Chapter 622: Dragon Transformation

"You… you actually turned a ten-thousand-year tree spirit into a Yang Shen?"

The Green Wood Ancestor's face twisted in horror as he sensed the terrifying aura burning from the tree-man, then suddenly turned and fled!

He had finally realized he had miscalculated one thing.

This Fang Xing not only possessed astonishing array expertise, but his own strength likely already…

Roar! Roar!

Behind him, Fang Xing sneered and activated Wild Transformation!

With a dragon's roar, a white jade dragon, over thirty zhang long—nearly a hundred meters—emerged.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sky suddenly darkened with dense clouds, lightning dancing wildly.

——Dragon Transformation!

——Call Wind, Summon Rain!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Violent winds howled like countless green chains, pinning the Green Wood Ancestor in place.

"In the name of Nature, you are Nature's enemy!"

The dragon raised its head, its twin whiskers fluttering as it declared in a solemn voice.

Flames erupted from the earth like volcanic explosions, striking the Green Wood Ancestor.

——Nature's Wrath!

The Green Wood Ancestor screamed as a massive wooden shield artifact instantly turned to ash.

Then…

He saw a dragon claw!

The claw was covered in white jade-like scales, radiating an indescribable draconic essence, commanding wind and clouds like a cloud-dragon reaching out.

With a single swipe, the Green Wood Ancestor spat blood and was flung backward again.

Seeing this, Fang Xing took a deep breath.

Then…

——Dragon's Breath!

A cone of pale white flame engulfed the area where the Green Wood Ancestor stood.

When the breath ended, a flash of green light appeared—leaving only a fist-sized green orb.

The orb froze, about to flee, but the dragon seized it in one claw.

From within the orb emerged the twisted face of the Green Wood Ancestor: "Fang Xing… we are sworn enemies until death!"

"Heh."

Fang Xing sneered: "When you were a Yin Shen, you also condensed flesh and blood to manifest divine arts—do you think I didn't know?"

He ended Wild Transformation, returning to human form, clutching the green orb in his hand.

A vast surge of blood qi rose from him, carrying a mighty martial will.

Among it seemed to mingle some mysterious force.

That was—Heart Force!

After his body achieved Flesh and Blood Genesis, Fang Xing had begun reviving certain martial cultivation methods from his past life.

Chief among them was the cultivation of 'Heart Force,' for it was a transcendent lineage capable of ignoring this world's rule suppression.

"You too… have achieved Flesh and Blood Genesis?"

The Green Wood Ancestor's face contorted in terror: "Spare me! I'll share with you the secret to becoming a Yang Shen…"

A fellow cultivator of Flesh and Blood Arts might use this sliver of his soul to locate his hidden blood essence!

That dragon's breath had been lethal even to a late-stage Yang Shen—yet he'd managed to preserve a sliver of his soul. That alone was highly suspicious!

"What I want to know, I'll take for myself…"

Fang Xing sneered, slipping a Soul-Erasing Powder directly into the Green Wood Ancestor's Yang Shen.

This potion could be ingested, but also acted directly upon the soul.

The Green Wood Ancestor had no such privilege as White Dharmaraja—he was already weakened to the brink by the dragon's breath, reduced to a single thread, with no strength left to resist.

"Speak… the secret of Yang Shen."

Fang Xing's eyes flickered with green light as he spoke calmly.

As he interrogated the Green Wood Ancestor, Qingyu Zi screamed and was crushed underfoot by the Legendary Burning Tree-Person.

…

"So that's how it is?"

Moments later, Fang Xing waved his hand, lifting the mind-control spell from the Green Wood Ancestor.

"I… I beg for mercy! I'll serve you as slave or maid…"

The Green Wood Ancestor was utterly broken.

Under mind control, he had revealed every secret he knew—even the location of his hidden blood essence.

"Heh. Want to be my slave or maid? I'm not interested."

Fang Xing sneered: "But if you're willing to assist me with an experiment, perhaps I'll consider it."

"What experiment?"

The Green Wood Ancestor suddenly felt a terrible premonition.

"The experiment is this… if your true spirit is destroyed, can you still revive through Flesh and Blood Genesis?"

Fang Xing smiled, gathering Heart Force into the shape of a Destroying Demon Wolf.

"Mercy, my friend…"

Even a fool could see Fang Xing meant him no good.

Too late—he could only let out a final wail as the Destroying Demon Wolf devoured his soul.

In an instant, Fang Xing glimpsed a hidden stone chamber.

He knew—this was where the Green Wood Ancestor had hidden his blood essence.

The chamber walls were inscribed with countless talismans; at its center stood a stone bowl containing a single drop of crimson, ruby-like blood essence.

At that moment, the essence trembled—and lost all vitality.

'So it's true… if the true spirit is destroyed, no revival technique works. This is a more terrifying method than willpower attacks…'

Fang Xing's mind stirred, recalling the several Dharma Lords he'd slain in the Great Xia world.

Even if an Eternal Being intervened, resurrection would likely be impossible.

But regardless, the Green Wood Ancestor was dead.

Even if this Heart Force attack hadn't killed him, he'd already learned the location of the hidden blood essence—just a long journey, nothing more.

Fang Xing landed on Poison Dragon Slope and saw the Three-Headed Tree-Person had extinguished its flames.

With a whistling sound, the little ginseng spirit Xiao Qing rushed over, clinging to Fang Xing's leg, babbling as if crying out in distress.

