A faint lightning bolt streaked across the pitch-black sky, heading northwest. After leaving the Longyin Marsh, Li Sheng did not fly directly toward the Qingling Sect but instead took a wide detour to avoid being tracked. After flying for over an hour, he stopped and murmured, "Is the distance enough...?" Opening his left hand, a circular, earthy-yellow mark in his palm began to emit a brilliant light. Channeling his spiritual energy into the mark, a rich earthy scent enveloped him, sinking him into the ground.
...
By the spirit pond of the Qingling Sect, a turtle the size of a grinding wheel awoke with a lazy blink. It then spat out an earthy-yellow orb into the ground, sending subtle waves rippling outward. Moments later, the orb surfaced, revealing a familiar figure. "Three thousand miles, three breaths..." Li Sheng marveled, looking around at the familiar environment, and he let out a sigh of relief. After praising the turtle, he headed to the alchemy room.
Having sustained considerable injuries to stall Zhou and Yan, Li Sheng needed at least a month to recover, but with the precious Nirvana Pill, he estimated he would be healed within half a day. Inside the alchemy room, he swallowed the freshly made pill and began meditating to heal. The pill dissolved instantly, flooding him with vitality and a warm sensation. Three hours later, Li Sheng opened his eyes, exhaling a breath of turbid air, his complexion rosy and his breath steady. "This Nirvana Pill is indeed extraordinary..." he thought, pleasantly surprised by how quickly he recovered.
By noon, he hurriedly finished using his remaining alchemy chances, waiting a bit longer for them to refresh, ending up with seven precious cleansing pills before leaving the alchemy room. In the Secret Skill Pavilion, he examined the new classics within the Ziwai Wuding and nodded in satisfaction, muttering, "The second set of dual spirit-level martial arts is complete; I can start to rebuild now..." Despite being able to suppress ordinary-level masters with his current strength, he knew he was far from matching peak masters.
After the battle with Yan and Zhou, he recognized his shortcomings. Now that he had offended them, he needed to quickly condense a second Divine Seed; otherwise, it would be dangerous if they found his lair. His plan was to focus on growth, enhancing his disciples' strength while condensing the Divine Seed. He decided to leave the surrounding spiritual veins undisturbed to avoid attracting attention.
As he pondered, he pulled out the four storage bags he had previously obtained and delved into them with a strand of spiritual energy. After a moment, he was pleasantly surprised. The four of them had a total of over 1.3 million spirit stones, three fourth-grade divine weapons, one third-grade divine weapon, three divine scrolls, and over a hundred medicinal pills, though most were of medium quality, with only a few being of high quality. "A third-grade spear... now that's a good find!" he said, spinning the long spear with satisfaction.
Next, he picked up a white spirit stone and infused it with spiritual energy. Instantly, the dim space around him transformed, and Li Sheng's spiritual body emerged. As he surveyed the area, he marveled. This contract token's space was over ten times larger than his spirit stone's space. The simple interior featured some tables and chairs, with a massive light screen prominently displayed in the center. Currently, several messages appeared on the screen, and Li Sheng focused, noting that several of them concerned him.
The first was about the Grand Masters Mantianqing and the island master, who had fought a battle against a despair-level demon without a clear victor. "The two Grand Masters have already battled a despair-level demon... with no clear outcome..." Li Sheng's expression turned serious as he read the brief account of the battle, sensing the overwhelming aura of devastation. Within a thousand miles, all life perished, the earth split, and rivers reversed.
Just a few lines conveyed a horrific atmosphere. It was said that the法相 of a Grand Master could reach thousands of feet tall, akin to a giant. It was hard to imagine the scene when the two clashed. Li Sheng felt a stir of ambition and continued reading. A mysterious rogue cultivator had appeared, killing three ordinary masters of the Yan country before engaging two of the strongest Grand Masters for an extended period and eventually retreating calmly.
Note: If this person is a rogue, they likely possess an ancient relic. Upon reading the final note, Li Sheng's expression darkened. "If they're a rogue... and have an ancient relic... this isn't good." He could imagine the uproar that would ensue when this news spread. A rogue genius, a Heavenly-tier Divine Seed, an ancient relic this combination could lead to ample dual spirit martial arts and abundant medicinal treasures. The Lingshan Prefecture would soon be crowded. Those who were previously watching would now recognize the "fortune" that the Tianji Sect had spoken of.
Li Sheng felt a twinge of anxiety, reinforcing his resolve to lay low. "Just one more month... until the sect advances..." he murmured. Once the protective formation upgraded, the current threats would vanish. The third piece of information stated that the fourth true successor of the Divine Power Sect, Fengxiao, had perished, supposedly at the hands of a Li surname genius. "Slander! Outrageous slander!" Li Sheng was momentarily stunned; who was spreading such rumors? The ancestor of the Divine Power Sect was currently in the Lingshan Prefecture.
The rage of a Grand Master was far more terrifying than a mindless despair-level demon. If they were determined to search for him, the entire Lingshan Prefecture could be turned upside down in less than half a month. A sense of urgency surged within Li Sheng, and he hastily disregarded the remaining messages, leaving the spirit stone space to head toward the rear mountain's spiritual veins.
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At the rear mountain's spiritual veins, Li Sheng surveyed the area; about fifty gathering rooms were nearly full, leaving only three or four unoccupied. Nine disciples had already reached the fifth-grade blood-moving realm, which calmed his previously agitated mood. "Senior brother?" A surprised voice came from behind. Li Sheng turned to see his junior sister emerging from the black tower, her aura noticeably stronger.
