Chapter 688

But before heading to the Wildlands, he sent a message to Hu Fei and arranged to meet him at the Xiu Xiang residence in Beihuang City; Hu Fei knew Xiu Xiang and would know the address.

After finishing this, Li Yi crossed the danger zone of Tianning City, following the direction in his memory as he flew toward the Wildlands—within moments, the scenery before him underwent a radical transformation.

At first, he could still see abandoned cities and highways.

But once he truly entered the Wildlands, Li Yi saw a towering mountain and an endless, boundless expanse of land, where the air brimmed with primal and ancient energy.

The surging cosmic energy was not divided into the Five Elements, but remained in a state of primordial chaos.

Simply staying here, even without cultivation, would cause one's physical form to undergo transformation.

"The Valley of the Gods' Burial—I've returned." Li Yi took a deep breath, feeling every cell in his body rejoicing, especially the divine blood within him, which stirred restlessly as if responding to some unseen call.

Boom!

The once tranquil Valley of the Gods' Burial suddenly grew dark with storm clouds, golden lightning flashing between the clouds—yet within this thunder, there was no trace of divine wrath, only an inexplicable joy.

"Is this valley welcoming me?" Li Yi thought to himself.

He had not harvested all the strange fruits within the Divine Gorge, nor received the complete divine legacy, for back then he had been too weak, his divine blood insufficient, his strength unable to support such a great fortune.

But now, everything was different.

With his cultivation at the Five Qi realm, Li Yi had mastered the Technique of Subduing the Dragon and Taming the Tiger, and had opened sixty major acupoints; his divine blood, nurtured over these days, had become immensely potent.

This state had seemingly surpassed a certain threshold, allowing him to resonate with the Valley of the Gods' Burial.

"Let's go see."

With this thought, Li Yi immediately summoned clouds and mist, shooting toward the ancient gorge.

Inside the gorge, no monstrous beasts, no living beings, not even weeds grew.

Only a few ancient trees scattered across different directions of the gorge bore silver strange fruits—extraordinary in nature; if an ordinary person consumed them, they might inherit divine blood.

But now, that was unlikely.

Because Li Yi had already harvested all the largest, oldest fruits.

Some he ate; others he used to nurture a new body.

Although the body stored in the Cradle of Life had yet to mature due to lack of energy, it remained a viable backup vessel worthy of careful preservation.

Li Yi flew at tremendous speed.

Within seconds, he had entered the ancient valley; though golden lightning crisscrossed above, none struck down, nor did it attack Li Yi.

Because his divine blood's aura shared the same origin as the residual divine energy within the valley, he was not targeted.

But if a monstrous beast, a Wildlands warrior, or an Earthling entered here, they would bear the wrath of the gods—once in, escape would be nearly impossible.

Precisely because of this, everything within the Divine Valley had been preserved.

Otherwise, those silver strange fruits would have been long harvested.

"Everything remains as it was when I left—this is still a forbidden zone, untouched by anyone." Li Yi arrived on clouds, soon standing before a massive, ancient tree.

This ancient tree took root deep within the valley, drawing power from the residual bones of the gods, producing extraordinary silver fruits.

Li Yi waved his hand, releasing a surge of magic power that split open a corner of the valley.

Quickly,

he saw a silver bone as thick as a mountain.

Even after countless years, it remained indestructible.

"I should take all these remains—perhaps the Bald Daoist could forge them into a top-tier Dao artifact." Li Yi's thoughts turned, and he considered emptying the valley to carry off the divine relics.

He had the Five Elements Bracelet, a self-contained space—he could easily store them.

And he possessed the Technique of Turning Rivers and Overturning Seas; he was no longer powerless as before.

"Let's try."

Li Yi decided to give it a shot.

He took a deep breath, then shot upward, channeling his magic power as he reached out and slapped the valley from afar.

"Turn Rivers and Overturn Seas."

A supreme Dao technique was unleashed.

Yet, contrary to his expectation, the entire valley did not uproot—instead, the ground trembled slightly, then a far more immense aura erupted forth.

Though fleeting, it instantly suppressed Li Yi's Technique of Turning Rivers and Overturning Seas.

