Dao Equaling the Heavens
Chapter 227 - 161 Divine Tree Friendship Fee Credited_2

Chapter 227: Chapter 161 Divine Tree Friendship Fee Credited_2

[Heavenly Marrow One Hundred and Thirty Years]

Gu Wen stopped because he needed to conserve enough Heavenly Marrow for the Nine Revolutions Golden Pill.

Flame’s Slaughter Path’s skill couldn’t provide the levels for overcoming enemies of higher tiers, but it could enhance Gu Wen’s combat abilities after ascending three tiers, from below-average to above-average, which typically meant he could defeat most people.

-----------------

At the Nanshui border.

The clouds rumbled incessantly while the Daoist nun gasped for breath, her cold face showing a hint of weakness.

The Dragon coiled among the clouds, its Azure Dragon dharma form covering its body, which had grown over a hundred zhang in length. Despite the thunderous strikes, there was no damage; instead, the azure scales were tinged with a layer of blue light.

"Have you weakened, should I address you as Three Pure Daoist or Three Pure Saintess? You must be practicing the ’One Qi to Three Pure Ones’, tsk tsk tsk, running around alone, what about the Heavenly Person and the Yin body?"

One of the immortal skills of the Sanqing Taoist Sect, One Qi to Three Pure Ones.

It perfectly splits into three entities, corresponding to Yin and Yang and the Heavenly Person. Among them, Yin and Yang appear based on the main body’s gender; the Three Pure Daoist is male, naturally producing a female form.

It is said that after millennia of cultivation, if the radically divergent memories born from the passage of time still willingly give up their individual selves, the three can merge and achieve Immortality.

But if there’s discord from the beginning, talking about the next thousand years is moot.

"Neither male nor female, you’re just a scaled worm, don’t embarrass yourself if you can’t speak human language."

Daoist nun Xue Yan’s face, illuminated by the thunder, looked ethereally cold, and the thunder in her palm symbolized the most ferocious entity in the world.

There has never been a formal distinction of Saint Heir or Saint Daughter within the Daoist Sect; only disciples are formally addressed, and ’Zi’ is a title of respect.

By contrast, the demon kinds are much cruder; leaders in Grotto Heavens are called Devil Emperors, and their offspring are Princes, self-proclaimed Holy ones are Saint Heirs and Saint Daughters. Later, some smaller sects adopted this, and it gradually spread in private.

But an ancient sect like the Sanqing Taoist Sect scorns adopting the names of demon kinds.

"Ha-ha, still as arrogant as ever. If all three of you were here, I would have retreated three steps; now, with you alone as a mere woman, you are just a fish on the chopping board."

The Azure Dragon roared and collided, its eyes filled with excitement and barely concealed eagerness.

He trembled with excitement at the thought of capturing the once greatest pride of the Human Race and making her his forbidden delicacy.

"Wait till I capture you and bring you back to the Dragon Palace, seize your Nascent Soul, and conceive a Dragon Son; the foremost among thousands of Daoist Sects of the Human Race will be shamed!"

The Daoist nun wielded the Divine Thunder, clashing hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of times in the blink of an eye, making even Ao Heng gasp for air, his body accumulating more and more charred wounds.

But he was not in a hurry because the Daoist nun’s expenditure was even greater.

Once it was clear the enemy was not as strong as himself, yet lacked overwhelmingly dominant power, attrition became the safest strategy.

Just as Ao Heng’s mood surged, suddenly he felt a chill; the Daoist nun’s aura erupted, and her eyes shone brightly as if spouting flames.

"Not good! This woman is desperate."

The thought had just arisen when it was too late for Ao Heng to retreat.

Indeed, the Daoist nun was inferior to him, yet the gap between them wasn’t large; she wouldn’t foolishly wait to be weakened. Capturing her and bringing her back was virtually impossible, and managing to retrieve a complete corpse would be an incredibly lucky break for Ao Heng.

The Daoist nun’s eyes grew colder, her Five Thunders growing more ferocious.

Boom!

She enveloped the Divine Thunder in her palm and thrust into the Azure Dragon’s body, under continuous flickering lightning, dense cracks appeared on the dragon’s body.

The Azure Dragon cried out in pain, then used its divine skills to flee ten li backwards; the Daoist nun followed closely with another palm strike, thunder roaring to the heavens and lightning piercing the sky.

"Crazy woman, next time I’ll capture you and bring you into the palace!"

Ao Heng fled once again, transforming into a streak of azure light and disappearing into Nanshui.

He realized that it was impossible to capture the female form of the Three Pure Daoist at this stage, perhaps even ending up severely injured himself. With the task from the old ancestor still on his shoulders, he couldn’t afford to ruin it for one woman.

Even though this woman made him drool.

The Daoist nun did not pursue further; after spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood, she too entered Nanshui, seeking a place to heal first.

By the forest waterfall, the cascading water formed a mist.

The Daoist nun waved her hand, creating a cave behind the waterfall, and walked in with faltering steps, her icy eyes half-closed.

"The Heavenly Girl of the Yuqing Sect, and the foremost sword under the guarding Immortals, only hopes that the Upper Pure really isn’t aligned with Yuqing, otherwise I won’t escape their clutches even if I reach the heavens or dive into the earth."

