Middle Earth Immortal Territory, South Sea.

On an Immortal Territory landmass called Southern Sky Continent, the southernmost region is a coastal mountain range stretching hundreds of thousands of miles, containing ninety-eight terrestrial volcanoes, all of which are active.

Almost every century, one or two of these active volcanoes erupt, attracting countless unaffiliated cultivators and numerous small-to-medium Immortal clans from the Southern Sky Continent to spectate.

Of course, these people aren't just idly watching this spectacle, but are trying their luck to see if they can find a spiritual material called "Fire Refinement Stone" from the lava ejected during the volcanic eruption.

In previous years, the Heavenly Court turned a blind eye to this, allowing them to obtain immortal opportunities based on luck, but this year's situation is somewhat different.

According to predictions, seventeen active volcanoes were supposed to erupt simultaneously, but just as they showed signs of erupting, they were intercepted by Immortals from the Sky-Suppressing Tower on the Southern Sky Continent, who guided the fire veins into the West Sea, ultimately preventing the eruptions.

The unaffiliated cultivators and small-to-medium sects on the continent did not complain at all, all because the True Immortal Realm's grandest event—the "Bodhi Banquet"—was about to be held.

Among these ninety-eight volcano ranges in the far west lies a critically important location for the Heavenly Court, the Yingtian Gate, located in the center of the mountain range.

This Yingtian Gate is the south gate for entering the Middle Earth Immortal Territory from other immortal territories, and is commonly referred to as the "South Heavenly Gate." Saying it's a "gate" is a misnomer, as it's actually a massive teleportation array with tens of thousands of large, medium, and small-sized teleportation arrays capable of connecting the thirty-five other great domains of the thirty-six great domains and simultaneously transmitting hundreds of thousands of people.

When the Heavenly Gate opens, it can even establish a spatial channel connecting the other thirty-five great immortal territories, allowing free passage between the two realms, unimpeded.

In fact, there are three other such Yingtian Gates, like the Sky-Suppressing Tower.

The Middle Earth Immortal Territory is the core of the True Immortal Realm, containing nine provinces and four seas. Each province is a boundless continent, separated by four vast oceans, which define the current structure.

Among them, the Heavenly Palace Continent is located in the center of the nine provinces and four seas, being the orthodox location of the Heavenly Court. The Eastern Victory Continent, Western He Continent, Southern Sky Continent, and Northern Ju Continent are located in the east, west, south, and north seas respectively.

On each of the four continents stands a Sky-Suppressing Tower and an Yingtian Gate.

Each Yingtian Gate is a heavenly gate connecting other immortal territories, guarded by Sky-Patrolling Divine Generals, and each Sky-Suppressing Tower is the core location guarding this immortal territory, with Dao Ancestor-level experts stationed there year-round.

As the Bodhi Banquet approaches, a large number of cultivators from various immortal territories of the True Immortal Realm have begun to gather towards the Middle Earth Immortal Territory. Among them, in addition to those who have obtained a Bodhi Token and are fortunate enough to participate in the Heavenly Court banquet, many more are here to witness the splendor of the Immortal Realm's premier immortal territory and also hope to enjoy the benefits brought by the event.

Although the Bodhi Banquet is held on the Heavenly Palace Continent, various small and medium-sized events are also held on the other continents. By then, all kinds of rare treasures scattered throughout the True Immortal Realm will gather here, and various treasure appraisal and auction events will be found everywhere.

Which cultivator wouldn't want to take this opportunity to feast their eyes and try to profit from it?

However, in order to welcome this eternal event, the Heavenly Court also bears considerable pressure. After all, when the event officially begins, the entire Middle Earth Immortal Territory may be flooded with ten or even dozens of times more cultivators from all realms. No matter how strict the defense is, it's difficult to guarantee that no one will slip through the net.

……

Fei Fan Immortal Territory.

On a snowfield stretching tens of thousands of miles, clusters of crimson flames illuminate the ground like blooming red lotuses, scarlet and enchanting, scorching black marks into the originally snow-covered plain.

A massive crimson spiritual domain envelops this desolate snowfield. The falling snowflakes are evaporated by the rolling heat waves the moment they enter this spiritual domain, unable to reach the already scarred earth.

In the center of the snowfield, within a huge pit tens of thousands of feet in circumference, lies the body of a demon cultivator wearing bronze armor, with only half of his head remaining. The golden blood flowing from his body indicates that his cultivation was quite high during his lifetime.

From the remaining half of his head, one can still discern his original wolf-dog appearance, though it now appears too gruesome and bloody.

In fact, this person is the Old Ancestor of the Myriad Demon Cave, the largest demon cultivation sect in the Fei Fan Immortal Territory, at the Late Stage of the Great Luo Realm.

He was originally ready to take a few personally trained disciples to the Middle Earth Immortal Territory to attend the Bodhi Banquet, but was ambushed on the way to the teleportation array.

He barely managed to keep his body intact, but his other disciples were reduced to ashes, leaving nothing behind.

