Eighty-Third Section: Senior, I do not want anything you have already touched.

Wuyun smiled and said, “It is only right that one who obtains it alone should keep it.”

“Why not return this one to me? If you have the skill, feel free to go up and take the rest. It has nothing to do with me.”

The white-robed scholar had barely finished speaking when Wuyun tossed the immortal stone to him and laughed. “In that case, whoever picks the fruit from this immortal tree keeps it!”

Aside from the white-robed scholar’s sneer, Wu Hao and the others looked displeased. Not to mention that they had once joined forces in the tree, even if they had a hundred times more people, they could not withstand the countless leaves—gathered together, they struck with the force of a second-rank immortal weapon, a single thunderous blow.

The white-robed scholar waited for Wuyun to ascend the tree and reveal his divine skill. Long Yi could no longer restrain himself; carrying the Heaven-Shaking Saber, he climbed up like a gecko. He climbed quickly and fell even faster, his whole body bristling like a hedgehog, pierced and bloodied all over.

Especially when, at the end, he was clutching a top-grade immortal stone as large as a water vat and smashed a crater into the ground, even Gao Le and the others were filled with envy. This dragon, though only at the minor completion stage of the Mystic Immortal realm, truly possessed some ability and could not be ignored.

Envy aside, the sight of his injuries was unbearable.

Xiong Laosan cautiously looked at the tip of the tail that had been smashed into pulp, a little hesitant to speak, while Green Leaf giggled and said, “That silly dragon couldn’t even throw the immortal stone aside!”

Exactly so—if he had thrown the immortal stone aside, who could possibly snatch it away?

Long Yi gloomily refined the top-grade immortal stone. Just as he was about to swallow it, Wuyun waved it over, took it, and looked at it for a while before saying in puzzlement, “Yours is bigger than the scholar’s!”

Those words displeased the white-robed scholar, and Long Yi’s expression darkened even further. Even though it was returned to him, he refused to take it, saying, “Senior, I don’t want anything you’ve touched. Give it to whoever you like!”

Wuyun nodded in satisfaction and drew the pure immortal qi from the top-grade immortal stone. In no time, the water-vat-sized stone had visibly thinned, while the purified immortal qi surged out through Wuyun’s body, filling the entire area.

This delighted Wu Hao and the others. Even though they were all at the peak of the Mystic Immortal realm, the best immortal stones they used were merely upper grade. How could they ever use top-grade ones? Even an early-stage Immortal King would not enjoy such treatment.

Everyone hurriedly seized the chance to cultivate. Even the white-robed scholar was unwilling to miss it, and after absorbing the dense, water-like immortal qi, his strength quickly recovered. Xiong Laosan and the others advanced another step in cultivation, faintly showing signs of a breakthrough.

Even Yue Qi, in Wuyun’s ear, brandished the Dragon-Suppressing Tendon Whip. After absorbing the top-grade immortal qi, her figure grew by another third, taking on the appearance of a seven-year-old child.

Then everyone discovered that Wuyun had disappeared.

The space beneath the tree was vast and empty. After a brief look around, they saw Wuyun in a patch of Dragon-Seeking Grass, picking something.

Gao Le was tall, a head and a half taller than Long Yi. He wondered about it and asked in a low voice, “Could your master here also know how to weave things? Could he be lovers with the Fox Immortal King of Ten Tails?”

Rumors were dangerous. Wuyun, who was weaving a rope head, nearly froze. If the Fox Immortal King of Ten Tails truly loved him, then gaining an Immortal King-level fighter would not be unwelcome; he would not mind cultivating and shaping a demon emperor.

But the grudge between them was the key—irreconcilable. As for the Ten-Tailed Fox’s backer, only the Emperor Snake could speak to it.

That little Bi Bi...

Thinking of that figure who had earlier seemed no more substantial than air, Wuyun suddenly felt his back and then his whole body prickling as though stung by wasps, an itch he could not stop scratching.

“Could the lord be allergic to pollen?” Xiong Laosan muttered softly as he helped Long Yi remove the silk threads from his restored tail. The thunderous assassin from the Thousand-Mile Snow Space could only sew and mend in the Immortal Realm.

