Enduring the fishy stench, as well as the rotting flesh and remaining bones, Xiayu continued to climb upward.
A streak of bright light lay right ahead.
Finally, he emerged.
Without even checking his surroundings, he immediately took a deep breath.
The air was truly fresh!
And wonderfully fragrant!
Xiayu looked around and saw that this was still a cave—a very large cave.
His current location was in the most secluded corner at the very back of the cave.
His heightened cultivation had also made his senses much sharper.
Using the dim light, Xiayu surveyed his surroundings and was surprised to find stone chairs and a stone table set up inside the vast cave.
Not far away were two smaller side caves: one contained a pill furnace covered in a thick layer of dust.
Inside the other small cave was actually a stone bed, and a figure seemed to be resting upon it.
"Someone is here?"
A wave of secret shock rippled through Xiayu's heart as he cautiously stepped closer.
Upon reaching it and taking a look, he got quite a fright: there really was a person lying on the stone bed.
An old man wearing long robes sat cross-legged on the stone bed with his eyes closed, his features looking as lifelike as in life.
Suddenly, a fierce beast's roar came from outside, faintly mingled with the sound of human voices.
Following that, the cave violently shook.
The old man on the stone bed swayed, as if about to topple over.
Xiayu quickly reached out and steadied the old man, only to be astonished to discover that this old man had been dead for who knew how long.
Yet, his body showed not the slightest sign of decay.
The next moment, the Burning Heaven Melting Furnace began to tremble.
"A body filled with dense spiritual energy, quickly bring it to me to eat!"
Xiayu was stunned, then immediately shook his head.
"Little Furnace, this is a senior's body, and we have no grudges between us. I cannot devour him."
The Burning Heaven Melting Furnace shook violently, once again issuing its demand.
"No, absolutely not! I cannot accept this. Little Furnace, I warn you, if you dare blindly devour humans again, I will never find you any heavenly treasures to consume!"
The Burning Heaven Melting Furnace stopped trembling.
Xiayu straightened the old man's body and bowed deeply in respect.
"Junior Xiayu has unintentionally disturbed Senior, and hopes Senior will forgive me."
With that said, Xiayu turned around and prepared to leave.
Clang!
Suddenly, with a crisp chime, a silvery light shot directly toward him.
Xiayu hurriedly turned back, and the silver light abruptly stopped right in front of him.
It was a spear!
The spear tip flashed with silver light in a triangular shape. Behind the tip was a dragon's head; at a single glance, it looked as though the spear tip was protruding right out of a dragon's mouth.
A dragon's body coiled around the shaft, pitch-black and lifelike, with the dragon's tail forming the butt of the spear.
Carved near the tail were two small seal-script characters: Evil Dragon.
At just a single glance, Xiayu fell in love with this Evil Dragon Spear.
After pondering for a moment, Xiayu said, "Do you want to follow me?"
The Evil Dragon Spear showed no reaction at all.
Just as Xiayu was feeling puzzled, the Evil Dragon Spear suddenly moved.
The spear tip grazed across Xiayu's hand.
A drop of blood welled up and fell onto the spear tip.
The next moment, the Evil Dragon Spear automatically flew into Xiayu's hand.
"A blood-recognition bond is the most basic operation; your intelligence is simply too low! If I hadn't waited several thousand years, if you hadn't been the first human to enter, and if I couldn't leave without bonding with a master, I would have dealt with you with a single spear strike!"
As soon as he gripped the Evil Dragon Spear, Xiayu felt the spear's consciousness.
Upon sensing this will, Xiayu immediately felt displeased.
"Hey, now that you've acknowledged me as your master, are you still going to be this arrogant?"
"If I didn't want to get out of here, would you even be worthy of being my master?"
The Evil Dragon Spear immediately shot back a mental message.
"Well, I'll be! You've really rebelled, haven't you? Little Furnace, come melt it down so you can have a snack."
Xiayu flipped his hand over and placed the butt of the Evil Dragon Spear against his lower abdomen.
The Burning Heaven Melting Furnace immediately began to tremble, looking extremely excited.
Right at that moment, the Evil Dragon Spear suddenly shook.
