"Is this it?"
Ah Zhu always felt that the green mountain in front of him was extremely ordinary, not like a place where a strong man lived in seclusion. It was remote and useless, and even the source energy was far from sufficient, and the fluctuation was stable at the weak level. But Xia Xiao looked at the map on the scroll and confirmed that this was correct. This Daqing Mountain was the tallest among the mountains, and they were not wrong.
"After all, you are a strong man of the fourteenth level. You should at least choose a nice residence to live in. This is too ordinary."
Xia Xiao couldn't help but say, "You can't judge a person by his appearance, and you can't measure the depth of the sea." Among the six hermits that Yu Shangyan was looking for, this hermit was the strongest, and the last time he appeared was twenty years ago. Even if his strength has not improved in the past twenty years, he is still at the peak of the fourteenth level. If he is invited back to the Desolate Palace, it will be of great benefit to his own and his disciples' cultivation.
The Daqing Mountain in front of them was too lush to see what was inside, but if they rashly used their energy to look for it, it would be too rude. Therefore, they chose to walk up the mountain to see if there were people living there. If they couldn't find any, they would use their energy to look again.
Whether in the current Xishu or in the past Great Wilderness, Xia Xiao had rarely seen hermits. But they must have their own reasons for living in seclusion, perhaps to practice in seclusion, or to stay away from the world and not want to worry about the affairs of the world. But now, Xia Xiao and Azhu had to pull them out and bring them back to the Wilderness Palace.
The six people this time are all in the territory of Zhuangzong, which is the northeast corner of the prosperous continent. The easternmost one is here, and there are five more scattered around. Xia Xiao and his team will start from the east and go from east to west. Everyone hopes to have a good start and be successful from the beginning, so they are highly focused and pay great attention to the environment in the mountains.
The mountains were densely green and extremely quiet, with towering trees that made Xia Xiao and Azhu, who were standing below, surprised when they looked up.
“This tree is probably hundreds of years old.”
"In such a world, there are really only long-lived people."
Xia Xiao said, making a mark at the original place, and he and Azhu kept going up. Their figures were casual, stepping on leaves and soil, walking forward like taking a walk in the mountains, but the direction they were heading was the place with the most abundant source energy in the mountains. After walking for a long time, Xia Xiao didn't worry about it. He thought there would be something like a maze, but he never returned to the original place.
Perhaps, the old senior who was hiding here never thought that someone would come to find him and ask him to come out.
There are many forces in the prosperous continent, and there are very few free people. They gave up everything to get this quiet life of seclusion. As long as they don't go against the Heavenly Palace, they can find a place to settle down. But generally no one will come to them, because if these stubborn hermits are so easy to talk to, how can they live in seclusion? But Xia Xiao and Ah Zhu have good teeth, no matter how hard the bone is, they want to gnaw it.
After walking for about half an hour, the fog in the mountains became thicker and thicker, blocking out the sunlight, making Xia Xiao and Azhu more vigilant. At this point, they could no longer be blind, so when Azhu closed and opened his eyes, a flash of blood flashed in his eyes, and he immediately sensed the presence of the hermit.
"He's over there!"
Ah Zhu pointed in the opposite direction and took Xia Xiao with him. The journey to find the hermit was extremely difficult, because they were all people with strange tempers. But how to negotiate and what conditions to offer, you have to meet them first. Xia Xiao and the others had a direction, and knew that the fog was not caused by the hermit, so fortunately they went forward recklessly, but they also felt strange.
"Even if he can't sense our presence, he can detect something strange in the mist. Why doesn't he come out?"
"When I saw him just now, he seemed to be practicing and was about to break through the shackles and reach the fifteenth level."
"No wonder, I was wondering why there was no movement."
Xia Xiao felt much more at ease. He walked forward, climbed over a few small slopes, and ran for half an hour. He reached the back of the mountain and could see a small green-tiled house in the distance.
It was located alone in a 100-meter-long pit in the mountain. There was nothing special about it, not even a fence, and no spiritual array luster in the air. The entire hut was also wrapped in thick fog, and it was extremely ethereal. Xia Xiao and Azhu stood more than ten meters in front of it before they confirmed its authenticity.
"Just wait here so as not to disturb his advancement."
Ah Zhu nodded. If that was the case, there would be no way to bring it back. So he stepped back for a distance and sat on a stone at the edge of the pit, watching the visible fluctuations in it.
The fluctuations were strong, like a huge rock falling into the water, causing violent ripples in the space, and also making the fog disappear within a hundred meters around the cabin. Such fluctuations did not look like the fourteenth level, let alone the fifteenth level. But it was extremely strong, enough to crush a person. At least Xia Xiao had to hide behind Ah Zhu to avoid being affected.
From this we can see how strong Ah Zhu is, because now she has not even used the power of the gods. Facing the ripples that are shaking the space, she just raises her little hand to block everything, just like blocking ordinary wind, it is not difficult at all.
"No wonder there are no trees around. This is probably not the first time I've attempted the fifteenth level."
Xia Xiao had said that the terrain here was a little strange, and now he finally understood what was going on. When the ripples appeared, they kept washing the surroundings, making the mud and dust within a hundred meters seem to be washed away by the water flow. As for the small house in the center, it was about to break apart, and a gust of wind could wash it down.
