Imperial Cultivation

Xu Haode, seeing his expression, came closer and whispered, "Has the heir apparent discovered anything?"

Chu Zhiyuan slowly nodded.

He soared into the air, pressed himself against the smooth, concave stone wall, and gently placed his hand on it.

Xu Haode looked over, his gaze instantly fixed.

He saw a small, transparent, rhombus-shaped stone embedded in the smooth stone wall.

It was only the size of a thumbnail.

Dull and unadorned.

If one didn't look closely, it would be easy to overlook.

Chu Zhiyuan reached out and gently pinched the small stone embedded in the rock.

He tapped his left foot on the stone wall, suspending his body in place.

He raised his right hand, held it in the air, and stared at the small stone in the air.

A bright moon hung in the night sky.

Moonlight, like water, cascaded onto the small stone.

The small stone seemed to merge with the moonlight, disappearing before his eyes.

"Oh," Xu Haode said in surprise, "Heir apparent, this little thing is quite strange."

Chu Zhiyuan said, "Brother Xu, search around the other jade tripods to see if you can find any more."

"I'll take a look," Xu Haode said, flying enthusiastically towards another stone wall.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "The others should be even smaller."

"Understood, understood," Xu Haode waved his hand, his eyes scanning a concave, smooth stone wall.

Chu Zhiyuan then floated down, continuing to study the small stone.

But on this small stone, hypersensitivity couldn't sense it, yet the eyes could see it.

If he hadn't seen it with his eyes, he wouldn't have known of the small stone's existence.

He suspected that this small stone was the core of the jade tripod, the fundamental vessel for containing power.

It was both a tool for drawing in the evil power from beyond the void and a tool for absorbing the faith power of the Evil Sect disciples.

He hadn't been able to discover it before, and wouldn't have discovered it if not for this explosion.

He looked up at the void again, then buried his head to search.

"Found it!" Xu Haode cheered.

Chu Zhiyuan floated over.

Xu Haode was lying prone at the base of the stone wall, his eyes almost pressed against it, chuckling incessantly, "Finally found one!"

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Brother Xu."

Xu Haode carefully reached under the base of the stone wall and pinched up a small, transparent stone.

It was only the size of a little fingernail.

He held the small stone in his right hand, casually brushed the dirt off his knees with his left hand, and stared intently at the small stone.

He was about to press it to his brow when Chu Zhiyuan grabbed his arm and pulled him back, "Brother Xu!"

Xu Haode laughed, "It's alright, right?"

"The power of the extraterrestrial evil demons is strange," Chu Zhiyuan shook his head, "It's better to be careful."

Xu Haode said, "But this little thing is very strange, power can't enter it, nor can it be extracted."

As soon as he got his hands on it, he tried to circulate his energy.

His cultivation method was marvelous, able to enter and exit.

Circulating energy to inject into the small stone was unsuccessful, and circulating energy to devour the small stone was also impossible.

If it were just a pure gemstone, injecting energy would make it shine brightly.

But it was completely silent, spiritual energy entering it like a clay ox entering the sea, without any reaction.

If it really had power, devouring it should have been able to extract its power.

It still had no reaction, as unmoving as a mountain.

So he thought of mental power.

Chu Zhiyuan condensed his aura, and found that it was empty like nothingness, so he injected the Fearless Realm power from the Laogong acupoint in his palm.

It instantly brightened slightly.

"Huh?" Xu Haode said in surprise.

Chu Zhiyuan slowly said, "As expected, it's a vessel for extraterrestrial alien power."

Xu Haode said, "This little thing is quite wonderful, could it not be from our world?"

"It's very likely to be an extraterrestrial object," Chu Zhiyuan said.

Xu Haode said, "Then I'll look for more."

"Look around, there should be one in each tripod," Chu Zhiyuan said.

Li Biyang and Qin Guanghe came over and asked what they were looking for, so Chu Zhiyuan showed them the two small stones.

The two of them immediately called over several people and began searching for the small stones on the mountain wall.

— —

Chu Zhiyuan had been studying these two small stones.