After scratching for a long while, Wuyun even broke into a silly smile, exceedingly pleased with the rope head woven from Dragon-Seeking Grass.

Not right. The Fox Immortal King of Ten Tails has bad judgment! Gao Le narrowed his eyes, just about to continue gossiping, when Wuyun came swaggering over and scolded him, “That little fox of yours eats bones and doesn’t even spit out the crumbs!”

With the rope head woven from Dragon-Seeking Grass in hand, Wuyun began searching along the tree trunk. Half an incense stick of time later, he called Long Yi over. Using the Heaven-Shaking Saber, Long Yi dug away a layer of bark, revealing a material hard as titanium steel beneath.

When he saw the trunk within, Long Yi wanted to continue digging with the saber, but Wuyun hurriedly kicked him aside and snapped, “Are you courting death?”

Long Yi was startled. Anyone Wuyun told to seek death was surely about to dig up something that would unleash an unknown terror. When Wuyun rubbed the mirror-smooth trunk with his hand, the white-robed scholar watching from behind laughed. “What, do you mean to cut the tree down? I advise you not to. You will only anger the immortal tree and bring disaster upon yourself!”

Wuyun snorted. “I’m collecting top-grade immortal stones. Don’t bother me!”

With that, he used the rope head to scratch back and forth across the exposed, mirror-like trunk.

The white-robed scholar burst into laughter and sat cross-legged to refine the top-grade immortal stone he had obtained. He intended to merge it into his soul so that whenever he needed to expend energy, he could replenish it swiftly.

After quite a while, Rong Ya grew impatient and pulled together Wu Hao, Jin Bu, and Gao Le to discuss their next move. Just as they were about to drag Long Yi up the tree again, Wuyun stopped them.

“Wait a moment. Those stones are about to fall. Don’t let them crush you!”

“Stones? You mean top-grade immortal stones?” Gao Le, quick to understand, saw Wuyun nod and, though it seemed unbelievable, still held onto a sliver of hope. “There will be some for us too, right?”

“Yes! Everyone gets a share, except that white-robed fellow. But the four of you aren’t putting in much effort, so you only get twenty percent!”

Twenty percent?

Did that mean the top-grade immortal stones would be divided up? Gao Le felt hopeful, while Jin Bu and Rong Ya sighed and said, “Two pieces between the two of us would be enough!”

“No take-backs,” Wuyun said with a cheerful smile, scratching the rope head faster. The tree shuddered slightly, and then a gigantic immortal stone, mountain-like in size, fell from above. As it descended beneath the tree, it accelerated, clearly intent on crushing Wuyun and the others to death.

Without needing instruction, the massive Gao Le roared, his body swelling dramatically as he resisted the overwhelming pressure. With a forceful kick, he thrust upward. There came a boom as the mountain-sized immortal stone smashed into the hand Gao Le had lifted, driving even his head into the jade-like stone.

Even so, Gao Le did not retreat. Instead, he pushed upward harder, and in an instant he was forced backward into the ground. The immortal jade stone, slowed by the obstruction, was steadied by Long Yi.

Long Yi then formed several hand seals, shrinking it down, and without the slightest hesitation swallowed it first.

This angered Gao Le, who had just clawed his way out of the ground, while Long Yi flicked his dragon horns and said indifferently, “My senior said you’ll each get twenty percent.”

“But I did most of the work just now!” Gao Le protested, somewhat dissatisfied.

Rong Ya, Jin Bu, and even the white-robed scholar were stunned. The difficulty of taking down a top-grade immortal stone was so great—how could it simply fall from the tree on its own? Impossible. Something was definitely wrong!

As he spoke, Long Yi pointed upward, about to boast, when Green Leaf was seen drooping her tongue in fear.

Could it be that the immortal tree was launching some kind of attack?

Long Yi looked up and was stunned as well. Only Xiong Laosan, hugging Wuyun’s leg, cried out, “Senior, enough, enough already!”

Hundreds upon thousands of top-grade immortal stones had formed above the tree like a great formation, then shot down like missiles at Wuyun, who was scratching the trunk.

That speed, those mountain-sized jade stones, that relentless crashing—who could withstand it?

