Chapter 734: Life Essence

BOOM!

As Xiang Xiangzi unleashed her Long Hu power, she wielded the black gold arrowhead, striking with such force that it pierced through the massive red gold stone before her.

As everyone had observed, the red gold stone was indeed hollow inside, but its walls were about ten centimeters thick—such thickness of red gold could not be split even by a Mountain Lord.

Fortunately, the black gold arrow remained sharp, and with the intervention of a peak Third Flower cultivator, they finally broke open this red gold stone that had lain dormant for countless years.

The moment the red gold stone cracked open,

another burst.

A vast torrent of life essence surged forth like a storm, overwhelming everything; faintly, they seemed to hear the defiant roars of ancient warriors and sensed a terrifying presence akin to that of a deity.

Inside the red gold stone, a span of time had been sealed away, everything frozen at a single moment—and Li Yi and the others had unintentionally uncovered this long-buried story.

"Such terrifying life essence," even Xiang Xiangzi and Xuan Yuezi flinched, their expressions changing instantly as they instinctively stepped back.

Yet immediately afterward, they both instinctively formed hand seals and activated the Great Heaven-Earth Qi Absorption Method.

Then, the three flowers above their heads bloomed.

One of them—the Dao Flower representing Life—gulped down the incoming life essence like an endless abyss; within moments, both women's Dao Flowers gained another petal.

This meant Xiang Xiangzi and Xuan Yuezi's Life Flowers had undergone another transformation—and the transformation was far from over.

As they absorbed more life essence, the Life Flowers above their heads grew increasingly luminous, and soon another petal sprouted.

They exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other's eyes.

At their realm, further advancement was nearly impossible—yet simply absorbing this vast torrent of life essence had already increased their strength.

And the life essence gushing forth was limitless.

Two Third Flower cultivators alone could not possibly absorb it all; behind them, Li Yi, Jiang Mingtian, and Zhao Fangji all felt their pores open wide as the surging life essence flooded into their bodies.

At this moment,

Li Yi felt every cell in his body trembling as his divine blood generated at an unimaginable speed, and the divine blood within his sixty major acupoints began filling one after another.

Only moments passed.

Li Yi felt his strength surge once more.

If before he had possessed the power of Three Dragons and Three Tigers, now he had at least Three Dragons and Four Tigers.

Such progress in such a short time—how could it not shock?

And the life essence pouring forth seemed endless, impossible to fully absorb; the excess flowed entirely into Tianyi Palace.

Fortunately, Tianyi Palace was a self-contained space, capable of sealing away this vast torrent of divine essence—otherwise, it would have simply dissipated into the heavens and earth, wasted.

And it wasn't just Li Yi who gained immense benefit.

Jiang Mingtian and Zhao Fangji experienced the same: their bodies refined, muscles swelled, old skin peeled away rapidly, and their aura strengthened swiftly.

Under the onslaught of this vast life essence, all of them remained motionless for an entire hour.

During this time, everyone savored the cleansing sensation of the life essence.

"My Life Flower has reached perfect completion—I can absorb no more life essence," Xuan Yuezi opened her eyes, pausing the Great Heaven-Earth Qi Absorption Method with a hint of reluctance.

Above her head, the three flowers bloomed, the Life Flower particularly lush, its petals exceeding the others by a full nine.

Now the Life Flower seemed alive, spontaneously drawing in spiritual energy from heaven and earth, transforming it into pure life essence, and returning it to Xuan Yuezi.

Perfect completion of the Life Flower meant Xuan Yuezi could now achieve immortality.

As long as she did not overexpend her life force, the life essence naturally produced by her Life Flower alone would sustain her indefinitely—provided sufficient spiritual energy from heaven and earth remained available.

"My Life Flower is complete too, but my body has changed in a different way," Xiang Xiangzi now glowed with seven-colored light, her flesh faintly translucent.

Vast quantities of life essence flowed within her.

"Tai Yi once reshaped your body with the Seven-Colored Stone—perhaps now, aided by this torrent of life essence, your form is undergoing some unpredictable transformation," Xuan Yuezi observed briefly, yet could discern no clear pattern.

For neither the Seven-Colored Stone nor this torrent of life essence had ever existed in the Decline Era.

"I feel this is a good thing," Xiang Xiangzi licked her red lips. "As I suspected before, as my cultivation advances, I may awaken the Seven-Colored Bloodline. This bloodline belongs to a supreme being—if I can awaken it, perhaps I can use it to ascend to the Path of the Dao."

"Xuan Yuezi, the Three Flowers gathered at the crown, the Five Qi converging into the origin—this is the peak of our cultivation. Even this power barely suffices against a Mountain Lord. You don't want our Seven Immortal Maidens lineage to fall, do you?"

