Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor-Chapter 1157: Early Stage of Earth Bending Realm!

Bang!

In the depths of the water palace, a powerful energy wave suddenly emanated from a large hall. Two figures swiftly separated, both with somewhat unstable auras.

If there were outsiders here, they would discover these two figures were not unfamiliar. They were Elder Wu Tong from Firewood Valley and Elder Zhao Huai'an from the Zhao Family.

Firewood Valley and the Zhao Family are both located in the northeast outer domain of Tenglong Continent. Due to territorial disputes, there has always been friction between them. Although it's not as intense as the situation between Demons Mountain and Spirit Fighting Commerce, running into each other often leads to verbal spats or even direct confrontations.

"Zhao Huai'an, I was the one who discovered the Green Wood Water Lotus first. What do you mean by suddenly attacking?"

Wu Tong suppressed his somewhat chaotic aura, speaking in a low voice. It indicated that their clash was over a treasure, and that treasure rested on a platform not far from them.

On the platform sat a somewhat peculiar green lotus, appearing to sway with an imaginary breeze. But since there was no wind in the underground palace, its movement indicated the lotus's mysterious nature.

It's worth mentioning that this lotus had water flowing around it but emitted a faint wood attribute aura, perhaps the origin of its name, Green Wood Water Lotus.

"Hehe, everything here is unowned. Since you said it's a water lotus, what use would it be to someone with a fire attribute like yourself? You might as well leave it to me!"

In front of the treasure, Zhao Huai'an was unwavering. His words made some sense; the items within Wuyan Water Palace were not suitable for Firewood Valley or Wuyan Palace because of the attribute contradiction.

"I can yield the other things to you, but this Green Wood Water Lotus is of great use to me. If you want it, let's see if you, Zhao Huai'an, have the ability to take it!"

However, Wu Tong did not back down because of Zhao Huai'an's words. Instead, a fighting spirit rose within him. As his voice fell, he moved towards the Green Wood Water Lotus again.

True, Zhao Huai'an wasn't wrong, but the Green Wood Water Lotus not only had a water attribute but also a strong wood attribute. Extracting it would be exceptionally useful for Wu Tong, being a dual attribute expert of fire and wood.

Thus began the struggle for the Green Wood Water Lotus. Given the capabilities of these two, it would be difficult to determine a victor without hundreds or even thousands of moves.

...…

In another equally imposing hall.

Two figures were in combat. One seemed to have a chaotic aura, while the other moved with ease, displaying a calm and relaxed demeanor.

Boom!

In an instant, the seemingly leisurely elder struck the opponent's back with a light handprint, causing the opponent to stagger and turn with a face full of indignation.

"Jia Tianshu, out of respect for the Shenxiao Sect, I've spared you. Don't be ungrateful!"

The speaker was Zhang Daohe, the seventh elder of Wuyan Palace. Opposite him, glaring furiously, was Jia Tianshu, an elder of the Shenxiao Sect. However, the latter's aura was quite unstable at the moment.

Originally, Jia Tianshu was the first to enter this hall, but shortly after discovering a treasure, Zhang Daohe launched a surprise attack from behind.

Jia Tianshu was already a level weaker than Zhang Daohe. With Zhang Daohe gaining the upper hand, he was injured within just a few moves, leaving him frustrated enough to vomit blood.

"Hmph!"

However, given the circumstances, Jia Tianshu knew his earlier words outside had offended Zhang Daohe. Forcefully engaging further might really get him killed, not worth the risk.

So Jia Tianshu merely gave a cold snort. Without uttering any fierce words, he headed straight for the hall's exit. But just as he was about to step out, a cold voice echoed from behind.

"I have long stated that everything in this water palace belongs to my Wuyan Palace. No one should think they can leave with treasures easily!"

Hearing Zhang Daohe's cold words, Jia Tianshu's heart chilled. It became clear that this seventh elder of Wuyan Palace intended to eliminate the cultivators one by one with his late-stage Earth Bending Realm cultivation.

In single combat, none of the cultivators who entered the water palace could rival Zhang Daohe. Due to the sensitive situation, forming alliances was impossible, giving Zhang Daohe a perfect opportunity.

It seemed Jia Tianshu was the first, and Wu Tong, Ge Wanli, Zong Puti, and Zhao Huai'an might also fall victim to Zhang Daohe's ambushes.

With such high cultivation insight and underhanded tactics, like what happened to Jia Tianshu, once Zhang Daohe gained the upper hand, the struggle wouldn't last many moves.

"It seems a new alliance might be necessary!"

Jia Tianshu didn't turn back, but in his mind, he had already made a decision. After all, none of them could face Zhang Daohe alone; they had to join forces to stand a chance.

Watching Jia Tianshu's disappearing figure, Zhang Daohe didn't pay much attention, turning around to collect the treasure. A glint flashed in his eyes, and a slender figure wearing coarse clothes emerged in his mind's depths.

