All things between heaven and earth possessed spirituality, and Profound Spirit Wood could gather that spirituality. Wherever Profound Spirit Wood grew would become a "spiritual land," a precious ground and sacred soil exceptionally suited for martial artists' cultivation.
Many powerful princely mansions, sects, and martial academies in the Yulan Empire searched everywhere for Profound Spirit Wood in order to alter their fortune, open up a sacred land for cultivation, and gather the great fortune of all directions.
The Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion had planted a "Gold Thread Purple Wood." Rumor had it that it had been planted for more than eight hundred years and was the inherited root of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion.
It was said that the Gold Thread Purple Wood had been planted within the "Sword Pavilion."
Yet no one in the Marquis Mansion knew where the "Sword Pavilion" was. This showed just how valuable a living Profound Spirit Wood was. It was absolutely tenfold, even a hundredfold, more precious than a single piece of Profound Spirit Wood—a sacred treasure that countless great families would fight madly to seize.
Ning Xiaochuan spent half a day digging out every root and rhizome of the Blood Toad Wood Tree. The longest root alone was seventeen meters long.
Ning Xiaochuan carried the Blood Toad Wood Tree, which weighed several thousand jin, and laboriously climbed up the cliff. He was exhausted and panting. Had his cultivation not reached the Profound Qi Eighth Level, he might have had no choice but to break the Blood Toad Wood apart before carrying it to the top of the cliff.
That would have been far too regrettable. The Blood Toad Wood Tree's value would have dropped by at least tenfold.
Murong Wushuang was cultivating the Turtle Breath Immovable Skill beside the cliff. His body lay motionless on the ground like a profound turtle, while rings of profound qi flowed around him, forming a vast domain of profound qi.
The wound on his neck had already scabbed over and healed.
So-called "Turtle Breath Immovable" meant breathing, resting, and drawing in and exhaling like a profound turtle, thereby attaining Harmony between Heaven and Man, communicating with the profound qi between heaven and earth, and allowing profound qi to flow into the body more swiftly and become one's own Martial Dao Profound Qi.
More than a hundred years ago, the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion's army had encircled and annihilated a Great Sect harboring rebellious ambitions. They slaughtered all the experts of that Great Sect and looted all its Azure Gold, Profound Stones, treasures, cultivation techniques, and scriptures, bringing them back to the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion's treasury.
The Turtle Breath Immovable Skill was one of those cultivation techniques. It had been the cultivation method of a supreme expert from that Great Sect.
Ning Xiaochuan watched him and secretly thought, This boy's talent truly is extraordinary. He has entered the gate of the Turtle Breath Immovable Skill so quickly. If he can take Heart Nourishing Elixir and Blood Accumulation Elixir every day, breaking through to the Profound Qi Ninth Level within three months will certainly be as easy as turning over his hand.
Merely cultivating a lowest-grade cultivation manual like Heaven and Earth Profound Qi, he had reached the Profound Qi Seventh Level at fifteen. That was absolutely shocking beyond belief.
If he had not always concealed his cultivation, those princely mansions would certainly have recruited him long ago, making him a disciple of the nobility or a holy disciple of a martial academy.
Murong Wushuang sensed Ning Xiaochuan's presence and opened his eyes. When he saw the enormous Blood Toad Wood beside Ning Xiaochuan, he was dumbstruck with shock and said excitedly, "Such a huge piece of Blood Toad Wood—how much could it sell for?"
Ning Xiaochuan said, "Living Profound Spirit Wood is priceless. Even money cannot buy it. It can alter the fortune of an entire region and evolve it into 'sacred soil.' Let's go. We should leave quickly. Since the shopkeeper of Profound Leaf Abode was able to follow us here, it means others from Profound Leaf Abode must know about this as well. If they see that Cui Buping has not returned for a long time, they may send other experts here."
Just as Ning Xiaochuan and Murong Wushuang prepared to leave, a dragon roar came from the sky above. "Roar!"
That dragon roar shook heaven and earth like exploding heavenly thunder, tearing even the clouds apart.
A single roar alone made Ning Xiaochuan and Murong Wushuang go weak all over. They dropped to one knee and could only barely keep themselves from collapsing by bracing both hands against the ground.
"Crackle! Crackle!"
The entire sky darkened as black clouds gathered thickly, with more than a hundred bolts of lightning weaving through them.
Vaguely, they could see an enormous giant dragon flying amid the clouds, constantly spitting lightning from its mouth as it attacked another black-clad figure flying within the cloud layer.
That black-clad figure rode upon a winged teng serpent. The teng serpent's body was also more than a hundred meters long, an enormous monster capable of spewing flames and poisonous mist from its mouth!
These were two supreme experts locked in battle. Even the power spilling from their clash was enough to suppress Profound Qi Realm cultivators until they could not stand upright.
It was like two immortals crossing blades in the heavens, leaving mortals to gaze up at them.
"Yue Wuyang, I never expected you to have reached such a realm." The black-clad man standing atop the teng serpent seemed injured. His pair of pitch-black eyes stared at the giant dragon amid the clouds—or rather, at the imposing figure standing atop the dragon's head.
A young man stood atop the giant dragon's head.
