First Battle

Inside the underground kiln, a figure walked out. It was Li Jun, who had sneaked in.

"So it was in this place. This Zhao Wenjie really was cautious enough."

Li Jun studied the Mutated Oak Tree before him. What set it apart from an ordinary oak tree was that the Mutated Oak Tree's bark was multicolored.

Even an ordinary person could tell from its appearance alone that the Mutated Oak Tree was anything but common.

"What a pity about these Mutated Oak Trees."

Li Jun inwardly lamented the waste.

If he could obtain these Mutated Oak Trees, even selling them off would earn him quite a few Spirit Stones.

But at present, that was clearly impossible. Only by disrupting Yao Yuzhi's plan and exposing the matter of the Oak Garden would he have a chance to resolve this crisis.

Li Jun took out the cage and directly released the five Flying Ants onto the Mutated Oak Tree.

As if sensing how extraordinary the Mutated Oak Tree was, the five Flying Ants had barely shown their heads before they burrowed in.

Flying Ants grew and developed extremely quickly. In only about a week, the five Flying Ants would reproduce rapidly and complete their evolution.

By then, what Yao Yuzhi obtained would not be precious oak, but ten ticking time bombs.

Li Jun felt that the people of Artifact Peak were unlikely to discover the Flying Ants.

What was recorded in Fusang Hand was already obscure and rare; calling it a wondrous text that aided the world would not be an exaggeration.

He had stayed in the Oak Garden for a full ten years. The Azure Cloud Sect naturally had its own methods for caring for oak trees, and among the various records, the poisonous insects and demonic beasts that affected oaks were listed in considerable detail, yet they had never once mentioned anything called Flying Ants.

Of course, even if they were discovered, it would not matter. Li Jun still had backup measures.

Just in case, he released the remaining five Flying Ants, along with some other poisonous insects, into the Oak Garden outside.

These poisonous insects were all uncommon, and not easy to detect.

No matter what, a dozen or so days later, the oak mutation would affect all four peaks of the Azure Cloud Sect at the same time.

After finishing all this, Li Jun hurriedly left the Oak Garden and returned to Medicine Peak.

Ten days passed in a flash.

Li Jun sat atop the cowshed, ending a full night of cultivation.

"My cultivation at the third level of Qi Refining has completely stabilized, and I've also gained a faint clue toward the fourth layer of the Myriad Apertures Universe Art."

Cultivation in the Qi Refining Realm usually began with using a cultivation art to open the path and expand the meridians inside the body, after which spiritual energy entered the body to complete the rise in realm.

According to Li Jun's estimates, if he wanted to comprehend the fourth layer of the Myriad Apertures Universe Art, it would probably take more than half a year.

Even if he pushed the Myriad Apertures Universe Art to the fourth layer, he would still have to accumulate enough spiritual energy to complete the breakthrough.

Calculated this way, it would take at least ten months before he could break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining.

After all, Li Jun felt his own talent was average. Although he had a Mutated Spirit Root, it was a bottomless stomach.

Wanting to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm in just two or three short years like Shen Xiyue was truly a wild fantasy suspended in the sky.

"In Qi Refining Realm cultivation, the fourth level, seventh level, and ninth level are all stages that produce qualitative changes. Correspondingly, the further a cultivation art goes, the harder it is to practice, and the more resources it requires."

Li Jun counted on his fingers. Even with enough resources, if he wanted to break through to Foundation Establishment, it would probably take six or seven years, to say nothing of the fact that right now he was poor enough to die.

However, Li Jun did not feel discouraged.

That he could awaken a Spirit Root and step onto the path of cultivation already made him incomparably grateful.

Moreover, although his Spirit Root had a somewhat large appetite, it could eat spiritual energy of every attribute. On this point, it was still very friendly to him.

To say nothing of the entries that guided him in cultivating arts and spells.

As long as he could keep his composure and continuously temper his Dao-seeking heart, Li Jun felt that it was not as though he had no chance.

"Counting the days, those Mutated Oaks should already have been delivered to Artifact Peak."

