A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality

”That is indeed true, but who knows if the devilish beings have thought of some unforeseen way to bypass our setup? If the true bodies of the patriarchs manage to descend into our realm while we’re away, then our two races will be plunged into a dire situation,” Mo Jianli said in a concerned voice.

After a long pause, Patriarch Ao Xiao nodded in agreement. ”In that case, we really do have to exercise more caution. Looks like we’ll have to return to our races as soon as possible.”

”Seniors, I don’t think there’s much of a chance that the patriarchs will all be able to descend into our realm. Even if they manage to do so, it would most likely only be one or two of the three,” Han Li interjected.

Mo Jianli faltered slightly upon hearing this before his eyes immediately lit up. ”Oh? It sounds like you know something that we don’t, Fellow Daoist Han. You did just come back from the Elder Devil Realm; is there some information you’d like to share with us?”

Han Li paused for a moment before asking, ”Have you heard of the tribulation of the Elder Devil Realm, seniors?”

”Tribulation of the Elder Devil Realm? We have indeed heard of this, but we didn’t get a chance to gather any detailed information,” Patriarch Ao Xiao replied as his eyes narrowed slightly.

”Indeed, back when I ventured into the Elder Devil Realm, I also heard about this from a devilish lord, but it seems that only the Sacred Ancestors know the full story. Have you managed to find out more information about it, Fellow Daoist Han?” Mo Jianli asked in an eager voice.

”I did indeed manage to gather some information about this tribulation. Have you heard of the Stemborer Queen?” Han Li asked as a serious look appeared on his face.

”Stemborer Queen? I don’t recall ever hearing this term. Do you know anything about this, Fellow Daoist Ao?” Mo Jianli replied with a perplexed expression.

”It sounds rather familiar. I seem to have heard of it a very long time, but it’s been too long, and I can’t remember the exact details,” Patriarch Ao Xiao replied as his brows furrowed slightly.

”It’s no surprise that you haven’t heard of the Stemborer Queen, seniors; this is an insect queen that was sealed by true immortals back in ancient times, so very little people currently know of it,” Han Li replied with a smile.

”Ah yes, I remember now! The Stemborer Queen is the ancient insect said to be capable of devouring entire realms, right? Could it be that it’s at the center of the tribulation that the Elder Devil Realm is facing?” Patriarch Ao Xiao’s face paled slightly as he spoke.

”Capable of devouring realms? What kind of insect is this? Wouldn’t that make it even more terrifying than true spirits?” Mo Jianli’s expression also changed significantly upon hearing this.

”True spirits simply aren’t comparable to this thing; in ancient times, several powerful true spirits had been devoured by this insect queen. I heard about it while traveling through another continent prior to reaching the Grand Ascension Stage, and apparently, the Stemborer Queen was born...”

The Patriarch Ao Xiao began to provide a backstory on the Stemborer Queen with a grim expression, and the content of the story was much the same as what Han Li had heard from Violet Spirit.

The only difference was that according to what Ao Xiao had heard, the Stemborer Queen had vanished following its battle with the true immortals, and no seal was mentioned.

Mo Jianli’s expression darkened even further upon hearing this.

”The tribulation of the Elder Devil Realm is indeed related to this insect. According to the information I was given, the Stemborer Queen was sealed in a certain part of the Elder Devil Realm. It awakened not long ago and has begun attacking the seal. The majority of the Elder Devil Realm’s power has been focused on containing it, so I think there’s a very slim chance that all three devilish patriarchs will descend into our Spirit Realm,” Han Li said.

”If that insect queen really has awakened, then the Elder Devil Realm isn’t the only one that’s in trouble; even our Spirit Realm could eventually be devoured by that thing!” Patriarch Ao Xiao murmured as he fell into deep contemplation.

”Has this information been verified, Fellow Daoist Han? Can you vouch for its authenticity?” Mo Jianli asked in a cautious manner.

”The information has come from a reliable source, and I’m 80% sure that it’s true,” Han Li replied.

”In that case, it’s most likely true, but as a safety precaution, we’ll have to send someone into the Elder Devil Realm for verification. What do you think, Brother Ao?” Mo Jianli asked.

