A moment later.
In a tree in the mountains, Lin Dong, who had been lying there for a long time, asked Little Marten in his heart whether those two presences had really left.
"They're gone..."
Little Marten's voice held a trace of gravity. He did not say that the two had probably discovered them but had simply made no move.
He did not want fear to take root in Lin Dong's heart.
Since that person had made no move, it meant nothing had happened. Was he trying to form a good connection?
Or...
Little Marten did not dwell on it. He put the matter out of his mind and hurriedly told Lin Dong to rush inside. The others who had left had yet to return, so going in now would let him seize the initiative.
"Even if they took the most valuable thing in there, a little of what a Nirvana Realm expert left behind will be enough for you."
"We're rich!"
Lin Dong nodded vigorously.
"As soon as you break through to the Form Creation Realm, we'll set out in search of an Ancestral Talisman. If fortune smiles on you and you obtain one, your future will surely surpass theirs."
Little Marten dangled a tempting promise before Lin Dong.
Ancestral Talismans.
Lin Dong's eyes flickered. Little Marten had already told him what sort of things Ancestral Talismans were.
As long as he could obtain one, he might well be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with Xiang Yun one day, or even fight him.
Several days later.
The Great Desolate Dynasty was the dynasty most closely connected to the Primordial Hall, so naturally...
The martial arts that flourished most here were body-refining martial arts.
But body-refining martial arts required too many resources, so most buildings here were rather crude, and the place was filled with a wild, primeval air.
The largest commandery in the Great Desolate Dynasty was Desolate Commandery.
At the center of Desolate Commandery stood the capital of the Great Desolate Dynasty.
Soldiers stood guard atop the walls, which rose several hundred zhang high. Without exception, every one of them was powerfully built.
One glance showed that they had accomplished much in body-refining martial arts.
Though the place was crude, it was still the heart of a super dynasty.
People still came in an endless stream. Even outside the walls, carriages and horses crowded the roads, and the queues to enter the city stretched out like long dragons.
Yet no one dared fly directly into Great Desolation City from above.
Just then.
A streak of purple light shot straight into the sky above Great Desolation City. No one stopped it at all, leaving some of the people in line disgruntled.
"How can someone enter Great Desolation City from the air? I thought flying was forbidden here?"
"Exactly!"
Someone who knew better said mildly, "What are you thinking? The only ones who can throw their weight around in this place
"are obviously people from the Primordial Hall."
At the words "Primordial Hall,"
the man who had just complained hurriedly shut his mouth and looked left and right, worried that someone had heard him.
Unlike the Great Yan Dynasty,
a backwater where people did not know how formidable the Eight Great Super Sects were and thought they were nothing special,
only the super dynasties knew just how much weight a super sect carried, let alone here, in the place called the Great Desolate Region.
The Great Desolate Region bore the name of the Primordial Hall.
"Greetings, Young Hall Master!"
In the imperial palace of the Great Desolate Dynasty, even the ruler of the dynasty, the patriarch of the Ji Family, who had already reached the Life Profound Realm-
Ji Dong had to bow when he met Xiang Yun. After all, Xiang Yun had already been personally designated as the next Hall Master of the Primordial Hall.
He could treat the Primordial Hall's other personal disciples as peers thanks to his Life Profound Realm cultivation, but the Young Hall Master stood above all the personal disciples.
"Greetings, Young Hall Master!"
Ji Shan, who stood behind Ji Dong, was also a burly man built like an iron tower. Or rather, that was simply how things were in the Great Desolate Region.
Anyone who cultivated body-refining martial arts was a burly man.
It was no stereotype.
Thus, someone like Xiang Yun, with his slender-looking figure,
was the unusual one instead.
But neither Ji Dong nor Ji Shan dared look down on him in the slightest.
They could both sense the terrifying strength hidden within Xiang Yun's body.
It was a sense shared between body-refining martial artists.