Beside it, the Poison-Horned Python had reassembled its body, head bowed low.

It sensed a presence far more majestic than before—as if facing its sovereign.

That white jade dragon soaring through the sky was its ultimate goal for bloodline regression.

"Hmm. This place will remain under the Three-Headed's guard…"

Fang Xing comforted Xiao Qing: "If you're afraid, you may relocate to Green Wood Ridge…"

This entire plan was deliberately leaked to lure the Green Wood Ancestor to Poison Dragon Slope.

As for the traitor Lin Kun, he was likely already executed by Fei Yong…

"This Green Wood Ancestor is too weak—even weaker than White Dharmaraja. Against my Dragon Transformation, he stood no chance—almost got one-shot."

"But the secrets he held regarding Yang Shen breakthroughs—and the rumors—are extremely valuable."

This was a forbidden secret of one of the Top Ten Sects of the Cultivation World—Qingyu Zi had remained a loyal dog just for this.

Not a single word, not a single detail missed!

Fang Xing's mind control over the Green Wood Ancestor granted him the highest inheritance of Green Wood Ridge.

"To break through from late-stage Yin Shen to Yang Shen, there are several auxiliary techniques… but they're extremely bloody, with low success rates."

"In the Outer Lands, the best auxiliary item is universally recognized as the Pure Yang Pill. But in the Zhou Shenchao, there's another method: receiving divine grace, granted a sliver of divinity… such breakthroughs succeed nearly 100% of the time, are far more effective than Pure Yang Pills, and rarely fail."

Divinity!

This was a fragment of a true god's essence—rarely bestowed upon even the most devoted followers.

Even the Four Guardians and Left and Right Envoys of the Killing Sect possessed none.

But their leader, the Semi-God—Corpse Liberation Immortal—certainly had some, since he was already semi-divine…

'Only a sliver of divinity is needed to break through to Yang Shen—far less than what a Semi-God requires…'

'With my current channels, must I really ally with the Killing Sect? No—divinity gained that way would be tainted by destruction and ruin… I'm no fallen Druid. I'd prefer natural divinity…'

'Once I've condensed divinity, I may walk the path of deification followed by the true gods of the Zhou Shenchao.'

Fang Xing sighed, took Xiao Qing with him, and transformed into a streak of green light as he returned to the Natural Gate.

"Ancestor…"

Fei Yong, still reeking of blood, stepped forward to greet him.

"Everything taken care of?"

Fang Xing asked casually.

"Lin Kun and several other spies have been executed... we followed the trail and uncovered a few more hidden agents; a bit more cleanup will be enough to instill fear."

Fei Yong replied.

"Good. Don't waste the corpses—bury them all in the soil as fertilizer for the trees."

Fang Xing realized he was increasingly approaching the natural harmony of unity with the Dao.

Humans consume all things, and in the end are buried in the earth, turning into fertilizer—this is merely a great cycle, part of nature itself!

If that's the case, using corpses as tree fertilizer to bless the land—isn't that splendid?

"Yes..."

Fei Yong and the other cultivators broke into cold sweat, feeling their Natural Sect's Ancestor was growing stranger by the day.

The death of Greenwood Ancestor, a Yangshen True Lord, was a major event.

Not long after, the news spread throughout the Outer Lands.

Outside cultivators generally believed Fang Xing had reached the mid-stage of Yangshen.

Otherwise, he could never have killed Greenwood Ancestor in the outside world—or extinguished every last spark of his life.

As a result, many cultivators felt Fang Xing had concealed his true depth for years, that his mind was profoundly calculating, making him the most inscrutable Yangshen True Lord.

Yet Greenwood Ridge's unique location allowed it to temporarily evade warfare, still drawing in large numbers of lone cultivators to settle.

One day.

Nighttime.

Fang Xing was meditating in his treehouse when he suddenly sensed something.

At this moment, the entire Greenwood Ridge lay beneath his Natural Domain.

He sensed a shift, and his body transformed into a streak of green light, arriving at the edge of Greenwood Ridge.

There, a female cultivator with a full figure and a beauty mark beside her lip had just stepped into Greenwood Ridge's borders—her expression instantly changed!

Above, white paper money had begun falling from the sky.

The place she stood was no longer Greenwood Ridge—it was the Paper House Dimension.

"The Paper House Dimension?"

Tao Hong exclaimed: "Who is it?"

Whoosh!

A throne woven from sheets of white paper appeared, and Fang Xing sat upon it, gazing at the old acquaintance: "Tao Hong... you've reached the late stage of Dao Foundation?"

"Tao Hong bows before the Natural Ancestor."

Tao Hong bowed gracefully: "I never imagined... Ancestor has mastered the Paper House Dimension?"

She couldn't fathom it—even Yangshen True Lords lived a thousand years, but dedicating that time to refining a dimension seemed extravagantly wasteful.

And why use it on her?

"It seems you ultimately returned to Blood Shadow Sect."

Fang Xing sighed.

"Blood Shadow Sect possesses the Divine Technique Origin Diagram and abundant resources..."

Tao Hong replied softly.

"Hmm. So you've come as an envoy to negotiate with me?"

Fang Xing's gaze shifted to behind her: "Or are you merely a gift wrapper—the real envoy still hidden within you?"

"What?"

Tao Hong looked up, her face turning pale.

(End of Chapter)