"Xia Yao struggled to sit up.
"Sister, sister, don't get excited. Lie back down, please! I'm just going to find a quiet place to go into seclusion and cultivate for a few days, and when I return, I'll beat that good-for-nothing Xia Longfei until he begs for mercy on his knees."
Xia Yao stared at Xiayu's face for a long time before finally nodding and saying, "No matter what, sister just needs you to stay alive—living a good, safe life."
"Hahaha, sister, your younger brother is so brilliant and peerless, who could possibly kill me?"
Xiayu forced a loud laugh to ease his sister's worried heart.
As night fell, Xiayu transformed into a dark shadow and quietly slipped out of the Xia family estate.
Running wildly all the way...
By midnight, Xiayu stopped in his tracks. Before him lay a pitch-black forest.
The massive forest loomed in the darkness like an unimaginably colossal beast.
The Myriad Demons Forest was located fifty miles north of Huai City.
It was said that the Myriad Demons Forest was boundless, and many who entered never walked out again.
Yet, numerous cultivators still traveled in groups into the Myriad Demons Forest.
Slaying demonic beasts in exchange for cultivation resources was the way of survival for many rogue cultivators.
The reason Xiayu came here was precisely to slay some demonic beasts in exchange for spirit stones and medicinal pills. Since he was no longer the young patriarch, the clan's resources would no longer be tilted in his favor.
Only by activating the second micro-world as soon as possible and raising his cultivation could he protect his sister and better survive.
Taking a deep breath, Xiayu suddenly turned around and looked back along the path he had come.
"Come out. You've been following me the entire way. You're here to kill me, aren't you? Which person from the Xia family sent you?"
"I never expected you to actually discover me. It seems you haven't only recovered your cultivation, you've even improved. I must admit, the graveyard you chose for yourself is quite nice."
A dark shadow slowly stepped out.
Chapter 5: The Wondrous Use of the Burning Heaven Melting Furnace
"Xia Yonggang, so it was you. Did the First Elder send you?"
The dark shadow remained silent.
"I understand. The patriarch must know about this as well."
Xiayu braced himself, the power of his micro-world surging rapidly through his body.
A cultivator at the Fifth Heavenly Layer of Imperial Origin Realm was a full major realm higher than him.
He absolutely could not be careless!
"I must admit, you are very smart. What a pity—smart people never live long!"
Xia Yonggang planted his foot and surged straight toward Xiayu.
Clang!
A chilling gleam flashed through the night sky.
Sword Qi flared, tearing the night apart as it enveloped Xiayu.
Xia Yonggang held nothing back, opening with a lethal strike.
He had never dared to underestimate Xiayu. Over the past few years, Xiayu had led the younger generation of the Xia family in countless battles, and that ruthless tenacity filled him with deep apprehension.
Xiayu made no sound. Driving all his Yuan Power, he thrust out his sword as well.
Clang!
With a crisp clash, Xiayu let out a muffled groan and stumbled back repeatedly.
"The Lingyun Sword?"
Discarding the broken half of the sword in his hand, Xiayu's expression turned grave.
The Lingyun Sword was the ancestral treasured sword of the Xia family, a high-grade spirit weapon that only the patriarch had the right to wield.
Weapons were divided into Spirit Weapons, King Weapons, Emperor Weapons, Saint Weapons, and legendary Emperor Weapons.
Each weapon grade was further categorized into low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and top-grade.
The longsword in Xiayu's hand was merely a mortal weapon—a common iron sword.
Even with Yuan Qi channeled into it, it could never block a high-grade spirit weapon.
"I didn't think my full-strength strike still wouldn't kill you! You really are a disaster, you have to die!" Xia Yonggang said coldly, secretly alarmed in his heart.
Xiayu lowered his head, staring at the sword wound on his chest, saying nothing.
In truth, he was also extremely shocked at that moment.
By all logic, Xia Yonggang's sword strike should have disemboweled him and left him dead beyond doubt.
Yet, the moment the Lingyun Sword pierced his chest, the Yuan Power within his micro-world had rushed out frantically, blocking his chest.
