Chapter 65: Wind Crown

On the tenth wind bridge stood a tall man in a green robe, his expression stern. Holding a wooden sword, he stood motionless yet exuded an imposing presence like a mountain.
Qu Yi stood at the bridge’s end, observing the man carefully and sensing his strength.
“Haha, you’re just a Human Immortal. Then I don’t need to worry about your strength at all,” Qu Yi said, suddenly laughing after hearing the Voice of the Artifact God.
It turned out that Qu Yi had only sensed the same aura as Hai Tong from this man, but he wasn’t sure about his cultivation level. However, the Artifact God was far stronger than a Heavenly Immortal, so he quickly figured out the man’s strength.
The man glanced at Qu Yi indifferently. Hearing his words, he smiled faintly and said, “I am Wind Crown. Emperor Hao captured me long ago and ordered me to guard this tenth wind bridge.”
Qu Yi was shocked. If this man had been captured by Emperor Hao, it meant he must have lived for millions of years. Yet he was still only at the level of a Human Immortal, which was quite strange.
“Are you wondering why I’m still only at the level of a Primordial Monster?” The man, who seemed to have been silent for a long time, now seemed interested in talking to Qu Yi.
Qu Yi nodded briefly before shaking his head and quickly asked, “No, I’m just surprised that you’re only at the Human Immortal level. What does ‘Primordial Monster’ mean?”
The man looked at Qu Yi in surprise. Seeing that Qu Yi didn’t seem to be lying, he realized Qu Yi truly didn’t know the difference between a Human Immortal and a Primordial Monster.
“I come from the Monster Realm. Our realm also has three levels of cultivation: Primordial Monster, Earth Monster, and Heavenly Monster, corresponding to the Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, and Heavenly Immortal in the Immortal Realm. Now you understand. By ‘Primordial Monster,’ I mean what you call a Human Immortal.” Wind Crown’s expression remained indifferent, but it was clear he enjoyed talking to Qu Yi.
Qu Yi nodded to show he understood, then immediately asked, “Right. If you’ve been here for millions of years, why are you still only at the level of a Primordial Monster?”
“Because the formation on this wind bridge restricts my cultivation, preventing my strength from rising. But Emperor Hao promised me that if someone can pass through this bridge, I’ll be free to return to the Monster Realm,” Wind Crown said, looking up with a hint of melancholy.
Qu Yi was even more astonished. Emperor Hao apparently had the power to send Wind Crown back to the Monster Realm.
“Alright, Wind Crown. You can tell me how to pass through the bridge you’re guarding,” Qu Yi said with a faint smile.

Feng Guan immediately raised the wooden sword in his hand and smiled, saying, “It’s simple. I’ll keep unleashing wood-element techniques. If you can withstand them and cross this wind bridge, you’ll have succeeded. Then I can leave the cultivation realm and return to the demon realm.”

Upon hearing this, Qu Yi realized these rules were no different from those of the previous nine wind bridges. But hearing Feng Guan’s words, he became even more curious.

“Feng Guan, were you one of the five experts who came from the demon realm back then?” Qu Yi exclaimed with gleaming eyes.

According to rumors in the cultivation realm, five experts from each of the realms of immortals, demons, and demons came together to hunt down Emperor Hao, Qing Mu, and Shui Lin. Five of them died, and the remaining ten founded the ten major sects in the cultivation realm. But these rumors originated from those ten sects, so others could only spread them as such. Qu Yi had always had doubts, but hadn’t heard any other secrets. Now, seeing Feng Guan, his doubts resurfaced, so he asked.

“Yes. Out of the five primordial demons who came back then, one died. I was captured alive, and the other three should have returned alive.” Feng Guan’s expression suddenly changed, turning angry, clearly recalling those events.

However, Qu Yi didn’t want to press further about what happened back then. Now was the time to focus on defending against Feng Guan’s attacks.

A moment later, Qu Yi stepped onto the wind bridge.

Feng Guan looked at Qu Yi and smiled faintly, “Brave kid. Since you’ve stepped onto the bridge, I’ll attack you with all my might—no leniency at all.”

As soon as he spoke, a violent gust of green energy erupted from Feng Guan’s wooden sword, forming a whirlwind that enveloped Qu Yi’s body. The wood-element energy in the entire space seemed to converge, creating a wood-element domain. Within this domain, there was also a law of tension and relaxation—sometimes stretching people out greatly, other times squeezing them down to the thickness of a hair strand.

Qu Yi had already experienced Hai Tong’s water-element domain and the law of coldness. Now, facing Feng Guan, he encountered a new wood-element domain and its laws of tension and relaxation. Instead of using the Star Luo Ding, he decided to endure the attacks with his own body and understand this wood-element domain.

Some things could only be understood intuitively and deeply through personal experience. Qu Yi intended to do just that, hoping that when he ascended to the immortal realm in the future, he could quickly master his own domain.

Within the wood-element domain, the primal wood-energy kept attacking Qu Yi’s body. He simply drew out the Six Harmonies Blade and channeled his vital energy to create a golden-primal-energy shield, which blocked the attacks.