Xiang Yun gave a slight nod. He still held Life Profound Realm experts in some respect. "Elder Ji, sorry for the trouble, but please help me prepare some Nirvana Pills. I recently went out and was fortunate enough to encounter some opportunities."
"Of course. How many do you need?"
Ji Dong nodded repeatedly. Nirvana Pills were precious to Intermediate Dynasties and those below them, but to the Great Desolate Dynasty, one of the Ten Great Super Dynasties,
they were merely ordinary currency.
"Ten million..."
Xiang Yun had made a rough estimate. He was not talking off the top of his head. With the innate tyrant body dao embryo and the Great Devouring Technique,
as well as the World Tree Sapling, he was worried that even ten million Nirvana Pills would not be enough.
"One hundred-huh? Ten million?"
Ji Dong had not caught on at first. Hearing the word "one,"
he had thought Xiang Yun meant one million.
He had thought that was normal enough.
An ordinary Nirvana Realm breakthrough required twenty to thirty thousand, while a stronger person needed four to five hundred thousand.
Body-refining martial artists like them could withstand a little more Nirvana Qi, so they might indeed need several hundred thousand.
For the Young Hall Master of the Primordial Hall,
one million would have been normal enough.
But when they heard the rest of Xiang Yun's number, Ji Dong and Ji Shan both froze.
Ten million?
Even in the Eastern Xuan Region, the record they had heard of was only four million.
And that person had cultivated many body-refining martial arts in the Creation Realm for the sake of breaking the record.
He had reportedly also had all sorts of fortuitous encounters, which had allowed him to forcibly absorb and expel four million Nirvana Pills.
Though it had indeed made him very strong in the Nirvana Realm, that gap could still be bridged with Spirit Treasures and martial arts.
So afterward, many people no longer pushed themselves too hard when breaking through to the Nirvana Realm. Having enough to condense a Nirvana Golden Body was sufficient.
"Mm."
Xiang Yun nodded. Ji Dong did not dare ask further. What if the Primordial Hall had some secret method?
But stormy waves surged through his heart. "This may take some time. Please wait two days, Young Hall Master."
After all, bringing out over ten million Nirvana Pills at once was only a single hair on nine oxen for the entire dynasty.
But to transfer that many at once, he would have to make some arrangements.
"It's fine." Xiang Yun waved a hand. He understood that much; it was only a matter of two or three days.
Ji Dong hurried away, leaving Ji Shan there to attend to him.
Xiang Yun shook his head. As expected of a dynasty directly connected to the Primordial Hall-they left a burly man to attend to him?
They could at least have left a beauty.
"Your realm is impressive. You've reached the Advanced Fortune Stage. Have you mastered your inherited Spirit Martial Arts?"
Xiang Yun raised an eyebrow.
He remembered that Ji Shan had ranked rather high on the Nirvana Golden List. He truly was a promising prospect.
It was just that the threat of the Yimo had come too quickly.
Those former heaven's favorites had entered battle before they had fully grown.
Only people like Lin Dong, Ying Huanhuan, and Ling Qingzhu, who were themselves shrouded in destiny or had unusual origins, could grow rapidly during the Yimo calamity.
"I've mastered part of it, but I'm not proficient enough."
Ji Shan scratched his head. After all, breaking through realms was not difficult for them; the dynasty would not leave them short of resources.
But comprehending martial arts depended on one's own comprehension.
"Being able to master any of it is already good."
Xiang Yun nodded. Naturally, he could not use himself as a benchmark. Most people in the Three Realms of Creation had only mastered Creation Martial Arts.
Anyone who could master Spirit Martial Arts was indeed a genius.
After that, the two fell silent again. They had not been acquainted before, after all.
For a moment, both looked a little awkward.
Ji Shan seemed to notice the awkwardness too and hurriedly said, "Young Hall Master, how about visiting our training grounds? You could give us some pointers while you're there."
"All right."
Xiang Yun thought it over. He had nothing else to do, so there was no harm in taking a look. Perhaps there would be some dazzling genius there.