Chapter 105: The Heart of the Ten-Thousand-Year Wind Spirit Wood
Faced with the relentless onslaught of water jets and fierce winds, the members of the Reincarnation Squad were all struggling desperately. Were it not for the secret technique of Divine Shift allowing them to evade the attacks time and again, they would have long ago been torn apart by the terrifying water jets and fierce winds, falling prey to the Wind-Black Turtle.
The radius of this small lake stretched over a dozen miles, yet each of Yi Tian’s teleportations could only cover a few hundred feet. To completely break free from the lake’s confines, they needed to consecutively employ the Divine Shift technique over twenty times. But the repeated evasions slowed their progress to a crawl, meaning the number of times they had to use Divine Shift would likely double.
Apart from Yi Tian, the others, their true essence severely depleted by the taxing Yuan Gang, could hardly sustain such an effort to escape the lake’s grasp.
Flash!
Yi Tian executed Divine Shift to dodge three entangling water jets. In the next moment, he appeared elsewhere. His Great Sun Heaven Skill operated at its peak, his eyes shining brilliantly as he unleashed their full power. Under the blessing of the Great Sun Heaven Skill, he instantly saw through the layers of lake water, faintly perceiving the massive form of the Wind-Black Turtle.
This was a special effect of the Great Sun Heaven Skill, which could temper the eyes, continuously enhancing their power, turning night into day and penetrating through matter. As cultivation deepened, the eyes’ power would become ever more terrifying.
There it was!
Yi Tian spotted the location of the Wind-Black Turtle and immediately summoned his Void-Breaking Bow. The Sun-Shooting Heaven Skill ran at full throttle, terrifying true essence gathering to form an arrow shimmering with faint radiance.
Boom!
A thunderous crack like celestial lightning split the air.
The arrow transformed into a dazzling divine light and plunged into the lake’s depths.
Rumble!
The entire lake trembled.
The arrow pierced one of the Wind-Black Turtle’s eyes, deeply embedding itself in its head. A torrent of blood surged forth.
A roar!
The Wind-Black Turtle suffered a grievous wound.
In that instant of injury, it lost control over the water jets and fierce winds, causing the towering water columns to shatter with thunderous crashes.
“Go!”
Yi Tian shouted sharply.
Immediately, Yi Feng, Yi Li, and the others unleashed Divine Shift at full power, teleporting in rapid succession seven or eight times, quickly breaking free of the lake’s boundary. Only the furious roar of the Wind-Black Turtle echoed behind them.
Twenty miles away from the lake, Yi Tian and his companions came to a halt.
They chose a spot to recover their vitality. In the perilous Tianfeng Gorge, they had to remain at peak strength at all times to stand a chance in battle.
After half a day of cultivation, they finally returned to their prime condition.
“This was a dangerous venture, but the rewards are quite substantial. Let’s end this expedition here,” Yi Tian said to Yi Li and the others.
The members of the Reincarnation Squad had no objections. They had witnessed the deadly dangers of Tianfeng Gorge firsthand, nearly losing their lives to the Wind-Black Turtle. This was merely the tip of the iceberg.
“We’ve obtained ten thousand-year-old Wind Spirit Woods. Our treasured artifacts will soon take shape,” Yi Shan declared loudly, excitement evident in his voice.
Yi Feng, Yi Kuang, Yi Li, and Yi Hong all brightened at the prospect. The desire for treasured artifacts had long burned within them.
It was important to understand that for cultivators of the Yuan Gang tier, possessing even a single treasured artifact was a luxury. Only disciples of ancient sects, scions of secretive millennia-old clans, or heirs of noble families could afford such treasures. Their strength could increase severalfold, sometimes enough to rival Yuan Dan tier practitioners without artifacts.
As Yi Tian and his group prepared to depart, a tremendous clash erupted from deeper within the Wind Spirit Wood forest.
“The power behind that battle is incredible!” Yi Feng exclaimed, visibly shaken.
