Chapter 510

“So he’s really injured?” Gong Chengxiu asked as he fiddled with his wine cup .

Behind him were Han Li and Gong Peiyao .

Ever since Han Li left Clearwater City after having a match with Ai Hui, he’d fallen into an obsession . He became deranged and got lost in the Wilderness . At that time, he was in a semi-conscious state, his body filled with wounds left by dire beasts . Fortunately, he bumped into Gong Peiyao and Venerable Volcano, who were on the way out, and was saved .

Unexpectedly, in the process of looking after Han Li, Gong Peiyao developed feelings for him .

Han Li, who’d just woken up, was no different from a cripple . Even his mind was in an abnormal state, sometimes clear-headed and sometimes crazy . Nevertheless, Gong Peiyao continued taking care of him without wavering, deliberately took her own sweet time on the road, and refused to return home .

Under Gong Peiyao’s meticulous care, Han Li’s injuries fully recovered and so did his state of mind . When his vision regained clarity he had become a master swordsman .

Newly promoted, Han Li’s status naturally rose, and his relationship with Gong Peiyao received Gong Chengxiu’s tacit acceptance .

Qiao Meiqi picked up his cup, gulping the wine down before placing it back on the table . “He’s no longer a Master . “

Han Li was astonished . “His base level crumbled?”

The match with Ai Hui had been his turning point . Ai Hui’s sword formation had influenced him greatly . As such, he’d been paying close attention to Ai Hui . To him, rival swordsmen whom he was able to exchange pointers with were few .

Ai Hui was one of those very few .

Qiao Meiqi looked at Han Li . “Worse . His residences and palaces are mostly destroyed . His breaths are brief and weak . His injuries are more serious than rumored . If not for the fact that he’s mentally all right, I would be slightly worried . If I lose this snow lava business, I’ll be earning much less . “

Han Li looked disappointed, his heart empty .

Gong Chengxiu sighed and said somewhat regretfully, “What a pity . So it’s not a sword pagoda?”

Qiao Meiqi spread his hands . “That I’m not sure . “

Han Li shook his head . “Theoretically speaking, it is possible . A sword pagoda is a kind of sword formation, and there’s no intrinsic difference . Any sword formation would have an eye, and it must be commanded by a capable and strong expert . It is possible for a sword pagoda to have such might, but only if a master swordsman was commanding it . Ai Hui was poisoned by Night Moth Fruit so even if he survived by luck, he definitely wouldn’t be able to endure the pressure of the sword formation . “

Gong Peiyao looked dreamily at Han Li . She adored his confidence and frankness .

Gong Chengxiu wrinkled his brows . “Could it be that Ai Hui really has backing?”

Qiao Meiqi reminded, “Isn’t that a good thing? At least we are all friends and not enemies . “

Gong Chengxiu relaxed his brows and smiled . “That’s right! At least we’re all friends and not enemies . “

The relationship between the Gong Residence and the Central Pine Valley was virtually inseparable . They knew what kind of sword formation Ai Hui was drumming up . Many had already forgotten that Ai Hui was Wang Shouchuan’s only student .

The God-subduing Peak originated from Teacher Wang’s theories, so how was it inconceivable for Ai Hui to create something similar to the God-subduing Peak?

Others believed there was a powerful and mysterious expert, but Gong Chengxiu first thought of Ai Hui’s sword pagoda .

According to Han Li, this type of weapon would not be operable without a Master . The God-subduing Peak also required a Master to control .

It was not a sword pagoda . Gong Chengxiu was disappointed, but mostly relieved . If there really was a lethal weapon comparable to the God-subduing Peak, would the Gong Residence be able to withstand it? Not only was he after its power, he greatly feared its influence .

A strongly destructive weapon was like an irritable and powerful dire beast . Toward which direction would it toss the Gong Residence?

To glory or to ruins .

… . .

Volcanic Crater, Blackfish Mouth Volcano .

Mister Dou was here to check on the Northern Underworld King Tree as usual . Ever since it had been implanted into the volcanic crater, he would come regularly to examine it . He felt a lot of affection for it since it was something that had followed him for a long time after all .

His days in the Central Pine Valley had been very satisfying and leisurely . He didn’t have to fight and kill or worry about gratitude and grudges . He was just a teacher, conducting lessons for the kids . It was extremely relaxing .

He stopped suddenly . “You’re here . “

“Yeah . “

Ai Hui raised his head and looked at the Northern Underworld King Tree beside the magma .

The red light beams were like a converging luminous muslin, shooting into the darkness than enveloped the tree . The Northern Underworld King Tree was like a monster that came out of nowhere, opening its mouth and greedily swallowing the light .

Because of the tree’s existence, the volcanic crater was dusky and dim .

As compared to when it was first planted, the tree was much stronger now . It had also started to sprout and grow leaves .

Ai Hui maintained his posture for a long time and found his body aching the moment he was roused by Mister Dou . He laughed bitterly to himself . He hadn’t expected his body to be this weak .