A burst of consciousness filled with terror poured into Xiayu's mind.
"What on earth is this thing? Take it away, quickly take it away, I'll die!"
Xiayu sneered inwardly; not only did he refuse to remove the spear butt, but he even pushed it slightly deeper.
"No, I really will die! I was wrong, Little Mas... No, Master, spare my life!"
"Master, I was wrong! Shall I kneel down for you?"
"Master, I beg you! Take it away, I'm dying!"
"Master, I've decided! Your Dragon Grandpa... No, Little Dragon, Little Dragon will be entirely obedient to you for the rest of my life and will never defy a single word of yours! If I do, let me be struck by five divine lightnings and have my soul utterly obliterated!"
The corners of Xiayu's mouth curved upward as he said, "You said this yourself, I didn't force you!"
"Yes, yes! It's Little Dragon's own decision. You are my greatest master."
"Master, there are good things inside my former master's Qiankun Ring. I will fetch them for you right away."
"Master, use your blood to bind it and take a look."
A ring rested upon the spear tip of the Evil Dragon Spear.
After dropping his blood upon it, Xiayu extended his consciousness into the Qiankun Ring, and the vast space within immediately left him stunned.
Chapter Ten: Three Cleaving Heavens Styles
Reaching a hundred zhang in length, width, and height, it was like a spacious and majestic great hall.
This was Xiayu's first time seeing a Qiankun Ring, but he had seen something similar: a Qiankun Pouch, which City Lord Zhu of Huai City possessed.
It was said that Qiankun Pouches were extremely expensive, beyond the reach of ordinary people, and very troublesome to forge.
Presumably, this Qiankun Ring was much the same as a Qiankun Pouch.
Xiayu's thought wasn't wrong, except that he was mistaken about one thing: compared to the space within this Qiankun Ring, a Qiankun Pouch was as different as heaven and earth.
The massive space was empty, leaving Xiayu with a sinking feeling in his heart. He had thought he was about to strike a windfall, expecting countless spiritual stones, gold, or even Emperor Grade cultivation techniques and martial arts skills.
Instead, inside the space, he only saw a few jars and bottles, alongside a single unassuming jade slip.
The medicinal pills inside the jars and bottles had long since turned to dust.
"Is this what you called good things?" Xiayu was left speechless.
"Master, take a look at the jade slip."
Xiayu picked up the jade slip and probed it with a strand of consciousness.
In an instant, he froze.
The jade slip was divided into two parts. The first part recorded a set of spear techniques.
Three Cleaving Heavens Styles!
First Style: Shattering the Sky!
Piercing through the surface with a single point, gathering all force onto the spear tip to pierce through all things. When cultivated to the ultimate degree, it can puncture space with a single point.
Second Style: Cleaving the Sky!
An explosive sweeping force combining all the Yuan Power of the entire body with physical strength, using the spear tip to tear open the opponent's defense. When cultivated to the ultimate degree, it can tear space apart.
Third Style: Smashing the Sky!
Usable for both single-target and area-of-effect attacks, instantaneously unleashing countless Shattering the Sky or Cleaving the Sky strikes to trap a single enemy or a group of enemies within a space composed of countless spear glares, grasping their life and death in one's own hands.
When cultivated to the ultimate degree, it can shatter a patch of the void in an instant.
The second part of the jade slip recorded the art of pill alchemy.
Countless unfamiliar memories flooded into Xiayu's mind. Once he absorbed these memories, Xiayu—a novice at alchemy—would instantly become a Monarch Grade alchemist.
Of course, only purely in theory.
The contents of the jade slip filled Xiayu with incomparable joy and astonishment.
This time, the harvest was massive.
Leaving aside the Cleaving Heavens Spear Technique, just looking at its description, it possessed boundless might; and these alchemy techniques alone were of immeasurable value.
In Huai City, there were alchemists as well—specifically, a Tier 2 alchemist.
Whether it was the patriarchs of the four major clans of Xu, Gong, Zhang, and Xia, or the City Lord of Beihuai City, whenever they met this Tier 2 alchemist, they treated him with utmost courtesy and politeness.
