There was no land in Taiyuan Heaven. The Cloud-swallowing Beast dived downward and there was a faint whiff of blood in the air. The smell of blood seemingly triggered off a reaction. Suddenly, dark clouds gathered around the surrounding mountain peaks and surged around the Cloud-swallowing Beast.
"It's the Carrion Bird! Quickly, run, kid! You don't want to mess with them!" Seeing the dark clouds, Green Spirit shouted hurriedly. Zhou Bao's scalp tingled when he realized what the true nature of the dark clouds was. They were countless little crow-like birds whose claws and feathers were made of iron and steel, resembling the red cloud that they had encountered previously. The difference was that the dark clouds gave off death fumes, while the red birds emitted strong fiery vibes.
Having learned their lesson from their previous encounter, they did not have any second thoughts but rode off instantly with the Gang wind, as far away as they could.
"Damn it! There is something strange going on here! All we wanted was to get some rest and catch our breath, but we ended up running into such a powerful evil beast! Oh my god, I guess it's able to enter the Mysterious Realm with it strength?"
"It has yet to reach that level, but I suppose its combat capability is more powerful than the Mysterious Realm. However, being an evil beast with relatively insufficient spiritual intelligence and a gigantic body, of which he has minimal control over, it can't be such a big threat to us," said Green Spirit.
A gigantic body usually is quite vulnerable. Back in the antiquity times, all strong evil beasts were gigantic. However, after experiencing the ThunderTribulation, their bodies were transformed into human shapes. No matter how big their bodies were, they still had the skills of Dharma Laksana in them. But before the Thunder Tribulation and the cultivation of the Dharma Laksana skills, these evil beasts remained dormant and did not show themselves unnecessarily in front of humans. Otherwise, they would likely be killed and skinned by greedy skilled masters like Zhou Bao.
It was a bad day for the Cloud-swallowing Beast. As one of the giant beasts from antiquity times and also the strongest among the evil beasts in this area, it had led a good life in Taiyuan Heaven. More importantly, its nest was its safe haven; it would not be in any danger as long as it stayed inside. Except for this time, unluckily for it, it came rushing out.
To be fair, it was not its fault. In its memory, it knew that once in every thousand years, there will be some human beings venturing into Taiyuan Heaven. It had encountered them a couple of times. It also recalled that these tiny little creatures had some not so powerful skills, which was not a threat to them. Most of the time, they could not even venture beyond the scales of its body and had fled in fear. When it recalled such memories, it felt that it had nothing to fear. Therefore, it did not expect to meet such a legendary strong man, which had cost it its life.
"You really have lived up to your reputation, Your Excellency. You have mastered the skills of the Sky-measuring Star Ruler within a few days only. I suppose you have refined this Pure Yang Celestial Device too, right, Your Excellency?"
Wang She stared covetously at the Sky-measuring Star Ruler in Zhou Bao's hands and said, "Not bad, Junior Leopard! How about giving it to me?"
Zhou Bao rolled his eyes and said, "No problem! It's yours if I can exchange it with your Nine Heaven Yuan Yang Technique."
"You want the Nine Heaven Yuan Yang Technique?" Wang She was distracted for a moment. He glanced at Zhou Bao and suddenly figured out something, and the greed on his face turned into a bitter smile. "I know what's on your mind. But the only person who has the Nine Heaven Yuan Yang Technique is the Leader of the Tian Long Taoism, who is also my teacher. I will have a chance to acquire this skill if I take over my teacher's place. But now, alas…"
"Then we'll talk about the exchange after you have mastered that!" Zhou Bao shook the Sky-measuring Star Ruler in his hand and said, "This is something good. There is sufficient spiritual qi in Taiyuan Heaven. But it's a pity that there are no stars. If you bring it outside, it's even much more powerful than you can imagine!"
Remembering when Ye Qingtian attracted the Nine Heavens Star Force using the Sky-measuring Star Ruler, which had almost defeated him, Zhou Bao began seeing red. Had it not been for the Nine Heaven Yuan Yang Technique, he would have never given the Sky-measuring Star Ruler away.
"Are you kidding? Kid, I still need the Sky-measuring Star Ruler to gain further knowledge of the stars. Don't give it away yet!" Green Spirit's psywave fluctuated as if he was unhappy about something.
"Haven't you already incarnated into the stars? You've already absorbed eighty percent of the star force in it. Having it won't make much difference to you. It's just the icing on the cake for you!" Zhou Bao did not care about Green Spirit's words.
"What the hell do you know, kid? I'm practicing the skills for the Great Way of Stars, and that is why I need the Sky-measuring Star Ruler. In our world, when I'm in unity with the Sky-measuring Star Ruler, I can guide the Nine Heavens Star Force. By then, I'll be able to fight against even the Individual Immortals of the Metaphysic Realm. Do you understand?"
