Chapter 789: Just One Step Away

Su Che swung his long sword, quickly clearing the black crystals around him, allowing him to reach the surrounding stone walls and use the teleportation spell to leave at any time.
He was still at the bottom of the deep pool. If the black crystals from the Immortal Prison were combined, they would form a cylinder over ten zhang tall—merely one ten-thousandth of the pool’s depth of one hundred thousand zhang.
This one ten-thousandth was more than enough to enhance the defenses of the giants. Su Che wasn’t in a hurry to collect the rest, as chopping and carving them one by one was too time-consuming and laborious.
“Let’s put them here for now. Anyway, no one can steal them inside the Immortal Demon Battlefield, and the Origin Demons certainly won’t use such materials to craft weapons. We should first study that black stone tablet; maybe that will reveal an easier way to collect them.”
Su Che used the teleportation spell to return to the surface. The Silver-Winged Demon General was still waiting there. Upon seeing Su Che, he pointed at the pool and asked, “Lord, this pool water suddenly turned into crystals. What’s going on…?”
Su Che waved his hand and instructed in a low voice, “Don’t worry about this. Go back and tell the Demon King to assign people to watch over this place constantly, ensuring no other demons can touch it.”
The Silver-Winged Demon General slapped his chest and said, “Lord, there’s no need to assign others. Leave this to me. I’ll station my direct subordinates here to ensure nothing goes wrong.”
“Then I rely on you.”
“You’re too kind, Lord.”
Su Che returned to the core of the Sealing Magic Array, calmed down, and studied the black stone tablet with Lao Hei.
“I’ve never seen such characters. Ordinary methods definitely won’t work.”
In less than half a quarter of an hour, Lao Hei said, “Let the Heavenly Power of the Immortal Prison decipher them.”
“Agreed,” Su Che replied immediately.
Although the Heavenly Power of the Immortal Prison couldn’t compare to that of the external universe, as it was Heavenly Power itself, it had its own wonders. Su Che believed that figuring out the general meaning of the characters shouldn’t be a problem.
Buzz…
The black stone tablet was lifted into the air by the Heavenly Power and suddenly shattered into fine sand-like powder, dissolving into the cosmic void as if swallowed and merged by the Immortal Prison Pagoda.
Just a few breaths later, the black powder reappeared, instantly gathering together to form the stone tablet once more—unchanged, exactly as before.

A relevant piece of information naturally came to Su Che and Lao Hei’s minds, and the answer was already clear.
“So that’s how it is… Those immortal lords are really quite capable of causing trouble.”
Su Che smiled silently.
Having understood the situation, Su Che wasn’t in a hurry to return to the Immortal Realm Plain. There were still two years left before the deadline for the various Immortal Emperors to register.
Being in this safe place, the Sealing Magic Array, made it convenient for him to continue strengthening Jufu’s defensive capabilities.
As for those black crystals, which had been sent to the Third Fire Realm along with Jufu, Su Che didn’t need to worry about how to integrate them. Since the Third Fire Realm had the ability to transform magical artifacts, its master would be more than enough to handle it.
More than a month passed slowly, yet Jufu still hadn’t been fully strengthened. Su Che thought to himself, “These crystals are indeed extremely hard. Even the master of the Fire Realm finds it difficult to refine them.”
“The harder, the better!”
Lao Hei grinned and said, “The more trouble it takes, the stronger and more resilient Jufu will become after being refined.”
“The several immortal lords are quite generous, providing me with many fine items,” Su Che thought.
“I guess there are even more valuable things in their treasure vaults,” Lao Hei said in a low voice. “Master, do you really intend to share that vault with those Immortal Emperors?”
“It’s not sharing; it’s exchange,” Su Che replied with a mysterious smile. “There must be many so-called treasures in that vault that mean nothing to me. The best way to deal with such things is to use them as bargaining chips in the Cloud Immortal Realm to trade with those Immortal Emperors… Trading is such a hassle, requiring fairness and justice. It’s better to take this opportunity to make them come to me, to flatter me, so that we can gain the greatest benefits, right?”
“Huh?”
Lao Hei was initially stunned, then gave a thumbs up. “Now I understand. You’re so calculating—truly brilliant! Master, you’re getting more and more cunning.”
“It’s the best method I can think of,” Su Che said. “In this case, hiding and concealing things will only bring endless trouble. Being completely open like this is the most advantageous situation for me.”
“Yes,” Lao Hei agreed. “These days, even those Immortal Emperors from the Eighth Heaven greet you with great respect. Just having this kind of honor makes one feel very satisfied.”
“It’s strange that so far, not a single Immortal Emperor from the Ninth Heaven has come to register,” Su Che frowned slightly. “Could it be that those Immortal Emperors from the Ninth Heaven have received orders from the various immortal lords not to participate in this?”

