Gongyi Tianheng soon departed.
He travelled when it was nighttime because it would be the most convenient for him to hasten the journey while under the cover of darkness. He didn’t need to rely on other modes of transportation, and he was faster than ordinary commercial airplanes.
After one or two hours passed, he smoothly arrived at that tropical rainforest.
In this place, Tianheng could sense that the ambient qi was somewhat denser than outside.
Among the few big cities he passed by, he could clearly tell that a lot of pollution was discharged into the atmosphere. As a result, the ambient qi was dispersed, and it was only a matter of course that the concentration would go down.
Tianheng didn’t think too much about it as his figure flashed ahead. He already entered this dense forest.
The area this tropical rainforest occupied was incredibly vast, but it wasn’t bigger than the various woods that sprawled across his own world. Also, while the animals that existed in this rainforest came in fantastic shapes and sizes, in terms of the degree of danger, they also couldn’t compare to those capable wild beasts.
Consequently, this rainforest was fraught with death and danger for countless people, but for Tianheng, he travelled through it like he was strolling down an ordinary road. There was nothing that could obstruct him.
This extended to the innumerable ferocious beasts that lived in seclusion within this rainforest. After Tianheng released a trace of imposing aura, these animals had long perceived that this human would be hard to provoke. They didn’t dare emerge from their dens at all, and could only let him move freely.
Step by step, Tianheng approached the center of the tropical rainforest.
The deeper he went, the denser and lusher the trees.
If it was said that the outer layer showed occassional traces of humanity, then in this place, those traces became increasingly few in number. It was to the point that one could only occasionally see the footprints of wild animals, the sheddings of fur, and the bloodstains after battle.
Tianheng walked and walked. All of a sudden, his expression became somewhat subtle.
From here, he could already see that enormous tree in the rainforest’s core region, but it wasn’t that much taller than the other trees — It was probably afraid that, if it was too tall, it would be easily discovered by humanity? On the contrary, its trunk was very thick. Although, while it would take quite a few people to wrap their arms around the trunk, this tree’s broadness also didn’t exceed this forest’s conventional limits.
What went beyond Tianheng’s expectations was that this place was too normal.
As everyone knew, Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects were good things that were beloved by heaven and earth. After long periods of time, they usually developed rather powerful spiritualities. Each of them also had different natures and special characteristics. However, no matter what kind of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object, they all accumulated enormous amounts of energy in their bodies. As a result, in the places where they resided, the things in the surroundings would be nourished by the energies that radiated from them.
Thus, these lucky things would undergo certain mutations, directly evolve to possess similar energies, or obtain certain benefits due to the radiated energy... However, this place had none of these signs.
The distribution of various plants was completely in line with common sense, and it could be seen that they were growing within the normal limits of maturation. In other words, these plants were never nourished by the energy given off by this Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object.
One needed to know that this place’s Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object was of the wood attribute. If its energy radiated outwards, and there was vegetation in the surroundings, the plant-life would’ve obtained enough advantages to grow thick and robust, gain even longer lifespans, develop beneficial mutations, and even produce all sorts of herbs with powerful medicinal properties. All of these things were possible.
However, there really was nothing.
This could only be the result of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object’s conscious self-control. To be capable of accomplishing this to such a degree, should it be said that this spiritual object understood the principle of no wastage, or should it be said that...it was too stingy?
Tianheng faintly shook his head. Shortly thereafter, he took a step forward. He was already standing in front of that enormous tree.
His palm lightly pressed against the tree trunk. Suddenly, a streak of profound qi permeated the wood. Sure enough, the moment he combed through the vasculature of the giant tree, he also discovered the thing bundled up inside the cavity of the tree. There was a lump of spiritual substance that was emitting a powerful repelling force.
There were no doubts. Such concentrated wood-attribute energy was certainly the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object!
Currently, the spiritual object was inside the core of the tree. If one wanted to obtain it, the tree had to be cut open first. However, since it had formidable spirituality, there was a chance that it would attack. As a result, before knowing the attitude of this Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object, it was better to maintain some careful vigilance.
