"Boom!"
Yuanyuan Temur, whose entire body resembled a giant fireball, crashed into the boulder, shattering it with his scorching true energy, which was even more powerful and domineering than in his prime, before impacting Wang Hao behind the boulder.
"Boom!"
With another deafening roar, Yuanyuan Temur's entire body exploded, blasting Wang Hao hundreds of feet away, where he crashed heavily into the cliff face on the other side of the sinkhole, embedding himself inside.
What Wang Hao didn't know was that at the same time Yuanyuan Temur self-destructed, on a snow-covered island in the East Sea, a handsome old man with white hair and a youthful face, sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes, and two beams of light, one red and one blue, shot out from them.
The old man looked westward with a grim and worried expression, muttering to himself, "Has something happened to A Yuan? It seems I have to make a trip to Peach Valley."
Just now, he suddenly had a strange urge and a feeling of inexplicable sadness, as if something bad had happened.
He knew that this was a unique spiritual perception that martial artists possessed after reaching the Xiantian Grandmaster level. Since there was such an anomaly, something bad must have happened, most likely something unfortunate had occurred to one of his closest relatives.
Now, his only remaining close relatives are the woman beside him and his only son, who is hidden in the Central Plains.
It was clearly his only son who had gotten into trouble this time!
That's right, this old man is none other than Zhang Wuji, the protagonist of the previous era. He has only survived to this day because his lifespan has greatly increased after breaking through to the Innate Realm, and with the help of some spiritual objects.
He had long known that his only son was hiding in Peach Valley where the scriptures were buried, but he hadn't gone to find him because of his guilt and his inability to persuade the other party.
However, given his only son's cultivation level and the spiritual Flat Peach in Peach Valley, living for several more decades would not be a problem. Clearly, there is something fishy about this matter, and he must go and investigate.
Wang Hao was unaware that he had offended a powerful figure at the Innate Realm, and he was currently on his last breath.
Yuanyuan Temur's final self-destruction was far more powerful than he had imagined, especially the extremely hot true energy, which was Tyrannical Dao and forcefully blasted into his body. At this moment, his entire body was almost charred.
He only managed to keep it outside his internal organs by desperately adjusting his Innate Qi and Divine Sense, but even so, he was still seriously injured.
If he hadn't raised his Bloodline Power to 300 points, giving him extremely strong regenerative abilities, he would have died long ago.
Even so, he was unable to move an inch at this moment and could only slowly circulate his Innate Qi to refine the scorching true energy distributed throughout his limbs and bones.
Yuanyuan Temur's scorching true energy was clearly cultivated through the Nine Yang True Scripture. Fortunately, Wang Hao's Nine Revolutions Qi Refining Instruction incorporated the Dragon Divine Art, which contained elements of the Nine Yang Divine Art, so refining it was not too difficult.
At the same time, this refining process also caused the progress of the Nine Revolutions Qi Refining Instruction to increase rapidly, hundreds of times faster than his self-cultivation.
He continued cultivating quietly until the afternoon of the third day, when he finally refined all the scorching true energy in his limbs and bones.
Without the obstruction of the scorching true energy, the limbs and bones, which had been mostly destroyed, began to recover rapidly under the influence of the Bloodline Power. It took another day and night before they barely regained some mobility.
Having barely recovered, Wang Hao used his Thousand Faces Divine Technique to transform into the avatar template of Zhu Yanzu, shrinking his body to escape from the mountain wall.
There was no other way; he had only barely regained some mobility and didn't have enough strength to pry himself out, so he had to resort to this trick.
"Damn, what a madman!"
Wang Hao, barely managing to stand, was panting heavily, still shaken.
Although he had anticipated that Yuanyuan Temur would unleash a desperate burst of power, he hadn't expected it to be so intense, almost killing him.
"Could that guy have specifically created this kind of mutually assured destruction method?"
Muttering to himself, Wang Hao couldn't help but wonder about the origin of his opponent's final move.
That move was clearly not something the opponent impulsively used, but a long-prepared, deadly technique, obviously intended to deal with someone, and he was unlucky enough to run into it.
After recovering slightly, Wang Hao staggered forward, preparing to inspect the sinkhole, determined to at least find the Nine Yang Divine Art.
Woof woof!
Just then, Wangcai, who had been wandering along the edge of the sinkhole, saw Wang Hao's figure, let out an excited cry, and leaped towards Wang Hao.
"Don't want!"
Seeing Wangcai's massive figure leaping down, Wang Hao's face turned deathly pale.
"Bang!"
With its weight of over a thousand pounds, Wangcai leaped from a height of a hundred feet, and the impact was considerable. Moreover, the guy's aim was incredibly accurate, precisely hitting Wang Hao and slamming his entire body into the ground.
If he were in good condition, catching Wangcai as he leaped down wouldn't be a big deal, but he's now severely injured and has barely recovered some mobility; he can't withstand it.
The most critical issue is that his Bloodline Power was almost exhausted during the previous repairs, and if he were injured again, there would be no way to replenish it.
"Waaah..."
Wangcai seemed to realize it had done something wrong, and quickly climbed off its owner, whimpering and lowering its big head as if admitting its mistake.
"Cough cough... Old Z will be screwed over by you stupid dog sooner or later!"
Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Wang Hao felt incredibly frustrated!
What was I thinking, getting kicked in the head by a donkey or something? How did I end up raising this piece of trash?
How many times have I gotten myself into this mess?
Huskies are indeed known for being silly and causing trouble for their owners!
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go find me something to eat!"
Wang Hao glared at the idiot beside him, too lazy to scold him.
