Chapter 361: Heaven and Earth Wood Essence

At this moment, Yi Xiaoyao had completely forgotten that the strange stirrings of his Heaven and Earth Fire Essence were what had brought him here. An invisible mountain seemed to be pressing down on his heart.

Gazing at the Cyan Emperor in his cage, who had been submerged and devoured by the Necromancer’s Sea Water for five hundred years, Yi Xiaoyao felt as if he were looking at his own future. One day, he too could end up like this.

“Senior, who imprisoned you here, and why? And what crisis is the Cyan Wilderness facing?” Yi Xiaoyao asked.

The Cyan Emperor mused for a moment before saying, “It is all because of the Attribute cultivated in the Cyan Wilderness.”

“The Wood Attribute?” Yi Xiaoyao asked, only half understanding.

“Wood governs longevity. Those who cultivate the Wood Attribute have lifespans that far exceed others. Back in my day, the Cyan Wilderness leveraged this advantage to become the strongest of Great Yu’s Eight Desolates. If I were still in the Cyan Wilderness today, perhaps it would rule over all of Great Yu’s Eight Desolates.”

The Cyan Emperor’s voice solved some of the mysteries in Yi Xiaoyao’s mind.

All people are mortal. While a higher Cultivation grants a longer life, everyone eventually reaches their limit.

In the various Desolate Domains of Great Yu’s Eight Desolates, it was like the blooming and wilting of flowers—one generation replaced the next in a natural cycle.

But the Cyan Wilderness alone was like an evergreen tree, never declining, only growing stronger and stronger. It completely shattered this balance.

As a result, the Cyan Wilderness naturally became a target for everyone else, destined to face a crisis of annihilation.

The Cyan Emperor’s voice drifted over. “Now you must realize how difficult the path ahead of you will be. As for the rest… you will learn what you need to know in time.”

Yi Xiaoyao nodded gravely. He wasn’t from Great Yu’s Eight Desolates, had never even been there, yet he had been inexplicably swept up into its turmoil.

This suddenly reminded Yi Xiaoyao that it was the strange activity from his Heaven and Earth Fire Essence that had led him here. ‘But what does any of this have to do with the Heaven and Earth Fire Essence?’

Just as Yi Xiaoyao was pondering this, the Cyan Emperor resolved his confusion.

“You must have come here because you felt the resonance of the Essence of Heaven and Earth within you, correct?”

Yi Xiaoyao was startled. “Senior, how did you know I possess an Essence of Heaven and Earth?”

The Cyan Emperor didn’t answer right away. Instead, he raised his hand, and a green light brimming with Vitality bloomed from his palm.

The moment the green light appeared, the stirring of the Heaven and Earth Fire Essence inside Yi Xiaoyao grew even more intense. In the end, the light was swallowed by the Necromancer’s Sea Water.

“Because I possess the Heaven and Earth Wood Essence.”

The Cyan Emperor’s words startled Yi Xiaoyao. This was the first time he had met another owner of an Essence of Heaven and Earth besides himself and Elder Yan.

At the same time, understanding dawned on Yi Xiaoyao.

‘So that’s it. The strange stirrings from the Heaven and Earth Fire Essence were the result of a mutual resonance between the Essences of Heaven and Earth.’

“No wonder.”

Thinking of this, Yi Xiaoyao nodded.

He could sense the Heaven and Earth Wood Essence within the Cyan Emperor, and the Cyan Emperor could likewise sense the Heaven and Earth Fire Essence within him. That was how the Emperor knew.

The Cyan Emperor said, “If I hadn’t sensed the Essence of Heaven and Earth within you, I would not have entrusted this heavy burden to you so easily. After all, in a sense, those who possess an Essence of Heaven and Earth are chosen by the heavens. I imagine what you have is the Heaven and Earth Fire Essence, correct?”

“You can tell that, too?”

Yi Xiaoyao was astonished. He hadn’t displayed the slightest hint of any Flame Ability from start to finish.

The Cyan Emperor chuckled. “Not all Essences of Heaven and Earth resonate so strongly with each other. The only ones that can produce such a familiar resonance with my Heaven and Earth Wood Essence are either the Heaven and Earth Water Essence or the Heaven and Earth Fire Essence.”

“Because Water creates Wood, and Wood creates Fire… Attribute Mutual Generation?”