Tianheng’s thoughts turned. His fingers straightened out into an open palm with his thumb tucked in. Then, in a smooth chopping motion, he slashed down at the tree trunk —
In a split second, the tree trunk was cleaved into two halves, revealing a tree-like container that looked like a combination of a wasp nest and wooden egg.
However, one wouldn’t know whether to laugh or cry. After reaching this stage where the tree trunk was gone, that Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object still didn’t leak a trace of energy!
This spiritual object had reduced its presence to such an extent. How amazing...
After shaking his head, Tianheng extended his hand again. He was going to cut open that wooden egg.
At this moment, the spiritual object finally reacted!
In just an instant, the surrounding flowers, grasses, and trees stretched out their branches, leaves, and other appendages all at once. Acting with one mind, the vegetation smashed towards Tianheng like a pelting shower!
The roaring winds that were generated from the onslaught seemed mighty, and the strength in those whipping branches was extraordinary.
Yet&#k2026;
These were ordinary trees and plants. Since they weren’t nourished by the spiritual object’s energy, their physical forms weren’t comparable to the materials of spirit weapons. How could they cause any harm to Tianheng?
It was to the point that he didn’t even have to deliberately block. He only needed to discharge his qi energy, which sent a vibration through the surroundings —
Bang! Bang! Bang!
All of those “attacks” that hurtled over were shattered by the vibration, and fell to the ground in tattered heaps.
It had to be said that the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object’s so-called resistance was truly like child’s play in Tianheng’s eyes.
Tianheng kept moving. His fingertips slashed that wooden container, exposing the thing inside.
The moment the wooden container was split open, a blast of surging wood-attribute energy assailed the senses. It was so dense that it caused the remaining vegetation in the surroundings to shudder in delight. Countless plants grew wildly, and spread out in a flash. In the depths of this rainforest, which was already overgrown, vines intertwined, branches rose toward the sky, slender stalks of grass flourished, and flower petals constantly fluttered down. The area had transformed into an unbelievable sight!
At this time, Tianheng had just cut open the wooden container, and slowly scooped out the contents with both hands — This was a transparent, ovular object. It was as smooth and beautiful as a piece of green jade, and it carried the rich fragrance of verdant foliage. Its interior seemed to contain a bubble of green liquid that nurtured a jade spring. Under the glow of the moon, it sparkled with flowing, pearlescent light. It presented an unusual type of elegance.
...One couldn’t help but say that all Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects were extremely beautiful.
This Jade Tree Heart was no exception.
Tianheng’s luck was also pretty good. Although this Jade Tree Heart was born in a world with extremely thin ambient qi, its attribute was perfectly balanced between yin and yang. It was incredibly useful to him.
Lying quietly in Tianheng’s hand, the Jade Tree Heart was releasing waves of aggrieved and plaintive thoughts. It seemed very fearful of Tianheng, and was constantly pleading for something.
Sure enough, its spirituality was much stronger than that of the past few Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects.
Tianheng looked at this object, and faintly smiled: “It hasn’t been easy for you to grow up in this place. I don’t want to take every last piece of you for refining. I only need half. Now, if you can understand my words, and voluntarily divide yourself into two pieces, I’ll take away one of them. If you pretend that you can’t understand me in the next three seconds, I will split you apart myself. At that time, if I inadvertently cause you any harm, please don’t blame me.”
The Jade Tree Heart let out a series of emotions.
Unwillingness, depression, heartache... Its mood was quite complicated.
However, Tianheng wasn’t going to give up on his desire of returning to the other world and healing himself because of its complicated feelings. It was also because this Jade Tree Heart’s spirituality was rather strong that he intentionally asked it to divide on its own. Otherwise, he might simply take it all away.
The Jade Tree Heart seemed to hesitate for a long while. It wasn’t until the corner of Tianheng’s lips curled up and his finger lightly swiped down, as if he was about to cut it open himself, that the Jade Tree Heart’s surface was suffused with a layer of glimmering radiance. Amid these rays of light, a crack suddenly appeared in the middle of it. Immediately following which, the crack grew bigger and bigger. After a few seconds, the Jade Tree Heart became two nearly identical lumps.
...And why would they be “nearly” identical?
With Tianheng’s eyesight, he could promptly tell that, among the Jade Tree Heart’s two lumps, one was fifty-one percent and the other was forty-nine percent. Between them, there was a difference in mass of two percent.
