Behind them was a beautiful country scenery: a vast expanse of grassland, measuring tens of thousands of miles wide and surrounded by an undulating mountain range. Countless lakes of varying sizes dotted the grassland with millions of animals galloping across it, sending dust and grass into the air.
In front of them was a pristine land, and a sheet of purple light was slowly spreading toward them from across the distance. Numerous mountains crumbled to dust amidst the purple light, turning into grayish chaotic energy that drifted around and quickly absorbed by the mountains further away. After absorbing these chaotic energies, those mountains rapidly grew taller and larger. Some of them, whose height was over ten thousand miles at the beginning, abruptly grew taller by a few times, with their peaks now poking through a few layers of clouds in the sky.
The purple light gradually faded away when it was still a few thousand miles from Wu Qi and his company, turning into countless golden flowers falling from the void. A billions of miles wide patch sky was blotted out with a rain of pale golden flowers. As that happened, a graceful celestial tune could be heard drifting down from the sky. The clouds within the region all turned pale golden, and shafts of strange light penetrated the clouds to fall onto the ground. Flowers, trees, and wild animals that were illuminated by these shafts of light grew at a rapid pace.
Right under the Supreme Tower, a patch of grassland, about a hundred miles in circumference, was illuminated by a dazzling shaft of light, which turned the flowers and trees there particularly strong and lush in just a flash. A weed tree, which was only tens of feet tall, abruptly grew up to thousands of feet tall, with its tip nearly touching the bottom of the Supreme Tower. On top of that, its entire trunk was now smeared with a faint green layer of energy. From a common weed tree, it had transformed into a rare spirit wood.
Several lions lurking in the grass were letting out joyful roars into the sky as their bodies, which were already more than thirty feet long, expanded rapidly to over a hundred feet long. At the same time, their muscles were bulging, their hair glittering like gold, and their feet were shrouded in gusting winds and raging flames. Clearly, they had leaped out of the mortal realm.
Gradually, three pale purple clouds came drifting over from across the distance, hovering above them. Then, a golden light rain came falling down from these purple clouds, turning into three golden torrents and pouring into the bodies of Wu Qi, King Yang Qiu, and Yu Gu. Watching in horror at the purple clouds hovering above them and the golden light rain pouring into their bodies, Wu Qi could not help but suck in a cold breath. What was this? It was obviously the Purple Energy of Virtues, the legendary Virtues of the Heavenly Dao!
The virtues poured into Wu Qi's body like molten gold, soaking each of his cells at an extremely high temperature. But, such terrible heat did not do him any harm; instead, he enjoyed and welcomed the bestowing of virtues with open arms. His body was shivering, his soul was laughing, and each hair of his was waving happily in this golden rain of light. Narrowing his eyes, Wu Qi suddenly perceived an extremely mysterious and profound aura from this golden rain of light.
The bottleneck which had trapped Wu Qi for a long time, preventing him from breaking through the next realm, silently disappeared, as if it never existed.
From the ground down below, boundless Pangu Sacred Energy surged into the sky, turning into purple torrents and rushing into Wu Qi's body. Normally, these purple energies could not be detected even by an immortal's divine sense; but as the amount of purple energy pouring into Wu Qi's body was too abundant and dense, it actually condensed into purple torrents that could be witnessed even by the naked eyes of ordinary mortals. Dull rumbles could be heard as the torrents kept pouring into his body, partly absorbed by his fleshly body and partly transformed into chaotic energies.
The strength of his fleshly body broke through another lever, then another, and another...
His cultivation level was making a breakthrough as well, from the First Star Realm of the Second Pangu Heaven to the Second Star Realm, the Third Star Realm...In just a quarter of an hour, the purple energies forcibly rushing into Wu Qi's body had pushed his cultivation of the True Body of Heaven and Earth Scripture into the Seventh Star Realm of the Second Pangu Heaven! He was now standing firmly in the mighty realm that was equivalent to a fifth-tier Gold Immortal, a realm that gave him the power to overturn rivers and seas, topple hills and mountains, or even destroy a small outer heavenly realm with just one single strike!
At the same time, his chaotic energy spared no effort in absorbing the purple energy that was pouring into him. Pushed by the Virtues of the Heavenly Dao, the profound knowledge of the Song of Gale, the Dark Yin Water Scripture, the Inferno Hell Fiend Scripture, and even the Innate Pure Yang Universal Scripture which he had just obtained and didn't have time to study, was rapidly fusing with his innate divine soul. At that moment, all the mysterious and unfathomable Heavenly Dao contained in these cultivation techniques became as simple as one plus one equals two.
Even the state of enlightenment which Wu Qi often entered could not be compared with the speed of enlightenment that was now driven by the Virtues of the Heavenly Dao. In just a quarter of an hour, his understanding of the Heavenly Dao, especially the profound knowledge found in those cultivation techniques he possessed, such as the Song of Gale, had broken through into the realm of the peak first-tier Gold Immortal realm. As that happened, the level of his chaotic energy surged, and his cultivation base, as well as power, grew steadily.
Eighteenth-tier Gold Immortal, seventeenth-tier, sixteenth-tier...
By the time a Golden Wheel of Virtues had taken its shape right behind Wu Qi's head, the level of his power and cultivation had skyrocketed into the realm of fifth-tier Gold Immortal, exactly the same as the realm of his fleshly body. But, the Virtues of the Heavenly Dao continued to rain down from the sky, showing no sign of stopping. Clenching his teeth, Wu Qi decided to take this opportunity to push the level of his power and cultivation to the highest limit that his understanding of the Heavenly Dao permitted.
