Chapter 722: Start Moving

At this moment, inside the body of Chishan Mountain.

Li Yi held the Shattered Star Spear, channeling magic power, using the Cloud Soaring Technique to smash straight through, burrowing deep into the mountain's core—but every so often he paused to adjust his direction, ensuring he was digging in the right spot.

"Come to think of it, can we really find divine blood ahead? After all, it's just a legend."

As he advanced, his inner resolve wavered slightly.

In just a short while, he had already carved through at least dozens of kilometers into the mountain.

Aside from scattered pieces of cyan-gold, crimson-gold, and mountain jade, he found nothing else.

Perhaps there were some unknown artifacts, but all were reduced to dust under the Shattered Star Spear's strikes.

Li Yi felt no regret—anything shattered by the Shattered Star Spear was surely not a valuable treasure; true treasures would be as indestructible as the cyan-gold and crimson-gold scattered on the ground.

But one thing was certain.

The interior of the mountain was growing hotter, and the concentration of extraordinary life essence was rising sharply.

Around him, it felt like a colossal furnace—even the rocks glowed faintly red, and the amount of crimson-gold increased steadily, slowing Li Yi's progress considerably.

After all, crimson-gold blocked his path; even the Shattered Star Spear could not shatter it, only force it open.

This turned Li Yi into an extremely efficient miner.

At his feet lay block after block of priceless crimson-gold.

Adhering to the principle of no waste, he casually collected them into his Five Elements Bracelet—crimson-gold in this world held immense value.

"Li Yi, can you hear me? Someone's coming—looks like the Battalion Commander." Suddenly, Jiang Mingtian's voice echoed through the tunnel.

Though drowned by the immense noise, Jiang Mingtian's voice carried cosmic energy fluctuations—far away as it was, Li Yi could still sense them.

"Given the time, they should've realized by now." Li Yi slowed his pace at the sight.

Clearly, things weren't going as smoothly as he'd hoped—he'd thought he could finish digging before they noticed, but now he'd have to retreat and deal with the enemy first.

Yet just as he was about to abandon his mission—

Suddenly—

CLANG!

A metallic clash rang out; the Shattered Star Spear in Li Yi's hand struck something massive—powerful recoil nearly wrenched the spear from his grip.

The explosive energy blast shattered all surrounding rock.

Only then did Li Yi clearly see what blocked his path.

A massive block of crimson-gold stone.

Entirely crimson, faintly translucent, shimmering with divine radiance.

"So much crimson-gold," Li Yi's expression shifted slightly.

After mining so long, the largest pieces he'd seen were only basin-sized—but this one, visible alone, stood over two zhang tall.

Most of the crimson-gold remained buried within the mountain, still unexcavated; if fully extracted, it would be worth an unimaginable fortune.

"Wait—something's wrong. This massive crimson-gold stone is hollow inside."

Suddenly, Li Yi studied it more carefully—and made a startling discovery.

The crimson-gold resembled a giant amber, hollow within, as if sealing something inside; merely approaching it, he felt a staggering release of life essence.

Unable to resist, he inhaled a breath—and instantly his body surged with power, his depleted magic power restored, and his divine blood churned violently, as if swallowing a colossal tonic, undergoing clear transformation.

Though Li Yi had reached the level of divine blood lineage, he had yet to awaken divine arts—meaning his divine blood lineage still had vast room to grow, far from its peak.

But at this stage, divine blood transformation had slowed to a crawl.

"Incredible—could it really be divine blood sealed inside? Just a breath of escaping essence has triggered noticeable transformation in my divine blood."

Li Yi's heart pounded with sudden desire.

Such essence was terrifying—even if it wasn't divine blood, it was undoubtedly a rare treasure.

He longed to break open the massive crimson-gold stone and see what lay within.

But crimson-gold was indestructible.

Even wielding the Shattered Star Spear at full power, Li Yi could not split the crimson-gold stone.

He tried using the Five Elements Bracelet to absorb it.

It failed.

The massive crimson-gold stone seemed fused with the entire mountain, linked to over a dozen nearby peaks—its power far exceeded the Five Elements Bracelet's capacity; the only way was to split the mountain and reveal the stone's true form.

But doing so would be an outright provocation to the Lord of Chishan Mountain.

Li Yi reached out, touching the crimson-gold stone, absorbing the surging life essence—instinctive greed surged within him: he needed this to grow, to evolve, to transform.

Just as legends said, celestial treasures were guarded by beasts and demons.

Li Yi wanted to become the guardian of this crimson-gold stone—to dwell here, cultivate, evolve—and he desperately yearned to break it open and claim what lay inside.

"Take Chishan Mountain, become its lord—and this will naturally be mine."

A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

Since he couldn't carry away the massive crimson-gold stone, he'd fight the Lord of Chishan Mountain—if he could kill him, everything would be resolved.