Two percent naturally wasn’t much. It was just that it definitely wasn’t divided equally.
Following this, one lump of the Jade Tree Heart bounced forward, and the other bounced backward.
It wasn’t outside his expectations that the lump bouncing forward, the one given to Tianheng, was the lump that had a mass of forty-nine percent.
Tianheng’s smiling expression slightly stilled.
Unexpectedly, he had been hit with a “discount”. This thing truly knew how to calculate.
However, Tianheng wasn’t going to get into a dispute with the Jade Tree Heart over such a small matter. Although it was one percent less than the stipulated half, the difference of one percent was very small. It wouldn’t negatively affect this lump of the Jade Tree Heart that appeared.
He made a careful inspection. After finding that the Jade Tree Heart was indeed useable, he put the forty-nine percent lump into the spatial bangle. As for the fifty-one percent lump, he casually tossed it away. It wasn’t within his concerns anymore.
After the fifty-one percent of the Jade Tree Heart finally expressed its reluctance to part from the “half” it lost, the lump immediately bounced back onto the tree that had been split apart.
Immediately following which, the Jade Tree Heart’s surface glimmered with an unusually weak and soft light. Under this soft light, the toppled halves of the tree slowly straightened up, and the previous split rapidly closed and healed at speeds visible to the naked eye. It was like the tree never suffered any damage at all.
Tianheng silently perceived the area for a moment.
Apart from that bit of soft light, no energy had overflowed whatsoever... Off to the side, those flowers, grasses, and trees that were exploited by the Jade Tree Heart seemed to “die of old age”.
Through the wood of that enormous tree, that lump of the Jade Tree Heart conveyed a type of thought like it was shooing him away. Tianheng shook his head, and departed with quick steps. Before leaving, he slightly urged his own lump of the Jade Tree Heart to release a streak of power. It transformed into a green mist, which settled as a ring in the surroundings. Soon after, he turned around and left.
As for whether this power could let those plants that lost their life force recover somewhat, it completely depended on their luck...
When he first arrived at the rainforest, the sky was dark. As he went back, because Tianheng’s speed of handling matters was fast enough, it still wasn’t dawn yet. Mobilizing his own strength, he travelled even faster than when he came, and quickly returned to Gu Zuo’s side.
At this time, Gu Zuo was still waiting for him in the living room. Seeing that Tianheng had come back, his eyes shined: “Big brother, did you get the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object?”
Tianheng smiled: “Fortunately, I didn’t let you down.”
Gu Zuo let out a long sigh of relief: “If it’s like this, then there won’t be any problems going back to the Central Continent.”
Indeed. After everything was accounted for and their affairs were settled, they could leave this world and return to the Central Continent at any time!
Shortly thereafter, the gazes of the two fell upon a certain room.
The light inside the room was shining brightly. Zhao Ji and Gu Qi hadn’t gone to sleep yet.
Ever since the start of Zhao Ji’s treatment, besides Gu Qi who occasionally fell asleep from exhaustion, Gu Zuo and Tianheng mostly sat in meditation and cultivated. They never truly rested. Because Zhao Ji’s recuperation and treatment was currently at a critical period, they had to keep watch at all times to avoid any sudden problems with Zhao Ji.
As for Gu Qi, he provided support whenever possible. If Zhao Ji woke up, he would feed Zhao Ji a bowl of medicine. Currently, he was telling him a story from their past.
Gu Zuo sighed, and spoke to Tianheng: “Big brother, should I refine the cloak I got from the Tomb of the Human King back then?”
Tianheng’s heart stirred: “Ah Zuo intends to use psychic power to conduct the refinement?”
Gu Zuo nodded: “At that time, I simply used a drop of blood to get it to recognize an owner. Now that I’ve refined the Void-Breaking Shuttle, I still seem to have some energy left over. Even Human King Yan Ruo couldn’t fully understand it. Maybe it has even more amazing functions?”
Tianheng pondered for a moment, and faintly nodded his head: “Ah Zuo’s words are quite reasonable.”
