Chapter 431: The Seed-Extraction Art is complete, and the North River Territory Lord

"Junior Brother, Junior Brother... it's time to drink the vine juice."

Ai Miaomiao's voice was gentle as she approached Zhao Xing, carrying a vine pot filled with murky liquid.

Zhao Xing looked up, his expression one of terror. He saw Ai Miaomiao's cheeks split open, with flesh buds congealing into flowers that twitched with her muscles, seemingly smiling at him.

"No, I don't want to drink it! Senior Sister, I won't drink it!" Zhao Xing resisted with his entire being.

"You won't drink? That's not up to you!" Wei Lan jumped out from somewhere, blue vines growing from his flesh and chest, binding Zhao Xing tight.

"Junior Sister, quickly feed Junior Brother the vine juice."

"No—"

Zhao Xing opened his eyes and woke up from his nightmare with a scream.

Looking around, there was no one there. Where were there any Ai Miaomiao?

"So it was a dream."

Zhao Xing let out a long breath. When he saw several overturned vine pots on the ground, his gaze froze.

"Drinking vine juice until I start having nightmares."

"I really don't know how I got through these past one hundred and fifty years."

"Damn it, this Bud-Sprouting Art is just too agonizing to practice."

Zhao Xing cursed as he picked up the vine pots from the ground.

One hundred and fifty years had passed since the duel with Du Yun, and it had been 2, 25 years since he first entered the Primordial Realm.

After that duel, he had followed the Five Poisons Emperor's instructions and began practicing the 【Five Elements Bud-Sprouting Art】.

This was created by the Five Poisons Emperor and was the unique, signature technique that had made him famous.

"Green buds entwine the five viscera, purple Qi circles the cinnabar mist. Essence, Qi, and Spirit gather at the crown, three flowers bloom atop the head."

Zhao Xing looked in the mirror and found a small tree growing from the middle of his hair, with a small flower bud appearing on it.

"It takes five hundred years for the flowers to bloom and wither before the first flower can be born. I've only practiced for one hundred and fifty years, and I'm almost done."

"Suffering a little is worth it."

The Five Elements Bud-Sprouting Art was a self-cultivation secret technique that used symbiotic plant seeds to merge with the physical body.

It belonged to an auxiliary amplification method. When the three flowers gathered at the crown and he broke through to the Dao Domain Realm, during the transformation of spiritual power, he would possess an additional type of magic power called 【Three-Flower Magic Power】.

The Five Poisons Emperor's creativity was superb; the Five Elements Bud-Sprouting Art was universal, meaning martial artists could also practice this set of techniques.

If it were a martial artist's path, it would form a second Golden Body—the 【Three-Flower Golden Body】.

This was because the symbiotic seeds created by the Five Poisons Emperor existed within the practitioner's five viscera and six bowels.

They formed a second set of meridians, Qi sea, and spiritual palace of the consciousness.

"Once practiced, it is equivalent to a martial artist's second Golden Body or a mage's second magic body. This kind of amplification brings extra bonuses... truly marvelous!"

Such a method involved multiple magic and Dao principles. One had to be highly proficient in various magic arts like derivative seeds, symbiotic seeds, parasitic seeds, and flesh-transformation variants to achieve seamless fusion.

Zhao Xing had read self-cultivation scriptures like the "Scripture of Objects" and the "Grand Canon of Life," which mentioned similar obscure secret techniques, but none were as miraculous as the one created by the Five Poisons Emperor.

Because the Five Poisons Emperor's "Five Elements Bud-Sprouting Art" also involved the "Theory of Qi" from the Heavenly Timing School and the "Theory of Profound Earth" from the Geographical Advantage School.

In Zhao Xing's view, this was not just a single school of magic.

In other words, the Five Poisons Emperor was a man who understood Heavenly Timing, Geographical Advantage, and Self-Cultivation.

"Compared to Zuo Qiyu, Master's learning is very complex. Although it is still rooted in the Self-Cultivation School, it has grown branches into the Heavenly Timing and Geographical Advantage schools. No wonder I practice this technique faster than Wei Lan and Ai Miaomiao."

