Chapter 1436 – Immortal Stage

Zhao Hai calmly spied on Tang Jie's meeting with his men. Ever since entering the Octopus Islands, Tang Jie's group has been under surveillance by Zhao Hai. Every word and action was seen by Zhao Hai.

Hearing what Tang Jie said last, Zhao Hai faintly smiled. He didn't expect his arrangement in the Octopus Islands to work this effectively.

Zhao Hai let out a long breath now that he knew that the stronghold was safe in the meantime. However, the Hundred Treasures Realm certainly wouldn't let them off. But Zhao Hai was still happy that he was able to win some time for them.

At this time, a voice was heard outside the cave residence, "Is Mister Zhao Hai in? Some people want to invite you over to ask for some questions."

As soon as he heard this voice, Zhao Hai knew that it was Kong Xiang. He quickly moved and appeared in front of the cave. He gave Kong Xiang a salute and said, "Master Kong Xiang."

Kong Xiang returned the salute and said, "Mister Zhao Hai, come with me." Zhao Hai nodded and followed behind Kong Xiang.

They took multiple turns and before long, Zhao Hai could see a mountain. This mountain wasn't very tall. All around its surface were numerous holes that made it look like a honeycomb. But on the top of the mountain was a large palace. It was brilliant and beautiful.

Kong Xiang led Zhao Hai towards the palace. Zhao Hai knew quite a lot about the stronghold by bow. He knew that living inside the palace were the highest ranked people from the World of Cultivation that resided in the Ten-thousand Realm Battlefield.

The two arrived right outside the palace. The guards outside the palace were actually Transcending Tribulation Experts. Kong Xiang gave a salute to these guards before they walked inside.

After passing through the palace, the two arrived at the furthermost room. The room looked very ordinary from the outside, it was almost unnoticeable. However, when Kong Xiang arrived outside the room, his expression became respectful as he announced, "Zhao Hai has arrived."

A voice answered from inside, "Ask Mister Zhao Hai to come in."

Kong Xiang bowed and said, "Please head in to the side and give a salute." Naturally, Zhao Hai knew what this place represented. So he didn't hesitate as he pushed the door and went in.

It was a quiet room with several old monks inside. These monks were evidently aged. Although they wore the same robes, these robes looked worn out. Their faces were all wrinkled. Their heads were shaved clean but they all had full beards. Moreover, their eyebrows were very long.

Naturally, Zhao Hai didn't pay attention to their appearance. What he minded was their strength. He couldn't see through these monks. Their auras were chaotic, he simply couldn't see their strength.

Zhao Hai's heart turned cold. He knew what this meant. These old monks were certainly at the Immortal Stage. Otherwise he wouldn't have this feeling.

Although a Transcending Tribulation Expert could reach the Immortal Stage as long as they practiced, Zhao Hai knew that this was only said to comfort people. The Transcending Tribulation Stage was the Transcending Tribulation Stage while the Immortal Stage was the Immortal Stage.

There truly was no bottleneck between the Transcending Tribulation Stage and the Immortal Stage, but in order to reach the Severed Soul Stage from the Transcending Tribulation Stage, one would need to increase their spiritual qi by 100 times. Although this seemed astonishing, it could be done. As long as one uses massive amounts of pills, they could even shorten the time it would take.

However, reaching the Immortal Stage from the Severed Soul Stage could no longer be supplemented by pills. This was because the gap was too big. From the Severed Soul Stage to the Immortal Stage, ones spiritual force needs to increase by a million times. There could only be so many pills one could take in their life, so using pills in order to reach the Immortal Stage was impossible.

The Immortal Stage didn't refer to having eternal life. Once one reaches this stage, they would be able to live to 1296 years old. This was just an average, but generally they don't live over 2592 years.

These old monks were at the Immortal Stage. Moreover, it seems like they were more than 1000 years old. If one closes their eyes, they wouldn't even be able to sense these old monks.

Zhao Hai bowed and said, "Zhao Hai has seen the Grandmasters. What does the Grandmasters need from me?"

The old monks looked at Zhao Hai. Then one of them said, "Benefactor Zhao Hai, I heard that you study Buddhist Cultivation Methods. May we know what it's called?"

Zhao Hai respectfully replied, "Replying to the Grandmaster. The Buddhist Cultivation Method that I practice is called the Arhat Divine Art."

The old monk still had his eyes closed, but he replied, "I'm afraid Benefactor's words aren't sincere. There has never been divine arts in the Buddhist Path. Benefactor, please reconsider."

