Chapter 632: Dragon, Spiritual Root, Corpse

Chapter 632: Dragon, Spiritual Root, Corpse

At this moment, Ye Xingli lay scattered on the ground, her starlight-radiating hands and feet casually tossed aside, mingled with seven or eight other sets of dharma relics and treasures like the Vacuum Tribulation Transmutation Diagram, looking no better than refuse strewn across the floor.

"Senior Sister."

Zhang Yu immediately gathered the unconscious Ye Xingli into his arms, sensing the hollow emptiness of her meridians, devoid of even the faintest trace of dharma power or astral qi.

"This is..."

The name of Ye Xingli's opponent from the duel roster surfaced in Zhang Yu's mind.

At that very moment, a voice rose from behind him: "Human, is she your senior sister? She had quite a few petty tricks up her sleeve, and was surprisingly durable to dismantle."

"Come to think of it, according to the roster, you must be my next opponent, aren't you? I never expected both senior sister and junior brother to fall into my hands."

Zhang Yu turned his head to see a towering figure with a dragon's head and a human body standing behind him, looking down at him from on high.

It was none other than Ying Mingchi, the top student of the Heavenly Yao University, bearer of the True Dragon bloodline.

Meeting those dragon eyes, Zhang Yu said coldly, "That's for the best. It means I won't have to wait too long."

Ying Mingchi's draconic maw twitched slightly, seemingly forming an ugly smile: "I think so too. Having you delivered into my hands must be a sight countless Yao descendants have longed to witness."

"Heh, speaking of which, you senior sister and junior brother were just as brimming with overconfidence before the battle, and just as stubborn in your words."

With that, he turned away, saying indifferently, "See you next week, human."

Casting a glance at the departing figure's back, Zhang Yu turned back to reattach Ye Xingli's dharma relics and infuse her with dharma power.

Moments later, Ye Xingli jolted awake, slightly stunned at the sight of Zhang Yu before offering a bitter smile: "It seems I lost quite miserably."

"You're up against that dragon next, aren't you?"

Seeming to recall her own battle, Ye Xingli sighed: "That guy somewhat counters me, and it seems he'll counter you just as well."

"I'll send you the battle logs and recordings; study them carefully."

As Zhang Yu scrolled through the battle footage, his brows couldn't help but furrow.

Ye Xingli said, "Besides controlling the weather, this guy can also manipulate spiritual energy within a certain range, which is highly troublesome for someone like me who consumes vast amounts of dharma power using dharma relics."

"He can also control water and breed armies of demon beasts within it, and the True Dragon bloodline seems to have special applications for controlling demon beasts, so you must be careful..."

Just as Ye Xingli was passing intelligence to Zhang Yu, with the fifteen victors and fifteen defeated gathering one by one, the entire first round of the tournament drew to a close.

Among them, Kuang Tianqing, recognized as the undisputed strongest, was the first to defeat his opponent and claim victory.

Powerhouses from other schools, such as Yan Xiang of Netherworld, Zang Shenyu of Vajra, Tian Shenggong of Immortal Armaments, Mu Qiansi of Hehuan, and Ying Mingchi of Heavenly Yao, all took roughly the same amount of time to vanquish their foes and arrive in succession.

Then came Jiu Tianliu, Yan Qianji, Wen Wuya, and Zhang Yu, all of whom spent about the same amount of time.

Surprisingly, Bai Zhenzhen took far longer than Zhang Yu had anticipated, actually being the very last to arrive.

Seeing Bai Zhenzhen's legs trembling slightly after landing, Zhang Yu hurried over: "A-Zhen, what's wrong?"

Face flushed crimson, Bai Zhenzhen clutched her stomach and snapped, "Stay back!"

Zhang Yu halted his steps, thinking to himself, "Is A-Zhen worried that getting too close to me will trigger her sword qi, thereby exposing the intel that I can adapt to a portion of her sword qi?"

Meanwhile, as she spoke, Bai Zhenzhen glared fiercely at him, thinking inwardly, "Damn it! Why is Yu's spiritual root so restless! A week has passed, and not only is it getting more active, it seems to be growing larger too."

Although the Yu Spiritual Root had been causing a ruckus, plaguing Bai Zhenzhen with intermittent stomachaches and weak legs, the enhancements it brought also secretly delighted her.

Over the past week, Bai Zhenzhen had felt that with each passing day, her body's various resistances, the efficiency of her breathing exercises, her dharma power recovery, and even her application of swordsmanship and comprehension of martial arts, were all being enhanced.

Though this enhancement was slight, for Bai Zhenzhen, who had already reached her limits in every aspect, every tiny increment applied in combat would bring about tremendous changes, creating a despairing gap for her opponents in actual battles.

"Hmph, if it hadn't acted up again right in the middle of my fight, I would have finished off my opponent long ago."

Yet as Zhang Yu drew near, the Yu Spiritual Root seemed to resonate with Zhang Yu's body and the True Spiritual Root within him, pulsing ever more violently and sending spasms of pain through Bai Zhenzhen's dantian.

At the same time, observing Bai Zhenzhen's state, Zhang Yu realized, "Has the impact of my Yu Spiritual Root on A-Zhen not diminished yet?"

Considering the Yu Spiritual Root's adaptation to various martial arts, dao techniques, and the accumulation of various set effects on his own body, Zhang Yu thought, "Is the stimulation so intense because there have been too many adaptive modifications?"

"By comparison, I've adapted much more to A-Zhen's True Spiritual Root."

But the next moment, Zhang Yu felt the True Spiritual Root in his own stomach leap, as if trying to drag him toward Bai Zhenzhen, causing his brows to lock tightly in a frown. Only as Zhang Yu retreated continuously did the commotion in his dantian slightly subside.

