The Artifact Spirit waved his hand, and the black and white chessboard in Luo Qi's hands flew into his palm, his emotionless gaze sweeping over it, yet his expression was indecipherable.

"Not bad, come with me," suddenly, the Artifact Spirit put away the chessboard and spoke.

Luo Qi was overjoyed, hurriedly stood up, and immediately positioned himself beside the Artifact Spirit.

The bystanders observed the exchange between Luo Qi and the Artifact Spirit, showing varied expressions; seeing that the Artifact Spirit was about to leave, Old Man Hei Zhu's face tightened, and he pointed at Yuan Ming, calling out, "May I ask the senior, the Ancient Undying Demon Tree spoken of by this junior, is it true or false?"

"It is true."

Without turning back, the Artifact Spirit left just those words behind, his robe flaring as a flash of black and white spirit light enveloped him and Luo Qi, disappearing into the valley.

The faces of Old Man Hei Zhu and the two others instantly paled, all bearing a look of impending doom.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming immediately comforted, "Seniors need not despair like this; time flows differently here compared to the outside world, we still have thirty years to prepare."

"Hmph, thirty years? What can be achieved in such a short time? Even if we were to meditate to death, how could we cultivate to a level capable of contending with the Returning Void?" White Scale Master shook his head, skeptical.

"That's not necessarily true; after all, the spiritual energy here is abundant, and there are three places rich with Gathering Spirit Objects. If the seniors were to cultivate there, perhaps a breakthrough opportunity could be found," Yuan Ming continued to persuade.

Upon hearing this, everyone marginally lifted their spirits; and just then, among the group, the Blood Realm Venerable suddenly laughed, saying:

"Junior, that tree behind you, is it one of the Gathering Spirit Objects you mentioned? It does look promising; this place will be ours, you should go cultivate somewhere else."

No sooner had the Blood Realm Venerable spoken than he was about to approach, but Xi Ying, who had been silently by Yuan Ming's side, suddenly looked up and glanced at the Blood Realm Venerable.

The Blood Realm Venerable's expression froze, his eyes losing much of their luster, clearly having fallen into an illusion.

At the same time, next to Xi Ying, Guoguo roared, his body quickly enlarging and, in the blink of an eye, he transformed into a giant white beast, with the head of a lion and the body of a tiger, a winding horn on its head, dark hairs growing on its feet, and a fluffy long tail like clouds and mist, the tip tinged with specks of ink.

"Bai Ze?" the purple-haired beauty exclaimed.

Yuan Ming's body also instantly lit up with a surge of blood light, nearly dyeing the valley a bright red, as two distinctly different yet subtly connected Nascent Soul auras suddenly erupted from him, making everyone's heart shudder.

Wulu also at the same moment, disappeared under the cover of the Nascent Soul Divine Senses and could no longer be traced.

"Everyone, with such a formidable enemy before us, it is best to avoid conflict. There are two more Gathering Spirit sites within the secret realm, each as valuable as this one; would Senior Yuan be interested in seeing them?" Yuan Ming looked at Yuan Wuji and smiled.

Yuan Wuji looked at Yuan Ming, his expression seemingly unchanged.

"Blood Realm is impulsive; a small punishment is fine, but do not overdo it," he said, tilting his head slowly.

Yuan Ming gave a slight smile and nodded at Xi Ying.

Xi Ying nodded, lifted the Illusion Technique, and the Blood Realm Venerable staggered, his face pale as he struggled out of the illusion; but his Nascent Soul was damaged, and his aura was somewhat unstable.

Seeing this, Yuan Wuji said nothing more, looked once more towards Yuan Ming, then turned and led the Tide-rider Alliance away.

"To the west, there is a Bishui Lake, in the middle of which on a small island lies a Gathering Spirit Spring, and to the east, there is a Twin Peaks, atop which sits a Gathering Spirit Stone; seniors may meditate and cultivate at these places, and if anything arises, it would be convenient to contact each other," Yuan Ming cautioned.

Yuan Wuji continued walking, soon disappearing with his followers beyond the valley.

"Brother, this junior has insulted us too much, how can we let him off!" the Blood Realm Venerable said immediately after leaving the valley.

"Their strength is not to be underestimated, and clashing with them is not an easy task, not to mention the Undying Demon Tree lurking outside. If we really killed them, we would only lose a helping hand later," the purple-haired beauty advised.

Lan Xiao is right; it's just one Gathering Spirit site; there's no need for a huge fight," Yuan Wuji agreed with the purple-haired beauty.

"So we just let this go?" the Blood Realm Venerable was somewhat unwilling.

"I have my plans," Yuan Wuji shook his head.

In the valley, with the strongest among them, Yuan Wuji, and others unwilling to conflict with Yuan Ming, no one else dared to make a move. Old Man Hei Zhu and his companions left first, and knowing Yuan Ming's status as a Divine Envoy, Queen Ming Kong and her companions hesitated, not knowing what to say. After hearing from Yuan Ming to first find places to cultivate while they awaited the will of the Nether Moon God, they also turned to leave.

After everyone had left, Wulu reappeared, "Brother Yuan, the Blood Yan Island Master has called me to help refine the Daluo Chessboard; I might have to say goodbye to you for now."

Yuan Ming nodded and asked curiously, "Speaking of which, Brother Wu Lu, what exactly is your relationship with Luo Qi?"