"Of course I do! But I need it to make a deal with him. It's the Nine Heaven Yuan Yang Technique! It's priceless! It's not a mere object that we can just exchange it with a Pure Yang Celestial Device?"
"Junior Leopard, I wonder if you have considered…"
Wang She unexpectedly asked with a somber face.
"What is it?" asked Zhou Bao, hesitantly.
"Would you like to join the Tian Long Taoism?!" said Wang She. "My master brought it up to me before. He told me to find out if you would be willing to join the Tian Long Taoism, and not just being a secondary strength. As long as you join us, the Nine Heaven Yuan Yang Technique will be within your reach. Maybe after a couple of years, who knows, my master might decide to impart this technique to you when he's ready to do so!"
"Join the Tian Long Taoism?!" Such a thought had never occurred to Zhou Bao before. He raised his eyebrows slightly, weighing the pros and cons of the offer.
Thinking of the pros and cons, he could not really find any cons. Being a disciple of the Tian Long Taoism meant having Tian Long Taoism being his backup. That would make him more fearless.
"That's a great idea. But you know, I'm used to being a free spirit. I don't like to be constrained!"
"Well, of course, you are. I understand now you're the boss of your own territory, more like the king of the northwest. You will merely gain a title if you join the Tian Long Taoism. But bear in mind we have Elders too. We can give you the title of a teaching elder, yet you don't have to be responsible for anything. Even when the Tian Long Taoism is facing perils, you don't need to do anything. All you have to do is to pass on the Uniform Dao of the Tian Long Taoism. And furthermore, during our prosperous days, you will be paid more than the ordinary elders. What do you think of the proposal?"
"That's nice. Name your price!" Zhou Bao smiled and said, "with such a position and such a tempting offer, I bet even the Individual Immortals of the Mysterious Realm will be jealous of me!"
"I bet they will. The current teaching elder of the Tian Long Taoism is an Individual Immortal, who will be undergoing his second Thunder Tribulation in 10 years in order to become a Genuine Immortal. He won't be with us whether he succeeds and gets the Karmic Rank of the Genuine Immortal, or if he fails and turns into ashes."
"You mean there will definitely be another teaching elder in the Tian Long Taoism in 10 years," said Zhou Bao. "But I don't believe that he is your only Individual Immortal. It's just a wishful thinking on your part to get me into that position!"
"Who knows what will happen in 10 years. Only time will tell!" Wang She laughed.
"10 years won't be sufficient for me to break through the Mysterious Realm. You know this better than anyone else!" Zhou Bao sneered.
"Yeah, well. Maybe you will not be able to break through it in 10 years. But who says the teaching elder of the Tian Long Taoism must be a Metaphysic Individual Immortal? Guess what, the most important thing about being a teaching elder is not about the cultivation, but the age, as the teaching elder need not fight. In fact, if a school needs its teaching elder to win a battle, they wouldn't be far from their doom. That's the reason why the younger you are, the more advantageous it will be for you. That's exactly what you have!"
"Fair enough, but I still have to think about it. It's a big decision for me to make!"
"Take your time. You have 10 years for that!" said Wang She. Suddenly, the Taiyuan Token on Zhou Bao's chest brightened.
"Here we are!"
They had arrived at their destination before they knew it.
"Hha, let's try our luck in this hellish place!" The three of them were excited about the ethereal mountain peaks in front of them, looking as if there were countless treasures buried there.
However, after all the excitement, they had to deal with the real problem.
The unpleasant encounter had given them an inkling about the dangers in Taiyuan Heaven. They had tried to get some rest and ended up running into the Cloud-swallowing Beast, a powerful evil beast. Who knew what other dangers would be awaiting them when they began their meticulous search.
But again, it made sense that great benefits usually come after great dangers. Reaping without sowing is indeed a rarity.
"Should we act individually or stay together? What do you think, Junior Leopard?" Wang She looked up at Zhou Bao and asked. Since Zhou Bao was holding the Taiyuan Token, it made him the unspoken leader of the whole situation.
Zhou Bao's eyes lingered on the two men and he smiled. "I suppose we all have our motives for getting into Taiyuan Heaven, so it's better for us to split up. We should decide when and where we should meet up after.
Zhou Bao had his own purpose in seeking the materials for refining the Air-frozen Bead. He did not want any company for that reason. And apparently, the other two men had the same thought as well. Both seemed content to go along with Zhou Bao's idea.
"Okay, well, Taiyuan Heaven will stay open for a month, so how about we meet here in a month's time. This is Taiyuan Heaven, very unlike our world. We are literally on our own here. Mr. Mo, my brother, what do you think?"