-----------------

The First of October, Cold Clothes Festival.

Gu Wen and his companions had already found the next Grotto Heaven and successfully obtained the Earth Core Crystal from within.

During this period, no demons came to find them, but from time to time, some minor demons would scout the area. Without exception, all were killed by Gu Wen, and the quantity of Heavenly Marrow was barely more than none.

Fortunately, today was the Divine Tree’s time to distribute gifts to friends.

Gu Wen, holding Yu Hua’s hand, came to a tree. Four fruits fell, three of which were for Gu Wen, and one was for Yu Hua.

A wisp of elderly Divine Thought arrived.

"Young friend, your talent is peerless. This old one adds one Spirit Fruit, hoping you won’t disdain it."

Sssh! Did this mean that in the future, Daoist Father could receive three Spirit Fruits each month, monthly supplying thirty Heavenly Marrows?

With Yu Hua’s, that would make forty Heavenly Marrows a year. Signing up for twenty years would amount to over nine thousand Heavenly Marrows, almost making half-step Immortal a sure thing!

Gu Wen’s face was full of smiles as he bowed and said, "Thank you, senior. The junior will surely repay this great kindness in the future."

"If the young friend can obtain the Immortal Sword, the old one is willing to give ten Spirit Fruits every month."

Ancestor Spirit Tree suddenly mentioned the Immortal Sword, sending a chill through Gu Wen’s heart, unsure how the other party had learned of the Immortal Sword.

Yu Hua had said before, this Divine Tree was an entity about to become Dao, and perhaps, in some sense, it was already an Immortal.

He bowed and asked, "The junior does not know where the Immortal Sword is, may the senior enlighten me?"

If he could obtain the Immortal Sword, perhaps all problems would be easily solved, at the very least greatly boosting his own power.

"The old one does not know the exact location, and you are currently hardly able to control the Immortal Sword, if you try forcefully, it could make you the Sword’s slave."

The Divine Tree’s answer was unexpected, and now that he could potentially take it, he dared not.

Just as the term ’Sword’s slave’ suggested, one should only take as much as they can handle, forcing oneself could only lead to their destruction.

But it didn’t prevent Gu Wen from pocketing the Immortal Sword first, waiting until he met the standards to use it. Maybe pestering persistently, he could still take it out from time to time.

He pursed his lips and continued to ask, "How can one control the Immortal Sword?"

"Only through the pinnacle of True Sword Dao and the root of the Ninety-Eight Dao Foundations can one become a Sword Immortal."

The pinnacle of True Sword Dao, the Ninety-Eight Dao Foundations, how much Heavenly Marrow would that take?

Gu Wen, carrying a hundred Heavenly Marrows in his pocket, suddenly felt they were not so enticing.

The Divine Tree eased its tone and then reassured him, "However, young friend, do not worry. In this world, only two people know the True Sword Dao, one is the former Sword Master, and one is you. This position of Sword Immortal will eventually be yours."

Now the Sword Master had become the Immortal Sword, the only one left was Gu Wen.

Even if another came later, Gu Wen had already come halfway, and no latecomer, no matter how hard they tried, could surpass Gu Wen.

This was also why the Divine Tree’s attitude had changed. Previously, Gu Wen was only a peerless genius, and while the Divine Tree looked upon him differently, it would not deliberately form a close bond.

Because there have always been many prodigies, just like the former Venerables Huayang and Yun Miao from the Sanqing Taoist Sect. Gu Wen was more talented than them, but fundamentally, there was no difference.

Only Immortal could truly transcend heaven and earth.

Even without the Immortal Sword, a candidate for Sword Immortal was still an Immortal, more valuable than most Demi Immortals.

"One more thing, the old one had once seen the Immortality Pill."

As soon as these words came out, Yu Hua, who had been silent till now and even a bit sleepy, perked up and asked, "Where?"

The Divine Tree answered, "At the beginning of the year, the Immortality Pill and the Immortal Sword had left one after the other, perhaps the Immortality Pill had intruded upon the Immortal Sword, which chased and flew out."

Yu Hua’s gaze deepened. She did not ask why she wasn’t told at that time.

With no kin, this famous benevolent Ancestor Tree wouldn’t rashly interfere, and whether the Immortality Pill was there or not, she needed to see for herself.

"The old one takes leave, young friend, your Dao path is arduous, be very careful."

The old tree’s presence disappeared. Chi Yu Zi walked over as a Spirit Fruit fell, unlike Gu Wen’s mechanical allocation.

Per their prior agreement, Chi Yu Zi handed the Spirit Fruit to Gu Wen.

While eating the Spirit Fruit, Gu Wen and Yu Hua reassessed the various pieces of information.

The Immortal Sword was chasing the Immortality Pill, that snapped whisker was also caused by the Immortal Sword, and Chi Yu Zi’s sister might have contacted the Immortal Sword, being able to sense roughly where the Immortal Sword was.

Invisibly, scattered threads were woven together, encapsulating all causality like a vast net.

Seeking the Immortality Pill, finding the Immortal Sword, meeting Chi Ling, twisting causality into a single rope.

Involving several Immortals and Demi Immortals, as well as countless great powers, it was uncertain whether this was good or bad.