Chapter 707

After returning to Ruoyue Divine Corner, Ding Huan implanted one supreme-grade Starry Sky Spirit Vein and another supreme-grade Spirit Vein.

Moreover, Ding Huan implanted a hundred jin of supreme-grade Spirit Rice grains.

With these two supreme-grade Spirit Veins and this Divine Marrow Pool, even if you sat here without cultivating, your cultivation would rise rapidly.

The three men and the pig claimed the four corners of the Divine Marrow Pool; as soon as Ding Huan began cultivating, he immediately felt refreshed and invigorated.

He felt his cultivation surging upward; with every Zhou Tian, he could sense his cultivation exploding higher.

Ding Huan's cultivation experience was excellent, and Emperor Hou Hen was stunned.

As he circulated his cultivation technique through the Zhou Tian, the density of the Divine Qi around him was no longer the primary reason for his rapid advancement.

At this moment, he even believed he could clearly perceive the very threads of Heaven and Earth's Dao principles—with this level of insight, he was certain that even a Pretender Saint before him, he could tear open their world.

That feeling was beyond words.

He was merely restoring his cultivation; with sufficient Divine Qi, it had always been fast.

But now it wasn't just fast—it was outright taking off.

He knew the reason: Ding Huan had joined their cultivation circle.

Emperor Hou Hen had always known Ding Huan's Dao was extraordinary, but now he understood that what he could guess at was merely the tip of Ding Huan's Dao.

He was almost certain Ding Huan cultivated the supreme Dao art of the world.

Otherwise, he could not have such precise control over Heaven and Earth's Dao principles, nor affect those around him.

No wonder Ding Huan could effortlessly tear open a Combined Spirit cultivator's world.

This understanding of Dao rules, this mastery over all laws—if it were him, he too could effortlessly tear open a Combined Spirit cultivator's world.

No, even a Pretender Saint's world—he would tear it open without effort.

Only a stick of incense had passed when Emperor Hou Hen entered the Combined Spirit Second Layer realm.

Emperor Hou Hen nearly lost his Dao heart from excitement, but he quickly calmed himself; with this rate of advancement, he would not take long to return to the peak of Pretender Saint.

Indeed, he had been right to follow Ding Huan.

In just one month, Ding Huan reached Divine King Fourth Layer, entering the middle stage of Divine King.

Ji Luo, though restoring his cultivation, still lagged slightly behind Ding Huan, remaining at Divine King Third Layer.

The one who progressed the most was Emperor Hou Hen.

Emperor Hou Hen's foundation was undamaged; his sea of consciousness and dantian were intact.

He had merely declined in cultivation due to prolonged imprisonment and lack of practice.

Now, with this abundant Divine Qi, his advancement was naturally predictable.

Moreover, because Ding Huan was cultivating here, the laws of Heaven and Earth became extraordinarily clear, accelerating Emperor Hou Hen's progress even further.

In one month, Emperor Hou Hen entered Combined Spirit Fifth Layer—the middle stage of Combined Spirit.

It seemed that as long as no one disturbed their cultivation, he would soon re-enter the Pretender Saint realm.

This lifted Emperor Hou Hen's spirits, and his cultivation improved by leaps and bounds.

Yi Jie ceased cultivation; he had reached the peak of Level Four Divine Beast and needed to leave for Tribulation Crossing to ascend to Level Five Divine Beast.

No one paid attention to Yi Jie's Tribulation Crossing.

Yi Jie, however, was smug—only by following Master Huan could one cultivate like this.

If he had cultivated in Liyin Divine Valley, he would have wasted untold time to reach Level Five Divine Beast.

By his side, in just one month, he was about to undergo Tribulation Crossing.

Yi Jie had no great skills, but his thick skin and durability were real.

Ding Huan watched Yi Jie's Tribulation Crossing and swept him with his divine sense.

He found the Lei Jie arcs merely scorching Yi Jie's rough, thick hide before he lost interest.

The Lei Jie still roared, but Yi Jie had already shattered the barrier of Level Four Divine Beast and entered the ranks of Level Five Divine Beast.

"Hahaha!"

Feeling his power surge, as if divine energy had burst through its chains and flooded his entire body.

This filled Yi Jie with overwhelming confidence; at this moment, even if a Saint stood before him, he believed he could punch its head clean off.

"From today on, any scumbag who dares fight Yi Jie—I'll make him bleed through his heart and rot his guts…"

Yi Jie pointed at a nearby rock as his imagined enemy, ranting wildly, utterly unconcerned as the final wave of Lei Jie descended.

As Yi Jie had predicted, after ascending to Level Five Divine Beast, the final wave of Lei Jie only gave him minor injuries.

An hour later, Yi Jie returned contentedly to the edge of the Divine Marrow Pool to stabilize his cultivation.

He was now a Level Five Divine Beast; in cultivation level, this equated to Divine King.

A gentle breeze blew, and the very rock Yi Jie had just pointed at and cursed turned inexplicably into dust.

From the fragments, it was clear the rock had been riddled with holes, long since shattered.

…

Yong Sheng Bridge.

This was the most famous place in the Ting Sect. Called a bridge, it was not truly a bridge—or rather, it was more than just a bridge.

Beyond Yong Sheng Bridge lay Yong Sheng True Hall, where the nominal Lord of the Ting Sect, Emperor Yuan, resided.

