Chapter 2: The Zhenxuan Tower, Imperial Mausoleum

  In sight, a vast expanse of blue.

  This is a demonic land where no plants can survive, and everywhere there are giant stone pillars that support the sky.

  "This is the inside of Xiao Ta... a self-contained space, at the very least it's at the level of a Tian Jie Xuan Qi." Xu Yang exclaimed.

  Xuanqi is a weapon tool made by Xuanwu masters, which can bring out the maximum power of Xuanwu.

  The Xuanqi can be divided into four levels: Shengqi, Tianjie, Dijie and Renjie.

  Xu Yang thought for a moment, being able to hide in the ancestral sacred image, the grade of this small tower is absolutely not low, Tianjie Xuanqi, that's also normal.

  "It might be a sacred artifact, that would be great." The thought flashed through Xu Yang's mind for an instant before disappearing, and he began to carefully examine this space.

  Xu Yang approached a stone pillar in front of him, this pillar was so high that its top could not be seen, and it was as thick as a hundred zhang.

  After circling around, Xu Yang finally found a corpse with a black gold chain piercing its pelvis bone. On the top of the corpse's head was carved a line of large characters:

  "Zhēn tiān nù shàng guó Lǐ Jūn bì!"

  Translation: "The heavenly wrath is upon the country of Li Junbi!"

  "The heavens rage over the Upper Kingdom... The history books once recorded this great nation, governing dozens of smaller nations, with a vast territory of millions of miles, and hundreds of billions of people, incredibly powerful! And Li Junbi is the last emperor of this vast country, a Xuan Huang-level figure!"

  Xu Yang's mind was shocked, such a pinnacle existence, all being suppressed in this small tower?

  He hastened towards another stone pillar and found a skeleton pierced by a black iron chain, with an inscription on it that read:

  "The black sky and the country are painted with the sea's waves!"

  Heavenly Black Country, also has records, a powerful country that is not inferior to Heaven Fury Country, and Tu Haitao, who is also the last master of Heavenly Black Country.

  Xie Yang then went on to investigate everywhere with a shocked heart.

  "The country is high above the waves of Tongbao River!"

  "The eastern capital is forever supreme!"

  "The fragrance of lotus flowers is superior to the beauty of national flowers!"

  ……

  "Seventy-nine, eighty, eighty-one..." The more Xuyang counted in his heart, the more shocked he became. This small tower had eighty-one huge heavenly pillars, representing that it suppressed eighty-one emperors of the Upper Kingdom, meaning eighty-one mysterious emperors!

  Xu Yang was almost stunned.

  It wasn't until some time had passed that Xu Yang finally came back to his senses.

  "It seems that at first glance, the words on top of the small tower... are called 'Zhēn Xuán Tǎ'?" Xǔ Yáng muttered to himself, "Indeed, it's true that they're suppressing the extreme strongmen, those who stand at the pinnacle of the mysterious ones! If they were still alive, with a stomp of their foot, the earth would shake and tremble, and with a stretch of their hand, wind and clouds would gather, thunder and lightning would strike!"

  "This is terrible, how can I get out now?" Xie Yang's thoughts were racing, and as soon as he thought of this, he felt a dizzying sensation, and when he came to his senses again, he had already left the introspective state, still sitting cross-legged, but the eighty-one heavenly pillars that filled the vast earth had disappeared.

  "It turns out that thinking about going back will return me to outside the tower." Xǔ Yáng suddenly realized.

  "Xu Yang, what are you doing?" a voice came from behind.

  Xu Yang turned his head back and saw that the person who came was Du Ming, one of the scattered disciples, with a cultivation base in the middle stage of Xuantu.

  Du Ming is Lu Song's loyal running dog, relying on Lu Song's power, every time he orders Xu Yang to do this and that, slightly dissatisfied, he scolds and curses.

  "Everyone is waiting for you to fetch water, but you're hiding here taking a break?" Du Ming walked up with a sly smile, "Haven't had a fight in a day, feeling itchy? Want me, Old Man Du, to help loosen your muscles?"

  Xu Yang coldly stared at Du Ming. Although this person's cultivation and physical strength were stronger than his own, if they really fought, Xu Yang was not afraid in the slightest!

  He comes from a thousand years later, an era where the mysterious energy is extremely scarce. The Xuan Shi have developed their close combat skills to an astonishing level! As long as the gap in strength is within a certain range, it can be made up for with skill.

  Du Ming's face was unexpectedly gloomy, and his expression immediately turned dark. According to his expectations, after saying those threatening words, Xu Yang should have shown a fearful and afraid expression, and then knelt down to beg for mercy. But the fact did not follow his thoughts at all. Xu Yang coldly stared at him with an eye, as if looking at some kind of low-intelligence inferior creature.

  "Alright, Song Ge is right, it seems you've really become stupid and forgotten the lessons you learned before!" Du Ming rolled up his sleeves and rushed over, "Let me help you remember, kneel down!"

  Du Ming strode forward with large strides, his palms suddenly thrust outwards, and his arms emitted a series of explosive cracking sounds! This was the sound of his bones exploding, his entire body's aura bursting forth in an instant, as if he had suddenly risen half a foot into the air.

  Du Ming's palm came down with a loud slap, but he didn't use his full strength. The spot he chose to land was Xu Yang's left shoulder. In his opinion, Xu Yang would not only kneel down from this slap, but at least break a few bones.

  "You're looking for death." Xu Yang's eyes flashed with a cold light, his body swiftly turned, like a slippery snake, and slipped out of Du Ming's palm. With a reverse motion, he threw a punch that landed on Du Ming's ribs.

