The Post Sky Tipping Era
Chapter 704 - 499

Chapter 704: Chapter 499

In the blink of an eye, ten days had passed.

During this time, Li Yi continued to hide within the grotto heaven of the Purple Gold Gourd, not venturing out. In his spare moments, he adjusted the two energies of gold and fire to consolidate his cultivation, while also paying attention to any movements and changes outside.

It was very quiet.

Ten consecutive days of silence.

Li Yi suspected that the dragon and the Tree Spirit outside most likely believed he was dead and had now fallen into slumber once more.

Nevertheless, he wasn’t in a hurry and decided to wait two more days.

During this period, Li Yi took out the Life Plate to measure his life span and found that instead of decreasing, it had increased to three hundred and twenty-one years.

This lifespan was considered short for an Evolver who practiced both cultivation methods and Daoist skills. After all, he had previously squandered a lot by recklessly using a Spiritual Weapon, and although he later consumed Life Extending Pills to replenish his life span, he had also reduced a lot recently.

To be on the safe side, he consumed another Life Extending Pill.

He then measured his life span again and found it had reached four hundred and twenty-one years.

The Life Extending Pills from the Four Seas and Eight Continents were truly magical. A life span that was rare and invaluable in other worlds became something common in the Four Seas and Eight Continents. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he’d find it hard to believe such an outrageous thing.

Indeed.

Every world has its specialties.

Things that were worthless in this world were priceless in others.

The two days passed quickly.

Li Yi felt he had waited long enough. It had, after all, been twelve days, and he didn’t want to be trapped here for too long.

"Time to go out and take a look."

He restrained his aura and donned the golden mouse skin once again to avoid detection by the dragon.

Then he manipulated the Purple Gold Gourd, opened the lid, and sent himself out of the grotto heaven inside the gourd.

After leaving the Purple Gold Gourd, Li Yi found that he was buried within the rocks. Fortunately, these rocks were not particularly hard, and he could easily break free. With a slight exertion of strength, the rocks crumbled, creating a small space around him. He then determined his direction and cautiously broke through to the surface.

Soon, a golden mouse head poked out from the charred rock ground. Li Yi looked around, where a lingering smell of burnt remains pervaded the air. As far as his eyes could see, there was charred earth everywhere, and not far away, a river of lava was still bubbling.

"Just as I thought, the dragon’s breath melted everything. The Purple Gold Gourd was subsequently buried in the lava, which then cooled and formed rocks. That’s why I ended up underground."

Li Yi pondered for a moment, put away the Purple Gold Gourd, and jumped out from underground.

He still restrained his aura, did not use mana or Gang Qi, and relied on his own strength to swiftly leave this low-lying area.

During this time, Li Yi saw many gemstones scattered around.

Gold ones, green ones, purple ones, each large and pure, even emitting a peculiar radiance, seemingly containing some special power.

Though initially uninterested, the allure of these objects around him was too strong. Li Yi couldn’t help but pick up a dozen pieces and throw them into the Five Elements Bracelet, planning to study them later to see if they were useful. If not, he could always gift them to someone.

When Li Yi reached a hillside, he gazed into the distance.

A colossal dragon lay there, like a mountain. It had its eyes closed and was completely still as if it were dead, without the slightest movement. Wrapped around the dragon were various vascular tree roots, which had grown so fully into the dragon that they became inseparable.

Even the scorching lava that flowed past hadn’t burned the eerie blood vessel-like roots in the slightest.

Clearly, this entity had absorbed the dragon’s flesh, making it impervious to fire and high temperatures.

Li Yi stared at the dragon, recalling previous events, forming a rough guess in his mind—it seemed the dragon was not wicked. It didn’t want to kill him but was parasitized by the Golden Apple Tree, unable to command its actions and forced to attack.

If the dragon genuinely intended to kill him, the first breath of dragon’s flame would have finished him off, leaving him with no chance to survive until now.

Therefore, the Golden Apple Tree was the true evil.

"Maybe I can help the dragon, remove the Golden Apple Tree’s parasitism, and relieve it from pain." Li Yi initially planned to leave, but before departing, he wanted to repay the dragon somewhat while also teaching the Tree Spirit of the Golden Apple Tree a harsh lesson and plucking the remaining golden apples.

The reason for such a bold idea was a good plan he had come up with.

Li Yi took a cracked short stick from the Five Elements Bracelet.

"Since the Tree Spirit has such an old face, it should count as a head. I wonder what would happen if I were to strike it with this Spiritual Weapon? If luck isn’t too bad, it might put the Golden Apple Tree into a long sleep."

He pondered whether this plan could work.

After a brief contemplation, Li Yi believed his method had a high probability of success.

