Chapter 173 Devouring Seed

Realizing that this was the Earth Fiend Wood Tribulation, Ge Qian made an immediate and decisive move. Operating the technique of the Tribulation Body Art, he slowly transformed the Earth Fiend Wood Tribulation for his own use.

Outside, major mighty figures at the Soul Formation stage, such as the Sorcerer Demon King, sensed the surging earth and wood spiritual qi and instantly understood what was happening. A tribulation—a heavenly tribulation—was something that incurred the jealousy of the heavens and had to be obliterated. This boy was truly a dragon among men.

The cultivators below were also greatly shocked. Although they could see that Ge Qian was extraordinary, they never expected that he would summon a heavenly tribulation while still at the Pill Condensation stage. This was the path to becoming an immortal and achieving Dao, unmatched by anyone!

Behind Granny Diwei, Guo Xiaojing's face was as pale as paper, devoid of all blood color. A voice in her heart was screaming and roaring: It was him, it was him—the low-level Foundation Establishment cultivator who had shared a night of intimacy with her and taken her maidenhood.

Clearly, he had been poisoned by the fatal Lust-Dispelling Powder of the Six Desires Demonic Art; why wasn't he dead? Could this be the will of heaven? Such was the will of heaven, using him to torture her, Guo Xiaojing. What should she do? Should she hate him? Yet, it was she who had forced herself upon him and passed the poison onto him.

If she didn't hate him, there was still an unbreakable emotional knot entwined within. How could she sever all emotions and thoughts to cultivate to the peak of the Dao?

A hundred feelings surged in her heart, churning like a stormy sea. Her entanglement drove her toward a demonic state; her face flushed red as the seed of emotion-severing was violently shaken, and a trickle of fresh blood spilled from the corner of her mouth.

Guo Xiaojing's gaze became unshakeable and resolute. Since she entered the Dao through emotion-severing, she had to be cold and heartless. Only by killing him could her Dao heart become complete.

Amidst her various transformations, a beautiful woman dressed in black stood out—breathtakingly stunning, with flowing long hair. Her thin black attire added a touch of allure, but most captivating of all were her legs: slender, strong, and springy, making anyone who laid eyes upon them drool three feet and let their imagination run wild. Her innate allure naturally evoked pity and agitation in people's hearts.

She stood behind Xuan Ye, the Prince of the Vermilion Bird Nation, her bright, seductive eyes quietly observing everything unfolding before her. In her heart, she thought: Judging by Guo Xiaojing's reactions, that Pill Condensation cultivator definitely had entanglement with her. He was a native of the Xuanwu Continent, whereas Guo Xiaojing had only arrived here a few years ago. What kind of connection could possibly exist between them?

The Lust-Dispelling Powder of the Six Desires—how had Guo Xiaojing's poison been cured? Could it be... it must be. Oh, how interesting. The men in this world who could survive the Lust-Dispelling Powder could be counted on one's fingers.

And he even practiced the peerless supreme technique, the "Six Paths Sword Art." Guo Xiaojing, you always considered yourself as pure as jade, yet in the end, your chastity—which you regarded as your very life—was taken by a mere Pill Condensation cultivator. Looking at your tangled and agonizing expression, are you planning to kill him?

A pure, lovely, and universally adored woman was entering the Dao through emotion-severing, while she, heartless and devoid of intent, wanted to enter the Dao through infatuation.

Guo Xiaojing, the people you wish to kill, I shall protect. While you show him no mercy, I shall bestow my infatuation upon him. This was destined to be an interesting game. I wonder if I will fall in love with him and draw the Sword of Infatuation.

Her watery, expressive eyes glanced sideways at Hui Yuan beside her, and her amusement grew even greater.

***

It was only now that Hui Yuan understood how deeply he loved Guo Xiaojing. Her position in his heart was irreplaceable, yet due to his own mistakes and self-righteousness, he had driven her to complete despair, causing her to enter the Dao through emotion-severing.

Granny Diwei, I will definitely kill you and snatch Guo Xiaojing back! Right now, he had no heart to listen to the Dao; his eyes were fixed affectionately on Guo Xiaojing, hoping to make her change her mind.

Suddenly, he noticed that Guo Xiaojing's emotional state was abnormal, as if she were enduring some kind of agony, and his heart stirred. Could it be that his sincerity had touched her? But upon closer inspection, his heart sank to the abyss.

With Hui Yuan's brilliant and sharp mind, his thoughts raced, and he instantly understood the whole sequence of events. The beloved woman whom he had cherished and doted on for a thousand years had in the end had her chastity taken by a lowly, despicable Pill Condensation cultivator.