Among the three disciples, Ai Miaomiao and Wei Lan had practiced for over a thousand years longer, yet their progress in the Bud-Sprouting Art was on par with Zhao Xing's; any speed advantage they had was limited.

This was precisely because Zhao Xing had deep research into the three schools of the Agricultural Official.

And his talent was equally strong.

"Fast is fast, but the pain is also truly agonizing." Zhao Xing put down the mirror, feeling melancholy.

"The Five Viscera Bud-Sprouting Art begins at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM) every day and ends at the hour of You (5-7 PM). The tender buds reappear and turn into seeds, returning to the five viscera. During this period, vitality and spiritual sense become very weak, as if dead."

"So one must take the vine juice prepared by Master in advance to protect the magic body."

"Ai Miaomiao and Wei Lan can only complete one cycle a day, so one bottle is enough."

"I can drink ten bottles, but only the first bottle of vine juice tastes good. The subsequent types are all bitter beyond words and extremely difficult to swallow."

"What a miscalculation!"

After Zhao Xing displayed his extraordinary cultivation speed, Wei Lan and Ai Miaomiao acted as if they had discovered a new continent.

To help him practice, they were incredibly enthusiastic!

They would say it was Master's instruction, and then start force-feeding him vine juice.

Being force-fed ten times a day, combined with the practice of the Bud-Sprouting Art, meant Zhao Xing had to be tortured ten times a day, cycling between life and death ten times, just to perfectly fuse the five types of symbiotic seeds with his magic body.

Zhao Xing rarely complained of pain for the sake of cultivation, but he had been traumatized by these one hundred and fifty years, often having the kind of nightmare he just had.

"I finally understand Xia Jing."

Zhao Xing now felt nauseous just seeing a vine pot!

"However, the first stage is complete. These nightmare-like days can finally come to an end."

Just as he finished tidying up the vine pots, Wei Lan and Ai Miaomiao appeared before him with a great leap.

One was carrying a medicine basin, and the other was casting binding vines to tie him up.

"What are you doing?!" Zhao Xing was stunned.

"Junior Brother, it's the hour of Mao, time to drink the medicine!" Ai Miaomiao pulled out the stopper and poured it into Zhao Xing's mouth.

"Wait a moment! I've already practiced..." *Gulp, gulp.

Zhao Xing's main body was restrained. Ai Miaomiao's movements were fast, and a large bottle of vine juice was poured down in an instant.

After pouring it, Wei Lan suddenly realized: "Junior Sister, it seems Junior Brother has already practiced the first stage, there's no need to drink anymore."

Ai Miaomiao looked innocent: "Is that so, Senior Brother? Oh my, Junior Brother, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I'll help you cough it out."

"You two bastards, don't come over here!" Zhao Xing choked until tears came out. His body began to grow vines again, sprouting involuntarily.

However, this time, Zhao Xing only spent a moment completing one cycle.

"Junior Sister, it seems Junior Brother has truly practiced it." Wei Lan looked at the top of Zhao

Xing's head as the vines retracted into his body.

"Really, congratulations Junior Brother." Ai Miaomiao looked regretful.

Congratulations my foot! You two were laughing the whole time; you were clearly doing it on purpose!

"Senior Brother, Senior Sister, do you not have your own affairs to attend to? Staring at me every day!" Zhao Xing said indignantly.

"Helping fellow disciples is my duty as a Senior Brother." Wei Lan said righteously: "Even if I have matters to attend to, I will send a clone; I cannot forget Junior Brother."

Ai Miaomiao nodded, indicating she was the same.

"Since Junior Brother has passed the first stage, we can rest easy." Wei Lan and Ai Miaomiao left with a *whoosh*, not giving Zhao Xing any chance to scold them.

"Having you two is truly my blessing!" Zhao Xing gritted his teeth as he stood up.

Just as he stood up.

*Whoosh!

Wei Lan and Ai Miaomiao appeared outside the hall with another great leap.

Only this time, the two had changed their attire.

"Junior Brother, it's the hour of Mao, time to drink the medicine..."

"Entwine!"

Zhao Xing was completely defeated, because these two had sent their second batch of clones.

