Chapter 122: Winds and Clouds Surging
’Hm? Something’s happening in the direction of Phoenix Town! What is it? A fluctuation in the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi... Could a Spiritual Treasure be emerging? The Lianyun Mountain Range isn’t far from Phoenix Town. I should be able to make it.’ The burly man in animal skins looked delighted. "To hell with this! I’m not wasting any more time on you beasts! I’ve got places to be!"
With that, the burly man in animal skins gathered his True Qi and kicked off the ground. Using a Lightweight Body Technique, he ran—THUMP, THUMP, THUMP—across the backs of several Cyan Wolves, swiftly breaking out of the encirclement and racing toward Phoenix Town.
...
Night fell, cloaking the world in darkness. A crescent moon cast a hazy, ethereal glow upon a wide, earthen road.
This was the road to Phoenix Town.
"Yah! Yah! Yah!" "CLOP!"
"Yah!" "CLIP-CLOP!" "CLIP-CLOP-CLOP!"
Dust billowed on the earthen road as trees blurred past. Party after party of riders galloped at full speed, all racing toward Phoenix Town.
"Brother, aren’t Heaven and Earth Spiritual Treasures usually contested by Innate Realm experts? What’s the point of us going to join the chaos?"
"What do you know? The treasure is emerging in Phoenix Town, and that’s just a small town with no powerful experts nearby. We might just get there in time to snatch the treasure before anyone else."
"He’s right. Third Brother, think about it. How many Innate Realm experts are there in the entire Tang Country? Fewer than a hundred, for sure, and even less in Red Sun Province. Most of those experts are nowhere near Phoenix Town, so they won’t make it in time. Since we’re close by, we have the advantage. It’s a golden opportunity!"
"Faster, ride faster! A Heaven and Earth Spiritual Treasure is immensely powerful. Forget the Heaven and Earth Laws it contains; just the dense Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi it generates can accelerate our Cultivation speed. If we can get our hands on it, we’ll be set for life!"
"Yah! Yah! Yah!" "CLIP-CLOP-CLOP!"
With the clatter of hooves and a trail of billowing dust, they vanished into the distance. All through the night, the earthen road to Phoenix Town thundered with the sound of galloping horses as Martial Artists rushed to their destination.
...
「Phoenix Town, Beast Taming Pavilion」
As one of the top powers on the continent, the Beast Taming Pavilion had branches in hundreds of countries and countless cities across the Martial Arts Continent. The one in Phoenix Town was merely a minor outpost.
"Quick! Has the news been sent out yet?"
"Replying to the Shopkeeper, we’ve already sent a carrier pigeon. At the speed of a Green-Feathered Pigeon, it should reach Sunset City by tomorrow morning."
"What about the one to Red Sun Main City? Has it been sent?"
"That’s been sent too. But Red Sun Main City is so far away. Will they even make it in time?"
"Whether they make it is not our concern. Our mission was to send the message, and that’s done. A Heaven and Earth Spiritual Treasure is a major affair; the various branches will naturally dispatch their experts!"
...
「White Cloud Mountain, under the Thousand-Year-Old Banyan Tree」
White Cloud Mountain was usually a quiet place, home to only two households: Ye Xing’s Ye Mansion and Immortal Spring Manor. But ever since Miss Mengxue, Xia Girl, and little Chunyu had left the manor, the entire mountain had become even more silent with their absence.
Tonight, however, was destined to be a sleepless night.
The trunk of the Thousand-Year-Old Banyan Tree was so thick it would take several people linking hands to encircle it. Its dense canopy of branches and leaves spread out in all directions, forming a colossal umbrella that blotted out the starry sky.
In the moonlight, its leaves shimmered with an emerald-like luster, as if a thousand fireflies were dancing among them.
At this moment, the area beneath the Thousand-Year-Old Banyan Tree was a cacophony of noise and activity.
In just a few hours, group after group of noisy Martial Artists had gathered under the tree. Some were even stabbing and hacking at the trunk with their swords and sabers, attempting to dig out the Thunder Heart Spring Wood. To their disappointment, however, while their Great Sabers left deep gashes and their Sharp Swords punctured holes in the bark, the wounds would quickly heal in a flash of green light, leaving the trunk completely unscathed.
"Damn it! So we really can’t dig the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Treasure out of this trunk!"
"You’re dreaming. The Spiritual Treasure hasn’t finished maturing. It’s protected by the Heaven and Earth Laws. How could you possibly take it?"
"How long does a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Treasure take to mature anyway? If this keeps up, more and more people will arrive, and it’ll be nearly impossible to get our hands on it."
"Who knows? The maturation time for a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Treasure is never fixed. According to ancient texts, it can take as little as two or three days, or as long as ten days to half a month."
"Senior Brother, it seems like your Cultivation at the Martial Arts Seventh Realm is the highest among all the Martial Artists here."
"Yes. If we fought for the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Treasure now, we’d have a great chance of success. After tonight, however... tomorrow will be a different story."
"Do you think any Innate Realm experts will show up?"
"Our Tang Country only has a handful of Innate Realm experts. It’s hard to say if any of them happen to be near Phoenix Town. However, I expect we’ll see plenty of Martial Artists at the Eighth and Ninth Realms. Even some of the top masters from the Wind and Cloud List will probably show up."
"The Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi here is incredibly rich. I feel like one day of Cultivation here would be equal to several days of bitter training anywhere else."
Beneath the Thousand-Year-Old Banyan Tree, crowds of Martial Artists gathered in small groups, heads together, whispering and debating among themselves.
These Martial Artists were a motley crew, dressed in all sorts of strange attire. Some wielded long spears, others Great Sabers; some shouldered heavy axes, while others wore long swords at their waists. At a glance, their numbers had already swelled to over a hundred.
"What a bunch of rabble," Sikong Xingxing sneered from a branch of the Thousand-Year-Old Banyan Tree. "Once the fight for the Spiritual Treasure starts, they’ll all be nothing but cannon fodder."
"Heh. If they’re a bunch of rabble, what does that make us?" Ye Xing said with a small smile. ’This kid, Sikong Xingxing, is pretty interesting,’ he thought. Finding himself bored down on the ground, Ye Xing leaped up onto the branch next to him.
"You’re different. You don’t have a prayer of getting the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Treasure, but at least you’re not part of the rabble." Sikong Xingxing pointed below. "Look at them. It’s laughable. Many are only at the Martial Arts Third Realm, some are even at the Martial Arts Second or First Realm. Daring to covet a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Treasure when they’re still in the Qi Cultivation Stage... they’re just courting death. Even if one of them managed to grab the Spiritual Treasure, it wouldn’t be in their hands for more than a few seconds before a stronger Martial Artist killed them for it."
Ye Xing rubbed his nose, admitting awkwardly, "I’m only at the Martial Arts Second Realm myself."
"You’re different. That leopard of yours is something special. As long as you don’t try to grab the treasure, you’ll have no problem protecting yourself. You’re surprisingly well-off, too. As for me," he said with a grin, chewing on a blade of grass, "hehe, how could someone as awesome as Sikong Xingxing ever be part of the rabble?"