A Supreme Treasure Gained, Yuan Ruochu Besieged

There were still four days until the Dao Comprehension Tea emerged. Yuan Zhexian felt as though he had come not to search for opportunities, but to take a vacation.

Each day, he caught a few demonic beasts to treat himself to a good meal, or went fishing, or admired the scenery. He was having the time of his life.

One day, while fishing, Yuan Zhexian suddenly noticed a red light flashing in the distant mountains. It looked as though some supreme treasure had emerged.

So he ended his few days of carefree vacation and prepared to get to work. In a flash, he flew toward the mountains.

A few minutes later, he arrived at the entrance to a cave in the mountains. Several people stood before the enormous opening, seemingly waiting for something.

When they saw Yuan Zhexian arrive, one of them held out a hand to stop him. "Halt! Who are you? This place belongs to us now. Anyone who has nothing to do with this should leave at once, unless they want to lose their life."

"Belongs to you? What do you take yourselves for, bandit kings ruling a mountain? The precious natural treasures and materials in the secret realm go to those with the ability to claim them. I'm just afraid you'll live to take them but not to use them," Yuan Zhexian said with a smile.

"How dare you! You dare insult my Mystic Sect? You deserve death!"

As he spoke, the man used his spiritual power, and his presence grew stronger. He swung up his spiritual sword and thrust it at Yuan Zhexian.

Yuan Zhexian neither dodged nor retreated. He held out two fingers and clamped them tightly around the blade. No matter how hard the man pulled, he could not budge his spiritual sword.

Yuan Zhexian then applied a little pressure.

Clang!

Yuan Zhexian snapped the spiritual sword in two between his fingers.

"What? That was my Dao Body weapon. He actually snapped it with two fingers." Their faces showed surprise at Yuan Zhexian's strength.

The man immediately said to those behind him, "Quick, send word to the Divine Son. This man is too powerful. We're no match for him. Ask the Divine Son to come out and kill him!"

Seeing how weak they were, Yuan Zhexian casually waved a hand. A tremendously powerful wave of light spread outward, and the people struck by it fell to the ground, all signs of life gone.

Yuan Zhexian then entered the cave without looking back. Only after going inside did he understand why those people had stayed at the entrance instead of entering. The gravity inside was far too terrifying.

It was almost more than ten times stronger than outside. If those people had gone in, they would have been crushed into pancakes in an instant.

Without considerable strength or a special trait, it was impossible to enter. The farther in one went, the stronger the gravity became. But it had little effect on Yuan Zhexian. After all, his physical strength had reached an extremely terrifying level.

In an open area deep inside the cave, the gravity was already dozens of times stronger than outside. An ordinary-looking man in a cyan robe stood upright, continuously sending cyan light from one hand at a barrier, trying to break it.

At that moment, a thought suddenly struck him, and he said to the air, "You actually managed to come this far. You must be someone of extraordinary strength."

Yuan Zhexian appeared behind the man, looking at a piece of red jade beyond the barrier.

Emperor flame blood jade! A peerless natural treasure said to be used in forging Supreme Emperor weapons.

He said calmly, "You must be the Divine Son of the Mystic Sect, the hidden sect."

"That's right. I assume you're also here for this natural treasure?" The Mystic Sect's Divine Son turned around and looked at Yuan Zhexian.

"I saw a red light over these mountains and came to investigate. I never expected it to be such a natural treasure."

"I've taken a liking to this treasure. Leave, unless you want to lose your life," the Mystic Sect's Divine Son said forcefully, brimming with confidence.

"Oh? So the Mystic Sect's Divine Son is determined to have it," Yuan Zhexian replied calmly.

Hearing Yuan Zhexian's words, the Mystic Sect's Divine Son said, "Since you want to die here, I'll grant your wish." As he spoke, his presence surged, and his powerful spiritual power formed a spiritual sword flashing with cyan light that flew toward Yuan Zhexian.

Yuan Zhexian also used his spiritual power, forming a giant golden hand to strike back.

Bang!

After an explosion, Yuan Zhexian remained where he stood, looking at the Mystic Sect's Divine Son.

The Mystic Sect's Divine Son also stood in place. Their probing exchange appeared to have ended in a draw. But at that moment, he put both hands behind his back.

He gently clenched his fist and shook his wrist. In fact, a glance would have shown that the exchange had dislocated his wrist.

The Mystic Sect's Divine Son thought to himself, Just who is this man? That attack could have killed an ordinary Dao Body Realm expert outright, but not only was he completely unharmed, he even managed to dislocate my wrist.

He certainly can't be a nobody, but I've never seen him before.

The Mystic Sect's Divine Son immediately used the Heaven and Earth Mystic Scripture, a cultivation art passed down through the Mystic Sect. He then gathered the spiritual power of heaven and earth into himself, and an incomparably terrifying spiritual power poured out.

After being compressed, the terrifying spiritual power transformed into Mystic Light Qi. He thrust both palms into the air and sent the Mystic Light Qi hurtling forward.

