Chapter 149 - 144: Strike First to Gain the Upper Hand

Chapter 149: Chapter 144: Strike First to Gain the Upper Hand

Seeing this, the faces of the Divine Wood Sect disciples, both those around the stele and those outside, changed.

They had all vaguely sensed that this person was no simple character, but to be unable to withstand even a single blow from him after receiving a Cyan Wood Spiritual Qi Infusion was something they couldn’t comprehend.

After all, these two disciples had first promoted to Innate Martial Artists before receiving the Cyan Wood Spiritual Qi Infusion, making them far stronger than an ordinary late-stage Qi Cultivation practitioner.

In their experience, a standard Innate Martial Artist was inferior to a late-stage Qi Cultivation practitioner.

What’s more, this man hadn’t even promoted to the Innate realm yet.

It was simply unbelievable.

Around the stele, several disciples hurriedly helped the two unconscious ones up and fed them pills from their storage bags. Only then did the pair slowly regain consciousness.

Although they had been knocked out by a single punch from Jiang Zuo, they were Innate Martial Artists, after all. Jiang Zuo’s attack had been filtered through their Wood Spirits and hadn’t struck them directly.

The actual injuries they sustained weren’t severe, and with aid, they recovered quickly.

However, when the two looked at Jiang Zuo again, their eyes were filled with terror.

They both knew that if it hadn’t been for their Wood Spirits, they would be more dead than alive right now.

"Don’t provoke him again!"

Seeing that Jiang Zuo had no intention of pressing the matter, the disciple at the ninth level of Qi Cultivation said in a low voice.

’Provoke him again? We’ll be lucky if he doesn’t come looking for trouble with us,’ several disciples thought.

Jiang Zuo paid them no mind, simply accepting the Cultivation Technique his Wood Spirit handed him.

The method for the Cyan Wood Nirvana Skill immediately appeared in his mind.

’After mastering it, you can only undergo Nirvana Rebirth once. And the higher your Cultivation, the more lifespan the Nirvana Rebirth will consume.’

’No wonder it seemed so incredible, yet it’s only rated on par with the first three levels of the Cyan Wood Longevity Technique.’

’But for me, it’s pretty good. It’s like having half an extra life.’

Jiang Zuo contemplated the Cyan Wood Nirvana Skill in his mind.

Why only half a life?

It was simple. If he were killed on the spot, this Nirvana Skill would be useless.

To use it, he had to at least be able to escape and find a safe place. Only then could he transform his body into wood and undergo Nirvana Rebirth.

A quarter of an hour passed quickly. The two injured disciples from the Divine Wood Sect finally managed to grab two Cultivation Techniques before the time limit ended.

However, it was impossible for them to get any good techniques.

The two looked at the Cultivation Techniques in their hands with sour expressions.

After the quarter-hour time limit was up, the remaining Cultivation Techniques flew back above the stele under everyone’s watchful eyes.

"Control your Wood Spirit to obtain one type of Wood Element Spiritual Soil. Time limit: a quarter of an hour."

A new message then surfaced in their minds.

Above the stele, streams of green light appeared once again.

This time, however, the green lights weren’t as varied as the Cultivation Techniques. There were only four different sizes of light clusters.

The smallest were like starlight, the next size was like an egg, and the larger ones were the size of an apple.

The largest was as big as the moon.

And compared to the first contest, the clusters of light were now swirling around much faster.

Jiang Zuo no longer held back. He was the first to control his Wood Spirit, sending it to grab the largest cluster of light.

BOOM!

The moment the Wood Spirit seized the cluster of light, Jiang Zuo’s body jolted.

Compared to getting the Cyan Wood Nirvana Skill, grabbing this piece of Wood Element Spiritual Soil was much more difficult.

However, the Wood Element Spiritual Soil couldn’t break free. It was successfully caught by the Wood Spirit and delivered into Jiang Zuo’s hands.

"Innate Wood Element Spiritual Soil!"

A message appeared in Jiang Zuo’s mind.

’Innate Spiritual Soil?’

Jiang Zuo stared at the thumb-sized piece of green soil lying quietly in his hand.

He had another piece of Innate Spiritual Soil in his storage bag, but it felt completely different from this one.