Suddenly, Ao Buzun heaved a faint sigh in his ear and cried out, "Your power is not your foundation, but your divine soul is! Absorb all the remaining Virtues of the Heavenly Dao into your divine soul, as that will allow you to form an innate divine soul of virtues, which is capable of repelling any magic and evil spell! Well, well...Why is there such an enormous amount of virtues when you have just killed a Primordial Immortal? What evil deeds had these immortals done in these years, causing the Heavenly Dao to hate them so much?"
Wu Qi was taken aback. Indeed, what unacceptable deeds had the Sovereign done? Why did the Heavenly Dao hate him to this extent? The amount of virtues that came falling down endlessly like rain was incredible!
But then, Wu Qi threw the question aside. 'Why should I be concerned with what the Sovereign had done? I have a more pressing issue now. As Ao Buzun said, the level of my power and cultivation is an intangibility, and I can always slowly improve them in the future. He is right…My divine soul is the foundation of everything! Only a strong divine soul can allow me to better control my power and understand the Heavenly Dao to control everything!'
The Virtues of the Heavenly Dao that continued to fall quickly fused into Wu Qi's innate divine soul. In his boundless spiritual ocean, his innate divine soul grew rapidly into a golden giant after absorbing a vast amount of virtues, shrouded in a blinding golden light. The Golden Wheel of Virtues hovered behind the giant's head, so huge that it almost enveloped the whole giant. Golden flowers, golden raindrops, and countless runes swirled and wheeled around the giant, filling him with an air of inviolable majesty.
The rain of the virtues lasted for half an hour. For Wu Qi, the benefits he received during the process were too immense to be described with words; it was as if he were reborn once again. By the time the purple clouds of the virtues slowly dissipated, each strand of his hair was emitting a faint golden glow, revealing a profound and unfathomable mystery.
King Yang Qiu, who was standing next to Wu Qi, had no obvious change in appearance, but his expression was incomparably...bizarre. While trembling, he stared at Wu Qi, his eyes filled with explosive wild joy. Then, he grabbed Wu Qi by the arm and stammered, "I...I have been rewarded by the Heavenly Dao...with a prolongation of life...for an entire Aeon!"
Wu Qi trembled and his scalp went numb!
The humans of Great Yu had a limit on their lifespan, no matter how high their level of cultivation was. Ordinary people only had a lifespan of about a hundred to two hundred years, while practitioners of the cultivation techniques of the human race, such as the True Body of Heaven and Earth Scripture, could have their lifespan extended by up to a hundred years. But, if one could strengthen the essence of his soul by fusing with a powerful beast soul, he could extend his lifespan by thousands, tens of thousands, or even several Periods, depending on the strength of the beast soul.
However, even if one fused with the soul of a divine beast, such as the azure dragon or white tiger, a lifespan of twelve Periods was the limit. If one wished to extend his life expectancy further than that, he would have to consume all sorts of rare natural spirit herbs. But, there were only a few spirit herbs that could prolong life, and if one took too many of them, the body would develop drug resistance. As a result, life expectancy could no longer be prolonged after multiple doses of the same herb.
Therefore, even if the Human Emperor of Great Yu could sit on the throne for dozens of Periods, he would eventually die.
But because of the Virtues of the Heavenly Dao, the lifespan of King Yang Qiu was prolonged for an entire Aeon! For him, a member of the Great Yu imperial clan, this Aeon of lifespan represented a lot of things! Perhaps with his long life, he would have the chance to sit on the lofty throne of the Human Emperor! Sometimes, lifespan was also a kind of capital, and was a very important one!
'How nice!' thought Wu Qi as he stared at King Yang Qiu, his face smiling. 'It's wonderful that the life expectancy of my backer has been prolonged by a whole Aeon! If King Yang Qiu were ever to become the Human Emperor...' The smile on his face grew broader as he gave King Yang Qiu a heartfelt bow and said, "Congratulations, Your Excellency! This is really great news, an amazing reward!"
Even as King Yang Qiu was laughing like a fool, Yu Gu, who was standing next to them, let out a ground-shaking laugh!
Originally, Yu Gu looked old and wizened, and seemed ready to die at any moment. Having taken countless spirit herbs that could prolong his life, he had no other way to extend it. Now, however, he had suddenly returned to his prime age, looking like a man who seemed to be in his thirties. Strong energy and vast aura came spreading out of his body, and anyone could tell that his vitality had been completely restored; his lifespan had been greatly prolonged, and he must have made a big step forward in cultivation base.
"Killing a Primordial Immortal is like getting rid of a silverfish for the Heavenly Dao, and the result is incredibly amazing!" Stroking his long beard, Yu Gu laughed and said. "I never expected that we could be bestowed with such an enormous benefit by killing a Primordial Immortal... It's a pity that a Primordial Immortal is not an easy target to kill."
Wu Qi and King Yang Qiu exchanged a glance, then both suddenly threw their heads back and burst into laughter.
With an unsightly expression, Yu Qingcheng was staring at Wu Qi, his hands clenched tightly into fists and his fingernails dug deep into his flesh. 'Why were there only three purple clouds of virtues?' He growled furiously in his mind. 'Why is even this little punk rewarded by the Heavenly Dao? What about me? Can't the Heavenly Dao see that I, Yu Qingcheng, had also contributed in the killing of the Sovereign?!'
Boundless killing intent surged into his head. Yu Qingcheng's hatred toward Wu Qi had climbed up to another new height! Yu Qingcheng felt that, if it weren't for Wu Qi, this credit, this virtue, should all have been his!
Suddenly, Wu Qi turned around and darted a cold look at Yu Qingcheng while laughing coldly in his heart.
'Don't worry! I'll take care of you and your disciples when we get back!'