Chapter 437

After the Heaven-Reaching Ancient Tree absorbed the blood and soul power of fallen strong ones, the power that fused together seemed to trigger a prohibition deep within the ancient tree.

The prohibition began to activate, causing the Heaven-Reaching Ancient Tree to emit a more dazzling light; the runes on its trunk started to flow, releasing an ancient and powerful aura.

Boom—

The whole space rippled with a majestic, incomparable chanting sound, resonating with heaven and earth, taking the Heaven-Reaching Ancient Tree as the center; the surrounding space began to twist, forming one after another small vortex, frantically devouring. The celestial gray light.

Soon a huge gray light pillar shot straight into the clouds; the five-colored altar studded with celestial stars was instantly ignited, all emitting five-colored divine light that responded to it from afar, scattering the fundamental five elemental forces of metal, wood, water, fire, earth.

The five-element runes drifted down onto the mysterious light curtain above the tree hollow, causing cracks to appear on the curtain; it then quickly became illusory and finally disappeared.

An incomparably vast power suddenly burst forth in the whole space; the powerful fluctuation affected the stability of the entire space, causing this world to tremble violently.

Many cultivators fighting together were affected; many were flung away, only those with overwhelming strength could barely withstand the impact of that great power.

The divine treasury within the Heaven-Reaching Ancient Tree was about to emerge; the light cover on the tree hollow opened, and an incomparably strange power continued to fluctuate, fundamentally unable to suppress the peerless heavenly talent among the Heavenly Spirit Realm cultivators of Huanyu.

Those strong ones stood in the turmoil, indifferent to this anomaly, quietly waiting for the sudden situation to disappear.

Not long after, the fluctuations between heaven and earth disappeared, the divinity at the mouth of the Heaven-Reaching Ancient Tree receded, and all Huanyu cultivators' eyes lit up.

The Heaven-Reaching Ancient Tree is mysterious; it can condense various treasures, just like a money tree, the Great Dao runes surge, auspicious and sacred; if the deduction is correct, the Haotian Stone must surely be hidden beneath the mouth of the Heaven-Reaching Ancient Tree.

Most Huanyu cultivators could no longer sit still, all rushing at high speed into the mouth of the Heaven-Reaching Ancient Tree; like pilgrims in crowds, and contenders were all slaughtered to bloody heads.

Within the surrounding space, strong ones stood in rows, masters as numerous as clouds, all coming for the Haotian Stone; the emergence of the sacred treasure triggered a world-shocking struggle, and even just the area around the mouth of the Heaven-Reaching Ancient Tree had already been stained red with blood.

Peerless heavenly talents were all determined to obtain the Haotian Stone, guarding against each other; when rushing into the mouth, they blocked countless chaotic attacks with strange movement techniques or formidable strength.

The battle had developed into a huge melee, making it hard to tell who was obstructing; the weak were directly blasted into minced flesh by cultivators, and their body and spirit directly dissolved into nourishment for the Heaven-Reaching Ancient Tree.

Soon Longling also entered the depths of the tree hollow with the crowd; inside, peerless heavenly talents had already taken station, leading their respective forces to encamp together.

"Look quickly over there……"

At that moment, Heifeng shouted in shock, and this time everyone looked toward the depths of the tree hollow.

That was a purple misty space; in the center of the space, a green mystical compass floated above the firmament, constantly rotating, its Dao patterns covering it, with supreme runes flowing, emitting an incomparably mysterious power.

Beneath that compass stood a huge statue; the statue was immensely large, standing tall to the heavens, its left hand lightly supporting an ancient pagoda.

The pagoda was cast of bronze, its surface covered in blotchy rust, exuding an ancient aura, even concealing the patterns on it.

That mysterious statue seemed to possess life, sensing the life fluctuations within the space, it suddenly opened its eyes, startling everyone.

"Alive…… alive?"

Guinyin Shi let out a startled cry, even seeing ghosts did not feel such horror.

This space was left by the Ancient God Sect; this sect is too mysterious, if there were living beings existing, they would become powerful to any degree, and how could we counter them?

Longling's eyes flickered with runes as he gazed into the distance.

The statue stood at the deepest part of the entire space, immense and magnificent; especially the bronze pagoda it held in its hand, though appearing simple and unadorned, it dripped with strands of pure qi, making one feel extremely eerie!

Within the Ancient God Sect's hidden trove——the mysterious statue revived, shockingly displayed before everyone's eyes; most cultivators present were terrified beyond measure, dumbstruck and daring not to act rashly!

The statue's whole body exuded a mighty aura, immensely grand, having existed since ancient times and survived to this day, causing the world hidden within the ancient tree to conceal many variables.

(meaningless sounds)

The eyes of that huge mysterious statue flickered with divine light, constantly flashing, and from its mouth came strange, weird sounds.