Three hours later, Xia Xiao and Ah Zhu were just getting bored when the blue-tiled house suddenly broke into countless pieces with a loud bang and ceased to exist. Then, a gust of wind swept up the dust and rushed towards Ah Zhu.
"Fuck? Luckily we're not in the city, or else it would be terrible."
Ah Zhu's fragrant breath did not surprise Xia Xiao. But the aura in the space had changed a little. When Xia Xiao felt it, Ah Zhu stared at him and sighed:
"He failed to attack, and his energy is dissipating. If this continues, his cultivation will regress and he will be injured."
"Is there any way to remedy this?"
"Yes, just gather all the source energy together."
"Is it difficult?"
"fine."
"Then give it a try?"
Even if we don't talk about persuading them, as the younger generation, they would help if they could. How could they just stand by and watch when they saw it? Ah Zhu immediately used the power of the gods to gather the source energy that overwhelmed the trees, turning it into a crystal clear gem, which fell into the dust. The dust quickly dissipated, and the figure of the person in it was revealed.
This was an old man with a hooked nose and wearing a dark green robe. He was tall and slender. He was sitting cross-legged in the ruins. His wrinkled face was full of panic, but it slowly disappeared and was replaced by a few traces of indifference. But there was still a lot of worry in his frown. He didn't know who helped him, and he couldn't feel it. It was really strange.
But since he has taken action, he should not harm me. Therefore, the old man with the hooked nose immediately absorbed the source energy to stabilize his condition. After waiting for an hour, he slowly opened his eyes and looked at the two people who he could not sense. He couldn't figure it out. He was so close, he could sense the soil they stepped on, but he couldn't sense their breath. Strange...
"Greetings, senior! Are you Zhao Xinluo, the famous Shadowless Eagle?"
Xia Xiao and Ah Zhu immediately bowed, which shocked him. Since he knew his name, it seemed that he was not simple. I wonder why he found this place? It's not that no one has found this place before, but they were all accidental people. No one had ever known his name and came here, so he was full of doubts.
"I wonder who you two are?"
"I am Xia Xiao from Huang Palace."
"I am Azhu of Huangdian."
"Desolate Palace?"
Zhao Xinluo searched quickly in his mind, but couldn't find any force related to the word "Huangdian", so he asked again which force was in charge of Huangdian.
"It is under the direct jurisdiction of the Heavenly Palace."
After these words were spoken, Zhao Xinluo snorted in annoyance and looked at him with disdain.
"Young man, you have to pay a price for speaking. I have only been out of the martial arts world for 20 years. How could a new earth-level force emerge?"
"The source energy that was scattered before was gathered by Ah Zhu beside me. You should know that this is not an easy task. It is difficult to gather the main source energy and suppress the restless source energy, but she did it in just one minute. Also, we are indeed a ground-level force. Although it will not be long, it is something that Lord Tianwang has personally acknowledged."
The two figures in front of him were indeed mysterious, which made Zhao Xinluo ask:
"You guys helped me?"
"Exactly."
"Thank you, my two friends. Please accept my greetings!"
Zhao Xinluo wanted to salute after he finished speaking. He never liked to owe others. This idea was known by Ah Zhu. It was too easy to repay a favor with a gift. Ah Zhu just raised her finger and he couldn't move. Zhao Xinluo's previous doubts disappeared immediately, and he looked at Ah Zhu with disbelief.
It's really strange that a little girl can control herself so easily and make her powerless to resist.
"Thank you for being so polite, Senior. We cannot accept this gift, but there is one thing we would like you to help us with. It will only benefit you, and there will be no negative impact."
When he was able to move again, Zhao Xinluo straightened his clothes. His face was complicated due to the disappointment and depression caused by the failure to advance, but he still asked what happened.
"Would you please come back with us to the Desolate Palace and become an elder?"
"You two are really joking. Since I chose to live in seclusion, I will never come back to the world. I can't repay you for helping me this time, but it is really difficult for me to serve as an elder in your sect."
Zhao Xinluo secretly cursed the two men. They only helped him once, but they wanted him to sell himself. It was really wishful thinking. But Xia Xiao had no choice but to persuade them:
"From the previous fluctuations of the source energy, you should have advanced many times but never succeeded. If you delay any further, it may be disadvantageous to yourself. In my Desolate Palace, there are boxes of ammunition donated by the Heavenly Palace and the Heavenly King, as well as many spiritual medicines and holy fruits. Maybe you can break through your own shackles once you go there. What do you think?"
"My friend, you keep mentioning the Heavenly Palace and the Heavenly King. I wonder when the Desolate Palace was established? When did it break through the human-level power and become the Earth-level? My friend, no matter how big the Desolate Palace is, you should stop mentioning the Heavenly Palace and the Heavenly King to avoid trouble. It's not easy to practice, so you can't hurt yourself like this."
Although Zhao Xinluo was polite, the cold expression on his mean face clearly showed that he did not believe that a force he had never heard of could become a ground-level existence in just 20 years and make the king of heaven send gifts. This was something he had never heard of, but Xia Xiao just smiled and said something shocking, which made him stunned for a long time.