Chapter 732: He Does Not Cultivate the Death Art

Xing Jia was stunned that Ding Huan's Dao was terrifying—already forming a consciousness sea world at the Divine King realm, he could even enter it himself.

Ding Huan was equally stunned by this old residual soul; this guy must be far from ordinary.

When Lao Hou saw the Death Dao rhythm, his fearful little gaze unconsciously made Ding Huan regard the Death Dao rhythm with greater caution.

But Lao Jia, upon hearing the Death Dao rhythm, merely sneered, "Just a minor Death Art," and paid it no mind whatsoever.

"Lao Jia, I heard this Death Dao rhythm was cast by someone who fell onto this star continent. If I want to deal with him, what should I do?"

Ding Huan humbly sought advice; he knew that since Xing Jia dismissed the minor Death Art, he must surely have a way to counter it.

Xing Jia spoke calmly: "You move freely within this Death Dao rhythm and even set up a protective array—this shows you're no longer afraid of the Death Dao rhythm."

"Though I don't know what Dao you cultivate, since you're no longer afraid of the Death Dao rhythm, what else is there to fear? No need to ask me."

"Lao Jia, you're trying to curry favor with me right now. If every time I ask you a question you act so lazy and dismissive, the outcome won't be pleasant."

Ding Huan spoke calmly.

Xing Jia's heart tightened.

He was currently in a residual soul state; to survive, his first priority was to leave Ding Huan's consciousness sea world.

If Ding Huan refused to let him leave, he had no chance whatsoever with his current strength.

Second, he needed Cosmic Essence.

As this vast universe continued to be annihilated by cosmic calamities, places containing Cosmic Essence were growing ever rarer.

Perhaps Ding Huan held the only Cosmic Essence left.

Whether for the first reason or the second, he was utterly dependent on Ding Huan.

Thinking of this, Xing Jia let out a long sigh.

He had once been a Dao Ancestor of a world, a powerhouse of the eighth step of the Dao.

Now he was being controlled by a mere ant—how tragic.

"Lao Jia, think of your contemporaries. Though you're a residual soul, at least you still have a path: make Ding Huan like you better."

"Your friends? They might not even get such an opportunity. So don't take blessings for granted. Being a soul—more than being a person—means knowing contentment brings joy."

Ding Huan knew Xing Jia was undoubtedly a vast treasure trove, even comparable to the owner of that parchment, so he didn't want to utterly alienate him.

Xing Jia's thoughts were stirred by Ding Huan's words.

He recalled the other Dao Ancestors; perhaps he was still lucky.

He didn't know if the others had survived, but even if they had, they likely fared no better than he did.

Too bad he'd misjudged and sided against Di Lan, his vision far inferior to Chang Yi and Qi Zhou Zhou Tian.

But was Di Lan still alive?

Wasn't it lucky that he still had even a fragment of a residual soul?

No matter how bitter he felt inside, he couldn't offend the one standing before him.

This guy had condensed a consciousness sea universe at the Divine King realm—even this consciousness sea universe might call itself a world.

Otherwise, Ding Huan could never have entered his own consciousness sea universe with his physical body.

So even if Ding Huan's future achievements fell short of his own, achieving Eternal Life was certainly within reach.

"A cultivator who cultivates the minor Death Art must have flaws in their own Dao, but each cultivator's flaw differs—I must see the opponent before I can tell you how to counter them."

Xing Jia no longer held himself as a Dao Ancestor; his tone grew gentler.

"Good." Ding Huan was very satisfied with Xing Jia's words.

Ding Huan allowed Xing Jia's spiritual sense to follow him, planning to seek out the one who unleashed the Death Dao rhythm after dealing with the Hollow Willow.

Following Ding Huan's figure, Xing Jia was stunned once more.

He hadn't been mistaken—no need to wait for the future. Ding Huan's consciousness sea space could grow trees; wasn't this the embryonic form of a world transforming into a universe?

Wait…

Was that the Primordial Spirit Root, Hollow Willow?

Xing Jia hadn't expected Ding Huan to acquire such a Primordial Spirit Root—even to him, it was top-tier treasure.

Was Ding Huan planning to cultivate beneath that Hollow Willow?

But one's own consciousness sea world was absolutely unsuitable for cultivation.

Yet Ding Huan's next move left him speechless.

First, Ding Huan extracted all the spiritual veins planted beneath the Hollow Willow.

Then he wrapped the Willow's space in law flame and drew forth a massive axe, bringing it down.

This…

"Crack!"

When Ding Huan's axe struck the Willow's root, Xing Jia was utterly baffled.

"Wait…"

Xing Jia quickly called out: "Ding Daofriend, this is a Primordial Spirit Root—why are you chopping it down?"

People guard such things with their lives—you trap it in flame and hack at it with an axe? This is sheer waste of heaven's gifts.

"I don't want it anymore. Can't I chop it?" Ding Huan glanced at Xing Jia.

Had he not intended to use the Hollow Willow to forge something, he'd have burned it long ago.

"Can we trade? I'll give you Dao veins—even better things—just let me keep this Hollow Willow."

"Bring the goods?" At Xing Jia's words, Ding Huan halted his chopping.

He thought a trade might not be bad.

