Morning sunlight scattered its glow, turning the dew on leaves and petals into crystalline pearls that rolled and shimmered. The fresh air carried a cool, invigorating fragrance.
Xiao Chen had awakened. He had fully refined the vast dragon essence contained within the second serpent-dragon egg. The Zhongting acupoint at the end of his chest's midline had at last been completely divinized—the light-point had perfectly coalesced with the cavity, shining like a bright lamp in the darkness compared to his other acupoints.
Two serpent-dragon eggs had given him a third divinized acupoint.
At this moment, Xiao Chen could clearly sense a difference from before. His life-essence seemed to have grown considerably. The Shangqiu acupoint on his left foot, the one on his right foot, and the Zhongting acupoint in his chest were now connected by threads of life-force! When he looked inward, he could not see those flowing currents of life-energy, but he could vaguely perceive them.
A surge of joy rose in Xiao Chen. What extraordinary effects might come in the future, he did not yet know. But for now, his life-essence had indeed grown stronger, and that benefit was immense.
They said a cat had nine lives—because its vitality was abundant relative to its body. In many situations, even if its flesh was wounded, it could still survive. Xiao Chen did not expect to become an undying nine-lived cat, but if he were injured again, his damaged body, nourished by充沛的生命元气, would heal much faster.
When he stood up, he found his body felt lighter and his strength had increased significantly. He moved his limbs gently, leaving afterimages in the forest. His hands swept forth brilliant blades of light, severing great trees wherever they passed. With a rumbling crash, they toppled amidst falling leaves.
His cultivation had advanced considerably! It took Xiao Chen a long time to calm down. The divinized acupoints were beginning to reveal their extraordinary nature.
Previously, he had only been certain that his cultivation was at the Mortal-Shedding realm. Whether he was at the Second Heavenly Tier or the Third, he could not confirm. But now he was confident he had reached the Third or even the Fourth Tier. With his abundant life-essence, he believed he could face an expert at the Fourth Tier of Mortal-Shedding—or even a stronger opponent.
Xiao Chen eagerly anticipated the day when all three hundred and sixty-five principal acupoints would be fully divinized!
The towering ancient trees in the forest had been felled by his shining blades. But despite such a commotion, the three skeletons showed no reaction. Qin Guang Wang, Yan Luo Wang, and Lun Hui Wang were clustered around the remaining dragon egg, watching it with what seemed like intense focus.
After waking, Xiao Chen had been absorbed in sensing his own changes, ignoring his surroundings and paying no attention to the skeletons. Now he clearly sensed something was wrong. He quickly walked over and was stunned by what he saw.
The sacred tree of seven hues, no taller than a palm's span, had taken root atop the jade-green dragon egg. Divine radiance rippled like flowing water. The tree's trunk was even more rugged, its large ink-jade leaves gleaming with dark light, while the smaller, crystalline white-jade leaf seemed to have grown considerably!
A miraculous sacred tree! It could actually absorb the essence of a dragon egg—refining the vast draconic vitality!
The green-glowing eggshell gradually dimmed, then began to crack. Finally, with a soft 'puff,' it shattered completely. Inside, there was no ripple of essence—only a pool of golden liquid that spilled out.
Xiao Chen cupped the sacred sapling in his hands. Truly a divine treasure! He felt no regret for the lost dragon egg.
"Did you place it on the egg?"
All three skeletons shook their heads.
"I am not blaming you. On the contrary, you did well."
Qin Guang Wang and the others kept shaking their heads, their jaws clattering, their bone claws gesturing continuously. It took great effort before Xiao Chen understood what they were saying. The little sacred tree had taken root on the egg by itself!
How could that be? How could it move on its own? But the three skeletons could not lie. It seemed the sacred tree had truly fallen from the nearby giant tree and landed on the egg by itself.
Something was strange. Xiao Chen was puzzled.
Vaguely, Xiao Chen felt as if he had undergone a transformation, shedding his old self. The essence of cultivation was to continuously break the shackles of the body, to achieve constant self-transformation and elevation. He could clearly feel his constitution slowly changing.
As for the three skeletons, after absorbing over a dozen high-grade crystals and cultivating with the little sacred tree for a night, they too seemed different. The soul-light within their skulls was a little brighter, and their bones had gained a lustrous sheen, becoming smoother.
Xiao Chen decided that from now on, no matter how many crystals he harvested, he would give them to the three skeletons first, letting them continuously undergo transformation and evolve toward a stronger realm. As for himself, divinizing his acupoints required vast essence that ordinary crystals could not satisfy. Unless he obtained dragon crystals, anything else would be like using a cup of water to douse a blazing cart—utterly insufficient.
After the little sacred tree absorbed the essence from the serpent-dragon egg, it became wreathed in multicolored radiance, even more miraculous. It seemed that before long, the white-jade leaf would be as large as the ink-jade one.
Xiao Chen placed the sacred sapling deep in the swamp, then buried the fragmented jade-green eggshell. He and the three skeletons set out again. He had to resolve the problem of Zhao Lin'er and Guru as soon as possible.
As he departed, he suddenly thought of the strange giant apes. When Zhao Lin'er had been rescued by the little one-horned sacred beast, the four-armed blood ape had led the troop in pursuit. Perhaps they could provide important clues.
It did not take long for Xiao Chen and the three skeletons to reach the stone forest where the apes dwelt. The area was quiet, unlike other regions where beast roars rang out constantly. Around the stone forest, flowers and grass bloomed fragrantly, birds sang melodiously, and many vines coiled among the stone pillars.
"Roar..." A howl rang out. A three-meter-tall old ape emerged from the stone forest, barking low at Xiao Chen and the others, showing deep hostility.
This troop of giant apes had once had a few days of friendship with Xiao Chen. But the death of one ape had gradually cooled the relationship.
Xiao Chen knew these apes were intelligent. He patiently gestured and explained, hoping they could provide information about Zhao Lin'er.
The low cries of young apes came from within the stone forest. Several infant apes leaped out, followed by another old ape. It seemed all the adult apes had gone out, leaving only two old apes to care for the young ones and guard their home. The two elders were visibly nervous.
After repeated gestures and explanations, one old ape seemed to understand Xiao Chen's meaning. It bounded away like the wind, leaping deep into the primeval forest to find the others.
After about half an hour, more than a dozen long howls sounded from afar. The crimson demon ape appeared, leading over a dozen giant apes. As they drew near, they circled Xiao Chen, growling lowly with evident hostility.
Xiao Chen knew he could never return here again. Whatever goodwill had existed was gone.
Through repeated explanations and gestures—even drawing images of Zhao Lin'er and the little celestial horse on the ground—the crimson demon ape, being a spirit beast of extraordinary intelligence, finally understood. It barked a few times to the other apes, then took the lead, bounding off toward a certain direction in the ancient forest, with Xiao Chen and the three skeletons following.
They did not head deeper into the island but traveled westward parallel to the coast. The crimson demon ape was indeed gifted by nature, supremely agile. Xiao Chen and the three skeletons could not leap through the treetops for as long as the ape could, but they managed to follow at a steady pace through the forest, not losing the trail.
After crossing several mountain ranges, the crimson demon ape stopped. Its claw pointed ahead at a stretch of undulating primeval forest covered in peaks, and it let out low growls. It would go no further. Danger lay ahead—a place it deeply feared.
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