As for the methods of pressure and expansion, these were attacks at a deeper level. Qu Yi would sometimes feel as though his body was being stretched into gas, expanding infinitely, and at other times he would feel as if he were being squeezed by two massive rollers, his body nearly turning into a thin thread. After holding on for a while, Qu Yi felt he could no longer bear it, as his vital spirit was on the verge of being stretched infinitely. “Qu Yi, that’s enough. Having such an intuitive understanding is sufficient,” the Artifact God suddenly transmitted through his spiritual sense. Clearly, with his current mid-stage tribulation cultivation level, being able to withstand the Wind Crown’s attacks by overcoming two levels was already quite remarkable. To expect him to resist the Wind Crown’s attacks with his current level was simply absurd. Qu Yi followed the Artifact God’s advice, immediately took out the Star Luo Ding, and leaped into it alone—immediately, the pressure on him vanished. “Domains and methods of expansion are indeed powerful. But one must take things step by step. First, I need to overcome the ninety-nine tribulations and then reach the Mahayana stage, so that I can ascend to the immortal realm and begin to understand domains and methods of expansion,” Qu Yi murmured to himself. The Artifact God merely chuckled and did not reply. The Wind Crown attacked several more times but found that its attacks had no effect whatsoever on the Star Luo Ding, which shocked it greatly. Soon, ecstasy appeared on its face. “Kid, is this treasure of yours the Star Luo Ding, the magical artifact from Water Forest back then?” The Wind Crown stopped attacking and immediately called out. Hearing this, Qu Yi poked his head out of the Star Luo Ding and smiled, saying, “According to rumors in the cultivation world, this Star Luo Ding indeed came from the hands of the Three Emperors of Hao. It might well be the one you mentioned—Water Forest who brought it.” The three legendary treasures of the cultivation world were the Hao Tian Sword of the Three Emperors of Hao, the Star Luo Ding of Water Forest, and the Five Qi Three Flower Divine Formula card of Qing Mu. “I really didn’t expect it. Water Forest didn’t even use this magical artifact back then; otherwise, how could we have pursued him? How can you use this artifact? How did you do it?” The Wind Crown asked, full of suspicion. Qu Yi stared at the Wind Crown, not knowing how to answer. He certainly couldn’t tell it that the Star Luo Ding was originally the Artifact God’s furnace, and that the Artifact God was now inside his soul—that would reveal his secret. “I don’t know. Anyway, after I got the Star Luo Ding, I couldn’t use it for a while, but one day I suddenly was able to,” Qu Yi said with a smile. At this point, Qu Yi could only bluff the Wind Crown. Of course, the Wind Crown could tell he was being evasive and knew it wouldn’t get the real reason, but it didn’t intend to press further.

“Kid, what’s your name?” At this moment, a smile appeared on Feng Guan’s face as he politely asked the question.
“Qu Yi!”
After hearing this, Feng Guan repeated “Qu Yi” several times before smiling and saying, “Qu Yi, since you can use the Xingluo Ding, and I also attacked a few times just now, I know that with my current level as a Yuan Yao, I can’t break through. Naturally, you can cross this Wind Bridge. Well, go now. I can also leave this Haotian Immortal Mansion and return to the Yao Realm. I wonder how those friends from back then are doing now?”
A melancholic expression once again appeared on Feng Guan’s face; clearly, he had long missed the Yao Realm.
Qu Yi activated the Xingluo Ding and easily flew past Feng Guan, then swiftly crossed the bridge surface, finally reaching the other end of the Wind Bridge.
Just then, a soft jade-colored light suddenly rose all over the ten-thousand-meter-long Wind Bridge. Feng Guan transformed once again into a green giant dragon a thousand meters long, with three sharp claws on its body.
The Three-Claw Wind Dragon!
The jade light flashed suddenly, filling the entire space of the Wind Bridge with white light. Then, it lifted the Three-Claw Wind Dragon into the sky. What was once a canyon filled with cold winds now had a thousand-meter-high sky. That sky was as dark as ink, seemingly a passage connecting to another world.
The white light entered the passage and disappeared quickly.
Naturally, Feng Guan, that is, the Three-Claw Wind Dragon, had been sent to the Yao Realm.
Qu Yi watched this magnificent scene without blinking, filled with excitement, and once again admired Emperor Haotian’s tactics.
Just as the sky above disappeared and the canyon filled with cold winds reappeared, a crackling sound came from the tenth Wind Bridge, and its entire surface broke apart and vanished.
In other words, only Qu Yi had crossed the tenth Wind Bridge.
Qu Yi looked stunned. It turned out that whoever crossed the tenth Wind Bridge first would be the only one who could obtain the mid-grade immortal artifact in this Wind Bridge Realm.
“Qu Yi, what are you standing around for? Leave quickly. That mid-grade immortal artifact isn’t far from here—just ten thousand li away,” the voice of the Artifact God suddenly rang out.
With an “Oh,” Qu Yi immediately released his spiritual sense and indeed sensed a drum-shaped magical artifact on a mountain ten thousand li away. Its aura was similar to that of the Shangjin Sword. It seemed to be the mid-grade immortal artifact in this Wind Bridge Realm.
“Good, I’ll fly over right away,” Qu Yi laughed loudly and shot off like an arrow.