The people in the Immortal Suppression Department were geniuses recruited from all over the world.
These geniuses were often orphans with no one to rely on.
Free from the constraints of families and sects, the members of the Immortal Suppression Department could adhere to its most traditional teachings: to suppress ancient immortals for the Imperial Dynasty and the Human Race, and to eradicate the demons and monsters that endangered the mortal realm.
Zhao Guang had lived a brilliant life. From an independent cultivator revered by everyone in a small town, he became a nurtured member of the Immortal Suppression Department.
It was an era of global chaos, marked by a great war between the Human Race, the Wu Tribe, and the Demon Race.
He witnessed the Human Race rise from being oppressed to the Human Emperor suppressing the entire world.
He had heard of immortals long ago; that was the very purpose of the Immortal Suppression Department's existence.
Unfortunately, at that time, his cultivation was far from reaching a realm where he could suppress immortals.
During his days in the Immortal Suppression Department, news of the deaths of his superiors and brothers in arms would arrive every single day.
Then, the ancient teachings would echo in his ears: protect the Imperial Dynasty, protect the mortal realm.
For a very long time, these teachings became his unwavering code of conduct. But time grinds away memories, making people forget ancient teachings.
Just like his gradually fading lifespan. Subsequently, everything in the mortal world, along with the passage of time, would erode a person's original goals and convictions, just like the decaying Imperial Dynasty itself.
In the Western Frontier, he could turn a blind eye to Fei Heng consuming people, and he could watch the birth of the Blood Moon with utter indifference.
When the Spear Saint Gu Fenghua was besieged by Min Tiange, he offered nothing but apathy and a few hypocritical sighs.
When the Imperial Dynasty indulged the Blood Moon and allied with it, he remained completely silent, even consuming the immortal seed bestowed by the Empress.
And now...
"Are you crazy?!!"
In the void, Zhao Guang flew madly toward the Blood Moon, roaring furiously behind him.
Trailing him were vines coiling forward, an omnipresent pair of sinister eyes, and reaching dark claws.
Accompanied by the 'thump, thump' of a beating heart, the Red Dust Realm forged by the combined efforts of six people attempted to drag him into their Dao Domain.
Immortals and demons!
The nine figures behind him pursued him madly without uttering a single word.
"How is this possible... Immortals, Demons... how can there be so many?!!" Zhao Guang cursed inwardly.
He had sensed something was wrong when he was at the Li Clan, but only when the Li Clan members actually pursued him did he realize their terror far exceeded his imagination.
Moreover, when he had previously acted alongside the Li Clan, he had met Li Yaoqing and Li Yunbing.
Now, they had taken on entirely different, horrifying appearances. Then what about the rest of the Li Clan?
He finally understood why the Empress insisted on sending him to persuade the Li Clan to leave the Southern Frontier.
The current Li Yaoqing was already a Heavenly Immortal. Li Yunbing had become a complete and utter demon overlord!
In a brief moment of distraction, Zhao Guang's face turned deathly pale.
The immortal seed he consumed had only made him a half-immortal. The entities chasing him made him feel an instinctive, primal fear.
"Boom!"
Upon reaching the borders of Grandhaven Prefecture, the earth suddenly shook, and the mountains swayed. With a soft resonance, his expression turned horrified.
Mountains collapsed, and the earth shattered as massive black tentacles, towering like pillars supporting the sky, burst forth from the newly formed rift valleys.
The sky and the ground formed black array formations, and the tentacles covered in suction cups and fangs whipped toward him.
Due to this brief obstruction, he heard the clamor of the mortal realm; he had evidently been drawn into the Red Dust Realm.
"Thump... thump!"
A massive, hideous heart appeared bloody and raw amidst the mortal realm, and mangled, flesh-and-blood experts crawled out from within it.
Trees grew within the Red Dust Realm; these hundred-meter-tall green plant entities walked like humans, standing guard at the edges of the Red Dust Realm.
As a colossal, hideous octopus revealed its head from the ground, he saw Li Yunbing—with tentacles extending from his back and a third eye opened on his forehead—flashing a sinister smile at him!
"Commander Zhao, it has been a long time. I trust you have been well?"
"..."
Zhao Guang looked around, remaining speechless for a long time.
As he was trapped, he could feel experts gathering from all directions.
A true immortal, a true demon—he didn't know what possible chance he had to escape.
The Three Prefectures had mobilized, and Ancestor Lan hadn't even struck yet, but he was already facing this kind of desperate predicament.
He took a deep breath. With a complex expression, he sighed at these familiar yet foreign members of the Li Clan, "How did all of you become like this?"
Li Yunbing replied with an eerie smile, "Commander Zhao, why have you also become like this?"
Zhao Guang was left with absolutely nothing to say.
......
[Special Event — Retaining the Old Friends Who Came to Advise]
[Under the persuasion of your family, the three old friends who came to advise you were moved by your family and remained in Azure Cloud Prefecture.]
At this time, Li Wei was watching the clansmen escort the three individuals toward the family estate.
The brief battle couldn't help but make him marvel.
As time passed, Li Zhiheng, who possessed an immortal artifact; Li Yaoqing, who controlled an immortal body; and Li Yunbing, who had turned into a demon, had pulled significantly ahead of the other clansmen in terms of strength.
With their combined efforts, they were actually able to completely strip a Half-Immortal at the Dao-Integration realm like Zhao Guang of the courage to even attempt a desperate struggle!
Zhiheng's mastery over the Heavenly Dao Divine Heart grew increasingly powerful.
To a Half-Immortal, he was still seeking the path to a breakthrough, accumulating his foundation to reach the Body Integration realm.
The Tier-2 Heavenly Dao Divine Heart was comparable to a Great Golden Immortal.
By using the immortal art 'Rebirth' through the Heavenly Dao Divine Heart, he could summon numerous powerful combatants.