Chapter 1618

Ximen Wudi staggered aside, dodging the incoming flames, then raised his palm and unleashed a torrent of searing firelight.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! …

The firelight exploded, sending shards of rock flying, yet the nine beads remained utterly unharmed.

"Such a powerful defensive treasure!" Ximen Wudi mused, then pulled out the Yin-Yang Mirror.

He first shone the Yin-Yang Mirror upon the nine beads, discovering they were indeed unbreakable—even a Divine Emperor could not scratch them.

The Yin-Yang Mirror's power was immense, capable of suppressing Chaos-Yellow Qi and even absorbing energy.

Unfortunately, Ximen Wudi had not pushed the Yin-Yang Mirror to its limit, fearing excessive energy drain would render him unable to control this supreme Chaos Spirit Treasure.

Ximen Wudi attacked for a while longer, but the nine beads remained stubborn, utterly immovable.

This entire region was completely sealed; not even the top-tier powerhouses of the Divine Realm could enter. Zhao Yunxiao and Qin Jin, among other Divine Emperors, had been arranged by Zhao Chen to board a colossal ship and follow Ximen Wudi into Wang Cheng.

That colossal ship could accommodate hundreds of Divine Emperors, but Zhao Chen did not wish so many Divine Emperors to linger near Wang Cheng.

Though somewhat disappointed, the Divine Emperors understood Zhao Chen's reasoning—they were Divine Emperors, and in Zhao Chen's eyes, their strength was no weaker than ordinary Divine Emperor cultivators, yet Zhao Chen himself was only at the late Divine Sovereign stage and could not withstand a swarm of Divine Emperors attacking him.

"Your Highness, rest assured—those nine beads cannot withstand the assault of a Divine Emperor!" Zhao Yunxiao declared with certainty.

"I do not doubt your abilities, Master Zhao, but this matter is of utmost gravity and cannot afford error. Please confirm swiftly and submit a detailed report," Qin Jin said after a moment of thought.

Zhao Yunxiao bowed deeply, clasping his fists. "Your Highness may rest easy—I guarantee no mistake. If this task is completed, I shall present the nine beads to Your Highness!"

Qin Jin nodded, then turned and walked out of the hall.

Zhao Yunxiao returned to the secret chamber and transmitted Qin Jin's message to Ximen Wudi.

Ximen Wudi also left Wang Gong, and upon reaching Chengmenkou, mounted a white steed and galloped out of the palace.

Outside the city, Ximen Wudi searched for a long time before finally selecting a canyon thirty million li from Wang Gong.

The canyon was roughly eight hundred li wide and plunged into unfathomable depths, with barren wastelands all around and not a single plant in sight.

Standing at the canyon's edge and gazing downward, one saw only utter blackness, as if an endless void stretched below, sending chills down the spine.

A peculiar energy permeated this canyon, one that felt strangely familiar to Ximen Wudi.

Ximen Wudi pulled out the Chaos-Yellow Tower, examined it for a while, then his face lit up with ecstatic joy as he exhaled a long, heavy breath.

"So this canyon contains an extreme concentration of Chaos-Yellow Qi!"

Overjoyed, Ximen Wudi did not immediately retrieve the nine beads. Instead, he took out a jade slip and dripped his blood onto it.

Hum!

The jade slip suddenly trembled violently and shot out a brilliant beam of light.

Ximen Wudi lightly traced his finger across the center of the beam, pulling out a glowing sphere.

The sphere's surface was woven with intricate, mysterious patterns—like runes, yet governed by some hidden law, radiating an ancient and enigmatic aura.

Within the sphere swirled a hazy, misty essence, pulsing with oceanic waves of power, concealing terrifying pressure and devastating Xin Qiji.

"Ancestor Hongjun did not deceive me—Chaos-Yellow Qi contains such immense Ancestor Hongmeng Purple Qi! If I can fully absorb and refine it, I will surely shatter my constraints and enter the Ancestor Hongmeng Ultimate Realm!" Ximen Wudi murmured happily, then sealed the hazy essence within his storage pouch.

Then, Ximen Wudi leapt down into the canyon.

The nine beads lay directly beneath him, yet he did not take them.

These nine beads could help cultivators break through bottlenecks and were themselves rare divine beasts—but like the other nine celestial treasures, they required specific heavenly treasures to advance. That meant Ximen Wudi must first find sufficient quantities of heavenly treasures.

Ximen Wudi descended into the canyon's depths and raced forward along its length, unafraid of danger.

In such a place, even a half-step Ancestor Hongmeng cultivator could not approach him silently—he could sense enemies and evade them long before they drew near.

After racing for two days, Ximen Wudi encountered several strange snakes, all at the Divine Lord realm.

Ximen Wudi could slay these snakes with a single sweep of his sword.

After death, their corpses dissolved into the earth and stone, or were tossed into his storage pouch.

