Chapter 8: The Wood Element Nascent Soul

The Wind-Blown Ship reached its destination, marking the end of this journey.
All 200 passengers left their cabins and then departed the ship one after another.
Qu Yi remained seated in his cabin, motionless.
Wei Yan, as expected, did not come to talk to Qu Yi. He immediately left the ship and headed toward the Black Bone Mountains.
The Blood-Bone Duo acted as if Qu Yi did not exist at all. They left the ship and flew to a large mountain near the docking area, releasing their spiritual senses. In their eyes, with Qu Yi’s cultivation at the early stage of the Golden Dan phase, he had no chance of escaping, so they were confident enough to let him come out alone before capturing him.
Zhan Jin, the leader of the Golden Silkworm Sect, was inside the Wind-Blown Ship. Seeing that Qu Yi did not emerge, he smiled and walked over to Qu Yi’s cabin.
“Friend, why haven’t you come off the ship yet?” Clearly, Zhan Jin wanted Qu Yi to leave immediately so he could kill him and seize the Golden Essence Pill and the Swift Sword.
Of course, Zhan Jin still didn’t know that Qu Yi had already given the Golden Essence Pill and the Swift Sword to Bai Man, who had thus reached the middle stage of the Golden Dan phase.
Qu Yi smiled at Zhan Jin with a hint of contempt and said, “Ah, you’re really persistent. Following me from Demon Island to the Southern Demon Continent—do you really think you can defeat me?”
Zhan Jin was shocked upon hearing this. He hadn’t expected a cultivator at the early stage of the Golden Dan phase like Qu Yi to notice his actions. Of course, Zhan Jin had no idea that Qu Yi had the secret help of the Instrument God, otherwise he might have reconsidered attacking him.
“You brat, you’ve defied me twice, stealing the Golden Essence Pill and the Swift Sword. As someone at the early stage of the Golden Dan phase, you’ve dared to offend me twice. Do you still want to live?” Zhan Jin said bluntly, no longer needing to disguise himself.
Once off this Wind-Blown Ship, it would be Qu Yi’s death day, Zhan Jin thought firmly.
Qu Yi chuckled, spread his hands, and said, “Then please go ahead and leave the ship first. I’ll follow shortly.”
Fighting inside the Wind-Blown Ship was not allowed—it was property of the Demon Path Alliance and represented its dignity. No one dared to fight inside. Zhan Jin understood this as well. Hearing Qu Yi’s words, he smiled and stepped away.
Qu Yi was the last to leave the ship.
As soon as he reached the exit, he received a reminder from the Instrument God: Zhan Jin and the Blood-Bone Duo’s spiritual senses had already locked onto him.
Keeping his smile, Qu Yi stepped out of the Wind-Blown Ship and headed toward the reception hall.

This is a large city port called Hailuan, with a dedicated mooring area for windward ships. Naturally, there is also a special reception hall right next to the mooring area. Zhan Jin and the spirits of the Blood and Bone Heroes kept their awareness fixed on Qu Yi; whenever he left the reception hall, they would immediately act to capture him. However, as Qu Yi walked from the mooring area toward the reception hall, he suddenly took out a Space-Transit Talisman. “Damn it!” Xue Lie recognized this talisman and was naturally furious. Then, Xue Lie and Gu Han teleported over instantly, disregarding the rules of the Demon Path Alliance, determined to capture Qu Yi right away. But the moment Qu Yi used the Space-Transit Talisman, he activated it immediately and leaped into the spatial portal created by the talisman. Upon arriving, Xue Lie and Gu Han saw the portal about to disperse. Filled with rage, one swung a blood clot while the other threw a chilling white skull, smashing the portal in a fit of anger. Of course, they didn’t notice a speck of dust drifting in the wind. Inside the reception hall, Zhan Jin also sensed Qu Yi’s actions. Though angry, he dared not come out—he knew how powerful the Blood and Bone Heroes were. “Damn it! This kid actually has a Space-Transit Talisman. It will take some time to find him now,” Zhan Jin thought gloomily. The Blood and Bone Heroes quickly regained their composure and communicated through telepathy. “Gu Han, depending on the user’s strength, the distance this Space-Transit Talisman can cover varies. That kid is only at the early Golden Core stage, so he can at most travel three hundred li. We must spread our awareness wide to find him,” Xue Lie said fiercely. Soon, they spread their awareness widely, searching intensively for Qu Yi’s presence. With their strength at the late Nascent Soul stage, their awareness could cover an area of three thousand li. Undoubtedly, they couldn’t detect Qu Yi at all. “Strange, how did this kid disappear? That’s impossible! I’ve covered an area of a thousand li—nothing can escape my detection, yet there’s no sign of him,” Xue Lie shouted angrily. “Xue Lie, could it be that he’s transported into the Sea of Immortals and Demons?” Gu Han said gloomily. Hailuan was originally a coastal city, and if someone used a Space-Transit Talisman, it was very likely they’d end up underwater. “Then fine! We’ll fly above the Sea of Immortals and Demons and cover the entire sea surface. I refuse to believe that kid can escape our awareness search,” Xue Lie said angrily. Thus, the Blood and Bone Heroes teleported above the sea surface.

In the reception hall, Zhan Jin saw that the Blood and Bone Heroes had left, and Qu Yi had also escaped using the Space-Transit Talisman. Realizing he would gain nothing from this trip, he vented his frustration before leaving the reception hall and flying toward a large mountain outside the city.