At this moment, Emperor Yuan sat on his throne with a dark expression; a month ago, a ship officer controlling the Qiankun Shuttle had been sent to retrieve two men collecting Divine Rice in the abandoned lands of the Ting Sect—but he never returned.

Moreover, the Qiankun Shuttle had vanished.

A few days ago, he dispatched Yi Han with three Combined Spirit experts to the abandoned lands—but they too vanished without a trace.

The second celestial flying treasure, Xuan Star Flag, had also disappeared.

Even if the abandoned lands harbored strong cultivators, at most only one or two Combined Spirit Initial Stage cultivators might appear.

Why had so many Ting Sect experts vanished, with not a single message returned?

Divine Rice is indeed a valuable thing, but is it really worth making these powerful ones flee with it?

Because Divine Rice isn't something consumed and gone—it's the seeds that are most precious.

As long as you have Divine Rice grains as seeds, you can grow as much Divine Rice as you want.

Emperor Huiyuan frowned deeply, wondering what on earth was going on.

Please... Your Holiness... collect_(!)

After a long while, Emperor Huiyuan still couldn't figure it out, so he said:

"Who is willing to make a trip for the Dao Court? You don't need to bring anything back—just find out the specific situation."

No one responded.

Even the dumbest knew that something major must have happened in the Abandoned Lands, which was why so many powerful ones who went there vanished without a trace.

Not to mention Yi Han—he was a Fully Integrated Divine Realm expert, even bordering on a Semi-Primordial Sage.

If such a powerful one went to the Abandoned Lands and never returned, who would dare go again?

"Holy Master, Venerable Suo Gu of the Buddha Realm has come to pay his respects," reported a messenger at the entrance to the True Hall, breaking the silence.

Emperor Huiyuan looked slightly puzzled: "Is this someone from the Buddha Realm or the Western Teachings?"

Although Emperor Huiyuan said "Western Teachings," everyone knew he meant the Buddhist Sect.

In the Dao Court, the Buddha Realm and the Buddhist Sect were completely different things.

The Buddha Realm was the Buddha Realm; the Buddhist Sect was the Buddhist Sect.

The Buddhist Sect had long established its own system and held an important position within the Dao Court.

Although Emperor Huiyuan was nominally the common lord of the Dao Court, there were far too many places he could not control.

He had no authority over Kunlun, Jiehe, Jin Guanghai, Penglai, Yaochi, and other places.

He could not control either Buddhism or Daoism.

Even the Yinming, Shura, and Ten Directions regions were beyond his reach.

Even some of the more powerful Dao halls were beyond his interference.

The Buddha Realm had existed in this universe for a very long time—deeply rooted.

Although the Western Teachings had established their own system, they had not stood in the Dao Court for long.

They appeared at the same time as Kunlun, Penglai, Yaochi, and other places.

More precisely, after the Ancestor of Humanity's Cosmic Disc arrived here, countless powerful beings from the Cosmic Disc established Dao halls in the Dao Court and founded various factions.

The Western Teachings were established at this time.

After the Western Teachings were established, their first act was to unify the Buddha Realm under their rule.

But the Buddha Realm had existed in the Dao Court far longer than the Western Teachings and refused to submit to them.

They believed they were the true great cultivators of the Buddha Dao, while the Western Teachings were merely minor cultivators.

The Western Teachings had a multitude of powerful ones; the Buddha Realm was no weaker.

The two sides had tangled for countless years with no resolution.

As the common lord of the Dao Court, Emperor Huiyuan wanted to intervene and suppress the newcomers, the Western Teachings, on behalf of the Buddha Realm.

But the Ancestor of Humanity was too powerful—he suppressed the Yongsheng True Hall and warned him not to interfere in the struggles of subordinates, or he would lose his position as common lord.

Emperor Huiyuan was deeply frustrated, but since the other side was stronger, he could only swallow his anger.

After that, he even dared not associate closely with the Buddha Realm, fearing gossip and an excuse for the Ancestor to strike against him.

Fortunately, after arriving in the Dao Court, the Ancestor of Humanity did not interfere further. After ensuring the many factions from the Cosmic Disc took root, he left the Dao Court of his own accord.

At first, Emperor Huiyuan thought that once the Ancestor departed, he could crush the newly established factions in the Dao Court.

But when he merely stopped a man named Yang Jian from establishing a cave dwelling in the Dao Court's sacred ground, Ku Yuan Mountain, Yang Jian came straight to the Yongsheng True Hall.

When he thought he could make an example of Yang Jian, several powerful ones no weaker than himself directly warned him: if he dared to bully the young, he would lose his position as common lord of the Yongsheng True Hall.

Emperor Huiyuan was deeply humiliated—his position as common lord of the Yongsheng True Hall was open to kicks from anyone.

One person was displeased and told him to step down; another was displeased and told him to step down.

Hearing "Buddha Realm" made Emperor Huiyuan lose himself in thought.

Only when a nearby attendant whispered softly: "Holy Master, should we let the Buddha Realm envoy in?" did he snap back.

The Buddha Realm was powerful—even the lowly attendant beside Emperor Huiyuan knew not to offend them lightly.

They had already announced their presence; leaving them waiting was improper.

Emperor Huiyuan came to his senses and nodded: "Alright, invite Venerable Suo Gu of the Buddha Realm into the True Hall to speak."

(End of Chapter)