He stood with his hands behind his back, carrying an air of heroic pride that looked down upon the world. He appeared very young, dressed in a white robe like an exiled immortal among the clouds.
Yue Wuyang! Could he be the Yulan Imperial City's Youngest Martial Venerable—the Cloud Marquis, Yue Wuyang?
Ning Xiaochuan and Murong Wushuang were both stunned. Sitting on the ground, they gazed skyward at the enormous giant dragon. The man standing upon its back was actually the most legendary figure in the Yulan Imperial City, the goal countless young people strove toward and the godlike man worshipped by countless proud daughters of heaven.
The Cloud Marquis! "So Yue Wuyang is a Divine Dragon Warrior." Murong Wushuang had always yearned greatly to become a Divine Dragon Warrior. He had always believed every Divine Dragon Warrior to be a mythical figure, a true peerless hero.
In the sky, Yue Wuyang stared imposingly at the black-robed man and said, "Minister Tian, surrender without resistance! Your Dark Emperor City's Nanshan Branch has already been uprooted by the Dragon Elephant Divine Martial Battalion and the Scarlet Armor Battalion. As long as you tell me where Dark Emperor City's headquarters is, I can personally plead for merit on your behalf before the Emperor and give you a chance to atone for your crimes through service."
Ning Xiaochuan was astonished. One of Dark Emperor City's branches had actually been built within Nanyue Mountain. It seemed that the Dragon Elephant Divine Martial troops and Scarlet Armor soldiers he had seen at Nanshan Village had gone to surround and destroy one of Dark Emperor City's branches, not Dark Emperor City's headquarters.
Minister Tian sneered. "Yue Wuyang, are you joking? You want me to betray the Undead City Lord? Oppose the Undead City Lord, and even you will likely find it hard to escape death."
"Is that so? I truly do not believe it. Since you are so stubborn and incorrigible, I can only send you on your way." Yue Wuyang extended his palm forward. Surging Earth Martial Essence Qi condensed into an enormous palm print, a hand as large as a cloud, and pressed down toward Minister Tian.
It was a power that looked down upon the world. The air compressed at tremendous speed, currents of air collided with one another, and crackling explosions rang out as though everything were about to burst apart.
The entire Nanyue Mountain trembled, and one mountain mass seemed about to be driven into the ground by that palm.
Under Yue Wuyang's immense pressure, Minister Tian did not even possess the strength to resist. He screamed and fell from the sky.
"Boom!"
Minister Tian's mount, that teng serpent, was directly blasted into a cloud of blood by the enormous palm print. A rain of blood scattered down, leaving not even a single intact bone behind.
At the instant Minister Tian fell from the sky, an aged, frail voice sounded in Ning Xiaochuan's mind. "Save... me..."
The voice sounded as though it had spoken directly beside his ear.
Ning Xiaochuan lay weakly sprawled on the ground. He turned his head with difficulty, stared at Murong Wushuang, and asked, "What did you just say?"
Murong Wushuang was also sprawled on the ground, staring blankly as he said, "I didn't say anything!"
Their cultivation was already considered quite good among the younger generation, yet the aura erupting from a single palm print from someone like Yue Wuyang still crushed them to the ground, leaving their entire bodies unable to move.
"That is strange. Who made that voice just now? Could it have been Minister Tian? Or perhaps a ghost in the mountains?" Ning Xiaochuan stared at the enormous dragon in the sky. Only half its head was exposed beyond the clouds, yet it still filled the sky, terrifying every living creature in Nanyue Mountain into lying flat upon the ground.
Standing atop the giant dragon's head, Yue Wuyang drew countless streams of Earth Martial Essence Qi back into his body like rivers. Without sparing the ground below a glance, he said, "Minister Tian is dead. Dark Emperor City has lost one great general. Go to the Nanshan Branch and see whether the battle has ended."
The giant dragon seemed to understand his words. Flapping its wings, it tore through the cloud layer and quickly flew away.
Ning Xiaochuan and Murong Wushuang still lay on the ground, so shaken that they were lost in a daze. They would never forget that terrifying giant palm print.
That was true power, power capable of suppressing everything in this world.
Before the strength of that giant hand, everything seemed insignificant.
"I will become a Divine Dragon Warrior too. I will become a marquis, a venerable!" Murong Wushuang was incomparably excited. His dream of becoming strong had been ignited. He clenched his fists tightly, and his gaze became increasingly resolute.
Ning Xiaochuan and Murong Wushuang spent only one day walking out of Nanyue Mountain and returning once more to the small village beneath it.
Over that day, Murong Wushuang had completely memorized the Turtle Breath Immovable Skill. He then destroyed the stone slab engraved with the Turtle Breath Immovable Skill and promised that he would not reveal this cultivation technique.
As he left the small village, Ning Xiaochuan turned back to look at the vast mountains behind him. A peculiar expression appeared in his eyes as he recalled that aged voice by his ear.
"Save me, save me..."
That voice continued echoing through Ning Xiaochuan's mind.
"Young Master, what are you still thinking about? We are returning to Begonia Manor." Yu Yan stood beside the Azure Deer Carriage, her figure graceful and slender. She turned around, saw Ning Xiaochuan lost in thought, and called out to him.
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