Chapter 1347: First Courtesy Then Force to Subdue Dragon Apricot, Circulating the Great Cycle to Transform the Secret Realm

“Senior Longxing, have you made up your mind?”

In the center of the Shennong Yaoyuan, Xu Xiaoshou stood under the Longxing tree with Tan Shen in his arms.

The little white cat looked around curiously, full of wonder.

This was its first time entering the forbidden area of the medicine garden, but it had already made a pact with its master: today and in the future, it wouldn’t steal any food without permission.

Xu Xiaoshou actually didn’t have any real way to stop it.

Tan Shen was growing too quickly, and the restrictions and spirit arrays he had set as the lord of this world were being treated as energy and devoured by Tan Shen.

Even space itself was a form of energy—what could possibly hold back Tan Shen?

If this chubby cat could break the seal today, it might sneak in on its own tomorrow to steal food!

Better to bring it in now, while it hadn’t developed any rebellious thoughts, unlike that certain sword, and while it was still timid, to make the pact early.

With proper training, he could likely prevent future troubles.

As for Longxing...

After awakening the Tianzu inheritance on the way to Zhongyu, Xu Xiaoshou had proposed a deal to Longxing, one of the nine great ancestor trees.

He didn’t have time to slowly exchange dragon blood for Longxingzi, so he decided to make a bigger sacrifice: using all the blood from the Tun Jin Long, plus three large vats of blood from the Mo Di Hei Long, in exchange for ownership of all the Longxingzi currently on Longxing’s canopy.

Over three hundred of them!

For Xu Xiaoshou, this felt like a bad deal, since it was overpriced.

If he really wanted them, he could just exchange gradually and eventually squeeze the right amount out of Longxing for himself and those around him to cultivate.

But time was priceless, and he was about to enter the Sixiang Secret Realm. He couldn’t wait.

He had to consume ninety-nine Longxingzi as soon as possible to gain the Longzu Zhili.

He hadn’t realized how strong this “Longzu Zhili” was before, but now, with his broadened horizons, Xu Xiaoshou figured it was probably another ancestral source power.

Whether it was complete or not, he didn’t know.

But since it was named that way and so rare, with no one achieving it in thousands of years, even if the inheritance was incomplete, it couldn’t be weak.

Previously, after swallowing just one Longxingzi, the boost to his physical strength had matched that of the Xue Shu Yin Zhi, and it was a permanent increase.

Swallowing ninety-nine of them might not cause a qualitative change, but the quantitative one would be impressive.

“How does this feel like collecting stamps...”

Thinking about the Tianzu Zhili he hadn’t fully digested yet, and the Xie Shen Zhili—which was the Shu Zu Zhili—he had partially acquired, Xu Xiaoshou didn’t know if his greed was a good or bad thing.

But his Dao Ba Zun An all approved, and the resources were right there for the taking, so why not?

After waiting for a while, Longxing still didn’t respond.

This decision was a big loss for Xu Xiaoshou, and for Longxing, it was truly headache-inducing.

But Xu Xiaoshou couldn’t accept a failed deal. He quickly stepped forward and shook the tree vigorously.

“Senior Longxing, stop pretending to sleep!”

“Wake up! I’m waiting for your answer. Aren’t you the one who loves dragon blood the most? I brought some for you.”

With a hum, the dragon patterns on the trunk activated.

Longxing’s spirit could no longer feign sleep and manifested as a magnificent golden dragon spirit, coiling atop the Longxing tree.

Longxing’s spirit was a bit angry now.

Last time they met, this human brat hadn’t dared to be so bold and rude.

This time, for some reason, he showed no fear toward it, one of the nine great ancestor trees, and was acting all confident.

“Human, don’t be so greedy!”

“Where am I being greedy? I’m full of sincerity.” Xu Xiaoshou lifted a bucket of dragon blood to show, chuckling.

He really wasn’t afraid of Longxing anymore.

He’d seen and fought Sheng Di, and even witnessed the Tianzu spirit being threatened.

This mere ancestor tree spirit probably hadn’t fought in ages—its claws were dull, and it was just a spirit body...

What was there to fear?

The old Xu Xiaoshou from before Wangzuo had been timid and cautious.

After Xukong Island, he’d become so arrogant that he’d punch anyone on sight and looked down on ordinary Bansheng.

