Chapter 85

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Chapter 85: Level Nine! Nine Extremes

After Lou Pingfan "enthusiastically" urged him to leave, Zhang Yang sighed slightly as he looked back at the numerous treasures, muttering, "I’ll come back tomorrow."

Lou Pingfan nearly dropped to the ground. Come back? In your dreams! You won’t get through that door again.

Zhang Yang seemed to sense his thoughts and added, "I will definitely come back."

It sounded like a vow.

Lou Pingfan silently swore to prevent this fool from entering even one more step.

The two were locked in a silent competition.

As they passed by the iron cages of the seven Golden Armored Giants, the giants observed him with strange expressions.

Zhang Yang winked at them and walked on.

The heavy door to the non-saleable area closed with a thud, powerful forbidden laws taking effect to isolate the outside world.

The seven Golden Armored Giants huddled together.

"How interesting. There’s such a freak."

"His face is too thick; I’ve never seen anyone like this. I bet the city wall isn’t as thick-skinned. I wonder if even a sage could knock down his pride."

"I hope he comes back, pressures the Liu family some more, and gives me some relief."

They rarely had so much enthusiasm.

The oldest among them, a master at Small Boundless perfection, whispered, "Perhaps our chance for escape has come."

Back at his residence, Zhang Yang "warmly" invited Lou Pingfan in for tea and then demanded ten million spirit stones as a tea fee, causing Lou Pingfan to spit out the tea in anger.

Watching Lou Pingfan storm away, Yuluan finally couldn’t hold back her laughter and collapsed onto the bed.

Xue Feishuang also revealed her true self. With the forbidden laws isolating them from the outside world, she smiled at Zhang Yang and softly asked, "Junior Brother, did you hear what Liu Feijue said after he left with the Golden Dragon Shield?"

She had observed everything keenly, much like Zhang Yang’s shadow, easily uncovering the root of the matter.

Zhang Yang didn’t hide anything. When he mentioned that Liu Feijue wanted to treat him like a dog, Yuluan nearly exploded with rage. She could bully Zhang Yang herself, but if someone else dared, she would fight back fiercely.

"This is human nature," Xue Feishuang said calmly. "Never test human nature; it only proves how little brightness this world has."

Zhang Yang asked, "Sister, did you already guess it would turn out like this?"

Xue Feishuang replied, "The Liu family is one of the top families in the Southern Region, part of the number one commerce association in the world—the Five Elements Commerce Association. Their philosophy is to earn every spirit stone possible, with no regard for morals or righteousness. It’s not surprising Liu Feijue behaves this way."

"This time, you didn’t leave in anger; instead, you endured. That’s not just revenge—it’s understanding the way of the world."

Her voice flowed gently into Zhang Yang’s ears, soothing the suppressed anger within him.

Indeed, that had been his intention.

This experience had left a deep impression on him.

Human nature was unpredictable; the human heart was unpredictable.

Compared to the simplicity of the people in the Vast Forest, those outside were far too complicated.

Zhang Yang chatted with the two women for a long time before stretching and saying, "Tomorrow, we’ll make our move. They have more than enough treasures, so there’s no rush. Come on, let’s take a look at what we bought."

The two women were overjoyed.

They had returned from five trips, each time filled to the brim.

Not only had they acquired what they personally wanted, but also many items that would be useful to the people of the Vast Forest.

“Hmm?”

Yuluan reached out and picked up a jade pendant.

This jade pendant had been wrapped in a layer of dirt, buried in a flowerpot. Zhang Yang hadn’t thought much of it, believing the flowerpot itself was valuable because of its special forbidden laws that greatly assisted in cultivating plants. However, the moment Yuluan saw the pendant, she felt something mysterious stir within her.

The jade pendant was carved in the shape of a chi dragon.

"What does it feel like?" Xue Feishuang asked.

Yuluan replied, puzzled, "It feels… as if my bloodline is slightly stirred."

Xue Feishuang’s beautiful eyes widened instantly.

Zhang Yang asked, "Sister Yuluan has chi dragon blood?"

"No way," Yuluan said in surprise. "Isn’t that the bloodline from the cursed land of Langya, one of the four great forbidden areas?"

