Jiang Yuan and Hamster Pudding walked out of the Kunlun Immortal Realm hand in hand, dismissed their mounts, and carefully descended from the peak of Tianshan Mountain all the way down to the flat foothills.
Remounting their steeds, they sped like lightning toward Shangjing City, the capital of Hanjiang City.
Upon arriving in Shangjing City, Jiang Yuan and Hamster Pudding headed straight to the guild district, found the NPC bank owner, and through dialogue, each paid a fee of one thousand gold coins, effortlessly completing the second stage of the ascension quest!
"Jiang Yuan, did you see the update notice? Once we ascend to the Immortal Realm, we'll automatically leave the Hanjiang City guild."
On the way back, Hamster Pudding deliberately slowed down, turned to look at Jiang Yuan, a hint of reluctance in their eyes.
Although the guild feature had only been out for a little over a month, Hamster Pudding had poured a lot of effort into Hanjiang City, turning it from the mess they inherited into its current scale.
"What's wrong? A bit reluctant to leave?"
Jiang Yuan caught the expression on Hamster Pudding's face, smiled slightly, and asked.
"What do you think? After all, I've been here for a few months."
Hamster Pudding glanced around Shangjing City, speaking to Jiang Yuan with some reluctance.
"I feel the same way, a bit reluctant too. But people always have to look forward."
Jiang Yuan said to Hamster Pudding with a smile.
"Yeah, let's go turn in the quest. I wonder if there'll be new tasks after this round."
Hamster Pudding nodded, didn't dwell on the issue, and headed back to the Kunlun Immortal Realm with Jiang Yuan.
The two teleported to Yumen Pass as fast as possible, mounted their steeds, and raced along, then climbed back up Tianshan Mountain to re-enter the spatial barrier of the Kunlun Immortal Realm.
With the opening of the Immortal Realm, the Kunlun Immortal Realm had become even livelier. Countless players between levels 100 and 105 flooded in—they were the second tier of the Dragon Kingdom server.
Watching these players leveling up in groups, Jiang Yuan and Hamster Pudding didn't linger and headed straight for the Three Pure Ones' Teaching Platform.
They went to the Supreme Pure One to turn in the quest and found that the third round of the ascension task no longer required multiple-choice questions. Instead, it instructed them to head to the Ascension Platform for the final trial.
When Jiang Yuan and Hamster Pudding reached the Ascension Platform, they found the four immortal envoys, including the Star Lord of Fate, already waiting there.
"Greetings, four immortal envoys."
Seeing the envoys, Jiang Yuan and Hamster Pudding quickly bowed.
"Hehe, Warrior Jiang Yuan, please rise."
The Star Lord of Fate had a favorable impression of this young man who inherited the legacy of the North Star Lord, so he spoke cheerfully.
"May I ask, immortal envoy, what exactly is this final task?"
Jiang Yuan looked curiously at the Star Lord of Fate and asked.
"Hehe, Warrior Jiang Yuan, this final ascension task requires passing the trial of the Howling Celestial Dog."
"What? The Howling Celestial Dog? Is that the pet of Erlang Shen?"
Hearing the Star Lord of Fate's words, Jiang Yuan was startled and asked.
"Hehe, exactly! Anyone wishing to ascend to the Immortal Realm must pass its trial."
The Star Lord of Fate smiled slightly and said to Jiang Yuan.
As they spoke, a spatial rift appeared before them, and Ding Ye, who had completed the third round before Jiang Yuan, stumbled out, looking disheveled.
"How'd it go, Old Ding? Did you finish the third round?"
Jiang Yuan quickly stepped forward, helped Ding Ye up, and asked.
"Ah! Don't even mention it! That Howling Celestial Dog is seriously messed up!"
Ding Ye brushed the dirt off his clothes and said to Jiang Yuan with a grimace.
"Hey, tell us, how exactly is it messed up?"
Hamster Pudding patted Ding Ye on the shoulder and asked curiously.
"Sigh, you'll know when you go in!"
Ding Ye sighed, waved at Jiang Yuan and Hamster Pudding, then climbed back up Tianshan Mountain toward the Kunlun Immortal Realm.
Seeing this, Jiang Yuan directly said to the Star Lord of Fate, "Immortal envoy, please teleport me over." He wanted to see for himself just how messed up this Howling Celestial Dog that Ding Ye mentioned really was.
The Star Lord of Fate pointed at the spatial rift still hanging in midair and said to Jiang Yuan, "Just go straight in."
"Pudding, wait for me here. I'll go in and take a look."
Jiang Yuan said to Hamster Pudding, then stepped into the spatial rift.
As the dizzying sensation faded, the scene before him gradually became clear.
Jiang Yuan found himself in a stone city surrounded by walls on all sides, with no one else around. Only a giant wolfdog, over ten meters tall, stood drooling and staring fiercely at him.
[Erlang Shen's Immortal Pet: Howling Celestial Dog] Level: 300 HP: ??? Attack: ??? Defense: ??? (Due to the target's high level, no further information can be obtained.)
Just as Jiang Yuan finished checking the Howling Celestial Dog's stats, it bared its teeth and lunged at him.
"Summon Sacred Beast Xuanwu!"
The sudden attack caught Jiang Yuan off guard, and he hastily summoned a Sacred Beast Xuanwu to barely cope.
A shimmering water shield enveloped Jiang Yuan's head as the Howling Celestial Dog sank its teeth into him. Then Jiang Yuan noticed a continuous bleeding debuff appear above him.
"What the hell, this is way too messed up!"
It turned out the debuff the Howling Celestial Dog applied caused a loss of 100,000 HP per second!
Fortunately, Jiang Yuan had the water healing shield to protect him; otherwise, he'd be dead in less than two seconds!
And on the quest panel to his left, it clearly stated he had to withstand the Howling Celestial Dog's attacks for five minutes!
"Damn! This is such a scam!"
Looking at the quest panel, Jiang Yuan couldn't help but complain helplessly.
Even someone like him with a sturdy build—let alone Ding Ye—couldn't last five minutes, not even one minute!
"Arcane Mark!"
Jiang Yuan threw a skill at the Howling Celestial Dog, immediately diverting its attention to the Sacred Beast Xuanwu.
While the Howling Celestial Dog attacked the Xuanwu, Jiang Yuan quickly used the "Summon Evolution" skill to evolve a Heaven-tier Sand River Turtle.
For the rest of the time, Jiang Yuan had it much easier, just waiting for the five minutes to end.
In the empty stone city, time slowly passed—four minutes, three minutes, two minutes, one minute...
Jiang Yuan had never felt five minutes stretch so long!
Finally, the last fifty seconds counted down. Relying on the Sacred Beast Xuanwu and the Heaven-tier Sand River Turtle, Jiang Yuan successfully endured the Howling Celestial Dog's five-minute assault and completed the quest!
A white light enveloped Jiang Yuan, and a mysterious force teleported him out, landing him in front of Hamster Pudding.
After two or three hours, Jiang Yuan had finally completed all the ascension quests. All he needed was to obtain the Nirvana Golden Seal to ascend to the Immortal Realm!