Even Gao Le retreated dozens of steps in terror. If one were really smashed into pulp here, one would surely perish.

Wuyun, hugged by Xiong Laosan, was also frightened by the stones raining from the sky and shouted, “Quickly, the yin-yang bagua to disperse the force, hurry!”

Yet there were too many top-grade immortal stones falling, and they were too fast. Gao Le, Wu Hao, and even Rong Ya and Jin Bu could each only deflect one, causing it to veer off course; the rest all rushed toward Wuyun.

In an instant, the immortal stones collided, stacking higher and higher. The immense force of the impact was like striking a cow across the mountain, shattering the first stone that hit Wuyun into powder.

Everyone was dumbstruck. Only the white-robed scholar’s face lit up with delight. Just as he was about to gesture to claim them, Long Yi, watching him like a hawk, blocked him.

“You don’t get a single coin’s worth!”

The white-robed scholar grew furious, then thought better of it and smiled. “That is only proper. But if your senior is crushed to death here, then this agreement becomes void!”

“If you die, your whole family dies. My senior cannot die!” Xiong Laosan retorted angrily. He tried to lift the layered jade stones, but they were so heavy that even as a Great Immortal he could only raise them slightly.

Just as he was about to ask Dou Wang and the others for help, he saw Long Yi calmly continuing to collect them. He was about to curse when a voice came from within: “Hurry and gather them. While this tree has not yet reacted, we can get two more rounds!”

Everyone...

The white-robed scholar’s face darkened. His hand trembled several times, but in the end he made no move. Instead, he sat to the side and absorbed the immortal qi wafting from the top-grade immortal stones to cultivate.

Even though he failed to obtain a single one, just these ocean-like currents of qi were enough to push his cultivation to the next level.

As for Little Bug and the others, they stood motionless as though drunk, allowing the top-grade immortal qi to flood into their bodies.

For cultivations already on the verge of breakthrough, using top-grade immortal qi to force the barrier was like firing a missile at a fish tank—no containment, no restraint, just instant advancement.

In a flash, Yue Qi reached the peak of the Immortal Body stage. It was not that she could not continue forcing through, but that her flesh and blood needed tempering to become more perfect.

Xiong Laosan, Dou Wang, and Little Bug all broke through, reaching the complete early stage of the Great Immortal realm. Their immortal bodies also ascended to Great Immortal level, with little limitation remaining. Only when becoming a Mystic Immortal would they require many treasures and great fortune before they could cultivate a path of their own.

For them, however, they walked the path Wuyun had pointed out: the path to divinity.

Not to mention that Great Immortals were trash here, the white-robed scholar was at the perfected peak of the Mystic Immortal realm, only one step from the Immortal King realm. Once he began to undergo tribulation, the Immortal King calamity would appear.

Strange as it sounded, this Immortal King calamity was an unexpected disaster that arose only upon becoming an Immortal King. For example, when the white-robed scholar broke through, only after he truly entered the Immortal King realm would danger descend.

Sometimes a spatial rift would open its jaws and swallow him whole; sometimes an extraterritorial inner demon would emerge to control his mind; sometimes his own spirit would split and he would go mad; sometimes the spirit of an immortal weapon would betray him and strike a lethal blow. At other times an Immortal Emperor or divine beast might pass by, and with a casual flick of imperial might, crush his Immortal King aura and send his state of mind plummeting.

Even more absurd were the tribulation lightning strikes: sometimes fierce, sometimes weak, and sometimes a strand of divine lightning from the Ninth Heaven would pass through, leaving the newly ascended Immortal King’s soul scattered in an instant. In short, the Immortal King calamity was bizarre and incomprehensible.

Perhaps an ordinary Mystic Immortal would pass through it with ease, or perhaps it would become the lifelong barrier of an elite one.

After reaching perfection, the white-robed scholar laughed heartily. Now that his cultivation was the highest, he had not yet moved, but satisfaction shone in his eyes as though these top-grade immortal stones all belonged to him.

“Could it be that you are here to attempt the Immortal King tribulation? I advise you not to do so. This place is fraught with danger, with far too many variables. One careless mistake and all your efforts will be wasted. It will also affect your state of mind, you...”