32: Secrets of the Ancient Wood World

[In the ninety-first year, your cultivation has grown even stronger.]

[Meanwhile, the older generation of residents in the Ancient Wood Realm gradually grow old and die.]

[You cannot help but lament the brevity of life.]

[But this also inevitably raises a doubt in your mind.]

[Why is it that in such an environment, a top-tier spiritual body like Mu Ningshuang could still emerge?]

[You begin to explore the Ancient Wood Realm.]

[However, everything here remains completely unchanged.]

[Aside from some Spirit Medicines that have only grown in recent years, it is almost exactly the same as when you first explored it.]

[You decide to change the direction of your exploration.]

[On a dark and windy night, you arrive at Mu Family Village, where the residents live.]

[This is your second time coming here.]

[But just as you step foot inside, Crisis Awareness sends you a warning.]

["How is this possible?! I am at the fourth layer of the Golden Core realm. Who in this world could possibly harm me?"]

[You turn your head to look toward the source of the Crisis Awareness.]

[It is a simple and ancient-looking house.]

[From the appearance of the building, it is not difficult for you to see that it is the ancestral hall of Mu Family Village.]

[You want to step forward to investigate.]

[But as the Crisis Awareness grows increasingly intense, you ultimately abandon this plan.]

[In the one hundred and eighth year, with the help of Heaven Rewards Diligence, you laboriously Breakthrough to the fifth layer of the Golden Core realm.]

[You can clearly feel the depletion of Spiritual Qi in the Ancient Wood Realm.]

[Just as you have investigated.]

[The Spiritual Veins here are not powerful.]

[Supporting a single Golden Core Cultivator is already the limit.]

[And over these years, you and Mu Ningshuang have both been cultivating in the Ancient Wood Realm.]

[This has made the Spiritual Qi in the Ancient Wood Realm increasingly scarce.]

[Although continuing might allow you to barely Breakthrough to the sixth layer of the Golden Core realm, it would take far too much time.]

[At least thirty years or so.]

[You do not plan to do this.]

[You meet with Mu Ningshuang and bid her farewell.]

[But by now, she no longer looks like the young girl of the past.]

[Having just turned a hundred years old, she even has strands of white hair appearing on her head.]

[However, what she says next shocks you even more.]

["Su Xuan, you have aged too..."]

[Aged?!]

[You immediately run to the riverbank and look at your reflection in the water.]

[You find that your long hair is now withered and white, and your face is weathered with age.]

[You are even much older than Mu Ningshuang!]

[In an instant, waves of shock crash through your heart.]

[Clearly, a Golden Core Cultivator has a lifespan of five hundred years, and you are only one hundred and twenty-eight years old now. How could you have aged to this extent?]

[And Mu Ningshuang...]

[She is also very old now, but because her actual age is younger than yours, she looks slightly younger.]

["There is something wrong with the Ancient Wood Realm."]

[You speak to Mu Ningshuang.]

[But at this moment, she is clearly unaware of the issue. She believes that birth, old age, sickness, and death are only natural, and although she can Cultivate, she will merely live a bit longer than the villagers.]

["That's impossible! A Golden Core Cultivator has a lifespan of five hundred years. Equivalent to a Mortal, we should only be in our twenties or thirties. How could we be so aged?!"]

["There is definitely something wrong with the Ancient Wood Realm!"]

["Let's go! Come with me and leave this place!"]

[After saying this, you pull Mu Ningshuang along and head toward the exit of the Ancient Wood Realm.]

[However, before you can get very far, a terrifying wave of energy erupts from the ancestral hall of Mu Family Village.]

[This wave of energy rapidly condenses in the air into a massive black hand, reaching straight for you.]

["Get lost!"]

[Your face contorts with rage, but just as you circulate your spiritual power, you cannot help but feel a wave of dizziness, the world spinning around you.]

[You immediately realize that something is wrong.]

[You then instantly circulate the Wild God Body Refining Art and clash head-on with the massive black hand.]

["Bang! Pfft!"]

[The massive hand instantly dissipates, and at the same time, an aged voice reaches your ears.]

["Junior, if you leave on your own, this old man will not bother you. But this little girl and the Spirit Medicines from the Ancient Wood Realm on your person must remain!"]

[Hearing this, a cold sneer plays on the corner of your mouth.]

[It seems the person in the ancestral hall is merely bluffing. If they truly had the strength, why would they negotiate terms with you?]

[You circulate the Wild God Body Refining Art with all your might.]

[Your body suddenly swells, with countless golden light spheres adhering to your form.]

["Bluffing!"]

[A majestic palm print crashes down, directly leveling the ancestral hall to the ground.]

["Audacious junior!"]

[As the voice falls, the person inside the ancestral hall finally reveals his true form.]

[He is actually a skeleton!]

[However, at this moment, speckles of red light have begun to appear on his body, and he has actually grown a bit of flesh and blood.]

[You instantly realize where the problem lies.]

[It is highly likely that this person is the mastermind behind the scenes of the Ancient Wood Realm.]

["You forced my hand!"]

[The skeleton rushes forward, but this time his target is not you, but a resident of Mu Family Village.]

[The skeleton directly grabs someone, and dark blue flames emerge from his hand, refining them in an instant!]

[Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!]

[After refining the villager, the skeleton's originally hunched figure actually straightens up.]

[More flesh and blood grow on his body once again.]

[And you can clearly feel that he has become stronger!]

[Having originally just entered the Golden Core realm, after absorbing the power of flesh and blood, he actually reaches the second layer of the Golden Core realm directly.]

[You immediately feel that things are taking a turn for the worse.]

[You immediately take action to stop him from hunting the villagers.]

[But it is clearly too late.]

[Although the skeleton is still no match for you at this moment, he desperately attacks the Mortal villagers.]

[And even with Mu Ningshuang protecting them over there, there are still villagers killed by the aftershocks of the battle.]

[The skeleton becomes even stronger.]

[At this point, his cultivation actually reaches the fifth layer of the Golden Core realm directly!]

[He is no longer inferior to you!]

[You realize that if this continues, everyone will likely die at the hands of the skeleton.]

[You give Mu Ningshuang a look and begin to retreat.]

[Right now, you only want to quickly escape this place. As for other matters, you can no longer care about them.]

[You run swiftly toward the exit of the Ancient Wood Realm, with Mu Ningshuang following closely behind.]

[In this critical moment, she is no fool either; knowing that the situation is irreversible, she directly chooses to flee.]

[Meanwhile, after refining two more villagers, the skeleton attacks you once again.]

[At this point, his cultivation has already reached the sixth layer of the Golden Core realm.]

[This Heaven-Defying speed of advancement makes your scalp tingle with apprehension.]

[But fortunately, his speed is not very fast. You and Mu Ningshuang successively return to the Great Yu Dynasty through the teleportation array.]

[Upon arrival, you do not dare to linger and head straight south toward the Great Abyss Dynasty.]