Chapter 4: The Divine Crystal Tree

Beast Village was located at the edge of the Savage Beast Mountains.
This area was rich in spiritual energy, but the primal energies of the five elements were extremely chaotic. With every breath, one would inhale large amounts of mixed primal energies. The cultivators in the village had only mastered the laws of one element, so with each breath, they had to quickly eliminate the other four primal energies to prevent their bodies from becoming mixed and causing their evolution to collapse.
Thus, like other villages in the Divine Realm, Beast Village was a forbidden area for cultivation, as everyone was constantly busy expelling other primal energies from their bodies, leaving no time to understand the laws of other elements.
After entering Beast Village, Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui found that all the villagers were not outside but remained quietly in their homes, seemingly focused on eliminating the primal energies of the five elements from their bodies.
“It seems impossible to cultivate here in Beast Village,” Qu Yi said quietly as he walked, suddenly exclaiming.
Xu Ming and Tian Duo, who were leading the way, couldn’t help but smirk at Qu Yi’s words. To still think about cultivating in Beast Village was utterly unrealistic. The only places in the Divine Realm where one could cultivate peacefully were the towns.
If you wanted to cultivate, buy a house in the city!
Of course, Xu Ming and Tian Duo didn’t say anything to remind him. Every cultivator who ascended to the Divine Realm encountered this situation and would gradually get used to it.
The group of five soon arrived at the central area of Beast Village, where stood a tall house—the residence of the village chief, Xu Qiang.
“Village chief, it’s Tian Duo. Captain Xu Ming has arrived, along with three new villagers who want to register,” Tian Duo called out from the doorway.
In Beast Village, the village chief held the greatest power, with a hundred household leaders under him. Each household leader managed a hundred villagers.
As soon as his words faded, the door creaked open, and a middle-aged man in a green robe, of medium height with a sharp face, stepped out. This was Xu Qiang, the village chief of Beast Village.
“Elder Xu Ming, you’ve come!” Xu Qiang exclaimed happily as he stepped out and looked straight at Xu Ming.
As two cultivators who had ascended to the Divine Realm from the same cultivation world, Xu Ming had ascended millions of years earlier than Xu Qiang. Therefore, Xu Qiang always addressed Xu Ming as an elder.

Xu Ming nodded and then went straight into Xu Qiang’s residence, finding a wooden chair to sit on. Xu Qiang followed in, closing the door behind him to prevent Tian Duo, Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui from entering.

“Elder, the message you sent me said that these three—Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui—have secrets. I sensed their auras just now, but I didn’t detect anything strange about them,” Xu Qiang said after sitting down as well.

Xu Ming wasn’t going to tell Xu Qiang the real reason. After all, the fact that Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui had stayed on the Pearl Tree for ten days was better kept secret from as many people as possible.

“I suspect these three have some secrets, but I’m not sure. It’s just an intuition. Our ability to advance to the Divine Weapon stage might lie with them. That’s why, as soon as I received them, I thought of bringing them to your village so you could keep an eye on them. Once you notice anything unusual, we can act secretly and capture them,” Xu Ming said calmly.

Hearing this, Xu Qiang began to speculate and make calculations, eventually forming a plan in his mind.

“Elder, since these three have secrets, why don’t you take action yourself and capture them for interrogation?” Xu Qiang asked with a smile.

Although they came from the same cultivation realm, as an ancient being who had lived for hundreds of millions of years, Xu Ming wasn’t prone to acting emotionally and always remained cautious. Moreover, Xu Ming’s cultivation level was higher than Xu Qiang’s. For Xu Ming not to take action himself but instead send Xu Qiang to deal with Qu Yi and the others was the biggest mystery.

Xu Qiang was only at the Divine Human stage, and he didn’t know much about Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui. If things went wrong, his life could be at risk.

Hearing Xu Qiang’s words, Xu Ming understood his concerns but simply smiled faintly.

“I’m responsible for escorting them. I can only receive my reward after delivering them to your Hundred Beasts Village. During this escort, I naturally can’t take action against them. Xu Qiang, don’t doubt me. From now on, you just need to keep an eye on them and contact me immediately if anything unusual happens. I’ve reached a cultivation bottleneck and only need the right opportunity to advance to the Divine Weapon stage,” Xu Ming said with a smile.

Hearing this, Xu Qiang felt a chill in his heart. What Xu Ming meant was that he had to help him with this task; otherwise, if Xu Ming advanced to the Divine Weapon stage later, he wouldn’t be able to expect any help from him.

