In a flash, another year quietly passed.

At this moment, Fang Hong was still sitting cross-legged in the Immortal Cave’s secret chamber, his body exuding a rich Immortal Origin Qi.

The box filled with Immortal Pills in front of him was now empty, all the Immortal Pills inside having been refined by him.

Suddenly, Fang Hong’s tightly closed eyes snapped open.

In an instant, his entire body erupted with dazzling light, and surging immortal power, like a rushing river, poured out from within him, spreading towards the surroundings of the Immortal Cave.

A moment later, this powerful aura slowly receded, returning into Fang Hong’s body.

A satisfied smile appeared on Fang Hong’s face.

In a full year, Fang Hong had refined a total of one thousand and forty-five Immortal Pills.

With the pure immortal power from these Immortal Pills, his Cultivation realm once again made rapid progress, successfully advancing to the Grand Unity Peak Realm.

The Grand Unity Golden Immortal Peak Realm is already considered a top-tier Cultivation realm in the Human Realm, just one step away from the Immortal King Realm.

As long as he can successfully Undergo Tribulation through the extremely perilous Heavenly Fire Tribulation, Fang Hong will be able to achieve the position of Immortal King.

From then on, he would roam the Three Realms, no longer bound by the planes.

However, this Heavenly Fire Tribulation is no small matter; it is not an ordinary fire disaster, but a tribulation specifically for burning a Cultivator’s soul.

The process is extremely dangerous; a slight misstep could lead to Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, and his body dying and his Dao disappearing.

Fang Hong knew the stakes involved and naturally would not rush for success; he had to make full preparations to be confident in successfully Undergoing Tribulation.

The core key to dealing with the Heavenly Fire Tribulation lies in protecting one’s soul.

There are ways to protect the soul and pass this tribulation.

Either refine a soul-guarding Immortal Artifact, or cultivate a special immortal art for guarding the soul.

Alternatively, refine Immortal Pills that can stabilize the soul; if all three can be achieved simultaneously, passing the Heavenly Fire Tribulation would be a sure thing.

In terms of soul Immortal Artifacts, Fang Hong already possessed two treasures: the tenth-grade Soul Nurturing Pearl and the demon soul banner.

These two treasures both have the miraculous effect of guarding the soul and are perfectly sufficient to resist the burning of the Heavenly Fire Tribulation.

In terms of immortal arts, the Eastern Luo Sect, where he belonged, happened to have a seventh-grade immortal art called Soul Pacifying Art.

This immortal art specializes in soul defense, capable of forming a tough protective barrier outside the body, effectively resisting various soul attacks. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Fang Hong had already Cultivated this immortal art to perfection and could also use it to resist the invasion of Heavenly Fire.

Thus, preparations for Immortal Artifacts and immortal arts were complete.

Now, Fang Hong only needed to refine soul-guarding Immortal Pills before he could peacefully enter seclusion and charge towards the Immortal King Realm.

Regarding soul-guarding Immortal Pills, the Eastern Luo Sect also had a corresponding inheritance, which was the Soul Solidifying Pill.

This soul Solidifying Pill is a seventh-grade Immortal Pill; after consumption, it can quickly stabilize a Cultivator’s soul Origin and enhance soul resilience, precisely an Immortal Pill refined specifically to deal with the Heavenly Fire Tribulation.

Refining the soul Solidifying Pill requires many rare immortal herbs; Fang Hong had traveled and searched for years, already collecting more than half.

Now, after a careful count, only eight crucial immortal herbs remained to be found; as soon as these eight immortal herbs were gathered, he could immediately begin refining the soul Solidifying Pill.

Just as Fang Hong was pondering where to find these eight immortal herbs, he suddenly remembered something, flipping his hand to take out a key that was entirely crimson.

This red key was obtained by Fang Hong when he killed the passing Cultivator Ma Tai in the Purple Cloud Sea Domain while advancing to the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm.

While searching Ma Tai’s memories, Fang Hong learned that this key was no ordinary item; it came from the Ancient Demon Continent.

Moreover, it was highly likely to be closely related to an ancient Cultivator’s inheritance site.

"Ancient Cultivator’s inheritance site."

"If this inheritance site truly exists, there might be the immortal herbs I need inside," Fang Hong played with the red key in his hand, a hint of contemplation flashing in his eyes.

Thinking of this, Fang Hong had already made a decision in his heart, intending to personally explore the secret hidden behind this key.

If he could truly find that ancient Cultivator’s inheritance site, he might be able to find the eight immortal herbs needed to refine the soul Solidifying Pill.

That way, the last obstacle to breaking through to the Immortal King Realm would also be cleared.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

Just as Fang Hong was about to activate his immortal power and cast a spell to investigate this red key, an unexpected change occurred.

The red key suddenly began to rotate uncontrollably on its own, emitting a faint red glow around its body.

And the light grew stronger and stronger, illuminating the entire Immortal Cave in a crimson hue.

Seeing this, Fang Hong was greatly surprised, secretly thinking, "Could it be that this key sensed the location of the inheritance site?"

Fang Hong composed himself, took the key, and exited the years pearl space, arriving outside the Immortal Cave.

After the red key rotated in the air for a moment, its rotation speed gradually slowed down and finally stopped.

And the end of the key was pointing in a certain direction, as if guiding him to the path to the inheritance site.

Fang Hong looked in the direction indicated by the key, his brows slightly raised.

"That direction is the Outskirts?"

The Outskirts is just an ordinary area of the Ancient Demon Continent; he didn’t expect this ancient Cultivator’s inheritance site to be in such a place.

After pondering for a moment, Fang Hong moved, transforming into a streak of light, and swiftly flew towards the Outskirts according to the direction indicated by the red key.

With his Grand Unity Peak Cultivation realm, Fang Hong’s speed was very fast; in less than half a day, he had returned to the Outskirts, precisely arriving at the direction indicated by the red key.

What came into view was an incredibly huge rift valley.

This rift valley stretched across the land, with no end in sight; a rough estimate put its length at several thousand li.

The width of the rift valley was also astonishing, bottomless, and the valley floor was pitch black.

What surprised Fang Hong was that, at this moment, a large number of Cultivators had already gathered around this rift valley.

A rough estimate put the number at about five hundred people.

Among these Cultivators, most were of the Golden Immortal realm, while Cultivators of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal Realm were particularly rare, numbering only fifteen.

And these fifteen Grand Unity Cultivators were not unfamiliar to Fang Hong.

These people came from the three top sects on the Ancient Demon Continent.

Heavenly Demon sect, Corpse Demon sect, and Undead soul sect.

These three sects were as famous as the Demon Controlling Sect, which Fang Hong had previously destroyed, and were renowned on the Ancient Demon Continent, collectively known as the Four Great Demon sects of the Ancient Demon.

However, now that the Demon Controlling Sect had been completely destroyed by Fang Hong, only these three Great Demon sects remained on the Ancient Demon Continent.

Looking at this lineup, it was clear that all the high-ranking members of the three Great Demon sects had been dispatched.