Stepping into the "Ash and Flow," Zhang Guodong was determined to take the risks. But behind the "Ash and Flow" was actually a portal, utterly without danger. It was the only way to pass from the first floor of the pagoda to the second.
So Zhang Guodong stepped inside, and before he could even process what was happening, he found himself in a strange, cramped space—a stone house built of some unknown material, with only one door leading outside. Before Zhang Guodong could even feel happy, the immense pressure of the space pressed him to the ground as soon as he set foot on solid ground.
With a loud "thud!", the person's body collided with the metallic ground, making a sound like a meat patty being splattered.
Before Zhang Guodong could even rejoice, tragedy struck. His body was crushed to the ground by immense pressure, unable to rise, and excruciating pain coursed through his entire body. His flesh and bones were relatively strong, though he could barely withstand the strain. But his internal organs were incredibly fragile; Zhang Guodong felt as if they were about to burst. Breathing became difficult, and finally, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The blood droplets couldn't fly far; they fell like objects in free fall, making thumping sounds, and by the time they hit the ground, they were already like solid beads.
The dramatic change was so overwhelming that most people couldn't process it. Although Zhang Guodong deeply resented and despised the person who built the nine-story pagoda, and was already on guard, the sheer magnitude of the change still nearly killed him!
Shocked! Unconvinced!
Zhang Guodong roared, his physical strength exploding, his muscles bulging as if he were inflating, almost exerting all his power. The pressure on his body instantly lessened by half. Under the immense physical force, he could slowly, like an old man, shakily stand up. At this moment, his face was completely pale. This fall had caused him internal injuries, and the injuries were quite severe.
Internal injuries are different from external injuries. The internal organs are too fragile, and recovery is more difficult than with external injuries. Zhang Guodong dared not be careless at all and immediately took out a basic Qi-boosting pill and swallowed it.
The Qi-Boosting Pill is a basic pill, used to treat internal injuries. For Zhang Guodong, his internal organs were trembling, and his blood vessels were even ruptured. One Qi-Boosting Pill would be basically enough.
Zhang Guodong chose to sit cross-legged. Although the pressure on his buttocks was not light due to the immense pressure, or rather, the force of gravity, he had no choice but to sit quietly, as it was the easiest way to enter a state of lightness and agility.
By circulating the "Azure Profound Heart Method" and absorbing the medicinal power released by the Qi-Boosting Pill, his internal injuries were healing at a visible rate.
Within an hour, Zhang Guodong's injuries had healed.
He even felt that his internal organs were a little more resilient than before.
His eyes lit up. Zhang Guodong finally understood. The stone house blocked his view of the outside world. But inside, the immense gravity affected not just his body, but every single cell, even his internal organs. However, under the protection of the **, this pressure was significantly reduced.
But there is still considerable pressure!
A gravitational field is generally the best place for training. Zhang Guodong recently suffered an injury, but after taking a basic-level pill to recover, the strength of his internal organs has improved.
"Haha, I never expected this place to be such an excellent place to hone my skills! If gravity existed here, wouldn't my skill cultivation speed be greatly improved?!"
I've figured something out. Absolutely thrilled!
Zhang Guodong carefully sensed the surroundings and confirmed this. Inside the dark stone house, behind him was a portal shrouded in gray energy, but inside, the gravity was twice that of wearing a lead suit!
With such an environment, it would be truly shameful not to seize the opportunity to cultivate oneself!
At the very least, one must first adapt to an environment with twice the gravity, otherwise one won't even be able to get out of this stone house.
Ignoring everything else, Zhang Guodong began to disperse his life force, gradually weakening it layer by layer, and the gravity he felt on his body gradually increased. When Zhang Guodong only retained one layer of life force, the gravity on his body made him feel as if he were carrying a huge mountain on his back, and it was difficult to even lift his feet.
However, Zhang Guodong was not alarmed but rather delighted. The longer he could endure this gravity environment, the better it would temper his body. Once he adapted to twice the gravity, his physical strength level would definitely increase significantly.
In a way, Zhang Guodong might be considered an oddball.
The person who built this nine-story pagoda probably never imagined that its inheritor would not only cultivate physical strength but also possess internal cultivation techniques, practicing both internal and external methods. This created even better conditions for physical cultivation, unintentionally accelerating Zhang Guodong's physical cultivation progress.
Furthermore, there's another treasure: elixirs!
Because if one relies solely on physical strength to resist gravity, one will be injured every time, and without the support of elixirs, the efficiency of cultivation will be greatly reduced, as a lot of time will be spent recovering from injuries.
But elixirs are something that exists in the world of plant cultivation.
Since the nine-story pagoda appeared, Zhang Guodong did not find any pill formulas or elixirs inside, nor even any spiritual fruits that could be consumed directly.