And these two clones seemed to be independent types, meaning they didn't know what had just happened.

Or perhaps, they were just pretending not to know?

"Stop!"

Zhao Xing dodged this time and instead restrained the two: "I have already successfully passed the first stage. Senior Brother, Senior Sister, please return!"

"Eh? It seems that's true. What a pity..." Wei Lan and Ai Miaomiao's clones looked regretful.

Zhao Xing: "..."

What are you two pitying?!

After finally sending away the second batch of clones, there followed the third batch, the fourth batch... until all ten batches of the medicine-delivery grass people had come.

Only then did Zhao Xing let out a sigh of relief.

"*Whoosh! "

Wei Lan and Ai Miaomiao appeared in the hall again with another great leap.

Zhao Xing had been traumatized by their leaping and immediately jumped away.

Unexpectedly, Wei Lan and Ai Miaomiao's main bodies shouted from behind: "Junior Brother, don't run, we forgot to tell you, Master he..."

"Crazy, only a fool wouldn't run!" Zhao Xing ignored these two perverts and ran away with his head covered.

Ai Miaomiao and Wei Lan, unable to catch up, stood there in confusion: "Junior Sister, what do we do?"

Ai Miaomiao wrinkled her nose: "It's fine, Junior Brother will know soon enough; he is going to be sent out on an assignment."

【Coral-level member Zhao Xing, your appointment order has been delivered! Corresponding permissions have been updated!】

【You have been appointed as a First-Level Sea-Passage Envoy!】

【You have been appointed as a Third-Level Star-Annihilation Envoy!】

【You have been appointed as the Joint Defense Inspection Envoy for the Jia-Chen 14th, 13th, and 12th passes, concurrently serving as the official in charge of the Fengchen, Zhihou, and Yuanfeng treasuries of the three passes.】

【You have obtained the title of Imperial Three-Star Pacification Envoy!】

【You have opened the high-level member permissions for the Seventh Patrol Division and the Gengshi Division of the Starfire.】

【You have opened the exclusive channel permissions for the Seventh, Sixteenth, and Thirty-Fourth battlefield medical bases.】

【...】

【You have obtained Level 3 information access to the Imperial Confidential Archives regarding the 'Siyue Wilderness'!】

【You have obtained a special decree from the Primordial Realm—the Primordial Reclamation Decree!】

The Star Mirror was scorching hot and trembling constantly, while a large amount of information surged and updated within it.

Not long after Zhao Xing flew out, the temperature of the Star Mirror kept rising, reaching a point where Zhao Xing couldn't ignore it, until he took it out, and it cooled down rapidly.

"It's finally here, the wilderness exploration mission jointly issued by the Primordial Realm and various key departments of the Empire!" Seeing this mission, Zhao Xing understood that the new version, "Star River Myriad Worlds," had begun!

From a player's perspective, he could be said to be among the first batch of people to come into contact with the new version, and the status and position he had obtained in the new version were quite high!

"This administrative decree from the Primordial Realm leaves me no room to refuse, but this is something I wanted anyway." Zhao Xing immediately began to examine it carefully.

First was the permission of the "First-Level Sea-Passage Envoy." This was the first decree appointment and also the most important identity.

"The Sea-Passage Envoy corresponds to the 【Sea-Passage Ancient Road】, one of the seven large star-sky ancient roads dug by the Red Star Empire in the Siyue Wilderness."

"The Sea-Passage Ancient Road is also one of the key responsibilities of the Primordial Hill, led by the Hongshan Emperor."

"Because there are many Overlapping Boundary Mountains on this star-sky ancient road, the focus was handed over to the people of the Primordial Hill."

Zhao Xing was also very clear about the Empire's development history, because after the Siyue Wilderness was opened, a massive amount of resources were transmitted back from the nine star-sky ancient roads.

Because of this, the Empire preserved itself to the greatest extent during the great disaster of the 【Wilderness: Ice Age】 version that followed shortly after.

"Without a doubt, the Sea-Passage Ancient Road is a place with plenty of profit. How could I be a First-Level Sea-Passage Envoy? Many Coral-level members are only First-Level Sea-Passage Envoys."

