Chapter 166: Green Dragon Wood Finally in the Bag【45k】

It was back when Ao Chun was harboring fury, charging straight toward Fang Longye.

This horse-faced True Immortal had made a prompt decision, gathering up all the items for sale at his small stall and hiding to the side.

Had Qingli's gaze not been fixed upon him the entire time, this horse-faced True Immortal would have slipped away the moment Ao Chun initiated the conflict.

At this moment, seeing Fang Longye looking at him with a smile, the horse-faced True Immortal inwardly lamented his misfortune.

He was no fool; once Ao Chun had exposed the true nature of the piece of spirit wood in his hand, he understood that this young master-like figure before him was no easy mark. Since the piece of spirit wood in his hand was the legendary Green Dragon Wood, it was naturally possible that the other items he previously thought he had sold at a great profit had also been picked up as bargains by this gentleman.

"Great Master, this is, after all, the legendary Green Dragon Wood. Don't you think you should add a little more?" the horse-faced True Immortal asked, his face mournful as he cautiously probed.

He cursed his luck in his heart, berating himself for having an unlucky year.

Fang Longye rolled his eyes and huffed, "Hmph! Are you blind? Do you think I am the type to seize things by force?"

"Here, take this! Hand over the Green Dragon Wood!" Fang Longye flicked his hand and tossed him a bottle of Myriad Spirit Pills produced by the Refining Immortal Pot.

The horse-faced True Immortal caught it, probed the jade bottle with his divine sense, and immediately beamed with joy: "Many thanks for the reward, Great Master!"

This bottle of secret medicine, while perhaps not comparable to the Green Dragon Wood which carried the name of the Taiyi Realm, could certainly be considered a divine pill! In any case, he had never expected this scion of a prestigious family to pay the full price. At the very least, on the surface, he had made quite a profit.

Without hesitation, he tucked the bottle of spirit pills into his robes and hurriedly presented the piece of Green Dragon Wood he had put away with both hands.

He did not forget to flatter him, saying, "The Great Master is clearly the fated person for this treasure."

Once Fang Longye took the Green Dragon Wood and held it in his hand to examine it, the horse-faced True Immortal first bowed, then performed a sliding maneuver, running into the crowd and disappearing from sight.

In his view, this conflict was clearly a case of second-generation disciples vying for favor and jealousy.

As a loose cultivator with little power, he could not afford to offend either side, so it was best to slip away to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

Fang Longye examined the Green Dragon Wood in his hand.

On the surface, it looked like an ordinary piece of spirit wood, with at most a slightly more abundant Wood-element essence.

Only by mobilizing a Great Divine Ability like 'Gazing Through Walls' and utilizing the relevant connections could one see the mysteries within.

However, now was not the time to carefully contemplate its secrets; after confirming it was indeed the item, he put the piece of Green Dragon Wood away.

Looking back toward the direction of Ao Chun and Long Xuan, he found that both of them had disappeared.

Fang Longye shook his head, thinking to himself how much of a scene Ao Chun could actually make! Was that it?

Pfft! "Alright, we should head out and find a place to stay and rest. After all, we traveled a long way for these two items, so we should take a break."

Fang Longye said in a low voice to Ao Ying and Qingli beside him, showing not the slightest self-awareness of having snatched something away from someone else.

In fact, Fang Longye did not believe for a second that Ao Chun, the Eighth Prince of the East Sea Longgong, truly had any deep feelings for Ao Ying. Expecting a Longgong prince to be devoted to one person? What a joke! Even he, Fang Longye, a humble gentleman, could not do that; was it possible for a fickle pretty boy to do so? It was clearly the bad habits of a wealthy young master acting up, always feeling that whatever he set his eyes on should belong to him.

He was getting too big for his boots!

……

The pavilions were delicate, and the windows were exquisite.

This was precisely one of the residences of the East Sea Longgong on Penglai Xiandao.

One could see layers of pavilions nestled amidst a stretch of emerald water and mist, with golden light shining out; looking from top to bottom, one could see brilliant colors, branches laden with pearls and jade, and the sound of wonderful music tinkling in the air.

