Chapter 254: Exploring the Wood-Character Domain

Ao Li, who had already become the East Sea Dragon Lord, was also quite excited and thrilled at this moment.

This kind of killing power was exactly what it had dreamed of before.

It never expected that all of this would be realized in just a few months!

Sure enough, following the right big shot is much more important than working hard oneself!

"Roar!"

Ao Li let out another proud roar, flicked its tail to create an afterimage, and like a python, coiled round and round the shark sea monster that was biting the horn of Xuangui Baxia.

In the blink of an eye, Ao Li, which was coiled around the shark sea monster, opened its mouth and sprayed flames at the back of the opponent's head.

This flame carried a trace of True Dragon Clan power.

After burning for a few seconds, the horned sea monster's body shuddered; apart from that single horn, flames spread across its entire body, and then the horn fell off the burning torso.

The remainder of the sea monster's body sank to the seabed, still burning with flames.

Xuangui Baxia opened its mouth and swallowed the entire horn into its belly.

Immediately after, it retracted its head and four limbs back into its turtle shell.

The turtle shell began to spin at high speed.

It actually shot up into the high sky with a *whoosh*, just like a helicopter.

During this process, it also brought the giant octopus, which had been tightly wrapping its tentacles around Xuangui Baxia, out of the sea.

This caused the Cultivators who saw this underwater sea monster clearly to gasp in unison.

This was no longer any kind of giant octopus.

Except for the lower body covered in tentacles, which still looked like an octopus.

The upper body was a mountain of flesh composed of the heads of hundreds or thousands of different types of sea monsters.

Just one look was enough to make the sanity of many Cultivators plummet.

"Awoo!"

Ao Li also noticed this, let out another dragon cry, and sprayed a mouthful of flames to cover this giant octopus sea monster.

Causing it to emit miserable screams in thousands of different tones.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

At the same time, those tentacles wrapped around Xuangui Baxia also snapped off one after another.

Freed from its restraints, Xuangui Baxia was very angry; after glancing at Ao Li, it dove into the sea.

It began to finish off the two sea monsters that had been heavily injured but were gradually recovering as the flames extinguished.

It was just that now that the sea monsters had lost the initiative and the power of encirclement, they were clearly no longer enough for Xuangui Baxia to eat.

The Cultivators on the Immortal Boat looked one after another toward the black flood dragon, Ao Li, in the sky.

Regardless of whether it was useful or not, they first bowed and saluted, thanking the other party for the rescue just now.

"It was merely a small effort; if you want to thank someone, thank the Old Ancestor for being compassionate and having a heart of mercy."

Ao Li mimicked Su Ping's posture, held its head high, said this indifferently, and then fled into the clouds elsewhere and disappeared.

After becoming a Yuan Ying flood dragon.

Ao Li was also entrusted with important tasks.

It would go to more distant sea areas to observe the movements of the outer seas.

A new continent had once been discovered in the outer seas, attracting the covetous eyes of many forces.

However, that new continent was not a safe zone; on the contrary, it had long been occupied by Evil Spirits.

This caused the few batches of people who landed there to be wiped out before they could even send back much information.

This was also within the expectations of those powerful forces who knew about the Spirit Vein matter.

With the protection of a Spirit Vein, even if the Spirit Vein was being polluted, even places representing the world's protection were in such a miserable state.

The lands overseas had almost no protection from Spirit Vein power, so how could it possibly be any better!

It might have been fine before because it was rarely visited by humans, but it would also attract Evil Spirits and even the arrival of Evil God Avatars because mortals and Cultivators migrated there.

After flying for a full hour.

Ao Li finally saw a coastline appear on the distant horizon.

Ao Li did not foolishly run onto the land.

Instead, it began to swim along the coastline for a circle.

It discovered that this continent was about one-third the size of Nanhuang.

It was actually not small no matter where it was placed.

Normally, such a continent should have had a Spirit Vein.

But the strange thing was that there was no Spirit Vein here.

Even this new continent itself was something that even many large sects had no impression of.

However, there were a few words in the ancient secrets contributed by the Ten Directions Sect.

In ancient times, this continent was known as Donghai Zhen Long Da Lu.

It was the dwelling place of the True Dragon Clan and their dragon descendants.

It is rumored that those True Dragons were not natives of this Cultivation World; after arriving in the Cultivation World, the True Dragons who did not go to seize Spirit Veins used their Great Divine Ability to directly create a new continent in the depths of the sea to serve as their base.

Because of this, all parties whose strength was at its peak during the ancient period tacitly allowed the True Dragons to be their good neighbors.

As for now... the True Dragon Clan had long sensed that something was wrong and relocated in advance.

This continent, having lost its protection, became what it is today.

Ao Li could feel that when it looked toward the coast, it could sense that something deep within this continent was tempting it.

That should be something related to True Dragons, having a sliver of possibility to improve the Bloodline quality of sub-dragons and inferior dragon species.