Ximen Wudi also did not forget to harvest the snakes' souls; by reading their residual soul memories, he learned the reason this frozen kingdom had not been destroyed was because beneath these mountains lay a Dragon Vein.

The Dragon Vein's power was extraordinary—it could nurture powerful demonic beasts and heavenly treasures, and nourish surrounding flora, enabling them to grow and thrive.

Now that the Dragon Vein was completely frozen, its power had steadily weakened, and the environment had gradually deteriorated.

Yet Ximen Wudi noticed something: the Chaos-Yellow Qi in this canyon was far denser and purer than anywhere else.

After traveling through the canyon for half a year, Ximen Wudi finally stopped.

The concentration of Chaos-Yellow Qi in the canyon had grown steadily thinner—clearly, the Dragon Vein was exhausted, and it was no longer suitable to remain here.

At once, Ximen Wudi mounted his white steed and continued onward.

Along the way, he gathered abundant treasures, acquiring many heavenly treasures and harvesting some Chaos-Yellow Qi.

After traveling further, Ximen Wudi halted at a mountain hollow within the canyon.

In the hollow, he saw a towering tree, a hundred zhang high, radiating golden light, its branches laden with Jin Cancan beads.

"Ha!"

Ximen Wudi leapt from his horse and sprinted toward the tree.

Sitting cross-legged beneath the tree, Ximen Wudi calmed his mind and began practicing the "Nirvana Derivation Art," absorbing the ambient Chaos-Yellow Qi to rapidly elevate his realm to the peak of Divine Sovereign.

The Chaos-Yellow Qi here was indeed extremely dense. Soon after he began cultivating, the Chaos Divine Infant in his dantian opened its eyes, opened its mouth slightly, and exhaled purest Chaos-Yellow Qi.

The tiny figure within his dantian began frantically drawing in Chaos-Yellow Qi, while the Chaos True Fire released waves of scorching energy that enveloped the tree.

Yet the tree showed no sign of damage; instead, the intense energy of the Chaos True Fire was slowly being absorbed by the tree, which itself grew incrementally.

"This tree must be over a trillion years old—otherwise, it could not possess such astonishing absorption capacity."

Ximen Wudi sighed inwardly, then accelerated his absorption of Chaos-Yellow Qi.

After a tea's time, he realized he had lost one-sixth of his Chaos True Fire, and the tiny figure in his dantian had grown noticeably weakened.

Ximen Wudi ceased immediately—further absorption would severely damage both the tiny figure and his Chaos True Fire.

He hurriedly took out a Divine尊-grade pill and consumed it, then continued on his way, planning to try his luck elsewhere.

He had only flown a short distance when a swarm of Divine Emperor-stage strange snakes suddenly came swarming in.

"Hmph!"

Ximen Wudi snorted coldly, flicked his wrist, and the Chaotic Holy Blade appeared, instantly swelling many times larger.

Swish swish…

He swung the Holy Blade and hacked at the strange snakes pouncing up, and in an instant more than thirty of the strange snakes were slain by him.

However, although those strange snakes were slain, still endless streams of strange snakes kept charging up.

"Your sister!"

Ximen Wudi cursed, then deployed a binding-type divine ability.

On the bodies of the 1369 strange snakes

In an instant, rings of invisible ripples spread out across the bodies of those strange snakes, spreading rapidly, and in the blink of an eye enveloped the entire canyon.

All the strange snakes were trembling nonstop, then one after another fell down.

Before those strange snakes could hit the ground, Ximen Wudi shot forth, sent out the Holy Blade, and brought it slashing down in one stroke; all the strange snakes falling to the ground were sliced clean in two at the waist.

"So satisfying!"

Ximen Wudi couldn't help but praise, continued flying forward, and at the same time urged the white horse to run faster.

This canyon was too vast; Ximen Wudi did not dare to fly through the air, so he rode forward on horseback, and his speed was not fast.

Yin wind ran rampant inside the canyon, but it could not affect Ximen Wudi.

Ximen Wudi was not afraid, after all he had the Phoenix Battle Armor protecting his body, and his own flesh was tough and resilient, fundamentally unafraid of wind, frost, rain, or snow.

In the blink of an eye another five months passed; this night, Ximen Wudi arrived at the very middle of the canyon, where there was a giant pit, and at the edge of the giant pit were piled densely packed fragments of crushed bone.

"Could a true dragon have once fallen here?"

Ximen Wudi guessed, and dove down, plunging into the giant pit.

When descending to about twenty meters from the ground, Ximen Wudi finally saw clearly: at the bottom of the giant pit lay a massive dragon corpse, its body covered in dense wounds, with fresh blood gushing and flowing.

The dragon race was an extremely rare species; this was also Ximen Wudi's first time seeing a dragon corpse, and he could not help being curious, so he carefully observed the condition of that dragon corpse.

The dragon corpse's head had already disappeared, and its abdominal cavity and four limbs had also rotted beyond recognition.