It was clearly a Cave Heaven Blessed Land built in imitation of the East Sea Longgong.

All the layouts, facilities, and personnel that a normal Longgong should have were fully present.

It could be considered a secondary residence.

Within the emerald water of the Grotto-Heaven, from time to time, Spirit Shells held pearls, koi fish dragged lanterns, and glazed treasure lamps bloomed with radiance.

Walking further inside, under the azure dome, the rain-like colors were fresh, but the maids and attendants coming and going were all cautious, holding their breath for fear that a loud noise would anger their master.

Yet, when they bumped into each other, they could not help but stop and exchange glances, both seeing the helplessness in the other's eyes.

They did not know what had happened; when their Eighth Prince and that Princess Long Xuan had first arrived, they were still amiable.

But after staying for a few days and going out for a stroll on Penglai Xiandao, they returned with gloomy expressions, no longer as warm as before.

They would also fly into a rage at the slightest provocation, and if they were not careful, they, the subordinates, would be beaten and scolded to vent their anger.

Inside a Treasure Pavilion, drifting treasure light came in from outside, striking Ao Chun, who was standing with his hands behind his back.

In the light and shadow, his brow was clouded with gloom; he appeared to be suppressing his anger, his eyelids twitching uncontrollably.

"Truly hateful."

Ao Chun was in a terrible mood. Beyond the resentment of Fang Longye claiming his 'white moonlight' as his own, there was the remorse of not being able to control his temper, as well as the shame of his own insufficient strength.

He had gone up to confront him but failed, not even touching the main target, and ended up being beaten black and blue by his 'white moonlight' who was acting as a slave to protect her master.

It was truly a loss of face, a great humiliation in front of Princess Long Xuan.

Especially when thinking of the latter point, his handsome face became even more shrouded in thick, dark energy, his features twisted, his heart burning with rage.

Layers of gloom were shrouding his heart when, the next moment, he heard the tinkling of jade pendants and the sound of string music, and a graceful figure walked in from outside.

Her skirt trailed on the ground, and dense, delicate water lilies seemed to bloom.

Hearing the sound, Ao Chun looked up, and the anger in his heart dissipated, for the woman coming from outside was none other than Long Xuan.

"I have let the Princess see a joke!" Ao Chun forced a smile onto his face and said with effort.

"Heh~" Long Xuan let out a light laugh, which instantly caused ripples in Ao Chun's heart.

"With your family background, Clan Brother, once he leaves Penglai, it shouldn't be difficult to find an opportunity on the East Sea to settle the score with him, right?"

Ao Chun's eyes brightened, and he immediately said, "Clan Sister's words are true; I have exactly that intention."

Seeing that the Princess he was pursuing did not seem to take his previous embarrassment to heart.

His heart immediately felt at ease, and genuine joy welled up within him.

Hmph! He knew how powerful the person his Ying sister had recognized as her master was; he could even compare to some existences who were honored as Golden Immortals in the Longgong!

But—

What is the use of being able to fight? When you are out in the world, you have to talk about power, you have to talk about background~

What kind of nonsense is a 'Dragon Lord'? Just a guy who started halfway!

Immediately, his mood brightened, and with a wave of his sleeve, he said, "Because of me, Clan Sister's trip to enjoy Penglai was cut short. It is my fault; please forgive me."

"I know of a wondrous sea of flowers not far from here; let me, as a half-host, take my cousin for a stroll to view it, as an apology."

"Then many thanks, Eighth Prince, for your care!"

A cold glint appeared in Long Xuan's eyes; while she remained humble and polite, she still maintained a distance.

She sneered in her heart: "The Four Seas Dragon Clan truly has no successors left! With a disposition like this, even if he possesses the Azure Dragon bloodline, what use is it?"

Ever since she met this Ao Chun, she had been perfectly clear about what he was plotting.

A person of such great ambition but little talent, and he actually has the nerve to pursue her?

Strength—his strength is inadequate.

Disposition—his disposition is also unbearable.

He even shares the same nature as ordinary Dragon Prince, lecherous and lustful, exposed beyond doubt.

