The Chase

The mountain where Zhang Xuezhou was located was about 8,000 li away from the Western Kunlun. A round trip of this distance would be 16,000 li.

Even if the Flying Feiyu Demon King, who was skilled in flying, tried his best to fly, he could only travel 30,000 miles a day.

It won't be a short time before Divine Lord Zhenyuan returns to Western Kunlun.

He could only wait patiently in the mountains.

With the rabbit demons involved, Zhang Xuezhou wasn't exactly bored while waiting. Besides knowing that the Longevity Fruit Tree needed fertilizer to survive, he also knew that the old trees originally planted in this secret place had a wonderful effect on improving spellcasting skills.

This made him spend his free time munching on a few leaves of the fairy tree.

Zhang Xuezhou only stopped this shortcut training Technique Method when his nose started bleeding.

"It must have reached some kind of limit!"

The original Sand Transformation Technique, which took one minute to cast, has been shortened to twenty seconds, with a casting area of nearly one zhang in radius. Meanwhile, the Yellow Sand Entanglement Technique takes about twelve seconds to cast, and the amount of yellow sand that can be manipulated has almost doubled.

Zhang Xuezhou wasn't sure if this enhancement came from the complete activation of his mental power, or if the leaves had significantly increased his spellcasting proficiency.

Perhaps due to the limitations of spellcasting before chewing the first leaf, Zhang Xuezhou only improved his Sand Transformation Technique, Sand Entanglement Technique, and Cloud Soaring Technique.

"I wonder if this effect will last?"

Once his body reached its limit, Zhang Xuezhou performed the spell with relative ease. He couldn't help but wonder if he would revert to his original form once the effects of the drug wore off.

Every Technique Method inevitably involves repeated casting, thus achieving the effect of 'practice makes perfect'.

Zhang Xuezhou took many shortcuts in his cultivation, but his shortcuts were mostly about accumulating physical energy to shorten the time required for honing his cultivation.

This was the first time he had ever experienced a shortcut to rapidly improve his Technique Method.

However, this shortcut lacks supporting theory. If it weren't for exploring the impact of Zhang Xuezhou's spiritual transformation, Zhang Xuezhou felt that the effect of his improved Technique Method would most likely be temporary.

He used his Technique Method in the mountains for a while, then created wind and waves to patrol the surroundings, and even caught a few gray-furred wild rabbits and threw them under the longevity fruit tree.

"And he's a picky eater!"

Seeing the wilted longevity fruit tree completely ignoring the rabbit carcass, Zhang Xuezhou felt that these trees were difficult to care for.

He didn't care about the life or death of the Longevity Fruit Tree, he just waited for the Divine Lord Zhenyuan to return with soil as the sun rose and the evening glow shone.

Upon hearing a loud booming sound in the sky, Zhang Xuezhou immediately stood up and quickly looked in the direction of the sound.

In the distance, a black dot appeared like a falling meteor. As it drew closer, Zhang Xuezhou realized it was a bird demon wreathed in black flames.

"It's the remains of the Golden Crow Great Emperor!"

When the vision became clear, Zhang Xuezhou saw the bird demon's body, which was the size of a flying machine, and its reckless attacks, seemingly devoid of reason.

In front of the remains of the Golden Crow Great Emperor is the Divine Lord Zhenyuan, who is constantly leaping and waving his large sleeves.

Zhang Xuezhou had to admit that Divine Lord Zhenyuan's flying technique was extremely advanced, given that he could return to the Kunlun Sacred Land in about a day.

However, compared to the Golden Crow Great Emperor, who was skilled in flight, this ability to fly was clearly insufficient.

This was merely a pursuit of the extremely stiffened remains of the Golden Crow Great Emperor.

"Holy Son, I have brought the soil. Fill the longevity fruit tree with soil, and I will lure this old bird to the sea!"

Several hundred meters away from Zhang Xuezhou, Divine Lord Zhenyuan had already shouted.

Zhang Xuezhou only saw Divine Lord Zhenyuan wave his sleeve before he was buried under a pile of soil.

A surge of heat welled up in Zhang Xuezhou's heart, and the Fire Avoidance Technique activated on its own.

When Zhang Xuezhou finally managed to crawl out of the mound, he saw that the area within a radius of more than ten meters had been burned to a crisp, and even the soil covering his body was charred black.

The marigold tree not far away was clearly not doing well either. The leaves of the entire tree were no longer wilted, but showed obvious burn marks and curling, and even the bark was charred black.

As Zhang Xuezhou's gaze swept across the area, he saw roots emerging from under the longevity fruit tree, engulfing the carcasses of the wild rabbits he had previously overlooked.

It's not unusual for demonic trees to devour corpses; the same was true of the Aoki that Zhang Xuezhou encountered on Fangzhang Island.

Perhaps because it was treated too well in the Peach Garden, the Longevity Fruit Tree was a bit picky about its food, and only became obedient after being burned by the Golden Crow Great Emperor's corpse fire.

There was no trace of Divine Lord Zhenyuan and the corpses of the Golden Crow Great Emperor in the air. Zhang Xuezhou looked around and gestured to himself, then gestured to himself, realizing that he might not be able to withstand the power of the Golden Crow Great Emperor's unconscious attack.