“There’s a possibility,” Lao He mused. “I guess it’s because the power of the Ninth Heaven is too strong; it wouldn’t be fair for them to get involved.”
“It’s not that simple,” Su Che shook his head slightly. “We can even make a bolder guess. What if there truly exists within the Immortal Lord’s Treasury some opportunity that can help someone reach the Immortal Lord realm, and once such an opportunity falls into the hands of a Ninth Heaven Immortal Emperor, it’s very likely that another Primordial Immortal Lord will emerge? Then…”
Lao He immediately understood. “What the master means is, if such an opportunity really exists, it must have been deliberately left for you by those great Immortal Lords, right?”
“Hmph…”
Su Che smiled darkly. “Even so, I’m not interested. Even if I got such an opportunity, I’d give it to someone else. I am the Lord of the Immortal Prison; I don’t need anyone’s gifts or arrangements. With the power of the Immortal Prison alone, I can reach the so-called Immortal Lord realm, or even more…”
What more? Su Che didn’t say it—it was his own ambition.
Another month passed, and the enhanced Giant Wealth was created once again. Its original golden color had turned into a dark gold with a deeper sense of richness due to the addition of numerous black crystals, losing some of its splendor but gaining in depth.
It was still impossible to determine exactly how much its defensive strength had increased. Su Che and Lao He could only make rough estimates. It should be sufficient to withstand the assault of a Fourth Heaven Immortal Emperor or even two or three Third Heaven Immortal Emperors.
Back on the Immortal Realm Plain, as soon as Su Che appeared, he saw two familiar faces: Feng Lin and Zong Yi.
Su Che wasn’t surprised by the appearance of these two Immortal Emperors, as he had sent them message talismans so they could find this place.
He had weighed this matter in his mind before and decided that since it was the most precious opportunity in the Immortal Realm, he should inform these two friends. Otherwise, they would surely blame him later for not notifying them of such a great opportunity, allowing outsiders to take advantage of it…
Similarly, Feng Lin and Zong Yi also knew that this matter was serious and couldn’t be taken lightly. Therefore, after seeing Su Che, they didn’t show much familiarity and instead communicated through telepathy from a distance.
This was to avoid suspicion and prevent other Immortal Emperors from harboring unnecessary doubts or dissatisfaction.
It had been over three hundred years since they last met. Even if Su Che couldn’t determine Feng Lin’s cultivation level, he could sense that her strength had changed significantly. He asked via telepathy, “Have you used that Wish Fruit already?”
“Yes.”

Feng Linyun replied from a distance of thousands of feet, “I am now at the fifth heaven realm. In about three hundred more years, I can ascend to the sixth heaven. This is the full effect of that wish-fulfilling fruit.”
Su Che nodded slightly. A single wish-fulfilling fruit allowing her to rise from the fourth heaven to the sixth heaven was indeed extremely worthwhile. After all, each ascent to the Immortal Emperor realm could not be achieved merely through the passage of time. Staying stuck in the same realm for hundreds of billions of years was quite common.
Feng Linyun was also very satisfied and expressed her gratitude to Su Che once again.
Su Che then sent a message to both her and Zong Yi, “For this treasure-hunt opportunity, you just need to follow closely behind me. There’s no need to engage in disputes with other Immortal Emperors over any interests.”
“Understood,” replied Feng Linyun and Zong Yi in unison. With their wisdom, such a reminder was sufficient; there was no need to be too explicit.
Zong Yi asked, “Lan Ling isn’t coming, is she?”
“No, she’s not allowed to come,” Su Che replied. “As a Demon Emperor, no matter how well she hides, she can’t conceal herself from so many Immortal Emperors’ eyes. Something will definitely go wrong.”
“That’s exactly right,” Zong Yi said, relieved. “It’s best if she doesn’t come…”
The next two years passed peacefully. When the ten-year period ended and the registration deadline arrived, there were 2,173 names on the list—nearly one-third of all Immortal Emperors in the immortal realm.
On that day, Su Che appeared before the many Immortal Emperors once more. Everyone stood up and greeted him again as the referee. Each Immortal Emperor was filled with anticipation and quiet tension.
They all realized this was the last day of the registration period, and they had no idea what challenges lay ahead.
Everyone knew it was impossible for all over 2,000 Immortal Emperors to enter the Immortal Venerable Treasury. Competition and elimination would surely occur, with only a few lucky ones securing a spot.
Su Che raised his hand, and the registration list, which had hung in the air for ten years, dimmed and slowly closed.
Swish!
The list fell into Su Che’s hands. The revered referee declared loudly, “The list is finalized. From now on, those who arrive here later will have no chance. Please all serve as witnesses.”
“Exactly!”
Over 2,000 Immortal Emperors responded in unison.
In the distance, millions of lower-ranked True Immortals hovered in the sky, using their divine vision to closely monitor the developments here.
While they were called “lower-ranked Immortals,” it was only in comparison to the Immortal Emperors. In reality, even the weakest among them were Xuan Immortals, Golden Immortals, and there were also quite a number of Great Luo Golden Immortals.

But they were not qualified to participate in this opportunity and could only be mere onlookers filled with regret. Just then, another streak of light flew from afar, swiftly passing through the onlookers and arriving at the registration site in an instant. It was a male Immortal Emperor, likely at the seventh heaven realm. Sensing the strange gazes from everyone gathered, the Immortal Emperor realized something was wrong and asked in a low voice, “Am I late?” Su Che, holding the list, nodded and replied, “The list has been received; fate has been decided.” “Is there no room for flexibility?” the Immortal Emperor asked, his expression dark. “This is the will of heaven, witnessed by many Immortal Emperors,” Su Che replied calmly. “Indeed,” over two thousand Immortal Emperors echoed in unison. With such overwhelming momentum, no one dared to question it. “Sigh!” The Immortal Emperor stamped his foot in frustration. “Just one step short—yet still no chance!”