Chapter 668: Shan Xuan Teng Devours the Nine Heads

The Nine Layers of Return to Ruin, deep in silence.

A thread of Jin Guang pierced the void, shattering the silence here with an speed too fast to observe.

"In the end, it was I who won!"

Within the Jin Guang, Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan straightened his disheveled hair and robes, feeling great satisfaction; what did it matter that he had lost that guiding divine fire?

I have still entered the Wei Tian Dao Sect!

"The character 'Tai' surpasses 'Da'; the Tai Huang Heaven might be even stronger than that Da Luo Heaven!"

Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan calmed his agitated mind, not even glancing once into the dark Return to Ruin beyond the Jin Guang, but simply concentrating and waiting.

He did not know how much time had passed when a shock ran through his heart; he looked up and saw a 'Sun'!

A 'Sun' that illuminated this land of Return to Ruin!

It was a mountain, and also a temple.

Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan gazed into the distance, finding it blindingly bright, unable to glimpse its true form, only vaguely seeing a corner that seemed to be a giant mountain composed of countless temples.

"Shan Xuan Yuan Temple!"

This thought arose in Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan's heart; amidst reverence, he also felt some doubt.

"Is it not the Tai Huang Heaven? Why is it the Shan Xuan Yuan Temple..."

Suddenly, a low voice came:

"The Shan Xuan Yuan Temple is one of the six temples of the Tai Huang Heaven; the temple master is the Shan Xuan Yuan Bodhisattva, who is also our master!"

"Hmm?"

Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan's heart shook; only then did he realize that in the instant his mind had wandered, he had already arrived before this temple mountain, where endless divine light intertwined, making the mountain body itself invisible.

And the one speaking was a Monk of extremely burly stature.

"Who are you?"

Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan frowned.

"An inner disciple of the Shan Xuan Yuan Temple, Ling Ji the Monk; you may call me Senior Brother Ling Ji."

The Monk glanced at Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan with Longhu Longhu Dandan, then flicked his sleeve: "Follow me."

"You..."

Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan had doubts, but seeing that the Monk had no intention of speaking further, he could only follow into the divine light.

"Swish!"

In the next instant, light and shadow swirled around; Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan found himself already inside an empty little temple, a bundle lying before him, while the Monk had vanished.

"?"

Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan's face twitched, yet he still opened the bundle; inside were only a monk's robe and a single iron token.

"Auditory Disciple Token..."

Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan frowned slightly, feeling somewhat disappointed; he had not expected to become a true disciple in one step, but what in the world is an 'auditory' one?

With his aptitude and realm, he ended up merely as an auditory disciple?

"Let us see."

Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan, having a mind full of schemes, suppressed his displeasure, skillfully opened the Universal Knowledge Sphere, and only then did his expression improve upon finding his permissions had increased.

"Permissions have increased."

Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan's gaze grew dark as he opened the Tai Xu Wan Xiang:

"Search: several months ago, those who performed worship rituals in the Shi Yuan You Jing to enter the Da Luo Heaven..."

【According to the Universal Knowledge Law of all realms, some search results are not displayed】

"Hmm?!"

The Dao Shen Jing is located in the human's Ni Wan; except for weapons and treasures connected by blood and heart, theoretically nothing can be stored there, but magic power can do anything.

By wrapping external objects with magic power, one can store them within the Ni Wan Palace, but it requires constant consumption of magic power, which is not a profitable deal.

"Thud!"

Li Yuan gathered nearly thirteen units of his magic power, moving the shed skin of the Nine-Headed Snake from the Weapon-Commanding Space onto the Dao Shen Jing island; a huge boom made his soul tremble.

This Zhun Liu Jing Nightmare Snake shed was far heavier than the Shan Xuan Teng She shed, after all, Qi Yun had stripped the Shan Xuan Teng She shed clean.

"Following Senior Brother Qi's experience, the Shan Xuan Teng She is a three-in-one entity, possessing two feeding methods more than normal tree species..."

Looking again at the Nightmare Snake shed, which he had previously not known how to handle, Li Yuan thought of nineteen ways to process it in an instant; after a moment's thought, he moved that snake shed beneath the Shan Xuan Teng Tree.

"Hiss~"

Like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, perhaps sensing Li Yuan's will, the Shan Xuan Teng She trembled slightly, and instantly thousands upon thousands of rootlets as fine as hair rose from the ground nearby.

The dense, carpet-like rootlets swayed and lunged toward the Nightmare Snake shed, yet as if sensing something, they suddenly retracted, trembling and going limp.

"Do not rush; eat slowly."

Li Yuan gently stroked the tree trunk, soothing the Shan Xuan Teng Tree.

After all, it was a Zhun Liu Jing snake shed; even with only a trace of residual qi mechanism, the instinct-driven Shan Xuan Teng She still felt terror, and only after Li Yuan's repeated soothing did it cautiously approach.

"Sizzle~"

As the rootlets touched the Nightmare Snake shed, they withered, turned yellow, burned, and vaporized as if touching fire.

