. Their clan's motto was: one could live kneeling, but one could only die standing.
Various poisonous arts and secret techniques were unleashed, the Daoist arts and spells passed down through generations of Xi Shan, like coiling pythons, actually blocked the strike from the three Golden Immortal Venerables.
The three Venerables showed a hint of surprise, but in the next instant, they exerted eighty percent of their strength, unleashing the Golden Eagle Dharma Aspect. Three colossal, ten-thousand-foot giant eagle phantoms lunged forward, clawing at the thirteen Heavenly rank clan members.
However, at this moment, the nine-petaled blood flower in Chi Li's hand instantly bloomed with a powerful Great Dao of Wind. The wind energy swept through the nine nether regions, reaching the vital energy points of all souls. As the great wind passed, the golden eagles' forms dissolved and their bones turned to dust.