The six of them made up their minds and immediately flew deep into the mountains, trailing far behind the Celestial Wolf Mansion's group of demons.
The direction in which the Celestial Wolf Mansion people were obviously flying was the central Moon Pillar Mountain.
After tracking for a while, Zhang Jian suddenly halted his steps around a mountain ridge.
"Junior Zhang, what's wrong?"
Seeing Zhang Jian stop his escape light, Pursuing Star True Monarch glanced over.
At this moment, Zhang Jian felt a strong sense of foreboding, as his sensitive primordial spirit divine sense seemed to detect a terrifying, dark force sweeping in from behind him.
"Hidden Breath!"
Zhang Jian's expression changed, and a Seven-Colored Treasure Lotus emerged in his hand, instantly enveloping his entire body.
Seeing this, Pursuing Star True Monarch, True Monarch Zijing, and the others hesitated but dared not delay; Seven-Colored Talismans emerged overhead, and their forms transformed, resembling piles of mountain rocks among the ridges.
In just a moment, their hearts skipped a beat as a bronze-golden light raced towards them from afar, suddenly appearing between the mountain walls.
It was a portly, middle-aged man wearing a golden robe, heading towards the Moon Pillar Mountain.
A massive primordial spirit swept over the surrounding ridge, like an invisible storm stretching tens of thousands of miles. This primordial spirit divine sense was exceptionally domineering, radiating an intensely primitive, barbaric aura.
After he left, it took a full half hour for the seven-colored light to dissipate, and the group gradually revealed their true bodies.
Yet, everyone exchanged concerned glances at that moment.
"Was that just now a True Immortal?"
Siming Master wore a faint expression of fear, pursing her lips as sweat subtly appeared on her forehead.
The domineering sweep of the primordial spirit divine sense just now was simply too terrifying!
Zhang Jian sighed, "It should be more than that, possibly a Celestial Immortal, and one from the Demon Race!"
His eyes held a contemplative look.
Several Second Generation Ancestor Masters had advised him that as long as he preliminarily harnesses the Sheji Emperor's power, he should be able to suppress Celestial Immortals.
If the Sheji Emperor reaches small success, it would be enough to suppress even higher-tier beings.
However, he had not personally tested it, so Zhang Jian was temporarily uncertain.
Moreover, although he now possessed the Authority of the Earth, he still hadn't figured out how to fully unleash its power.
"A Celestial Immortal? This..."
At this moment, the other Primordial Spirit Great Cultivators were somewhat astonished.
This was completely beyond their imagination.
Even a True Immortal would not be something ordinary Primordial Spirit Great Cultivators could contend with, let alone a Celestial Immortal.
And a Celestial Immortal of the Demon Race at that!
A Celestial Immortal in the world is a terrifying weapon, not to mention in this relic, encountering one could be fatal!
At this moment, True Monarch Zijing looked at Zhang Jian with a glimmer in his eyes and couldn't help but ask, "Junior Zhang, how can you be so sure that person was a Celestial Immortal, and one from the Demon Race?"
All eyes turned to Zhang Jian.
After a brief contemplation, Zhang Jian shook his head as he met their gazes and said, "I can only tell you all that I possess a unique secret technique allowing me to verify someone's Dao practice and cultivation. As for why it's a Demon Race Celestial Immortal, it's because I sensed a very strong earthy scent from him!"
"Even from afar, it could overpower my spiritual sense!"
Zhang Jian's eyes held a hint of peculiarity.
The unique nature of his soul, as it transformed into the primordial spirit, only grew more distinct.
Pursuing Star True Monarch's expression remained unchanged, but he glanced at Zhang Jian, his eyes reflecting a hint of hesitation, ultimately choosing to believe Zhang Jian.
It wasn't Zhang Jian's display of various divine techniques that made him willing to trust him, but rather the discernment of several Second Generation Ancestor Masters.