Because the Golden Apple Tree stood there without escaping, as long as he could fly quickly enough, he could succeed before the Tree Spirit reacted, and the Tree Spirit would never expect him to make a sneaky counterattack.

"Now that I have decided, it’s time to take action."

Li Yi took a deep breath. With a golden dragon pelt over his shoulder, he began to cross the mountain and the magma river, drawing closer to the location of the golden apple tree once more.

He needed to get close enough before taking action to ensure everything went flawlessly.

However, he’d also prepared an alternative plan.

That was to have the cross-border gate and Seven-Colored Stone ready in the Purple Gold gourd.

Should he fail, he would hide in the Purple Gold gourd again, then open the cross-border gate and escape, at worst losing one Dao Artifact.

As the distance gradually shortened, Li Yi slowly felt the intimidation of the huge dragon — genuinely suffocating — but the enormous parasitic blood vessels attached to it were also uncanny, siphoning away part of the dragon’s essence of Qi-Blood with each pulse, yet this dragon was indeed remarkable; having been parasitized for unknown years, it still maintained such power.

After cautiously and attentively advancing for several hours, Li Yi stopped right before ascending a hill.

"I can’t continue forward, or risk being discovered by the Tree Spirit and rendering all previous efforts in vain. I may as well act from here. With my capability, executing the Cloud Soaring Technique, to land before the golden apple tree, only takes three seconds." He gazed, estimating the distance along with the time to employ his Daoist Skill.

Three seconds — Li Yi doubted the opponent could react in time.

Then he gripped the cracking short staff tightly and no longer concealed his presence, directly channeling his Daoist Skill.

The next moment.

A red cloud appeared beneath his feet,

then the cloud soared rapidly, transforming into a beam of splendid light, rushing straight towards the golden apple tree atop the dragon’s head.

Yet just as Li Yi acted, the dragon immediately opened one eye.

A massive golden vertical pupil locked onto him instantly.

This sent chills down Li Yi’s spine.

However, the dragon made no move; its gigantic body didn’t seem to shift. Having realized Li Yi’s intent, it wanted to see whether Li Yi could indeed deal with the golden apple tree parasitizing its body. Though the chances were slim, over all those years, Li Yi was the only one to enter here and successfully claim the golden apple.

The dragon was not a mere beast; it possessed high intelligence, and thought betting was worthwhile.

"So the dragon hopes I’ll help in removing the golden apple tree too," Li Yi realized as the dragon didn’t act immediately.

But at that precise moment.

The distorted old face on the golden apple tree emerged. It sensed Li Yi’s approach and instantly flared up in rage: "You vile thief, how dare you still live! World Dragon, you deceived me—you did not kill him as promised. Darn it, I demand you pay for this!"

The Tree Spirit was entirely furious now, shaking its body violently.

Just then, the blood-colored roots coiled around the World Dragon suddenly tightened, strangling every soft spot of the dragon, even its spirit wasn’t spared.

An immense agony swept over, causing the dragon’s entire body to tremble, unleashing a terrifying wail.

But soon.

The dragon gritted its teeth, stabilized its massive frame, enduring the excruciating pain, striving to remain still, as losing control could unintentionally jeopardize the small human being and thwart his mission.

Since discovery was unavoidable, retreating now wasn’t an option.

And this pain left the dragon trembling, every scales’ movement in unrest, as if all flesh was torn.

In past times, it could never endure this.

Yet, the dragon had been tormented for innumerable years, having acclimated to this agony for countless ages; this endurance, honed by time, propelled astonishing resilience, enabling the dragon not to twitch an inch until Li Yi reached the golden apple tree.

"You thief—seeking a golden apple again? The evil dragon has awakened; I’ll ensure your demise is miserable..." The Tree Spirit Elder angrily shouted.

Yet Li Yi remained silent as his short wooden staff swung forth.

Poom!

A knock resounded.

This spiritual weapon was unleashed again; it was the strike Li Yi expended ten years of life span on, precisely hitting the Tree Spirit’s forehead.

A certain spiritual force was triggered.

The jabbering Tree Spirit Elder immediately shut its mouth in the next second, its eyes swiftly shut, even the lush green leaves drooped suddenly, losing their vigor altogether, plunging into stillness.

Moreover, this stillness rapidly proliferated.

The pulsating red blood vessels halted their rhythm, and the dragon, nearly fainting from constriction, felt immense relief, all pain vanished instantly.

Its mouth, shut for countless years, opened again, forcibly tearing part of the blood-colored roots.

Though blood sprayed, staining the mountains crimson, the dragon felt unprecedentedly unburdened.

Then it lifted its head towards the sky, unleashing a divine roar that shook the cosmos.