Zhao Xing couldn't figure it out and could only attribute it to the Five Poisons Emperor's arrangement.

"A First-Level Sea-Passage Envoy has great authority. The only people above who can manage them are the big shots sent from above, such as Primordial Envoys, Imperial Special Envoys, and the like."

"But this Third-Level Star-Annihilation Envoy..." Zhao Xing frowned.

He carefully checked the source and function of this title and found that in this life, the Empire had planned early on to dig an ancient road in the Star-Annihilation Corridor.

In the archives, it was named 【Star-Annihilation Ancient Road】, but the scale of the project and the input of manpower and material resources were very low, completely incomparable to the seven large ancient roads currently being dug.

Judging from the costs planned for input, it could only be considered a small ancient road at most.

"A member of the Carlos family has appeared on the high-level list of the Star-Annihilation Ancient Road!" Zhao Xing's gaze froze.

"Now, incidentally appointing me as a Third-Level Star-Annihilation Envoy, what is the meaning of this?"

Since it was jointly issued by various departments of the Empire and the Primordial Realm, various departments of the Empire could also come to the Primordial Realm to pick people.

Zhao Xing didn't know who exactly led this appointment, but he always felt that something didn't taste right.

The Great Zhou had previously suffered a great loss at the hands of the Carlos family!

"Am I overthinking it, or is there a conspiracy? It's just a Third-Level Star-Annihilation Envoy. I can just send a clone to deal with it. Giving me such a position, even if they want to scheme against me, it's not enough. If something happens, I won't be the one bearing the responsibility." Zhao Xing pondered in his heart.

He had no way to judge now. After all, the Carlos family was a founding family, and it was perfectly normal for a family member to be in the management of a certain ancient road.

If he looked at it broadly, even the 【Sea-Passage Ancient Road】 had people from the Carlos family.

"If it comes, I'll deal with it. If they have the guts, let them try to kill me. When the time comes, I'll show them what 'My Master is Qing Yuzi' means!" Zhao Xing snorted and stopped thinking about it.

As for the third appointment—Joint Defense Inspection Envoy for the Jia-Chen 14th, 13th, and 12th passes, concurrently serving as the official in charge of the Fengchen, Zhihou, and Yuanfeng treasuries of the three passes—it was actually useless.

Its authority and responsibility were that if the Imperial pass defense had an incident, he had the obligation to go and support it.

If the Empire had any logistics transport tasks, he also needed to cooperate with the deployment.

This was just a preventive position, convenient for rapid mobilization if something really happened, saving the process. The main purpose was to guard against the demon race or other external enemies.

However, it was impossible for the Red Star Empire's pass defense to have an incident. If the pass defense were breached, what exploration was there to talk about? Defend the home first.

"However, with these positions, it's convenient for me to arrange for the Great Zhou's people." Zhao Xing secretly thought. "The Five Poisons Emperor is truly a good person; he could even think of this for me."

Then there was the "Imperial Three-Star Pacification Envoy!" The only function of this title was the right to incorporate alien races.

Only those who were granted this power had the qualification to incorporate alien groups or plants encountered during exploration and bring them back into the Empire's territory.

In the early stages when the situation was unclear, the issuance of this title was extremely cautious.

The Empire was also afraid of unknown alien people entering the Empire's territory in large numbers.

It wasn't fear of rebellion; it was fear of carrying certain unknown pathogens.

Strange star domains would give birth to strange pathogens. If one wasn't careful, it could even cause a mass extinction in a star system of the Empire.

"Giving me this title, is it because Master Five Poisons himself uses poison?"

"That's right, Wei Lan and Ai Miaomiao are going to test the poison, they should also have such titles."

It wasn't as if there hadn't been painful lessons in the past. From this, it could be seen that the exclusive channel permissions for battlefield medical bases were precious.

"The Seventh, Sixteenth, and Thirty-Fourth medical bases basically radiate the scope of all my previous official actions."

"The Seventh Patrol Division of the Starfire is the same principle. What does this Gengshi Division mean?"

Zhao Xing was very confused about what the Gengshi Division meant. The Empire's departments were varied, and he wasn't entirely clear about all of them.