Faced with such earth-shaking Mystic Light Qi, Yuan Zhexian did not dare underestimate it. He activated his Double Pupils, and his star-bright eyes flickered with a strange light.

He said to the Mystic Sect's Divine Son, "Samsara Turning Wheel!"

A purple silhouette of light appeared before Yuan Zhexian. The terrifying Mystic Light Qi struck the Samsara Turning Wheel head-on, and the wheel absorbed it.

It made one clockwise revolution across the purple silhouette. Then the purple light flared, sending the Mystic Sect Divine Son's Mystic Light Qi straight back at him.

Samsara Turning Wheel? Double Pupils? He's the Yuan Clan's Divine Son.

The Mystic Sect's Divine Son spoke silently to himself, but did not reveal it at once. He watched the Mystic Light Qi rebound toward him.

The Mystic Sect's Divine Son said with complete confidence, "You may have reflected my Mystic Light Qi, but isn't it a little too simple to use my own move against me?"

"You can try it," Yuan Zhexian said casually.

The spiritual power around the Mystic Sect's Divine Son grew even stronger than before. The spiritual power of heaven and earth he drew upon was even more terrifying. He compressed it into a ray of mystic light, which emitted dreadful waves of light.

The currents shaken by the light waves made the cave sway. He then fired the ray at his rebounding Mystic Light Qi.

Boom! The two terrifying forces collided, producing an enormous explosion. The force of the blast blew the entire mountain range to pieces.

After the explosion, Yuan Zhexian stood with his hands behind his back, quietly watching the Mystic Sect's Divine Son. The Divine Son's face was a little pale, and his breath was weak and unsteady. He was clearly injured.

"Are you surprised that, even though it was your own move, you were the one who ended up injured?" Yuan Zhexian said with a faint smile.

"The Samsara Turning Wheel can not only absorb and reflect power, but also inject my own power into it during absorption. That's what you call hurting yourself while trying to hurt someone else."

Hearing Yuan Zhexian's words, the Mystic Sect's Divine Son looked angry, but soon calmed down. He thought that fighting the Yuan Clan's Divine Son head-on over the emperor flame blood jade might not be wise.

The explosion had already drawn the attention of people nearby, and there should be plenty more natural treasures in the secret realm. If they both suffered serious injuries, the loss would outweigh the gain.

If things went badly, he might even meet his end here. After all, he was facing the Yuan Clan's Divine Son. He then said to Yuan Zhexian, "I'll let you have this item. I have other matters to attend to. I'll experience your skill another time." Then he disappeared without looking back.

Watching the Mystic Sect's Divine Son disappear, Yuan Zhexian also felt that the man was no ordinary opponent. During their fight, he had clearly sensed that the Divine Son had not used his full strength, nor had he used the mysterious eyes he had shown when he first appeared.

And why did most people who wanted to flee after losing a fight like to say things such as "I have other matters to attend to" or "I'll experience your skill another time"? How boring!

At that thought, Yuan Zhexian fired a flash of light from his Double Pupils at the barrier. Crack! Unable to withstand the power of the Double Pupils, the barrier shattered.

After picking up the emperor flame blood jade and putting it in his spatial ring, Yuan Zhexian rose into the air and drifted into the void, disappearing from sight. A short while after he left, countless figures appeared above the mountains. Looking at the mountain range that had been blown to pieces, they were astonished. Just how much power would it take to cause such terrifying destruction?

They then searched the area and found no other opportunities or useful items, so they all left.

In a place filled with erupting volcanoes and magma, the sound of eruptions rang out from time to time.

The force of the eruptions sent magma splattering everywhere. Thick volcanic ash blotted out the sky.

Red magma covered the ground as far as the eye could see. Together with the sky streaked red and black and the charred, withered branches everywhere, the lifeless scene looked like the end of the world.

At the mouth of a massive volcanic crater, Yuan Ruochu stared into it with a grave expression, feeling that there seemed to be something beneath the magma.

But the magma inside this crater was unlike that in other volcanoes. The temperature here was truly too high. The scorching magma churned constantly, as though it might erupt at any moment.

Yuan Ruochu's presence grew stronger as he used the power of Samsara and pointed a finger. A ray of Samsara Light shot into the churning magma. With a sizzle, the Samsara Light sank into the magma and vanished.

"What is this?"

Yuan Ruochu suddenly remembered that this magma seemed to be what he had read about in the clan's library, something called "scarlet yang magma."

This kind of magma was formed from the scarlet yang power of the earth's core, deep underground.

The surface temperature of scarlet yang magma could reach ten million degrees. Its internal temperature could well be imagined: if not over a hundred million degrees, it was at least tens of millions.

Unless one was a Saint, even a Samsara Realm expert who entered it would either die or be gravely injured. Yuan Ruochu was only at the eighth stage of the Dao Body Realm. While he was hesitating over whether to go down, a shocking blood-red light suddenly shot into the sky.

The powerful force of the essence blood left Yuan Ruochu especially shocked.

"Essence blood? There really is a peerless opportunity down there."