If it were in the past, Ao Li might have been tempted.

But now, as the East Sea Dragon Lord, how could Ao Li be swayed by such minor temptations?

However...

It was likely also because there was that one object within the continent acting as a lure.

While patrolling the coastline, Ao Li had discovered that large sea monsters would frequently charge onto the beach from the Dahai, then crawl or hop toward the central region.

Ao Li shook her body, and two phantom images, extremely similar to the East Sea Dragon Lord's dharma image, were split off.

Then, these two avatar phantoms flew away, one into the sky and one submerging into the Dahai.

After leaving the avatars to continue monitoring the anomalies of this new continent.

Ao Li was unwilling to stay long on this new continent, and turned to fly toward another location.

The island of the Beidou Qixing Sect had now completely transformed into a place ravaged by Evil Qi.

At the very center of the island, one could see that the massive stone stele and the mausoleum from the Secret Realm had unexpectedly broken free from the Secret Realm and appeared on the island.

Fortunately, the stone stele was still bound by circles of Golden Chain.

This indicated that the Evil Spirit avatar within the mausoleum was still sealed inside the Earth Palace.

Ao Li also left a Dragon Lord phantom avatar at this location before beginning the return journey.

On the island, inside the City Lord Mansion.

Su Ping also sensed these places through his connection with Ao Li, which made him feel a little more at ease.

As long as the Cultivation World could hold on a little longer, he could continue to develop using Water Blue Star and the Fishing System.

Next, Su Ping received several representatives from sects and noble families who had brought the heaviest gifts.

And he opened the Blood God Secret Realm.

He brought over a thousand new Cultivators into the Secret Realm in one go.

The addition of these Cultivators also made the Cultivators who were already in the Secret Realm feel a sense of crisis.

They dared not be negligent in their work.

Furthermore... as the Spirit Qi from the upgraded Pot Heaven was injected into the Blood God Seal.

The high-quality Spirit Qi immediately caused all those practicing within the Blood God Secret Realm to tremble in unison.

Those who were more knowledgeable immediately realized that the current quality of Spirit Qi was no less than that of a Four-Tier Spirit Vein location!

This Secret Realm had no Spirit Vein; the Spirit Qi was currently being attracted through other means.

Even so, it proved that Xueshen Laozu controlled a Four-Tier Spirit Vein location.

Suddenly, many of the newly arrived Cultivators who had been worried felt at ease, and while taking deep breaths of Spirit Qi, they entered their state and began their new work as quickly as possible.

Su Ping was not idle either.

After understanding and digesting most of the good things obtained from the Ten Thousand Mountains.

Su Ping turned his gaze back to Mu Zi Yu.

Su Ping had not forgotten the relic map given by the Ten Directions Sect that was suspected to be a test.

Moreover, Su Ping himself was very interested in the spatial artifacts within the ruins.

He could feel that once his Sun Moon Star Chart absorbed enough heavenly treasures and utilized the Blood God Seal to fuse with spatial artifacts.

It had a high hope of being promoted to the quality of a Dharma Treasure.

Once it became a Dharma Treasure...

Su Ping recalled the Xukong Chong egg in his hand.

A sudden thought occurred to him: perhaps he could let the Sun Moon Star Chart completely fuse with the Blood God Secret Realm inside the Blood God Seal, thereby evolving into a Small World with infinite possibilities.

A Small World that could form its own system and circulate endlessly was naturally much better than a Secret Realm.

And whether it was the Blood God main body—which would change from relying on the power of a Secret Realm to relying on the power of a Small World—or Su Ping's own Incense Divine Path Secret Technique, they would all be strengthened in various aspects, right?

However, there was no rush in terms of time.

Su Ping chose a safer method.

He let the fearless Memory Illusion serve as the vanguard to enter Mu Zi Yu and figure out the situation inside.

He could even resolve some troubles in advance.

Deep within Mu Zi Yu.

Amidst a large mountain covered in strange black plants.

There were unexpectedly more than ten earthen buildings that had appeared abruptly.

And inside the earthen buildings, there were a group of mortals and Cultivators living there.

These people were all locals who had originally lived in Mu Zi Yu.

Their main occupation was planting medicinal herbs.

Yet, they did not expect that after a great upheaval, the world would change all at once.

Evil Spirits were erupting everywhere, and the air was filled with Evil Qi.

As long as they left the hundred-meter radius of the earthen buildings, Evil Qi would enter their bodies, and they would begin to lose control and transform into Evil Spirits.

After witnessing more than a dozen Cultivators who thought they had some ability turn into Evil Spirits in everyone's eyes.

The mortals and Cultivators in the earthen buildings dared not stray far ever again.

They had no choice but to hunker down in the earthen buildings, hoping for rescue from the outside world.

Fortunately, as the place where these people had lived for generations, the earthen buildings had extremely abundant supplies stored.

It would not be a problem for these thousand-plus people to eat for four or five years.

