Chapter 368

A hundred zhang tall, shaped like a giant ape, its neck nearly a thousand zhang long, its huge skull rugged, its mouth full of sharp fangs spewing cold light, its eyes protruding; a slight rotation sends water and fire divine light spraying tens of li away.

The innate demon god Wu Zhiqi, whether in the secret archives of the royal houses of the Divine States of Great Jin or Great Wei, is recorded; it is said that he was an extremely powerful demon king and god from antiquity, a mighty demon overlord who dominated a region.

But, whether it was the Hua family or the Heavenly Patrol Secret Guard, the fragmentary information they gathered from all sides recorded that Wu Zhiqi was a pure water-element demon…… Yet this creature before us, though it bears Wu Zhiqi's likeness, why does it command water and fire power?

"Stop him!" a black-clothed old man shouted hoarsely.

Ten or so black-clothed men instantly turned into black smoke, swiftly fled the battlefield, and rapidly rushed toward Wu Tie of Wu Zhiqi, who had transformed using Heavenly Net and Earthly Slaughter to attack.

The pressure on the Hua family members suddenly eased; the Myriad Arms Bell let out a roar, and countless swords, spears, and halberds flickered into view in the void, like a violent storm slashing down on the black-clothed men surrounding them.

Blood sprayed across the sky, and the sounds of breaking bones and flesh continued without cease.

A dozen or so black-clothed men turned into black smoke and rushed to Wu Tie's side; dozens of black palms the size of grindstones emitted black spiritual light, their palms hiding vortices spinning rapidly, emitting shrill ghostly wails and wolf howls as they heavily struck Wu Tie's vital spots all over his body.

Wu Tie stood motionless in midair, firmly staring at the equally motionless water-and-fire gourd.

"Choose them, or choose me?"

Innate objects naturally give birth to spirituality; it is said that every innate treasure, once it appears in the world, will have a master destined by heaven.

Wu Tie exerted his full strength to release his flawless innate water and fire aura, roaring loudly at the water-and-fire gourd, asking whether it had already chosen a master and whether it could choose him.

If the water-and-fire gourd showed no response, Wu Tie would flee at the utmost speed.

He did not believe the news here could remain preserved for long.

This place has already been eyed by the people of the Forbidden Demon Temple; it's merely that the Heavenly Patrol Secret Guard has been causing trouble all over the Central Constant State, draining large amounts of the temple's energy and manpower. Yet this is ultimately the territory of the Great Jin Divine State—who knows when the Forbidden Demon Temple will notice the anomaly here?

An innate spiritual treasure……

Cold sweat kept pouring from Wu Tie's back; heaven only knows how many terrifying old monsters it would attract.

Wu Yu, Xi Bu Bai—they are terrifying existences at the Divine Manifestation realm.

Being able to violently suppress the Fu Xi Divine State, letting the Great Jin Divine State, which has suffered countless losses over countless years at the hands of the Fu Xi Divine State, one can imagine how many powerful old ghosts there are.

Grab the water-and-fire gourd at the utmost speed, then flee at the utmost speed.

If the water-and-fire gourd does not choose Wu Tie…… Wu Tie does not believe he has the ability to violently subdue it, so he can only flee at the utmost speed.

A muffled sound came, and a dozen or so black-clothed men struck Wu Tie's body with all their might.

Wu Tie's massive body remained unmoving; within him, the blood flow like the great rivers issued a mighty 'hualala' roar, vast essence and blood energy filling his entire body; the full-force blows of a dozen or so Fetal Storage cultivators merely dented his flesh, not even breaking his thick skin.

After perfectly mastering the Five Elements Grand Dao, Wu Tie's already outrageously strong body was strengthened more than tenfold; these ordinary high-level Fetal Storage cultivators…… unless they wield immortal armaments, they could never hope to pierce Wu Tie's flesh.

"Give it to me, get lost!"

