Chapter 233: Kung Fu

The region of Giantwood Ridge originally did not have so many spiritual trees. It was only after True Monarch Yiyuan transplanted the Three Divine Trees, and over six thousand years passed, that this magnificent scene came into being.

The Three Divine Trees are named "Longevity Wood." Due to the earth and fire energies present in Giantwood Ridge's spiritual veins, they proliferated, giving rise to the unique Tri-Yang Spiritual Trees of Giantwood Ridge.

Chen Mobai was most familiar with the Tier 1 Vermilion Yang Spiritual Trees. When he first joined the Divine Wood Sect, he earned a large sum of spirit stones at the New Sprout Hall by felling trees and chopping firewood. These spiritual trees grow exceptionally fast. Most of their wood is used for burning, while their bark and leaves can be refined into talisman paper.

Tier 2 Azure Yang Spiritual Trees, on the other hand, are extremely valuable. Generally, only one out of ten thousand Vermilion Yang Spiritual Trees might advance to become an Azure Yang Spiritual Tree. These spiritual trees have much greater uses. Besides being used for burning and talisman paper, their sap is also a Tier 2 spiritual medicine. Furthermore, because their wood absorbs sufficient earth and fire energies during transformation, which then neutralize with their innate wood spiritual energy, the resulting spiritual power is mild and stable, making it a top-tier material for artifact refining. The Divine Wood Sword Chen Mobai had previously borrowed was refined from Azure Yang Spiritual Wood, and most of the Divine Wood Sect's Tier 2 puppets are also constructed from this material. Mortals wearing a piece of Azure Yang Wood can even become immune to cold and resistant to all illnesses.

When an Azure Yang Spiritual Tree advances further, it becomes a Tier 3 Golden Yang Spiritual Tree. The transformation of this spiritual tree is extremely demanding. It occurs when the circulation of the three attributes – earth, wood, and fire – within its body becomes imbalanced. The fire spiritual energy then absorbs and devours the other two, ultimately transforming into a wisp of Azure Yang Flame, which in turn calcines the tree itself. Only Azure Yang Spiritual Trees capable of withstanding this tribulation can transform into Tier 3. However, throughout thousands of years in Giantwood Ridge, Azure Yang Spiritual Trees capable of nurturing a flame seed without being reduced to ash are one in ten thousand.

"Azure Yang Flame? A spiritual flame born within a tree! Could this be 'Wood-Born Fire'?!"

Upon reading this, Chen Mobai recalled a television series he watched as a child, about a little immortal who lived in his mother's womb for three years and later, after causing trouble, became a disciple of a sage. This little immortal collected the three great spiritual flames—Wood-Born Fire, Stone-Born Fire, and Sky-Born Fire—and cultivated an incredibly terrifying immortal art: "Samadhi True Flame." This True Flame could incinerate mountains, boil stones, and burn anything, making it extremely formidable. However, because refining "Wood-Born Fire" required burning vast forest resources, making it highly environmentally unfriendly, it was explicitly forbidden for cultivation by the Immortal Sects over a thousand years ago.

Nevertheless, in Giantwood Ridge, due to the extremely rapid growth and proliferation of Vermilion Yang Spiritual Trees, the Divine Wood Sect even has ongoing tasks issued at the Spirit Treasure Pavilion for felling trees.

Chen Mobai immediately took out his phone. Using his secondary account "Turtle Immortal," he opened the "Immortal Sect Spell Library" proxy, typed in "Samadhi True Flame," and surprisingly, it returned results. Unfortunately, immortal arts are divine abilities comprehended from heavenly scriptures. To prevent Immortal Sect members from wasting time, downloading and viewing them required Tier 4 permissions. Since the Turtle Immortal proxy software for the Immortal Sect only allowed Tier 3 users, Chen Mobai wore a look of regret. Even if he had managed to download the "Samadhi True Flame" immortal art, he certainly wouldn't be able to cultivate it at his current cultivation level.

Putting this matter aside for now, Chen Mobai then looked at the key to the Heavenly Wood Divine Light Array—the tree seeds. Refining tree seeds was also a big business in the Divine Wood Sect, as the disciples cultivating the Longevity Scripture were the most numerous. Without tree seeds, one could not unleash the full power of this cultivation method without staying within the vicinity of a spiritual tree, which was too restrictive.