That strike had only left him wounded.
Although the wound was deep—deep enough to expose bone—it was a far cry from being disemboweled.
Xiayu also discovered that the Yuan Power from the micro-world was congested around the wound, causing it to heal slowly.
This...
The Ancestral Dragon Immeasurable Art was truly formidable!
In an instant, Xiayu's heart surged with confidence.
What of being a major realm higher than him?
What of wielding a high-grade spirit weapon?
Xiayu clenched his fists!
"Go to hell!"
At that moment, Xia Yonggang soared into the air like an eagle striking across the sky, pouncing toward Xiayu.
The Lingyun Sword in his hand rained down a sheet of sword light.
Sword technique: The Thirteen Lingyun Swords!
Thirteen strikes, linked in continuous succession, claiming lives and seizing souls.
Having once been the young patriarch of the Xia family, he was intimately familiar with this set of sword techniques.
He knew both its advantages and its flaws.
Xiayu did not retreat. He knew that retreating would only place him in even greater danger.
Once the thirteen continuous strikes chained together to reach their maximum power, he would surely be unable to block them.
"Die!"
Xiayu let out a furious roar, advancing instead of retreating, and plunged straight into the sword light.
Throwing caution to the wind, he hurled a punch straight at Xia Yonggang.
Ancestral Dragon Fist!
Immeasurable!
"Bang!"
With a loud crash, Xiayu was knocked back three zhang, his clothes torn open in over a dozen places.
Yet the dozen or so wounds, varying in depth, did not bleed at all; instead, they were slowly healing.
Fortunately, it was the dead of night and Xia Yonggang could not see, or else he would have been utterly shocked.
Meanwhile, Xia Yonggang was also knocked back repeatedly, retreating over a zhang before blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
"What kind of fist technique is this? Its power is so immense—our Xia family has no such fist technique."
Xia Yonggang was startled.
Surpassing a major realm and executing his strongest sword technique, he had actually been repelled by Xiayu. This was terrifying.
"The fist technique that kills you!" Xiayu's voice was low.
"Hand over this fist technique, and I'll spare your life," Xia Yonggang said coldly.
If he could acquire this fist technique, he was certain his strength would ascend to a whole new level.
In a few years, the position of First Elder in the Xia family would undoubtedly be his.
Although the First Elder had made promises before he came out today, nothing was more reliable than growing one's own strength.
"Hehe..." At that, Xiayu chuckled.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Do you think I, Xiayu, look like a fool?" Xiayu asked.
Xia Yonggang said no more and struck directly with his sword.
If he couldn't have it, he would naturally destroy it!
However, this time Xia Yonggang had no intention of killing Xiayu; he wanted to capture Xiayu alive, torture him for the fist technique, and only then kill him.
Without the intent to kill, the power of Xia Yonggang's Thirteen Lingyun Swords dropped significantly.
Xiayu's Ancestral Dragon Fist, on the other hand, was unleashed at full power.
The Ancestral Dragon Immeasurable Art was the cultivation method of the Ancestral Dragon; its power could be easily imagined.
Although the current Xiayu could not unleash its boundless might, facing Xia Yonggang—who lacked the intent to kill—he forced Xia Yonggang back step by step.
Bang, bang, bang!
Xiayu repeated the exact same punch: Immeasurable!
The stance looked plain and unremarkable, but its power was immense.
Xiayu advanced relentlessly, looking overwhelmingly fierce.
The longer they fought, the more alarmed and aggrieved Xia Yonggang became.
Finally, after blocking another of Xiayu's punches, Xia Yonggang decided he could no longer hold back.
The sword Qi of the Lingyun Sword suddenly flared brilliantly, enveloping Xiayu.
The final form of the Thirteen Lingyun Swords: Soul-Chasing and Spirit-Shattering!
Puff!
The Lingyun Sword pierced into Xiayu's lower abdomen, striking directly at the Dantian.
The next moment, Xia Yonggang froze.
Having succeeded in his strike, Xia Yonggang felt entirely secure.