Wu Tie let out a great roar, gripping the water-and-fire dragon with both hands; the water-and-fire dragon, three thousand zhang long, like two long whips, was violently swung by Wu Tie, who lashed it wildly in all directions.

The water and fire powers attracted each other, and a casual swing turned into a perfect, end-to-end connected Taiji arc.

The black water-element power and the red fire-element power drew the boundless primordial energy of heaven and earth; beside Wu Tie appeared a vast ocean and a raging sea of fire, the water and fire power violently surging, instantly sending out vast sheets of lightning.

A dozen or so Fetal Storage masters were swept up by the water and fire power; the water and fire powers mutually generated and overcame each other, the immense water-and-fire Taiji like a grindstone crushing their bodies, with continual sounds of shattering bones coming from within them.

"Me, or them?" Wu Tie roared loudly at the water-and-fire gourd.

The water-and-fire gourd twitched, flew a short distance toward Wu Tie, then hesitated and stopped.

Wu Tie's face stiffened.

He stomped his foot hard, the void emitted a tremendous boom, and he was about to turn and leave……

Suddenly he slapped his own long neck with a palm, then laughed and cursed: "Nervous to the point of stupidity! Hehe, water-and-fire gourd, but inside you there is still an innate lethal yin thunder!"

Shaking the water-and-fire dragon violently with both hands, Wu Tie's entire body hair simultaneously erupted with a rich thunderbolt aura.

"Boom—"

Thunder rumbled repeatedly; Wu Tie gripped the water-and-fire dragon with both hands, his whole body enveloped in dense lightning, and then a thunderbolt dragon three thousand zhang long, with astonishing aura, slowly emerged from atop his head.

The thunderbolt dragon lacked the lifelike vividness of the water-and-fire dragon, but its scales were clearly defined, its dragon head already formed to about eighty or ninety percent, only a pair of dragon eyes dim; clearly Wu Tie's mastery of the thunderbolt principle had not yet reached perfection.

Even so, among the water, fire, and thunderbolt auras on Wu Tie's body, water and fire were perfected, thunderbolt nearly complete; among everyone present, no one's Dao resonance could match the water-and-fire gourd so perfectly.

A clear, crisp chime rang out.

The water-and-fire gourd fell from its vine, then turned into a black-and-red divine light that entered Wu Tie's chest.

Wu Tie's entire body surged with water, fire, and thunderbolt aura; he felt an immense, inconceivable, immeasurable terrifying force pouring into his whole body; his life pool with a radius of eighty-one thousand li let out a groan of being overburdened, the surface of the life pool cracked with countless tiny fissures, and under the impact of this colossal force it was forcibly expanded outward and enlarged.

Eighty-one thousand li, eighty-three thousand li, eighty-five thousand li……

In the span of a single breath, Wu Tie's life pool was forcibly expanded to a diameter of 180,000 li!

The mana crystals of Wu Tie's life pool realm were bombarded, crushed, and stirred by the terrifying water, fire, and thunderbolt power; the originally distinct granules of mana crystals rapidly melted, then, under the tempering of countless lightning bolts, became exceedingly pure.

Finally, in Wu Tie's life pool expanded to 180,000 li, only a thin layer of extremely viscous mana remained.

Every strand of mana contained terrifying power; the power stored per unit volume was at least ten times greater than that of the former mana crystals.

The water, fire, and thunderbolt power washed over Wu Tie's body layer by layer; his body trembled inch by inch, continually growing stronger.

Even his soul, his soul was enveloped by the luster of water, fire, and thunderbolt.

His soul felt numb and painful, then continually solidified; although its volume shrank, its quality rose rapidly.

Innate spiritual treasure…… innate spiritual treasure…… each innate spiritual treasure is enough for a family to grow into a colossus of a region; even in the colossal entities of the Great Jin Divine State and Great Wei Divine State, a single innate spiritual treasure can enable a family to become a formidable existence that even the royal clan dare not underestimate.

And such an innate spiritual treasure, once it has chosen its master, naturally brings benefits that cannot be described.