Wang She nodded in agreement, looking up at Mo Yinyang with his question.
"Excellent!" Mo Yinyang nodded, too. The only reason that he was with Zhou Bao was that he needed Zhou Bao to get into Taiyuan Heaven. He could tell that these two guys would destroy and kill anyone without any hesitation. It's better for him to stay away from them. He did not know who to go to or what to do once such horrible things happened.
The decision was made. Mo Yinyang left first. Wang She said to Junior Leopard, "Look, I think it will be better if you give me the Taiyuan Token. I don't want to die with you if you can't get out of here alive!"
"Bullshit!" Zhou Bao rolled his eyes and said, "I'm telling you, Chief Wang, you'd better hope nothing bad will happen to me. If I die, you will have a wait of a thousand years here!"
He had good reasons to say that. Based on historical records, many had survived after getting into the Taiyuan Heaven, but they could not get out because the one holding the Taiyuan Token had died.
Once the owner died, the Taiyuan Token would immediately disappear, leaving those experts waiting for another millennium so that they could grab the Taiyuan Token from the newcomers to Taiyuan Heaven.
However, few people could live for a thousand years. Although there was an abundance of spiritual qi in Taiyuan Heaven, there was no Heavenly Thunder, which meant no Thunder Tribulation. Without the Thunder Tribulation, no matter how high a person's cultivation was, he could only arrive at the Demi-Mysterious Realm and nothing beyond. They were expected to live long lives, but it was still hard to live for a thousand years.
It was not impossible, though. Taiyuan Heaven had countless treasures of heaven and earth to offer, and it was not hard to find one that could prolong one's life. And if somebody had a little knowledge about the Alchemy skills, he would have a better chance at surviving for a thousand years.
Hence, for the person who was entering Taiyuan Heaven for the first time, the biggest threat came from those experts who had been there for the last thousand years rather than that of the evil beasts.
Having honed their skills for the last thousand years, even though they were not of the Metaphysic Realm, their cultivation and Internal Qi were much more profound than those of the ordinary people. And their familiarity with the environment meant they could easily set traps and lure others into trouble.
That led Zhou Bao to be extremely careful in Taiyuan Heaven.
"Hey, kid, have you thought about why those guys at Divine Wind Palace wanted to make a deal for your Taiyuan Token?"
Zhou Bao found the nearest peak, landed on it, and practiced his Snake-like Breath Holding Skill. When he was ready to start his search, Green Spirit's psywave suddenly came to his mind.
"They must know something that I don't. Maybe there are rare treasures in this area!" Zhou Bao pondered. "But I think you'd better not think about it as this place is really weird. We must get our priorities right. I don't mind finding out what Divine Wind Palace's real motives are after we've finished gathering all the materials for refining the Air-frozen Bead. But right now, we'd better stick to our original plan!"
Zhou Bou could decipher all the thoughts that had been in Green Spirits mind. He smiled and replied, "Kid, you are getting smarter all the time!"
"Even an idiot will turn into a cunning fox after spending so much time with you!" Zhou Bao said and slowly strolled down the mountain peak.
Taiyuan Heaven was a magical place, where exotic, rare flowers and herbs, which were believed to have been long extinct in the outside world bloomed abundantly all over the place. It was nourished by the excessive spiritual qi that was there. Unexpectedly, the materials Zhou Bao desired for his elixir were plentiful too.
Within two hours, Zhou Bao had found enough medicinal herbs for the Bone-Forging Pills and Tendon-Changing Pills within the mountain area; he had also found sufficient medicinal herbs for the Pulse Setting Pills and Blood Exchanging Pills. With careful searching, he even found the medicinal herbs for the Marrow Cleansing Pills which were extremely precious and he collected enough to concoct about 50 pieces.
"Good heavens! This is my lucky day!" Zhou Bao thought to himself as he gathered all the materials he needed. He had never been this lucky even in the Azure Secret Area.
"It's no big deal. Finding the herbs is an easy task because Taiyuan Heaven remains unchanged since the antiquity times. Azure Heaven, on the other hand, was transformed into the Azure Secret Area by the Powerful Divines, so now it's different from its original state!" Green Spirit read Zhou Bao's mind and explained to him by a psywave.
"It seems the Azure Secret Area holds many secrets. As long as I am done refining the Air-frozen Bead, I can enter and leave the Azure Secret Area randomly. The treasures will be all mine by then! Hhha!" Zhou Bao thought to himself.
A couple of hours had passed. Zhou Bao soon arrived at the hillside. By now, he had already found not only the medicinal herbs for the elixirs but also several materials for the Air-frozen Bead.