It was said that this Tier 2 alchemist was also extremely wealthy.
Wealthy and of high status—this was Xiayu's first impression of alchemists.
Yet a Tier 2 alchemist was merely a low-tier alchemist; the grades of alchemists ranged from Tier 1 to Tier 9.
Alchemists below Tier 5 all belonged to low-tier alchemists.
A Tier 6 alchemist was also known as a Monarch Grade alchemist, capable of refining pills used by those in the Monarch Realm, belonging to the mid-tier alchemists.
Tier 7 was also known as an Emperor Grade alchemist, belonging to the high tier.
Tier 8 was known as a Saint Grade alchemist, belonging to the Saint tier.
Tier 9 was known as the Emperor tier, comparable to super experts of the Emperor Realm, belonging to legends.
And this knowledge of alchemy covered everything from the Monarch Grade up to the Emperor tier, along with various pill formulas.
Xiayu was incomparably shocked; if this memory were leaked out, it would drive everyone mad.
"Boom..."
Suddenly, another loud crash echoed out, shaking the cave repeatedly as numerous rock fragments tumbled down.
"Master, let's go. Someone is fighting outside, and the cave's Formation has failed. It probably won't hold much longer."
Xiayu nodded and turned to leave.
Suddenly remembering something, he walked over to the other side cave and scooped the pill furnace there into his Qiankun Ring.
The moment he rushed out of the cave, Xiayu was shocked by the scene before him.
The cave was located at the foot of a large mountain. Where countless towering ancient trees had originally stood, the area was now flattened into a barren plain.
A giant python, more than a dozen zhang long with a head as big as a bushel and a fleshy lump growing atop its crown, flicked its long forked tongue. Floating in the midair before it was a woman in white holding a sword.
The woman in white had flowing hair and an ethereal, immortal aura.
Even just seeing her profile, Xiayu could affirm that this woman was the most beautiful he had ever laid eyes on.
Beneath the feet of the woman in white was a light barrier about two zhang in radius, its glow dim.
Xiayu noticed faint traces of blood staining her white robes.
Injured?
"Wow, a beauty! I haven't seen a beauty in thousands of years! Sob, sob... This is simply wonderful, this beauty is an absolute stunner!"
"Master, go on, take this woman down, sleep with her, conquer her! From now on, spread your branches and scatter your leaves for countless generations of descendants!"
Suddenly, the Evil Dragon Spear vibrated, exuding absolute excitement.
Hearing the message transmitted by the Evil Dragon Spear, Xiayu froze.
You're a spear, why are you so perverted?
At that moment, Xiayu suddenly felt that naming this spear the Evil Dragon Spear was completely fitting.
Right at this moment, the giant python suddenly thrust its crimson forked tongue forward, stabbing toward the woman in white.
The crimson tongue flashed out like two red spears, exceptionally fast and fierce.
Simultaneously, the python's tail swept out suddenly, swift as lightning.
Several sword glares bloomed from the hand of the woman in white like blossoming flowers of sword light, meeting the incoming tongue.
Meanwhile, the woman in white herself moved with extreme agility.
"Boom..."
The sword glares and the snake's tongue collided with a deafening roar.
The tyrannical force shook the air, forming an invisible shockwave that rippled outward in all directions.
This force also caused the figure of the woman in white to suddenly drop downwards.
Just at that moment, the python's tail swept across horizontally, leaving the woman in white with nowhere to dodge.
A dazzling sword light soared into the sky from her hand and slashed fiercely down onto the python's tail.
The giant python felt the pain and hissed, a jet of blood spraying from its tail as it slammed heavily onto the ground.
The earth shook and mountains trembled!
Xiayu now understood how the tremors inside the cave a moment ago had been caused.
The light barrier beneath the feet of the woman in white grew even dimmer, and she herself was forced back more than a dozen zhang, blood spilling from the corner of her mouth.
The person and the snake confronted each other once again.
"Charge, Master! Play the hero saving the beauty, and have the beauty offer her body in return—this is a golden opportunity! Kill this thief of a snake that stole our pills."
The Evil Dragon Spear vibrated once more, fearing only that the world wasn't chaotic enough.