Was he polite now?

That was just because his manners were top-notch.

“Senior, I’m here with sincerity to make this trade. If you’ve thought about it for so long and still won’t agree...”

Xu Xiaoshou patted the Cang Ku at his waist. “You saw the scene when I was about to achieve Sheng Feng.”

He straightened his chest. “You can sense what powers are inside me.”

“Give me an answer. Your choice is really just one.”

A threat?

Longxing’s spirit’s eyes burned with rage.

What Sheng Feng? That earlier event wasn’t even a Sheng Jie—it barely counted as a hint of it!

But this human brat did have something that made Longxing’s spirit wary: the overwhelming Tianzu Zhili in his body. If it burst out, the entire Yuanfu World would be destroyed, and it would be severely injured.

Seeing Longxing’s spirit hesitate, Xu Xiaoshou added more pressure:

“We’re not on Xukong Island anymore, so you’re homeless.”

“If I strip all your Longxingzi and toss you onto the mainland, you couldn’t chase me, and plenty of Bansheng would want to carve you up.”

“But if we make the trade, the outcome would be different.”

Xu Xiaoshou gestured to the bucket of dragon blood in his hand, smiling. “Just nod, and you can sleep however you want from now on.”

“Your Longxingzi aren’t doing you any good just sitting there, right? You can’t eat the fruits you produce yourself—that’d be too boring!”

“And my character speaks for itself—you can see that. Once I get stronger, I’ll kill more dragons and bring you their blood as tribute. Aren’t you going to think about that?”

“Play the long game, catch the big fish... Invest in me! Even Tianzu chose me. Are you nobler than Tianzu?”

This mix of carrot and stick left Longxing’s spirit momentarily speechless, its mouth slightly open as if to reply.

Sizzle!

Xu Xiaoshou poured the bucket of dragon blood over it.

“Ah!”

Longxing’s spirit let out a comfortable cry.

Xu Xiaoshou laughed. “Since you’re not saying anything, I’ll take that as agreement. I’ll make sure you get enough dragon blood, and I’ll pick some Longxingzi first.”

Whoosh.

With a sword stroke, ten Longxingzi fell.

Without any visible action from Xu Xiaoshou, space rippled, and they vanished.

“Human!!”

Longxing’s spirit snapped back to anger.

But Xu Xiaoshou wasn’t going to indulge it.

Now that he’d risen, on his turf, dragons had to lie low, and trees had to stay put. What was there to be arrogant about?

Did it think it was the boss? He’d dug up this medicine garden, but he wasn’t going to babysit it forever?

Prepared, he picked up another bucket of dragon blood and poured it on.

“Ah!”

Longxing’s spirit cried out in comfort again, like Xu Xiaoshou was on some drug—pure bliss mixed with anger, clearly unsatisfied.

Two buckets! And for that, he’d taken ten Longxingzi? What kind of deal was that?

Even if it had silently agreed, this wasn’t the right amount!

But Xu Xiaoshou ignored it. With the Longxingzi in hand, he tossed the bucket aside and vanished in a flash.

“Thanks, Senior Longxing. Don’t drink too much blood in one day. I’ll water you again once I’ve used up the Longxingzi. Rest well for now.”

By the time Longxing’s spirit came to its senses, Xu Xiaoshou was gone, his aura barely detectable.

“Human!!!”

“Whew, that was close but no disaster.”

Once he flashed to the other side of Yuanfu World, Xu Xiaoshou let out a long breath.

He was still a bit afraid of the nine great ancestor trees—after all, their reputation was formidable, and he truly couldn’t take them on yet.

But Longxing’s spirit was all bark and no bite, at most half Bansheng level. He’d been scared before, but now he wasn’t at all.

And it didn’t seem like it wanted to completely break ties, so by leveraging that, Xu Xiaoshou could keep it under control.

“Good stuff!”

Holding a handful of Longxingzi, Xu Xiaoshou swallowed hard, feeling both excited and a little fearful.

Taking this would be an ecstatic high!

If time weren’t pressing, he’d want to level up slowly, spending half a year enjoying the ninety-eight doses of bliss from the Longxingzi before refining the Longzu Zhili.

