Azure Heaven Saber
Chapter 1243 - 1243 74 Silly Billy Makes a Merit_4

Chapter 1243: Chapter 74 Silly Billy Makes a Merit_4 Chapter 1243: Chapter 74 Silly Billy Makes a Merit_4 However… as many experts worked tirelessly, the ancient trees within a radius of twenty thousand li had all but been relocated.

Finding more required venturing even further afield, which was indeed a time-consuming and energy-draining undertaking.

But there was no choice; it had to be done.

In these times of crisis, when survival hung by a thread, putting in the extra effort was willingly accepted—for it was a far cry from the life-and-death struggle of combat.

Three days later, Feng Yin straightforwardly relaxed the criteria: it wasn’t necessary to specifically seek out thousand-year-old ancient trees; any tree over three hundred years would do.

As a result, the expansion became much easier, and correspondingly, the potency of power required to enliven them surged.

Compared to the overall ease of moving trees, Feng Yin’s labor was, by all accounts, tenfold, if not a hundredfold more taxing.

After all, the depth of their foundation was different.

Many of the trees inherently lacked the fundamental essence to sustain longevity and endure the transformation process. Often, a touch would wither them instantly—a stark manifestation of too much being as bad as not enough.

Hoping for these trees to yield life essence often required enrichment more than ten times before they could be completely transformed, acquiring the Innate essence. And, considering each enrichment took two days, this added up to a cycle of twenty days.

A cycle of twenty days was unbearably long and impractical, rendering the process essentially futile.

Or rather… it might just be too late.

However, Feng Yin proceeded in this way because he still had spare energy. He harbored a hope that if things could be accomplished in time, then all the better—and even if not, there was another benefit to this method, as it also constituted practicing the Spiritual Transformation Technique.

He could feel that his Spiritual Transformation Technique was on the verge of a breakthrough!

Spirit Gathering, Spirit Shaping, Spirit Opening… had all reached completion.

Next came Spirit Shaping!

Therefore, Feng Yin eagerly anticipated this and strove to hasten the process. Enriching more trees was the most direct and straightforward method he could think of.

Only with further progression in the Spiritual Transformation Technique could he bolster his strength and trump card against the Evil Spirits from the Abyss!

When he initially acquired the Spiritual Transformation Technique, Feng Yin was somewhat protective of it, and more so because being too conspicuous could lead to disaster.

As such, he wasn’t very diligent with the enrichment.

But as his cultivation improved, the frequency of the enrichments increased. Now, it could be said he was tirelessly devoted.

With his current level of cultivation and the strength of his spirit, he worked to the point of feeling completely drained each day.

“I’ve indeed exhausted myself to the utmost.”

His fingers tapped methodically across the trunks of countless trees.

With earnest focus.

Each tree could feel his sincere care and protection.

At the same time, he could sense the spiritual energy within his body growing continuously, his cultivation nearing and challenging its limits.

The bottleneck of the fourth stage of the Spiritual Transformation Technique was gradually loosening too.

Yet Feng Yin still harbored regrets because he still found the third form of the Sky Opening Nine Styles somewhat clumsy.

He had become very proficient with the first form, Chaos Slash, and the second form, Severing Heavens.

Only the third strike, whose movements, direction, footwork, and body coordination all felt perfectly aligned, somehow lacked the power of the first two.

This vexed Feng Yin terribly.

Where lay the problem?

With the Heavenly Slash of the third form, what was missing?

He frequently watched the memories embedded within the blade when he had moments to spare.

He had watched them thousands of times.

Yet to no avail.

Therefore, amidst enrichments, he sought out others to practice his swordplay.

Although everyone was researching how to combat the Evil Spirits, there were still many idle hands.

Especially Dong Xiaoyan and Feng Ying—these two were the most carefree.

They just went with the flow.

If others learned how to deal with the Evil Spirits, they would too.

If nobody could figure it out, there was no point in the two of them trying, as it would be even less productive.

Lying flat had become a habit.

If Feng Yin was victorious against the Evil Spirits, they would celebrate and continue living.

If he failed, they would face death together—such was the simple philosophy of Feng Ying and Dong Xiaoyan.

It had an air of unwavering loyalty, reminiscent of the saying, “Wherever you go, I will follow.”

They led an uneventful everyday life.

Then there were Lan Dan, Black Cloud, Hidden Blade, Yellow Wind, and Dream Spirit—these five formidable beings idle to the point of frustration with no patience for devising strategies against the Evil Spirits.

They gathered every day to play mahjong.

And there was always one too many participants.

So they began drawing lots, and the one who drew “none” was not allowed to play for the day.

Lan Dan was particularly lucky, always drawing ‘has’.

But fate seemed to betray him at the gambling table, for despite his affinity for the ladies, he persistently lost at cards—a poor player addicted to the game, hastily playing cards without thought, and was cursed by the other three countless times every day.

In just a few days, he had lost thirty to forty thousand prime spirit crystals.

He continued to lose money and endure scolding yet remained undeterred.

“East wind!” Lan Dan declared with gravity as he played his card.

Only one card remained on the table.

“Kong!”

Hidden Blade snatched it and slammed it down, erupting into raucous laughter: “Win on a kong, fishing for the moon from the bottom of the sea, great happiness—pay up!”

The other two were livid with frustration!

“You had that one last card, without even a chance to draw more, and no hand ready, yet you go and discard the east wind! Wasn’t it better just to fold?” they chided.

Lan Dan argued with conviction: “How was I to know?”

“Where’s your brain?!”

“You are covering this round!”

“Why should I cover it… it was a loss for us all; I just happened to draw the east wind. It’s just bad luck, how can you blame me?”