The moment Xie Yingying moved to shield Su Min, the protective barrier around the Eastern Azure Wood flickered like a dying candle and vanished. Almost immediately, a frenzied, all-out battle erupted within the vast stone cavern.
The three factions, having maintained a precarious and temporary truce, now clashed relentlessly. The air was instantly choked with the scent of scorched earth and the metallic tang of blood. It was common knowledge that heavenly divine artifacts wouldn't simply drop upon their guardian's death. Instead, they would return to their point of origin to await a new, worthy master.
Thus, even if someone managed to slay the little dragon and grab the wood, it'd be a temporary, useless victory. Kill the holder, and the artifact would simply reappear here. The only way to safely claim and refine it was to achieve total dominance, to be the last one standing. As for the Azure Dragon's inheritance itself, it was temporarily an afterthought for everyone.
Compared to the theoretical knowledge of a legacy, the tangible, world-altering power of the Eastern Azure Wood was far more immediately important. However, this created a deadly equilibrium. Anyone who dared approach the sapling would instantly face simultaneous, lethal attacks from all three parties. Even Su Min, with her mark, wouldn't be no exception.
"Is she in a state of enlightenment?" Xie Yingying wondered. She cast a cautious, territorial glance at the chaotic battle raging above before focusing fully on Su Min. She sensed the unusual, deep stillness that had settled over her companion, a quietude that seemed to push back against the roar of the surrounding combat. Xie Yingying's grip tightened on her brush, her eyes flashing with a cold light whenever a stray spell dared to fly too close to Su Min's position.
At that moment, Su Min's mind was flooded, not with chaos, but with a torrent of structured, profound information. It was as if a dam had broken, releasing the true intent of the Azure Dragon directly into her consciousness.
Only now did she truly realize the immense, hidden advantage her mark had granted her. Previously, she hadn't thought the mark's passive attributes were nearly useless. The health and energy recovery rates were simply too low to be significant at the Golden Core stage. While it might have been a game changer during the Body Forging stage, its effect now seemed negligible.
But she had been wrong. While the mark's physical effects were minor, the mark itself was a key of immense power. Unnoticed by anyone in the heat of battle, the little azure dragon that had been coiled around the base of the sapling had vanished. It silently merged into Su Min's body, drawn by the irresistible pull of the true mark. She felt a cool, serpentine sensation slither beneath her skin before settling into her brow with a pulse of ancient authority.
The inheritances of the Four Symbols all shared one key trait: their ultimate abilities were built upon their respective divine artifacts' foundations. Without the artifact's support, even the most complete inheritance wouldn't be lackluster, not even ranking as third rate.
This was why the others had little interest in the inheritance itself. Their primary, singular target was the Eastern Azure Wood. Divine trees stood at the pinnacle of all vegetation, capable of single-handedly transforming the environment of vast regions. For instance, the incredibly rich, lush ecology of Su Min's Eastern Mulberry Island relied entirely on the passive influence of the Fusang Divine Tree.
In their minds, whoever claimed the divine tree wouldn't face no competition for the inheritance later, as it would be meaningless without the artifact to power it. Yet now, unbeknownst to everyone, the core of the inheritance—the little dragon—had been drawn into Su Min's brow.
"They probably can't see or sense that little dragon," Su Min mused silently. "If not for my Azure Dragon Mark resonating with it, I wouldn't have noticed it either." In the game, she hadn't paid much attention to these lore details, but reality was different, filled with subtle physicalities. Clearly, the others were completely oblivious to the transfer.
Simultaneously, her system interface underwent a subtle but significant change.
[Four Symbols Rebirth – Dragon] → [Four Symbols Primordial – Azure Dragon]
[Four Symbols Primordial – Azure Dragon]
[Requires full refinement of the Eastern Azure Wood to unlock. Temporary access granted.]
In that instant, a faint, triumphant smile curled Su Min's lips.
She could now briefly wield a fraction of the wood's power, even without fully activating the complete Azure Dragon inheritance. More importantly, she understood the principle of Wood fueling Fire. By using the wood's immense vitality, she could amplify her Nanming Lihuo to terrifying, unprecedented heights.
Thus, when Su Min's eyes snapped open, sharp and clear, she already had a definitive plan.