Wu Tie's internal water, fire, and thunderbolt power was rapidly increasing.

And the increase in water and fire power also drove the other three powers of the Five Elements to continually surge.

Wu Tie panted heavily; the water-and-fire dragon in his hands dissipated, the thunderbolt dragon above his head vanished, and the aura emanating from his whole body was like a great mountain, leaving the black-clothed old man and the Hua family members gasping for breath.

"Hehe, the treasure chose me!" Wu Tie laughed loudly at everyone.

"Go!" an elder ancestor of the Hua family shrieked hysterically; he pointed his finger, and the Hua family's clan-protecting immortal armaments—the Nine Refined Immortal Armaments Myriad Arms Bell—emitted countless swords, spears, and halberds clashing and ringing, tearing through space to smash down upon Wu Tie.

"Oh!" Wu Tie laughed, he puffed out his chest, and with a chest brimming with water, fire, and thunderbolt luster he butted up against the Myriad Arms Bell that stood a hundred zhang tall.

With a tremendous boom, vast sheets of white cloud light shot up into the sky, forming a small mushroom cloud.

Wu Tie's chest was completely unscathed, while the Ninefold Immortal Armaments Myriad Arms Bell wobbled precariously, a large dent clearly visible on its body.

"Break!" Wu Tie let out a low shout, clenched his right fist, and slammed a punch onto the Myriad Soldiers Bell.

With this strike, he drew a thread of power from the Waterfire Gourd.

It was only a thread of power, yet Wu Tie's right arm and fist suddenly swelled to ten times their normal size, flesh and bones inflating, nearly bursting, as a grand, immense water-fire thunder force filled his entire right arm and then burst forth with his heavy punch in a satisfying, unrestrained blast.

The Myriad Soldiers Bell emitted a terrible wail; a clear, deep fist imprint appeared on its several-zhang-thick body, and then Wu Tie's punch sent it flying tens of thousands of zhang away.

The Myriad Soldiers Bell flickered all over with terrifying water-fire thunder light, and its body actually began to melt at a speed visible to the naked eye!

The nine Hua family ancestors, covered in wounds, let out hysterical wails: "No!"

The next moment, the Myriad Soldiers Bell exploded.

The entire Myriad Soldiers Bell shattered into a viscous, high-temperature silver liquid, pouring down like a downpour.

The nine Hua family ancestors all spat blood; the three with the lowest cultivation rolled their eyes and fainted outright.

"Retreat!" Hua Yun bellowed with a sorrowful, indignant face, swiftly grabbed an unconscious Hua family ancestor and turned to flee.

Clearly, their Hua family had been used; they had expended countless manpower and material resources here surveying the dragon veins, seeking the birthplace of an innate spiritual treasure… yet the innate spiritual treasure had indeed emerged, only to be taken by a suddenly appearing innate demon god wielding water-fire thunder power.

Think of the lost clansmen, the lost family guards, and even their little sister Hua Xue, whose soul was scattered by the blow; several of their ancestors were severely wounded… worst of all, their clan-protecting immortal soldiers, the Nine Refined Immortal Soldiers Myriad Soldiers Bell, were completely shattered.

Hua Yun wanted to die…

But now he cannot die.

He must flee quickly; now they must preserve their strength, otherwise the Hua family's standing in Pinghu Commandery, the vast profits they enjoy there… all kinds of troubles will cause the Hua family to suffer a crushing defeat and total collapse.

The Hua family party fled in panic, like fish escaping a net, at great speed.

A group of black-clad individuals did not pursue but swiftly moved to surround Wu Tie.

Wu Tie looked at these black-clad people, let out a loud shout, and stunned into unconsciousness the dozen or so who had just rushed forward, having been crushed into serious injury by the Waterfire Taiji Diagram.

The Waterfire Gourd lazily floated on the "water surface" of mana in Wu Tie's life pond, a faint thought transmitting into his soul.