"Hand over the fist technique, and I'll save you now. You can still keep your life," Xia Yonggang said coldly.
Xiayu slowly raised his head, a bizarre expression on his face.
He said slowly, "Fine. The manual is inside my tunic. Save me."
"That's more like it."
Xia Yonggang sneered inwardly. *Save you? Once I get the manual, I'll give you a quick and painless death.*
At the thought of the manual, a wave of heated eagerness rose within him.
Taking a step forward, he reached directly into Xiayu's tunic.
Suddenly, a fist materialized at his side.
This punch was both fast and vicious!
Xia Yonggang's expression changed drastically, and he jerked his head to dodge.
However, how could he possibly have time!
"Bang!"
The entire right side of Xia Yonggang's skull caved in.
"Impossible! The Lingyun Sword clearly pierced you!"
Fallen to the ground, Xia Yonggang wore a look of utter disbelief.
Xiayu sneered, "You forgot—I have no Dantian."
"No Dantian, pierced straight through the abdomen—how can you be fine?"
"Guess!"
Xiayu raised his foot and crushed Xia Yonggang's skull with a single stomp.
Searching the man's body, he shook his head. This fellow had nothing on him; truly poor!
In truth, when he was pierced by the sword, Xiayu had also thought he was dead for sure.
Yet, to his utter astonishment, nothing was amiss at all.
As it turned out, the Burning Heaven Melting Furnace had directly refined the Lingyun Sword.
Moreover, after refining it, Xiayu even sensed that the Burning Heaven Melting Furnace had given a disdainful wobble.
This...
After a long moment, Xiayu gave a dry cough.
"Brother Furnace, care to discuss something?"
The Burning Heaven Melting Furnace gave no response.
"Ahem, here's the thing. I know you can refine all things, and I also know you need a massive amount of spiritual Qi to repair yourself, right?"
The Burning Heaven Melting Furnace still gave no response.
"It seems I guessed right!" Xiayu chuckled and said, "I also discovered that when I drive the furnace, although the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy I absorb is quite a lot, it's still not enough and not fast enough, right?"
"How about this? We split the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy from normal cultivation fifty-fifty! As for me, I'll go look for various items containing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy for you to smelt, and you give me a share of the refined Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy. How does that sound?"
After several breaths, the Burning Heaven Melting Furnace suddenly wobbled slightly.
Instantly, Xiayu was overjoyed.
The furnace had agreed.
"Then how about this—for the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy from the things I find and smelt, I take eight and you take two, deal?"
The Burning Heaven Melting Furnace trembled violently!
"I take seven and you take three!"
The Burning Heaven Melting Furnace still shook frantically!
"I take six and you take four!"
"Fifty-fifty, a split down the middle, alright? Any less and I'm not doing it. Just think—the higher my cultivation realm, the stronger I get, the better treasures I can acquire, and the more Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy I can absorb. That way, the faster you recover!"
"If you're like this and don't give me any at all, how am I supposed to grow strong quickly? A fifty-fifty split, or I quit!" Xiayu said with mock exasperation.
The Burning Heaven Melting Furnace fell silent for a moment, then wobbled once.
It agreed!
Xiayu rejoiced inwardly and said, "Alright, then give me half of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy from the Lingyun Sword just now first."
Before his voice faded, the Burning Heaven Melting Furnace gave a slight shudder, and a wisp of incomparably pure Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy surged into Xiayu's body.
Instantly, Xiayu trembled all over.
A wave of indescribably comfortable sensation spread through his entire body.
Although this wisp of spiritual energy was not large, its quality was exceptionally high.
Even the micro-world he had activated was frantically absorbing that wisp of spiritual energy.
Xiayu stood in place, savoring the feeling for a long time before letting out a long breath.
Looking toward the Myriad Demons Forest, Xiayu laughed heartily, patted his lower abdomen, and said proudly, "Little Furnace, I'm taking you out to make a fortune—no, taking you out to make Qi."
The Burning Heaven Melting Furnace trembled violently in severe protest!
It was the Burning Heaven Melting Furnace, the Great Dao Melting Furnace, not some Little Furnace!