Then she looked at Xuan Yuezi again.

Xuan Yuezi fell silent for a moment: "Do you have a suggestion?"

"Find a way to obtain divine blood, become a Divine Blood Warrior. Only with the power of bloodline enhancement can Third Flower cultivators surpass their peers. Dual cultivation is unavoidable—Tai Yi himself achieved the strength to challenge a First Flower cultivator while only at the Five Qi realm because he practiced dual cultivation."

Xiang Xiangzi said: "If we don't strive harder, we'll be eliminated."

"You're right. But before that, I must collect this vast life essence and preserve it—for the revival of the other three Immortal Maidens," Xuan Yuezi nodded, flipping her palm to reveal the Dao Seal.

Then she formed the hand seals once more, absorbing the life essence and sealing as much as possible into the Dao Seal.

"Forging a body from red gold, combined with this torrent of life essence, can indeed create a body of limitless potential—but it also caps its upper limit. We must find divine blood, use it to reshape the bodies of the other three Immortal Maidens, so they may forge a path never before seen," Xiang Xiangzi said.

She was already thinking ahead.

"Makes sense," Xuan Yuezi nodded in agreement.

Now that the two of them had regained their strength with Tai Yi's aid, even reaching peak Third Flower, they could not forget their fallen sisters.

While the two collected the divine essence,

Li Yi opened his eyes and awoke. His body was now covered in lightning-like patterns, his divine blood fully filling all sixty acupoints—his power had increased again.

Four Dragons and Four Tigers.

Such strength in the Decline Era would easily crush a First Flower cultivator.

Moreover, he sensed a restless power within his divine blood—ancient, sacred, the divine force inherited from his bloodline.

"Am I about to awaken a Divine Art?" Li Yi suddenly thought, though he didn't know why.

The feeling was intense.

If he chose to delve into this power, he believed he could master an immensely powerful Divine Art soon.

The Divine Art gestating within his bloodline meant Li Yi was now a true Divine Blood scion—not the half-baked Divine Blood Warrior he had been before.

"There's too much life essence—I can't absorb any more," Li Yi exhaled slowly.

Even his Divine Blood scion body had reached its limit.

Yet the life essence continued gushing forth, inexhaustible.

"Li Yi, you're already incredible—we couldn't even last ten minutes," Jiang Mingtian and Zhao Fangji said with bitter smiles.

In just ten minutes, their bodies had transformed multiple times.

Their muscles grew robust, their height increased, their dark skin faded into normal tone, their eyes gleamed with vitality, and Zhao Fangji's body was now wreathed in silver lightning.

His divine blood had strengthened considerably.

But he had consumed fewer silver anomalous fruits than Li Yi; even after transformation, he could not cross the threshold to become a Divine Blood scion.

Yet Zhao Fangji was already satisfied—he now possessed a physique rivaling that of the Wildlands, with tremendous future potential.

"Li Yi, should we go inside and investigate?" Xuan Yuezi said. "There might truly be divine blood within."

The emergence of this life essence made them realize: something alive was sealed inside, a being whose life tier far surpassed theirs—even a single drop of its blood's essence was enough to sustain them all indefinitely.

"We've come this far—we must go in. Before Tianyi Palace fills with this life essence, we must exit and seal this place," Li Yi glanced back.

Inside Tianyi Palace, life essence scattered everywhere, surrounding them like thick mist.

Only the main hall was full; other smaller spaces within still had room to absorb more—but even so, at this rate, Tianyi Palace would reach its limit within hours.

Then the excess life essence would be wasted.

Li Yi wasn't afraid of waste—he feared this essence was too conspicuous, and might bring unforeseen trouble.

"Then let's move quickly," Xiang Xiangzi said.

Li Yi said: "Two Immortal Maidens, be careful. Such vast life essence might give birth to something powerful."

"True."

Prompted by this warning, the two Immortal Maidens immediately retrieved from their storage artifacts a set of red gold armor.

Among the Mountain Lord's collection, there were armors designed for female warriors.

They donned the red gold armor, one holding the Dao Seal, the other wielding a red gold sword, then stepped into the opened red gold stone.

With the two Immortal Maidens leading, Li Yi felt far safer and followed closely behind.

Zhao Fangji and Jiang Mingtian, weaker in strength, brought up the rear.

Once inside the red gold stone, they discovered its interior was not small—on the contrary, it was vast, as if an entire mountain had been hollowed out. It could easily accommodate not just their group, but tens of thousands.

As soon as they entered, they looked down.

The ground beneath their feet was not rock—it was red gold. The walls, pillars—all were red gold.

Clearly, this was a space entirely encased in red gold.

(End of Chapter)