Chapter 493: Stirring Waves Again

The Ninth-Tier Xuan Pill, Three Thousand Burning Flame, and Bodhisattva Ancient Tree Seedling— these three items were rare treasures that were hard to come by for ordinary experts. Even for Xiao Ming, they were precious treasures that were not easy to obtain.

So when these three options were presented to him, he was obviously overjoyed. However, the decision of which one to choose caused him to pause for a moment.

The Three Thousand Burning Flames was undoubtedly extracted using the one in the Star Region as a template. This item couldn't be overly powerful. It did increase Xiao Ming's strength to a certain extent when it was devoured, but the increase was extremely limited.

Of course, this referred to the raw power that was added when it was devoured. There were other aspects of enhancement as well. The Three Thousand Star Constitution was actually quite good. However, since there was already a Three Thousand Burning Flame in reality, Xiao Ming didn't need to waste an opportunity to acquire such an enhancement. So the Three Thousand Burning Flame was ruled out.

The remaining two options were the source of Xiao Ming's hesitation.

The Ninth-Tier Xuan Pill, if taken directly, could increase his strength and allow him to break through to the six-star Dou Saint stage. In terms of realm advancement alone, it was the most beneficial of the three.

However, it was the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree Seedling that made Xiao Ming itch with excitement. The mature form of the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree could fight against a Dou God. Moreover, it could cultivate a large number of Dou Saints. Considering the impossibility of a second tree with such attributes naturally appearing in the world, anyone would be tempted. It was just the incredibly long growth cycle that left people somewhat speechless.

'Wait a second... was it possible for this Bodhisattva Ancient Tree seedling to cause the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree to appear prematurely?'

Xiao Ming suddenly thought of this, and the balance in his mind, which had initially been leaning towards the Ninth-Tier Xuan Pill, began to shift towards the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree seedling.

His alchemy skills had already reached a bottleneck. The leap from Treasure Pill Grandmaster to Xuan Pill Grandmaster was too great, and with his current eighteen years of accumulation, it would be difficult to make another breakthrough in a short period of time unless he cultivated his soul in the Emperor Realm.

If the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree were to emerge, the situation would change. He could use its Hundred Lifetimes Reincarnation to learn alchemy. At that time, he could refine not only a single Ninth-Tier Xuan Pill, but perhaps even ten of them.

He could also find a way to subdue the Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning in the Void Lightning Pool outside Ancient Dragon Island and use it to refine Xuan-Tier Lightning Calamity Pills.

After some thought, Xiao Ming made up his mind and appeared on a cliff in the Magic Beast Mountain Range before speaking.

'... I choose the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree Seedling.'

As his words fell, a towering tree, several dozen meters high, appeared before him.

The trunk of this Bodhisattva Tree was thickly covered with a mysterious aura. Its canopy was as wide as it was tall, spreading out like an umbrella. Thick and pure strands of energy radiated from it, spreading out into the sky. This energy snaked through the sky, creating natural phenomena from time to time.

The moonlight in the sky poured down at this moment, shining on the ancient tree. There was a faint feeling of transparency, a feeling that was astonishing enough to make Xiao Ming feel amazed, slowly enveloping the surroundings.

His gaze remained fixed on the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree seedling that emitted this strange aura. The purity of this aura gave a feeling of tranquillity. It was as if it could wash away the dust from one's soul.

'The Bodhisattva Ancient Tree is truly extraordinary.'

While Xiao Ming was observing the tree seedling, an enlarged version of the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree seedling was silently standing deep below the surface of the continent in the heart of the earth. The surrounding space displayed an unusual state, with its roots absorbing the pure energy of the earth.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, it emitted waves of joyous fluctuations. Its enormous branches swayed and produced a rustling sound.

After a moment, seemingly without receiving a response, it ceased its swaying. Then, hesitating for a moment, it began to rise to the surface.

On the other side, within the Magic Beast Mountain Range, Xiao Ming carefully stored the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree seedling, which didn't look the least bit young. After sealing it in several layers of spatial seals, he returned to his room and slept with Medusa in his embrace.

For the next few days, Xiao Ming passed the time much as he had simulated.

On the fifth day, he took Medusa, Zi Yan, Xiao Yi Xian, Qing Lin, and Xiao Yue directly through a wormhole in the Xiao family's territory to a spatial node on the outskirts of Holy Pill City.

Upon returning to the Pill Tower, Xiao Ming immediately called a high-level meeting. The elders were both excited and taken by surprise by his return.