The Innate Wood Element Spiritual Soil before him had to be genuine, which meant the one in his storage bag was the questionable one.

However, Jiang Zuo felt he would need to return to the outside world and run some tests to be certain.

"Innate Wood Element Spiritual Soil!"

All the Divine Wood Sect disciples looked at Jiang Zuo with envy.

In the Cultivation Realm, this was acclaimed as the highest-grade Spiritual Object for forging a Dao Foundation.

With it, cultivating a Wood Attribute Cultivation Technique would be twice as effective, promising a limitless future.

Jiang Zuo had obtained the Innate Wood Element Spiritual Soil without much effort.

But the Divine Wood Sect disciples had to expend considerable effort and time to eventually catch their own pieces of Spiritual Soil.

And at best, only two of them managed to get the Spiritual Soil from the egg-sized clusters of light.

Not a single one got an apple-sized piece.

Even so, their faces were all lit up with joy.

Although the Spiritual Soil they caught was the lowest tier here, it was perfectly suitable for forging a Wood Element Dao Foundation and was difficult to find in the outside world.

But after catching the Wood Element Spiritual Soil, several of them had already exhausted most of their Spiritual Power.

Soon, the contest for the Wood Element Spiritual Soil came to an end.

"Control your Wood Spirit to obtain one type of Wood Element Spirit Seed. Time limit: a quarter of an hour."

The third stage of the competition began. Several more clusters of light flew out from above the stele.

But compared to the first two stages, the number of light clusters this time was greatly reduced. There were only five.

There were eight people present, meaning three of them would inevitably fail to obtain a Wood Element Spirit Seed.

The five clusters of light swirled around the stele at an extreme speed. Anyone could tell at a glance that catching one of these Wood Element Spirit Seeds would be incredibly difficult.

"How many people will be able to catch a Wood Element Spirit Seed this time?"

Outside the Inheritance Land, all the Divine Wood Sect disciples turned to look.

Of the three inheritance contests, obtaining a Wood Element Spirit Seed was the most difficult.

The small quantity was one thing, but the key issue was that after the first two contests, they were too drained to compete for the Wood Element Spirit Seed.

In the past, the Divine Wood Sect had tried having disciples skip the Cultivation Technique and Wood Element Spiritual Soil to focus all their energy on capturing a Wood Element Spirit Seed.

But this approach often proved that the losses outweighed the gains.

Over thousands of years, the Divine Wood Sect had come to a conclusion.

The contest for the Wood Element Spirit Seed was largely a matter of fate and had little to do with strength.

But seeing that one of the five light clusters was absurdly large, all the Divine Wood Sect disciples began to doubt that conclusion.

This cluster of light certainly hadn’t appeared randomly. It was most likely here because of that person.

Jiang Zuo didn’t disappoint them. Under everyone’s gaze, he firmly grasped the largest cluster of light.

"Cyan Wood Spirit Core!"

Jiang Zuo looked at the Wood Element Spirit Seed in his hand.

This Cyan Wood Spirit Core looked like a walnut, but it was incredibly sturdy. Jiang Zuo felt that even if he used all his strength, he wouldn’t be able to budge it in the slightest.

Looking at it, Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement.

’To think that breaking through to the Divine Body Realm required refining something like this into one’s body... As expected of the Cultivation World.’

Meanwhile, the seven members of the Divine Wood Sect also made their moves, trying to obtain a Wood Element Spirit Seed.

But when a quarter of an hour had passed, only two of the seven had succeeded in obtaining a Wood Element Spirit Seed.

The other five all failed.

"The inheritance contest is over. The Secret Realm will close in three days!"

Another message appeared in their minds as the Wood Spirits flew away from their Inheritors and gathered beside the stele.

The Cyan Wood Longevity Stele then gradually turned translucent before their eyes, before vanishing completely.

Jiang Zuo looked at the green membrane of light around them, seeing that the Array separating them from the outside was still in place.

Seeing this, Jiang Zuo grinned at the seven Divine Wood Sect disciples. "Gentlemen, how about you hand over the Wood Element Spiritual Soil and Wood Element Spirit Seeds you’re holding!"

