Chapter 259

His strength had also undergone a terrifying increase; he felt that even without Jin Gang Qi, relying solely on physical force, he could fight a Wu Gong practitioner who had just entered the Minor Success Realm of Jin Gang.

Overwhelming, surging power seemed ready to burst from his chest; he felt an impulse to find someone to fight. He knew this impulse arose because his strength had increased too suddenly, his energy was abundant, and he wanted to vent it.

Looking at his silver-white skin, which resembled metal, he couldn't help but flick his finger lightly, and it actually produced a clinking sound.

A fallen leaf drifted down from above his head, but before it could touch his body, it was shaken into dust.

He flicked his finger again; a wisp of Jin Gang Qi shot out ten zhang without dissipating, piercing through a large tree. Its condensation level was astonishing.

"In the future, when fighting others, once Jin Gang Gong is activated, the signs will inevitably be exposed."

The characteristics of Jin Gang Gong were too obvious; to be honest, they did not match his low-key personality, so he secretly decided that unless it was a life-or-death battle, he would absolutely not activate Jin Gang Gong.

Until the origin of Jin Gang Gong is cleared up in a day, he should try not to display it in front of living people. The Wu Gong obtained from the flower-stealing thief Jade Butterfly might have been stolen from somewhere.

"Is my physical body now truly indestructible like Jin Gang?"

He was not certain; his knowledge in this area was too scarce. However, with protective Jin Gang Qi added, it would be difficult for ordinary people in the Minor Success Realm of Jin Gang to injure him. He felt that even against a Grand Success expert of Jin Gang, he dared to fight.

"Thanks to this Earth Vein Spiritual Fire, otherwise it would still take more than half a year to reach the Minor Success Realm."

As Jin Gang Gong stopped circulating, the silver color on his body quickly receded, and Xu Yang felt as if he had instantly fallen from a great height.

【Remaining Lifespan: 78】

Lifespan had increased by another two years.

After glancing at the panel one last time, Xu Yang stood up and returned to the valley.

"Junior Brother Xu, your time for a small relief is a bit long; it's been nearly half a shichen." Song Song Runshu, seeing him return, spoke with a sarcastic tone.

Recently, everyone had been slacking off; naturally, they knew this, but there was no really good solution, after all, no one was idle, and their hands had not stopped working.

Xu Yang, using a small relief as an excuse to slack off, had just walked right into the line of fire.

Xu Yang was in a good mood at the moment and did not mind, replying casually: "I was not slacking off; I was just delayed because after relieving myself, I forced out the fire poison."

Upon hearing this, Song Song Runshu did not pursue the matter further.

Xu Yang returned to the stone chamber and found that the Earth Vein Spiritual Fire's refinement of his physical body and Jin Gang Qi had weakened significantly; now, even without activating Wu Gong, he could easily adapt to the high temperature of the stone chamber.

"No wonder Gao Lin, Song Song Runshu, and others are not cultivating here; the fire qi emitted by the Earth Vein Spiritual Fire has no effect on those whose physical bodies and Jin Gang Qi have become powerful to a certain extent."

Xu Yang continued to slack off; although the Earth Vein Spiritual Fire had little effect on him now, he could not offend the others.

But in reality, they could not drag this out for long; at most, they could extend it by one or two days. The Zong Sect urgently needed this batch of materials, and Song Song Runshu and Liu Youzhen could not possibly accompany them here forever.

At lunchtime, everyone walked out of the stone chamber.

Liu Youzhen and Song Song Runshu brought dried meat, large flatbreads, and clear water to distribute among the group.

Then, Song Song Runshu's sharp gaze swept over the crowd, and he said: "The prescribed half-month has only two days left. I know your intentions, but I tell you, within two days, all materials must be refined; otherwise, none of you will get any contribution points."

Except for Xu Yang, everyone's expressions changed slightly.

Their Jin Gang Qi and physical bodies were still strengthening, and they really did not want to leave this cultivation treasure land.

But Song Song Runshu had already made his stance clear by threatening with contribution points; if they continued to slack off, they would not have a good outcome.

As for continuing to cultivate here after the rough ore refining ended, that was impossible.

That tower furnace was clearly no ordinary object; it would inevitably be taken away. Without the tower furnace to suppress the Earth Vein Spiritual Fire, this place would be sealed off.

Liu Youzhen said: "Do not blame Song Senior Brother and me for being unfeeling; these materials are needed by the Elder of Li Huo Peak to forge weapons. If time is delayed, we will also have trouble."

One played the black face, the other the white face; the crowd's expressions improved considerably, and they understood they could not continue to slack off.

The Elder of Li Huo Peak was absolutely a big shot who could make the entire Ziyang Sect tremble with a single stomp of his foot; very few people had the courage to delay matters for such a person.

"Yo! Quite a crowd here. Our rough ore should be refined almost completely by now."

Suddenly, a voice carrying mockery came from outside the valley; ten figures, completely wrapped up, appeared at the valley entrance at some unknown time.

They all wore black clothes and black face masks, with only a pair of eyes exposed.

Led by two people, the other eight followed behind them, spreading out to surround the valley, emitting overwhelming auras.

The two leaders: one was as bulky as an ox with bright eyes, the other was as thin as a bamboo pole with sinister eyes; the contrast was extremely strong.

Xu Yang's heart sank; these were clearly not here with good intentions.

Currently, his highest realm was the Blazing Sun Jin Gang Blade, but for this mission, he had not brought the blade with him.

In an instant, everyone sitting on the ground gnawing on dried meat stood up, and several showed eager expressions.

These people were probably here for the refined materials inside the cave; if they could kill these people, it would surely be a merit.