Tier 1 Vermilion Yang tree seeds were the cheapest; lower-grade ones could be purchased for just twenty spirit stones. After all, Vermilion Yang Spiritual Trees were ubiquitous, so even if one failed while refining a seed, the loss wasn't regrettable. However, Tier 2 Azure Yang Spiritual Trees were different.

In the past, the spiritual tree Chen Mobai and Qi Rui guarded alongside Wang Yuanwu on Azure Light Island was an Azure Yang Spiritual Tree. These spiritual trees are the Divine Wood Sect's greatest resource for establishing market cities and even for combat. Transplanting thirty-six complete trees allows for the deployment of a large-scale "Heavenly Wood Divine Light Array." Under this large-scale array, drawing essence from earth veins below and connecting to the vital energy of heaven and earth above, one can condense the most potent "Heavenly Wood Divine Light" from the Longevity Scripture.

Chen Mobai had personally witnessed the power of this "Heavenly Wood Divine Light." A Tier 2 demonic beast, struck head-on, was instantly vaporized. Precisely because of this, every Azure Yang Spiritual Tree is a strategic resource for the Divine Wood Sect. Not to mention refining tree seeds, even losing a single one could result in accountability from the sect.

However, Chen Mobai was now a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Tier 1 Vermilion Yang tree seeds were only suitable for practice. Yet, Tier 2 Azure Yang tree seeds had internal sect prices ranging from two thousand to tens of thousands of spirit stones, depending on their quality. After all, there was still a significant difference even among Tier 2 items. Top-tier Tier 2 Azure Yang Spiritual Trees could already attempt to condense Azure Yang Flame. In the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, there were always ongoing tasks for acquiring Azure Yang Flame seeds, starting at ten thousand spirit stones. Even at such high prices, whenever Azure Yang tree seeds and Azure Yang Flame seeds became available, they were instantly snatched up.

Chen Mobai recalled the Sect Grand Competition, where his opponent, Mu Yuan, seemingly possessed a Tier 2 Azure Yang tree seed. However, under the crushing force of Chen Mobai's 'Sword Qi like a Rainbow' realm, Mu Yuan suffered a complete defeat. Thinking back, Mu Yuan truly lived up to his status as the Sect Master's disciple. If Chen Mobai hadn't unexpectedly risen, the chief disciple of last year's Sect Grand Competition would surely have been him.

Still too poor. Chen Mobai checked the spirit stones in his storage pouch. After deducting what was needed for cultivating the Tri-Yang Physique, he only had 5 mid-grade spirit stones and 107 low-grade spirit stones remaining. As expected, besides cultivation, his next step would be to earn more spirit stones. Or should he practice the method of refining tree seeds himself? After careful consideration, Chen Mobai still shook his head.

After Foundation Establishment, his primary goal was definitely to improve his cultivation realm. Next, he also needed to focus his main energy on farming, as the sixty mu of spiritual fields in Small South Mountain couldn't be wasted. Moreover, the Longevity Scripture's core cultivation method stated that when practicing this art, if combined with farming or spiritual plant cultivation, it would lead to mutual promotion through analogy, yielding twice the results with half the effort.

If he had surplus energy after farming, Chen Mobai decided to make an effort to improve his swordsmanship realm. After all, his current persona was that of an unparalleled sword dao genius. He should at least strive for it; what if his persona actually became reality?

After swordsmanship, came puppetry. Although Che Yucheng said simply passing on the legacy was enough, since he had become a disciple, Chen Mobai felt that as a disciple, he shouldn't disappoint his teacher. Besides these, there were also talisman crafting and winemaking to earn spirit stones. After all, everything was inseparable from spirit stones.

Cultivation, farming, swordsmanship, puppetry, talismans... Calculating all this, it was fortunate that he had successfully established his foundation. With a lifespan of four Jiazi (240 years), plus the additional Jiazi (60 years) from the Longevity Scripture, he had at least three hundred years of life. Otherwise, with so many distractions, it would likely be impossible to cultivate both arts to the Foundation Establishment Completion stage.

