Chapter 171: The Ancient Tree

"Such a terrifying great art!" Qing Tao pursed his dry lips. To unleash a fearsome great art using a killing formation required extremely formidable mastery of formations.

"That old ghost Li Ying is in for trouble." Xing Shan nodded. This kind of great killing art was extremely terrifying; even he was not confident he could handle it.

Roar! The dragon breathed, spewing out dreadful black light. The aura of annihilation erupted fully, striking directly at Li Ying's body.

Li Ying's face was icy cold. He fully activated the blood energy within him, golden blood energy swirling through the void. His battle intent surged forth, pulling at the surrounding void as he executed a great killing art.

"Golden War Fist!" Li Ying roared. Golden war energy burst forth like crashing waves. He threw a punch, matching battle intent crashing out, shattering the sky. Golden war energy roared out like a falling great star, descending toward the black light.

"The Li family's clan-protecting great art." Seeing the martial technique Li Ying displayed, the onlookers clicked their tongues. This was the Li family's signature martial technique, extremely difficult to master, requiring bloodline coordination.

"Sizzle..." The clash of super-strong energy caused the entire void to collapse, stirring up a massive energy storm that swept across the horizon, a terrifying sight.

"Roar...!" The dragon roared, shattering the sky, unleashing overwhelming divine might. Terrifying black light spewed continuously, like an inverted long river, severing the void!

The black light was dreadfully boundless, crushing the Golden War Fist. The void howled, and Li Ying's pupils suddenly contracted, but it was too late. The terrifying black light struck directly onto Li Ying's body.

Bang bang! The aura of extinguished life sprayed onto Li Ying's body. The golden war armor on his body twisted, then cracked, and with a "bang" exploded, falling in pieces from the void.

Li Ying roared, but to no avail. The black light pierced through Li Ying's chest, driving him straight into the earth, boring through to who knows where, leaving a deep chasm ten thousand zhang wide!

Just as the few in the void were stunned, Yang Tian and Yuan Xia's bodies suddenly vanished. The entire sky instantly cleared, rays of sunlight streaming down, dispersing much of the smoke of battle.

Everywhere in the sky and earth were broken mountain ranges, ruined beyond recognition. The four figures of Gu Yun appeared beside the ten-thousand-zhang chasm.

Gu Yun waved his hand, and a gust of wind swept down. After a moment, Li Ying's body appeared before everyone. Looking at the hole pierced through his chest, it still emitted a black light luster.

"Not only severely wounded, but also knocked down two heavens!" Qing Tao and the other clicked their tongues, a chill rising in their hearts. Their figures flickered and vanished from this realm.

Gu Yun and the other three also felt a chill, grateful that they hadn't been the ones to strike, or they would have ended up like Li Ying.

"For this injury to heal, it's extremely difficult!" Gu Yun shook his head with a sigh. It would require great medicines, and those of very high age.

Thousands of miles away, in a dark cave with a stone bed, Yang Tian lay sprawled on the stone bed. His shattered flesh was slowly recovering, but at a very slow pace.

The aura Li Ying had unleashed could extinguish life. Yang Tian's injuries would need much rest to recover.

Yuan Xia sat cross-legged nearby; the injuries within her had improved a little. She opened her eyes, sensed the much-better injuries, sighed inwardly, and slowly stood up.

Her beautiful eyes fell on the illusory middle-aged figure ahead. Yuan Xia moved her lotus steps, walked over, and made a curtsy, saying, "Thank you, sir, for saving me. I am deeply grateful."

"Heh, you need not thank me. It was my duty, after all, you did this for the little genius. I should thank you." Turning to look at Yuan Xia, Yang Xiao smiled slightly.

Hearing this, Yuan Xia's cheeks showed some discomfort. Her eyes hesitated for a moment, then she said, "Sir is too kind. May I ask if you are an elder of Yang Tian's clan?"

"Yes, I am an elder of Xiao Tian's. Does the young lady have something to ask?" Yang Xiao nodded.

"May I ask which clan you belong to? If I have the chance, I would like to visit your clan." After a pause, Yuan Xia bit her red lip and inquired.

"Visit?" Seeing Yuan Xia's expression, Yang Xiao shook his head slightly and said indifferently, "Sorry, matters of my clan are not convenient to disclose. You will understand later. Knowing too much is not good for you or him."

Looking at Yang Xiao's solemn face, Yuan Xia frowned slightly, her lips twitching, but in the end she did not ask. Then she cast a doubtful gaze at Yang Xiao.

