NOVPUBAfter the deal was struck, Xia Yanjie flipped his hand and took out an identity token from his bosom, engraved with the motif of flames and the ancient characters for "Xia Yan".
Xia Yanjie said, "Elder Blade, this is our Xia Yan family’s guest elder identity token, containing an ’Array Pattern’, allowing mutual contact and message transmission... However, it only functions within the boundaries of the Great Flame Empire."
This identity token of the Xia Yan family was quite mysterious; the mere fact that it could send messages was already beyond the capabilities of others.
With this token, the Xia Yan family could contact Su Changkong at any time, and Su Changkong could also get in touch with the Xia Yan family.
"Hmm."
Su Changkong reached out and took it.
Since the Xia Yan family had extended a helping hand to him, offering an extremely precious Soul Nurturing Spirit Liquid to save Hong Zhenxiang, Su Changkong naturally had to fulfill the duties of a guest elder.
At this, Hong Zhenxiang sincerely said to Su Changkong, "Younger Brother Su, you saved my life, and you will forever... be my brother!"
Hong Zhenxiang was aware that, to save him, Su Changkong not only fought a big battle with Pang Shengwu and incurred the wrath of figures like Qin Miesheng, the Master of the Life Extinguishing Association, but also agreed to become a guest elder of the Xia Yan family in exchange for the Soul Nurturing Spirit Liquid.
All this made Hong Zhenxiang very grateful, and he would definitely repay the favor if he ever got the chance!
"Commander Hong, you should focus on recuperating in the Cave Heaven and Blessed Land." Shaking his head, Su Changkong didn’t say much; he was never one to express his emotions openly.
Afterward, Hong Zhenxiang followed Xia Yanjie and left.
The seven demonic bodies were useless to Su Changkong, so he gave them to Hong Zhenxiang, allowing him to refine the demonic power within them in the Cave Heaven and Blessed Land.
Su Changkong could only hope that Hong Zhenxiang would really keep his true nature!
"I must also cultivate and enhance my strength."
Su Changkong did not delay; he left Flame City and returned to the Spirit Taoist Sect.
For Su Changkong, improving his strength was what he needed to do to deal with all troubles!
Back in the Spirit Taoist Sect, Su Changkong refined the over seven hundred strands of Innate Qi he had absorbed from the Life Extinguishing Association’s Spirit Vein, and also engaged in alchemy to cultivate those hundred Innate Martial Artists, continuously producing Turtle Breathing True Qi for him, which he used to condense Mysterious Turtle True Essence.
The Turtle Breath Technique of these one hundred Innate Martial Artists grew deeper and deeper, and the quality of the True Qi they provided continued to improve. What was once a drop of Mysterious Turtle True Essence in nearly half a year now only took two months, even a month, thus shortening the time required!
Over two months flashed by.
Su Changkong sat cross-legged in silence. Inside his Dantian, 9 drops of Mysterious Turtle True Essence lay quietly like shallow blue water-drop gemstones, yet contained within them was immense power.
During this period, Su Changkong had been practicing the Turtle Breath Technique. With the 700 strands of Innate Qi, plus the True Qi provided by the hundred Innate Martial Artists, his Mysterious Turtle True Essence increased from 5 drops to 9 drops. As the quantity of Mysterious Turtle True Essence grew, it would eventually lead to a qualitative change through accumulation!
"My Giant Whale Skill and Wind Thunder Archery have been at the tenth level for some time now. If I can push them to the eleventh level, reaching the pseudo-Divine Skills level, my combat power can rise another notch!" Su Changkong thought to himself.
The Wind Thunder Archery was a purely offensive archery technique, which meant that upon reaching the pseudo-Divine Skills level, its lethality would be tremendous. At the very least, it would be significantly stronger than the Five Animal Frolics, and coupled with the Mysterious Turtle True Essence, probably few under a Martial Saint could withstand an arrow!
As for the Giant Whale Skill, Su Changkong had to consume an entire Alien Beast to push it to the tenth realm. To elevate it to the eleventh realm, he would likely need to consume hundreds of Alien Beasts to refine more True Blood, which was no easy task!
Or to put it another way, it’s extremely difficult to cultivate any martial art to the level of pseudo-Divine Skills, let alone a true Martial Arts Divine Skill. That would be as difficult as reaching the heavens!
"Hmm?"
As Su Changkong pondered, his expression changed slightly. He took out an object from the Bag of Book Fragrance at his waist; it was an identity token, precisely the one Xia Yanjie had given him before.
At this moment, the token emitted a faint light. Su Changkong took the token in his hand, and as he sensed it quietly, the token conveyed a message: "Elder Blade, meet at the Small Wind Forest east of Flame City."
It was the Xia Yan family contacting Su Changkong.
"Has something happened that requires my intervention?" Su Changkong thought, certain that the Xia Yan family contacting him meant there was a mission.
"Let’s go take a look."
Su Changkong didn’t delay and decided to first see what the situation was,
Immediately, Su Changkong left the Spirit Taoist Sect and rode the White Crane towards the Small Wind Forest to the east of Flame City.
As he reached the air above the Small Wind Forest, from afar, Su Changkong could feel the presence of more than one person in the woods besides Xia Yanjie.
Whoosh!
Su Changkong leapt down from the back of the White Crane’s phantom, plunging towards the ground, and landed deftly in the forest. 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝔲𝔟.𝔠𝖔𝖒
Su Changkong saw that there were a total of five people in the forest aside from Xia Yanjie.
These five individuals were different in appearance and temperament, but all were subtly yet powerful.
Especially the one in the center, a man in a light brown robe who appeared to be in his thirties, dignified in appearance with a small beard, and black hair casually draped over his shoulders.
This light brown-robed man, although keeping his aura concealed, gave Su Changkong the intuition that he was certainly no weakling!
Those five also curiously observed Su Changkong.
Seeing that Su Changkong had arrived, Xia Yanjie immediately went up to him and introduced, "Elder Blade, this is the leader of the Flame Dragon Guard, Gu Feiyang."