Yet the Shan Xuan Teng She did not retreat; perhaps sensing the importance of this object to itself, more rootlets extended out, enduring the grinding of the Nightmare qi mechanism as they slowly penetrated within.

"Mmm~"

When one rootlet touched the Nightmare Snake shed, Li Yuan felt the Shan Xuan Teng She's waves of shock and joy; immediately, the tree trunk swayed, sending out even more rootlets.

At first glance, it seemed as if a carpet tens of feet long had appeared on the ground.

"Eh?"

Shan Xuan Teng She was of one mind with Li Yuan; he keenly sensed the change on the Shan Xuan Teng Tree and looked up, only to see a faint, barely noticeable thread of purple appear on the tree trunk that had originally been like black jade.

"The essence of Shan Xuan Teng She has improved slightly?"

Li Yuan's heart stirred, and he understood why Shan Xuan Teng She was thrilled with joy. This improvement in essence was like him advancing his innate talent's transformation — the benefits were enormous.

Moreover, as the master of the Shan Xuan Teng Tree, he could faintly sense a deeper change — it seemed something was being nurtured within the tree.

"What could it be?"

Li Yuan could not judge either.

According to the records in the Qing Di Chang Sheng Jing, the various mysteries of the Divine Tree, when devouring spiritual objects of its affiliated category, might nurture a natal Gu Gu Shentong, or might seize the characteristics of what it devoured.

There were too many possibilities; he could not judge for the moment.

"If it could seize the bloodline Gu Gu Shentong of the Nightmare Nine-Headed Serpent, that would be a huge profit!"

Li Yuan muttered to himself, but it was only a thought.

During this period he had read no few books; although he had not openly inquired about the Nightmare Nine-Headed Serpent, he had still gathered quite a bit of similar intelligence.

The Nightmare Nine-Headed Serpent was the unique beast-king of the great realm 'Wu Shen Fa Jie' deep within the Opening Gui Xu, born close to the Dao, possessing various terrifying bloodline Gu Gu Shentong.

There were a few of them that, merely from their descriptions, made his hair stand on end. For instance, that great Gu Gu Shentong named after 'Nightmare' — legend had it that once activated, one could roam through all the myriad realms, within the nightmares of every living being; so long as the nightmare did not perish, the Nine-Headed Serpent would not die. Truly terrifying.

"Hiss hiss~"

As if sensing Li Yuan's thoughts, Shan Xuan Teng She grew increasingly excited, extending more roots, even weaving them together, wanting to swallow the Nine-Headed Serpent's slough in one gulp.

"……"

Li Yuan was speechless, hurriedly patting the tree trunk and transmitting his will: "You're still young, don't think about swallowing it in one bite. Take it slow — sooner or later, it will all be yours."

After all, it was a quasi-tier-six serpent slough; even with his divine realm as support, Shan Xuan Teng She was still too young. Wanting to swallow this serpent slough in one gulp was naturally impossible.

Bursting to death, on the other hand, was possible.

"It will take at least a dozen or so years…"

Li Yuan estimated in his heart, and could barely accept it.

He had many ways to let Shan Xuan Teng She eat this serpent slough, but this method was the most stable.

"If I refine the Qing Di magic power, it should be several times faster, but the divine patterns required for superior-grade magic power are not so easy to gather — they cannot be assembled within Dong Shan Xuan Da Fa Jie."

Recalling the divine patterns needed to refine the Qing Di magic power, Li Yuan could not help but feel a bit of a headache; quite a few of those divine patterns had to be gathered from extremely harsh wonderlands where strange phenomena bred.

Things like 'Tribulation Thunder Cloud Burst,' 'Great Star Returning to Stillness,' 'New Star Eruption'…

"Buying should also work; even if I can't buy them, I can hire people to gather them, or, go charge into Zang Guan Mi Jing again…"

Regarding superior-grade divine patterns, Li Yuan naturally had plans in his heart.

First, was Shan Gong.

If Shan Gong was plentiful enough, not to mention those Seekers of the Hidden, even hiring deities to gather divine patterns for him would not be impossible!

Next, naturally, was Zang Guan Mi Jing.

Li Yuan clearly remembered the last time he challenged the Five-Dragon Immortal in Zang Guan Mi Jing, the latter had mentioned 'ninety-nine types of superior-grade divine patterns.'

Limited by insufficient understanding, his heart had not rippled at the time, but now that he knew the value of superior-grade divine patterns, he felt he had still underestimated that noble one.

Although the Wei Tian Dao Sect was indeed powerful, the foundation of the Origin Divine Dynasty that once ruled over all the realms of the heavens was also beyond his imagination.

"From my current perspective, that Five-Dragon Immortal in Zang Guan Mi Jing should be of the Fourth Realm? Going to challenge now would probably just be inviting humiliation."

Li Yuan calmly analyzed, and felt it was better to earn money first.

The one projected by Zhu Zhu Zhongying in Zang Guan Mi Jing was the Origin Divine Son in his theoretically most perfect state, having discarded all weaknesses; he did not think he could leap two great stages to win.