During the Third Generation Sect Leader's ascension ceremony, the Second Generation Sect Leader had brought Zhang Jian to the forefront among the Third Generation Disciples, which showed how much the Second Generation Ancestor Masters valued this Fourth Generation Disciple.
These Second Generation Ancestor Masters, wise with age, rarely made judgment errors.
"Junior, what do you suggest we do?"
Zhang Jian replied calmly, "Two options: One, continue towards the core Moon Pillar Mountain to search, where more treasures remain, but there's a chance we'll encounter this Demon Race Celestial Immortal; second, search around Moon Pillar Mountain's perimeter, observe for a while, maybe there's another opportunity, and if not, we can retreat."
To Zhang Jian, it didn't really matter what choice they made as long as they were cautious, there wouldn't be any issue.
Even if he met the opponent, with his current abilities, the outcome of a battle between them wouldn't be certain.
But other Primordial Spirit Great Cultivators couldn't disregard such a danger.
At that moment, Taiyin Fairy standing among them suddenly spoke.
"Your Majesty, actually, I know a shortcut to Moon Pillar Mountain; if the Forbidden Technique still works, we can enter the Moon Pillar Mountain directly through a Forbidden Technique Passage developed within Xiyue Sword Sect!"
At these words, Pursuing Star True Monarch's eyes lit up: "Does Xiyue Sword Sect have a Space Array?"
Zhang Jian's eyes also turned towards Taiyin Fairy.
He knew that some special Cultivation Sects spent significant effort to establish Space Shifting Arrays to travel between places.
However, Space Shifting Arrays typically cannot cover vast distances; the farther they reach, the more unstable and susceptible to interference they become.
Taiyin Fairy shook her head.
"Xiyue Sword Sect focuses on the attributes of Yin and Ice; most of the secret areas related to these attributes are underground, and some disciples have formed, uh, connections during their practice, resulting in the development of some hidden Forbidden Technique Passages underground. Although these don't lead directly to Moon Pillar Mountain, they could still get us into the depths beneath Moon Pillar Mountain..."
"The only issue is the long time interval since then; Moon Pillar Mountain has been torn apart, and it's uncertain whether these paths still exist?"
Zhang Jian glanced at Taiyin Fairy.
The Taiyin Fairy knew more than he imagined, and it's unclear what inheritance she had acquired to know even such matters.
After pondering for a moment, Zhang Jian said,
"Then let's explore a bit. If we can successfully enter Moon Pillar Mountain through the hidden paths, that would be best!"
The other Primordial Spirit Masters nodded in agreement upon hearing this.
Everyone was bold and adventurous, and leaving now would leave some regret.
Moreover, as the core disciples of the Tongshan Dao Lineage, they had some trump cards and were confident that as long as they didn't encounter the Celestial Immortal of the Demon Race, there shouldn't be any major issues.
At this moment, Zhang Jian looked at the Taiyin Fairy and suddenly said, "Make a copy of the map in your mind for me. I need to confirm if your route has any issues!"
Hearing this, the Taiyin Fairy glanced at Zhang Jian, pondered briefly, and raised her hand, a strong Immortal Light appearing in her palm, quickly infusing into a blank jade slip and then tossing it to Zhang Jian.
Zhang Jian caught it casually, his Primordial Spirit Divine Sense scanning over it, imprinting part of the map into his mind, and then crushed the jade slip in his hand.
The other four watched this scene, glancing at each other with some emotion in their eyes.
Zhang Jian casually said, "This map will later have a copy for the sect, but it shouldn't be leaked. I hope you, uncles and sisters, can understand!"
True Monarch Pursuing Star and True Monarch Zijing exchanged a glance upon hearing this, with True Monarch Pursuing Star saying,
"Junior, you don't need to worry about this. After all, it's your privately held secret! We won't covet it!"
They all understood very well the immense value of this map.
The Xiyue Sword Sect relic would continue to exist, and after their exploration, more disciples of the Tongshan Dao Lineage would likely come to explore in hundreds of years, possibly including cultivators from the Great Xia Dynasty.
