Chapter Nine: The Purplewood Spiritual Root

In the mountains, there are neither sun nor moon; countless years have passed, and in a vast stretch of lush forest, a wild man draped in leaves and with hair trailing to the ground circled a massive blue stone five fathoms long. Occasionally, blue flashes flickered in his eyes.

Sunlight filtered through the sparse canopy, illuminating his thickly furred face. His small eyes gleamed, and suddenly, he smiled, revealing two small tiger teeth.

Thunder resounded!

At this moment, aside from the angular face beneath the dense fur and those little tiger teeth, no one could have recognized him.

"This place is richest in spiritual energy—surely it is where the Purplewood Spirit Root lies. For thirty years, I have practiced diligently. With the Divine Spirit Refining Manual, my progress has been swift. At last, I've broken through the eleventh layer. Now, I can retrieve the spirit root, leave this sunless, moonless haunted place, and return to Thunder Fortress."

He rapidly formed hand seals, murmuring incantations. Then, with a gesture, the massive blue stone, weighing thousands of pounds, slid five fathoms away. Lei Xiang stepped forward to investigate.

Suddenly, the blue stone moved of its own accord, floating back to its original spot and landing with a thud.

Lei Xiang was stunned. What kind of thing could return home by itself?

Just as he gaped in astonishment, a hum sounded, and more than twenty demonic beasts surged up around the stone, separating Lei Xiang from it.

Lei Xiang flung three basic talismans, and with cracking explosions, the talismans transformed into an iceberg in midair. Upon reaching the beasts, the iceberg shattered into countless ice spikes of varying size, raining down upon them. Over half the beasts were killed or wounded and fled in terror.

A booming moo echoed!

A giant red bull appeared—it resembled a bull, but its head was a deep crimson, its body marked like a leopard, and its tail equally red.

A second-grade beast: the Shubeast Bull!

The demonic beasts stirred restlessly, and the red-tailed Shubeast Bull was especially furious, roaring skyward so loudly that Lei Xiang's eardrums almost ruptured.

Suddenly, the Shubeast Bull stopped its bellowing and snorted softly. A cloud of yellow smoke billowed out. The surrounding beasts seemed terrified of the yellow smoke, quickly splitting into two groups to encircle Lei Xiang.

Lei Xiang showed no fear. His four fingers sliced like blades, launching successive blue spirals at the beasts.

The Shubeast Bull hesitated, apparently surprised by Lei Xiang’s swift reaction. There was a sharp crack in the air as the blue blades clashed with a black object, then dissolved.

A strange bird—neither hawk nor conventional avian—unfurled its black wings, shielding the bull from the attack. The fierce blades left only a faint white mark on its wing.

“A well-organized group, assisting one another, and those wings are tough indeed…” Before Lei Xiang could finish his thought, the beasts launched another assault. Four more strange birds swooped down from the sky.

Lei Xiang quickly activated Windward Flight, darting away as the beasts gave chase.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Lei Xiang stood alone, stunned. Once he had run fifty fathoms, the beasts ceased pursuit and vanished.

Lei Xiang’s eyes flashed blue, a plan forming in his mind: "If they can only operate within fifty fathoms, then..."

Three hours later, Lei Xiang moved the blue stone again, drawing another chase from more than twenty beasts. Well prepared, he pushed his Windward Flight to the limit; only the five strange birds could barely keep pace, while the Shubeast Bull lagged over five fathoms behind. This was the moment Lei Xiang waited for. Without turning, he gripped four fire talismans in his fingers and flung them backward from under his arm.

The strange birds were just overhead. The talismans exploded into a sea of crimson, four towering pillars of fire rising to entrap the five birds from the cardinal points. Fire blazed within the pillars, the birds struggling helplessly, seemingly drained of power. Lei Xiang turned, conjuring five fireballs in his fingers, which grew to the size of fists as they shot into the flaming formation, striking the birds.

Suddenly, a roar sounded below—the Shubeast Bull had arrived, spewing thick yellow smoke that spread into a yellow haze, enveloping the four-pillar formation. The fire pillars surged with flames, clashing with the yellow mist, red and yellow lights intertwining in fierce combat.

Binding Seal!

From the side, Lei Xiang unleashed the prepared incantation. The Shubeast Bull shuddered, collapsed, and lay immobilized, its large eyes burning with rage and unwillingness.

Lei Xiang understood the principle of capturing the leader first, so he used an improved Binding Seal to restrain the bull. He swiftly formed new hand seals, extending his arms gracefully. The fire formation expanded, trapping the pursuing beasts as well. With complex, obscure chants, he pointed to the beasts in the formation, launching over a hundred ice spikes that stabbed into them mercilessly.