"A thief of a snake that stole pills?" Xiayu felt somewhat curious.
"Indeed, it stole the spiritual pills from Master's pill furnace. Otherwise, how could a mere ordinary little snake transform into a python? This fellow has terrible bloodline purity; for hundreds of years, it hasn't even fully absorbed the medicinal power within those pills."
"Otherwise, it would have already evolved a trace of dragon blood. Look at the fleshy lump on its head? Once it absorbs all the medicinal power and that lump grows into golden horns, it can transform into a jiao-dragon."
Instantly, Xiayu's eyes lit up. He patted his lower abdomen and said, "Little Furnace, a supreme tonic has arrived."
The Burning Heaven Melting Furnace shook frantically!
Protest!
I am not Little Furnace, I am the Burning Heaven Melting Furnace, the Great Dao Melting Furnace!
"Little Dragon, can your spear kill this little snake?"
"Master, you're going too far now. Who are you looking down upon? If your strength weren't so low, a single spear strike of mine could shatter the sky!"
"What is this little snake supposed to be?"
The Evil Dragon Spear instantly became displeased.
Xiayu said nothing, gripped the Evil Dragon Spear tightly, and quietly waited for an opportunity.
A moment later, the giant python launched another attack.
The woman in white proudly brandished her sword!
Right now! Xiayu remained silent as his figure flickered and vanished from the spot.
Chapter Eleven: Activating the Third Micro-world
Divine Dragon's Concealment!
In the void a dozen zhang away, Xiayu suddenly materialized.
The next instant, Xiayu stomped heavily against the void, his entire body shooting forward like an arrow released from a bowstring, swift as thunder.
Divine Dragon's Travel!
Simultaneously, the Ancestral Dragon power of the micro-world surged rapidly into the Evil Dragon Spear.
The intent to kill the giant python in a single strike drove Xiayu's fighting spirit, his matchless battle intent erupting with a fierce aura that soared into the sky.
Roar!
A dragon's roar resounded through the void.
A single point of biting cold suddenly appeared between heaven and earth.
Three Cleaving Heavens Styles: Shattering the Sky!
"Puff!"
The Evil Dragon Spear pierced effortlessly into the snake's head, running straight through it.
Facing a powerful Monarch Realm giant python, Xiayu did not dare to be careless and instinctively unleashed his most powerful move.
All his trump cards were laid bare!
Yet he hadn't expected the armor-piercing ability and the shattering-sky might of the Evil Dragon Spear to be so tyrannical, directly piercing the giant python's skull.
Suffering a sudden, devastating injury, the giant python's body abruptly stiffened. The next moment, its tail whipped upward, lashing fiercely down toward Xiayu.
Meanwhile, the woman in white on the opposite side startled for a moment before giving a tender cry. The longsword in her hand spat out a sword glare over a zhang long, slashing toward the snake's tail.
At this moment, Xiayu instantly withdrew the Evil Dragon Spear, raised it high, and brought it down like lightning.
A spear glare flickered upon the blade edge.
Three Cleaving Heavens Styles: Cleaving the Sky!
Puff!
Blood burst forth as the giant python's head was cleanly cleaved open, slicing through it as if cutting tofu.
Through his field of vision, Xiayu caught sight of a flash of light. His figure flickered, instantly snatching it into his hand before gently patting his lower abdomen.
The fist-sized crystal core of the Monarch Realm python vanished straight into the Burning Heaven Melting Furnace.
The next moment, Xiayu grabbed the snake's head and tapped his lower abdomen, and half of the snake's head instantly disappeared.
Not stopping there, Xiayu's figure flickered again, lunging forward to meet the remaining half of the carcass.
The dozen-zhang-long Monarch Realm giant python vanished entirely in an instant.
In that instant, the woman in white froze.
The sword glare in her hand was still glowing, and she had been about to hack at the snake's tail, yet the tail had vanished.
What on earth was going on here?
She looked toward Xiayu, who was currently dropping straight down from seven or eight zhang in the air, his entire body stained with blood.
With a thud, he slammed heavily onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The woman in white appeared before Xiayu, looking at him with a strange expression.
