Xu Ying, Yuan Qi, and Xue Ying'an finally touched down on the ground. Catching sight of a foot lying not far away, Yuan Qi hurried to call out, "Ying'an, your foot!"
Balancing on one leg, Xue Ying'an hopped over, picked up his severed foot, and surveyed their surroundings. "This is the Land of Heaven's Scourge," he said. "Food is scarce here. Don't throw this severed foot away—if starvation becomes unbearable, it can still fill our bellies."
Xu Ying was filled with admiration. "Ying'an really is a ruthless man, willing to eat his own foot."
Yuan Qi nodded repeatedly. "Ah Ying, should we tell him that I have thousands of jin of food stored inside me, enough to last us two months?"
His belly had enormous capacity and he ate a lot, but if they rationed it, it would indeed last two months.
Hearing this, Xue Ying'an said grimly, "Two months isn't enough. The Land of Heaven's Scourge is utterly barren. After two months, we'll still starve to death."
Xu Ying took out a bean and tossed it onto the ground. The bean instantly took root and sprouted, sending out branches, growing, blooming, and bearing beans in rapid succession.
In the blink of an eye, the plant matured and burst open. Over a hundred beans scattered to the earth, immediately taking root, sprouting, and shooting up to produce new beans. As the new plants ripened, their pods burst open once more, showering the ground with yet more beans!
In a matter of moments, they were standing in a hundred-mu bean field. Across the field, beans grew and popped open with rapid snaps, sending tens of thousands of beans tumbling onto the soil.
This time, however, the fallen beans did not take root or sprout. Instead, they transformed into finger-sized figures clad in golden armor. Catching the wind, they ballooned in size, growing a foot tall in the span of a breath. This was the Nuo art of scattering beans to form soldiers.
Xu Ying commanded, "Scout the way ahead!"
The tens of thousands of golden-armored figures bowed in unison, answering in one voice, "By your decree!"
With that, the little warriors surged out across the hills and plains, whistling through the wind.
Xue Ying'an stared in dumbfounded shock, left holding his severed foot, unsure whether he should toss it away or keep it just in case.
Just moments ago, when the vast bean field had sprouted, he had felt an unbearable itch in his severed leg—and an entirely new foot had actually grown back! He knew Xu Ying had used Nuo arts to heal his injury.
With someone wielding Nuo arts as miraculous as Xu Ying's, there was no need to worry about rations at all. Follow him, and one would never starve!
"Ying'an, if you want to learn Nuo arts, it's not too late," Xu Ying said with a smile. "Once you cultivate a Primordial Spirit, it will be too late, and you won't be able to open the Six Secret Depositories of the Human Body. Do you want to learn?"
Xue Ying'an was on the verge of replying that Nuo methods were an unorthodox, wicked path, but the thought of Li Xiaoke's deeds stopped him short. He grinned. "Of course I want to learn! Only a fool wouldn't!"
As they walked, Xu Ying taught him the Dragon-Seeking Locating Art for the six secret depositories.
Xue Ying'an was quite clever and learned quickly. Before long, he had mastered the Dragon-Seeking Locating Art for the Jade Pool and located his own Jade Pool secret depository. Yet he had already missed the optimal window to open it, and attempting to blast it open in one go was fraught with difficulty.
The optimal window to open a secret depository was during the Qi Harvesting stage.
Xue Ying'an, however, had already cultivated to the Cross-Refinement stage, his Golden Core fully formed. A Qi Refiner's individual power alone could not breach his six secret depositories. Nor could the magic treasures he had refined himself blast open such an entrenched depository to unlock a cave-heaven.
"Seventh Master, get a magic treasure for him to use," Xu Ying instructed.
Yuan Qi opened his mouth wide and said, "Pick one yourself."
Xue Ying'an looked inside and saw dozens of magic treasures floating within the giant snake's cavernous, blood-red maw, each radiating astonishing might! Even if these treasures could not rival the Xiaoyao Bell, they were extraordinary in their own right—top-tier treasures!