Wu Tie stared blankly, then suddenly grinned: "I'm foolish… indeed, the Waterfire Gourd is the true master, and this waterfire vine that nurtured the Waterfire Gourd is also an innate spiritual treasure!"

With a loud laugh, a white light flashed in Wu Tie's hand; the White Tiger Fissure, which had been forcibly broken down into the tiniest particles by Wu Yu's immense mana and fused with every cell of Wu Tie's body, suddenly coalesced, forming a spear of blinding white length measuring a thousand zhang that appeared in his grasp.

"Baby, come!" Wu Tie hurled the White Tiger Fissure toward the waterfire vine.

The waterfire vine, stretching a thousand li, radiated blinding water-fire thunder divine light; the massive vine coiled like a great dragon, "rumbling" as it dragged its massive root system from underground, then countless vine tendrils unfurled and wrapped around the White Tiger Fissure.

The White Tiger Fissure is an ancient divine weapon.

But after all, it is merely the second weapon carried by Yang Jian, as Old Tie said.

Aside from being extremely hard, made of exceptionally high-grade materials that give it unparalleled hardness and sharpness, the White Tiger Fissure possesses no other divine abilities or transformations.

And even if the materials used in the White Tiger Fissure were top-tier… they are all acquired substances, fundamentally incapable of being compared with these innate objects.

Putting it bluntly, even somewhat unfair to the White Tiger Fissure—if we say this waterfire vine is a pile of gold, then the material of the White Tiger Fissure might be no different from a pile of cow dung.

Today is the opportunity for the White Tiger Fissure to undergo a complete upgrade and replacement.

After this vine nurtured the Waterfire Gourd, its fortune and destiny have been completely exhausted.

Remaining here, it can no longer have any chance to give birth to another innate spiritual treasure; even its own innate aura will gradually dissipate, ultimately becoming mundane, until finally turning into a wisp of green smoke that vanishes between heaven and earth.

But after fusing with the White Tiger Fissure, the immense innate creative power stored within him is sufficient to forge a treasure on par with the Waterfire Gourd.

With a tremendous roar, the White Tiger Fissure let out an earth-shaking bellow.

The waterfire vine coiled around the White Tiger Fissure layer by layer; countless stems dug deep into the spear's body, and water-fire thunder power bombarded the White Tiger Fissure, repeatedly tempering and refining it.

The waterfire vine turned into flowing light, continually merging with the White Tiger Fissure; the latter's appearance began to change strangely, gradually becoming a cluster of intertwined black and red light, its form constantly alternating between elongation and contraction.

A group of black-clad individuals howled as they charged at Wu Tie.

But their speed, at this moment in Wu Tie's eyes, seemed exceedingly slow.

The fusion of the waterfire vine and the White Tiger Fissure lasted only three breaths; accompanied by a heaven-shaking boom, rings of black-and-red light burst outward in all directions, a spear whose hue constantly shifted between black and red, with two fine dragon patterns coiled around its shaft, materialized before Wu Tie.

Wu Tie seized the newly born spear in one hand, feeling a strong sensation of flesh-and-blood connection surge in.

He laughed loudly, his eyes suddenly locking onto the two black-clad elders who had ambushed him in the mountains a few days prior.

With a flash of his form, Wu Tie appeared like a ghost before the two black-clad elders; his spear thrust like lightning twice, and the two elders, together with their defensive treasures, exploded into fragments, then were burned to nothing in a blaze of fire.

The spear howled, tearing the void.

Dozens of black-clad individuals, each like a madman, rushed at Wu Tie.

Even though Wu Tie easily slew the two black-clad elders, they still came forward fearless of death.

Their family's millennia of scheming, millennia of waiting…

Having had their peach plucked by Wu Tie… these black-clad individuals have gone completely berserk.

Wu Tie brandished the spear; the waterfire divine spear gave a light tap, accompanied by a low thunder rumble, and dozens of black-clad individuals were instantly reduced to ashes and smoke.

The whole process was effortless, like smashing walnuts with a ten-thousand-jin hammer; Wu Tie felt no resistance at all.