Primordial Black Heaven.
"They're coming!" An Xun cried out in a hushed but excited voice.
Under his quiet watch, a herd of over a thousand soul beasts was slowly advancing toward the ambush.
The moment the herd entered the trap, An Xun immediately activated the soul beasts he had positioned in advance, launching a siege against the wild soul beasts.
As An Xun commanded his army of soul beasts, he simultaneously activated Immortal Gu, unleashing various Immortal Path killer moves.
His killer moves swept down upon the battlefield, each one causing his allied soul beasts' combat strength to surge dramatically — their speed, defenses, and other aspects all increasing significantly.
The battle lasted half an incense stick's worth of time. An Xun successfully killed over four hundred wild soul beasts, while the rest were all captured.
"My master!" An Xun knelt and presented a pile of plundered soul cores to Demon Venerable Soul.
Demon Venerable Soul opened his mouth and swallowed, consuming all the soul cores into his body to slowly digest them.
Ever since the last time he had secretly followed An Xun outside and covertly subjugated him, Demon Venerable Soul's situation had begun to open up.
He secretly transmitted to An Xun the profound secrets of Soul Path cultivation, and based on the Soul Path Immortal Gu that An Xun had mastered, personally created Soul Path killer moves for him.
An Xun's strength continued to rise, and he repeatedly took on missions to go out and capture wild soul beasts.
Demon Venerable Soul had specifically developed two tools for this purpose. One could detect the locations of wild soul beasts, and the other was a crude Immortal Formation that, once deployed, could attract wild soul beasts to come.
With these two tools, An Xun's efficiency in capturing wild soul beasts improved dramatically, and every mission was completed splendidly.
Cold Ash Fairy was gratified that her nephew not only lived up to her expectations but had gone even further, shining brilliantly.
Soul Pacification Grotto-Heaven had only one Eighth Transformation — Cold Ash Fairy herself — so naturally she was at the top.
Below her were An Xun and An Chong. The last time Ice Crystal Immortal King had voluntarily opened his Grotto-Heaven and invited Cold Ash Fairy, she had specifically brought the two of them along — partly to broaden their horizons, and partly to give them a chance to make a name for themselves and meet Gu Immortals of comparable standing.
While Cold Ash Fairy held discussions inside the Grotto-Heaven, An Xun and An Chong, stationed outside the Grotto-Heaven's entrance, had also gotten acquainted with the Seventh Transformation elites from other Grotto-Heaven factions.
What Cold Ash Fairy did not know was that An Xun had long since become Demon Venerable Soul's servant. The entire Soul Pacification Grotto-Heaven — including herself — was shrouded in the shadow of Demon Venerable Soul, its future fraught with danger.
As the missions were completed more and more successfully, An Xun gained a clear upper hand in his competition with An Chong.
Cold Ash Fairy saw it, and the other Grotto-Heaven Gu Immortals saw it too.
One day, Cold Ash Fairy summoned An Chong before her and gave him his orders: "Ever since Ice Crystal Immortal King took the initiative to convene us all for discussion, he has been vigorously pushing for a swift grand alliance of the native Grotto-Heaven forces. However, in Central Continent's Black Heaven, there are many non-human factions, and our human race has only two Eighth Transformations. Fortunately, I have already contacted Skeleton Matriarch — she is an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal from Eastern Sea's Black Heaven. Your mission is to travel to the Eastern Sea as Soul Pacification Grotto-Heaven's representative, make contact with Skeleton Matriarch, and express our sincerity to join forces."
"Yes." An Chong accepted the order, his heart bitter.
He understood Cold Ash Fairy's intentions.
This assignment was meant to cement An Xun's victory once and for all, establishing him as the faction Soul Pacification Grotto-Heaven would invest in most heavily.
If An Xun had performed on par with himself, An Chong would naturally have been indignant, even furious. But An Xun had performed superbly — far surpassing him — and even An Chong recognized that his chances of winning were nil.
He accepted this diplomatic mission and withdrew a considerable amount of immortal materials from Soul Pacification Grotto-Heaven's stores to serve as gifts.
Leaving Soul Pacification Grotto-Heaven, he passed directly through the Celestial Qi Wall and descended to the Five Regions.
He concealed his tracks as he traveled from Central Continent to the Eastern Sea. Then he ascended from the Eastern Sea, piercing through the Celestial Qi Wall to reach Skeleton Matriarch's territory.
When the Boundary Wall still existed, it had been extremely difficult for Gu Immortals to travel between regions. Many powerful Gu Immortals chose to take detours through the Black and White Heavens.
But now that the Boundary Wall had vanished, even a Black Heaven Gu Immortal like An Chong chose the Five Regions route.
The environment in Black Heaven was treacherous — encountering a Primordial Wild Beast would be a serious problem. Although An Chong harbored a Primordial Soul Beast in his Immortal Orifice as a companion, he was only at the Seventh Transformation after all. Moreover, with the Qi Tide running rampant, Gu Immortals across the Five Regions were all recuperating, and outings had become exceedingly rare. This made An Chong's journey very convenient.
Along the way, An Chong discovered that the Five Regions had also suffered tremendous devastation, ravaged heavily by the Qi Tide.
He encountered no mishaps and arrived smoothly in the Eastern Sea, then ascended into Primordial Black Heaven. Following the contact method Cold Ash Fairy had left him, he made his way without incident to Shattered Bone Grotto-Heaven, where he met Skeleton Matriarch.
"Destiny has been shattered, and the Qi Tide rages. At this moment of great upheaval in the world, if we do not unite, the future is anyone's guess. This is especially true for us human factions — we must work in concert and stand together." Skeleton Matriarch did not make things difficult for An Chong and readily agreed.
Skeleton Matriarch added: "However, here in Eastern Sea's Black Heaven, the non-human factions hold the upper hand. Cold Ash Fairy wishes to unite with us, but would Ice Crystal Immortal King simply sit back and watch? He too must be reaching out to the non-human factions in other Black Heaven Grotto-Heavens."