Dugu Jian quickly left the ancient city of Shaqiu.
He was very unwilling.
Ancient ruins generally held various opportunities and immortal destinies. If Bai Zihe could obtain a great fortune in the ancient city of Shaqiu, he didn't believe he lacked that luck.
"Swish..."
Dugu Jian summoned his magic treasure, a sword exuding a chilling aura, and leaped up, flying in the opposite direction of Bai Zihe.
"Whoosh..."
The speed at which cultivators flew on their swords was quite fast.
In just a moment.
Dugu Jian left the vicinity of the ancient city of Shaqiu and appeared above a forest.
"Buzz..."
Dugu Jian released his divine sense, sensing the forest below. It only harbored ordinary wild beasts and held no special significance.
Continuing onward.
Dugu Jian encountered a mountain range, and he again used his divine sense to probe, but similarly found no clues.
Rivers, grasslands...
Dugu Dugu Jian headed east, but found nothing.
"Hmm?"
Just as he was extremely dejected, he noticed what seemed to be a cave entrance in the mountain below, but the entrance was inexplicably blocking his divine sense.
"Hiss..."
Dugu Jian's joy was evident.
All immortal lands, whether immortal's dwellings or immortal sect gates, could easily block the divine sense of cultivators in the Tribulation Crossing realm.
This indicated...
There was something going on below, and it was no ordinary situation!
"Bai Zihe, I will not lose to you!"
Dugu Jian snorted coldly, a flash of icy glint in his eyes. "I am the true Son of Destiny; you are merely luckier than a dog."
"Just wait."
"One day, I will easily crush you under my heel."
The next moment.
Dugu Jian descended towards the mountain cave he had sensed.
Ancient City of Shaqiu.
Bai Zihe entered the Haotian Pagoda.
"Hiss..."
Upon entering, Bai Zihe was stunned.
The once boundless land was now ravaged beyond recognition.
While the Haotian Pagoda could isolate the power and detection of cultivators, it could not block the divine lightning punishment descended from the Great Dao.
Just moments ago, when Sword Immortal Long Baiyun had appeared casually, Bai Zihe hadn't thought much of it.
But seeing the tragic scene of the immortal tribulation now, he realized how terrifying it was. The scorched black pits on the ground, as thick as houses, were the work of divine lightning.
Bai Zihe guessed.
Any single one of these lightning tribulations would have been enough to easily turn him to ashes.
Soon, Bai Zihe collected his thoughts.
Inside the Haotian Pagoda, it was essentially foolproof, posing no danger. Thus, he could focus on studying this Earth Spirit Pearl.
"Little Pagoda..."
Bai Zihe inquired, "How exactly is this thing used?"
"You can eat it directly."
The Little Pagoda's words instantly shattered much of Bai Zihe's gentle demeanor.
This Earth Spirit Pearl...
It looked quite beautiful, yet the Little Pagoda told him to eat it. Was this a joke?
"I am not joking."
The Little Pagoda explained simply, "With your current physique that comprehends the profound principles of the Five Elements, you can eat anything that doesn't exceed your capabilities by too much."
"Eating is also the simplest and quickest method."
Bai Zihe's voice faltered slightly.
Alright.
Since eating was the simplest and quickest method, he would eat it.
"Wow..."
The next moment, Bai Zihe consumed the item.
"Buzz..."
To Bai Zihe's surprise.
It didn't feel constricting. It was like when he had drunk the Weak Water before, melting in his mouth, like an immortal elixir.
Then...
Intense earth element energy converged in his dantian, flowing through his meridians to his limbs and bones. In a short while, it all disappeared.
Subsequently, it became hidden within every cell of Bai Zihe.
At the same time...
The true essence flowing through his dantian suddenly exuded a different aura – a peculiar earth element aura.
This aura was heavy and solidified.
It gave Bai Zihe a feeling of being impenetrable, resisting everything.
This was precisely the legendary, Houtu!
The ultimate manifestation of condensed earth element.
"Swish..."
Bai Zihe, wanting to test the strength of Houtu, made his left hand Houtu and his right hand Weak Water, and they collided...
"Crash..."
Neither could overcome the other, and then they began to slowly dissolve each other.
Bai Zihe felt a slight joy in his heart.
Earth element had always leaned towards defense.
Now, the defense of Houtu couldn't even be broken by Weak Water. Bai Zihe believed that as long as he wielded it properly, most attacks would be unable to harm him.
"Swish..."
Since he had comprehended the Holy Body of Earth and the ancient city of Shaqiu was almost fully explored, Bai Zihe saw no need to linger there.
It was still early, so he might as well explore other places.
Emerging from the ancient city of Shaqiu.
Bai Zihe chose a direction and flew onward.
In the current ancient ruins, only Bai Zihe and Dugu Jian remained. The probability of them encountering each other was extremely small.
Over the next few days.
Bai Zihe explored more than half of the ancient ruins but found no places of significant value.
And places like the ancient city of Shaqiu were extremely difficult to discover.
Before this.
If Bai Zihe had received guidance from the Little Pagoda and Ji Xian Yuan, he wouldn't have thought of heading directly to that place and wasting time there.
"Could it be..."
The thought of the ancient city of Shaqiu brought a notion to Bai Zihe's mind: "Should I continue to use this method to discover abnormalities?"
It had to be said, this idea made Bai Zihe extremely fatigued.
For days.
Bai Zihe had explored the ancient ruins and discovered that it spanned at least tens of thousands of miles, only appearing small from the outside due to some kind of power constraint.
To explore this place inch by inch...
It was an absolute monumental undertaking; even spending three to five years might not be enough.
"Forget it..."
Bai Zihe shook his head, abandoning the idea. "Let's take it one step at a time."
His current gains were already considerable; he should be content. At least, compared to those who had died, Bai Zihe had gained far too much.
Meanwhile.
Inside the nameless cave.
Dugu Jian was climbing a long ladder.
After entering through the cave entrance, Dugu Jian discovered that there was more within than met the eye.
The cave entrance was not just an entrance.
It was an entryway to a Peach Blossom Spring world.
In this Peach Blossom Spring world, Dugu Jian found many rare herbs and immortal beasts that were extinct in the outside world.
Only...
When he tried to approach these creatures, he felt their hostility, a hostility that made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, chilling him to the bone.
Therefore, he had to abandon the idea of approaching the immortal beasts.
Afterward.
He passed through the end of the Peach Blossom Spring and reached a Heavenly Staircase.
The Heavenly Staircase was said to lead to heaven.
Dugu Jian climbed with suspicion and slowly discovered its peculiarity.
With each step he ascended, the pressure on him increased, as if he were facing a powerful master.
The closer he got, the more extreme the oppression became.
Initially, Dugu Jian didn't think much of it, considering it merely a challenging trial.
But when he reached the thousandth step, he discovered that the reward above was precisely an immortal sword, a sword that perfectly suited him.
Thus, Dugu Jian became excited and continued to climb.
Up until today, he was only three steps away from the two-thousandth step.
At one thousand, he had already received an immortal sword.
Then, what kind of reward awaited him at two thousand?
Dugu Jian couldn't help but feel his heart ablaze with anticipation.