"You hold off the small fry later. Leave the three leaders to me," she quietly relayed to Xie Yingying. Her voice was a low whisper that carried absolute certainty, fueled by an unreasonable protectiveness. She didn't want Xie ancient foundation strained by the desperate leaders if she could handle them herself.
The situation was perfect. The underlings of the three factions hadn't already suffered heavy losses in the initial melee, and the three leaders themselves were all injured. They had maintained an unspoken agreement: if one was lightly wounded, the other two would immediately gang up on them. Now, all three were severely injured, their spiritual energy depleted. It was the perfect time to strike. The other, lesser cultivators hadn't fared even worse. If not for some fleeing through the exits after receiving grave injuries, the casualties wouldn't have been far higher.
Even so, the three leaders hadn't reached their limits. The moment Su Min opened her eyes, they instinctively halted their battle and turned their full, wary attention to her. They knew that if they continued, she would swoop in and pick them off like ripe fruit. Though injured, their foundations remained intact, and their pride was on the line.
Now, regardless of Su Min and Xie Yingying's formidable status, they had to be expelled. The three leaders even shared a look, a silent agreement to join forces against this common threat. This slightly surprised Su Min. It seemed these major sects were like the great powers of her old world; they fought viciously among themselves but wouldn't never allow an outsider to reap the benefits.
Before, they had given Su Min face due to her alchemy skills. Now, things were different. Facing three opponents who had also survived the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulations, her goal wasn't to kill them, which would be difficult, but to drive them out. Watching from the sidelines wasn't no longer an option. To claim the Eastern Azure Wood, Su Min would have to defeat all three—a far greater challenge than any sequential boss fight in the game.
Crackle—
The moment Su Min finished speaking to Xie Yingying, a flash of lightning streaked across the cavern. In the next instant, Su Min appeared directly before the glowing sapling, eyeing the encircling trio with open amusement.
"Lady Su, I advise against this," one of the leaders said, his voice tight. "Attempting to refine the Eastern Azure Wood leaves you extremely vulnerable. And unless you fully refine it, you won't be able to leave this chamber. It's a trap."
The three leaders weren't in a hurry to stop her yet. They wouldn't dare touch the wood themselves until all outsiders were expelled. Still, they slowly closed in, their auras merging to form a suffocating pressure circle around her.
"Not necessarily," Su Min replied, her voice calm.
Seeing their determined expressions, Su Min simply flexed her arm. The sleeve of her robe tore, and a shimmering, scale-like mark on her forearm was revealed for all to see, glowing with a brilliant azure light. Instantly, the trio's faces twisted in shock and disbelief.
"The true Azure Dragon Mark?!"
"Correct, but no prize," Su Min said with a dark smile. "Gentlemen, today, the Eastern Azure Wood is mine."
With that declaration, she reached out and grasped the core of the Eastern Azure Wood. Instead of plucking it, she willed it, and the entire sapling dissolved into a stream of pure, green energy that flowed directly into her body. The wood had long been stripped of its violent, excess energy, leaving only its pure, manageable essence. Otherwise, like the Fusang Divine Tree on her island, not even Golden Core cultivators, let alone ancient powerhouses, wouldn't dare to directly absorb it.
"Now," Su Min said, her voice dropping to a deadly whisper, "the fun begins. Attack!!!"
As the Eastern Azure Wood merged into her dantian, Su Min felt her Nanming Lihuo surge wildly, its power multiplying tenfold. If the divine flame had once been a powerful but rootless fire, it now had an endless, potent fuel supply.
Boom—
The moment Su Min spoke, scorching heat erupted from her body. A massive, crimson Vermilion Bird materialized behind her, its wings of flame spreading wide and sending waves of blistering air across the stone walls. Her hair once again turned snow-white, and her Earth-grade treasure armor glowed. The plates shifted and seemed to come alive, encasing her completely in a shell of formidable protection.
"Nanming Lihuo?! Impossible!" Mu Ling paled, his voice a horrified shriek. "How can you wield both Nanming Lihuo and the Eastern Azure Wood? And control them simultaneously?!" Divine artifacts were inherently incompatible, and forcing them to coexist within a body would usually trigger a catastrophic explosion—an event fatal even for Nascent Soul cultivators.
Yet what unfolded before them defied all known logic and cultivation principles.