"If I keep going at this rate, it won't be long before I gather all the materials for the Air-frozen Bead!" This thought made Zhou Bao excited. Suddenly, however, the look on his face changed, and he dodged behind a huge rock, hid among some bushes and kept very still.
Three golden lights flashed and landed slowly on the mountain peak. They were the three experts Zhou Bao had seen at Divine Wind Palace.
"My goodness! They truly are after something! They didn't bother searching their own area but headed directly to ours. But they must have encountered something that made them look so dreadful!"
Zhou Bao and his two friends had been embarrassed by their appearance after they encountered the Cloud-swallowing Beast. These three men, however, looked worse than they did. Their clothes were in shreds and bad luck seemed to be written all over on their faces, except for Zhang Yunhao, who was seemingly the second oldest brother. He was the only one who looked normal. The golden-robed brute, whose arm had been broken by Zhou Bao, had wounds all over his body and would have died if he had not been a Level Eight expert.
But still, he looked pale, dizzy and was trembling so much that it looked as if he would topple over if he took one more step.
Yunhao, my brother, this should be the area we are looking for. We don't know if Zhou Bao is here or not, so we'd better be careful and try not to run into him!"
"I don't think so. There's nothing to be afraid of. I'll be glad to settle my score with him!" Upon hearing Zhou Bao's name, Emissary Chang, known as the golden-robed brute snorted. His face was all knotted up in anger and his huge eyes were shooting out sparks of fire.
"We'd better be careful! Although we have the upper hand, Zhou Bao is not just any ordinary person. On the contrary, he is a man with great luck, for he defeated Ye Qingtian, took the Sky-measuring Star Ruler from him and sabotaged Yan Yuntian's murder plot, during which he obtained another Pure Yang Celestial Device. He has three Pure Yang Celestial Devices altogether and he cannot be that easily defeated!" Zhang Yunhao coldly. "We made this trip in order to accomplish an important mission and we don't want any unnecessary trouble. You can settle your score with him after we are finished here and back to our world."
"Aye, my Lord!" said Emissary Chang. He dared not utter another word after hearing Zhang Yunhao's words.
"Don't let your hatred blind you, my friend. Our mission comes first!" Seeing that Emissary Chang was still angry, Zhang Yunhao said to him.
"I understand!" He lowered his head further down.
"That guy seems to be holding a grudge against me in his heart!" Zhou Bao said to Green Spirit, smiling.
"Nonsense! You broke his arm. Of course, he wants to tear you apart! You can try and see how it feels to have a broken arm!"
"That is not my thing!" Zhou Bao said with a swagger. "But now, I'm more interested in their mission!"
"The timing is perfect. There's no harm in following them to find out what exactly they are after. And I will not be wasting too much time!" Zhou Bao thought.
Zhou Bao was very happy with the smooth progress of his search. If he kept going at this speed, he would be able to gather all the materials he needed for the Air-frozen Bead within one or two days, which meant there would still be plenty of time left.
Having been lucky with his search in this world full of treasures, he thought it would be good too if he stalked those three guys and saw what people from Divine Wind Palace were after. Maybe he could even benefit from it. Who knew that?
"Oh, what a pity! They wouldn't be a threat to me if Wang She were here. With our combined powers and secret tactics, I will not be afraid of their so-called 'ace' card, whatever that is. But I can handle this by myself. After all, I can always run away even if I lose!" Zhou Bao pondered the various scenarios in his heart and followed them.
Could it be that their target was on the mountaintop?
Seeing them walking and searching along the way, Zhou Bao had a strange feeling. This mountain stood at the edge of his area. The three of them stopped at this mountain when their Taiyuan Token lighted up at a certain spot. Had they accidentally discovered their target? It was unbelievable!
Was that really a mere coincidence?
And it turned out to be true. It really did exist!
Apparently, this mountain was their destination. Zhang Yunhao held a map in his hand, which had suddenly appeared from nowhere. They headed deep into the mountain using the map as a guide.
This mountain was a medium-sized mountain in the entire Taiyuan Heaven. Although the mountain was not as high as it looked from afar, it was filled with dark forests and numerous hills and spread out over thousands of miles wide. No one knew what type of monsters or treasures were hidden in the deep forests.
The three men moved forward slowly with Zhang Yunhao in the lead. Along the journey, he constantly stopped to check the map, leaping up and down from time to time, as if trying to find the way. Zhou Bao followed them for three whole days, finding himself going deeper into the mountain range. Just when his patience was about to run out, they finally stopped.
"This is it! This is the exact position indicated on the map!" Zhang Yunhao put his map away, looked up at the high precipice and sighed deeply.