Beyond the most powerful Heavenly Wood Divine Light in the Longevity Scripture, there were also defensive arts like "Spirit Leaf Art" and "Life Energy Art," and offensive arts like "Yimu Divine Thunder," "Heavenly Vortex Wood Arrow," "Boundless Falling Wood," "Divine Wood Sword Slice," "Jiamu Dao Soldiers," and more. Without exception, all these spells could be refined into the Heavenly Wood Divine Light Array, doubling their power when combined with the formation. He still needed to find a way to acquire a tree seed.

After finishing the Longevity Scripture, Chen Mobai couldn't help but shake his head. If he couldn't afford a Tier 2 one, he would get a Tier 1 Vermilion Yang tree seed first. He took out a message talisman, wrote a few lines, and sent it to Liu Wenbo. He didn't want to waste any time on this. Since his disciple was already out handling matters, it would be convenient for him to take care of this on the way. At this moment, he felt that taking on a disciple seemed like a truly good idea.

Next, he opened the "Crimson Flame Sword Art." This fire-attribute cultivation method was much simpler compared to the elaborate Longevity Scripture. It also involved cultivating fourteen layers to reach Foundation Establishment Completion and then Core Formation. Besides the realm, there were talisman arts and sword arts, both of which were interchangeable. After the "Crimson Flame Sword Talisman," came the mid-grade Tier 2 "Purple Fire Sword Talisman" and the high-grade Tier 2 "Azure Flame Sword Talisman." Among these, if the "Azure Flame Sword Talisman" was cultivated to its peak, it could even possess the power of a low-grade Tier 3 spell, transcending its own tier. Above these were the mid-grade Tier 3 "Golden Flame Sword Talisman" and the high-grade Tier 3 "Grand Yang Sword Talisman." However, these two talismans were recorded in the Core Formation section, while the Foundation Establishment section Chen Mobai had only listed their names.

The Foundation Establishment section of the Crimson Flame Sword Art also recorded the two sword cultivation realms beyond 'Sword Qi like a Rainbow': "Sword Rainbow Splitting Light" and "Sword Light Condensing Fiend."

Crimson Flame Sword Rainbow, Purple Fire Sword Light, Azure Flame Sword Fiend!

The steps for upgrading and advancement were clear at a glance. It had to be said that the combat-related items in the Heavenly River Realm were so refined that Chen Mobai couldn't help but be amazed. The cultivators here essentially dedicated all their energy to this aspect. The Pure Yang spiritual energy Chen Mobai cultivated possessed all the characteristics of fire-attribute spiritual energy, so he could easily use it to activate all the talisman and sword arts of the Crimson Flame Sword Art, potentially even with greater power. He decided to spend some time learning this cultivation method as well, at least to master the Crimson Flame Sword Rainbow. After all, he was now an unparalleled sword dao genius.

After reviewing these two Divine Wood Sect cultivation methods, Chen Mobai closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then took out a box of Thought Incense. This was Tier 2 Thought Incense he had purchased from the Immortal Sect Network, used for cultivating the second layer of the Spirit Control Art. He wasn't sure what trials awaited him in the Divine Tree Secret Realm, but it was better to first master "Spirit Splitting and Thought Manifestation." Once in combat, he could launch a pincer attack with his main body while simultaneously controlling the Formless Puppet. Two against one, at the same cultivation level, there was no way he could lose!

As it was inconvenient to leave Small South Mountain during this period, Chen Mobai requested another month's leave from Che Yucheng, using the cultivation of the Spirit Control Art as an excuse. After a brief inquiry, Che Yucheng immediately signed and approved it. There was only one condition: don't fail any subjects at the end of the year. Chen Mobai had no worries about this. After Foundation Establishment, his spiritual sense far surpassed that of Qi Condensation cultivators. He could grasp Tier 1 knowledge after just one review and thought. While Tier 2 was a bit more difficult, as long as he was serious, he wouldn't encounter the previous difficulties in comprehension; he would understand it after reading it two or three times. Precisely for this reason, after Foundation Establishment, the instructors at the Dancing Weapon Dao Academy no longer strongly urged them to attend classes. However, since academic credits could be exchanged for many valuable items in the Dao Academy's treasury, senior Foundation Establishment students would still enroll in numerous major and elective courses each year. They wouldn't attend classes, only appearing for the final examinations. The Dao Academy tacitly approved of this. After all, many of the instructors themselves were only at the Foundation Establishment realm.