Zhang Yu looked at Bai Zhenzhen, thinking to himself, "It seems during this period of exchanging spiritual roots..."

Bai Zhenzhen's gaze met Zhang Yu's; they gave a slight nod, needing no words to understand each other's meaning: "Keep our distance for now."

...

On the way back, Zhang Yu could see the Spirit Realm buzzing everywhere with promotions of Kuang Tianqing's victory in this battle.

In fact, ever since Kuang Tianqing spoke of life extension in his last interview, Zhang Yu could feel that public opinion in the Spirit Realm had swung almost overwhelmingly in Kuang Tianqing's favor.

It wasn't just the Deity Transformation cultivators from the Four Heavenly Demon Schools stepping forward one by one to staunchly support Kuang Tianqing.

Even Nascent Soul and Golden Core level powerhouses from various schools, and even Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining cultivators, all came out in droves to express their support for Kuang Tianqing.

"I want to live a few more years, so of course I support Kuang Tianqing!"

"Kuang Tianqing won the championship and said he'd let us live a few hundred years longer! I support him getting the Immortal Gate techniques."

"Kuang Tianqing isn't just fighting for himself, he's fighting for all living beings under heaven; I want to donate to Kuang Tianqing!"

Various titles of benefiting Kunxu, benefiting the masses, and caring for all living beings were piled upon Kuang Tianqing's head, leaving Zhang Yu with complex feelings.

Although some voiced opposition, arguing that widespread life extension might not be entirely a good thing, expressing such views even slightly would result in being besieged by countless people.

Zhang Yu didn't know how many of the attackers were real people and how many were Deity Transformation astroturfers, but in short, within just a few days, criticism of universal life extension had virtually vanished from the Spirit Realm.

Zhang Yu sighed inwardly, "In heaven and on earth, practically everyone is supporting Kuang Tianqing."

Fu Ji chuckled, "Hey, it's not that no one has thought of the drawbacks of universal life extension, but drawbacks are a problem for the future; let's just live a few more years first."

Zhang Yu thought, "Even the Four Myriad Methods Schools haven't launched a counter-offensive in public opinion... Are they planning to support Kuang Tianqing too? If so, it seems if I win the championship, I'll have to choose the life extension technique as well?"

Fu Ji said, "You haven't shown much hope of winning the championship yet. Wait until you win another round or two, and the leadership of Myriad Methods University will likely come to talk to you; then you'll be able to figure out what the Deity Transformation cultivators of Myriad Methods University are planning after Dao Qiankun's death."

Zhang Yu shook his head; he had no way of knowing the thoughts of the Deity Transformation cultivators at the moment, so he paid no more mind to these matters, returning to the laboratory to continue his arduous cultivation of the Myriad Transformations Divine Scripture of the Yao Sage.

This dark technique, extracted from the Yao descendant bloodline through the resonance of the Azure Water Golden Crystal Armor with the two techniques of the Remnant Ox Relinquishing Body and Mind Art and the Boundless Mind Inner Dharma Body, revealed its infinite wonders to Zhang Yu today with just a slight application.

It was especially well-suited to be concealed within the demon beast breeding function of the Azure Water Golden Crystal Armor, making it the most suitable path for Zhang Yu to enhance his strength at present.

After cultivating arduously until that night, Zhang Yu received news that Brother Dao's corpse had been placed on the flying ship, so he planned to go over and see Brother Dao's body once more.

Before going, however, he consumed a good amount of demon blood, intending to keep Brother Dao company while secretly continuing his cultivation of the Myriad Transformations Divine Scripture of the Yao Sage.

As mouthfuls of demon blood were swallowed and stored in his stomach, Zhang Yu couldn't help but lament, "The blood of low-tier Yao descendants is fine, but the blood of high-tier Yao descendants is truly not cheap, especially since the Myriad Transformations Divine Scripture of the Yao Sage requires quite a large quantity; I've spent over a hundred spirit coins back and forth just to cultivate this dao technique."

But thinking of the expenses he had incurred on the dao technique of the Formless Mind Blade of the Heaven and Earth Ruination Tribulation, Zhang Yu felt relieved again.

"Cultivating dao techniques is just like this—it's all about spending money. Compared to that, this Myriad Transformations Divine Scripture of the Yao Sage is actually considered cheap."

...

Inside Dao Qiankun's flying ship.

As soon as Zhang Yu entered the mourning hall, he saw Dao Qiankun's body sitting cross-legged, still as lifelike as the last time he had seen it.

Sitting down in front of Dao Qiankun, Zhang Yu looked at the other's chest and thought to himself, "Brother Dao, are you actually alive, or truly dead?"

Sweeping a glance at the surrounding cameras, Zhang Yu did nothing extra to Dao Qiankun, but sat cross-legged opposite him, gazing at Dao Qiankun while secretly cultivating the Myriad Transformations Divine Scripture of the Yao Sage.

He mused silently to himself, "The Dao Seed... will it ever manifest again?"

Hours later, just as Zhang Yu was refining the demonic blood and elevating the Myriad Transformations Divine Scripture of the Demon Saint to the thirteenth tier, a silhouette abruptly descended before Dao Qiankun.

"Kuang Tianqing?" Gazing at the ethereal projection before him, Zhang Yu's eyes narrowed sharply as he demanded, "What brings you here?"

Casting a fleeting glance at Zhang Yu, Kuang Tianqing replied with cool indifference, "I merely came to observe. Is that forbidden?"

All the while, Kuang Tianqing kept his gaze fixed upon Dao Qiankun, the words they had exchanged on that fateful night echoing once more in his mind.

(End of Chapter)