After looking at the explanation carefully, he realized that this department was entirely composed of talents who concurrently held the path of Star-Sky Historian, or were Fate Masters concurrently serving as Star-Sky Historians, or martial artists...

There were two main functions: one was to prevent the historical memories of their own people from being tampered with. The second was to tamper with the historical memories of the enemy.

"So that's it. This corresponds to the incorporation right." Zhao Xing understood.

The best way to incorporate an alien group was to distort their history, making the other party believe from the source of history that they were a part of the Red Star Empire.

"Truly an instant way of 'civilizing'."

The arrival of the mission also meant that he was about to leave the Primordial Realm ahead of schedule.

Zhao Xing soon returned to the Five Elements City to listen to the Five Poisons Emperor's teachings together with Ai Miaomiao and Wei Lan.

This time, the expression on the Five Poisons Emperor's face was somewhat sorrowful, and the atmosphere was not as casual as usual: "This meeting is very likely the last time you will see me."

"Although I have arranged everything for you, exploring unknown territories and having to pass through a boundary known as the Death Wilderness still carries a very high risk."

"Even I myself might die, with no chance of reincarnation."

Ai Miaomiao and Wei Lan's faces were solemn, and Zhao Xing was the same. Although he had prophetic information, no one could say for sure what the future would be like.

Not to mention that the changes in this life were great. If a slight detail was off, it could cost a life.

Maintaining a sense of awe for the universe was very important.

The Five Poisons Emperor said faintly: "This exploration action by the Empire will be an epoch-making move."

"Opportunity and crisis coexist. Perhaps some of you will leap to become Dao Domain Realm experts, or perhaps you will never return, burying your corpses in the wilderness."

"But, I hope that the three of you will have the courage to face the unknown!"

"Because flowers in a room can never grow into towering trees that can withstand wind and rain and look down upon the firmament!"

"I have already arranged everything I can for you. I have said all that needs to be said. You may go!"

The Five Poisons Emperor waved his sleeves.

Zhao Xing, Ai Miaomiao, and Wei Lan immediately bowed: "Master, take care! Disciple is leaving!"

After the three left, the Five Poisons Emperor immediately broke character in a second, smiling at a grass person hiding on the side: "How was it? Did I act like it? A respected teacher's parting instructions to his disciples... it should be very similar, right?"

The grass person said nothing, just silently gave him the middle finger.

"Tch! You don't have disciples, you don't understand this feeling." The Five Poisons Emperor curled his lips: "You should go play with your grass people."

Taichu City, outside the Boundary-Swinging River.

*Whoosh!

Zhao Xing's main body appeared outside the city gate.

Since the Void Grass Person was practiced, Zuo Qiyu had not let Zhao Xing in even once. However, based on the principle of gratitude, Zhao Xing still came to Taichu City to bid farewell.

After waiting for a while, the gate remained closed. Zuo Qiyu's attitude remained the same as the gray-black temperament of Taichu City—icy and rejecting people from thousands of miles away.

Seeing this, Zhao Xing no longer forced it, just landed and bowed three times outside the city.

Then he left without a word.

After Zhao Xing left, Zuo Qiyu's main body under the grape trellis in Taichu City opened his eyes, his gaze reflecting Zhao Xing's bowing action.

The first two teachers had fixed locations and were easy to find.

But Gu Luohe lived in the top leaf area of the Primordial Divine Tree and could not be seen at all.

Zhao Xing could only use a talisman letter and come to Gu Luohe's inner world.

"Master, disciple has accepted the wilderness exploration mission and is about to travel far. I have come specifically to bid farewell!"

The voice echoed in the seventh practice field, but there was no response from Gu Luohe for a long time.

Gu Luohe was already in the Semi-God Realm. Except for becoming a God, there was basically nothing worth his concern. Even if he came to the inner world, he might not necessarily hear Zhao Xing's call.

Zhao Xing did not force it either, waited for a few days, and then left.

"The deadline for the Primordial Realm's mission is to arrive outside the pass within thirty years."

"In thirty years, I can exchange resources, troops, Dao soldiers, medical supplies... many things need to be prepared."