”This is a very important matter, so it would indeed be necessary to send someone to verify the situation; I’ll send a trusty subordinate of mine to investigate the matter. If it really is true, then it makes sense that the devilish beings have been so desperate to claim some territory for themselves in the Spirit Realm; they must be doing this so they can mass migrate to our Spirit Realm once the Stemborer Queen breaks out of its seal,” Patriarch Ao Xiao said with a cold expression.

”Judging from the number of devilish beings that have appeared in our Spirit Realm, the three devilish patriarchs clearly haven’t given up on containing the Stemborer Queen. Otherwise, more forces would’ve poured into our Spirit Realm at this point. Hence, I’m assuming that their plan to conquer our races is only a backup option,” Mo Jianli said in a contemplative manner.

”Having said that, more devilish reinforcements have appeared in our races, suggesting that the devilish beings are struggling to keep the Stemborer Queen contained, which means that we should return to our races as soon as possible. Otherwise, if the devilish beings transfer most of their forces into our Spirit Realm, then even all of our races combined most likely wouldn’t be able to oppose them, so we have to think of another strategy,” Patriarch Ao Xiao said in a grim voice.

”What’s there to think about? This matter concerns the Stemborer Queen, so it won’t just be up to us to address it. If we release this information, I’m sure all of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings all over the Spirit Realm will join us,” Mo Jianli replied with a smile.

Patriarch Ao Xiao’s eyes immediately lit up. ”That’s a fantastic idea!”

”But before that, we have to make sure that the matter about the Stemborer Queen is indeed true. On top of that, we can’t just abandon the Wood Tribe and return to our races in this current situation. Otherwise, the alliance that we painstakingly built up would most likely instantly collapse, making it easy pickings for the devilish army,” Mo Jianli said in a contemplative voice.

”In that case, we’ll abide by the Wood Tribe’s request and battle the devilish army. We’ll inflict as much damage as we can on the devilish army, and after that, we’ll have an excuse to return to our races. Perhaps that’s Old Man Sang’s idea as well. He’s the only Grand Ascension Stage being in the Yaksha Race; I’m sure he’s concerned about his own race as well. During this time, we’ll verify the information about the Stemborer Queen while gathering our own forces. After all, if the devilish army really does launch a big attack, we’ll have to save ourselves before we can do anything else,” Patriarch Ao Xiao decided.

”Alright, we’ll do as you say, Fellow Daoist Ao. Defeat is not an option in this battle, so we’ll have to borrow Fellow Daoist Han and Brother Xie’s powers. Having said that, once the battle concludes, you can return to our human race right away, Fellow Daoist Han. I can see that your magic power is far more abundant than that of the average late-Body Integration cultivator, so you’ll have a decent chance of progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage once you go into seclusion; the same applies for Junior Ling Long as well,” Mo Jianli concluded.

Patriarch Ao Xiao nodded in response, and Han Li also agreed with this arrangement.

As long as none of the true bodies of the devilish patriarchs descended into Wood Tribe territory, he had nothing to fear.

After that arrangement was made, a thought suddenly occurred to Patriarch Ao Xiao, and he said, ”The Wood Tribe has proposed a counterattack, so they must have support from other than from Old Man Sang. You’ve stayed in this city this entire time; have you heard anything, Fellow Daoist Mo?”

”I have. With the arrival of the devilish reinforcements, the grand elder of the Wood Tribe seems to be aware that he won’t be able to keep us here for much longer. As such, he made the decision to bring out all 36 of the Wood Tribe’s backup holy trees. With those trees, he’s going to set up the Wood Realm 36 Extremes Formation for one final battle against the devilish army. If we were to join forces with Sang Hai and have this formation to assist us, there should be at least a 70% chance that we’ll be able to win this battle,” Mo Jianli replied.

”I’ve heard of the Wood Realm 36 Extremes Formation; it’s said to be a formation that’s emulated the Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain ability of the True Immortal Realm. Apparently, it possesses enough power to kill even Grand Ascension Stage beings, but the Wood Tribe has never even used it once, so no one knows whether this is true or not,” Patriarch Ao Xiao said.

”Hehe, in any case, the fact that the Wood Tribe is willing to bring out those 36 backup holy trees indicates that they’re making a final roll of the dice. If we can take advantage of this and deal the devilish army a heavy blow, we’ll be able to buy more time for our two races,” Mo Jianli replied with a nonchalant smile.

”Hehe, that’s true,” Patriarch Ao Xiao chuckled in response.