Gu Zuo smiled: “Wait until I’ve refined it. If it really has anything special, big brother can refine his own into a natal spirit weapon — Maybe the cloak’s attribute will be very compatible? In any case, big brother has six qi oceans. For other people, they’ll only have one natal spirit weapon their whole lives, but big brother can have six.”
Tianheng heard Gu Zuo’s words, and his heart felt great comfort. He couldn’t help lowering his head to lay a gentle kiss between Gu Zuo’s brows. After that, he smiled and said: “As you wish.”
Gu Zuo blinked his eyes. He covered his forehead, and stumbled back a step.
Soon after, a pitch-black cloak appeared in front of him, obscuring his entire figure... The extremely gentle and soft expression in Tianheng’s eyes was also blocked.
Tianheng couldn’t help laughing. His voice was soft: “Ah Zuo, you can refine with peace of mind. This elder brother won’t bother you.”
Gu Zuo gave a muffled grunt in affirmation. Afterwards, he cautiously stretched out his hand from under the cloak, waved it, and retracted it again.
Following this, a powerful blast of psychic power erupted. It fell onto this cloak, and swiftly penetrated into the surface. Not long after, a layer of black light appeared on the cloak. The brilliance continuously rose and swelled like a river.
Gu Zuo detected that a terrifyingly strong attractive force was constantly absorbing his psychic power inside. In a short period of time, it was almost like he was about to lose control.
Gradually, Gu Zuo felt a little agitation in his heart.
He wasn’t going to be sucked dry, was he? Just a while ago, not even the Void-Breaking Shuttle was this outrageous!
Gu Zuo’s complexion slowly turned deathly white. He could sense that, because large quantities of his psychic power were being extracted, that nurtured psychic core within his Tianfu Acupoint was slightly shaking at this moment. It seemed that if this continued, cracks would split open due to overuse, and his spiritual path realm would fall!
Urgency surged in his heart. Gu Zuo promptly summoned a stalk of wondrous medicine that could replenish psychic power. He swiftly plucked a leaf, and swallowed it. In the blink of an eye, a wisp of mild psychic power rapidly supplemented his drying Tianfu Acupoint. It was absorbed by his nurtured psychic core, and stopped its impending collapse just in time. However, because that cloak was continuously absorbing psychic power, Gu Zuo didn’t hesitate to consume another leaf. This barely made up for the cloak’s rate of absorption. Following this, he ate quite a few more leaves in succession until he swallowed a total of seven leaves. The cloaked seemed to have finally eaten its fill.
After trembling and shining with a deep, black light, Gu Zuo sensed that it had also integrated into the long river of his psychic power. It became another “cobblestone” with its own craggy edges and corners.
At the same time, numerous pieces of information poured into Gu Zuo’s mind.
Gu Zuo sucked in a cold breath: “B-big brother!”
Tianheng’s eyesight was still blocked by that cloak, but he had been paying attention on the side the entire time because of the fluctuations of Gu Zuo’s qi emissions. Merely, he didn’t rashly intervene. Now that he heard Gu Zuo’s call, he naturally flashed to Gu Zuo’s side: “What’s wrong, Ah Zuo?”
As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he saw Gu Zuo’s body swaying. Hence, he didn’t have enough time to ask in detail. He gathered Gu Zuo into his arms first.
Gu Zuo gasped, and stammered out the rest of his words: “B-big brother! This thing is a badly damaged...”
Tianheng stared blankly.
A badly damaged what?
At last, Gu Zuo seemed to collect himself somewhat. He finished saying: “...A badly damaged emperor weapon!”
Tianheng paused: “Emperor weapon?”
Gu Zuo took a deep breath. He finally calmed down: “Right. It’s an emperor weapon.”
After he refined the cloak, he learned lots of shocking information. He said: “Big brother, as it turns out, above heaven-level spirit weapons, there are emperor weapons. Also, heaven-level spirit weapons with ninety-nine percent spirituality are called false emperor weapons.”
Tianheng’s brows faintly furrowed: “False emperor weapons have ninety-nine percent spirituality. So to become an emperor weapon, it needs one hundred percent spirituality? This threshold should also have some kind of special transformation.”