But with people in Zhongyu, the three words “Dao Qiong Cang” weighing on him, he felt suffocated.

“Not only do I need to take them quickly, but I have to maximize the medicinal effects of the Longxingzi.”

“I wonder if the Longzu Zhili will conflict with my Tianzu Zhili when it appears. Theoretically, it should, unless there’s something special like Shen Mo Tong.”

“That might be why the Lei family was doomed—they could actually compatible with two ancestral source powers... Uh, never mind that.”

“If the two ancestral source powers don’t explode inside me, I could compress them into source seeds and give them to enemies—that’d be ideal.”

“But I’m afraid even my Qi Hai can’t handle these two forces...”

Xu Xiaoshou pondered, a flash of sharpness in his eyes.

There were ways to solve this!

To maximize the Longxingzi’s effects, he’d need the Sheng Di Lv.0 breathing method.

To digest the Tianzu Zhili fastest and control both Tianzu and Longzu Zhili, the method was the same.

His current internal power was overloaded, on the verge of bursting, all because his cultivation technique couldn’t keep up.

With only Wangzuo Lv.1 breathing method, turning high-quality ancestral source power into his own would take forever.

“So, let’s do it!”

Thinking it through, Xu Xiaoshou checked his stock, planning to upgrade the breathing method first.

He was strong enough now not to fear being captured for dissection—his mind was what made him truly valuable.

“Passive points: 6,562,544.”

After maxing out “Textile Mastery” and “Swordsmanship” to Sheng Di levels, Xu Xiaoshou hadn’t touched his passive points much.

He’d gained over three million more in between, mostly from the Four God Pillars’ damage to his body.

Of course, fighting Bansheng and Sheng Di, publicly beheading Rao in Yunlun, and being discussed after entering Yujing City had all added to it steadily.

“And this is just the beginning...”

Xu Xiaoshou could imagine how many passive points he’d rack up in the crowded, gossip-filled Yujing City, full of powerful Lingshi.

But that was for later.

Right now, upgrading was key.

The Wangzuo Lv.1 breathing method was already powerful, but Xu Xiaoshou tried unrestrainedly opening his pores and going full throttle.

“Huff...”

Yuanfu World’s spiritual energy roared in, quickly forming a massive spiritual cocoon around him.

In Sheng Shen Continent, if he went all out, he could achieve something similar, though it’d take longer and draw too much attention.

Even so, this breathing method couldn’t convert even a trace of the Tianzu Zhili in his Qi Hai.

“The quality is just too high...”

Looking inward at his Qi Hai and the inherited Tianzu Zhili, Xu Xiaoshou was still shocked.

If his Qi Hai was a palm-sized ordinary disk, the Tianzu Zhili was a head-sized stone mending the sky.

Its energy was condensed to the extreme, with excess seeping into his body, making him feel like exploding.

The disk spun slowly, taking forever to grind out a wisp of energy for his use—that was the current breathing method’s efficiency on Tianzu Zhili.

What he needed was to upgrade that disk into a stone mill that could process it quickly, fully releasing his power.

“Come on!”

Passive points: 6,562,544.

Passive points: 6,062,544.

Exchanging ten fourth-tier skill points at 50,000 each, he spent 500,000 passive points in an instant.

Of course, the effects were remarkable!

“Breathing Method (Wangzuo Lv.2).”

“Breathing Method (Wangzuo Lv.3).”

“Breathing Method (Sheng Di Lv.0).”

Xu Xiaoshou watched as the stone went from unmovable to his skill level rising step by step, until with one natural breath, he could draw in vast amounts of Tianzu Zhili.

Visibly, the Tianzu Zhili filling his body diminished, and the discomfort faded.

“What used to take three to five years to shake off the ‘sick young master’ identity now feels like it’ll only take a month or so to digest the Tianzu Zhili.” Xu Xiaoshou was thrilled.

As he thought, a void exploded with a thunderous boom, like lightning from nowhere.

But no Sheng Jie appeared, which was as he expected.

After all, the breathing method was like a cultivation technique—reaching Sheng Di level just meant faster cultivation, not an immediate breakthrough to Sheng Di.

Still, the qualitative change of Sheng Di Lv.0 was terrifying!

In that instant of maxing out, while he subjectively drew in Tianzu Zhili, it passively pulled in the surrounding heaven and earth spiritual energy.