Bang!
With a muffled thud, blood splattered in all directions.
The skull of a demonic wolf shattered, dead beyond all doubt.
Xiayu grinned, threw a side kick, and sent another demonic wolf charging from the right flying.
Spinning around sharply, he hurled a punch at the demonic wolf behind him.
Chapter 6: The Treehouse Tribe
Ancestral Dragon Fist!
Immeasurable!
With a booming sound, the demonic wolf's head burst open, and its heavy carcass slammed onto the ground.
Xiayu glanced at the claw marks on his body with a calm expression.
The demonic wolf's claws could only break his skin; this slight injury was healed instantly the moment the Yuan Power in his micro-world flowed past.
Awooo!
A demonic wolf let out a howl, and the next moment, the four remaining demonic wolves lunged at Xiayu simultaneously.
Bang, bang, bang!
Shadows of fists filled the air!
In the blink of an eye, all four demonic wolves had their heads exploded.
Huu...
Xiayu let out a long breath. Having just driven the Ancestral Dragon Fist at full strength, his physical consumption was not small.
Still too weak!
Xiayu smiled bitterly in his heart. At the Fifth Heavenly Layer of Gathering Origin Realm, taking on mid-grade demonic beasts—and six of them at that—was no easy task.
If he could activate one more micro-world, he would be able to truly use stacked Immeasurable, and at that point, his power would inevitably multiply manifold.
The Immeasurable form of the Ancestral Dragon Fist was pure strength and speed, breaking all techniques with sheer force.
Xiayu knew this Immeasurable technique was formidable, and coupled with the physical transformation and recovery boost after activating a micro-world, that power possessed an unimaginable, unknown might.
Having activated only a single micro-world, the claws and fangs of mid-grade demonic beasts could only break his skin—his defensive power was astonishing.
One had to know that the claws and fangs of mid-grade demonic beasts could inflict certain injuries even on high-grade demonic beasts.
In other words, if he activated enough micro-worlds, his physical strength would undoubtedly far surpass that of demonic beasts.
If he were to activate all the micro-worlds across his entire body and attain the Ancestral Dragon Body...
Xiayu shook his head. They called it the Ancestral Dragon Body, and who was the Ancestral Dragon? It was the king of all beasts; its body was naturally incomparably powerful.
Thus, he had to find a way to activate more micro-worlds.
Little Furnace was a fine tool indeed.
With a self-deprecating chuckle, Xiayu began to tidy up the wolf carcasses, digging out the crystal cores from their brains.
Demonic beasts were categorized into low-grade demonic beasts, mid-grade demonic beasts, high-grade demonic beasts, king-grade demonic beasts, emperor-grade demonic beasts, saint beasts, and legendary divine beasts.
It was said that within the Myriad Demons Forest, there were emperor-grade demonic beasts with peerless might that no one dared to easily provoke.
Low-grade demonic beasts were the most numerous, but their brains contained no crystal cores. Only mid-grade demonic beasts and above would produce them.
These crystal cores contained the power of the wolf demons and could be used in many formations, talismans, and alchemy.
Of course, Xiayu had only one use for them.
Picking up a crystal core, he slapped it against his lower abdomen, and it vanished in an instant.
The Burning Heaven Melting Furnace showed no change, feeding back a wisp of pure spiritual energy thinner than a hair.
Xiayu was left speechless. Was it really this little?
Never mind, a mosquito's leg was still meat; he would accumulate it bit by bit.
Xiayu patted the remaining five crystal cores into the Burning Heaven Melting Furnace as well.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, he suddenly caught sight of the demonic wolf carcasses.
"A demonic wolf's fur is useful, this stuff should also contain Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy, right?"
Muttering to himself, Xiayu hoisted the huge body of a demonic wolf and pressed it lightly against his lower abdomen.
The demonic wolf's carcass vanished instantly.
It worked!
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
The Burning Heaven Melting Furnace trembled frantically!
"Don't feed me such garbage!"
A message flooded into Xiayu's mind.