Xue Ying'an selected a bronze bell, refined it repeatedly until he had mastered its use, and only then unleashed it to batter open his Jade Pool secret depository, unlocking a cave-heaven. Opening this Jade Pool cave-heaven was an immense struggle!
Steadying his mind, Xue Ying'an performed the Dragon-Seeking Locating Art once more, finding his Sea of Chaos and chaotic Mud Pill, only to be struck with horror. The Sea of Chaos churned violently like a raging ocean, and the chaotic Mud Pill resembled an enormous sphere—whether the bronze bell could breach it remained entirely uncertain!
"This bell definitely won't open the Mud Pill."
Returning the bronze bell to Yuan Qi, Xue Ying'an picked a bronze sword instead. "With this sword, there might still be a chance!"
As he poured his effort into refining the bronze sword, Xu Ying and Yuan Qi followed behind the golden-armored figures and hurried forward.
"This place is called the Land of Heaven's Scourge; there must be something uncanny about it."
Thoughts stirred in Xu Ying's mind as he looked up. Jiucai Ridge jutted inverted in the sky above. "Back on Jiucai Ridge, the Xiaoyao Bell continuously unleashed its power and activated its talisman brandings to ward off foreign evils. So what was it guarding against?"
For something to make even the Xiaoyao Bell so tense, the dangers of the Land of Heaven's Scourge had to be extraordinary!
With the golden-armored figures scouting ahead, Xu Ying did not need to step into danger himself and could circumvent many hazards. This allowed them to travel at full tilt, greatly increasing their speed.
Yet Xu Ying found it stranger the farther they traveled. The world below Jiucai Ridge looked like sugarcane bagasse that someone had thoroughly chewed, spat onto the ground, and then picked up to chew all over again. Its heaven-and-earth yuan qi had been completely sucked dry.
As far as the eye could see, there were withered trees, dried-up riverbeds, and lakes emptied to the bottom—a desolate wasteland. The lakebeds were strewn with the skeletons of dead fish.
Ahead, an enormous skeleton came into view. It appeared to be the skeletal remains of an ancient behemoth, though its species was unrecognizable, standing tall as a mountain.
Xu Ying and the others passed beneath the beast's ribcage. Above their heads, countless golden-armored figures chattered away as they scrambled swiftly over the massive bones, bounding toward the distance. Xu Ying tilted his head back, watching the setting sun sinking below the horizon, his brow furrowed in thought.
This world had two suns. The light of one was dim and void of solar essence, but the light from the other contained no small amount of solar essence. Logically, this world should have been able to generate heaven-and-earth yuan qi and nurture all living things, yet it was so thoroughly barren.
Suddenly, Yuan Qi called out, "Ah Ying, look ahead!"
Xu Ying looked. Far in the distance, a vast expanse of crimson flesh blanketed the earth and mountains. Several hundred li across, this mass of flesh draped over the landscape, constantly squirming forward.
A tall mountain had already been swallowed by the flesh, leaving only its topmost peak uncovered. An extraordinary treasure sat atop that peak, constantly flashing with brilliant light, repeatedly driving back the encroaching flesh.
Xu Ying promptly activated his Heavenly Eye and looked toward the peak. He saw a temple atop the mountain. The dazzling light radiated from a luminous pearl floating from the hand of an unmoving corpse sitting inside the temple—brilliant and dazzling, harboring extraordinary might!
Suddenly, countless tentacles shot out from the mass of flesh, violently binding the pearl. Then, like a cloud of blood, the flesh surged over the temple and swallowed it whole!
The pearl struggled within the meat, breaking through the tentacles' grasp time and again, only to be seized anew. Its glow grew dim, and at last it was swallowed completely by the flesh, its power drained away.
Crack!
The pearl shattered, obliterated without a trace.
"That mountain peak was likely the secluded cultivation site of an extraordinary Qi Refiner. The Qi Refiner passed away, yet the magic treasure refused to leave, guarding its master's remains. To think it still couldn't escape its doom." Xu Ying drew back his gaze and sighed inwardly.