Hearing what the old monk said, Zhao Hai's heart couldn't help but jump. He had a feeling that he couldn't offend these people. His heart turned cold. He suspected that he was under a type of spiritual attack. He carefully chose his words, "I ask Grandmaster to excuse me. In order to protect myself, I had to change the name. The cultivation method that this one uses is actually a half set of techniques that I managed to come across accidentally. The set consists of the Descending Dragon Technique, Crouching Tiger Technique, Pagoda Technique, Infinity Technique, Bright Sword Technique, and the Demon Subjugation Technique. Since this one felt like they were related to Buddhist Arhats, I took it upon myself to name it the Arhat Divine Arts."

The old monks didn't speak for some time upon hearing Zhao Hai. However, the buddhist beads in their hands were still calmly turning.

After some time, the monk who spoke before opened his mouth and said, "Benefactor has spoken well. Thank you for rethinking your words. May I ask the Benefactor which technique allowed you to control large artifacts?"

Zhao Hai felt the spiritual pressure on him increasing. It seems like he would be dealt with the moment he lied. However, Zhao Hai kept his mind and body calm as he replied, "Replying to Grandmaster. This one's method of using large artifacts came from the Pagoda Technique. It allows its user to control large artifacts with great mastery."

The old monk replied, "Can Benefactor let us see the technique?"

Zhao Hai felt the pressure on him increase even more. Even most Severed Soul Experts wouldn't be able to withstand it. He was now certain that if he spoke wrongly this time then these old monks would be suspicious. With his present strength, he wouldn't be able to escape from these monks. Therefore, he didn't hesitate and answered, "Yes, Grandmaster."

The old monk took out a jade slip and said, "Please write the technique into this jade slip." Zhao Hai received the jade slip and then closed his eyes as he wrote the technique into it.

Naturally, he didn't write the entire technique, but just a variant of the original one. This variant technique has already been analyzed by the universal scanner. It was far from the real Pagoda Technique, but it was still a good technique for controlling large artifacts. Most importantly, this variant technique didn't use faith power, just spiritual qi.

This was something that Zhao Hai made some time ago. In fact, all 18 techniques had their own versions that didn't use faith power. They were easy to practice because they only used spiritual qi. However, they were still immensely powerful techniques, much more powerful than the techniques that the World of Cultivation had.

Zhao Hai didn't make these techniques in preparation for events like the one right now. Instead, he made these techniques for the Undead to study. He didn't expect he would have a use for it right now.

If he took out the real Pagoda Technique, then these old monks would certainly be able to tell that it was a technique that used faith power. When the time comes, Zhao Hai wouldn't be able to explain himself.

Before long, Zhao Hai finished writing down the technique. Then he opened his eyes and respectfully offered the jade slip as he said, "Grandmaster, please take a look."

The old monk waves his hand as the jade slip appears on top of it. Then he inspected it with his spiritual force. After some time, the old monk nodded and said, "Benefactor Zhao Hai, how did you make your Undead? Why are they much more powerful than average?"

Hearing the old monk, Zhao Hai couldn't help but sneer deep inside. These old monks clearly wanted to get everything out of him before giving up. But he still respectfully replied, "Replying to Grandmaster. I didn't make the Undead on my own. The reason the Undead are powerful was because I was able to obtain a black staff back in the lower realms. As long as I use that staff, the Undead created would be very powerful. Moreover, it's not limited by quantity."

The old monk replied, "I wonder if Benefactor Zhao Hai can take out the staff so that we can take a look."

Zhao Hai awkwardly said, "Replying to Grandmaster, this magic staff has already been integrated to my Liquid Silver."

The old monk paused, then he followed on, "Then could Benefactor Zhao Hai take out Liquid Silver for us to take a look?"

Zhao Hai complied. He waved his hand and took Liquid Silver out. Then he handed it over to the old monk. The old monk received Liquid Silver by waving his hand. Seeing that there was nothing special about the staff after initial inspection, he said, "I wonder if Benefactor Zhao Hai's staff could transfer owners?"

Zhao Hai replied, "Replying to Grandmaster. This staff is already recognized as its owner. It cannot be used by anyone."

Another monk looked at Zhao Hai and said with a booming voice, "I ask Benefactor Zhao Hai to hand it over!"

Without delay, Zhao Hai's palm went straight towards his head. It was going to kill Zhao Hai!

Just as Zhao Hai's palm was about to hit his head, the old monk waved his hand to stop Zhao Hai's action.

Then the old monk solemnly said, "Alright, Benefactor, please receive your staff. This old monk has no interest in it."

Hearing this, Zhao Hai took Liquid Silver back. The old monk looked at Zhao Hai and said, "Young Benefactor, please go back." Zhao Hai gave the old monks a salute before leaving the room.