There's no way we can talk about getting treatment quickly then.
Taking all these advantages into account, Zhang Guodong got incredibly lucky. Regardless of whether his life is in danger, he has at least started off much better.
Zhang Guodong stood up heavily, as if shackled, looking as if he could be blown away by the wind at any moment. Then he began to practice the mutated Five Elements Fist, punching and kicking.
He has never given up this boxing technique!
However, gradually, Zhang Guodong soon discovered a headache-inducing problem.
Only one-tenth of her life force was used to protect her body, but the rate of depletion was ten times faster than the rate of external consumption, making it practically the same as using all her life force. At this rate, her life force would be completely depleted in less than an hour.
Left with no other choice, he seized the time to cultivate, and when his life force was low, he would circulate the "Azure Profound Heart Method" to recover.
When Zhang Guodong first activated the "Azure Profound Heart Method," he was pleasantly surprised. As soon as the technique was activated within the stone house, countless streams of spiritual energy surged in.
Instantly, the spiritual energy in the stone house became ten thousand times stronger!
shock!
Regardless of whether there's something strange about this stone house, or whether the second-level pagoda itself is rich in spiritual energy, with ten thousand times more spiritual energy, the recovery will be even faster!
Encountering such an excellent environment for honing his skills, Zhang Guodong momentarily forgot about time. He replenished his hunger and thirst with spiritual energy, and even though he still felt slightly uncomfortable, the joy of his gradually increasing physical strength overwhelmed everything. When he felt mentally exhausted, he focused on two things at once, circulating the "Azure Profound Heart Method," and the fatigue vanished instantly.
During this time, crackling sounds occasionally emanated from his body, causing Zhang Guodong's aura to intensify several times over, and his ability to resist gravity to increase by one level. However, this was just a microcosm; Zhang Guodong, immersed in his cultivation, did not stop because of this.
**His cultivation has begun a major breakthrough!**
A month passed in the blink of an eye; for cultivators, a month is like the blink of an eye.
The people outside were very anxious about this.
Deep in the mountains. In a stone cave above a mountain stream.
Liu Meigui and Bai Yin appeared restless and agitated. Bai Yin, in particular, complained incessantly, shouting that she would teach Zhang Guodong a lesson if she saw him.
"Hmph, I knew this kid wasn't a good person last time, and he fooled us all this time!" "Gui, you're just too trusting!" Bai Yin gestured with her fingers, looking both resentful and angry.
As Liu Meigui listened, she began to have doubts in her heart. Had she really been deceived by Zhang Guodong this time? Ten days had passed since the agreed time, and she had sent a message to Zhang Guodong, but there was still no reply.
Did I really make the wrong bet?
She didn't care about twenty or thirty low-grade crystals. But if her judgment was wrong, it would be a very serious matter.
She is not someone who easily trusts others. Besides, anyone who can survive in a fiercely competitive environment where strength is paramount must be extremely shrewd.
Senior Brother Baiyin kept nagging her. At first, she ignored it, but as time went by, she began to doubt herself.
"Senior brother, let's wait a little longer. Maybe something has delayed him." Liu Meigui frowned, bit her red lips, and a sharp glint appeared in her eyes.
"Oh, you believe that? In my opinion, why don't we go down the mountain now? That kid left in the northeast direction. I remember there are villages and towns of mortals there. Maybe we can find him there!" Bai Yin said. "Besides, we've had enough of this place. The food is bad, and the accommodations are even worse. Even if we don't find that kid, we can just grab someone and control them. That way we can still learn about the outside world."
It took ten days!
Liu Meigui was very interested in Baiyin's suggestion. After pondering for a moment, she said, "Alright, let's listen to Senior Brother and leave here. Let's head northeast and enter the mortal world."
Bai Yin, the effeminate man, cheered with obvious delight, then complained, "Oh dear, I haven't washed myself in so long, I was so uncomfortable, I could almost smell the stench! This is great!"
Liu Meigui rolled her eyes, quickly tidied herself up, jumped down from the stone cave, and sped off in the northeast direction with Baiyin.
My heart is burning with urgency to leave the mountain!
So neither of them held back, unleashing their full life force and leaving two afterimages in the forest.
Such a complete relocation is generally considered a major taboo in the mountains. However, the only third person in this vast mountain range, the bald man, used the Blood Escape Technique, which cannot be cured in just one or two months. Once the Blood Escape Technique is used, even if one survives the ordeal, it will take one to two years to recover. If one wants to restore one's cultivation level, it will take even longer.
Liu Meigui and her fellow disciples couldn't find the bald man. They couldn't kill him, and then they stole his storage bag, but they weren't worried that the bald man would recover from his injuries or even his cultivation so quickly to launch a sneak attack.
