Chapter 6

Eight elite disciples returned to their respective caves, hastily prepared, and quickly left the Zhen Gang Peak in the afternoon, heading for the vast ancient forest hundreds of miles away, aiming to find the thousand-year-old peach spirit wood before the Taiyin Sect.

Zhu Ganglie did not rush into the ancient forest.

Although the ancient forest was located behind the Piaomiao Mountain, it was home to many venomous snakes and fierce beasts, and some of them had developed intelligence, even becoming minor demons.

Therefore, Zhu Ganglie would not blindly rush in. He planned to cultivate an additional spiritual force before entering to search, which would increase his chances of success.

Moreover, he could let the eight elite disciples go ahead to explore, reducing the risks.

As night fell, Zhu Ganglie's soul left his body, hovering three feet above his head, and he began to practice the Taiyin Cultivation Technique, absorbing the essence of heaven and earth.

When his soul had grown to a certain extent, a massive soul force was released, enveloping and devouring the elemental energy in the air, slowly condensing the third spiritual force.

This process took all night. By dawn, the third spiritual force, the size of a soybean, was fully condensed, circling around his soul.

However, with the condensation of this spiritual force, Zhu Ganglie's soul force was weakened again, and he needed to absorb more elemental energy to strengthen his soul and then condense more spiritual forces.

Fortunately, he had the Taiyin Cultivation Technique, which allowed him to quickly absorb elemental energy, greatly reducing the time needed to condense spiritual forces. For ordinary cultivators, it would take at least half a month, or even several months, to recover their soul and strengthen their soul force, let alone condense spiritual forces.

After cultivating this spiritual force, Zhu Ganglie got up, tidied up the ancestral hall, and set off for the ancient forest behind the mountain.

Recently, the entire sect was on guard against the peach blossom miasma and exploring the peach spirit wood, so they would not pay attention to this remote and quiet ancestral hall.

This allowed him to follow the eight elite disciples and search for the peach spirit wood with peace of mind.

Zhu Ganglie concealed his figure and entered the ancient forest, tracking the traces left by the eight elite disciples and quickly following them.

The ground deep in the ancient forest was covered with thick layers of dead branches and decaying leaves, emitting a foul and damp smell.

Looking around, pinkish clouds of mist drifted through the forest, which was the peach blossom miasma.

Inhaling even a small amount could cause one to lose their senses and die instantly. Fortunately, these miasmas were limited, and as long as one did not come into contact with them, there was no danger.

In these miasmas, black balls rolled around, buzzing with mosquitoes, and the smell of miasma from the grass and decaying leaves, along with the crawling poisonous spiders, leeches, and occasionally colorful venomous snakes, made Zhu Ganglie's scalp tingle.

Although the eight disciples had cleared a path, the venomous snakes and fierce beasts quickly reoccupied it, forcing him to clear a new path.

Fortunately, he had already cultivated three spiritual forces and a sword pill. With a flick of his hand, the sword glowed, slicing through countless venomous snakes and fierce beasts.

However, deep in the ancient forest, the eight people had split up, and he had to choose a main path to proceed.

After hesitating for a while, Zhu Ganglie still could not make up his mind, his gaze wandering over the vast ancient forest.

"Hmm?"

At this moment, Zhu Ganglie's heart stirred, and the Heavenly Cicada Spirit Leaf in his soul emitted a faint tremor, sending a gentle wave into the distance.

"Is there something special here? Perhaps the Heavenly Cicada Spirit Leaf can really lead me to the peach spirit wood?"

Zhu Ganglie could only trust this feeling, as it was better than being aimless.

He immediately activated his spiritual force, and the sword pill transformed into a circle of golden light, surrounding his body, dispersing the peach blossom miasma in the ancient forest and slicing through countless venomous snakes and fierce beasts, moving forward quickly.

Following the feeling from the Heavenly Cicada Spirit Leaf, Zhu Ganglie continued to walk, approaching the depths of the ancient forest.

After a day of cutting through thorns and braving the elements, Zhu Ganglie followed the感应 of the Heavenly Cicada Spirit Leaf and arrived at a peach blossom forest on the second day.

This peach blossom forest was filled with peach trees, each as thick as a person's embrace, blooming with peach blossoms, fluttering and dancing, a beautiful sight.

Seeing this vast peach blossom forest, Zhu Ganglie's eyes lit up. In this deep mountain and wild forest, there was such a beautiful peach blossom forest, and the peach spirit wood must be here.

"The peach blossom miasma is pervasive outside this forest, but there is not a trace of it inside? This is quite peculiar."

