The entire valley was half the size of Shishui City and had been divided into over three hundred sections. Each section was planted with a thousand Beard Iron Trees.
The area Hong Yu was responsible for was Section Seventy-Eight. The vast, dense Beard Iron Tree Forest stretching out before him was his assigned felling zone.
Of course, that wasn't the problem.
He was already ntally prepared, knowing that felling the Beard Iron Trees wouldn't be easy.
The problem was...
It was only after seeing these Beard Iron Trees with his own eyes that he realized this mission wasn't just a trap—it was the kind of trap that would screw over eighteen generations of his ancestors.
The Beard Iron Trees before him were each ten ters tall, their entire trunks shimring with a tallic, steel-like luster. At a glance, they looked just like a forest of iron pillars. The mission stipulated that he had to fell adult Beard Iron Trees—the ten-ter-tall ones, so massive it would take five or six adults to wrap their arms around one.
Just looking at them made Hong Yu feel imnse pressure.
"Damn it, I hope they're not too hard!"
Hong Yu spat, clapped his hands together, and took out a long spear.
This was not the Breaking Army Spear!
A Primordial Weapon was far too precious, and it was one of his trump cards. It couldn't be revealed so easily!
BOOM!
A blow carrying 5,000 jin of explosive force struck the thick trunk of a Beard Iron Tree head-on.
VMMMM!
The massive Beard Iron Tree, as big as a city gate, shook violently before gradually settling back to stillness. A blow with over 5,000 jin of force hadn't even left a single mark on it.
The corner of Hong Yu's eye twitched. "..."
'Damn it all! Five thousand jin of force, the equivalent of a full-power strike from a typical Half-Step Earth Soul Realm expert, and all it did was shake it? Not a single leaf fell?'
"I refuse to believe it..."
Hong Yu took a deep breath and gritted his teeth.
He activated his Profound Skill, and the five Qi Vortexes in his Lower Dantian began to spin frantically.
WHOOSH!
Surging Elental Power flooded into his hands like a rushing tide. His arms seed to swell in size as he let out a low roar and unleashed a fierce strike—"Destruction." A faint layer of fla enveloped the long spear, accompanied by the deafening CRACK! CRACK! of sonic booms. The force of this attack had soared to nearly 20,000 jin!
BANG!
The flaming long spear slamd into the trunk of the Beard Iron Tree.
Waves of scorching light burned the Beard Iron Tree, which sizzled as green smoke billowed out. The power was imnse.
SHH SHH SHH!
The Beard Iron Tree before him trembled violently as its razor-sharp leaves rained down. Unlike the light, fluttering leaves of other trees, these were exceptionally heavy. Each one hit the ground with a sharp CHINK, embedding itself in the hard earth.
The powerful Montum surging around Hong Yu sent the steel-like leaves flying.
Once the Beard Iron Tree before him had settled, he was finally able to see the results of his strike.
Against a powerful attack of nearly 20,000 jin, a gash had finally appeared on the Beard Iron Tree.
The gash was about the size of a small bowl.
But the problem was...
...relative to the sheer size of the Beard Iron Tree, this gash was practically negligible!
To put it in perspective, if a single kernel was missing from a corncob, would it really make a difference?
"Son of a bitch! How am I supposed to cut this down?"
Hong Yu felt a thousand curses stampeding through his mind.
'Every ti I use Destruction, it consus a tenth of my Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi reserves. That ans I can only use it ten tis in a row. But at this rate, it'll take at least a hundred strikes to fell a single Beard Iron Tree. That'll take days!'
'And the mission requires to fell a hundred Beard Iron Trees in one month.'
Hong Yu finally understood the playful, mocking half-smile on that Sword Sect disciple's face when he issued the mission.
'Damn you, Four Kings. Are you really trying to push to my death?' Hong Yu gritted his teeth in fury.
'Sure, the reward for this mission is high—thirty points, the sa as three normal Sect missions combined. The problem is, there's also a penalty! If I can't complete it, I'll lose my Sect stipend. While one asly Nourishing Essence Pill is nothing to , failing three Sect missions in a row results in an even harsher punishnt.'
'Even though I don't know what this "harsher punishnt" is, with the Four Kings watching like tigers, I can't afford to be careless.'
'I'll go ask Little One!'
Hong Yu rubbed his brow, put away the long spear, and with a flash, he entered the Profound Celestial Tower.
After unlocking the First Layer, Hong Yu had finally earned the Profound Celestial Tower's true recognition and gained the ability to freely enter and exit its inner space.
He quickly found Little One within the tower's space.
The little guy was hugging a Big Smoking Pipe taller than he was, rocking back and forth in a lounge chair. With a trail of drool glistening at the corner of his mouth, he was sound asleep.
"..."
Hong Yu's nose twitched. Compared to the comfortable, carefree Little One, he suddenly felt utterly pathetic.
"Hey, Little One, wake up!" Hong Yu kicked the lounge chair.
"Nngh?"
Little One blearily opened his eyes. He rubbed his drowsy eyes with his soft little hands and mumbled, "Another... round... I... I can still drink..."
Hong Yu: "..."
'Is this little beast dreaming about drinking?'
He grabbed Little One's shoulders with both hands and shook him until the little guy was completely dazed and dizzy.