The mass of flesh continued squirming forward. After engulfing the mountain, it spat it out not long after—every trace of life on the mountain stripped bare. As the flesh drew closer to them, a clamor of harsh noise suddenly rang in Xu Ying's ears, like countless voices whispering in his mind!
"No, this thing is the flesh and blood of a heavenly god!" Xu Ying said in astonishment.
Just as he was about to step forward, the flesh, hundreds of li wide, suddenly soared into the air like a colossal manta ray, swimming through the sky to seek a new feeding ground! It moved too fast for Xu Ying to catch up, forcing him to give up pursuit.
Not long after they resumed walking, they encountered another mass of flesh squirming forward, voraciously draining every scrap of nutrients from the earth.
At the edge of this flesh stood a grotesque, tower-like object, twenty-some zhang tall, resembling an upright pagoda. Peculiarly, however, this tower was covered in flesh, and on the top tier, a heart sat within, thumping rhythmically.
Across the dozens of tiers below this flesh pagoda, every single level held a giant eyeball crammed inside! At that moment, these eyeballs were rolling and swiveling—up, down, left, and right—gazing at the bean soldiers scurrying across the ground.
"What kind of monstrosity is this?" Xu Ying blurted out.
The flesh tower suddenly uprooted itself. From beneath its base grew eight colossal legs devoid of skin, raw with muscle and sinew.
Striding forward with thunderous rumbles, the flesh tower began to move. The grotesque eyes across its levels abruptly shot forth divine light, reducing the golden-armored figures to ashes wherever the beams swept!
The flesh tower had thirty-three tiers in total. The top tier housed the beating heart, while all the other tiers were lined with eyes that beamed in every direction, rapidly wiping out the tens of thousands of golden-armored figures!
Xu Ying and Yuan Qi spun around and bolted, all manner of destructive beams blazing behind them!
"Seventh Master, where's Xue Ying'an?" Xu Ying shouted.
Yuan Qi's head went blank. "Weren't you carrying him?"
Looking back, Xu Ying saw Xue Ying'an standing there obliviously like a fool, apparently busy wielding the bronze sword, trying to open his Mud Pill secret depository!
Xu Ying gritted his teeth. "Seventh Master, keep running forward!"
He abruptly wheeled around, charging back. Reaching out from a distance, he tried to cast a Nuo art to strip away all vital essence and vigor from the flesh tower! Yet his Mud Pill Nuo art, normally invincible, completely failed!
Xu Ying was startled. This isn't a creature under the normal Heavenly Dao! A creature under the normal Heavenly Dao couldn't nullify my Nuo arts! It's a creature of an alien dao!
A creature that did not fall within the domain of the Heavenly Dao!
The bizarre eyes within the flesh tower unleashed divine light, blasting his invisible Nuo art to pieces, then sweeping forward to destroy everything in their path! Xu Ying leapt into the air, skimming low along the ground to dodge beam after beam of divine light, closing the distance to Xue Ying'an at top speed.
As beams of divine light lanced from the flesh tower's eyes, Xu Ying's footwork was exceptionally nimble, weaving through the barrage as he drew nearer to Xue Ying'an. Suddenly, one of the strange eyes spotted Xue Ying'an and trained its divine light straight toward him!
With a roar, Xu Ying's speed spiked. His figure flickered as he threw himself before Xue Ying'an. The divine beam struck him squarely!
The impact knocked him backward, his flesh burning with stinging pain!
Over this recent period, having comprehended how to unravel the 'Cage' Dao rune, he had unlocked the physical cultivation of lifetime after lifetime, now having unsealed a hundred lifetimes of physical strength. While not many of those lifetimes had attained grand physical mastery, the accumulation of modest gains meant his physical cultivation was vastly different from before—several times stronger than in the past!
Even so, the flesh tower's gaze was peerlessly sharp and potent, enough to inflict pain on his body! Suddenly, all the other eyes on the flesh tower swiveled toward him. Thirty-two overlapping beams of divine light locked onto Xu Ying simultaneously! If this blast struck, even his formidable physique would be incinerated to ashes!
Right at that moment, light flashed at Xu Ying's brow. With a resonant dong, countless magnificent Dao image brandings vibrated and flew out, coalescing into the luminous wall of a bronze bell that blocked all thirty-two beams of divine light!
