Chapter 741: White-Haired Executioner

“Grand elder! This is terrible! A group of divine realm pawns has infiltrated the Watchtower Heavenly River and should find us soon. What should we do now? I suspect they were brought here by these three! Everyone in the village is panicking; the situation is very bad!”

Upon hearing this, Xu Yang and his two companions immediately stood up. They truly hadn't expected their arrival to bring such an undeserved disaster upon the entire Cloud Dream Heavenly River.

“Senior, please don’t worry. If this matter truly concerns us, we will not stand idly by.”

The elder, however, burst into laughter. “When have I ever blamed the three of you? There is a seal outside the Cloud Dream Heavenly River. Once that seal is broken, it will naturally draw extra attention from the divine realm. What does that have to do with you?”

Hearing the elder say this, Xu Yang and the others felt a little better, though, ultimately, the incident was still caused by them. Xu Yang’s style of handling affairs never included the option of shirking responsibility.

“Regardless, please rest assured, Senior. If you trust us with this matter, please let the three of us handle it. More importantly, after three months of your meticulous guidance, we have caused you considerable trouble. I believe it is time for us to depart.”

The elder gazed deeply at Xu Yang but did not try to persuade them to stay further.

“Very well. I am well aware that the three of you are perfectly capable of handling this. I shall not keep you any longer, especially since there is little left for me to teach you in the realm of primal power.”

As the elder finished speaking, he suddenly projected a beam of light into Xu Yang’s glabella. Immediately, Xu Yang found countless inconceivable cultivation methods appearing in his mind. These were the elder’s crucial techniques and insights for controlling innate primal energy.

Xu Yang clearly understood that these insights were far more valuable than the cultivation methods found in the Shangqing Primal Energy Path!

“With the experiences I have just imparted to you, once the opportunity ripens in the future, you must follow the method I have described. If you can truly achieve perfect circulation of primal energy, you will be the first person in history to do so!”

Xu Yang bowed respectfully to the elder with utmost solemnity. There was no doubt that the elder was akin to Xu Yang’s revered teacher.

After all, he had been a vital guide for Xu Yang’s entry into the entirely new field of primal power.

“Senior, rest assured, I will do my utmost.”

The elder’s expression turned serious again as he gravely swept his gaze over Xu Yang and the other two.

“A master guides the way, but cultivation ultimately depends on the individual. Remember, the realm of primal power is full of infinite possibilities. You must primarily rely on yourselves to explore, develop, and create. Do not adhere rigidly to every detail of the Shangqing Primal Energy Path. Only by finding the part that suits you best can you unleash the true power of this force.”

After saying this, the elder spoke no more. He picked up his staff and, accompanied by his trusted companions, left the cave.

“Leave the village matters to me. Once you three exit the cave, head straight west, bypass the snow mountain ahead, then loop back towards the direction you came from. You should then encounter the invaders.”

Now that they had stepped into the primal power domain, Xu Yang and his companions realized that the entire area surrounding the cave, including the village, had long been intricately structured with various primal power formations. It was indeed incredibly difficult for outsiders to locate this mountain village.

In fact, it was precisely due to the presence of the Empress within their group, with the guiding aura of Fenghuo Wuji, that Xu Yang and his companions were able to find the village’s location.

Watching the elder and his group depart, Xu Yang and the two felt a sense of complexity in their hearts.

“To think that our journey into the Cloud Dream Heavenly River would yield such incredible gains. It has certainly broadened our horizons.”

Xiao Hua continued, “Since cultivating primal power, I feel that my most significant improvement has been in physical strength. Even without auxiliary cultivation methods like the Sorrowful Primal Energy Path to boost our combat prowess, the enhancement to our physical attributes alone is astonishing.”

The Empress and Xu Yang readily agreed with Xiao Hua’s words.

“Indeed,” Xu Yang nodded. “The cultivation of primal power, in essence, is about pushing the limits of the body’s strength to the maximum. It’s fundamentally a process of strengthening the heart and body.”

Xu Yang nodded gently. “Enough talk. Our journey here has concluded. Next, let us use this newly acquired primal power to deal with these divine realm pawns. And if all goes well, I hope to find the Supreme Divine Artifact that your father left behind in this Cloud Dream Heavenly River. We cannot let a Divine King’s power go to waste!”

The Empress shared the same sentiment.

Soon, the three headed west, circled the snowy mountain, and, following the elder’s guidance, it didn't take long before they encountered the group of divine realm pawns.

Notably, the divine realm leader commanding this expedition into the Cloud Dream Heavenly River was none other than Xuanyuan Gang, "The White-Headed Butcher," the third of the Four Divine Generals!

Behind him stood three thousand divine-level elite soldiers. Although most of these individuals lacked powerful cultivation abilities, their sheer physical strength meant that even a mindless charge by these divine-level warriors would be a catastrophe.

“Heh heh, I truly didn’t expect this expedition to be so smooth; we encountered you rebels so quickly! Empress, to think that after hundreds of thousands of years of losing your divine position, your rebellious heart still hasn’t died!”

Isis, the Empress, merely sneered as she cast a cold glance at Xuanyuan Gang.

“In my eyes, you are merely a dog by the side of those schemers in the divine realm. You have no right to flaunt your power before me. Get out of my sight immediately.”

“Hahaha, a prisoner still putting on airs in front of me? You truly have a death wish! Attack!”

Xuanyuan Gang’s strength was naturally beyond doubt, but even an existence like him typically sent his lesser troops to their deaths before a battle truly began.

However, Xuanyuan Gang’s current understanding was different. These three thousand golden-armored warriors had been personally trained by him, and he had great faith in their combat abilities.

But Xuanyuan Gang’s mistake lay in greatly underestimating the current capabilities of Xu Yang and his companions.

Having mastered primal power, Xu Yang and the others were greatly empowered. Even if countless enemies attacked simultaneously, Xu Yang saw it as merely a game.

“Formation!”

Xu Yang calmly called out, and an incredibly transparent, aquamarine light quickly appeared beneath his feet. If Long Kun and his group were present, they would immediately recognize the technique Xu Yang was currently employing as the Ghost Valley Qimen Art, a specialty of the Ancient Xia Dynasty’s crown prince.

The crown prince could at most manifest sixty-four hexagrams, but the formation halo Xu Yang had now conjured, even just its outermost eight trigrams, already covered an area larger than the crown prince’s entire sixty-four hexagram range at the time!

Each individual trigram in the formation covered an area exceeding several hundred square meters.

Even more terrifyingly, as the trigrams moved in sync with Xu Yang’s innate primal energy, they continuously emitted an intensely rich blue aura, quickly encompassing the entire battlefield beneath his feet.