Without hesitation—

Li Yi gripped the Shattered Star Spear, said nothing, and activated the Cloud Soaring Technique, turning to leave.

Now, it was worth a fight.

Meanwhile—

Outside the mine tunnel—

Jiang Mingtian had already seen the Battalion Commander Bai Li, accompanied by three powerful warriors, advancing along the source of the disturbance—each clad in heavy armor, armed and fully equipped.

The sight made Jiang Mingtian tense instantly.

Warriors in this world were no ordinary men; even after over a year of cultivation here, despite his own physical transformation and power growth, he had no confidence he could defeat the Battalion Commander.

"The sound came from the end of the tunnel, Boss—there's a slave standing there, motionless." One of the mountain guards spotted Jiang Mingtian.

The guard was curious.

In such abnormal circumstances, ordinary slaves would flee desperately, terrified of encountering deadly beasts—but this slave stood perfectly calm.

"Kill him," Battalion Commander Bai Li said coldly.

In such a situation, a slave acting strangely must be hiding something—no matter what, killing him was the solution. This was his method of managing the mines—and it had effectively crushed countless rebellions.

As soon as Battalion Commander Bai Li spoke—

The next instant, one of the mountain guards drew a dagger from his belt and hurled it at Jiang Mingtian with full force.

Though a mere ordinary attack, under the guard's terrifying strength, the dagger shattered the air, tore through the sky like a cannonball.

No slave could withstand such force.

But something unexpected happened.

Jiang Mingtian seemed to have anticipated the attack—he stepped sideways in advance, evading the dagger with perfect precision just before it struck.

BOOM!

The thrown dagger slammed into the mountain behind Jiang Mingtian, shattering countless rocks with a thunderous crash.

"A slave dodged my attack? Did I miss?"

The guard who threw the dagger froze—then his face twisted with lethal intent.

No—he hadn't missed.

This slave had concealed his strength; he wasn't just an ordinary slave—he possessed power equal to his own.

"I'll kill you."

The guard roared, drawing a massive halberd and charging forward.

His body shot out like a released arrow, the air humming in his wake.

"These savages—damn, their strength is terrifying."

Jiang Mingtian cast a deep glance at Battalion Commander Bai Li—seeing he hadn't moved, he understood: they were using this guard to test his strength.

The muscle-bound brute had brains—no wonder he ruled this mountain range.

But everything was already part of the plan.

Jiang Mingtian's storage artifact flashed—he suddenly held a magic sword in his hand.

Holding the familiar hilt, his former confidence returned; the Eight Sword Art, practiced countless times in his mind, activated instinctively.

Cosmic energy surged from within him; his lean, dark frame erupted with power far exceeding the mountain guard's.

After over a year of absorbing the mountain's essence, he had already forged a barbarian warrior's body.

"Kill."

Jiang Mingtian roared, his magic sword trembling—Eight States of Sword arose.

With equal strength, technique, and weapon, he had no chance of losing.

Swordlight flared abruptly within the tunnel.

Jiang Mingtian advanced, meeting the guard head-on.

"No!" Battalion Commander Bai Li's face turned pale.

This slave's sudden power surge was extraordinary—the mountain guard stood no chance.

But it was too late.

Their forms crossed; sword met halberd in brief clash.

But as Jiang Mingtian unleashed his killing technique, he disarmed the halberd and followed with a single slash—severing the guard's head clean off.

The massive head flew upward, hot blood gushing, drenching Jiang Mingtian's body.

Jiang Mingtian stood, sword in hand, chest heaving, killing intent undiminished.

After enduring for over a year, today he could finally stop hiding.

"Die."

Yet before the headless corpse hit the ground, a roar like a wild beast shook his ears.

Bai Li, the Warrior Chief, moved faster than lightning, appearing before Jiang Mingtian in an instant, his green-gold great hammer descending toward Jiang Mingtian's skull.

Jiang Mingtian's soul screamed a frantic warning.

But it was too slow.

There was no time to dodge.

If that blow landed, he would be reduced to a pulp.

But at that very moment,

a Shattered Star Spear arrived simultaneously, striking the green-gold great hammer with perfect precision. Terrifying force erupted, forcibly blasting the hammer away.

The residual power surged.

The Warrior Chief, Bai Li, his massive frame involuntarily reeled backward, flying through the air.

After rolling dozens of times across the ground, he finally slammed hard against the tunnel's rocky wall and came to a stop.

"Jiang Mingtian, are you alright?" Li Yi strode forward, wielding the Shattered Star Spear, standing on a cloud of auspicious energy, wreathed in five-colored qi, radiating the power of Long Hu.

"I'm fine. You arrived just in time—I'd barely moved." Jiang Mingtian let out a deep breath of relief.

Indeed.

Li Yi's current strength was terrifying—this Warrior Chief had been blasted away by a single strike, utterly no match for him.

(End of Chapter)