With a muffled "thump," a tall man with a bare upper body jumped down from the edge of the giant pit and arrived beside the demon cultivator's corpse.

He has a head of shoulder-length red curly hair that falls randomly, a chiseled face as calm as water, showing no emotional fluctuations. Cloud-like red spots shimmer on his exposed skin, and the scalding aura emanating from within slightly distorts the surrounding space.

He bent down, picked up a Bodhi Token from beside the demon cultivator, rubbed off the blood stains, let out a sneer, and casually threw it out of the pit behind him.

At the edge of the giant pit, a woman in a black dress holding a parasol reached out and caught it. After a brief examination, she put it away.

The woman has a shapely figure and skin as white as mutton-fat jade. Her face is exquisitely beautiful. By all accounts, she should be a peerless beauty, but the long hair hanging down from her forehead covers half of her face. On the slightly revealed corner, obvious fish-scale scars can be seen.

"Yan Zhuo, the person is killed, and the items are taken. We can leave now. According to the Palace Lord's instructions, this Rong Hound is just someone who can be killed or not. It is the real person Tong Qiu who we must kill," the woman said in a very pleasing voice.

"Understood," the red-haired man replied. He still took a storage bracelet from Rong Hound's arm on his own and leaped out of the pit.

"Sometimes your temper is really stubborn, insisting on running over here," the woman glanced at the red-haired man and sighed softly.

"Killing him is also a reminder to Tong Qiu. He probably won't go to the Middle Earth Immortal Territory immediately. But that's okay, it saves us from searching on the road. It's more satisfying to directly attack his sect. Xuan Yu, the disciples in the sect can be ignored, but the Ancestral Hall must not be left intact," Yan Zhuo said.

"I'm only responsible for taking Tong Qiu's head. You can do whatever you want with the others. The Palace Lord said that this is the first time all eight of us Reincarnation Sons are acting together, and the commotion must be as big as possible," the woman called "Xuan Yu" said casually.

"Understood," Yan Zhuo said expressionlessly.

"Let's go," Xuan Yu said.

With that, the two leaped up and flew into the sky side by side, disappearing from sight.

The spiritual domain enveloping this wasteland also disappeared, and the sky-filling snow fell again, covering the vast earth.

Such mid-way ambushes and sect assassinations are being staged overtly or covertly in many immortal territories throughout the True Immortal Realm. Some succeed, and some fail, but ultimately more of those who are assassinated die.

It's just that, for some reason, such a major event as the sudden death of a top expert in a great immortal territory in the wilderness, which would have shocked the entire immortal territory in ordinary times, is like a pebble thrown into the sea, causing hardly any ripples.

Most immortal territories are still filled with the lively atmosphere of the Bodhi Banquet, but beneath this liveliness, undercurrents are already surging, and the situation is treacherous.

……

At the same time.

In an unknown Immortal Territory's forbidden area, there is a gourd-shaped giant canyon filled with miasma, where corpses are scattered and ghostly fires fill the sky.

From the entrance of the valley all the way inside, various messy and scattered human and animal bones can be seen everywhere. Among them are the bones of ordinary mountain and forest beasts, the remains of various powerful demon beasts, and the remains of many Immortal Realm cultivators. Some even have only dried bones left, still emitting bursts of fierce aura.

The miasma is thicker in the depths of the valley, and faint knocking sounds can be heard.

Through the heavy mist, a pretty girl in a goose-yellow dress can be seen sitting cross-legged on a huge, jagged rock, with a blade of grass in her mouth.

The girl is none other than Jin Tong, who left Han Li and traveled here alone.

At this moment, she is holding a long bone, of an unknown demon beast, and tapping it against the boulder under her.

"Hey, I've been looking for you for so long, and it's not a solution to keep hiding. You are the last Great Luo-level Gold Devouring Immortal in the entire True Immortal Realm besides me. As long as I devour you, restoring our Dao Ancestor status will be just around the corner. Don't you want revenge? Do you want to hide here for the rest of your life? Haven't you had enough of eating garbage for so many years?" Jin Tong said.

The boulder remained motionless, and there was no response in the valley other than the "thudding" sound.

"You don't appreciate a good offer. Fine... I'll grant your wish," Jin Tong said, spitting out the blade of grass from her mouth, her eyes flashing.

As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly leaped up, and the dog-beating stick-like long bone in her hand was thrown down like a javelin, wrapped in a gust of wind and thunder, directly hitting the boulder.

With a loud "boom," the jagged rock instantly burst open, shattering into powder.

A golden light shot out from it, and a huge golden beetle spread its wings and flew out, rushing straight into the sky.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Jin Tong shouted and leaped into the air, her body also bursting with golden light, revealing her true form, and fought with the Gold Devouring Immortal, whose aura was no weaker than hers.

The void trembled violently, and golden law radiance intertwined with black space fissures, turning an area of hundreds of thousands of miles into a battlefield, making it difficult to determine life and death for a time.