After more than ten years of hard work, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't even withstand the power of the Golden Crow Great Emperor's corpse, which caused the pleasure he felt from improving his Technique Method to disappear very quickly.

"The Fire Avoidance Instruction still needs improvement..."

Zhang Xuezhou compared the differences between them and silently recited them in his mind.

In the end, he had no choice but to fill the soil by hand, preparing to push the mound of earth that Divine Lord Zhenyuan had wrapped around his body under the Longevity Fruit Tree.

"Don't be picky about food, I'll catch you a few more wild animals, just behave yourself and survive!"

He chanted a few times, and was thinking of finding some wild animals to fertilize the Longevity Fruit Tree when he saw a light flash in the sky again, and an unridden carriage came galloping towards him.

Upon seeing the carriage, Zhang Xuezhou's heart skipped a beat.

He was just about to burrow into the mound of earth to hide when he saw the carriage make a turn in the air and then descend at an extremely rapid speed.

This put Zhang Xuezhou's idea of crawling into the pile of dirt aside.

"Holy Son, what are you doing here?"

Mi Fei, who was sitting at the front of the carriage holding a fork, stood up and then pushed the carriage down, and the carriage, which was unridden yet capable of flying, landed steadily.

"Greetings to Consort Mi, Consort Shangyuan, Consort Taizhen, Consort Nongyu, Consort Xiangjiang, and Consort Du Jiang!"

When Consort Mi asked a question, Zhang Xuezhou had no choice but to stand up and bow.

No sooner had he left the Kunlun Sacred Land Kunlun Sacred Land than Zhang Xuezhou unexpectedly encountered the various goddesses there just two days later, including two he had never met before.

"Do you still not know the names of these two ladies?"

"Mysterious Maiden!"

"Bixia!"

As the two cold, simple voices fell, Zhang Xuezhou finally learned the names of the sword-wielding and knife-wielding ladies among the concubines.

He shook his head, showing no embarrassment.

"I only sobered up two days ago, I never expected to meet you ladies here," Zhang Xuezhou said politely.

"You only sobered up two days ago?" the Goddess of Mystery asked, frowning.

"I slept for twelve days. I never thought I would sleep for so long without sobering up. Then I used my flying technique to fly around randomly. I only woke up after I ran into Divine Lord Zhenyuan and was taken care of," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"Where is Zhenyuan?" the Goddess Xuan Nu pressed.

"The remains of the Golden Crow Great Emperor are chasing him. He said that only by leading the Golden Crow Great Emperor into the sea could the flames on the emperor's body be extinguished. He must have flown in that direction!"

Zhang Xuezhou couldn't see the direction in which Divine Lord Zhenyuan and Golden Crow Great Emperor flew, so he could only use the direction of the burning corpse fire as a guide.

"Zhenyuan dug up the foundation of the Peach Garden; this crime is unforgivable! Otherwise, where would I put my face when I first took charge of the Peach Garden?" The Goddess Xuan Nu roared, "Sisters, chase after him!"

"Holy Son, how long has Zhenyuan been gone?"

The Goddess of Mystery was nearly ten feet tall, clad in dark red armor, and wielding a long sword as tall as a man, clearly indicating that she was ready for battle, and had raised her magic sword in preparation for a duel.

She was furious, while Bixia Niangniang, who was beside her holding a long sword, remained relatively calm and asked Zhang Xuezhou about the corresponding time.

"It should have been almost a quarter of an hour!" Zhang Xuezhou said after thinking for a moment.

"That Zhenyuan fellow can fly so fast, we couldn't catch up even in our Eight Views Carriage," said Empress Taizhen with a cold breath.

"He was being chased by the Golden Crow's undead body, so his speed is understandable," said Lady Shangyuan in a deep voice. "We should pursue him for his overstepping actions, but we've already reached the Soul-Severing Ridge. Further east lies the Southern Jambudvipa Continent's territory, a key area managed by the Immortal Court. If we enter so openly, it might easily provoke conflict!"

"Are we just going to let this go like this?" the Goddess Xuan Nu roared. "He dug up the soil of my peach orchard! I won't be satisfied until I chop him down with three sword strikes!"

"Divine Lord Zhenyuan dumped all the soil here. Why don't we take it back with us to save ourselves the trouble of chasing after him?"

Zhang Xuezhou pointed to the scorched earth behind him, which had turned black and resembled a small hill. He quickly offered suggestions, wanting to end this trouble that might involve him as soon as possible.

The Emperor and Empress have already let bygones be bygones regarding Divine Lord Zhenyuan's uprooting of the tree and departure, but Divine Lord Zhenyuan's return to Wantao Garden to dig soil is also inextricably linked to Zhang Xuezhou.

Judging from the enraged fighting spirit of the Goddess Xuan Nu, Zhang Xuezhou felt that after Divine Lord Zhenyuan explained the cause and effect, he would most likely also be beaten.

In this matter, his suggestion that Divine Lord Zhenyuan dig the soil was indeed disrespectful to the newly appointed Xuan Nu Niangniang, the guardian of Wan Tao Yuan, so it's no wonder that Xuan Nu Niangniang didn't give him face.