"Among them, I am still missing one item from the Self-Cultivation School's magic arts, which is the 【Thunder Seed Art】." Zhao Xing thought about his plan.

The Thunder Seed Art, also known as the Demon Seed Art.

It is a cruel magic art that can use people as seeds to absorb nutrients.

Venturing in the wilderness, the effect of the Demon Seed Art is very strong and can cope with extreme environments.

"There is no Seed-Extraction Art in the Primordial Dao Treasury, but the Five Poisons Emperor has it. The 【Five Elements Bud-Sprouting Art】 records a Thunder Seed Art called 【Thunder-Extraction Life-Transformation Art】. Although I haven't learned it yet, I have already obtained the Dao method."

"Apart from material preparations, there are people."

"The Reincarnation Temple, the Origin Heavenly Palace, the Ancient Country Alliance, the Academy... so many big forces are going, the situation is intricate and complicated. I am only a Dao Domain Realm combatant, so I still need to shake up a few big shots to go together."

The mountains are high and the emperor is far away; the Five Poisons Emperor might not be able to support him in time.

As for Qing Yuzi, he doesn't fight low-end battles, so Zhao Lao Ye believes that he still lacks some mid-to-high-end powerhouses he can borrow strength from.

To borrow strength, first of all, people must be close enough to him. However, this time is not like the situation in the Yuanhai Ancient Country, so Zhao Xing only needs to shake people to the vicinity of the Siyue Wilderness first.

"The Hongshan Emperor is already on the Siyue Wilderness map, but he has force bindings and might not help me do big things. I still need some 'free men'."

"Let's shake the Ancient Physician Tian Chen over first. It just so happens that the Taiyi Heavenly Poison pathogen he wants is in an Origin Realm in the Siyue Wilderness."

"The Mechanist Ling Yuan Emperor, although his temper is explosive, he possesses the Myriad Demon Throne and also hates the demon race very much. If he encounters a request for help related to the demon race, he will definitely agree."

"And the Qingli Emperor..."

As the saying goes, the people who are willing to help you at critical moments are often those who have helped you before.

Shaking people is the same. Zhao Xing feels that some powerhouses from the original Yuanhai Dharma Assembly can be shaken a second time.

"Because except for the Hongshan Emperor and Meng Wu, the other Emperors do not retain their memories. People who have been verified to be shakable can be picked and brought over, placed on the edge of my range of activities..."

"I just don't know who this Wang Zhiyong is. I've forgotten how I shook him over." Zhao Xing couldn't help but think of Wang Zhiyong who suddenly appeared at the Dharma Assembly.

It wasn't that urgent now, so he didn't think about it in detail. In short, adjusting a few people over was enough.

Inside Coral City, the banquet hall.

There were a few figures in the guest seats, all of whom were geniuses of the same batch invited by Zhao Xing.

The invitation list also included Fairy Youling, Han Qiye, True Person Miaosong, Pu Tianrui, Yuan Qiusheng, Han Chuchen...

The top ten Self-Cultivation School Agricultural Official geniuses of the original Primordial Assembly were all Coral-level members, and all had received exploration missions.

Because Zuo Qiyu fought on his behalf and defeated Du Yun, Zhao Xing was now the well-deserved Saint Son of the Primordial Realm. Based on the principle of having more friends and more paths, Zhao Xing spent the ten-plus years after the duel specifically making friends.

Quite a few people came to the appointment today.

"Hey, hey, get up, how are you sitting!" Xu Youling came to the first seat on the left and kicked the table.

"Who the hell is blind? How many pots of wine have you drunk? Your stinky feet kicked my place!" A bald man in the seat was drinking wine. Suddenly kicked, he couldn't help but raise his head.

"It's me, do you have an opinion?" Fairy Youling was full of momentum.

"No, no." Wu Yanlin woke up immediately.

"No, then why don't you give up your seat? Is the first guest seat on the lower left something you, a grandson, can sit in?"

"Okay, Auntie." Wu Yanlin stood up immediately.

Before leaving, he cleaned up the seat to let Fairy Youling sit down.

"Good grandson, you go sit over there." Fairy Youling pointed to the seat at the end.