Return Once More

Within a hundred-mile radius, crystal clusters of every size were constantly falling from the ceiling of the stone cavern.

Cluster after cluster snapped off at the roots, then crashed down heavily, colliding with the countless crystal clusters rising from the ground.

Sparks flew in all directions, thunderous crashes rang out one after another, and crystal fragments scattered everywhere. The entire cavern trembled faintly.

The ruins of the buildings surrounding the great hall were smashed to pieces.

The great hall was gone. The ruins all around it were gone. Every brick, tile, beam, and pillar had become fragments, ultimately buried beneath a thick layer of shattered crystal.

Chu Tian squatted at the entrance to the cavern passage, staring blankly at the scene of destruction.

The thousand-meter-tall Ox Hero seemed to have been the pillar holding up this stone cavern. Once Ox Hero's body collapsed, the alien energy filling the cavern's air immediately sent the entire place into the process of collapse.

Faint golden motes still drifted through the air. Ox Hero had already turned completely to ash.

Old Tie lay beside Wu Tie, equally lost in thought as he watched the wandering golden specks in the air and the countless crystal clusters and boulders falling from the ceiling.

"This fellow, his temper was still this stubborn..." Old Tie muttered in a low voice. "Dead for so many years, yet a single thought still refused to perish. Dead set on seeing whose hands this treasure would fall into."

"After persisting for so many years... was he lonely? Despairing? Or perhaps, like me, he had actually been deeply despairing?" Old Tie murmured. "Only prolonged despair could have reduced his body to such a ruined state."

"With his cultivation, his body should have endured for ages... Only despair born from within himself could have utterly destroyed his body in an instant." Old Tie shook his head. "Still, good... Before his destruction, he was happy. That was good enough."

Wu Tie touched his forehead.

The thumb-sized, bloody characters for "Longevity" on his forehead resembled burns seared by a branding iron, deeply imprinted in his flesh. The skin nearby felt slightly hot, and his skull ached with faint stabs of pain.

Wu Tie felt an indescribable awe toward Ox Hero, but he did not have many feelings about him.

Because he did not know Ox Hero well.

Because they were unfamiliar, Ox Hero's sudden "revival," and the sight of beams of light shooting from his eyes, had deeply shocked him without stirring much emotion.

Shi Lingqing, on the other hand, had actually detonated her own body and left those two bloody words between Wu Tie's brows.

The psychological impact Wu Tie suffered was far greater than Ox Hero's complete collapse or the destruction of this cavern.

"This woman was insane..." Wu Tie looked at Old Tie in bafflement. "I never wanted to kill her... There was no grudge between us. Although she gave me a vicious beating... my father told me that men should not bully women... I was not going to kill her."

"This grandpa does not understand women." Old Tie fell silent for a long while before turning to look at Wu Tie.

"Since this grandpa has no physical need for that, I never wasted time or effort studying women."

Shaking his head, Old Tie sighed. "But whether Yang Jian or Ox Hero, those fellows... whenever they boasted in ordinary times... this grandpa heard plenty..."

"Women... You think you have not offended her, but in truth, you have already offended her beyond measure..." Old Tie cast Wu Tie a disdainful sidelong glance. "You think she would be grateful because you did not kill her?"

"Shouldn't she be?" Wu Tie looked at Old Tie with innocent confusion. "My father said..."

"How did your father teach children?" Old Tie snorted coldly. "Still, that makes sense. You are still young..."

A flash of bloody light passed through Old Tie's eyes, and he sighed. "You do not understand... When a naked little woman with some looks uses every possible means to seduce a man, yet that man simply refuses to take the bait... that offends her a hundred times worse than digging up her ancestral graves!"

Old Tie stood up, raised a forepaw to pat Wu Tie's shoulder, and shook his head.

"See more of the world in the future, and you will understand."

"That Shi Lingqing was at the peak of her life. With her 'clever methods' and 'brilliant intelligence,' she schemed against experts from two powerful organizations and gained great power, loyal retainers, and a bright future..."

"Then, all of a sudden, she was knocked down from the peak of her life with one blow and abruptly returned to having nothing at all..."

"At that moment, if you had wailed to heaven and cried to earth while hugging her feet, licking her soles, and becoming her slave for her to command as she pleased... she would have been very satisfied and continued striving with confidence..."

"But you, kid... Hmph, hmph..."

"You disappointed her far too much... Not to mention that the treasure ultimately chose you rather than her, who thought so highly of herself... Though this little girl had some cleverness, some cunning, and some viciousness acquired later in life..."

"She was still too young and unable to bear such a blow. If she could not have it, dragging you down to die with her was only natural, wasn't it?"