What Zhan Jin didn’t notice was a tiny speck of dust in his hair.

A day later, after flying thousands of miles, Zhan Jin arrived at a mountain covered in lush green forests and landed there.

“Wuyi Mountain, I’m here again. I wonder if the Green Silk Fruit tree has ripened?” Zhan Jin murmured as he flew.

Wuyi Mountain was rarely visited by humans, but it contained a very hidden canyon cave, within which grew a Green Silk Fruit tree. The fruit, about the size of a fist and entirely dark green in color, had no flesh inside when split—it contained countless strands of green silk, each imbued with powerful spiritual essence.

Zhan Jin had accidentally arrived at the bottom of the canyon while chasing a demon fox and discovered the cave there, which led him to the Green Silk Fruit tree.

Soon, Zhan Jin reached the bottom of the canyon and was about to enter the cave.

Suddenly, Qu Yi appeared.

“Zhan Jin, you’re amazing. Thank you for bringing me here. Thanks to you, I’ve obtained both your Yuan Ying and a Green Silk Fruit tree,” Qu Yi said with a smile.

“You… how did you follow me here? Didn’t you use Space-Transit?” Zhan Jin shouted hesitantly.

Although Zhan Jin now possessed the strength of mid-stage Yuan Ying, his years of experience told him that Qu Yi, at the early stage of Golden Dan, could follow him silently and even show himself—meaning he must have some way to deal with him.

With that, Zhan Jin tried to teleport away.

“You still want to escape!” Qu Yi laughed.

Immediately, Qing Wu Gui, Bai Man, and Wu Yuan emerged from their dimension spheres and launched attacks right away.

Qing Wu Gui had gained some insights into the energy of the light wall during the auction. Now, as he swung his black sword, golden rays could be seen within its black qi.

Bai Man naturally controlled her puppet leopard and unleashed a “Wind-Scouring Thousand Blades” attack.

After absorbing the essence of the Green-Eyed Sword Fish and the Sea-Burning Fire Ape, Wu Yuan had advanced to mid-stage Yuan Ying. The golden sword light emitted from his dragon head was a meter long and as wide as a palm, extremely powerful.

Seeing three spells attacking at once, especially the peculiar sword energy from Qing Wu Gui, Zhan Jin didn’t dare be careless and responded seriously.

“True Essence Shield!”

Zhan Jin roared loudly, then released the golden essence within him, forming a large golden shield in front of him. The Wind-Scouring Thousand Blades swept past, causing only loud thuds against the shield, but having no effect at all on it. It was no wonder—Puppet Leopard was only at the early Yuan Ying stage, clearly not strong enough to match Zhan Jin, who was already at the middle Yuan Ying stage. The golden great sword emitted by the Five Elements pierced the golden shield, producing a rumbling sound, before the sword shattered into pieces and disappeared. However, the black sword energy of Qing Wu Gui startled Zhan Jin. Now that Qing Wu Gui had regained his early Yuan Ying strength, that black sword energy was at the essence level, and combined with the light energy he had mastered, its power was even greater. The black sword energy struck the golden shield, splitting it open with a thin crack, and the golden rays that emerged shot straight at Zhan Jin. Realizing the threat of those hundreds of golden rays, Zhan Jin immediately pushed forward his golden shield and retreated quickly, releasing more essence to create a thousand golden sword energies, finally repelling all the rays. In just a short while, the spatial energy in the entire canyon became chaotic, with boulders and soil constantly falling from the cliffs on both sides. Qu Yi watched the whole process with a smile. When Zhan Jin finally dealt with the threat and was about to fly away, Qu Yi immediately swung the jade sword in his hand. The mixed essence in his dantian, along with the golden, wooden, water, fire, and earth essences from his internal organs, were all poured into the jade sword. A two-finger-width beam of light was then emitted, piercing straight through Zhan Jin’s body. Despite being damaged by the light, Zhan Jin did not die immediately and tried to use his essence to heal his wounds. Qing Wu Gui sneered and flew over, releasing a black sword energy that pierced into Zhan Jin’s body. “Ah!” Zhan Jin cried out in frustration before collapsing. Qing Wu Gui’s black essence was extremely special, seemingly containing all the killing intent in the world, possessing immense destructive power against any object. Naturally, not only could the severely injured Zhan Jin not withstand it, but even if he had regained all his strength, he would not dare let Qing Wu Gui strike him. Wu Yuan cheered loudly, rushed to Zhan Jin’s side, opened its mouth wide, bit through him, and then sucked in all his vital essence. Naturally, Zhan Jin’s Yuan Ying and storage bracelet fell into Qu Yi’s possession. Qu Yi placed Zhan Jin’s golden Yuan Ying into his own storage bracelet, then scanned it with his spiritual sense, instantly freezing in shock. “Qu Yi, what’s wrong? Don’t scare me!” Bai Man became anxious immediately.

Qing Wu Gui and Wu Yuan also immediately looked at Qu Yi with tension.
“Hehe, I’m so lucky. In this storage bracelet, there are actually five Wood Element Yuan Ying, one of which is in the middle stage of Yuan Ying,” Qu Yi said, laughing as he looked at the three of them.
Qu Yi wanted to reach the early stage of Yuan Ying, and he was just short of one Wood Element Yuan Ying in the middle stage.