"Actually, it's nothing much. Initially, on my way to the East Sea, I accidentally obtained a Blood Puppet Armor. Out of curiosity, I used it once and ended up being entangled by the Blood Puppet Armor. To solve this, I sought help far and wide, and eventually turned to Luo Qi, the Blood Yan Island Master. He had a secret technique that could save my life, but in exchange, I had to help him obtain the Lank Chessboard," Wu Lu sighed, speaking somewhat helplessly.

"I see, then I won't stop you, Brother Wu Lu. However, you have helped me quite a bit, so if there's anything you need, just call on me. I will help with all my might," Yuan Ming nodded and said earnestly.

"Thank you." Wu Lu clasped his hands together, and then bowed towards the sky. A black and white light suddenly descended from the heavens, wrapping around his body and carrying him away.

After sending off Wu Lu, Yuan Ming pondered for a moment and realized there was still one minor matter he hadn't dealt with.

He steadied his mind, waved his hand, and took out the frozen statues of Luu Changfeng and Elder Qi from the Shura Blood Devouring Map, and extended his Divine Sense to inspect their corpses.

He intended to see if he could convert these two Blood God Puppets for his own use, but as soon as he probed, he discovered that Luu Changfeng's Nascent Soul was sealed by another secret technique, which would self-destruct upon being unsealed.

This kind of method was not something used in making Blood God Puppets, but rather seemed like a secretive method used by certain organizations to prevent leaking of secrets.

Yuan Ming instantly became curious and, after hesitating for a moment, he took out the Empty Gloves, channeled his Soul Power, and forcibly broke the seal. He managed to review Luu Changfeng's memories just before his Nascent Soul was completely destroyed.

The seal was broken, and Luu Changfeng's Divine Soul rapidly deteriorated and vanished, with only a tenth of the memories remaining, retaining only those contents he remembered most vividly for a moment.

Among these memory fragments, three were the clearest.

One was the scene where he fought against Yuan Wuji and others before he died; the other two were scenes from when he made progress in practicing the Planting Beans into Soldiers and the Golden Sunflower Beast Taming Technique.

Yuan Ming was delighted, and he quickly focused on the memories of him practicing the secret techniques, silently memorizing the techniques he practiced.

Unfortunately, Luu Changfeng's Nascent Soul deteriorated too quickly, and ultimately, Yuan Ming was only able to completely memorize the contents of the Golden Sunflower Beast Taming Technique. When he tried to look at the Planting Beans into Soldiers Technique, Luu Changfeng's Nascent Soul had already completely deteriorated and dissipated into the cosmos.

Yuan Ming sighed, but his joy still outweighed his disappointment. Then, he tossed Luu Changfeng's corpse, now devoid of a Nascent Soul, into the Shura Blood Devouring Map, completely refining it into Qi.

Just as he broke the seal on the Nascent Soul, among the group from the Tide-rider Alliance who had already reached Bishui Lake, a purple-haired beauty suddenly groaned.

"The seal inside Luu Changfeng's body has been broken," she said in a low voice, frowning.

"Damn it, it must be that Core Formation junior's doing. We don't want to fight him, yet he thinks we're scared. By provoking us this way, he truly doesn't see us as a threat! Brother, let me go. He clearly isn't prepared right now, even if we don't kill him, we should at least teach him a lesson!" Blood Realm Venerable's face flashed with anger, and he immediately turned, taking a white-browed young man towards the direction of the valley.

However, Yuan Wuji just shook his head, "Forget it, don't go. I haven't finished refining my Blood God's Son yet, let's endure it for now. In three to five years, we can settle scores with him then."

As the elder brother spoke, even if the Blood Realm Venerable was reluctant, he could only nod in agreement and turn back.

In the valley, Yuan Ming and Xi Ying ensured that everyone else had left the area, then raised a soundproofing shield to start discussing their next steps in cultivation.

"My cultivation has already reached the peak of the late stage of Core Formation, and it is meaningless to continue to seclude myself and cultivate mana. With thirty years to use, I plan to practice Ju Mang Spirit Technique to enhance my aptitude and prepare for breaking through to the Nascent Soul Stage," said Xi Ying.

"That's good. But this secret realm with its crowd and multiple eyes is hardly a stable place to practice Ju Mang Spirit Technique," Yuan Ming initially nodded and then thought of something and cautioned.

"Of course not here. I plan to transplant this Gathering Spirit Tree to the Stealing Heaven Tripod Space and cultivate the Ju Mang Spirit Technique there," Xi Ying shook her head and explained.

"Oh, you have a way?" Yuan Ming had long thought of transplanting one or two Gathering Spirit Objects into the Stealing Heaven Tripod to enhance the spiritual energy there, so he readily agreed.

"Just do as I say," Xi Ying winked and smiled.

The two immediately got to work. Transplanting Gathering Spirit Objects was not easy, and Xi Ying had Yuan Ming act as protector, setting up a fairly complex Array around the Gathering Spirit Tree to temporarily sever its connection with the local Spirit Vein. Only then did they carefully dig it out and transport it to the Stealing Heaven Tripod Space.

The process of digging out the Gathering Spirit Tree was rather complicated, but planting it was very simple.

Yuan Ming chose a vacant spot near the altar and planted the tree there.

No sooner had the tree been planted than its roots took hold deep underground, and streams of spiritual light began to spread from the roots, coursing into the void.

Moments later, streams of nature's spiritual energy were drawn over by the Gathering Spirit Tree and then diffused from the tree, enriching the spiritual energy of the Stealing Heaven Tripod Space at a rate visible to the naked eye.

"Such a gathering effect, truly worthy of the highest grade of Gathering Spirit Objects!" Yuan Ming exclaimed with joy.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.