"Rumble!"
...
"Rumble!"
Hai Bodong's eyes twitched as he stared at the mountain peak hundreds of miles across the Black River. The entire peak was shaking violently, countless rocks tumbling down.
He could clearly hear the deafening roars emanating from the mountaintop, which had been going on for a day and a night.
Hai Bodong secretly rejoiced that he hadn't acted rashly and actually attacked Hun Changqing; otherwise, given the commotion Hun Changqing had caused on the mountaintop, he probably wouldn't have been able to withstand even a single blow.
Hai Bodong had recovered his fighting spirit and healed his injuries in this place rich in Yin energy. After adjusting his condition, he intended to leave, but he discovered that as long as he didn't recklessly attempt to cross the Black River, his cultivation level would improve extremely quickly if he simply cultivated on the sidelines.
So he simply sat cross-legged by the stream, forming the hand seals for cultivation, intending to start practicing. However, the thunderous booms and explosions from the mountain were incessant, making Hai Bodong's heart pound and preventing him from entering a meditative state.
After an unknown amount of time, the mountaintop finally quieted down, and silence returned to the entire valley.
Hai Bodong secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although he didn't know what had happened on the mountain peak, he had a vague feeling that the ultimate victor was Hun Changqing, though Hai Bodong himself didn't know why he was so certain. The vast expanse of water that had once covered the
mountaintop
had vanished, and the trees and vines had been reduced to dust by the giant waves.
The entire mountaintop was now a scene of devastation, the ground riddled with dents and cracks, rubble scattered everywhere, and a third of the mountain had been shattered. The clearing now appeared considerably smaller than before.
After the dust settled, Hun Changqing, carrying the Seven-Colored Devouring Python, approached a massive crater. Looking down, he saw a small, black piece of wood lying silently in the center, its aura utterly depleted, its energy completely exhausted.
Hun Changqing's five-fold wave attack had only reached its fourth level before obliterating the entire wooden figure, revealing this small piece of black wood at its center.
Upon seeing the wooden figure collapse, Hun Changqing had hastily slammed the remaining, most powerful wave into an open area, fearing it would reduce his prize to ashes. This resulted in a third of the mountain peak being destroyed by the wave.
Hun Changqing reached out and gently picked up the small piece of black wood, sensing the intense aura of death emanating from it. Instantly, he felt a sense of peace and clarity, his soul becoming much clearer.
Hun Changqing licked his lips, saying with some delight,
"This is truly a wonderful thing! It's an elemental life form similar to a strange fire. If it's wood elemental, it should be called a 'wood spirit,' right? It seems I'm quite lucky. I inherently possess wood attributes, and this wood spirit contains such a vast amount of death energy; it's absolutely the best tonic for me."
Hun Changqing was overjoyed, while the Seven-Colored Devouring Python in his arms looked up at him with some confusion, not understanding why its keeper was so happy about a piece of wood containing a death energy that even it, an extremely yin and cold magical beast, found somewhat repulsive.
"Hehehe, I only need your physical body. As for your consciousness, it's better to annihilate it."
Hun Changqing carefully examined the death energy wood spirit. He could feel the despair and resentment emanating from it. He sneered, pointed a finger at the wood spirit, and a drop of Three Lights Divine Water fell into the wood.
Instantly, the wooden spirit in Hun Changqing's hand trembled violently, emitting a sharp, desperate wail that could only be heard with immense soul power. Soon, the black wood in Hun Changqing's hand finally calmed down, no longer emanating the slightest emotional fluctuation, completely transforming into a divine object of heaven and earth.
Hun Changqing was extremely excited. He sat cross-legged, intending to devour and refine it, when suddenly, looking at the wood spirit, he seemed to remember something. His storage ring on his finger lit up, and a piece of black wood identical to the wood spirit appeared in his other hand.
"No wonder this wood looked familiar from the start. It's the same piece of wood I brought out from the Nine Netherworld Python's cave last time!
I always say these mysterious things, things you don't understand, should be kept safe; they might be treasures! But why don't I sense any death energy in this piece of wood?"
Hun Changqing placed the two pieces of wood together, somewhat puzzled. They looked exactly alike, but the piece of wood Hun Changqing already possessed had no aura whatsoever.
Suddenly, the piece of wood, emanating a dense aura of death, erupted with energy. Several thin vines appeared on the ground, enveloping the lifeless black wood and merging it with the wood, absorbing its essence.
This was the instinctive behavior of this divine creature; it would instinctively devour anything of the same origin. After the piece of wood was completely absorbed, the wood spirit instantly emitted a deep, dark black light, and its aura began to surge.
Hun Changqing watched the scene before him, somewhat astonished.
"This is... about to advance?"
At this moment, the wood spirit's aura was growing at an astonishing rate. The chilling energy throughout the entire Zhaoxia Valley was converging on the wood spirit, and a black vortex had formed above it, frantically devouring the yin energy within the valley.
Soon, the Wood Spirit's energy level, which was originally only at the peak of the Dou Zong realm, broke through the bottleneck in a short time and reached the Dou Zun realm. Moreover, its momentum showed no signs of slowing down and continued to climb wildly. Hun Changqing, sensing the Wood Spirit
's rapidly increasing aura, changed his previous joy to solemnity, and finally to a very ugly expression.
Initially, Hun Changqing was quite happy to see the Wood Spirit advance, since the Wood Spirit currently lacked sentience, and the stronger it became, the more powerful its essence and the quality of its death energy would be.
But now, seeing its relentless ascent towards a higher realm, Hun Changqing didn't even doubt that the Wood Spirit could directly break through to the high-level Dou Zun realm at this rate.
If that happened, what would be the point of Hun Changqing devouring it? He'd better pack his things and run away.
At this moment, a fierce glint flashed in Hun Changqing's eyes. He circulated his Taiyin Qi, drawing out the Taiyin Origin from the depths of his soul. A condensed Taiyin Origin appeared before Hun Changqing.
Then, the Taiyin Origin directly enveloped the wood spirit that was frantically absorbing energy to advance, and began to devour and refine it.
Hun Changqing frantically mobilized his Taiyin True Qi, his heart blazing with ferocity, his teeth clenched.
"Want to advance? Then advance within my body! Everything you have is mine! Your advancement, which benefits me, is your greatest honor! Hehehe~"