The process of acquiring the Dragon Key was much easier than Su Heng had anticipated.
Having succeeded in his task, he relaxed considerably.
After leaving the Shang Family’s shop, Su Heng headed to the central plaza of the city of Pan Stone.
He continued to check for updates about the progress of the opening of the Dragon Tomb.
The plaza, as usual, was surrounded by quite a few people, but the atmosphere seed a bit off.
A few days earlier, when Su Heng had just obtained the Dragon Key and returned from outside, many people here were quite satisfied and confident.
But in just a few short days,
The atmosphere in the plaza had undergone a complete one hundred and eighty degree transformation.
"What has happened?" Su Heng was curious, and after his gaze fell upon a series of projections, he learned the reason.
Previously, there had been sightings of a Demon Descendant in the Dragon Abyss.
It had attracted four renowned blade-catchers to co forth, and now, in just two or three days, the first death had already occurred. Stay updated with
It was the carefree traveler who was legendarily profound in his swordsmanship.
Just like the recent fall of the eldest senior from Liuyun Mountain, the scene of the traveler’s death was also very tragic.
This was a bamboo forest stained red with blood, where the fresh breeze carried down fluttering bamboo leaves.
The headless corpse of the traveler lay slumped in this forest, his lifelong sword embedded in his chest. The hilt faced upwards, supporting a bloody head.
Blood continuously trickled down the blade, drawing swarms of buzzing mosquitoes.
"I heard that in the final monts of the battle, the traveler had seen through the great barrier of life and death and stepped into the Dharma Realm. However, it was unexpected that even so, he was defeated, his life essence extinguished, dying with his eyes wide open," said an aging Cultivator from the crowd, seemingly privy to so details.
He spoke with a heavy voice, narrating the events.
"It’s such a pity. If he had waited for his realm to stabilize, he might have still had a chance," lanted a Martial Artist clad in armor.
"A few days ago, an elder from Liuyun Mountain led a team on a journey. They returned in defeat, several of them barely able to conceal the stench of blood on them, pale-faced, with erratic breaths, and seriously injured," soone said, looking around before lowering their voice, "It’s said that this incident is related to the Demon Descendant."
"I’ve heard that King Qingyang personally took action but ended up being severely injured by that fellow and let him escape," another voice chid in from not far away.
"Tsk..."
Su Heng, watching the content of the projections and the noisy voices around him,
Looked surprised as well.
Solban had described to him in detail his experience when the two of them had fought.
While the strength of this Demon Descendant was indeed formidable back then, it definitely wasn’t to the extent it was now; otherwise, Solban wouldn’t have been able to escape from his grasp. ᚱΆΝоВËș
There were only two possibilities.
One was that they were not the sa person.
The other possibility was that there was so thod within the Dragon Abyss that allowed the Demon Descendant’s strength to grow rapidly during battle.
Strong spiritual power gave Su Heng an accurate intuition.
He believed that the second guess was more likely.
"If I want to compete for the Dragon Remains, could this Demon Descendant also be a rival?" Su Heng’s strength had grown more profound, and he was quite confident in his own abilities. Even knowing that the Demon Descendant was rapidly strengthening through so channel, he didn’t feel much urgency.
"I hope he can provide so challenge when the ti cos," Su Heng thought.
He turned to leave.
Just then, a concealed gaze landed on him.
Su Heng, sensing it, thoughtfully looked up. His gaze spanned a great distance, resting on a tall tower to the south of the city.
He nodded with a smile, then took a step forward and his figure suddenly disappeared from the plaza.
...
Atop the tower.
A tall and burly figure with armor on his shoulders and long hair flowing looked away from Su Heng.
Beside him stood the young girl nad Qin Yi.
"Was King Dingxuan really killed by this man?" Qin Yi asked in astonishnt, "He’s so young. And he seed to have noticed us just now."
King Qingyang nodded, "His perception is very sharp, not to be underestimated."
"Another formidable opponent," Qin Yi said with concern, "Should we take the initiative to strike first, to prevent being attacked when the Dragon Tomb opens?"
"Do you think I would lose?" King Qingyang retorted.
"Of course not." Qin Yi stuck out her tongue and replied, "I’m just worried that it will be hard for you to match many with your strength alone. You’re the one who forged the path from Hunxi Mountain. The resources from the Dragon Abyss have been flowing out. Those Loose Cultivators might not be thankful to you, but the Imperial Court and so major powers see you as a thorn in their side, a nail in their eye."
"And there’s also the Demon Descendant, who probably has great designs in mind."
Pointing fingers and analyzing the situation, Qin Yi’s smile gradually faded and she seriously warned, "You are in a very dangerous situation right now, my lord."
"This is exactly what I hope for," declared King Qingyang, his muscular arm resting on the railing as he looked up into the distant sky.
"The path of martial arts is one where you regress if you don’t advance."
"If one only seeks comfort and assurances, thinking everything through, then you lose that aggressive spirit and it becos hard to make further progress."