A white elk, its body covered in golden inscriptions, gathered in the sky; after letting out a clear cry toward the heavens, its body instantly split into eight, heading toward eight directions.

A faint green light showered down between heaven and earth; the originally withered, dry space instantly began to sprout many green shoots, like withered wood meeting spring, quickly growing.

Moreover, the earth's veins surged, forming layer upon layer of mysterious mountains, the runes on the mountains shining brightly.

The eight elk, like creators, vanished into the horizon.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh……"

At the moment everyone was astonished, the bronze pagoda held aloft by the giant statue, the dangling green light suddenly trembled, and countless azure symbols drifted toward the depths of the entire space.

People discovered that where the green light fell, the green symbols turned into individual mysterious crystals hidden in the depths of the space.

"Those who obtain treasures first obtain the ancient glyphs!"

"After forty-nine days, rankings will be made according to number."

"The top five cultivators can exchange for what they need."

The mysterious statue had no emotional fluctuation; its stone mouth lightly rose and spoke solemnly.

The cultivators present, upon hearing this, all had their eyes light up; they did not expect that the mysterious statue would actually emit such a fluctuation.

Those words entered each person's ears, causing their spirits to jolt suddenly.

Many cultivators, after the statue's words fell, suddenly rushed toward the place where the ancient glyphs were hidden, each disappearing into the forests and mountains.

Moreover, soon the sounds of fighting were transmitted; in the forest, miasma and toxic vapors, earth and stones flew about, with waves of destructive fluctuations rising and falling.

Even the Huanyu cultivators who came together with Longling, some could not resist the temptation, stepping first into the deep forest, heedless of danger, seeking to seize an opportunity.

"Fellow Daoist Longling, let us meet here again in forty-nine days!"

At that moment, Qin Cang saw that everyone had already left for the ancient glyphs, his heart also stirred; after speaking to Longling, he vanished from his original position.

According to the statue's earlier words, only cultivators whose ancient glyphs count ranks among the top five can come here to exchange for what they need; thus the time is very urgent, most cultivators are merely supporting roles.

Now the ancient glyphs are ownerless; the earlier one enters, the greater the number of ancient glyphs one will surely obtain.

Heiyao saw that Qin Cang had already left, and she also rose to bid farewell; she had come for the Haotian Stone, and now that she had come this far, she did not want to return empty-handed.

"Longling Daoist, until we meet again!"

At that moment, Guinyin Shi and Chilian also bade farewell to Longling, swiftly rushing into the depths of the forest.

The top five in ancient talisman count can exchange for what they need; among the people, relations are no longer friendly but competitive.

Moreover, who knows if the exchanged treasures will have duplicate items; if there are no duplicates, one can only settle for less, so the cultivator who obtains more ancient talismans finds it increasingly advantageous for themselves.

"Heifeng, aren't you going?"

Longling saw that beside him remained Bibo Xianzi and Heifeng, and he spoke jokingly.

Bibo Xianzi cannot leave because a restriction has been placed on her body; it is understandable that she stays by his side, but Heifeng staying by his side is truly somewhat unexpected.

After all, Heifeng said he wanted to be his lackey, but that was just talk; in reality there was no supervisory relationship between them.

"Boss, where you are, I'll stay there."

Besides, I have self-awareness.

Among Huanyu cultivators lie hidden dragons and crouching tigers; even the heavenly prodigies of the ancient imperial clan have appeared—who knows what monsters lurk among the crowd?

Following the boss, when the boss eats meat, I can get some broth to drink!

Bibo Xianzi heard Heifeng's words, and her mouth twitched involuntarily a few times; she gave Heifeng a meaningful glance.

This Heifeng fellow actually understands the art of taking and giving; he's overly cautious, yet he can grasp the key of this treasure‑seizing turmoil.

"Haha, you little brat are really crafty."

Longling was also amused by Heifeng's words, gazing into the depths of the forest, not rushing to act.

"Bobo Ji, if you want to go get the ancient sigils, go ahead!"

"The seal on your body will not trigger after you leave this seat."

Longling saw Bibo Xianzi's face show regret, and sent a mental transmission.

This caused Bibo Xianzi's heart to churn; she found it hard to believe, secretly guessing what scheme Longling was hatching.

"You could be so kind!"

"You want me to gather the ancient sigils for you—just say so!" Bibo Xianzi replied via mental transmission.

"Don't think of me as so bad!"

"Do as you wish!"

Longling feigned a sigh, then looked toward the forest depths, ignoring Bibo Xianzi, which made her instantly stomp her feet in anger.

The Ancient God Sect is a supreme doctrine; its inheritance is certainly extraordinary, and what can be exchanged for the top five ancient sigils is definitely not trivial.