Xue Feishuang added, "Your surname is Yu."

Yuluan exclaimed in shock, "Could it be that I really am?"

Among the four great forbidden areas in the Southern Region, there was a cursed land known as Langya. Three hundred years ago, it had been an empire—the Langya Empire—which stood alongside the Great Xia Empire as a dominant power in the Southern Region. However, after the Langya Empire was conquered, the emperor of that era cast a curse, turning the capital into a cursed land that protected everyone inside. Since then, it had become a forbidden area.

The royal family of the Langya Empire bore the surname Yu and carried the chi dragon bloodline. They were said to be descendants of the long-extinct dragon race.

When Yuluan had been around three or four years old, she had appeared alone near the Green Sparrow Palace. It had been the five- or six-year-old Xue Feishuang who discovered and saved her.

"Master suspected your background back then, but because the cursed land of Langya involved too many dangerous controversies, he didn’t dare to take you as a disciple. He feared it would bring disaster upon the Green Sparrow Palace. Still, seeing how pitiful you were, he took you in as my maid and claimed you were someone brought from my family, naming you Yuluan. Since my surname is Xue, you were publicly called Xue Yuluan. Later, when you grew older, Master told you your real name was just Yuluan. Many people still believe your name is Xue Yuluan—you know that, right?" Xue Feishuang explained.

Yuluan gazed at the chi dragon jade pendant in her hand and murmured, "Could it really be that I am from the Langya Yu family?"

She carefully examined the chi dragon jade pendant, trying to sense whether it would further awaken her bloodline.

However, after a moment, seeing Zhang Yang and Xue Feishuang unwrapping one treasure after another, she gave up and walked over to join them.

"Treasure hunting is much more fun. Who cares about my background or the Langya Yu family? As long as I have you two, I’m happy."

At first, Zhang Yang and Xue Feishuang worried she was simply avoiding the truth, but they soon realized she genuinely didn’t care.

Zhang Yang chuckled. Sometimes, Yuluan was completely carefree and truly innocent. Of course, he liked to believe he was also quite innocent. He didn’t care how others saw him.

Thinking of innocence, Xue Feishuang couldn’t help but glance at Zhang Yang, wondering how her junior brother had slowly drifted away from true innocence. Who had led him astray?

With so many treasures, some were particularly tempting.

Xue Feishuang picked out more than ten items and placed them into her storage bag.

Yuluan "snatched" over fifty items, taking anything she thought might prove useful.

In the end, around two hundred items were sorted and categorized, with those suitable for the purple-eyed thunder bird set aside separately.

Once everything was ready, Zhang Yang hugged the black soil and entered seclusion.

The black soil was unfamiliar even to Xue Feishuang, but Zhang Yang didn’t mind. He focused solely on breaking through.

Xue Feishuang held a beast scale in her hand, studying it carefully. The patterns carved upon it seemed simple at first glance, but upon closer inspection, they revealed hundreds, even thousands, of overlapping designs, filled with endless mysteries.

Meanwhile, Yuluan examined her Sword-Keeping Gourd, searching for ways to make it stronger.

Everyone busied themselves with their own tasks.

For Zhang Yang, unless it was the special requirements of the Returning to Origin realm, which demanded specific conditions, he could directly break through the two earlier realms in one go.

He always adhered to one principle:

Speed!

Even in the Returning to Origin realm, as long as he possessed sufficient materials of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, along with wind, thunder, light, and darkness, breaking through was not difficult.

Now that he had darkness, this time was no exception.

He did not spend much time before successfully absorbing the darkness from the black soil, breaking through and stepping into the Nine Extremes Returning to Origin Realm.

Level Nine, or the Nine Extremes, was indeed the pinnacle, signaling that the first gate of the immortal path was about to be successfully crossed.

Next, he only needed to complete the Nine Extremes Returning to Origin, condense the true essence of the Nine Extremes, and he could restart a smooth and uninterrupted surge of cultivation.

The Touching Heaven realm had no such restrictions.

With enough spirit stones, how high could his cultivation reach?

Even he dared not guess; he feared the answer might frighten him.