If not for the fact that she intended to use Ao Chun's status and background as the Eighth Prince of the East Sea Longgong to weigh Fang Longye against him,

and see if there was a chance to find an opportunity to deal him a heavy blow and grind him into dust, she wouldn't even want to say a single word to him, given Ao Chun's character.

Thinking of Fang Longye, a look of intense disgust flashed in Long Xuan's eyes.

Does a lecherous scoundrel like that deserve to have me, Long Xuan, marry down to him? Is it true that as a Longnu, one only has the fate of being sacrificed for political marriage?

Recalling the conversations between her father and mother in her ears, she was filled with rage.

Especially since this detestable fellow appeared out of nowhere and easily snatched away the status that should have belonged to her.

One must know, before him, she, Long Xuan, was the first candidate the Dragon Clan elders poured their heart and blood into, preparing to cultivate as the next leader of the Dragon Clan! Now, they want her to bow before him?

It is truly intolerable to the Heavenly Dao! Seeing Ao Chun stirred by her into wanting to take revenge on Fang Longye, a smile appeared at the corner of Long Xuan's mouth.

It seems the Heavenly Dao is on my side after all!

She had originally been preparing to find an opportunity to incite a conflict between this Eighth Prince and that fellow.

As it turned out, the opportunity delivered itself to her door.

Thinking of this, Long Xuan cast aside the anger growing in her heart, and her whole person became joyful.

And Ao Chun, seeing her smile, only thought he had moved the beauty, and became even more attentive.

It can only be said that when a person is angry, their wisdom is clouded, and when humiliated, hatred is born; the previous encounter had indeed twisted his mind. He couldn't even detect this anomaly.

Of course, the possibility of a femme fatale cannot be ruled out.

……

The pine color gathered in the green, and the skylight fell upon it, accumulating a brightness like the autumn sky.

Not far away, a Treasure Pavilion stood tall; bells were tied to the four corners under the eaves, and when the wind came, they sounded clear and melodious, entering the ears with every chime.

Fang Longye sat cross-legged under a primitive, large pine tree; the skylight fell through the gaps in the branches and leaves, sparse and scattered, like clear snow, landing on his body.

This was a place Fang Longye had specially sought out as a foothold in the entire Xianfang after leaving that palace.

A Cave Heaven Blessed Land reinforced with various Array Restriction, rented for ten years, which cost him nearly ten thousand merit coins.

Thinking of this, he felt a pang of heartache.

This is taking advantage of the fact that the Xianfang is located on Penglai Xiandao to raise prices arbitrarily! Penglai Xiandao is indeed a world-renowned innate spiritual land, but what the hell does that have to do with your Xianfang, which is everywhere on Penglai?

Fang Longye was filled with resentment.

"One day, I, Laozi, will also make Cangmang Mountain world-renowned. At that time, I must give you Honghuang natives a bit of Chinese shock. Let you see what is called real estate!"

Casting these thoughts aside, Fang Longye looked around; the pines and cypresses were dense, pine moss was blooming, lush and deep.

Not to mention the spiritual energy, the scenery could be considered quite good.

"It's time to process the Green Dragon Wood!" Fang Longye looked at the Treasure Pavilion not far away; Qingli and Ao Ying had both entered one after another to devote themselves to cultivation, so he should work hard too~

He immediately took out the piece of Green Dragon Wood he had obtained.

It appeared dark green, and apart from the vigorous wood-element essence, this piece of spiritual wood, the thickness of an ordinary person's arm and three feet long, had nothing special about its appearance.

Of course, it was not without any supernatural qualities, otherwise it wouldn't have been placed on a street stall by that horse-faced cultivator!

No matter what, it had to have some supernatural traits for him to be able to set a price.

The supernatural quality manifested on the outside of this seemingly ordinary piece of wood was its hardness.

That's right, very hard! For example—

"Crack!"

Fang Longye let out a violent shout, extended a finger, mobilized all his strength, and pointed at this spiritual wood, causing the surrounding space to constantly squeeze toward the center, intending to crush it.

As the space continued to squeeze, the light distorted.

With various powers converging, Fang Longye calculated that even a Golden Immortal should have perished if they had to withstand the power of this finger.

Yet this piece of Green Dragon Wood still had no reaction.