Yuan Ruochu immediately activated the Heavenly Origin Scripture and the Samsara Scripture, wrapping his entire body in the power of Samsara.

He formed a seal with both hands, then clenched his fists and unleashed the Six Paths of Samsara Fist straight downward.

The Six Paths of Samsara Fist struck the magma, sending up an enormous wave. Yuan Ruochu seized the opening and leaped in. The scarlet yang magma parted by the fist gradually began to close again.

Yuan Ruochu struck again with the Six Paths of Samsara Fist, opening another gap in the closing wave of magma. Repeating this process, he finally reached the bottom of the magma.

Yuan Ruochu was drenched in sweat, and his breath was ragged. His spiritual power was clearly exhausted. After all, with his current cultivation and strength, using the Six Paths of Samsara Fist three or four times was already a struggle. This time, he had used it seven times and reached his limit.

Beneath the magma was an enormous space. On a step directly ahead, a drop of red essence blood emitted waves of red light.

Looking at the red essence blood, Yuan Ruochu said to himself that it must have been the source of the shocking red light. He then reached out and grabbed it, and the red essence blood appeared in his hand.

Looking at the red essence blood in his hand, which gave off a powerful essence blood presence, Yuan Ruochu hesitated no longer. He immediately sat cross-legged and swallowed it. A dense essence blood presence then poured from his body and spread all around.

Yuan Ruochu immediately adjusted his spiritual power and slowly absorbed the surrounding essence blood presence. After a while, as his presence continued to grow, a powerful blue light spread from his body.

Ninth stage of the Dao Body Realm!

Yuan Ruochu said to himself, "So this essence blood can not only increase blood Qi, lifespan, and cultivation, but also..."

Before he could finish, rumble, rumble... The space overhead began to collapse, and the scarlet yang magma above poured into the underground space. It came so quickly that before long, more than half the space was covered in magma.

Watching the scarlet yang magma approach, Yuan Ruochu did as he had on the way down. He immediately activated the Heavenly Origin Scripture and the Samsara Scripture, wrapped his whole body in the power of Samsara, and punched.

Fortunately, that drop of red essence blood had not only raised Yuan Ruochu's cultivation realm but also helped replenish his spiritual power.

Yuan Ruochu flew upward through the gap in the magma made by the Six Paths of Samsara Fist, continuing to strike with the technique as he went.

With his cultivation now higher, he reached the surface after using the Six Paths of Samsara Fist six times. But he was still panting, having used up eighty to ninety percent of his spiritual power.

"Well, you're up?"

Yuan Ruochu had been planning to find somewhere to regulate his breathing when a voice suddenly sounded beside his ear.

He turned to see twenty people staring fixedly at him as though they wanted to devour him, greed showing on every face.

"What do you want?" Yuan Ruochu asked coldly.

At that moment, three figures stepped out of the crowd. They were Gu Renjie, the Divine Son of Myriad Spirits Mountain of the Immortal Ancient; Yuwen Huaji, the Crown Prince of the Heavenly Firmament Imperial Dynasty; and Wang Teng, the Divine Son of the Wang Family.

Wang Teng stared at Yuan Ruochu with hatred and said, "Enemies really do meet on a narrow road. Hand over the supreme treasure, and I'll leave your corpse intact."

Looking at the man he had defeated before, Yuan Ruochu said coldly, "You? Aren't you afraid the wind will twist your tongue when you boast like that?"

Wang Teng did not get angry at Yuan Ruochu's words.

After all, Yuan Ruochu would soon die, and Wang Teng had no need to trade words with a dead man. He then said, "I'm not alone this time. There are also the people here with me.

"This time, not only will we take the supreme treasure you obtained, we'll also dig out the origin of your Samsara Physique after you die."

Hearing Wang Teng say this, Yuan Ruochu wasted no more words and immediately punched at him.

Wang Teng answered with a punch of his own. Their fists collided, and a powerful current shattered all the withered branches and loose stones around them. The two then flew into the air, their fists and feet constantly clashing.

A deep crater appeared in the ground beneath every collision. As the fight went on and the clashes grew more numerous, Yuan Ruochu, who had already used up eighty to ninety percent of his spiritual power, found it increasingly difficult to keep going.

Wang Teng then shouted to the others, "Everyone, Yuan Ruochu's spiritual power is nearly exhausted. If we don't kill him now, when will we?" The others all joined the fight.

As more people joined in, Yuan Ruochu was nearly unable to hold them off. At that moment, Gu Renjie, the Divine Son of Myriad Spirits Mountain, unleashed a surge of presence and drew upon his spiritual power.

His spiritual power gave rise to countless phantoms of exotic beasts. He shouted at Yuan Ruochu, "Myriad Spirits Return to the Source!" The powerful, terrifying beast phantoms instantly transformed into rays of light that blasted toward Yuan Ruochu.

Busy fending off the others' attacks, Yuan Ruochu failed to notice them and was struck hard by the rays of light.

Pfft...

Yuan Ruochu immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, then was driven straight into the ground by the powerful, terrifying light.