Old Tie wagged his head as he lectured Wu Tie. Although Wu Tie could not understand these words for the moment, he honestly committed every one of them to heart.

"Women really are... complicated, terrifying..." Wu Tie also stood up, gripping his spear in both hands as he muttered. "Men like my eldest brother, second brother, and third brother are still better..."

"You would not like a mannish woman... Ha, ha, ha! When you grow up, you will understand. Compared to a mannish woman, you would rather like a green tea bitch like Shi Lingqing..." Old Tie laughed loudly and turned into the long passage.

He did not look back, did not reminisce, and did not even let out a single sigh.

Just like that, Old Tie left the place where Ox Hero had been buried, his steps exceptionally steady.

"Green tea bitch?" Wu Tie hurried after Old Tie. "Explain it to me? What is a green tea bitch?"

"Do you know what green tea is?" Old Tie's voice came from deep within the passage. "You do not? Then... fine, I should not corrupt children. You will understand someday... Mm, let's leave off the third word. First, let's learn what green tea is."

"What kind of treasure was that Bone Crusher?"

"How would I know?"

"Though this grandpa is broadly knowledgeable... that Bone Crusher..."

"This grandpa can only guess that it was something from legend... I have never seen it with my own eyes, so I cannot be certain."

"It drilled into your body? What does that matter? You are alive and well, aren't you? That settles it."

"Now then, back to green tea bitch... Oh, no, green tea..."

"Tea, this thing..."

A massive boulder over three hundred meters in diameter fell from the top of the cavern, ruthlessly crushing the Longevity Cult wooden boat that Wu Tie and Old Tie had not had time to move. Countless boulders then came crashing down, and the entire stone cavern collapsed.

In the days that followed, Wu Tie returned to his usual routine.

Hunting prey, making Foundation Establishment Potions, practicing the Foundation Establishment Form, and training his spear techniques.

Perhaps because of the Bone Crusher that had fused with Wu Tie, his progress in the Foundation Establishment Form over the following three months was astonishingly fast.

In just three months, he had reached the seven hundred and nineteenth form of the Foundation Establishment Form. Once he broke through to the seven hundred and twentieth form, the abundant, surging Origin Power throughout his body could condense into the higher-grade Origin Force.

Origin Power could only circulate within the body, increasing Wu Tie's strength and speed.

Origin Force, however, could be released to injure enemies. It could even control weapons, allowing them to leave one's hand and kill enemies through the air at short range.

Moreover, when Origin Force flooded the body, both physical strength and speed would be greatly enhanced. It could also powerfully temper the bones and muscles, greatly strengthening the body's defenses.

A cultivator at the third level of the Foundation Establishment realm possessed at least ten times the combat strength of a cultivator at the second level.

But Wu Tie's progress was too rapid, to the point that Old Tie deliberately had him suppress it somewhat. Every time he trained, he only practiced up to the seven hundred and nineteenth form, intentionally delaying his breakthrough to the seven hundred and twentieth.

As he continuously accumulated Origin Power and tempered his body, the Origin Power within Wu Tie grew increasingly full. Gradually, every cell in his body swelled to its utmost limit, unable to store even the slightest additional thread of Origin Power.

An angry beastly roar rang out as a Giant Hippopotamus charged wildly at Wu Tie, head lowered.

The Giant Hippopotamus weighed tens of thousands of jin. Charging at high speed, the force it carried amounted to at least several hundred thousand jin.

Wu Tie had already reached the ultimate peak of the second level of the Foundation Establishment realm, yet he still did not dare face such a giant beast head-on.

He lightly shifted a few steps to one side. He moved so fast that he even left behind a faint afterimage.

Holding his spear in his right hand, he thrust with perfect precision.

The spear whistled into the Giant Hippopotamus's ear canal and pierced through its brain.

The enormous beast's body suddenly convulsed before crashing heavily to the ground.

Its huge body slid forward for over a hundred meters, carving a deep trail through the thick moss.

Wu Tie pulled out his spear and slung it across his back. A Metal Spider darted out, its bloated abdomen opening as white metallic fluid condensed into a long blade and sprayed forth.

Wu Tie skillfully seized the long blade and carefully carved up the giant beast.

Several dozen meters away, a nest of more than twenty Gray Rock Lizards swayed their tails as they lay tamely atop a patch of rubble, watching him.

With large prey like the Giant Hippopotamus, Wu Tie had stopped troubling the Gray Rock Lizards these days.

Instead, he gave the several nests of Gray Rock Lizards near the Ancient Divine Weapon Camp a little benefit every time.

Wu Tie would toss the Giant Hippopotamus's offal and its less appetizing meat to these Gray Rock Lizards.

Over the past few months, Wu Tie had developed a fairly good friendship with these Gray Rock Lizards.