Having followed Wang Hao for so long, Wangcai's intelligence has greatly increased. It immediately understood Wang Hao's meaning, sniffed the air, and darted into the nearby woods. A moment later, it came running back with a peach the size of a watermelon in its mouth.
"Wow! This is a peach? Is it genetically modified?"
Staring dumbfounded at the peach, which was a whole size bigger than his head, Wang Hao had never seen a peach grow so big before.
"Uncle, you've really hit the jackpot this time. This peach is Third Tier spiritual fruit, a whole grade higher than those so-called thousand-year-old ginseng or top-grade Heavenly Mountain Snow Lotus. It can greatly increase the lifespan of living beings."
At this moment, Xiao Mengmeng spoke up, revealing the extraordinary nature of this peach.
"That strong? This is amazing!"
Wang Hao was overjoyed and quickly grabbed the peach and began to devour it, while simultaneously circulating the Nine Revolutions Body Tempering Instruction and the Nine Revolutions Qi Refining Instruction to absorb and refine the medicinal power within the peach.
"Wait, uncle, refining it like this will only increase your Bloodline Power and Innate Qi, it won't increase your lifespan."
Seeing Wang Hao refining the peach so roughly, Xiao Mengmeng became anxious and spoke up to remind him.
This kind of spiritual peach cannot be refined on its own; its medicinal power must be allowed to slowly nourish and transform the user's body in order to increase lifespan.
Such a crude refining method as Wang Hao's would only enhance his Bloodline Power and Innate Qi, which is truly a waste of resources.
These two types of energy can be enhanced in many ways, but in terms of value, they are far inferior to a finite lifespan; they are not even in the same league.
"I can't stay in this world for very long, maybe a few decades at most. What's the point of having so much lifespan? I can't take it with me to the Primordial Main World anyway. Wait, this thing actually has the effect of enhancing Divine Sense!"
Wang Hao casually remarked that he genuinely didn't care much about lifespan.
Perhaps in his original body in the Primordial Main World, he would still worry about his lifespan, since the Body Refinement of the Nine Li People doesn't really extend lifespan; even a Heaven Realm expert only has a lifespan of a thousand years.
Don't think that a thousand years is a long time. Compared to the ancient monsters in the Primordial Main World who live for thousands or tens of thousands of years, it's far too short.
But this is the Smiling Proud Wanderer World at the World, and it's impossible for him to stay here for long. He plans to complete the two main quests in at most one or two decades, and then return to the Primordial Main World.
So there's really no point in trying to extend lifespan so much!
While he was eating the spirit peach, he suddenly discovered that this thing had a great benefit to his Divine Sense. This discovery made him very happy, and he quickly started to circulate the Nine Revolutions Spirit Nourishing Instruction to refine it.
Xiao Mengmeng remained silent. After all, she was only responsible for making suggestions and not for making decisions for Wang Hao. Since Wang Hao had his own plans, she naturally wouldn't object.
This spirit peach truly lives up to its reputation as Third Tier spirit fruit; the abundant medicinal power it contains has actually restored a significant portion of my Bloodline Power.
He hurriedly mobilized the Bloodline Power to accelerate the recovery of his body's injuries, and barely regained some of his mobility.
"You stupid dog, take me to where you found the peaches!"
Struggling to his feet, Wang Hao gestured for Wangcai to lead the way, and the two of them headed towards the very center of the bottom of the sinkhole.
Soon the two arrived at a quiet open space, in the middle of which grew a peach tree three zhang tall, with more than thirty spirit peaches hanging scattered on it.
On the outskirts, there was a small, rugged wooden cabin. Judging from its furnishings, it seemed to be inhabited, and it was likely the residence of Yuanyuan Temur.
He staggered to the peach tree, picked a few more spirit peaches, and swallowed them in large gulps, finally recovering most of his injuries.
" Xiao Mengmeng, tell me quickly, where is the Nine Yang Divine Art?"
After glancing at the spirit peach tree, Wang Hao decided to find the Nine Yang Divine Art first before worrying about anything else.
"Go east until you reach the edge of the sinkhole. There's a cave there, and the Nine Yang Divine Art is buried not far from the cave entrance."
Xiao Mengmeng immediately provided a precise location, and Wang Hao didn't delay. He quickly headed east and soon reached the very edge, where he saw a small cave. Standing at the cave entrance, Wang Hao looked around and suddenly his expression became strange.
" Xiao Mengmeng, could the Nine Yang Divine Art be buried in that grave?"
Not far from the cave entrance, there is a burial mound. The stone tombstone is inscribed with the words "Tomb of the deceased mother Minmin Temur " in grassland script. The grave is clean and tidy, without a single weed, indicating that it is regularly maintained.
Needless to say, this must be Zhao Min's tomb, erected by Yuanyuan Temur.
"Uncle, you're so clever! You guessed it right away!"
Xiao Mengmeng praised Wang Hao, indicating that the Nine Yang Divine Art was clearly inside Zhao Min's tomb, and was probably buried there with Yuanyuan Temur.
" Xiao Mengmeng, this is the world of the Smiling, Proud Wanderer, not some supernatural world like the Lost Tomb or Ghost Blows Out the Light. Why do I always have to do grave robbing?"
Wang Hao covered his face in frustration, utterly depressed.
Looking back, in the two years since he came to the Smiling Proud Wanderer World, he has entered the tomb of the Eastern Heretic's wife, entered a Sengoku period tomb while working on the Great Yuan Treasure, and now he is about to excavate Zhao Min's tomb.
This is truly a huge pitfall!