Chapter 555 - Status

Social standing in the immortal worlds was a very strict affair. And most of the populace was made up of serfs who couldn’t reach the Demolishing level, or immortals who were only immortal soldiers. The truth was that any nation, small or large, would have a large base of low-class citizens.

Those whose cultivation made them immortal warriors were like the landed gentry of the mortal world, and even that only gave them middling status at best. They had limited power and wealth, but no more.

Only the immortal officers could be considered influential rulers. Immortal generals would lead troops into battle, and when it came to immortal marquises, well, they were truly powerful government officials.

People like that were few and far between in the immortal world.

Upon leaving the Stormwind Plains and entering Stormwind itself, it was possible to see the complex nature of the city and its structure. Immortals were everywhere, and Yang Qi could immediately sense a flourishing energy that nothing in the mortal world could compare to.

The city was protected by warding spells that prevented flight, but Yang Qi had his imperial snakecharms and the Heaven-Devouring True Energy they provided, which negated such restrictions.

He also had three godworms, which inherently understood the most fundamental and mysterious aspects of space, and Angel Wings that made him capable of seemingly impossible speeds.

In fact, if he wanted to, he could cloak himself in invisibility, enter the city, and look around without anyone being aware of his presence.

However, he didn’t choose to sneak around in such a way. Based on the divinations he had performed with the Wheel of Fate, he knew that something big would happen to the Titan Emperor Heaven soon. And if it were to fall, he wanted to find the heart of the immortal world and gain access to its essence first, which would be of great benefit to his cultivation base.

He passed through Stormwind, whereupon he reached a seemingly endless sea that Titan Duelbringer explained was called the Crystal Ocean. It had been created by the immortal Waterfolk and was covered with a vast array of islands. Of course, each of the islands was as large as a sprawling continent from the mortal world. In the depths of the water, there was a crystalline palace that was apparently a mansion grotto of some sort.

The Crystal Ocean was even larger than the Stormwind Plains, and had even more violent storms. There were also sea monsters and demonlings in its depths that would attack and kill immortals whenever possible.

Armed forces patrolled the surface of the sea and would do their best to kill any of the beasts they could.

At one point, to Yang Qi’s amazement, he saw a group of immortal soldiers surrounding a nine-headed sea snake. Shockingly, the snake was a third stage Thought-Demolisher, the level in which ‘one thought could create a world’. That was the level of the immortal officers, yet the snake was so strong that it could equal dozens of immortals of the same level as it. As the battle raged, it devoured hundreds of immortals before the army forces finally created a spell formation strong enough to capture it.

Scenes like this played out all the time in various locations in the immortal world.

Titan Duelbringer sighed. “The Titan Emperor Heaven started descending into chaos hundreds of years ago. How could the local demonlings be so powerful and out of control? I wonder if it has something to do with our old rival, the demon-immortal world called the Hanging Heaven.”

“What? Hanging Heaven?” Yang Qi immediately thought of the holy land of the Demonfolk, the Hanging Mountain. Stunned, he asked, “What’s the situation?”

“The Hanging Heaven and the Titan Emperor Heaven have a longstanding grudge,” Titan Duelbringer explained. “However, it's a complicated issue, far beyond anything an insignificant imperial clansman like myself would understand. Supposedly, when the Hell of Euphoria attacked the Titan Emperor Heaven in ancient times, the Hanging Heaven helped in its defense. But later, there was a falling out. In any case, the Hanging Heaven is a kingdom of pure Demonfolk.”

“So, that’s how it is.” Yang Qi didn’t ask for any further details. Instead, he focused on navigating the Crystal Ocean.

Eventually, they reached a mountain range in which the peaks soared to unimaginable heights. In fact, they were so high that even immortals would likely find them impossible to scale. Demonlings and immortal creatures were everywhere, and baleful energy drifted to and fro.

At one point, Yang Qi saw an enormous toad demonling lurking in a swamp, exhaling vital energy that caused the surrounding mountains to tremble.

“That's a primeval toxitoad,” Titan Duelbringer said. “Be careful, even certain powerful immortals would find it impossible to deal with. These mountains are called the Endless Forest, and supposedly the demonlings multiply here without end. The imperial court has tried dealing with them permanently, but simply can’t. They’re not even able to establish outpost cities here.”

Ignoring Titan Duelbringer’s advice, Yang Qi reached down and grabbed the toad, and before it could even struggle he shrank it down and refined it. Moments later, it was nothing more than a tiny trinket that emanated powerful magical fluctuations