Xing Jia smiled awkwardly: "Do you think I can produce anything now? Once I regain sufficient strength, whatever you want, I'll give you."

"IOU? Then forget it."

Ding Huan ignored Xing Jia.

Xing Jia spoke again: "You can tell me why you're chopping down this tree?" He simply couldn't understand—it was a primordial spirit root, something everyone needed.

To chop it down with an axe…

Even he found it a pity.

"I nurtured this tree carefully. When I needed its help before, it completely ignored me—probably because it thought I killed its previous master," Ding Huan didn't hide the truth.

Xing Jia was deeply puzzled: "Ding Daofriend, a hollow willow of primordial origin is extremely hard to bind to a master. Even if it does bind, it isn't an ordinary being. Such a being, you probably can't kill."

Old Jia is doubting my abilities.

Ding Huan thought Xing Jia had some merit—this hollow willow wouldn't have bound Qing as its master.

If it never bound Qing, then why did the hollow willow aid Qing with life-energy dao-rhythm, yet ignore him?

Ding Huan immediately constructed a Great Cosmos Technique Zhou Tian, wanting to see what was truly going on.

Under the Great Cosmos Technique Zhou Tian, Ding Huan found no issue.

No imprint, no soul-nuance—just a pure primordial spirit root.

Not a single error in any detail!

Xing Jia saw Ding Huan's expression and knew he found nothing wrong; he chuckled: "Perhaps the hollow willow simply looks down on you."

Ding Huan nodded, still agreeing with Xing Jia's view.

Aside from looking down on him and refusing to offer any aid, Ding Huan couldn't think of any other reason.

He stopped chopping with the axe. Since Xing Jia wanted to trade with him, he wouldn't cut it down.

Earlier, his axe swings were purely out of rage.

Now that he'd calmed down, he felt his actions had been childish.

Ding Huan stirred his spiritual sense, and the hollow willow was cleanly lifted up by him.

He then continuously inscribed various spatial sealing array patterns.

In just over a dozen breaths, Ding Huan sealed the hollow willow into a one-chi size, then placed it inside a wooden box.

"What are you doing?" Xing Jia stared at Ding Huan in confusion.

If he's not chopping it down anymore, he must have come to terms with it—so why dig it up?

"When you recover, you can trade with me. Or if I ever see something good at an auction, I'll trade it myself."

Ding Huan replied.

"You could just plant this tree in your world and pull it out when you want to trade. Doing this might kill the tree's life-force entirely," Xing Jia was baffled.

"My space doesn't raise Bai Yanlang."

As he spoke, Ding Huan flicked his hand and tossed the wooden box into his ring.

Whether the hollow willow lived or died, he didn't care at all.

Watching Ding Huan leave the spiritual sea world, Xing Jia still couldn't comprehend it.

To these immortal sages, the Dao was everything.

All joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure must yield to the Dao.

This hollow willow merely refused to bind Ding Huan and withheld life-energy nourishment—and yet Ding Huan dug it up and sealed it? This was simply…

Though Ding Huan's Dao was decent, Xing Jia didn't believe such conduct could lead to true Dao attainment.

Too impulsive.

Ding Huan bound the Po Jie Dao to his back with array patterns, and hung the Life-Death Mirror on his waist with array patterns.

He summoned the Cosmic Cauldron, which surged toward Wang Shen Land.

Outside, the Po Jie Dao constantly absorbed heavenly killing qi and sword momentum, while the Life-Death Mirror voraciously devoured death qi here.

Ding Huan had comprehended the Death Principle, and the Cosmic Cauldron's speed didn't slow—it accelerated further.

In less than half a day, the Cosmic Cauldron crossed the seas between Xia Shen Land and Wang Shen Land.

Now, the sea's suction had faded, entirely filled with Death Principle dao-rhythm.

The Cosmic Cauldron halted far beyond the outer edge of Wang Shen Land.

Ding Huan faintly sensed something was wrong.

The Death Principle dao-rhythm was growing increasingly terrifying.

Even though he had comprehended part of the Death Principle, he still felt uneasy here.

Ding Huan retracted the Cosmic Cauldron. Dozens of li ahead, a withered skeleton lay.

The skeleton was entirely pale white; the Death Principle dao-rhythm emanated from it.

Ding Huan clearly sensed a life-force aura.

Meaning this skeleton was alive—and still emitting Death Principle dao-rhythm.

"Ding Huan, this skeleton isn't ordinary—it's likely nearing the Eternal Sage realm. It's hard to fathom such a being still cultivates Minor Death Art…"

Xing Jia himself was puzzled as he spoke.

Logically, such a being would never deign to cultivate Minor Death Art.

Even if they did cultivate, they'd pursue Major Death Art.

"No…"

Xing Jia spoke again: "Ding Huan, this fellow isn't cultivating Minor Death Art."

"Then isn't this Death Principle dao-rhythm?" Ding Huan asked in surprise.

Xing Jia's expression turned grave:

"If I'm not mistaken, this fellow cultivates the Cycle Dao—he's using the life-force of this realm to fill his Cycle Dao…"

Leveraging Death Principle dao-rhythm to construct his own Cycle Dao—this wasn't just talent; this was genius.

(Dao friend, good night!)

(End of chapter)