Xiayu paused for a moment. After a brief silence, he slowly said, "Don't be picky, we're still weak. Once we grow strong, I'll feed you good things every day."
Before he finished speaking, he threw the other demonic wolf's carcass in as well.
In the blink of an eye, only a few pools of blood remained on the ground.
"I'll let those pools of blood be, hard to clean up."
Shaking his head with some regret, Xiayu strode deeper into the forest.
"Are you Zhou Bapei?"
The Burning Heaven Melting Furnace protested frantically!
However, it was directly ignored by Xiayu.
Taking a deep breath, the spiritual energy fed back was truly too pure and felt too wonderful!
It was just that the quantity was too small.
Marching forward and slaughtering all the way, Xiayu pushed fifty miles inward over the course of a full day.
Many demonic beasts on the outer perimeter learned that a human killing god had arrived, killing any beast he saw.
After a day of slaughter, Xiayu's cultivation had broken through to the Seventh Heavenly Layer of Gathering Origin Realm.
Breaking through two heavenly layers in a single day—the speed was startling.
Yet, the distance to activating the second micro-world remained distant and uncertain.
Xiayu discovered that the amount of spiritual energy required to activate a single micro-world was terrifyingly massive.
Having slaughtered hundreds of mid-grade demonic beasts in a single day, the second hazy micro-world held at most a wisplike thread of Yuan Power—at most one-thousandth of what was needed.
Hardening his heart, Xiayu charged into the mid-grade region of the Myriad Demons Forest.
From this point on, it was primarily the activity range of high-grade demonic beasts.
Translated to human cultivators, high-grade demonic beasts were at minimum Spirit Origin Realm, and some powerful high-grade demonic beasts were at the Profound Origin Realm.
Even the strongest high-grade demonic beasts reached the human semi-king grade.
This transitional area where high-grade and low-grade demonic beasts met was also where human cultivators were most concentrated.
Low-grade demonic beasts were easy to kill, but fetched low prices, whereas high-grade demonic beasts commanded prices more than ten times higher.
Therefore, many human cultivators who entered the Myriad Demons Forest gathered in this region.
In fact, there were even many temporary gathering spots for human cultivators here, all built high up in the towering trees.
Someone had even given these temporary gathering spots an interesting name: the Treehouse Tribe.
Just as Xiayu entered the mid-grade region, he bumped into four human cultivators.
Seeing Xiayu alone and noting his cultivation realm, the four of them wore looks of bewilderment.
One had to know that even on the outer perimeter of the Myriad Demons Forest, a minor cultivator at the Gathering Origin Realm could not walk out safely alone.
Let alone the fact that this fellow had actually come to the mid-grade region.
You had to know that in the mid-grade region, only cultivators at the Imperial Origin Realm could barely manage to survive.
Even Imperial Origin Realm cultivators here could die at any moment.
Only upon reaching the Spirit Origin Realm was one relatively safe; if you couldn't beat them, you could at least run.
As for the Profound Origin Realm, they had basically all ventured deeper into the interior.
"Hey, kid, want to team up? I'm Lu Da from Nanyang, Spirit Origin Realm," the burly leader shouted toward Xiayu.
Xiayu paused, glanced at the honest-looking yet awe-inspiring burly man, and shook his head slightly.
"Thanks, I prefer being alone."
In the Myriad Demons Forest, the most dangerous things were not demonic beasts, but human cultivators.
Murder for treasure and backstabbing within teams were commonplace here.
Of this, Xiayu had heard plenty.
Without any hesitation, Xiayu quickly departed.
"Boss, that's just a little Gathering Origin Realm kid, why'd you bother asking him to join us?" A skinny man behind Lu Da said with annoyance.
"If you were at the Gathering Origin Realm, could you walk through the outer perimeter alone?"
"Definitely not."
"Yet he could, and he doesn't look particularly ragged. Furthermore, he marched straight in—what does that tell you? Understand?"
Lu Da watched Xiayu's retreating figure, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Boss, I get it now. That brat must have a treasure on him. Let's kill him and snatch his treasure!"
Smack!"