As a result, everything remained untouched.

"No way." Li Yi was stunned.

He could sense something terrifying buried within the valley—its power was so immense that even the Technique of Turning Rivers and Overturning Seas could not budge it an inch.

"This is truly bizarre. Back then, when I was weak, I couldn't move the divine relics—I understood. But now, at Five Qi Realm, I still can't? How powerful was this god in life?"

Li Yi silently marveled.

Under these circumstances, he could only abandon the idea.

Yet, a plan quickly formed in Li Yi's mind.

If he couldn't move it, he wouldn't let it go to waste.

He rummaged through his Five Elements Bracelet and soon pulled out a seed.

It was a seed from the Golden Apple of the Dark World.

Originally, the Golden Apple Tree had parasitized the World Dragon, absorbing its power to bear golden apples; if he repeated the process, using the divine relics as nourishment, perhaps he could grow silver apples.

"Let's try—it won't hurt."

Li Yi descended from the sky and approached the previous pit, seeing half-exposed white bone. He flicked his finger, planting the Golden Apple seed onto the divine relic.

He had expected the indestructible divine relic to remain unresponsive to the seed.

But something unexpected happened.

The once lifeless Golden Apple seed, upon contact with the divine relic, immediately writhed, transforming into a crimson blood-tumor that rooted itself onto the relic.

As time passed, crimson veins spread wildly across the divine relic, and the writhing blood-tumor swelled as if fed by rich nutrients.

The sight was deeply eerie.

But without doubt, the Golden Apple seed had taken root successfully.

Yet, to see it fully grow and bear fruit would still require time.

"Things from the Dark World are truly bizarre—this seed can parasitize and grow even on the divine relics of the Wildlands." Li Yi was inwardly startled; he dared not touch such filth.

He immediately withdrew.

He believed that soon, the entire valley would be engulfed in red tendrils, and a Silver Apple Tree would bloom within.

After observing for a moment,

confirming all was normal, Li Yi did not linger—he turned and left.

He left the trees bearing silver strange fruits untouched.

Compared to those silver fruits, Li Yi looked forward more to the Silver Apple's emergence—let the entire valley become nourishment to grow the Silver Apple.

He believed the Silver Apple, watered by divine relics, would possess extraordinary divine abilities.

Perhaps it would grant the divine legacy's memories, or even a purer divine bloodline.

With this thought, Li Yi left the valley and headed toward Beihuang City.

Along the way, he saw a mountain village.

It was Shoushan Village.

But somehow, Shoushan Village had become ruins—no villagers, no warriors, not even the tree bearing strange fruits remained; it had been uprooted.

It seemed that at some point, Shoushan Village had suffered a great calamity.

Li Yi glanced briefly, then paid it no further attention.

Shoushan Village had once caused him great trouble—he nearly been sold into slavery—but later he took revenge, making the villagers pay.

Perhaps Shoushan Village's current fate was tied to Li Yi's earlier devastation of the village, killing their strongest warrior and high priest.

Yet Li Yi felt no regret for his actions back then.

A primitive village that captured and sold people as slaves—even if it preserved some simplicity—when faced with greater threats and enemies, its destruction was only natural.

This world had its own rules.

Li Yi continued riding clouds.

After a while, he saw on an endless plain a towering wall resembling a giant kingdom's fortress—a wall stretching across the land like a mountain range, visible from afar.

This was Beihuang City.

Li Yi chose not to ride clouds—it was too conspicuous. In this world, despite his strength, discretion was better.

After landing, he walked toward Beihuang City on foot.

Unfortunately, he hadn't brought his mount Shan Yi or Niu Niu—if he had, travel would've been far easier.

People in this world all tamed monstrous beasts as mounts.

Li Yi should have adapted to local customs upon arriving here.

No.

He was no longer called Li Yi—in this world, his name was Da Yi.

It fit the world's style perfectly.

Li Yi strode forward, appearing to walk normally, yet each step covered ten meters—this was the Dao technique Shu Di Fa; though not a refined technique, since true mastery was Shu Di Cheng Cun.

Shu Di Fa was merely a simplified version.

(End of Chapter)