Mister Dou, being extra observant, crinkled his brows . “Have your injuries worsened?”

He’d been satisfied with his life here so far and did not wish for it to be disrupted . In this chaotic world, the key to maintaining such a dreamy lifestyle was to maintain the might of the Central Pine Valley .

Fishback City wasn’t far from the valley . The sword rays from that night had shaken him greatly, but also made him feel at ease .

However, he had not expected that Ai Hui’s injuries would aggravate!

Having stayed in the valley for some time, Mister Dou understood how important Ai Hui was to the Central Pine Faction . His value was beyond what was visible .

Ai Hui smiled bitterly . His injuries had indeed worsened .

Commanding the Metal Basket Sword Pagoda took a toll on his body . Xiahou Jun’s counterattack inflicted great damage . However, the root cause wasn’t this, but the sword cloud .

The sword cloud within his body was a similar existence to that of the sword embryo . If Ai Hui’s body was wood, the sword cloud would be a burning flame . The flame was currently very vigorous, but the wood was inadequate . This was the fundamental cause of his poor health .

Ai Hui had tried many ways to strengthen his body, but to no avail . It was as if his past tempering methods had all lost their effectiveness overnight . With regard to this, Lou Lan had no ideal solution . At least for now, there were no better methods .

Ai Hui was exceptionally energetic, but his body was declining by the day . Commanding the Metal Basket Sword Pagoda during battle had worsened his condition .

Mister Dou sighed . “Too much lightning has permeated your body, causing it to repel elemental energy . WIthout elemental energy replenishment, your body will only continue to deteriorate . “

Ai Hui jolted . “Any ideas, Mister Dou?”

He had to admit that Mister Dou was indeed a seasoned Master, able to locate the problem at first glance .

Mister Dou continued, “You’ll have to find another source . In the past, elementalists had falsely believed that the existence of the five elemental energies were involved in all living things . This was merely their opinion . For example, this Northern Underworld King Tree isn’t within the five elements .

Ai Hui agreed wholeheartedly . He’d felt this way since a long time ago . From the start, his sword embryo had been strange and outside of the five elements . Later on, his lightning also wasn’t within the five elements . Otherwise, why had elementalists not unraveled the secret of lightning throughout the millennia after the construction of the elemental energy system?

Mister Dou sighed again . “Perhaps the Northern Underworld King Tree could help, but its actual effectiveness will only be known after trying . “

Ai Hui hurriedly said, “Thank you for your trouble, Mister Dou . “

Mister Dou walked to the tree and added, “The tree is able to absorb all light, which becomes its nutrients and eventually its leaves . “

The Northern Underworld King Tree had a total of 13 leaves .

Mister Dou plucked one off and gave it to Ai Hui . “Try it . It doesn’t taste too bad . I’ve eaten it in the past when I was injured . “

An ash gray color emerged on the leaf, and there was a black veined pattern that criss-crossed on it . Holding it in his hand, Ai Hui realized that the leaf was oddly heavy . If not for the fact that he’d seen Mister Dou pluck it from the tree with his own eyes, he would’ve thought that he was holding a big chunk of metal .

A big metal chunk fresh out of the oven . It was rather warm .

Mister Dou reminded, “Eat it quickly . The leaf can’t be preserved unless you can find [Northern Underworld Fog] . Otherwise, upon picking it, it will start emitting light and get destroyed .

Ai Hui popped it into his mouth without further ado .

The leaf melted rapidly in his mouth like a block of ice as wisps of warm flows seeped into his body .

Ai Hui felt his withered flesh immediately becoming plump as he felt instantly refreshed .

Effective!

When the last wisp of the warm flows entered his flesh, Ai Hui felt that his whole body was full of strength .

It had been a long time since Ai Hui felt this relaxed . He was beyond happy and quickly removed his face bandages . There was only joy on his face .

“Don’t be happy too soon . ” Mister Dou poured cold water on Ai Hui’s joy . “The Northern Underworld King Tree is only nourishing your body temporarily . If you do not find a way to continuously nourish your body, it will certainly collapse due to the immense energy . If you’re able to find a way, your vitality will increase a notch . Perhaps you might walk a different path then . “

Mister Dou’s words hit the nail on the head .

The cheer in Ai Hui’s heart dimmed . Mister Dou was right . The leaves of the Northern Underworld King Tree were remarkably effective, but could only be used for emergencies and not for daily training .

Yet, the notable effects of the leaves of the Northern Underworld King Tree gave Ai Hui considerable inspiration .

It was no wonder that while Lou Lan’s medicine helped him to regain energy, it wasn’t as effective in nourishing his body . The ingredients Lou Lan used had to be refined according to the elemental energy system, and the medicinal syrup was essentially a product of this system . His body had been tempered by lightning, so it was strongly repelled by elemental energy . Past methods he had used to temper his body no longer worked .

It seemed like he would need to look for something outside of the elemental energy system .

But where should he look for something beyond elemental energy?

Eh? Ai Hui suddenly recalled that his body possessed something outside of the elemental energy system .