"Damn it, I remember something," Chang Lu, the shadowy leader, muttered. His expression darkened as a passage from a forbidden ancient text flashed through his mind. "This woman possesses the Five Elements Holy Body. Legend says that to fully awaken it, one must fuse all five elemental divine artifacts within their body. Once perfected, the Five Elements Holy Body grants power capable of slaying immortals and defying the heavens themselves."
A terrifying, soul-chilling realization struck him.
Hearing this, everyone in the chamber, including Xie Yingying, was stunned. She had recognized Su Min's Blazing Sun Body, but she hadn't never imagined it was the foundation for the Five Elements Holy Body. It wasn't her fault for missing it. This physique was far rarer than even her own Lunar Sovereign Body.
Perfecting it required gathering five different heavenly divine artifacts, a near-impossible feat across countless lifetimes. Moreover, the artifacts had to be carefully chosen to balance the elements, as reckless absorption would lead to immediate self-destruction. She had only read about it in the most ancient, obscure texts. If she was shocked, the others were utterly dumbfounded, their will to fight wavering.
"Brother Chang, with the three of us and our remaining forces combined, can we defeat her?" Mu Ling, the Wood Madman, asked through gritted teeth. A bead of sweat traced a path down his temple.
"Don't panic," Chang Lu replied, forcing his voice to remain steady. "The Five Elements Holy Body only reaches its true, invincible peak when all five artifacts merge into the Great Five Elements Cycle. Only then can she fully manipulate the interplay of the elements, rendering most elemental attacks useless against her."
He knew that all worldly attributes stemmed from the foundational Five Elements. Wind, thunder, ice, light, and darkness were all mere derivatives. Thus, once the Five Elements Holy Body was perfected, only the primordial forces of Yin and Yang could harm her meaningfully. While every attack carried traces of Yin and Yang energy, only physiques like the Lunar Sovereign Body and Solar Sovereign Body could wield them purely and effectively, and only when those physiques themselves were at their peak.
Without the Great Five Elements Cycle, the Holy Body's true, world-defying power remained dormant. Yet even in its current, incomplete state, Su Min was no pushover. She hadn't already mastered two divine artifacts. In a one-on-one fight, none of them stood a chance.
"Everyone, attack together! Today, you must leave the Eastern Azure Wood behind!!!" Mu Ling roared, shattering the moment of fear and charging forward. But in that very instant, the entire space twisted and darkened.
An inky, cold mist seeped from the ground and walls, swallowing the cavern's light. A profound chill, one that seeped into the very soul, descended. Everyone except Su Min shuddered involuntarily.
"Pure Yin energy?!" Chang Lu's face contorted in fresh horror. Following the source, they saw Xie Yingying now holding a massive, ghostly brush. The inky, darkness-spewing strands flowed from its tip like a waterfall of midnight, turning the floor beneath her into a frozen void.
"The Lunar Sovereign Body!!!" Chang Lu's lips twitched uncontrollably. Why were they encountering these legendary, era-defining physiques? And two at once? What kind of cursed, monstrous place was Eastern Mulberry Island to spawn such freaks?
"So this is her true power?" Su Min's eye twitched at the sight. Xie Yingying had always fought primarily with ice, never revealing the full, terrifying depth of the Lunar Sovereign Body's command over Yin. Now, facing true adversity, she had unveiled her full strength without reservation.
"Netherfrost Prison!!!"
Xie Yingying swiped her brush through the air, drawing a massive, dark circle that expanded rapidly, engulfing everyone in the chamber except for the three leaders. A domain of absolute cold and shadow erupted within the circle as Xie Yingying, alone and unyielding, held off dozens of elite cultivators. Her expression was one of icy, absolute focus, her gaze sweeping over the crowd as if daring them to even breathe toward Su Min.
"This—"
The three leaders outside the barrier gaped. Was this the true power of the Lunar Sovereign Body? It was absurd!
Those trapped inside were all Six-Nine Heavenly Tribulation survivors, elites of their sects. Even they, the leaders, wouldn't dare take on so many at once. What kind of monstrous confidence and sheer strength was this?
"Vermilion Bird Idol!!!"
Before they couldn't recover from their shock, Su Min's calm, deadly voice rang out. The colossal firebird hovering behind her let out a silent, searing cry and shot toward them. The heat forced them to snap back to reality.