Fang Longye had naturally learned of this characteristic from the horse-faced True Immortal, but he did not know its limit.

Therefore, seeing this trait, he immediately became interested, and not in a hurry to feel the mysteries inside, he just increased his strength on his own, intending to see its limit.

He added the power of various Spirit Treasure and divine abilities to his attack strength.

The Grotto-Heaven suddenly became turbulent with wind and clouds. However, these visions dissipated silently as soon as they were generated around Fang Longye, as if swallowed by an invisible, giant mouth.

This was the various Array Restriction protection set up by this Cave Heaven Blessed Land specifically for renting cultivators to practice Dharma outside the Treasure Pavilion.

"Boom, boom, boom……"

Under the increased force, the space squeezed continuously; with Fang Longye's finger as the center, streaks of spatial cracks appeared, constantly cutting at the piece of Green Dragon Wood in front of him, emitting a series of sounds like a knife cutting leather.

Hu! Seeing that this piece of Green Dragon Wood didn't even have its skin broken after being cut by the spatial cracks, Fang Longye had no choice but to disperse his power and withdraw his finger.

Next came a series of burning, water-tempering, chopping, and slicing, yet it remained unscathed! Only when the Cai Xian Sword and Panlong Spear slashed at it, likely because they were sharp weapons, did they leave some marks.

However, they quickly vanished under the circulation of the wood-element essence within the Green Dragon Wood.

That horse-faced True Immortal was still not bold enough!

Fang Longye thought to himself.

If he were to request a Golden Immortal-level figure to test the texture of this piece of Green Dragon Wood, its incredibly hard texture alone would be enough for them to discover its extraordinary nature! There would be no need for Ao Chun to point it out for him to know that what he held in his hand was a piece of Green Dragon Wood, a rare treasure.

Of course, if that horse-faced True Immortal had truly examined the hard properties of this Green Dragon Wood seriously, it likely wouldn't have been Fang Longye's turn to acquire this treasure! Fang Longye shook his head, casting aside these wild imaginings, and released the celebratory clouds above his head, tossing the Green Dragon Wood—which came from the Companion Spiritual Root of a Taiyi Realm Azure Dragon—into their midst.

While circulating his secret Dharma to refine it, he immersed his mind into the inner universe of this piece of Green Dragon Wood.

Wood-element essence, concentrated to the extreme, gathered into a verdant space filled with fine lines that crisscrossed and intersected, blooming with radiance and giving rise to all sorts of wondrous sights.

Dots of Dao marks flowed, all of which were information left behind by the original owner of this Green Dragon Wood, that unnamed Taiyi Realm Azure Dragon.

Mottled and variegated, as Fang Longye permeated and refined it, bit by bit it surged into his heart.

Suddenly, a cold gaze revealed itself from within this wood-element essence, looking toward Fang Longye.

"Ang—"

Fang Longye's mind perceived the subtleties, and he immediately understood: it was a phantom of an Azure Dragon, bobbing up and down in the ocean of wood-element essence, its dragon head held high, staring at him without emotion.

Baring its fangs and brandishing its claws, it looked ready to devour someone.

Sensing its Aura, Fang Longye understood that this was a spiritual entity formed from the combination of the wood-element essence of this Green Dragon Wood and the residual marks of that Taiyi Realm Azure Dragon.

If he had not intervened and no one had noticed this Green Dragon Wood.

Perhaps after another epoch or so, this spiritual entity would have grown strong, and at some moment, it would have risen up, absorbing all the fortune of this piece of Green Dragon Wood to manifest and become a spirit.

"However, it is clear that you do not have that fortune!" Fang Longye stared at this spiritual entity within the Green Dragon Wood and spoke to himself.

Immediately, his thoughts shifted, and from the halo behind his back, a patch of blue sky split open, vast and boundless; it was the fundamental Grotto-Heaven he had opened within his body.

A five-colored halo flew out from within and suddenly unfolded, revealing a verdant, dripping-wet branch with clusters of leaves rustling and making noise.

The branch swayed, coiled up the Green Dragon Wood he had already refined with his secret Dharma, and pulled it into the Grotto-Heaven.

(End of chapter)