So the bald man seemed to have been forgotten. Deep in the mountains.
Liu Meigui and Baiyin spent half a day traversing the jungle, which wasn't easy for them either. To be honest, the physical strength of plant cultivators is really weak; half a day of traversing the jungle, which depleted their life force, had consumed nearly 80% of their life force! They were quite exhausted.
If it were Zhang Guodong using his full strength, he wouldn't need to worry about any of this; it would be quite different.
Fortunately, the exit from the mountain pass is in sight in the distance.
"Senior brother, let's rest for a bit and recover our cultivation! We don't know anything about the outside world, and it would be troublesome if we encountered a powerful enemy!" Liu Meigui said to Bai Yin, her forehead slightly sweaty. She was about to leave the mountain, but she wasn't in a hurry to go.
Bai Yin, this effeminate guy, isn't very strong sexually either. He should originally be a man, but now, perhaps due to excessive estrogen secretion, his sexual strength has decreased considerably. In terms of sexual strength, men have a significant advantage over women.
He was really tired now. He was covered in sweat and didn't like it at all.
The two found a relatively secluded spot, sat down cross-legged, and began to practice breathing exercises. However, the spiritual energy outside was simply insufficient, so they had no choice but to each take out twenty low-grade crystals, clutching them painfully in their hands, to extract the life force and demonic energy within.
Generally speaking, twenty low-grade crystals are barely enough for them to recover 80% of their lost life-giving demonic power. This shows how crucial crystals are to plant cultivators. Moreover, they are extremely scarce, a vital necessity that can never be fully replenished. Currently, every crystal used is one less available, with no replenishment whatsoever.
As night fell, Willow Rose and Bai Yin emerged from the forest one after the other, looking refreshed. After several hours of absorbing energy and consuming twenty low-grade crystals, their cultivation levels had recovered.
Unfortunately, there were dozens of broken stones on the ground, which should have been low-grade crystals full of life and demonic energy.
Having lost its life force, it became an ordinary stone, cracking into a pile.
The two soon arrived at a hilltop. Standing there, they could see lights twinkling in the distance, indicating that they had reached the land inhabited by mortals.
"There should be a village over there, Rose. I think we should go there." Baiyin's voice trembled slightly, but it was with excitement. They were finally seeing a place with more people; they wouldn't have to live in the cave anymore, and they wouldn't have to eat tasteless wild animal meat.
The two siblings rarely ate in the mountains, mostly substituting food for cultivation. However, not eating for too long was also not good. But without seasonings, the roasted meat became difficult to swallow after a while.
The village Baiyin was referring to was actually Jixing Village!
By sheer coincidence, they actually found this place!
Willow Rose looked in that direction and quickly nodded.
At this moment, Peach Blossom Abode is not peaceful.
Xuan Qingxuan, who rarely appears, actually came out and left Taoyuanzhu for the first time as night fell. Qin Lina was quite familiar with the village, so Xuan Qingxuan only took her along as a guide.
"Seriously, Senior Sister, she didn't even take me with her when she met Senior Brother Zhou Xie!" Qingzhu muttered discontentedly as she munched on some fruit in the courtyard.
Li Yun, standing beside her, seemed lost in thought, a hint of worry in her eyes.
So only Qizhu was left muttering to himself.
Zhou Xie, the eldest disciple of the Fourth Elder, and Fu Peng, the eldest disciple of the Twelfth Elder, left the Plant Cultivation Realm and followed the Lin family. Of all the disciples, only the somewhat effeminate and wicked Zhou Xie had a good relationship with the burly and forthright Han Peng. This benefited the Lin family, who now had two eldest disciples.
"Hey, what are you doing, standing there like an idiot? Still worried about that stinky guy? What's there to worry about in cultivation! It's only been a month!" Qingzhu picked up a golden pear and tapped Li Yun on the forehead.
"Huh? What?"
"What are you doing? If I don't knock on your head, you'll be lovesick to death. I really don't know what's so great about that jerk. He already has a wife and kids. And he's still throwing himself at me. Me? No way! That's too good for him!" Qingzhu said.
"Pfft!" Li Yun burst out laughing. "Hurry up and eat. You don't have anyone you like, how can you feel the sweetness of love?"
"cut!"
Unbeknownst to them, two figures were lurking towards them, their killing intent palpable!
These two were none other than Liu Meigui and her senior brother Bai Yin. They never expected to encounter such a treasure land with such abundant spiritual energy! A hundred times stronger than usual; there must be some kind of spirit-gathering array here!
A surge of greed instantly arose within them! If they could eliminate everyone here, the spirit-gathering array would be theirs!
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