After the initial joy, they discovered that his strength had reached the advanced five-star stage. This brought another wave of excitement.

When Xiao Ming made it clear that he would take the lead in the upcoming decisive battle, no one objected. Instead, they were all eagerly preparing to deal a fatal blow to the Hall of Souls.

With more than two months left until the final battle, Xiao Ming focused on increasing his strength, starting with his Soul Realm.

The soul essences from the Hall of Souls' headquarters in the four regions, combined with those from the Earth Hall, were quite substantial. Xiao Ming effortlessly reached the Great Perfection of the Heaven Realm with a considerable surplus.

However, even after absorbing all of it, Xiao Ming still didn't reach the Emperor Realm. He merely brought himself one step closer to it.

...

The Fallen Mountain Range was situated on the border between the Hall of Souls and the Heavenly Court.

The name "Fallen" had ancient origins. Legend had it that in a distant era, several powerful Dou Saints met their demise in this range. Although treasure hunters had scoured the mountains repeatedly without finding any trace of a Dou Saint, it didn't diminish the fame that the Fallen Mountain Range held within the Central Plains.

Originally a relatively quiet place, the Fallen Mountain Range had suddenly become bustling over the past few days, with forces and formidable individuals from all directions converging upon it.

Evidently, news of the impending clash between the Hall of Souls and the Heavenly Court was spreading like wildfire. This battle for supremacy among the dominant forces in the Central Plains had captured everyone's attention.

The various powers and experts in Central Plains were all quite curious to know who would emerge as the strongest when the long-established powerhouse, the Hall of Souls, and the newly established Heavenly Court Alliance collided.

With such thoughts in mind, the influx of people into the Fallen Mountain Range reached a terrifying level.

This situation made the original inhabitants, the native magical beasts, suffer quite a bit. Some magical beast tribes that thrived there were forced to relocate, fearing they might get caught up in the conflict and face the tragic fate of extinction.

While the number of people flooding into the Fallen Mountain Range reached a saturation point, the hearts of the countless individuals present suddenly surged. They could foresee that this time, their journey wouldn't be in vain. This decisive battle was bound to be earth-shattering!

Time seemed to slip away amidst the rapt attention of the masses.

As the morning light of the decisive battle day tore through the clouds and poured down on the earth, the atmosphere within the mountains suddenly grew fervent.

The rushing sound of wind continuously echoed across the sky as many figures flew together like locusts, all heading towards the Fallen Mountain in the middle of the range.

The Fallen Mountain was the most majestic and precipitous mountain in the Fallen Mountain Range. It was extremely tall, and some of the mountain roads were so steep that they were almost vertical. Hence, there was no way to climb this mountain.

The peak of the Fallen Mountain was so smooth that it seemed as though a huge mirror had been built on it. The sunlight that landed on it was reflected into glaring light rays. From a distance, a pillar of those rays seemed to rise from the mountain and penetrate the clouds, giving it an unusually majestic and grand appearance, which evoked a sense of pride.

Adding to the ambiance was the countless number of people floating all around it, causing the blood of many to feel like boiling. If one were to engage in an all-out fight in front of these many pairs of eyes in one's lifetime, one would regret nothing even in death…

The sky around the mountain was crowded with people. Any expert who possessed the ability to fly either spread their Dou Qi wings or directly stepped through the air. One could even see some old demons who had concealed themselves from the world and the Grand Elders of some sects present in areas near the peak of the mountain. It seemed that even the older generation, with their considerable age and experience, was paying great attention to today's earth-shaking battle.

Although the entire mountain range was unbelievably crowded, not a single person dared to land on the Fallen Mountain. Even those old demons, who could crumble space with the lift of a hand, remained three thousand meters away from the mountain.

The sun in the sky became hotter with the flow of time. When the bright round sun reached the highest point in the sky, the light pillar that shot from the top of the Fallen Mountain into the air had also reached its most glaring state. The light pillar that reached toward the sky appeared like it had connected with the bright sun above. When viewed from far away, it was an extremely spectacular sight.

The space around the Fallen Mountain rapidly distorted when the light pillar had reached its peak state. A spatial channel slowly formed in front of the countless pairs of eyes present.

Chi chi!

A cold, black fog surged in all directions after the spatial channel was formed. A sharp sound was vaguely emitted, causing the expressions of many viewers to change. Their eyes were filled with disgust and fear as they stared at the black fog.

"The members of the Hall of Souls have arrived..."