Zhang Jian merely said it to ease the awkwardness.
After verifying the authenticity of the map in his mind, an invisible Divine Power surged around Zhang Jian, instantly penetrating deep into the earth as he used the Authority of the Earth to explore whether these hidden paths still existed.
The vast Authority of the Earth manifested, causing the other Primordial Spirit Grand Masters present to change their expressions.
This overwhelming burst of Divine Dao Authority gave them the feeling of being submerged in an ocean, with the vast Divine Power making them feel like tiny ants facing a terrifying presence.
"The power of the Divine Dao?"
Sensing this Divine Dao power, True Monarch Pursuing Star looked surprised.
There was an incredulous look in his eyes.
Such vast Divine Dao Authority was beyond his imagination.
True Monarch Pursuing Star was well-traveled, having followed the Second Generation Ancestor Master to the Outer World to attend banquets hosted by the Outer World Immortals, but in his memory, those who wielded such Immortal God authority were typically Great Powers of a realm, far beyond what an ordinary Primordial Spirit Cultivator could possess.
"No wonder the Second Generation Ancestor Masters treat this junior like this..."
True Monarch Pursuing Star mused to himself.
But then Zhang Jian's expression shifted.
Beside him, True Monarch Zijing noticed something and couldn't help but ask,
"Junior, how is it?"
Zhang Jian opened his eyes, recalling the state of the Earth Veins he had probed, and didn't look optimistic: "The earth is severely distorted, and many Earth Veins are severed, but most of the hidden paths run very deep underground. With my Authority of the Earth, if we are careful, it should not be a big problem!!"
However, despite his words, there was still some hesitation among the group.
Coming from noble families, they understood well what a Celestial Immortal existed as — even the slightest fluctuation of Magical Power could alert that Demon Race Celestial Immortal.
If the hidden paths were intact, perhaps they could rely on their Flesh Body abilities to smuggle through.
But now the risk factor was greatly increased.
Compared to other treasures, they undoubtedly valued their lives the most.
Having attained Longevity, they possessed long lifespans and saw no need to take such risks.
Noticing some hesitation among the group, Zhang Jian promptly said, "If not otherwise, let's part ways here. Taiyin and I will continue deeper; with my Authority of the Earth, I should have some assurance of retreating safely!"
The four Primordial Spirit Cultivators fell into slight silence upon hearing this. True Monarch Pursuing Star glanced at the people behind him and noticed some hesitance between Linghe Master and Siming Master, so he said,
"Linghe, Siming, you two stop here. You both have recently broken through to the Golden Body Level and have bright futures ahead! Old guys like me are different; my path is fixed, and my qualifications are mediocre, so I have to take a gamble!"
"And you, Junior Brother Zijing, your qualifications are better than mine, so there's no need to take risks!"
True Monarch Zijing laughed and said, "Brother Pursuing Star, how could you exclude me from such an exciting venture! Moreover, my survival abilities could be of more help to you. Don't forget them!"
Linghe Master and Siming Master exchanged glances and indeed showed some retreating intentions in their eyes.
With long lifespans and qualifications above ordinary Primordial Spirit Masters, they were unwilling to risk their lives.
Linghe Daoist pondered for a moment before speaking first: "In that case, you two uncles, Junior Brother Zhang, continue forward. We will circle around here, and if there are no gains, we'll return to the sect first."
Siming Master also nodded, "Sister Linghe, let's pair up!"
With that, the group officially parted ways.
Zhang Jian quite admired these two sisters.
Backing out at this moment was the wisest choice.
If not for having a weapon, he wouldn't necessarily make the same choice as these two sisters.
The four then disappeared into the earth, continuing their flight toward Moon Pillar Mountain.
At this moment, the voice of Taiyin Fairy's Divine Sense suddenly sounded in Zhang Jian's ear.
"Your Majesty, I know of a special place that might hold a treasure of the Xiyue Sword Sect. Would Your Majesty like to try?"
"Oh?"