Whenever he dealt with these Gray Rock Lizards, Wu Tie would think of the few large creatures raised in the Wu Family's stone fortress.

"Really, here to take advantage again? Behave yourselves in the future, and there will be meat for you."

Smiling, Wu Tie chopped off a large chunk of blood-soaked meat and tossed it far away.

The Gray Rock Lizards let out cheerful "huff huff" sounds and quickly pounced on it, feasting with great relish. Over the past few months, with Wu Tie occasionally tossing them meat, the quality of life for these Gray Rock Lizards had improved considerably.

A faint clattering sound came from nearby as a Metal Spider swiftly scuttled over.

No one knew what Old Tie and Big Iron had done, but over the past few months, the range of activity for the Energy Puppets of the Ancient Divine Weapon Camp had grown greater and greater. They could now move freely within several hundred miles with ease.

Furthermore, the number of large and small Energy Puppets was continually increasing. In just the past two months, Wu Tie had seen at least a hundred newly added Metal Spiders.

The palm-sized Metal Spider leaped over. Its sharp legs lightly tapped the branch of a giant fern before it landed on Wu Tie's shoulder as swiftly as a breeze.

Old Tie's voice came from inside the Metal Spider. "Hurry and clean this up. Outsiders have come again... Tsk, they really cling like lingering ghosts."

Wu Tie froze for a moment, then sped up. His long blade flashed as he swiftly chopped the Giant Hippopotamus into dozens of pieces.

A swarm of Metal Spiders rushed forward, each dragging a piece of meat away at full speed and transporting the Giant Hippopotamus back to the Ancient Divine Weapon Camp.

Another group of Metal Spiders surged over, professionally bringing moss and soil from afar to conceal the traces left by Wu Tie's hunt. At the same time, they covered the tracks left by the Metal Spiders that had transported the prey.

Led by the palm-sized Metal Spider, Wu Tie sprinted all the way and soon arrived at the great river.

Crouching behind a large boulder and using a clump of giant ferns to hide his body, Wu Tie looked out over the river.

Three entirely black wooden boats, each more than ten meters long, floated upon the river. Their sails fluttered from their masts, and the two bloody characters for "Longevity" were especially glaring.

At the prow of each of the three wooden boats stood an old person—two men and one woman.

Like Grandma Hong, all three had white hair and youthful faces. Their complexions were an abnormally ruddy shade, as though blood qi seeped out from every pore.

Behind them stood twenty or thirty elegantly dressed, handsome young men and beautiful young women. Each one was plump and full-bodied, like bean sprouts that had absorbed enough water and nutrients, thriving to an excessive degree.

A trail of water suddenly surged up beneath the river's surface.

A huge Water Python as thick as a water vat abruptly shot out of the river, opening its blood basin of a mouth to swallow the young men and women aboard one of the wooden boats.

The old man standing at that boat's prow wore a black robe, with two skulls embroidered on his sleeves in bloody thread. He chuckled, then suddenly reached out with his right hand toward the Water Python.

The Water Python, more than ten meters away from him, abruptly twisted sideways and was drawn toward the old man by a tremendous force.

The old man's five right fingers suddenly filled with blood, his palm swelling to a foot in size. His fingers turned a dripping crimson, as if carved from blood jade.

His five fingers hooked like claws and sank deeply into the Water Python's body. The Water Python's half-inch-thick scales became incomparably fragile in the old man's hand. His fingers plunged deep into its body, and in the span of a single breath, the Water Python went limp and fell into the river.

The old man burped in satisfaction, then opened his mouth and exhaled a long breath of dense blood-red vapor.

"Very nourishing." The old man smiled in praise. "This place is good, truly good... Who would have thought that even though that old woman Hong died, she still found such a fine place for our cult."

On another wooden boat, the elderly woman in a blood-red robe snorted coldly, her face gloomy. "Sister Hong is dead, and you are all so happy? If you cannot find the true culprit, let us see how you explain yourselves to those above."

The other old man smiled lightly. "Explain ourselves? What explanation is needed? Is this not already clear? Grandma Chi, it was all caused by those people from Mist Blades. Destroy Mist Blades, and the problem will be solved."

"Destroy Mist Blades? You make it sound easy." Grandma Chi said in a sinister tone. "They are the local tyrants of the Azure Flame Domain... They will not be so easily wiped out..."

With a stomp of her foot, the wooden boat rose into the air. Grandma Chi said grimly, "No matter who the true culprit is... I will not let him go."

Grandma Chi's gaze was like blades as she swept it fiercely over the two old men.

The two old men smiled, simultaneously steering their wooden boats into the air.

The three wooden boats flew swiftly in three different directions.