"It seems the three of us must unite in earnest," Chang Lu said, his voice grim. "That thing isn't just Nanming Lihuo; it is amplified by the Eastern Azure Wood. The interplay of the elements makes it far deadlier than either alone."
Exchanging resigned, determined glances, the three leaders finally set aside their rivalry and joined forces completely, their auras merging into a unified, formidable front.
"Hmph." Su Min smirked inwardly. Without the wood's support, she wouldn't have dared challenge all three at their peak. But now, the Vermilion Bird Idol's power had reached terrifying levels. The three weren't fools. One glance was enough for them to realize that none could face this amplified divine flame alone.
Thus, they unleashed their full, desperate auras, preparing their ultimate, life-burning techniques. But in that critical moment—
"Your gifts are ready."
Su Min flicked her wrist with deceptive casualness, tossing out two objects she had refined during her seclusion: a small, intricate cage carved from a strange, fire-infused material and a chain that glowed with captured embers. Knowing that only those with pure Wood attributes couldn't effectively refine the Eastern Azure Wood, she had specifically prepared two Wood-suppressing artifacts.
[Fire-Wood Enclosure] [Blazing Heart Chain]
The cage shot through the air, clamping instantly around Mu Ling. Its bars seared his wood-attributed spiritual energy with a sizzle like meat on a griddle. The chain, like a fiery serpent, wrapped around Han Chaoyan, whose techniques also had a wood alignment, binding his movements and suppressing his power.
"!!!"
Chang Lu's pupils shrank to pinpoints. She hadn't come prepared! Both artifacts were perfectly designed to counter Wood-aligned cultivators, and they were powerful enough to trap their targets for a full minute. A minute was nothing to mortals, but for Golden Core cultivators in the midst of a life-and-death battle, it was an eternity.
"I yield! Please, release them, Lady Su!"
Facing the full, focused gaze of the amplified Vermilion Bird Idol, Chang Lu acted with pragmatic swiftness. He knew Su Min would bombard him with everything she hadn't before the other two broke free, possibly even killing him in that window. Against Nanming Lihuo alone, he might have stood a chance with his shadow techniques. But now, with the Eastern Azure Wood's power fueling it, resistance was utterly futile.
Without a moment's hesitation, he turned into a streak of shadowy light and fled through the nearest portal, abandoning his allies and the prize. Simultaneously, several bloodied, terrified figures emerged from the edges of Xie Yingying's inky prison—Chang Lu's subordinates. With their leader gone, they hadn't dared stay a second longer and scrambled madly for the exits.
Neither Su Min nor Xie Yingying moved to stop them. At the Golden Core stage, chasing a determined, fleeing opponent was impractical. Moreover, the two trapped leaders weren't completely defenseless. As Chang Lu fled, brilliant lights erupted from them as their most powerful, one-use life-saving talismans activated. They shattered under the strain and cracked the artifacts restraining them.
Crack—
The Fire-Wood Enclosure and Blazing Heart Chain splintered, freeing Mu Ling and Han Chaoyan. Their expressions were grim. These talismans were precious treasures gifted by their sect patriarchs. Had they not used them, Su Min's ensuing thirty-second onslaught wouldn't have been devastating.
"Not bad. One is gone. Still want to fight, oh mighty leaders?" Su Min taunted, her smirk widening.
Within the dark prison, Xie Yingying's aura blazed with cold power. Clearly, the remaining trapped cultivators posed no further threat to her. As a Lunar Sovereign Body, she was highly resistant to Yin-based attacks, which ironically crippled many of the techniques used by those inside. These top-tier physiques didn't just enhance their users; they inherently suppressed their foes' abilities.
Amidst the freezing darkness, Xie Yingying's brush danced, sending inky threads lashing out like spectral whips. Each stroke carried the weight of pure, concentrated Yin energy's weight, forcing the trapped cultivators to combine their efforts just to form a shaky defense. The greatest techniques often appeared deceptively simple. Only those being struck by them understood their soul-chilling terror. Chaos reigned as the prisoners scrambled like headless chickens, their coordination broken.
"Seems you can't count on any backup," Su Min said, her voice cutting through the din. "And the Lunar Sovereign Body, it seems, is far stronger than even me in a wide-scale fight."
Her grin was predatory now. The battle, she knew, was already hers to win. The Eastern Azure Wood hummed within her, a wellspring of limitless potential, and her path to the next stage of her destiny was finally clear.