Xu Haode had been itching to try pressing them to his brow to see if there was anything inside.

But Chu Zhiyuan stopped him.

He sensed the danger contained within the small stones, that pressing them to his brow would be fatally dangerous.

"Is it really that dangerous?" Xu Haode believed Chu Zhiyuan's words, but was curious about how dangerous it was.

Chu Zhiyuan thought for a moment, and internally examined his mind.

In the void of his mind, a bright moon was dazzling.

Killing the Jade Tripod Sect experts in this main altar had made the Saber Soul even stronger, only a little short of completely forming and possessing the intelligence of a child.

Moonlight slowly condensed in the void next to it, and then formed a new bright moon.

The new bright moon was far less bright than it, its brightness only about one-third of it.

This was the Saber Soul that had been split out, the Saber Soul's clone.

Ziyang Manor had a Saber Soul clone, Xiao Ruoling had a Saber Soul clone, and now there was another clone.

It floated out of his mind and landed inside the largest small stone in his palm.

Instantly, the small stone began to flicker.

"Bang!"

Violent power instantly erupted.

Chu Zhiyuan, Xu Haode, Zou Fang, Li Biyang, and Qin Guanghe were sent flying in all directions like blooming flower petals.

After they landed, they staggered like drunks, their internal organs shaken, and their blood and qi in disarray.

If this violent power hadn't been blocked by Chu Zhiyuan, it would have severely injured them.

Chu Zhiyuan's face was pale, having blocked the strongest blow.

"Damn, so powerful!" Xu Haode exclaimed in surprise.

Li Biyang and Qin Guanghe looked at Chu Zhiyuan with curiosity.

Chu Zhiyuan stared at the small stone floating in the air, the smile on his lips slowly widening.

"Heir apparent, is it a good thing?" Xu Haode quickly asked.

Chu Zhiyuan stared at the small stone and smiled, "A good thing! A great good thing!"

"What's so good about it?" Xu Haode quickly asked.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled, "It needs to be tested to know."

"Can't say?" Xu Haode asked, his heart itching.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled, "Without verification, it may not be what I think."

Xu Haode said, "Is it about cleaning up the Evil Sect demon spawn?"

Chu Zhiyuan slowly nodded.

"Then hurry up and test it, how to test it?"

"We'll go to the Tianxin Sect's main altar," Chu Zhiyuan said, "One test will tell us."

"Okay, go to the Tianxin Sect's main altar, how about we go now?"

"Alright," Chu Zhiyuan nodded.

His gaze turned to the mountain wall.

A group of Imperial Guards and Iron Cavalry were searching for the small stones.

When they could only rely on their eyes and not on hypersensitivity, it was indeed true that more people meant more power.

In this short period of time, the other eight small stones were found and gathered in Chu Zhiyuan's hand.

"Very good," Chu Zhiyuan put the ten small stones into his sleeve and smiled, "Seventh Prince, Lord Qin, we'll take our leave first, you can set up camp here first, search slowly, and arrive there in three days."

He looked at Zou Fang.

Zou Fang took out a scroll from his bosom, which unfolded into a map.

Li Biyang and Qin Guanghe came forward to look, and then took out their own maps from their bosoms, making marks.

"It's about a hundred li away, no need to rush too much," Chu Zhiyuan smiled, "Then we'll take our leave first."

"… Yes," Li Biyang looked around and nodded helplessly.

The Cloud-Treading Iron Cavalry and the Imperial Guards were all enthusiastically searching through the rubble.

They were finding one good thing after another, and it would be too disappointing to make them leave at this time.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "While searching, you must still pay attention to safety, and be prepared for any demon people returning."

"Yes!" Li Biyang nodded quickly.

He was shocked that he hadn't even thought of this, if any demon people were to rush in, it would be caught off guard, and even with so many people, they would probably suffer losses.

These demon people were prone to jade and stone burning together, and without Chu Zhiyuan around, it wouldn't be so easy to take them down, they would be taken down with them in mutual destruction.

Chu Zhiyuan cupped his fist, and led Xu Haode and Zou Fang away, disappearing into the moonlight.