Song Song Runshu sneered: "Where did these petty thieves come from? Didn't you check clearly that the things here belong to the Ziyang Sect?"

As an inner disciple of the Ziyang Sect and a disciple of Li Huo Peak, he had the confidence to despise most petty thieves.

The burly man snorted: "Petty thieves? If you think so, then so be it. When there are no tigers in the mountain, the monkeys claim to be kings. Disciples of the Ziyang Sect are truly getting worse with each generation."

"Kill everyone; do not let a single one escape!"

Speaking thus, Jin Gang Qi erupted from beneath his feet, his figure suddenly vanished from the spot, instantly crossing a distance of five or six zhang, and his large hand tore through the air with a piercing whistle as he struck at Song Song Runshu.

The momentum of this palm strike was terrifying, like a mountain collapsing and the earth cracking, with thunder rising from the flat ground; it seemed the entire valley shook along with it.

The overwhelming pressure made Xu Yang and those beside him involuntarily step back, their faces filled with shock.

These were absolutely not petty thieves, but extremely terrifying experts; they must be true Bone Marrow Washing strong ones.

"Arrogant!"

Song Song Runshu roared, red light radiating from his body, raising an astonishing aura.

He took a large step forward and similarly struck out with a palm, like a Xiong Wang swinging its paw, stomping the ground until it trembled, with an extremely violent momentum.

"Senior Brother Song's Back-Loading Mountain Xiong Wang Palm has become even more profound." Liu Youzhen's eyes sparkled with bright light.

This palm strike had deeply grasped the essence of the Back-Loading Mountain Xiong Wang Palm; in a trance, it seemed as if a human-sized bear standing upright was seen, with Jin Gang Qi surging from all parts of the body to the palm, carrying a terrifying Jin Gang wind.

"Bang!"

The two palms collided, like two pieces of refined iron striking each other, producing a piercing crisp sound and sending out ripples visible to the naked eye.

Force swept horizontally, the ground cracked in all directions, and dust shot up to the sky; Xu Yang and the others hurriedly stepped back.

"Ah... Blood-Transforming Palm!"

Amidst the dust filling the sky, only Song Song Runshu's desperate scream was heard, his tone full of utter horror.

When the dust cleared, he was seen staggering backward; the hand that had clashed palm-to-palm with the burly man had withered as if its flesh and blood had vanished.

Liu Youzhen's expression changed drastically as he roared, "It's the Xuelian Sect! Do not let their gang qi invade your bodies."

Xu Yang's heart sank; since joining the Ziyang Sect, he had always been on guard against disciples who had been turned by the Xuelian Sect, yet he never expected to encounter them at the moment he cared the least.

The cultivation method seemed quite eerie; Song Song Runshu's cultivation base was not far off from the burly man's, yet in the clash, he had suffered a major defeat.

"Bai Chi, quickly send the distress signal!" Song Song Runshu roared, sensing something was terribly wrong.

Liu Youzhen paid no heed to his words and hurriedly reached for his waist, just about to pull out a signal firework to beg the Zong Sect for help, but that stick-thin man had already appeared before him like a ghost.

"Thinking of calling for help now? It's too late."

A sinister voice rang out as five fingers glowing with black light reached for Liu Youzhen's throat.

In fact, this place was dozens of kilometers from the Ziyang Sect; even if the distress firework were launched successfully, it might not summon any experts from the Ziyang Sect.

"Not good!"

Fang Yu's horrified voice rang out; he saw that aside from the two leaders, the remaining eight Xuelian Sect disciples all had at least a Minor Success in gang qi cultivation base, with two possessing Major Success in gang qi, making their strength far superior to theirs.

"Ah..."

Xu Yang heard Song Song Runshu's scream again, but he could no longer worry about that, as a black-clad Xuelian Sect member had already charged toward him, possessing a Minor Success in gang qi cultivation base.

At the same time, everyone else had encountered their opponents; those who had been eager to fight just moments ago now all had drastically changed expressions, no longer wanting to Xiang Li Gong, thinking only of surviving.

A strong gust of wind blew against his face; Xu Yang hesitated not a second, took a step backward, and exposed Luo Jiang who was standing beside him.

Instantly, the scene of him and Luo Jiang facing the black-clad Xuelian Sect member together became one of Luo Jiang facing him alone.

"Beast!"

Luo Jiang, pale with terror, had no choice but to counterattack with his life, unleashing all the gang qi of his lifetime with both palms.

"Bang!"

Like destroying withered wood, under the palm of the black-clad Xuelian Sect member with Minor Success in gang qi cultivation base, his gang qi was no stronger than paper; the black-clad Xuelian Sect member's palm, glowing red, tore through his gang qi and slammed heavily onto his chest.

"Crack!"

Gang qi erupted, accompanied by a bone-cracking sound that made teeth ache; Luo Jiang shuddered, his body arched like a giant shrimp, and he spat out mouthfuls of blood mixed with internal organs before flying out with a "Boom."

At the same time, Xu Yang moved; his foot stepped on gang qi, and his figure suddenly vanished from the spot.

In the instant the black-clad Xuelian Sect member sent Luo Jiang flying, he approached like a charging thunderbolt and punched through the air, striking out.

The black-clad Xuelian Sect member was now at a moment of exhausted strength; combined with Xu Yang's speed, which chased the wind on gang qi as fast as a charging thunderbolt, he could only watch helplessly as Xu Yang's fist shattered his gang qi and struck his body.

"Crack!"

Xu Yang's fist flashed with white light; silver gang qi surged like thunder, utterly rigid and fierce, and smashed into the black-clad Xuelian Sect member's body, destroying everything in its path.

Accompanied by the sound of breaking bones, the black-clad Xuelian Sect member's chest immediately collapsed, and he spat blood, flying sideways.