Heavenly Fox

"Brother Xu, I'll take the first step!"

Yan Qihu could not wait to seize the initiative. With that, he stepped upon a gale and departed, his figure vanishing before the gate.

He was no longer young. If he could not advance his cultivation any further, his innate bones would begin to age. To join a Dao Academy and cultivate superior methods, this was his only path!

Xu Yan's gaze sharpened. He did not hurry inside; the gates of this Immortal Treasury would not close for another three days.

He needed to make more preparations!

Of the more than four hundred high-grade spirit stones from selling the Primordial Yin Treasure Jade a few days ago, he had not spent any yet. Carrying such a vast fortune into the treasury was clearly not a wise move.

Not everyone entered immediately.

Some Daoists with weaker cultivation were not in a rush either. The first three days within the Immortal Treasury would certainly see fierce contention. Their aim was not to come out on top; they would count themselves fortunate merely to pass through the Immortal Treasury. They did not care whether they could cultivate in the Upper Three Academies.

Xu Yan did not waste any time. He immediately rose and employed a qi-riding art, flying back toward the Immortal Inn.

Aboard the Divine Sect's carriage, Ziwei Dharma King frowned. Starlight flickered in her eyes as she followed Xu Yan's departing figure. With a curl of her finger, an invisible thread of divine sense, like a swimming serpent, followed after him.

Half an hour later, Langya Treasure Pavilion.

Since he had resolved to venture into this Immortal Treasury, he could not begrudge the spirit stones. He would stake everything on one throw and fight for a Fortune Edict upon the Great Dao!

But he had to prepare for every eventuality.

Xu Yan browsed through the pavilion, then swept out his hand and spent eighty high-grade spirit stones on an [Elephant Armor Robe]. It was a high-grade defensive artifact, inscribed with an advanced body-protecting formation and fashioned from the hide of a rare exotic Mystic Elephant from the southern frontier.

Even a cultivator at the Pulse Opening realm striking with full force could not shake it. However, the Elephant Armor Robe consumed a great deal of spiritual power. If one's own spiritual power was insufficient, spirit stones were needed to sustain the formation's defenses.

Then Xu Yan spent another sixty high-grade spirit stones to buy twenty each of [Flying Sword Talismans, Thunderfire Talismans, and Windstride Talismans]. The Flying Sword Talismans and Thunderfire Talismans were naturally for attack and killing, while the Windstride Talismans were for preserving his life. Should his own magical power run dry, he could still use divine sense to activate Windstride.

These talismans were all high-grade talismans as well.

Xu Yan spent another fifty high-grade spirit stones to purchase five bottles each of [Heavenly Creation Pills and Primal Qi Pills]. One was for healing injuries, capable of treating both internal and external wounds, and it could also ward off a hundred poisons.

As its name suggested, Primal Qi Pills could restore the magical power of one's Dao body at great speed.

Finally came his greatest expense. He spent two hundred high-grade spirit stones on a [Mystic Treasure artifact]: the Skull-Cracking Hammer.

Among the five realms of the Foundation Establishment Path,

artifacts could be divided into low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, Mystic Treasure, and Spirit-Born artifacts.

A Mystic Treasure artifact possessed power several times greater than a high-grade artifact, but it often had a limited number of uses. Once it had been used a certain number of times, it would self-destruct.

The remaining fifty spirit stones were kept in reserve, to replenish the formation's consumption in the Elephant Armor Robe.

His cultivation was at the ninth level of Qi Exhalation, nearly at perfection, and his magical power was quite formidable. Yet the only divine powers he knew were the Twelve Spell Divine Powers, all exceedingly basic arts, such as the Fireball Technique, Qi Manipulation Technique, Breath-Concealing Technique, Object Manipulation Technique, and so on.

Without these preparations, entering the Immortal Treasury would mean nothing but death.

"Everything is ready!"

Xu Yan steadied himself and immediately returned to Dragon Whisker Ravine.

At this time, only several hundred scattered people remained around the great lake. It seemed they intended to enter only when the gates were about to close.