...
...
...
When Su Heng was on his way back the sa way, he encountered the waiting elders from Dao Kan Mountain at the door.
The Grand Elder himself led the team and approached Su Heng very politely.
Su Heng didn’t press them too hard, accepted the compensation, acknowledged each other, exchanged a few pleasantries, and thus the matter was considered resolved.
Among the many gifts from Dao Kan Mountain, the most precious was a small bottle of "Essence."
The Essence was a semi-transparent liquid.
It shimred with specks of starlight, slled sweet, and seed to penetrate right into one’s heart.
Compared to humans.
The innate spiritual power of the Demon Descendants is formidable.
After their deaths, the unique environnt of the Dragon Abyss caused this part of their power to not dissipate but instead solidify into physical remnants on the battlefield.
These entities were collected by people, who used special ans to purge the malicious thoughts within.
What finally ford was the so-called essence refinent.
The effects of essence refinent and the Tribulation Crossing Lotus were seemingly alike; after consumption and refinent, both could markedly enhance one’s spiritual power.
Nevertheless, essence refinent cos from the corpses of Demon Descendants. Even though there were special techniques for processing, the lingering malevolence inside couldn’t be completely removed.
Based on factors like the purity of spiritual power and the residual malicious thoughts, essence refinent also varied in quality, ranging from low to high.
The small bottle of essence refinent in Su Heng’s possession was of the highest quality. Not only was the contained spiritual power dense, but the lingering malicious thoughts were minimal, allowing it to be consud directly with little to no repercussions. On the other hand, those of slightly lower quality had to be taken in conjunction with dicinal pills.
As for the lowest quality ones, they could only be used in the forging of weapons to increase their spiritual nature.
If one chose to consu these directly, it was almost akin to suicide.
However, considering the Seed of Destruction, even the lower quality essence refinents should not pose too much of a threat for Su Heng.
This seed to be a good thod to enhance his spiritual cultivation, so Su Heng contacted Shang ngting, requesting her assistance in purchasing more.
Following that, Su Heng went back into seclusion.
He spent two days refining and absorbing the small bottle of essence refinent.
Afterward, Su Heng’s spiritual power had increased once again, elevating his Sword Refining Technique to the sixth layer.
Although it was only one layer higher, it took just a small bottle of essence refinent.
The effect was excellent, almost like seeing imdiate results.
If he could collect more essence refinent through various channels from the Dragon Abyss,
Then, the process of becoming an Earth Immortal might not be as difficult as Su Heng initially thought. It could be a lot smoother and save much ti.
...
"Hmm?"
After ending his seclusion, Su Heng left the underground palace and arrived in the courtyard above.
At this mont, the setting sun cast a red glow across the land.
A gentle breeze blew from afar, and the leaves of a huge parasol tree in the middle of the courtyard rustled softly.
Su Heng’s brow twitched as he felt a premonition of danger in his heart.
He didn’t hesitate, waving his hand. A flash of red light, and the black sword sheath ng Huan had given him appeared before him, suspended in mid-air.
Su Heng’s finger gently traced the surface of the sheath, drawing forth a streak of black energy.
The restriction within was activated.
Rows of pale grey characters surfaced on the sheath.
"Solban..." A look of interest appeared on Su Heng’s face.
Solban had been searching for the whereabouts of the Demon Descendants in the Dragon Abyss, and now he seed to have made so headway.
But with his strength, defeating this Demon Descendant
Was utterly impossible.
After all, this Demon Descendant was exceptionally fierce, with a long list of impressive exploits in recent events.
Famous blade-catchers and elders from the immortal mountains
Had all suffered defeats under his hand, with heavy casualties.
Even the repercussions of these events continued to spread further, causing palpable anxiety and restlessness across the entire marketplace.
However, this matter would now co to an end.
According to the agreent with Solban, Su Heng was to lend his aid once.
Without delay, he took action.
Snap!
He grasped the sword sheath in his hand.
Then he took a step forward, rustling leaves, and disappeared from the courtyard under the sunset.
...
...
...
In a forest within the Dragon Abyss.
Bang!
A scorching black beam of light shot over from above, and sensing danger, Solban forcefully ducked low to evade.
Boom!
The beam landed in the open space before him, exploding violently.
The ferocious shockwave, carrying shards of stone and gravel, swept toward him like a blooming reed flower, stinging as it struck his body.
The ground shook intensely, and the surrounding forest swayed back and forth.
After so ti.
Once the dust and smoke finally dissipated, a crater roughly ten ters in diater was revealed on the earth’s surface.
Wisps of thick smoke rose from the cracked floor, spreading a pungent odor.
Solban abruptly halted.
He turned sharply, looking up at an ancient tree behind him.
The branches of the old tree swayed, and several birds flapped their wings and flew towards the sky.
Where there was nothing just monts ago, a youth with casually comporting, wicked features, and eyes with blood-red crosses appeared standing atop the tree, looking down at him from a high vantage point.
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