After coming into contact with matters of the Eight Desolates, Yi Xiaoyao had already gained some understanding of Attribute Mutual Generation.

“Correct. It is precisely because of Attribute Mutual Generation. Furthermore, if you possessed the Heaven and Earth Water Essence, you wouldn’t have been in such a sorry state when you fell into the Sea of the Dead just now,” the Cyan Emperor explained. “Therefore, I deduced that you must possess the Heaven and Earth Fire Essence.”

Yi Xiaoyao nodded, but he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. The object of his search, the Heaven and Earth Wood Essence, already belonged to someone.

But the Cyan Emperor’s next words turned his disappointment into a delightful surprise.

“As the one who will inherit my duty and revive the Cyan Wilderness, how can you not possess its most important symbol—the Power of Cyan Wood?”

The Cyan Emperor said, “Therefore, this Heaven and Earth Wood Essence is your first reward for accepting my great charge.”

“What? Senior, you’re going to pass the Heaven and Earth Wood Essence to me?”

Yi Xiaoyao’s face lit up with ecstasy, but it was quickly replaced by a look of concern. “But if you do that, won’t you lose all of your Cultivation, Senior?”

He remembered what had happened when Elder Yan gave him the Heaven and Earth Fire Essence—how he had lost all of his Cultivation.

“It matters not. If I cannot protect the Cyan Wilderness, what use is this Cultivation to me?”

The Cyan Emperor’s tone was frank, holding not the slightest trace of reluctance.

“But once my Cultivation is gone, Sunken Spirit Island will sink to the bottom of the sea. So, before that happens, I will give you your second reward.”

As Yi Xiaoyao listened, he saw the Cyan Emperor raise a hand and point. A streak of cyan light shot out and merged between his eyebrows.

‘The Eternal Life Technique!’

The formula for the technique instantly appeared in Yi Xiaoyao’s mind.

“All the arts of my Cyan Wilderness are derived from this Eternal Life Technique. If you master it, not only will the power of your Wood Attribute Spiritual Skills be multiplied, but you will also be able to derive the Cyan Wood Ten Thousand Techniques from it.”

As the Cyan Emperor spoke, he once again raised a finger, sending another streak of cyan light into the space between Yi Xiaoyao’s eyebrows.

“This is your third reward: all the Spiritual Techniques I have ever mastered. Among them are numerous Cyan Wood Techniques that I personally comprehended from the Eternal Life Technique.”

Hearing the Cyan Emperor’s words and feeling the countless powerful techniques flooding his mind, Yi Xiaoyao was completely stunned.

Among these techniques were countless whose power left him breathless, including Spiritual Skills of a grade he had never even seen before. With his current Cultivation, he was incapable of using the vast majority of them.

Then, his awareness suddenly paused, fixating on one particular, incredibly unique Spiritual Skill.

“The Cyan Wood Undying Body?”

Yi Xiaoyao’s murmur made the Cyan Emperor laugh with pride.

“You’ve got a good eye, kid. I created this Cyan Wood Undying Body by combining the Heaven and Earth Wood Essence with the Eternal Life Technique. Cultivate it to its peak, and you can become like me—undying and indestructible, even in the Sea of the Dead!”

The Cyan Emperor’s laughter made Yi Xiaoyao’s heart pound with a mix of shock and excitement.

‘Undying and indestructible! Combined with the long lifespan of the Wood Attribute, that’s practically eternal life!’

Of course, this “eternal life” was only relative. In the face of absolute power, nothing was truly eternal. Still, it was something countless experts would go mad for.

At the same time, the Cyan Wood Undying Body could be considered a Body Refining Technique, yet it was also fundamentally different. Yi Xiaoyao took special care to commit it to memory.

With gains this enormous, it was worth it, even if he was about to walk a path of no return!

But then, the Cyan Emperor’s laughter gradually turned sorrowful.

“Now, I will pass the Heaven and Earth Wood Essence to you. I hope you will not let me down.”

After a sigh, the Cyan Emperor let out a furious roar. A cyan spiritual orb, containing infinite Vitality, separated from his body. No matter how the Necromancer’s Sea Water tried to devour it, its Vitality remained vibrant.

The Heaven and Earth Wood Essence drifted serenely toward Yi Xiaoyao.