Chapter 209: Neighbors Stockpile Grain, I Stockpile Guns, Looting the Dark Divine Palace
Shi Jian's entire body was scorched black, resembling a skeleton, with raging flames flickering within. Divine light blazed from his wounds, and an inexplicable power nourished his body. He had stepped into the Divine Flame Realm, but his transformation was incomplete because he had not yet cultivated Immortal Qi.
He could vaguely sense a blurry Immortal Qi around him but was unable to fully grasp it. This was because the path he had embarked on was too difficult and extraordinary, even more so than Shi Hao's. While Shi Hao needed to comprehend the Three Thousand Great Dao of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, Shi Jian was using several cultivation paths from different worlds as his foundation.
Such a path was unheard of, and he could only walk it because of the Perfect World's high compatibility with different cultivation systems. He sensed the hazy Immortal Qi but stopped cultivating. He had almost depleted his spirit medicine and feared it would be difficult to sustain the burning of the Myriad Dao Flames. He decided to farm for resources in the Immortal Ancient before continuing his cultivation.
He remembered that the Immortal Ancient was a treasure trove, with a mysterious Medicine Garden, various divine plants, and the legacy of Liu Shen. He stood up to examine the tree he had been cultivating on. It was a peculiar divine plant that soared into the sky, its crown a canopy of five-colored clouds. He had never seen such a tree.
He found cloud-like fruits on the tree crown that would transform into cloud creatures after being picked. This was a unique phenomenon of a tree nurturing a special life form. After two days of research, he left, taking one of the cloud creatures with him for later study.
Shi Jian began wandering through the Immortal Ancient, seeking good fortune. Nearly a year had passed, and many geniuses had already ignited their divine flames. The place was rich with spirit medicine, and communication and trade had led to the flourishing of ancient cities as markets. Shi Jian gathered some information about various precious items and the ancient freaks who were still in seclusion, being supplied with treasures by their subordinates.
"Damn it, I'm at a disadvantage without subordinates..."
Shi Jian felt a bit speechless. The Ten Crown King and his group were still in seclusion, but their followers were gathering treasures for them. Shi Jian had to both break through and farm for resources himself.
He wasn't truly anxious, though. He believed that if he didn't have subordinates, he could simply "borrow" other people's. His philosophy was simple: "neighbors stockpile grain, I stockpile guns!" He decided to "borrow" grain from others.
He entered a vast, sacred city filled with experts hawking their wares. Shi Jian inquired about some faction strongholds and walked toward one particular location—the Dark Divine Palace, the stronghold of the Nether Race. The palace was shrouded in black mist and deep Yin Qi, with cold, lifeless Nether Race people standing guard at the entrance.
"Who are you? You are not allowed to linger here!"
"If you have rare treasures, you can also come to exchange them..."
Shi Jian's eyes flashed with a cold light. He took a step, and the two guards instantly exploded into black mist.
"Enemy attack..."
Cries of alarm rang out, and a large group of Nether Race people emerged. An old man appeared, his expression extremely cold. "Who are you? How dare you break the rules of the city? Fighting in the city... You're finished!"
The old man believed that by breaking the city's rules, which were jointly established by major factions, Shi Jian had incurred public wrath and was sure to die. The onlookers were shocked, with some mocking Shi Jian's ignorance, while others believed he had great confidence.
"Hmph... Ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth, this person will probably be killed very soon by the Six Nether Generals under the Dark Divine Son..."
"What if he's confident? The Dark Divine Son went out once before, and even before breaking through, he caused rivers of blood and mountains of corpses among Divine Flame experts..."
The discussions continued, with people watching Shi Jian with schadenfreude.
"Deploy the Killing Formation!"
Several experts soared into the sky. The old man spoke sinisterly, "Those who provoke my Dark Divine Palace shall be killed without mercy. When you are killed, your corpse will be hung outside Guangming City to assert the Divine Might of my Dark Divine Palace..."
Shi Jian looked at him indifferently, took a step, and the old man's waist instantly snapped. The formation in the sky collapsed, and Shi Jian swept through the four directions, slaughtering without restraint. He disliked the Nether Race people, who were neither human nor ghost, and their bodies yielded little when melted in his Hell Furnace.
The onlookers were terrified. This person's strength was truly formidable. After searching a soul, Shi Jian learned that the palace was only an outpost. He found a teleportation formation inside and disappeared, reappearing in a valley.
"Dare to provoke my Dark Divine Palace, you shall surely die!"
A new Killing Formation enveloped him. Someone shouted, "Please, Nether Generals, make your move!" The Nether Generals were Primeval experts who had submitted to the Dark Divine Son. Three brilliant figures appeared within the formation, their aura powerful and extraordinary.
Shi Jian looked at them with a scrutinizing gaze and grinned. He judged them strong enough to be his "dogs." Because of his charred appearance, no one had recognized him. His smile looked ugly and bizarre, sending shivers down their spines.
The three Primeval experts, judging his appearance to be the result of a failed transformation, believed his Dao Foundation was destroyed. They thought he was on a last-ditch effort to cause trouble.
"Kill!"
One expert spewed out a divine sword, but Shi Jian simply raised his hand and snapped it with a gentle squeeze. The expert was shocked, as his sword had never been damaged even when fighting the Dark Divine Son.
"Friend, who are you? What do you want to do?"
The other two experts, seeing this, softened their attitude, feeling uncertain. Shi Jian's eyes calmly gazed at them. "Come over and kneel, and I'll spare your lives!"