Yi Kuang and Yi Hong’s expressions darkened. Such strength was formidable, punctuated by earth-shattering roars—clearly a top-tier mid-level ferocious beast, utterly terrifying.
Suddenly, brilliant light burst forth from the forest’s depths.
In the next instant, the light exploded with a thunderous blast, fracturing into over a dozen beams that shot off in all directions.
What was that?!
One of the beams streaked toward Yi Tian and his group, radiating overwhelming true essence.
“Good stuff!” Yi Tian pursued it.
Yi Feng and the others hurried after, but their speed lagged behind him, gradually falling behind as Yi Tian surged ahead.
After a short incense stick’s length of time, Yi Tian reached the spot where the beam had fallen.
There, two or three dozen ferocious beasts had gathered, locked in tense standoff and fierce combat.
At the beam’s impact point lay a fist-sized fragment of azure crystal, pulsing with boundless true essence fluctuations. Yet the crystal was irregular and incomplete.
Yi Tian’s eyes fixed on the crystal. Suddenly, he unleashed Feather Flight Technique and ghost-like sped forward, effortlessly evading the beasts.
As he neared the crystal, the beasts finally detected his presence. Dozens of wind blades and wind arrows surged forth, blanketing the area in attack.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The assaults covered the entire vicinity.
Yet in the next moment, Yi Tian appeared beside the crystal, seizing it with one hand and slipping it into his storage ring.
After a few rapid teleports, Yi Tian vanished from the beasts’ sight.
Yi Tian drew out the crystal from his storage ring. From it, he felt a vast energy, overflowing with vigor and vitality, fused harmoniously with an invisible force.
“Could this be the heart of a ten-thousand-year-old Wind Spirit Wood?” Yi Tian recalled some ancient texts. It was said that when certain spirit woods grew to ten thousand years, a crystal—the heart of the wood—would form within.
The ten-thousand-year wood heart contained immense vitality and could condense wood-elemental life essence, greatly accelerating the growth of precious medicines.
Even if absorbed by the human body, it could strengthen the source of life, though the effect was subtle.
If this crystal truly was the heart of a ten-thousand-year Wind Spirit Wood, it could not only hasten the maturation of medicinal treasures, but also contained a trace of the wind’s origin. Upon absorption, there was a slim chance this wind essence could merge into the body, forging a powerful Wind Dao corporeal body.
This meant a great affinity for wind-element cultivation methods and insights.
Even a small fragment of such a heart was worth far more than dozens or hundreds of thousand-year Wind Spirit Woods. The ten-thousand-year wood heart ranked as a mid-tier treasure.
Suddenly, Yi Tian looked ahead.
About a mile away, a man was speeding toward them, hovering three feet above the ground, walking on air.
When Yi Tian saw him, the man also spotted Yi Tian and the shimmering crystal in his hand. His eyes lit up as he quickened his pace.
“Trouble!” Yi Tian smiled wryly.
He hadn’t expected to be discovered. The visitor likely bore ill intent, and a fierce battle was inevitable.
Yi Tian immediately stowed the crystal back into his storage ring.
After several breaths, the man arrived before Yi Tian, whose gaze took in the man’s appearance.
The man looked to be in his thirties or forties, with narrow eyes and a somewhat somber gaze.
He was surprised to see Yi Tian’s youthful visage—only about twenty years old. For someone so young to dare enter Tianfeng Gorge implied he was already a human-tier cultivator, likely of notable background.
The man scanned the surroundings, then revealed a ferocious and greedy expression.
He had been chasing that beam of light.
Earlier, he had noticed the treasure in Yi Tian’s hand, radiating intense vitality and essence fluctuations—a truly extraordinary artifact.
The beam’s impact point was nearby; the treasure in Yi Tian’s possession was likely that very light.
Kill and seize the treasure!
At that moment, deadly intent burst from the man’s eyes.