That fellow, Lord Bell...
Xu Ying was stunned. Without him realizing, the bronze bell had left a branding between his brows, set to erupt automatically in moments of mortal peril to preserve his life. Warmth filled Xu Ying's chest. Engaging in internal observation and visualization, he watched strange patterns surface across the skin of his right arm, and pointed a finger straight toward the flesh tower!
Chhh!
With this strike, heavenly thunder roared, celestial majesty rolled, and the power of the Heavenly Dao erupted. The overwhelming finger force pierced through the thirty-two beams of divine light and punched cleanly through the heart atop the flesh tower! The heart exploded, and the flesh pagoda's eight legs wobbled unsteadily. Unable to support its massive weight any longer, it crashed down in ruins.
This attack was none other than the Heavenly Dao divine power he had comprehended from the Heavenly Dao runes on Heavenly God Longyuan's hand: the Heavenly Dao Finger! This was the first time Xu Ying had ever used it, and he had not expected it to prove decisive in a single blow!
Having slain the flesh tower with one finger, Xu Ying immediately grabbed Xue Ying'an, who was still absorbed in opening his chaotic Mud Pill. Visualizing the Ba Snake, a colossal phantom of the serpent materialized behind him, sweeping its tail around the dead flesh tower and hoisting it up.
Xu Ying sprinted wildly after Yuan Qi, shouting from afar, "Seventh Master, open wide!"
Behind him, the vast expanse of flesh covering the land seemed thrown into a fury by the destruction of the flesh tower. With a whoosh, it lifted into the air, writhing like clouds draped across the sky as it gave chase!
Hundreds of li wide, wherever the mass of flesh soared overhead, flesh towers dropped down like hail. The moment they hit the ground, eight thick legs sprouted from their bases, carrying them forward in rapid strides as they pursued Xu Ying!
Zap! Zap! Zap!
Beams of searing light lashed out behind Xu Ying, obliterating everything in their path!
Yuan Qi was speeding along ahead when he heard Xu Ying's call. He turned his head and opened his mouth wide, only to see Xu Ying shoving a whole flesh tower right toward his jaws!
"Ah Ying, you can't just stuff whatever you want into my mouth!" Yuan Qi squawked in terror.
Xu Ying caught up in swift strides, dismissed his Ba Snake divine power, and shouted, "Seventh Master, onto my shoulder! I'm faster!"
Yuan Qi shrank his body immediately and leaped onto Xu Ying's shoulder. Grabbing Xue Ying'an with one hand, Xu Ying let out a cry, and sword qi violently erupted around him! What he had summoned was precisely the Tianzhu sword qi!
Swoosh!
Enveloped in the Tianzhu sword qi, Xu Ying became a streak of light ripping through the air, moving so fast that the pursuing flesh towers could not hope to keep up! The mass of flesh vibrated and flew through the sky, roaring in pursuit at staggering speed.
Xu Ying slashed a streak of Tianzhu sword qi backward. The Tianzhu sword qi he visualized was even purer than the Heavenly Dao divine artifact wielded by Grand Preceptor Jiang Qi!
The Heavenly Dao runes carved on the Tianzhu sword were riddled with errors and flaws. By contrast, though the Tianzhu sword in Xu Ying's hands was merely sword qi visualized through internal observation, the Heavenly Dao runes within it contained not a single mistake. It was only because his cultivation was still modest; had his cultivation been profound, the Heavenly Dao might within his sword qi would likely have surpassed even the actual Tianzhu sword!
The strike cleaved open a gash over a dozen zhang wide through the flesh. The creature paused for a moment. Seeing that Xu Ying could still move like lightning even while carrying a person and a snake, putting him out of reach, the mass of flesh ceased its pursuit and drifted slowly downward.
As Xu Ying flew past, patches of flesh covering the earth split open one after another, exposing giant eyeballs that gazed eerily after him. Ancient consciousnesses rippled, conversing with one another:
"Strange... He carries the aura of the Heavenly Dao..."
Chapter 167