This drove Hui Yuan, who was arrogant and held supreme imperial authority, to excruciating agony. Qi and blood rushed to his heart, and an uncontrollable murderous intent burst out of his body. His hands trembled as the fire of his origin condensed, compressing the Southern Brilliance Bright Fire into a fire pellet within his palm, ready to be hurled out at any moment.

At that instant, a soft, white, and springy hand grasped his wrist. He started in shock, recognizing it as Junior Sister Xie Fangyun.

"Stay out of my way!" Hui Yuan said angrily, showing not a shred of gratitude, but rather extreme callousness.

Xie Fangyun gave an indifferent, faint smile and said, "Senior Brother Hui, let me remind you that this is the Xuanwu Continent. No one cares about your identity. If you make a move and ruin the Sorcerer Demon King's grand plan, he will execute you without the slightest hesitation to set an example for all the human race in the world. When that time comes, even Your Highness the Imperial Uncle won't be able to protect you! If you want to kill that brat, why must it be today? There will be plenty of time in the future. What difference is there between killing him and crushing an ant? Think about it carefully!"

Hui Yuan's expression instantly relaxed, and he said coldly, "What do you know?"

"I only know that that brat is going to die soon. Anyone targeted by Senior Brother Hui is bound to die," Xie Fangyun said indifferently.

Hui Yuan turned his head, looked at Xie Fangyun, and said, "Junior Sister, you understand me too well. But let me tell you, it is best to get involved in fewer matters, lest you invite fire upon yourself. No one can ever snatch away what I, Hui Yuan, am determined to have."

Xie Fangyun nodded and said earnestly, "Understood. Every member of the royal family thinks this way, don't they?"

Hui Yuan let out a cold snort and said no more, staring fiercely at the formation as if trying to pierce through everything, though he could see nothing but a hazy gray expanse.

The Earth Fiend Wood Tribulation was extremely stubborn. Ge Qian tempered the Earth Fiend Qi into a suit of fiend armor, and with the tribulation arts of wood spiritual qi, he practiced the Tribulation Body Art. This was not a simulated tribulation art, but a genuine, authentic heavenly tribulation.

How dared Ge Qian be careless? He was as cautious as walking on thin ice, dissecting the true meaning within the tribulation arts bit by bit.

Inside his body, destruction and reconstruction, reconstruction and destruction, cycled endlessly. The golden physique was indestructible, fierce and overbearing, capable of cutting through all things; the wood physique was ceaseless, overflowing with vitality, immortal and indestructible.

Merging two different natures took quite some time, and a year passed in the blink of an eye.

Ge Qian kept his mind calm and peaceful, practicing slowly. Although he endured agony that ordinary people could scarcely bear, he gritted his teeth and stubbornly held on.

Never had a heavenly tribulation lasted so long. Usually, either the person undergoing the tribulation shattered it, or the tribulation killed the person undergoing it. Yet this time, the opponent neither used divine powers to scatter the tribulation arts nor died; instead, they slowly wore down the power of the tribulation to strengthen their own cultivation of a miraculous technique.

The heavenly tribulation seemed to have lost its patience, reaching the pinnacle of fury. A powerful heavenly might descended from beneath the earth, forming a vibrant, tender green seed that flashed into Ge Qian's Dantian. It began to take root and sprout, absorbing Ge Qian's vitality and using him as nourishment to fuel its own growth. By the time the seed grew into a large tree, Ge Qian would have been sucked dry into a desiccated corpse.

This seed was formed from the Law of Wood within the heavenly might, condensed over a long period of the heavenly tribulation arts, and accidentally generated under a fortuitous coincidence as a devouring seed.

It devoured all vitality to strengthen itself. Between heaven and earth, as long as life existed, there was vitality, which allowed for reproduction and growth; the devouring seed would consume it all.

Heralded as the greatest crisis in the world, it could turn an oasis into a desert and a plain into a basin.

Because this Heavenly Might Wood Tribulation lost its patience and grew angry for a moment, it altered the laws of the mortal realm, precipitating a devouring seed from within.

Its purpose was to kill Ge Qian, but the heavenly might had also calculated that once the devouring seed finished consuming Ge Qian, it would likewise be crushed into dust by the rules of the mortal realm. Thus, it achieved its objective while simultaneously eliminating the crisis it had created—a method so supreme that one could not help but admire it.

The devouring seed felt right at home in Ge Qian's Dantian, abruptly sprouting dense, countless root systems that spread out toward every corner of his body.