"Friend, watch yourself! We are disciples of the Divine Wood Sect, on a mission for our sect. If you rob us, the Divine Wood Sect will not let you go. You’d better think this through!"

The seven’s expressions changed. The disciple at the ninth level of Qi Cultivation spoke to Jiang Zuo in a low, stern voice.

He was one of the two who had caught a Wood Element Spirit Seed. Although the seed had to be returned to the sect and wouldn’t be his...

...he would still receive a large amount of Sect Contribution for it.

How could he be willing to just hand it over?

"Cut the crap. Others might be afraid of the Divine Wood Sect, but I’m not! Besides, do you really think the Divine Wood Sect will let me go if I *don’t* rob you?"

Jiang Zuo sneered.

The Divine Wood Sect considered the Cyan Wood Secret Realm its own property. In their eyes, he was a thief who had snuck into their Secret Realm.

And this thief, in front of so many Divine Wood Sect disciples, had obtained the Cyan Wood Nirvana Skill—a technique as rare as the Cyan Wood Longevity Technique that could grant a person an extra life.

Furthermore, he had also acquired the Innate Wood Element Spiritual Soil and the Cyan Wood Spirit Core.

No matter how you looked at it, there was no way the Divine Wood Sect would let him go. Even if he fled to the ends of the earth, they would do everything in their power to hunt him down.

Before entering, Jiang Zuo had naturally disguised himself, so this wasn’t his true appearance.

And since the Divine Wood Sect would never let him go, he might as well strike first.

Hearing this, the Divine Wood Sect disciples were struck speechless.

"Split up!"

Knowing that nothing more could be said to change the situation, the ninth-level Qi Cultivation disciple made a snap decision and shouted.

The others wasted no time, scattering and fleeing in all directions like a startled swarm of bees.

’Tsk, of course it was impossible to think they’d hand over their things obediently.’

With seven people scattering, it would be nearly impossible for him to catch them all.

If he used his Blood Qi Avatars, it might be possible, but Jiang Zuo couldn’t expose their existence at this time.

However, Jiang Zuo was already prepared.

’The others can run, but the two who got the Wood Element Spirit Seeds aren’t getting away!’

With a flicker of his body, Jiang Zuo shot toward the ninth-level Qi Cultivation disciple first.

When the disciple saw Jiang Zuo coming after him, he cursed his luck inwardly.

He just knew Jiang Zuo would chase him.

The seven of them together might not have been a match for Jiang Zuo. Facing him alone, he didn’t stand a chance of winning.

But surrendering without a fight was absolutely out of the question.

"Let’s see just how strong you are!" he roared, throwing a punch at Jiang Zuo.

He wasn’t hoping to beat Jiang Zuo. As long as he could stall for time and let the other disciples escape, he would have done his part.

But he never expected that the mysterious man before him would completely ignore the blow, a strike he had launched as an Innate Martial Artist, empowered by the Spiritual Power of a ninth-level Qi Cultivator.

BOOM!

He felt his fist slam into a body that seemed to be made of steel.

The enemy was completely unharmed, while his own fist felt like it was about to shatter.

BANG!

Then, his body shuddered, and he violently spat out a mouthful of blood. The storage bag at his waist had already been snatched away by the man.

An Innate Martial Artist at the ninth level of Qi Cultivation like him couldn’t even withstand a single move!

Jiang Zuo ignored him, his figure flashing again as he chased after the other disciple who had also obtained a Wood Element Spirit Seed.

This disciple’s Cultivation was only at the seventh level of Qi Cultivation. Against Jiang Zuo, he had even less of a chance to resist.

In a single move, this disciple was also severely injured, and his storage bag fell into Jiang Zuo’s hands.

Jiang Zuo was about to go after the remaining disciples and rob them all clean...

But just then, Jiang Zuo froze.

The green membrane of light that enveloped the area suddenly vanished.

Three formidable-looking Dao Foundation Cultivators were closing in on him from three directions.

’The Divine Wood Sect actually has a way to destroy that green light membrane!’

A chill ran down Jiang Zuo’s spine, and he didn’t dare to be careless.

He could see clearly that the green membrane hadn’t disappeared naturally. These three had used some unknown method to destroy it directly.