“Senior, I’ll follow your advice. I’ll keep a close eye on those three. If anything unusual happens, I’ll take action against them,” said Xu Qiang with a smile.
It was just surveillance, so Xu Qiang didn’t need to do it himself—he could simply assign it to a subordinate. Since he could win the favor of a cultivator at the Divine Weapon stage, Xu Qiang knew well what was right and wrong.
At the Divine Being stage, one would comprehend one complete set of laws; at the Divine Weapon stage, two complete sets. The gap in strength was like heaven and earth. Xu Qiang was well aware that having someone at the Divine Weapon stage backing him would save him many troubles in the future.
Xu Ming nodded and said with a smile, “Alright, let’s hand over the responsibilities now. I also need to return to Lifei City.”
With that, Xu Ming took out a token engraved with the character “division” and tossed it to Xu Qiang.
Xu Qiang nodded, picked up the token, and went to a corner of the room. He took out a Wood Element Divine Core and activated a formation.
This was a communication formation available in every village—first, to facilitate communication between the village and its affiliated guard city; second, for those coming to the village to handle affairs, who had to use this formation to confirm information.
Xu Ming, who was escorting Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wugui, needed Xu Qiang’s personal confirmation that the tasks were completed before they could return to Lifei City to claim their rewards.
Soon, Xu Qiang finished the confirmation, shut down the formation, and tossed the token back to Xu Ming.
“Well then, I won’t keep you any longer. Let’s stay in touch regarding their activities,” said Xu Ming, putting away the token with a smile.
Xu Qiang nodded back with a smile.
Xu Ming left the room and went over to Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wugui, smiling and saying, “From now on, this Hundred Beasts Village will be your home. I hope you’ll follow the village chief’s arrangements and strive to complete the tasks assigned to you.”
Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wugui replied softly, “Yes,” before looking at Xu Qiang, the village chief, who had left the room.
A hint of coldness appeared in Xu Ming’s eyes, after which he strode away toward Lifei City.
In fact, Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wugui couldn’t hear the conversation between Xu Ming and Xu Qiang in the room, but the Artifact God heard everything. Naturally, Qu Yi now knew of their plans, and he no longer felt any goodwill toward Xu Ming.
Originally, Qu Yi thought Xu Ming was just greedy and didn’t have any other ulterior motives. But now that he knew Xu Ming wanted to take advantage of him, he immediately harbored hatred and would no longer be polite if he encountered him again.

Xu Qiang watched Xu Ming leave before turning his attention to Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui. “The main task in our Bai Shou Village is tree planting. Once you’ve managed to grow ten thousand Divine Crystal Trees and produce one million Divine Crystals, then you’ll be officially recognized as members of the Divine Realm. At that point, you’ll have the right to harvest and divide the Divine Crystal Trees among yourselves,” Xu Qiang said calmly. Divine Crystals are the universal currency of the Divine Realm and can also be used for cultivation. Divine Crystal Trees are a type of tree that naturally bears Divine Crystal fruits. Qu Yi had already heard from the Instrument God that the first thing monks who ascend to the Divine Realm must do is work and make contributions before they can become full members. After all, too many people ascend to the Divine Realm from various worlds, and if no one worked, chaos would ensue. “Yes, Village Chief,” Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui replied promptly. Xu Qiang nodded and then looked at Tian Duo beside him. “Tian Duo, from now on, these three will be under your supervision. First, take them to choose a location and let them build their own homes. Then show them the Divine Crystal Trees, and after that, let them plant them on their own,” Xu Qiang instructed before turning and entering his house, closing the door behind him. In this Bai Shou Village, where the five elemental primordial energies were in chaos, speaking more than necessary required extra effort to filter out other primordial energies that entered the body. Naturally, Village Chief Xu Qiang wouldn’t waste words on Qu Yi and the others. Tian Duo replied affirmatively and then looked at Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui, smiling. “Come on, from now on, you three will live here in Bai Shou Village. When the Divine Crystal Trees bear fruit, just pick them and give them to me. You don’t need to disturb me in your daily lives,” Tian Duo said calmly. “Yes, Headman,” Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui replied with smiles. In truth, Tian Duo was quite frustrated. He had followed Qu Yi and the others from Huo Xin Town to this Bai Shou Village, only to find that the three showed no resistance to the chaotic five elemental primordial energies, allowing them to enter their bodies without making any effort to remove other primordial energies. Tian Duo was now at the Divine Human stage and had mastered the complete laws of Earth. His complexion seemed good, but inwardly he was suffering greatly. While talking to Qu Yi and the others, Tian Duo had to constantly filter out the primordial energies of Metal, Wood, Water, and Fire to prevent his divine essence from becoming mixed.

Immediately, Tian Duo led Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui to the edge of Beast Village, which was already quite close to the outer rim of the Savage Beast Mountains.
“Alright, the three of you build your own homes here. Also, do you see that estate ahead? The trees in their garden are Divine Crystal Trees. There are many of these saplings in the outer areas of the Savage Beast Mountains—go and transplant them yourselves. Remember, you must plant 10,000 Divine Crystal Trees and collect 1 million Divine Crystals before you can become full members of the Divine Realm.” Tian Duo spoke quickly, not waiting for Qu Yi and the others to respond, before rushing off.
With every word he said, Tian Duo felt more frustrated. Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui listened to him so casually, while he had to constantly purge the four primal energies inside his body—just thinking about it was annoying.
When Tian Duo left, Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui burst into laughter.
“Finally, no one’s talking around us anymore. We can move around freely now,” Qu Yi said happily.
“Woooh, life in the Divine Realm has officially begun,” Wu Yuan said, rubbing his hands together eagerly.
“Let’s build our houses first,” Qing Wu Gui said calmly.