This time, the elements weren’t just “roaring in”—they were “plundered” outright.

“Meow?”

Tan Shen, who had run back to the 100,000 Dan Ding to frantically refine treasures, suddenly froze.

Its precious pills were nearly formed, and its Tan Shen ring’s inventory was about to gain more treasures.

Suddenly, the pills turned back into spiritual energy and vanished!

Not only the pills in the cauldrons, but the abundant spiritual energy and life spiritual energy in the world were gone too!

Yuanfu World seemed to become an ordinary mortal realm, as plain as could be.

This change even affected Shennong Yaoyuan.

Longxing’s spirit had just fallen asleep when it was abruptly activated, instinctively scattering golden scales to protect the garden.

That was its duty.

If it hadn’t protected it, countless sacred herbs would have been drained by that mysterious plundering force.

“What’s causing this change?”

Longxing’s spirit quickly located where Xu Xiaoshou was cultivating.

It didn’t want to quibble over the Longxingzi, since Xu Xiaoshou had given dragon blood—let the trade slide.

But that didn’t mean Longxing’s spirit was unaware of what Xu Xiaoshou was doing!

Just cultivating could devour the entire Yuanfu World’s spiritual energy?

Had this human already consumed the Longxingzi?

But clearly not!

He was just cultivating normally.

Even after swallowing ninety-nine Longxingzi, it shouldn’t have this effect...

Before it could think more, Xu Xiaoshou suddenly opened his eyes and exhaled.

In an instant, Yuanfu World was refilled with endless spiritual energy!

Even the life spiritual energy that had accumulated for months and then vanished was back!

Longxing’s spirit was stunned.

What realm was this?

Was this still the same human brat who’d been bargaining with it?

Had that moment of closing his eyes lasted a thousand years?

“Breathing in and out the heavens and earth...”

Xu Xiaoshou came to his senses and was equally stunned.

Yuanfu World was now incredibly vast, and with each breath, he could cycle its entire spiritual energy, even refining it?

Wasn’t this something only legendary Sheng Ren could do?

Right.

His breathing method was now at Sheng Di level...

After a few more breaths, drawing in the heaven and earth spiritual energy, even Yuanfu World’s atmosphere carried a faint trace of ancestral source power.

The Hong Meng Zi Qi on the Bodhi tree roots seemed to have grown a tiny bit...

“This is insane!”

“I must be going insane!”

Sensing this, Xu Xiaoshou’s scalp tingled, his eyes burning with intensity, his breathing turning heavy.

These forces weren’t just refined from within him—they came from his breathing method devouring part of Yuanfu World’s chaos mist and converting it.

Everyone knew that before, Xu Xiaoshou couldn’t touch that chaos mist; he could only let it dissipate on its own into pure and turbid energy.

But now, he could refine it?

And it could produce traces of ancestral source power and Hong Meng Zi Qi?

“Am I some kind of human-shaped ancestral source and Hong Meng converter?”

“Does that mean Yuanfu World won’t need any town boundary treasures? As long as I cultivate here more, this place will become a Dongtian Fudi?”

“What about the outside world?”

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly recalled some seemingly mythical legends.

They said Sheng Ren could breathe in the heavens and earth, creating a Dongtian around them, and if they cultivated in their eyes for long enough, that place could even become a secret realm.

“Wait...”

“Could Sheng Di secret realms form this way?”

Xu Xiaoshou held his head in his hands, his eyes full of shock.

He knew every passive skill at Sheng Di level brought a qualitative change, but the breathing method was just too exaggerated!

During this intense thinking and heavy breathing, Yuanfu World’s spiritual energy emptied and refilled, emptied and refilled...

Like a room light being toyed with—off, on, off, on...

After each cycle, the spiritual energy became purer!

This was because the quantity was too low and the quality too poor.

Once Yuanfu World fully formed, or even half-formed, and more chaos mist was converted into cultivation energy, reaching a point where even Sheng Di Lv.0 breathing method couldn’t swallow it all...

That would mean Yuanfu World entered a rapid explosive growth phase, with no more spiritual energy shortages. As long as Xu Xiaoshou cultivated here, the energy’s quality would keep improving.

“And the limit would be a Sheng Di secret realm?”