"Where is that python?"
"Ah? What python?"
Xiayu feigned astonishment, looking around in all directions.
"That python couldn't have realized it couldn't win after being injured and run away, could it? I'll go after it right now!"
Without another word, Xiayu turned and bolted.
In the blink of an eye, he had sprinted more than a dozen zhang away.
The woman in white quietly watched Xiayu's retreating figure, her face expressionless.
She knew in her heart that if not for Xiayu, she would have undoubtedly perished unless she resorted to her ultimate trump cards a moment later.
That Monarch Realm python had already been infinitely close to the Emperor Realm.
A cultivator at the Fourth Heavenly Layer of Imperial Origin Realm killing a peak Monarch Realm fierce beast!
Even though it was a sneak attack, his actual combat power was still terrifying to the extreme.
Moreover, he had even activated his battle intent!
And he possessed a divine spear!
Judging by his accent, he should be from around Huai City.
It seemed he was that cultivator who had caused the heaven and earth anomaly.
Indeed, he was strong!
The woman in white remained silent for a long time. She walked over to the side, found her injured White Jade Tiger mount, and fed it a few pills before swallowing a few herself to quietly tend to her wounds.
Meanwhile, Xiayu had long since fled hundreds of zhang away, vanishing into the boundless Myriad Demons Forest.
At this moment, his face was practically blooming with smiles; he was overjoyed.
Because he had made a killing.
A peak Monarch Realm fierce beast, still harboring unexhausted medicinal spiritual power within its body—its entire body was a treasure.
From within the Burning Heaven Melting Furnace, an immense wave of incomparably pure spiritual energy surged out.
That indescribable feeling of comfort washed over him once more.
The spiritual power flowed through his body, and every single cell in his frame greedily absorbed it.
It was like parched earth frantically drinking in rainwater.
Wisps of black gas spewed out from Xiayu's pores.
Those were the impurities purging from his body, and his hair became pitch-black and lustrous.
His skin began to faintly glow.
Within the third micro-world, the amount of Ancestral Dragon Yuan Power grew at a frantic pace.
Once the absorption concluded, the Ancestral Dragon power in the third micro-world had reached fifty percent.
Exhilarating!
From head to toe, it felt incomparably refreshing.
Xiayu, who had originally intended to return after activating the second micro-world, instantly made a new decision: to activate the third micro-world.
Not long after, within the territory of another Monarch-tier fierce beast, Xiayu waited in absolute silence.
Facing a Monarch-tier fierce beast head-on, he reckoned he couldn't win.
His only option was a sneak attack!
Three days later, a figure moved like a phantom lightning bolt, a single point of cold spear glare slicing across the sky.
Three Cleaving Heavens Styles: Shattering the Sky!
Moments later, the Monarch-tier fierce beast let out a mournful cry and met its demise.
Xiayu stood on the spot with his eyes closed, savoring the pure spiritual energy sent forth by the Burning Heaven Melting Furnace.
That incomparable feeling of comfort washed over him once again!
However, when he finished absorbing it, he was astonished to discover that the amount of Ancestral Dragon Yuan Power in the third micro-world had only increased by ten percent.
Xiayu froze. He had originally thought killing this Monarch-tier fierce beast would be enough to activate his third micro-world.
It seemed he had thought too simply.
Five days later, Xiayu clenched his fists. Having ambushed and slain five more Monarch-tier fierce beasts, he finally activated the third micro-world.
Along with the activation of the third micro-world, his cultivation realm skyrocketed.
Fourth Heavenly Layer of Imperial Origin Realm!
Fifth Heavenly Layer of Imperial Origin Realm!
...
Tenth Heavenly Layer of Imperial Origin Realm!
He directly reached the Peak of Imperial Origin Realm, leaping across seven minor realms in a single bound.
Roar!
Suddenly, from deep within the Myriad Demons Forest, an angry roar rang out.
That single roar echoed across the entire Myriad Demons Forest.
"Who is it? Who killed my younger brother? Find him for me! I want to eat him, I'm going to eat him!"
A peak Monarch Realm fierce beast charged frantically outward from the depths of the forest.