Looking at the peach blossom forest, which resembled a fairyland, Zhu Ganglie's brows furrowed slightly.

He then activated the special effect of the Heavenly Cicada Spirit Leaf, concealing his figure, and slowly entered the peach blossom forest to search for the peach spirit wood.

Stepping on the thick layer of fallen peach blossoms, Zhu Ganglie couldn't help but marvel. If it weren't for the peculiar nature of this place and the miasma outside, which could impair one's senses, this peach blossom forest would truly be a paradise.

"Clang!"

Halfway through, Zhu Ganglie heard a series of clanging sounds from deep within the peach blossom forest, which made him alert. He immediately focused his mind and stealthily approached the source of the sounds.

In his line of sight, Zhu Ganglie saw a woman in white, with an extremely beautiful appearance, wielding a black rune that resembled a curved knife, slashing out black blade auras, cutting towards a woman in a pink dress with a bewitching appearance.

The bewitching woman had a pink cloud floating above her head, from which pink peach blossoms flew out, blocking the black blade auras.

In the gaps, a pink whip also flew out from the cloud, lashing at the woman in white.

"Taiyin Blade Rune?"

Seeing the black rune in front of the woman in white, Zhu Ganglie's brows furrowed slightly. He did not expect a disciple of the Taiyin Sect to have found this place so early.

However, he did not know who the bewitching woman in the pink dress was. She did not seem to be a demon, but rather a highly cultivated cultivator, as she had clearly refined a magical tool.

It was rare for demons to have the methods to refine magical tools; most used ordinary weapons or parts of their bodies as weapons.

"Peach Blossom Fairy, you dare to interfere with the affairs of the Taiyin Sect."

The woman in white lightly scolded, her voice cold and stern. She quickly pointed at the black rune in front of her, infusing it with several magical powers, slashing out black blade auras to block the pink miasma.

This woman in white was Su Ling'er, the top disciple of the Taiyin Sect, who had already condensed several Taiyin Blade Runes and had just entered the Manifestation Realm, showing great potential and a cold, proud personality.

The woman in the pink dress was a wandering cultivator who had obtained a cultivation technique called the Six Desires Peach Blossom Tribulation by chance, thus entering the path of cultivation.

The Six Desires Peach Blossom Tribulation was a unique cultivation method, different from the orthodox methods of the Daoist sects, which absorbed elemental energy to strengthen the soul and condense magical powers.

Instead, it used human emotions and desires to strengthen the soul and magical powers, a method that could lead directly to the Golden Core stage.

However, due to the lack of a master's guidance and her greed for speed and power, the Peach Blossom Fairy had taken a twisted path, often using her beauty to incite lust in others to cultivate, turning this profound technique into a form of yin-yang cultivation.

The Peach Blossom Fairy had great potential, and through self-exploration, she had condensed the Peach Blossom Tribulation magical power and entered the Manifestation Realm within fifty years, with even more magical powers than Su Ling'er.

In the battle, Su Ling'er was extremely angry. She had arrived at the peach blossom forest first, but the Peach Blossom Fairy had come even earlier and successfully condensed the Peach Blossom Cloud Pouch using the miasma.

"Little girl, you have just entered the Manifestation Realm, yet you dare to speak so arrogantly. Let me show you the true power of the Manifestation Realm."

The Peach Blossom Fairy, twisting her snake-like waist, sneered, and a torrent of pink peach blossoms spewed from the pink cloud above her head, overwhelming the woman in white.

"The Peach Blossom Fairy is extremely powerful, and her magical tool is quite peculiar. I wonder which sect she belongs to, but her magical tool is not as powerful as my sword pill."

Zhu Ganglie, having reached the Out-of-Body Realm and condensed three spiritual forces, had a keen eye. However, he lacked combat experience, so he watched carefully, trying to figure out how he would fight if he were to join the battle.

After watching for a while, Zhu Ganglie had come up with several strategies.

The woman in white's rune was powerful, but it was limited to being a rune. His Heavenly Sword Pill could easily break it with a single strike.

The cloud above the Peach Blossom Fairy's head was unique, but its power was insufficient to withstand his Heavenly Sword Pill.

After pondering for a while, Zhu Ganglie found the battle boring and began to think about the peach spirit wood.

"Let them fight it out; I'll be the one to benefit."

Zhu Ganglie had no intention of showing mercy. He concealed his figure and quietly entered the depths of the peach blossom forest. The fact that these two were fighting here indicated that the peach spirit wood must be here.