Gu Zuo nodded: “Big brother’s guess is very close to the truth.” He continued, “That’s right. The higher the level of the spirit weapon, the stronger its spirituality, and the more powerful its consciousness. If it’s said that, when the spirituality is low, its consciousness is ignorant and it can only rely on instincts to react, then when the spirituality is high, the greater the consciousness, and the smoother it can communicate with the spirit weapon’s owner. In addition, the spirit weapon’s spirituality can also manifest later on!”
Tianheng caught the important point: “Manifest?”
Gu Zuo answered: “Correct. The spirit weapon’s spirituality will manifest a virtual image based on its own willpower, attribute, and so on. Some are animals, a few are plants, and many are often human-shaped. However, without exception, the image of a spirit weapon’s manifestation is a sapient lifeform.”
In fact, when he first learned about these things, he almost felt that this was basically the same as an old artifact gaining a soul! Especially those types that took on human forms.
Tianheng’s gaze faintly moved: “The differences of emperor weapons should lie in...their sapience?”
Gu Zuo couldn’t help but immediately say: “Just so!” He became somewhat excited, “When all is said and done, spirit weapons are only weapons. Even if it’s ninety-nine percent spirituality, they may have their own consciousness, but they can’t necessarily comprehend or ponder. Their actions still mostly rely on instinct. But once they become emperor weapons, those with stronger spirituality can even change their virtual images into physical bodies. At this time, it can’t be called spirituality. Instead, it’s the spirit of the emperor weapon.
“At this point, the spirit of an emperor weapon possesses the same level of sapience as humans. Also, not only do they still have their own temperaments, they’re capable of evolving complete personalities, and they can act independently. Of course, they still have to listen to the words of the emperor weapon’s owner, but they won’t follow blindly. On the contrary, there are certain times when they advise the owner.”
Listening up to here, although Tianheng was cool-headed, his eyes couldn’t help flickering with a trace of blazing passion.
Sure enough, people would long for emperor weapons!
Soon after, Gu Zuo let out another sigh: “It’s only a pity that the emperor weapon I obtained is already badly damaged. Moreover, its roots have been knocked down a rank. With its current state, it can only be said to be a heaven-level spirit weapon. However, it’s also fortunate that it had been knocked down to this degree. As a result, my psychic power was able to refine it. Otherwise, even though I have wondrous medicines that can replenish psychic power, I still might’ve been sucked dry.”
Originally, Gu Zuo had just refined one heaven-level spirit weapon, the Void-Breaking Shuttle. Now that he went to refine another one, it would naturally be somewhat strenuous. What was even more fraudulent was that this heaven-level spirit weapon had fallen from an emperor weapon. It possessed a type of pride that ordinary spirit weapons didn’t have. If someone wanted to completely refine it, how could it be done without paying for it in blood?!
This was what led to Gu Zuo’s current appearance...
Tianheng calmed his own state of mind: “What was this badly damaged emperor weapon called when it was once intact?”
Gu Zuo thought about it: “Its name was quite majestic. It was called the Heaven-Concealing Battle-Crazed Regalia.”
When he initially learned of the name, he really choked for moment. Gu Zuo felt that it was too unbridled and arrogant: “Back then, it was severely injured. The spirit of the emperor weapon was already scattered, and the remnant spirituality attached itself to this cloak, allowing it to retain its status as a spirit weapon. However, if we want to find a way to improve its spirituality, then a new spirit of the emperor weapon might be born from the remaining spirituality. At that time, the emperor weapon can be restored.”
Tianheng slightly nodded his head: “Whatever the case may be, restoring an emperor weapon will be much easier than evolving a heaven-level spirit weapon. In the future, if we can find a way, we can give it our best try.”
Gu Zuo nodded back: “I was thinking along the same lines. Originally, this cloak was really powerful. It consisted of two pieces. One for a martial artist, and another for a pharmacist. Among them, the pharmacist was the main component, and the martial artist was the auxiliary. During the refinement process, regardless of which piece, so long as the pharmacist completely refines one, the martial artist can refine the other at will — However, this is under the premise that there’s a guardian contract between the martial artist and pharmacist.”
Tianheng was startled.
This was truly...coincidental.
T/N: Thanks for the correction, Charysa.
Please don’t forget to support the original author.