Little One swayed from side to side, finally snapping awake. With a WHOOSH, he leaped into the air and smacked Hong Yu on the forehead with his Big Smoking Pipe. "WHACK!" With his hands on his hips, he demanded in his squeaky voice, "What do you think you're doing? Are you trying to start a rebellion?"
Hong Yu clutched his forehead and rolled his eyes. He plopped down onto the lounge chair and said sullenly, "Hurry up and think of a solution for . How am I supposed to cut down a hundred Beard Iron Trees in one month?"
"Huh? Beard Iron Trees?"
Little One blinked.
After hearing the whole story from Hong Yu, he got so angry he started hopping around, waving his soft little fists. "Dammit! Those damn Four Kings are taking things too far! A mature Beard Iron Tree is incredibly tough. Forget you, even a Late-stage Earth Soul Realm Powerhouse would struggle to cut down a hundred of them in a month."
"The biggest problem is that I have to complete this mission," Hong Yu said. "I can't let their sche succeed."
Little One waved his hand dismissively. "It's just so Beard Iron Trees! Don't be so tense. This young master has plenty of ways to deal with them!"
Hong Yu's face lit up. "What is it?"
"It's simple. Just have Xingtian help you," Little One said, taking a puff from his Big Smoking Pipe.
"Xingtian?"
Hong Yu looked confused.
'Right now, the most impressive thing about Xingtian is his tough body. Other than that, his attack power is pitifully weak!'
Little One said, "Haven't I told you before? Xingtian isn't an ordinary Execution Corpse. He's a Calamity Xing Corpse that I, a god, personally refined." He took another puff of his pipe and continued, "As a Calamity Xing Corpse, Xingtian controls the Power of Misfortune. This power can corrode anything. Although his current strength is too limited for that, dealing with so asly Beard Iron Trees is still very simple!"
"What's more," Little One added, "the roots of the Beard Iron Tree contain large amounts of the Gold Elent. This can increase the strength of Xingtian's body. It's killing two birds with one stone!"
"You an have Xingtian use the Power of Misfortune to corrode the roots of the Beard Iron Trees?" Hong Yu confird.
Little One nodded. "How hard did you think it would be otherwise? The Four Kings are targeting you, but they have no idea that they've accidentally handed you an opportunity to increase Xingtian's power. What's that old saying? Oh, right—'he tried to steal a chicken, but ended up losing a handful of rice.' It's a classic case of a plan backfiring!"
"Well said! It's a classic case of a plan backfiring! Now I'm actually looking forward to seeing the looks on their faces when I successfully complete the mission!"
A wave of relief washed over Hong Yu.
A cunning glint flashed in his eyes. He chuckled. "I just thought of a great way to rub their faces in it..."
When Hong Yu left the space inside the tower, Xingtian, clad in shimring silver armor, was standing beside him. Hong Yu issued his command: "Xingtian, dig a tunnel here and go underground. Once you're down there, use your Power of Misfortune to corrode the roots of these Beard Iron Trees. But rember, don't let them fall right away. Wait for my signal, then sever all their roots at once."
"Hmph."
Xingtian nodded, a dull sound rumbling in his throat.
Hong Yu patted his shoulder. "I'm counting on you."
Xingtian gave a stiff shake of his head and began to dig at the spot Hong Yu had pointed out. The ground was incredibly hard, but under the corrosion of his Power of Misfortune, it gave way with a SSSHHH SSSHHH sound, revealing a tunnel entrance. Xingtian's figure slowly sank into the earth. Hong Yu moved a large boulder from nearby to block the hole, then sat cross-legged on top of it.
Adopting the Five Hearts Facing Heaven posture, Hong Yu closed his eyes.
This valley, being a place where Beard Iron Trees were cultivated, could also be considered a spiritual land. The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was quite dense here.
He cultivated like this for a full ten days.
Hong Yu's Lower Dantian was once again nearing capacity. With just a little more ti cultivating, he would be able to attempt to form his sixth Qi Vortex.
One day, as Hong Yu was cultivating, his ears suddenly twitched and his brow furrowed slightly.
Ever since fusing with the Star River Spirit Bone, Hong Yu's Perception had grown increasingly sharp. Over the past ten days, he had often had the faint sensation of being watched, but the feeling was always fleeting, so he hadn't paid it much mind.
Today, however, the feeling was incredibly strong.
Hong Yu's expression grew serious. He channeled all his Elental Power to his ears and was finally able to faintly overhear the conversation of those hiding nearby...
"Heh heh, just as Brother Long predicted. The idiot knows he can't finish the mission, so he's just given up!"
"Cutting down a hundred Beard Iron Trees in a month? Even Brother Long couldn't do it himself, let alone so kid at the Half-Step Earth Soul Realm."
"I heard Brother Long already made arrangents with Senior Brother Chen Xing at the Task Hall. In a month, if this Hong Yu fails the mission, he'll be sent straight to the Netherworld Purgatory. Tsk, tsk. That's a place that even True Disciples can't escape from!"
"Haha, let's go report back to Brother Long! We'll go to the Task Hall in twenty days to watch the show!"
"Let's go!"
Only when the two were a great distance away did Hong Yu slowly open his eyes.
A blade-like glint of cold light flashed in his dark pupils. The corners of his lips curled into a chilling, ruthless smirk...
'Hong Long, is it? Heh heh. Actually, I'm also quite looking forward to what will happen when it's ti to turn in the mission!'
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