An illusory soul body—had he activated the killing formation just now? Yuan Xia did not believe it. As for Yang Xiao's words, she did not take them to heart; there were not many people on this continent who could detain her.

The atmosphere here had just quieted for a moment when Yang Tian's eyelids twitched slightly, showing signs of waking.

Seeing this, Yuan Xia's face showed a struggle. Her gaze fell on Yang Tian, and she sighed inwardly. Then she said to Yang Xiao, "I will take my leave now. By the way, it's best if Yang Tian stops cultivating that technique. When he breaks through to the Embryo Transformation realm, it will trigger the Extinction Divine Thunder."

"Extinction Divine Thunder...!" Hearing this, Yang Xiao's brow furrowed slightly. This kind of lightning tribulation was extremely terrifying, famous even in ancient times, with immense power.

"Indeed. If I'm not mistaken, Yang Tian is cultivating a Divine Ability technique. When he wakes, you'd best advise him. No one cultivates this technique anymore; they all died under the lightning tribulation."

"No one cultivates Divine Ability techniques? What's going on?" Yang Xiao looked thoughtful. Such techniques were the top-tier techniques in the world, yet now no one succeeded in cultivating them.

"Sir, I will leave now." Yuan Xia's figure suddenly vanished from the cave.

"This little girl..." Watching Yuan Xia's departing figure, Yang Xiao shook his head slightly, not taking her words too seriously. Yang Tian had inherited the old clan leader's legacy; how could he easily die under lightning tribulation?

His head hurt badly...

Yang Tian had been sleeping in a daze. When a cool sensation swirled in his heart, a wave of comfort spread through his entire body.

Yang Tian's eyelids struggled for a moment, then opened a narrow slit. What came into view was an illusory figure. Yang Tian breathed a deep sigh of relief.

His somewhat dazed eyes looked around at a pitch-black cave. Just as Yang Tian was stunned, Yang Xiao suddenly smiled and waved his hand in the air.

Like the shifting of stars, the entire cave underwent a tremendous transformation. Compared to before, it was like heaven and earth.

The ancient energy in the void surged like tidal waves, turbulent and thick, spreading overwhelmingly through the void.

It felt as if his whole body was soaking in a hot spring. An indescribably comfortable sensation swirled in his heart. Yang Tian felt as if he had eaten a ginseng fruit; even his physical wounds healed a bit.

This was a pale red cave, about ten thousand zhang in size, filled with an ancient aura. There were some stone tables and stone chairs around; the cave was extremely simple.

The most striking feature of the entire cave was three hundred-zhang-tall red ancient trees. Strange patterns extended along the branches, and the trees emitted an eerie red glow from their leaves.

Above the ancient trees was a tens-of-zhang energy vortex. The surrounding ancient energy was nearly condensing into liquid, radiating extremely vast energy fluctuations.

The ancient trees spewed ancient energy, catching Yang Tian's attention. If he guessed correctly, these should be Ancient Trees! They could produce ancient energy. Such trees had become extinct; they could not grow in the outside world.

Yang Tian lay on the stone bed, breathed for a while, sensed his somewhat recovered body, and opened his eyes.

"Uncle Xiao, where is Yuan Xia?" As if remembering something, Yang Tian quickly asked. She had been severely wounded to save him. If something happened to her, Yang Tian would regret it for half his life.

"Just left." Hearing this, Yang Xiao smiled, a teasing look on his face.

"Left." Seeing Yang Xiao's expression, Yang Tian pouted. Why didn't she say goodbye? After all, they had gone through life and death together.

"Uncle Xiao, what is the connection between our clan and Yuan Xia's clan? My blood resonated with hers again." After a pause, Yang Tian inquired.

"I'm not too clear either. Since I was trapped in the Fallen Demon Land, I know nothing about the outside world." Yang Xiao shook his head, indicating he didn't understand.

"Uh..." Seeing Yang Xiao's expression, Yang Tian didn't believe it at all. Yang Xiao must be hiding something from him.

"By the way, Uncle Xiao, is Li Ying dead?" Yang Tian asked, a look of anticipation in his eyes.

"Nonsense." Looking at Yang Tian's expression, Yang Xiao scolded with a smile, "Do you think a Great Power is so easily killed? Just now, activating the killing formation nearly exhausted all the foundation I had left."

"Oh." Scratching his head, Yang Tian chuckled, feeling a bit regretful. Li Ying's status in the Li family was very high. There were probably no more than three experts of his level in the Li family. If he died, it would definitely shake the entire Eastern Continent.