Li Jun got up, fed the Spirit Oxen as usual, and gave them massages.

After he had finished everything, he heard the faint sound of horse hooves outside the cowshed.

"Li Jun, today's oak leaves are here. Come help for a bit."

Liu Yan's voice rang out.

Li Jun looked over in its direction. A carriage larger than usual had appeared not far away.

With his current perception, he easily detected that there were at least five people inside that carriage.

Clearly, according to Zhao Wenjie's plan, after the Mutated Oaks were sent away, it was time to come and deal with him.

"Liu Yan, why is today's carriage so big?"

Li Jun did not move. He merely asked in a calm voice.

"Ah, lately the oak trees in the Oak Garden have been growing well. Deacon Zhao said to distribute a bit more to everyone. If there's anything we don't do well in the future, we'll have to ask everyone to be more forgiving."

Liu Yan spoke very naturally, then stopped the carriage outside the cowshed.

"Come on, Li Jun. I still have to go to Artifact Peak in a bit. If I'm late, I'll get scolded."

Liu Yan narrowed his eyes, sensing something unusual.

Li Jun remained unmoved, only staring coldly at Liu Yan. The atmosphere between the two sides turned strange.

"Old Liu, don't waste words with him. This kid's clearly already noticed."

A cold snort sounded from the carriage, and then five people walked straight down.

Four at the second layer of Qi Refining, one at the third layer of Qi Refining.

Li Jun's body instantly went taut. Today would be his first battle after beginning cultivation.

"You're Li Jun, right? We won't make things difficult for you. If you know what's good for you, you..."

Before the cultivator at the third layer of Qi Refining could finish speaking, Li Jun was already five hundred meters away.

"He ran?!"

Liu Yan and the others were all dumbfounded.

Originally, they had been wondering whether Li Jun would bring out Shen Xiyue's name, or whether Shen Xiyue might have given him some talismans to protect himself.

Because of that, they had discussed several countermeasures on the way here.

But who would have thought that the instant the other party saw all five of them show their faces, he would turn and run?

"Damn it, chase him! We absolutely can't let him get away!"

The group quickly sprang into action as well. If anyone else from Medicine Peak discovered this, they would truly be finished.

Li Jun sprinted all the way, neither heading to the meadow where he usually fed the cattle nor running toward Medicine Peak's main peak.

Instead, he was running toward the barren mountains at the edge of the Azure Cloud Sect.

This behavior left Liu Yan and the others completely unable to make heads or tails of it.

"Old Liu, why is this guy running into the barren mountains? Could there be a trick?"

Liu Yan frowned. He was a little unable to figure it out too.

"He's a piece of trash with five spiritual roots. What kind of trick could he have? I've been watching him all these months. Other than those cattle, I've never seen him have any dealings with the people of Medicine Peak. Don't overthink it. Hurry up and catch him!"

The others nodded. They had done this sort of thing plenty of times over the years, and Liu Yan's information in this regard was still very reliable.

As for why this kid was running toward the barren mountains, perhaps he had panicked and taken any road he could, clinging to the dead horse as if it could be healed.

The two groups, one in front and one behind, poured into the dense forest of the barren mountains, and the light dimmed all at once.

With the muddy road and the damp air, Liu Yan and the others felt sticky all over, their entire bodies itching unbearably.

"Damn it! Where did that kid go?"

The group looked around, but where was there any sign of Li Jun?

"He's over there! Chase him!"

Liu Yan pointed at the thicket ahead. Then the group swarmed forward and pounced straight over.

"Hm? A rabbit?"

After passing through the thicket, the group discovered that the dark shadow from just now was actually only a rabbit.

"Stop looking around. Aren't I right here?"

The group turned back, only then discovering that Li Jun was leaning against an ancient tree up ahead.

They looked at Li Jun and had just been about to speak when they suddenly felt the ground beneath their feet tremble violently.

Immediately after, a sensation of weightlessness came over them, and with cries, the group fell into the huge pit Li Jun had dug in advance.