Seeing Longling say nothing, Bibo Xianzi gritted her teeth and vanished beside him.

"Boss, you'd better be careful."

Bobo Ji, this guy is too effeminate.

"If he stays by your side too long, he might harbor ill intentions toward you."

Heifeng took in all of Bibo Xianzi's expressions and movements just now; after seeing her leave, he hurriedly leaned close to Longling's ear to warn him.

"Oh!!!!"

Longling heard Heifeng's words and froze, almost standing still for a moment.

He didn't expect Heifeng to say such a thing; Longling was somewhat amused.

If Bibo Xianzi heard Heifeng's remark, Heifeng would surely blow his top.

"Boss, let's not go now!"

Heifeng saw that only the two of them were before the huge statue, and asked curiously.

"Nowadays the ancient sigils are all ownerless; let them fight over them first, then we'll snatch them from them."

Besides, nowadays many cultivators are participating; right now it's just clearing the field.

"We don't need to join the fun."

Upon hearing that, Longling's face showed a strange smile, and he spoke.

This made Heifeng nod thoughtfully; the two sought a high ground mountain range, flew over it, and then looked down upon the layered battlefield below.

In the forest of the battlefield, a cultivator wielding lightning power walked, his whole body surrounded by electric arcs, cutting down cultivator after cultivator and harvesting patches of azure ancient sigils.

That cultivator's technique was extraordinarily weird; each fallen cultivator's soul had not yet had time to undergo body dissolution before being completely devoured by the vortex hovering above the lightning cultivator's head, then refined to replenish the divine energy consumed by his own body.

The forest continually emitted bloody undulations, with a strong blood smell drifting about; obviously it contained a dreadful restriction that could suppress cultivators' speed between forest and mountains, and the spiritual power consumption was enormously huge.

Such a dreadful restriction turned low‑level cultivators directly into lambs for the strong to slaughter; even if they obtained hidden ancient sigils in the forest, they could not keep them, and most lost their lives, even their storage rings taken by enemies.

Looking at this step, Heifeng's eyes twitched, his heart surged with shock; fortunately he was relatively cautious and did not lightly enter this trial forest mountain range, otherwise he would likely follow the footsteps of those fallen cultivators.

He has now received the Myriad Soul Banner gifted by Longling; the Black Clan inheritance has not yet fully awakened, and if he were to die carelessly, it would be a tremendous loss.

Boom—rumble…

In the central part of the forest, a cultivator stepped on a soil‑yellow shuttle‑like yellow disc, tracing the ground, with soil‑yellow energy rippling around him, directly meeting the cultivator clad in lightning.

When the fierce electric arcs were about to strike that cultivator, the soil‑yellow light shuddered, forming towering heavy earth‑mountain barriers that obliterated all the lightning.

Bang bang bang…

Afterward the ground seemed to come alive, the earth violently rolling, nine huge soil‑yellow palms simultaneously pressing down on the lightning cultivator.

Those palms' power was excessively overbearing, seeming unstoppable; after the lightning cultivator attacked for a moment, seeing little effect, he quickly fled at top speed to escape the soil‑yellow palms' assault.

"I never expected that even descendants of the Ancient Earth Imperial Clan would show up!"

Longling gazed at the cultivator controlling earth power and murmured.

During this time spent with Qin Cang, I have come to understand some traits of the five great ancient imperial clans.

Among the five ancient imperial clans, the cultivators of the Ancient Wood Imperial Clan generally rank second in attack power to those of the Ancient Metal Imperial Clan, though this is not absolute, as each of the five elements possesses its own characteristics.

Among the five elements, they not only restrain but also generate each other.

"Pfft"

That lightning cultivator ultimately could not escape the earth cultivator's divine ability; a sky‑filling soil‑yellow mist enveloped heaven and earth, utterly draining his spiritual power, then he was pierced through the heart by earth‑thorns and underwent body dissolution in the world.

Similar events continued to unfold in the forest; this was a hunt, with cultivators slaughtering each other over resources, and the weak could only be mercilessly cut down.

"Whoosh…"

In the distance a jade arrow pierced the sky, the power shaking heaven and earth boiling; the jade arrow entwined with terrifying crimson flames, the fire‑dao law burning the heavens and boiling the seas, shooting toward the forest depths, then instantly exploding into a shower of red arrows slanting downward.

Such terrifying might frightened many cultivators, leaving them all feeling creeped out.

Those cultivators searching for ancient sigils in the forest, upon sensing danger, all trembled violently, then all scattered like startled birds in every direction.

"The Tianhong Sect, even its disciples have come!"

Heifeng's expression was extremely surprised; this sect specializes in the Arrow Dao, its attack power is unmatched in the world, even killing enemies from ten thousand li away is effortless.