At least for now, it was not very possible.

"Let's refine the Fa first."

Quenching the stray thoughts in his heart, Li Yuan beckoned. Jin Chi, the Peng bird, had already flown up from the treetop and landed on his arm; that drop of ink-colored water droplet gently rotated.

The Dao of divine patterns was both complex and simple.

The complexity lay in the combinations and variations of different divine patterns and different divine prohibitions, which further involved the mutual generation and mutual restraint of divine patterns.

The simplicity, on the other hand, lay in the fact that whether it was magic power, Fa Shu, Dao Shu, Gu Gu Shentong, Fa Bao, Dao weapons, and so on, in the final analysis they were all nourishing divine patterns and combining divine prohibitions.

Fa Bao had weapon prohibitions, Fa Shu had Fa prohibitions; apart from the fact that Fa Shu had no physical body, the two essentially had no fundamental difference.

One word: refine!

"Refine, then."

Li Yuan flicked his finger, and that drop of Shan Xuan Gang Zhong water had already fallen into Wang Yang.

Almost at the same time, the Peng bird entered the water, transformed into a giant Kun, churning Wang Yang, raising waves, drawing in the magic power within its body, and cultivating the Shan Xuan Gang Zhong water.

The Kun Peng True Form Diagram and the Shan Xuan Gang Zhong water both belonged to the Black Emperor Dark Abyss Scripture, and were quite complementary to each other.

……

The days of refining the Fa were tedious and dull.

But Master Li was always a man who could endure loneliness. Every day he refined the Fa, read books, planted trees, listened to music, and fished — not only did he not find it tedious, he actually quite enjoyed it.

Yet his magic power, Fa Shu, and even his physical body were all increasing with the times; forming a contrast to this, his Shan Gong was continuously decreasing.

Eight months later, when the little mother dragon returned travel-worn from her scenery-gathering trip, Li Yuan had also completed cultivating the last Fa Shu he had chosen at the time, 'Tian Peng Dun Fa.'

"Hum~"

On the third floor of the bamboo tower, Li Yuan sat cross-legged. A wisp of breeze circled his body, seeming both illusory and ethereal; and when his mind moved, that breeze wrapped him up.

In the next instant, he had already arrived a thousand li away.

"Tian Peng Dun Fa is faster than the Nine-Smoke Luo, but it also consumes quite a lot of magic power. With my current twenty-six Fa, I estimate I can activate it fewer than four hundred times…"

Carried by the divine wind, Li Yuan did not transform into a great Peng, yet between thoughts, he teleported within the small grotto-heaven dozens of times. After returning to the bamboo tower, he also had an understanding of this Dun Fa.

"All four Fa Shu are complete; I can go to the Combat Platform now."

Li Yuan let out a long breath.

One year into his entry, he had cultivated four spells, and at the same time his Kun Peng magic power had accumulated to thirty-one Dao; by his estimate, in just over two more years the reserves for the second realm would be full.

Hum—

At a thought, Li Yuan communicated with the Tong Shi Orb and opened the Combat Hall.

The next instant, the surrounding light and shadow transformed into a stretch of deep, dark starry sky.

A year had passed, yet the slaughter on the Combat Platform remained fierce—this could be seen from the speed at which the rankings shifted on the three Combat Leaderboards hanging high above.

"The Combat Leaderboards still have five years until they reset…"

At a thought, Li Yuan communicated with the Combat Leaderboard to check the information on it.

The Combat Leaderboard held the intelligence of every cultivator participating in combat, but the vast majority of people would not make theirs public; what Li Yuan chose to view was his own.

This was a little trick he had figured out over the past half year.

"Hum—"

An invisible wave swept past; Li Yuan paid it no mind, knowing this was the wave of the Grand Void Divine Mirror scanning him.

Ever since he had figured out this little trick and discovered that the Grand Void Divine Mirror could not detect the Soldier Register, nor the Qi mechanism within his Zi Shen Shen Jing, he would come to this Combat Platform to scan himself from time to time.

【Eighty Thousand Li (First-Tier Combatant)】

【Realm: Unity】

【Race: Human】

【Physique:??】

【Root Law: Kun Peng True Form Diagram】

【Spells: Shan Xuan Gang Heavy Water (San Chong Fa), Tai Yin Sword Qi (Er Zhong Fa), Kun Ming Ten Thousand Layers Armor (Yi Zhong Fa), Tian Peng Dun Fa (Yi Chong Fa)】

"The Grand Void Divine Realm is truly a fine thing."

Feeling his own detailed intelligence, even though it was not his first time experiencing it, Li Yuan could not help feeling a little envious:

"It can simultaneously handle the searching, combat, trading, and conversation of who knows how many cultivators across how many domains—what a massive Yan Suan Fa that must take?"

"If it were used to deduce divine prohibitions, wouldn't it be able to derive an entire Gong Fa Gu Gu Shentong in the blink of an eye?"

(End of this chapter)