It was just that these people, who were still rejoicing that their earthen building formation had protected their safety.

Soon discovered that their survival was not due to the merit of the formation.

Rather, these dozen or so earthen buildings they lived in had themselves transformed into large-scale Evil Spirits!

And they had treated these people as their personal captives!

Inside the earthen buildings, they were also being assaulted and polluted every moment by the Evil Qi emitted by the buildings themselves.

This process varied from person to person.

Almost every day, mortals or Cultivators who were deemed "cured and seasoned" by the earthen building Evil Spirits would be suddenly dragged into the walls or floors and disappear.

This caused the mental state of these people to worsen day by day, and there were even incidents of mutual slaughter occurring within the earthen buildings.

Some people even went completely insane.

Then, people discovered that those who went insane quickly transformed into monsters that were neither human nor ghost.

And they were taken up to reside on the top floor of the earthen building.

It seemed that food in such a state... was worth the careful preparation of these earthen building Evil Spirits.

However, there was one earthen building that, thanks to the Cultivators there taking the initiative to stand up and maintain Order, boosted morale.

It was actually still able to maintain the basic Order of the hundred or so people inside the earthen building.

After sitting cross-legged on the first floor and exhausting his Essence Spirit and Qi to set up layer after layer of Protective Spiritual Light on his body surface.

The middle-aged Cultivator in green robes, who served as the backbone of the people in this earthen building, coughed lightly, and only when he could no longer hold it back did he take a teapot from his sleeve and drink a little clean water.

The clean water and food here were both problematic; eating as little as possible could delay the time until one became qualified food.

Unlike those muddled mortals, this middle-aged Cultivator still retained a desire to survive even while in this place.

"I am the last successor of the Wood Heart Sect; I absolutely cannot die here!"

"The Sect Master, the Elders' entrustment, the trust of my junior brothers and sisters... I must not fail them!"

"I must live; as long as I am alive, there is definitely still Hope!"

The middle-aged Cultivator was named Mu Feng, and he was a True Disciple of a sect in Mu Zi Yu responsible for herb cultivation and preliminary refining.

As a small sect that survived by attaching itself to an Immortal Sect, Mu Feng, like other disciples with Spirit Roots, was an orphan taken in by the Wood Heart Sect.

Because of this, Mu Feng had always regarded the sect as his home.

He also regarded the other disciples of the sect as his family.

It was just that this great upheaval had changed everything.

It also made him, who had always buried his head in hard work, feel how insignificant his meager cultivation was under such a great trend.

"Daoist, can we really be saved?"

People who were lying on the floor to save energy by eating and drinking less asked a similar question that Mu Feng could no longer remember how many times he had heard.

"It is possible; the Immortal Sect will not let the Heavenly Demons and external paths run rampant for so long. As long as the experts of the Immortal Sect can spare their hands, everything will return to normal!"

"Furthermore, I heard before that Chiyuan Xianren is in seclusion."

"As long as Chiyuan Xianren comes out of seclusion, everything will get better!"

Mu Feng said the lie with certainty, encouraging others while also encouraging himself.

When Chiyuan Xianren was mentioned, the numb eyes of everyone flickered slightly with a glimmer of light.

However, in the next second, screams came from several nearby earthen buildings.

As for the exclamations and cursing, by this point, people were already used to it and had become numb.

Mu Feng's heart sank; listening to the number of screams this time, he realized that the appetite of the earthen building Evil Spirits was increasing.

And in the end, a large mouth suddenly appeared in the wall of their earthen building, and then a barbed tongue reached out and snatched away two mortals.

It seemed that the method he had summarized... was also reaching its limit.

Just as Mu Feng lowered his head to prevent others from seeing his worried expression.

Suddenly!

Mu Feng heard a loud noise and a roar coming from outside.

Mu Feng immediately recognized it.

It was not the fighting and clashing between those Evil Spirits.

It was a Cultivator fighting against an Evil Spirit!

Had the experts of the Immortal Sect finally arrived?

Mu Feng perked up, hurriedly trotted out of the main gate, and stretched his neck to look over.

Immediately, he saw those strange giant black trees being lifted into the sky.

A hundred-meter-tall, meat-mountain-like Evil Spirit was split in two by a red light.

Following that, flames appeared where it had been cut.

These flames seemed to be extremely effective against Evil Spirits; once they started burning, they quickly spread to the whole body.

Following closely, a male Cultivator wearing red armor and having red hair walked out, stepped over the corpse of the Evil Spirit that had turned into ashes, and seemed to notice the gaze fixed upon him.

The sharp gaze of Fire Knight Alwin swept toward Mu Feng.

Mu Feng was startled, but then, after a flash of inspiration, he knelt down abruptly, offered a circular Jade Pendant emitting green light with both hands, and shouted:

"Wood Heart Sect True Disciple Mu Feng, I beg the Immortal Master to save me!"