Cracks echoed…

All the beasts within the fire formation were slain. Lei Xiang conjured an egg-sized fireball, but, remembering something, extinguished it with a flick. Instead, he summoned a blue spiral and, with a sweeping slash, opened the bound Shubeast Bull from chest to belly.

The core and hide were his.

Lei Xiang retrieved a thin blade from his storage pouch and began skinning and extracting the beast’s core, especially valuing the second-grade Shubeast Bull’s core and hide, which could be refined into defensive artifacts. He didn’t neglect the strange bird’s wing either—this haul was a fortune.

Lei Xiang moved the blue stone once more, then used the Binding Seal to immobilize it, preventing it from returning automatically. He tossed a storage pouch, from whose mouth rainbow light poured, gradually drawing the stone in and storing it. "Since the stone is so spiritually attuned, I must take it for study."

Beneath the stone, a deep hole appeared, about the size of a bowl. Lei Xiang considered for a moment, took out an intricate drill bit, and readied an incantation.

Suddenly, a purple light flashed, and the hole seemed to widen to over two feet.

In a blink, Lei Xiang swiftly cast a seal. Centered on himself, forty-two intersecting yellow lines appeared within ten fathoms, dividing the area into four hundred squares.

Lei Xiang walked slowly to the one hundred thirty-seventh square, reaching out to grab the purple light—a block of purple rosewood.

A seemingly ordinary piece of wood, about two inches long and slightly wider than a finger, its surface covered in winding, intricate grain, delicate as fine hair, undulating like ripples on water. Yet the surface was as smooth as glass, and running a finger across it revealed no trace of those patterns.

"The Purplewood Spirit Root—it seems you’ve taken shape after many years."

Suddenly, a divine sense sounded in his mind—strange and unfamiliar, not from Zhu Chi, but a frail, trembling voice, as if softly sobbing.

The sobs were low and quivering, like a bullied maiden pleading with a brute, evoking a pang of sympathy.

Lei Xiang shook his head helplessly, returning a divine sense: "Purplewood Spirit Root, softening my heart with these tricks won’t work. Why not discuss matters openly?"

The sense immediately vanished, and Lei Xiang’s mind was silent. Yet the object in his hand began to squirm and transform, slowly forming the shape of a kneeling figure.

The subdued, trembling sense resumed: "I am but the essence of a spirit root, harboring no malice—please spare me."

Lei Xiang replied gently, "I only wish to take you out, not harm you."

"Senior, if you allow me to leave, I can tell you a secret, a very—"

Suddenly, the kneeling figure vanished, reappearing seven or eight fathoms away. Could it teleport?

Yet the little figure, despite escaping by teleportation, showed no joy. She knelt again, head bowed, body trembling. Lei Xiang smiled, sending a divine sense: "Run, why not try again?"

The Purplewood Spirit Root responded timidly, "Senior, you foresee everything and possess boundless power—I yield! I dare not escape again."

Lei Xiang smiled lightly, "Ha, you can flatter too? Let me explain: the barrier you just struck is called 'Grounded Prison,' an insight from my Boundless Divine Sea technique. Inside it, even if you could soar or burrow, you could not escape."

At last, the Purplewood Spirit Root couldn’t help but beg, "Please, don’t be angry—I’ll cooperate fully and never scheme again."

Lei Xiang nodded slowly, "I need the Golden Time Array—show me the array’s core and banners, then come with me."

The spirit root shivered, "If you take the array and me, everything here will be destroyed."

Lei Xiang laughed, "Is there any reason to keep it?"

Resigned, the Purplewood Spirit Root relayed every detail. Lei Xiang then pointed and stamped a green mark onto the little figure’s forehead, causing her to tremble as if enduring immense pain.

After the time it takes for a cup of tea, the spirit root regained her form. Lei Xiang said coolly, "I merely placed a restriction to bind your actions. If you obey, you won’t be harmed. Now, let’s retrieve the Golden Time Array and depart." With that, he stored the spirit root in his pouch.

Following her directions, he collected the array flags and disks one by one. Raising his eyes to the forest, he saw that all living things had vanished, every plant had instantly withered and died, and the hillside was barren.

Lei Xiang shook his head resignedly. For his future cultivation, he had to take both the Golden Time Array and the Purplewood Spirit Root. With these treasures, there would be no further obstacles to time spent cultivating; what would take others decades, he could achieve in a few months.

As he stepped out, a tremendous explosion shattered the entire space, and the land crumbled into ruin.

Stepping forward, Lei Xiang found himself on a narrow path leading to Yun City.

Second update.