The Dragon Ridge Immortal Treasury contained a self-generated world. Each time it opened, the world within was vastly different, which meant disciples who had emerged before had no map-related experience to pass on to others.

Its range was roughly equal to the Dragon Spine Mountain Range in the real world. One only needed to make it through, which sounded simple—but only upon truly entering would one understand what it meant for danger to lurk on every side.

Drawing a deep breath, Xu Yan's expression darkened slightly as he stepped directly onto Mystic Qi and flew away!

He had spent so many years on the battlefield in his previous life. He had long tasted every kind of peril, life, and death.

The moment his body approached the gates of the Immortal Treasury, an ancient aura rushed toward him. Xu Yan discovered a Mystic Gate formation unfolding beneath his feet. It appeared to be a spatial shifting art, and a tremendous suction burst forth from within.

The next second, heaven and earth spun, and day turned to night.

Splash, splash—

The sound of a babbling mountain stream entered his ears, and Xu Yan's vision gradually cleared from a blur.

A dense forest surrounded him. The ancient trees were immensely tall, soaring into the heavens, their canopies blotting out the sky and sun. It seemed to be night outside, with cold moonlight falling through the gaps onto the ground.

The instant he entered, Xu Yan tensed every nerve. He immediately used the Breath-Concealing Technique, hiding his aura completely.

He then used the Spirit Eye Technique.

This was also one of the Twelve Spell Divine Powers. It could magnify one's divine sense and concentrate it in the eyes, greatly enhancing vision.

His Spirit Eye pierced through the dense forest and surveyed the area within thirty zhang around him. Only after finding no other people or living creatures did Xu Yan finally relax.

"The world's vital energies within this Immortal Treasury are far richer than outside."

Xu Yan sensed that merely cultivating here would be much faster than at the Langya Immortal Inn. As expected of an 'Immortal Treasury' left behind from ancient times.

"I heard people outside say that walking toward where the world's vital energies are denser is the right direction."

As Xu Yan pondered this, his divine sense spread outward to the limit of the Qi Exhalation realm, reaching more than twenty zhang. He sensed that the aura to the east was denser.

Retracting his divine sense, he did not ride qi and instead chose to travel on foot.

Under the effect of the Breath-Concealing Technique, even his footsteps vanished.

After walking east for half an hour, Xu Yan heard no other movement apart from the occasional roar of some unknown creature from the deepest parts of the forest. After walking a while longer, the ancient trees became much sparser, and patches of bluish stone appeared on the ground.

Gurgle, gurgle—

A sound like spring water bubbling rose beside his ears. Xu Yan's expression shifted. He did not rush forward; instead, he became even more cautious.

He crept forward for the time it took half an incense stick to burn, then pushed aside the emerald-green branch blocking his path.

A spring pool fifteen zhang wide appeared before Xu Yan. Warm mist rose continuously from its waters, and its spiritual energy was immensely dense, washing over him and soothing even his meridians and innate bones.

"A spiritual spring!"

Joy surged within Xu Yan, but he forcibly suppressed it. He carefully looked left and right, observing the area for half an incense stick's time.

Just as he released his divine sense to investigate whether any demons or hidden fiends lurked beneath the spiritual spring pool, the sound of something flying through the air came from afar. Xu Yan reacted swiftly and withdrew his divine sense.

Branches and leaves trembled, emerald leaves fluttering down with a rustle.

A fox-headed, human-bodied young woman arrived aboard a flying-boat artifact. Draped in a vivid scarlet fur robe, her fluffy fox tail swayed from side to side, making her especially conspicuous beneath the moonlight!

The flying boat descended before the spiritual spring pool. The fox-headed young woman held a Bagua Array Disk and leapt down.

"Taihang Mountain, the Celestial Fox Lineage."

Xu Yan retreated a few steps. No wonder she flaunted herself so openly—she dared to be this high-profile within the Immortal Treasury.

The ancestors of this race had been direct disciples of the Patriarch of the Taiyuan Divine Sect in the ancient era. The physical bodies of the Demon Race alone were far stronger than those of the human race during the early stages of cultivation.