Chen Xun nodded thoughtfully, "Hmm, tell us about The Great Li Realm."
"Yes, Senior," Dai Xinqing's eyes lit up with excitement; this was something he was good at.
As Chen Xun asked questions, they began talking non-stop, their expressions becoming increasingly relaxed. These two seniors were not bloodthirsty as they had initially thought; they just had an unusual demeanor.
Chen Xun and the big black ox occasionally exclaimed in surprise, their reactions exaggerated, though neither of them seemed to notice.
Two hours later...
They were utterly shocked, their eyes revealing their disbelief. The Great Li Realm was far more overwhelming than they had imagined.
"I see, thank you."
"This is what we juniors should do, Senior, you are too kind." Huang Shao kept his head down the whole time, not daring to look up. "If you need a guide, we would gladly serve you."
"Please feel free to command us, Senior!" Dai Xinqing shouted eagerly.
"Take these God-killing Stones," Chen Xun said, waving his hand. Four massive God-killing Stones, each the size of a boulder, appeared on the deck of the boat. "This is the reward I promised you."
The big black ox also waved his hand, bringing two thousand-year-old Qinghun Grass in front of them.
Huang Shao and Dai Xinqing's pupils shrank, and their breathing became heavier. Such generosity!
"Thank you, Senior!"
"Thank you, Senior!"
Both of them bowed even lower, not daring to show any false modesty. The fact that the seniors gave them anything was already a huge honor.
They quickly stored the rewards in their rings—two stones each.
Chen Xun's eyes narrowed slightly as he gazed into the distance, deep in thought. "You may go now."
"Yes, Senior!" Dai Xinqing's heart pounded with excitement. It felt like they had encountered an incredible opportunity—just answering a few simple questions had brought them so many benefits.
He hurriedly grabbed Huang Shao to leave, but the latter didn’t budge. Anxious, Dai Xinqing whispered, "Huang Shao, let's go."
But Huang Shao didn’t move. He raised his head slightly, looking at the two figures on the crane-like ship, and his pupils shrank to a pinpoint in fear. He swayed on his feet. What kind of bandit-like outfits are those?!
"Is there something you want, young man?"
"Senior... I am Huang Shao," he said, summoning the courage to take a step forward and bow. "May I dare ask for your names?"
"Huang Shao, are you insane?" Dai Xinqing hissed beside him, flashing a flattering smile toward the seniors. "Please forgive him, Senior, he doesn’t know how to speak properly."
"Haha, Huang Shao... I’ll remember that," Chen Xun said, waving his hand with a smile. "Fate will bring us together again."
Suddenly, a gust of wind arose, sweeping Huang Shao and Dai Xinqing away toward the distant cliffs. Meanwhile, the giant boat slowly faded into the darkness.
They felt like they were in a dream, still staring into the abyss with mixed emotions.
...
Three days later, a massive flying boat was anchored deep within the Tian Duan Plains. There was no trace of any cultivators nearby.
Chen Xun had been lying on the deck for three days, staring blankly at the sky. He felt out of sorts, almost as if he were sick.
On the deck, the big black ox was fiddling with some God-killing Stones and arranging a few formations. Chen Xun looked at it and sighed deeply, filled with both joy and sorrow.
The sorrow was that opening his divine apertures had consumed countless God-killing Stones, an expenditure of spirit stones that felt like a knife to the heart.
But the joy was that the God-killing Stones were so valuable, virtually limitless. They would never run out of spirit stones again.
"How’s it going, old ox?"
"Moo~~"
The big black ox shook its head. It had some clues but was still experimenting.
"Take your time, no rush," Chen Xun said with a smile, patting the big ox. "There are plenty of God-killing Stones here. We won’t run out."
"Moo~" The big black ox nudged Chen Xun and continued casting its spells, determined not to disappoint its big brother.
Their formation only prevented divine senses from probing but had no means of defending against or counterattacking spiritual assaults. Upon hearing that The Great Li Realm had God-killing artifacts, the big black ox was inspired.
If you can forge these stones into artifacts, why can’t I use them for a formation?!
Chen Xun took out a small booklet and fell into deep thought. A few days ago, the two cultivators had mentioned that God-killing Stones could store spiritual energy since the God-killing Wind eroded it.
God-killing artifacts required spiritual energy to activate, but they hadn’t discovered that yet—only the fact that the stones stored some God-killing energy.
And what’s the point of storing God-killing energy along with spiritual energy…?
Suddenly, Chen Xun froze. The terrifying creatures sealed beneath the earth lacked both divine sense and spiritual power.
No way… could it be for them?
Chen Xun furrowed his brow, a bad premonition forming in his heart. We absolutely can’t disturb those things; they’re like monsters.
There were now two possibilities.
First, the stones were eroding the spiritual energy of the cultivation world, waiting for a tipping point at which these creatures would revive.
Second, they were waiting for their kin to come and unseal them, and the God-killing Stones were their nourishment for revival, containing both spiritual energy and divine sense.
Chen Xun’s eyes grew clearer as he analyzed in his booklet.
But regardless of which possibility was true, if they were to strip the God-killing Stones from Tian Duan Plains, not only would they cut off the Great Li Realm cultivators' source of wealth, but they might also sever the lifeline of these terrifying creatures.
With their current strength, they couldn’t afford the consequences of either scenario. It would make them enemies of everyone. Best to take what they could and stop there…
"Moo?!"
"What’s up, old ox?"
"Moo, moo~"
The big black ox snorted and infused its Five Elements power into the veins of a God-killing Stone. The veins were now emitting unaffiliated spiritual energy in bursts.