"Yun Xiao, you can't escape!"

......

The boy that Zhang Daohe was gritting his teeth over, Yun Xiao, naturally didn't know what was happening inside the Wuyan Water Palace. He wasn't even aware that because of his actions, the Crystal Throne was damaged, triggering changes in the Myriad Illusion Water Cloud Array, ultimately allowing everyone to find the true location of the Water Palace.

Yun Xiao, situated in a grand hall, had reached a critical moment. In his struggle with the Golden Snake Worm Xiao Wu, the energy from the Xuan Water Spirit Pearl had mostly become nourishment for the both of them, enhancing their powers.

If there were an outsider present, they would notice that Yun Xiao's face seemed to have faint water-like ripples, especially his right arm, which appeared to have transformed into a flowing water arm.

Back in the Xuanyin Hall, Yun Xiao had refined the spirit crystal of a Ninth Rank low-level Strange Spirit, inheriting the special talent of the Water Spirit.

This allowed him to survive several powerful attacks and even withstand a powerful blow from the Heavenly Rank Expert Wu Zhukong without dying.

And now, after Yun Xiao refined this Xuan Water Spirit Pearl, the talent he inherited from the Strange Spirit seemed to have grown even stronger.

But what benefited Yun Xiao the most was not the enhancement of his Water Attribute body, but finding himself on the brink of breaking through to the Earth Bending Realm.

This Earth Bending Realm level was not a mere half-step, but a true Early Stage of Earth Bending Realm. Crossing this threshold would allow him to advance further on the path of cultivation.

At half-step Earth Bending Realm, Yun Xiao could only dodge around the Late Stage Earth Bending Realm Zhang Daohe without any ability to counterattack. But if he could break through to the true Early Stage of Earth Bending Realm, he definitely wouldn't feel so constrained should he encounter Zhang Daohe again.

It seemed that the Golden Snake Worm Xiao Wu was controlling things intentionally. If the previous sharing ratio was maintained, Yun Xiao might never have been able to break through to the Early Stage of Earth Bending Realm, but this time it was different.

Xiao Wu left just enough of the Xuan Water Spirit Pearl's energy for Yun Xiao. When the last wisp was completely refined by Yun Xiao's Ancient Dragon Taming Technique, a tremendously powerful aura suddenly erupted from him.

In the blink of an eye, Yun Xiao broke through from the half-step Earth Bending Realm to the true Early Stage of Earth Bending Realm, stepping into an entirely new realm.

Of course, this realm was not entirely unfamiliar to Yun Xiao. After all, in his previous life as the Long Xiao Battle God, he had experienced all realms below the Saint-grade Peak. This was merely revisiting the path of cultivation.

"Early Stage of Earth Bending Realm, not bad at all!"

Opening his eyes, Yun Xiao clenched his fist and spoke with satisfaction. In truth, when he first began refining the Xuan Water Spirit Pearl, he wasn't confident he could genuinely break through, given that the Golden Snake Worm Xiao Wu was competing with him for energy.

"Thank you!"

Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Yun Xiao's face, uncertain to whom he was speaking. A flicker of disdain flashed in his heart's snake eyes, but Yun Xiao didn't care.

Now Yun Xiao understood that although the Golden Snake Worm Xiao Wu liked to contradict him daily and sometimes ignored his commands, it would inevitably assist him in important matters, even at the cost of its life.

The Golden Snake Worm Xiao Wu was Yun Xiao's biggest trump card. Therefore, most of the Xuan Water Spirit Pearl's energy was devoured by it. After achieving his breakthrough, Yun Xiao wasn't as frustrated as before but instead thanked out loud.

If not for the division by the Golden Snake Worm Xiao Wu, the Xuan Water Spirit Pearl, which had reached the Heavenly Rank, could have caused significant trouble for Yun Xiao even if it allowed him to break through to the Early Stage of Earth Bending Realm, given his current cultivation was still somewhat weak.

"Eh?"

After Yun Xiao's words of thanks, he finally noticed a change in his left hand. He lifted his arm and rolled up his sleeve, astonished to see his arm had turned into a semblance of flowing water.

"This left arm's Ancestor Vein seems to have undergone some changes too!"

Yun Xiao wasn't too concerned with his water-like left arm. After carefully sensing it, he couldn't help but mutter to himself. At a thought, a burst of cold air emanated, and the water arm instantly became an ice arm.

When Yun Xiao initially activated this left arm Ancestor Vein, the Ice Cold Poison from the Three-legged Ice Crystal Toad caused his originally Water Attribute Ancestor Vein to mutate, gaining a more formidable Ice Cold Power.

Now, after refining the Xuan Water Spirit Pearl, the left arm's Ice Cold Ancestral Vein seemed to undergo some unique changes.

The Ice Cold Power within it still existed, but now it also carried the illusory quality of shapeless water, which might yield unexpected effects in future battles.