That evening, Chen Mobai's two newly accepted disciples returned.

"Master, here is the rabbit fur you wanted. I spoke with Senior Brother Zhou from the Spirit Beast Department. They happened to have some in stock, and he gave me a box for 10 spirit stones." Liu Wenbo handed him a box made of Vermilion Yang Wood. Chen Mobai took it and opened it, finding it filled with slender, straight, pure white rabbit fur, subtly shimmering with spiritual light.

"You've worked hard." Chen Mobai felt the spiritual essence within, noting its excellent quality, likely sheared from a high-grade Tier 2 Profound Spirit Rabbit.

"This is what we should do. Oh, and Master, regarding the Tier 1 tree seeds you wanted, I happen to have two. Please see if these are acceptable. If not, I can go to the Spiritual Plant Department's shop in Divine Wood City to buy more."

"Oh, are tree seeds sold by the Spiritual Plant Department?" Hearing Liu Wenbo's words, Chen Mobai looked surprised. However, upon reflection, he realized that these items indeed belonged under the category of spiritual plants. If he had known this earlier, he would have just asked Sun Gaochang or Lu Jun directly.

"Refining tree seeds requires knowledge of spiritual plants, talisman crafting, alchemy, and artifact refining. Anyone within the sect can refine Tier 1 tree seeds, but Tier 2 Azure Yang tree seeds require permission from the Spiritual Plant Department. Personally refined seeds are definitely not as high quality as those sold by the Spiritual Plant Department."

After answering the question, Liu Wenbo presented a drab, thumb-sized, dark red wooden block. This was a Tier 1 Vermilion Yang tree seed. Chen Mobai took it into his hand and felt it; the small block was indeed teeming with vitality. He felt that if he infused it with spiritual energy, he could instantly make it grow into a towering tree.

"Master, using a tree seed with a Heavenly Wood Talisman can save activation time and spiritual energy." At this moment, Liu Wenbo handed him a "Heavenly Wood Talisman." Chen Mobai couldn't help but give him a mental thumbs-up. This disciple was sensible, much more thoughtful than Zhuo Ming, who was just standing idly by.

"Very good, Wenbo, you've worked hard. Please take this mid-grade spirit stone." This Tier 1 tree seed was of good quality, and combined with the Heavenly Wood Talisman and rabbit fur, it totaled nearly 100 spirit stones. Naturally, Chen Mobai wouldn't let his disciple pay for it and reimbursed him on the spot. Liu Wenbo initially declined but eventually accepted under Chen Mobai's gesture.

"Master, I discussed the Water Mansion matter with Junior Sister. You shouldn't be without someone to attend to you. It's also been two years since I joined the sect and haven't returned home, so I can make a trip to Yun Nation, while Junior Sister stays at Small South Mountain." Chen Mobai listened, found it reasonable, and nodded in agreement.

"Alright, after Wenbo leaves, Zhuo Ming, you'll have a bit more work. I'll also be entering secluded cultivation for a spell, so you'll be in charge of everything here on Small South Mountain."

"Yes, Master!" Zhuo Ming, finally able to show her worth, immediately stepped forward and answered loudly with all her might.

After the two left, Chen Mobai set up a Tier 2 formation, acquired from the Spiritual Plant Department, on the hilltop before beginning to cultivate the second layer of the Spirit Control Art. Within his Sea of Consciousness, the Jade Phoenix Tree, which he had visualized after perfecting the Mind Nurturing and Spirit Forging Art, had already blossomed and borne fruit. He lit the Thought Incense, feeling a cool sensation surge through his mouth and nose, flowing into his Purple Mansion Sea of Consciousness. As he circulated the method for splitting divine sense, preparing to cleave this Jade Phoenix Tree in half, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him. He severed the root and stem of the blooming phoenix tree flower and fruit at the top.