Chen Xun's eyes widened. After opening their divine apertures, they had used divine sense to probe the stones or broken them apart with the Five Elements power.
Without the insight from those two cultivators, they would never have thought to explore this far.
"So, the spiritual energy was hiding in the stone all along, and when we broke it down, it leaked out with the God-killing Wind."
"Moo~~"
The big black ox patted Chen Xun, its eyes gleaming with pride. Its big brother wasn’t infallible, after all.
They continued observing the transformation. The veins of the God-killing Stone gradually filled with the power of the Five Elements, undergoing a mysterious change.
"Old ox, what do you think these God-killing Stones are?" Chen Xun narrowed his eyes, resting his hand on the big ox. "Their veins are so compatible with all kinds of natural energy."
"Moo?" The big black ox shook its head, having never seen anything like this before, except perhaps the strange Crane Spirit Tree.
An incense stick’s time later, the veins of the God-killing Stone had fully transformed, glowing faintly with the light of the Five Elements. A gentle breeze blew from it, carrying a trace of God-killing energy.
But the wind was so subtle that only those attuned to the Five Elements could sense it, just like the omnipresent but elusive energy of the world.
"It’s strange how similar this is to the Crane Spirit Tree," Chen Xun muttered, furrowing his brow. Along their journey, they had seen many natural treasures, but nothing came close to the Crane Spirit Tree in terms of adaptability.
Other treasures in the cultivation world had fixed characteristics, like the Jade Source Fruit Tree.
"Moo~~~" The big black ox snorted, starting to jot down notes in the booklet. Based on its 2,000 years of experience and the terrifying creatures beneath the earth, it strongly suspected that the Crane Spirit Tree and God-killing Stones weren’t from their world at all!
"Old ox, you think they came from beyond the Tianhe River?" Chen Xun’s eyes gleamed with understanding, deep in thought. "I’ve had the same idea. They might have come from Senior Ji’s world."
"Moo~~~" The big black ox’s eyes lit up, delighted that its big brother shared the same thought.
"Old ox, start converting the God-killing Stones into Five Elements Stones. We can’t stay here much longer," Chen Xun said, glancing around warily. The more we know, the more cautious we must be. "We’ll come back if needed, but for now, let’s head to The Great Li Realm."
"Moo, moo!!"
The mention of The Great Li Realm sent an excited shudder through the big black ox—it had a place it absolutely had to visit.
Hummm—
The massive flying boat roared to life, slicing through the darkness as the Crane Spirit Five Elements Tree swayed, its black and white leaves shimmering enchantingly.
...
Half a year later, Chen Xun and the big black ox remained, lingering as long as possible despite their plans to leave. Every moment they could delay, they seized.
The big black ox had fully integrated the God-killing Stones into its formation, fusing them with the Five Elements energy of the Five Extremes Array.
But melting down the God-killing Stones felt like desecrating a priceless treasure.
The stones either broke, decomposed, or degraded—how could they be refined? The very idea was utterly ridiculous!
"Old Ox, let’s go! Onward to the Great Li Empire!"
"Moo~~~!"
From the depths of the darkness came two low, resonating cries. A massive flying ship, once horizontal, now turned vertical and surged toward the upper reaches of the Tian Duan Plains.
Chen Xun and the big black ox stood firmly on the crane’s head, their gazes calm yet deep, weighed down with heavy thoughts.
Endless winds swept by them, surging and flowing, but they could no longer breach the big black ox's array.
A faint light began to pierce through the gloom. From the dim horizon, immense beams of light shot forth, while the ship accelerated faster and faster, spiraling toward the sky alongside the winds from the gorge’s depths.
"Charge!!!"
"Moo!!!"
Their foreheads bulged with veins as they roared toward the horizon—a superpower, an unimaginable world—and they were finally about to arrive.
Chen Xun clung tightly to the big black ox’s head, and the ox pressed itself firmly against him, their hearts pounding.
The Great Li Empire: vast, boundless, and dominant overall!
From the east of the Unseen Sea to the west of the Overturned Sky Pass, the empire spanned 360 provinces, its population numbering in the hundreds of billions, and its cultivators beyond count.
Five ancient immortal sects, three noble cultivation families, two holy palaces, and one Buddhist domain—each power commanded ten provinces, looking down upon the world and overseeing the Great Li Empire!
Four immortal mountains overseas guarded the Overturned Sky Pass, opening once every thousand years. When the day came, the celestial river descended, and countless cultivators set sail to challenge the pass!
This was the world of the Great Li Empire—a grand and treacherous journey filled with both opportunities and mysteries.
At this moment.
From the darkened sky, massive beams of light shot toward the earth, toward the Tian Duan Plains, and toward the giant flying ship that suddenly emerged from its depths.
Boom!
Humm!!!
A tremendous wave of pressure swept through the gorge, and an overwhelming aura surged forth. The divine light of the Five Elements exploded outward, radiating brilliant beams of light!
It was as if a monstrous creature were about to descend upon the mortal realm, and even the thick clouds above seemed to tremble.
"Damn it, we’re here!!!"
"Moo moo moo!!!"
The endless winds stirred, dragging a torrential cloud of dust across the land like a massive dragon, filling the air with deadly intent and terror.
At the far end of the gorge, the landscape was no longer filled with endless sand but towering cliffs, as if carved by human hands.
In the distance, faint mountain ranges loomed in and out of view, like smudges of ink brushed lightly across the dark sky.
Above the plains, a massive array spread out, covering the heavens and earth, as a grand formation continued to operate.
The giant flying ship hovered at the edge of the cliff, and the Crane Spirit Tree extended a branch as if reaching toward the distance.
Two figures, heavy and slow, emerged from the dust.
They had finally arrived.