"Junior sister, you've broken through to the fifth-grade blood-moving realm?" "Yes, I just came out of the Enlightenment Ancient Road. The nine disciples went in yesterday afternoon, and they've all broken through to the fifth-grade now..." Bai Ye explained with a hint of joy. "I've given my spirit stone to Hong Ying; if anything comes up, she will notify you."
"There's no need for you to explain; I trust you with your tasks," Li Sheng chuckled. "Senior brother... sister..." Bai Ye frowned slightly, a hint of worry in her lively eyes. "It's fine for now; she is temporarily safe. The situation was complex, and we only exchanged a glance before parting ways. I believe she will be more cautious after this ordeal," Li Sheng replied with a smile.
"That's good to hear..." Bai Ye sighed, pouting. "But why didn't sister come back together? With the spirit stone in hand, it should be easy to contact her." "She didn't want to implicate the sect!" Li Sheng sighed. After leaving the Longyin Marsh, he had tried to contact her, but she did not respond, so he returned to the sect to heal.
Bai Ye shook her head, her expression melancholy. After chatting for a while, Li Sheng gave his junior sister the medicinal pills and urged her to encourage the disciples to intensify their training without slackening off. In the gathering room, Li Sheng took out the dual spirit-level martial arts to study. After a while, he set the texts aside without rushing to practice, instead exploring the analysis of Heavenly-tier Divine Seeds in the martial arts secret text.
According to the text, the Heavenly-tier Divine Seed was merely a rudimentary form, not a complete divine power. Only upon entering the Master realm and undergoing the baptism of heaven and earth's power would the Divine Seed transform into a true divine power. At that time, the twelve spiritual forms would devour and fuse into a singular elemental divine power, a process subject to one's control.
Previously, he had no clue which elemental attribute to preserve for his first Heavenly-tier Divine Power. However, after his two recent immersions in thunder and lightning phenomena, he had gained deep insight and decided to make lightning his first Heavenly-tier Divine Power. With the first divine power confirmed, Li Sheng contemplated the next combinations of divine powers. According to the secret text, divine power secret methods could be combined.
These included the Three Talents Array, corresponding to three divine seeds; the Six Paths Array, corresponding to six divine seeds; the Nine Extremes Array, corresponding to nine divine seeds; and the legendary Twelve Heavenly Circles Array from ancient lore, corresponding to twelve divine seeds. The current number one on the Divine Martial Ranking, Yu Jinsheng, was a Grand Master of the Six Paths Array. His six divine power forms had shaken the world for hundreds of years, consisting of death, metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.
According to the records, among the ancient prodigies who managed to cultivate the Six Paths Array, five of the paths must correspond to the five elements. This saying was believed to have originated from the upper realm and has been passed down since ancient times, regarded as a fundamental truth. "With the first divine power confirmed, I should aim for the five elemental divine powers next..." Li Sheng reflected.
In the Tianxuan Continent, only three people had cultivated the Nine Extremes Array in nearly ten thousand years: the Sword Saint Ximen Chui Xue from eight thousand years ago, the Demon
Lord Pang Ban from five thousand years ago, and the Divine Maiden Dantai Yanran from two thousand years ago. Their legacies were now primarily passed down in the Snowy Domain Holy Land. "Six paths as the foundation... striving for nine extremes..." Regarding the legendary Twelve Heavenly Circles Array, Li Sheng had little thought; even the martial arts secret text only briefly mentioned it without detailed cultivation methods.
"Perhaps only those top holy lands hold the records of this method..." Li Sheng mused, deciding to seek opportunities to probe into this matter later. After swallowing a precious body-cleansing pill, he began cultivating the body-cleansing stance. Compared to his first attempt at cultivation, he found it much smoother now.
...
Four thousand miles east of the prefectural city, Yan Shengjing and six others stood solemnly at the entrance of a canyon. The canyon was five to six miles wide and seemed endless, shrouded in black mist. "Yan brother, I heard you and Zhou brother had a setback against a junior... what a pity! If you had captured him, the relic's inheritance would elevate both the Great Yan and the Hongyu Holy Land to the level of holy lands, wouldn't that be splendid... hahaha!" A scraggly, unattractive old man, leaning on a cane, laughed mockingly.
Zhou Tianyi slightly shook his head, not responding. The feud between these two was long-standing, and such teasing was commonplace; as long as it didn't escalate to conflict, it was fine. "At this point, what's the use of saying such things? Even if we obtain a holy land-level inheritance, how can we keep it? Do you think those holy land-level forces are easy to deal with?" Yan Shengjing replied calmly, showing no sign of regret.
"As long as you haven't gone mad, I can relax." The old man sneered, falling silent. "Everyone, if this operation is successful, our chances of advancing to Grand Masters will greatly increase. At that time, if we capture that junior, we will have seven new holy land-level forces in the world, wouldn't that be delightful?"
"But let me speak plainly: this mission is fraught with danger. Though we are powerful Grand Masters, we are still at a disadvantage here, so we must work together to succeed. Anyone with ulterior motives will be killed by the rest!" Yan Shengjing warned, eyeing the other six seriously.
"Well said! Since that's the case, I will accompany you!" "If we succeed, we will form an alliance of seven, sharing our inheritance and resources. At that time, we could face even the top holy lands with ease. This mission is a chance to defy fate success means life, failure means death, and there is no second path. Thus, for insurance, we must all vow to the heavens!"
Yan Shengjing continued, "Are you all willing?" "Of course, we are willing. We've barely survived this long; it's hard to come across such an opportunity. If we don't fight for it, we will be the ones laughed at!" "I, Lei Xing, swear a blood oath to the heavens: I will work together with you all on this journey, advancing and retreating as one. If I break this vow, may my martial path be tainted, and may I have no way forward!"