  This is one of the close combat techniques of Xuan Shi after ten thousand years, called "Hidden Snake Style"! The Hidden Snake Style has eight postures, each move avoids the enemy's sharp edge, condenses power, and launches a fatal attack in an unexpected position, just like the swift and unmatched strike of a poisonous snake.

  Du Ming let out a loud cry of pain, his entire body sent flying several feet away. He rolled around on the ground twice. This one punch made him feel excruciating pain, his intestines almost broken.

  He looked at Xu Yang with suspicion and uncertainty, then suddenly got up and rushed towards the valley.

  "A bunch of gutless rats."

  Xu Yang sneered, this kind of small role was not worth his attention. This untempered body suddenly used the "Hidden Snake Stance", a high-difficulty close combat technique, Xu Yang only felt his whole body's muscles and bones aching, his waist almost breaking in two. If Du Ming had been bolder and continued to attack, Xu Yang might not have been able to withstand it.

  "That punch just now, although it repelled Du Ming, also exposed two major problems! Firstly, this body's flexibility is extremely poor, making it difficult to exhibit exquisite fighting skills. Secondly, this body's strength is too weak, with only a few kilograms of force, not enough to kill anyone."

  "If I had the normal seven-star power at the beginning, one punch would be enough to break Du Ming's intestines, and might even take his life!" Xu Yang shook his head, "Now, let's focus on strengthening this body."

  Using the Xuanqi Quanlian method to refine his body, there are many in later generations. Currently, this body's foundation is too poor, Xu Yang can only grit his teeth and use the Xuan energy from the Star Sea to strengthen his physical body.

  Doing so in today's era is utterly shocking, which Xuan disciple doesn't think about letting the Star Sea fill up quickly and then turning the virtual into reality, condensing the Xuan force vortex, and advancing to that Xuan scholar's realm? Drawing Xuan energy from the Star Sea to strengthen one's limbs, any Xuan disciple would denounce it as a heretical doctrine, an act of abandoning the root and pursuing the branch.

  Only from later generations, Xuyang, who had countless divine skills and secrets stored in his mind, truly understood what was the root and what was the end!

  Xu Yang climbed up a slightly higher mound, looked around, and found a secluded spot with dense foliage. He immediately began the first step of tempering his body.

  In the starry sea, the faint aura of the mysterious energy mist was quickly absorbed by each of the meridians, and it flowed rapidly within the body.

  Xu Yang let out a low shout, his entire skeletal system emitting a series of cracking and popping sounds. He threw out a punch with a flat palm, halfway through turning around, his arms embracing an imaginary sphere, immediately followed by spinning around and taking a step forward... He began practicing the eight movements of "Hidden Snake Stance".

  This is the method by which later generations of Daoist practitioners extract the mysterious energy of Heaven and Earth, drawing it into their bodies while using its power to temper their physical forms.

  Later generations were lacking in Xuan energy, and using that ancient "kneeling sitting" breathing technique was fundamentally unable to communicate with the heavenly Xuan energy. After accumulating for ten thousand years, a Xuan genius finally appeared, creating the "moving stillness unified breathing technique", increasing the efficiency of Xuan energy absorption by several times, directly corresponding to the Xuan practitioner's physical quality, absorbing various attributes of Xuan energy.

  "Stillness in movement, like the art of guiding energy", includes eight kinds of strange beast postures, including "hiding snake posture". It is absolutely the crystallization of wisdom of countless Taoists for thousands of years. Not only is it unique in terms of guiding energy, but also more remarkable in tempering the body and cultivating physical flexibility. With long-term practice, neural response and agility are greatly improved.

  "Hidden Snake Stance, Galloping Horse Stance, Fish Dragon Stance..." Xu Yang's fists and feet stirred up the wind, and in an instant, he had completed all 64 movements of the eight stances. At first, he moved slowly, but his speed grew faster and faster.

  With Xu Yang as the center, the mysterious aura of heaven and earth converged towards him at a terrifying speed, forming a faintly discernible vortex of mysterious aura around him.

  "What a truly intoxicating and abundant mysterious energy!" Xǔ Yáng exclaimed, as he absorbed the heavenly mysterious aura while fiercely sucking in the mysterious energy mist from the starry sea, the faint mist growing thinner.

  Xuan energy flowed through the Xuan veins, slowly seeping into every corner of his body. This process was accompanied by intense pain, as if every inch of his skin was being pricked by a small knife. Xu Yang's forehead was covered in beads of sweat, his face growing paler, with only a pair of black eyes shining brightly.

  His pay wasn't without return, every bone in his body, every inch of muscle fiber was rejoicing, dispersing the mysterious energy that seeped out while slowly absorbing the mystical pulse, making his physical body even stronger.

  After one round of "Dynamic and Static, like the Qi Guiding Formula", Xu Yang felt his body lighten, as if the many locks on his body had been cut off. His pores opened wide, expelling a layer of thick, black, gel-like substance.

  "There are so many impurities in this physical body, no wonder it's so weak."

  Xu Yang once again examined his physical condition. Now, his Star Ocean was smaller by half compared to before. The original mysterious energy mist had also become thin and difficult to see clearly.

  "From the initial stage of Xuan Tu to the entry level, just opening up the Star Sea realm," Xu Yang smiled slightly, not feeling any difficulty. "However, my physical strength... has greatly increased!"

  Xu Yang let out a loud roar, striding forward with his fists clenched, like a giant dragon. With a whooshing sound, his fist struck a large tree, its trunk shaking violently as several dry yellow leaves fell to the ground.

  "This punch has a power of at least six jin!" Xu Yang was still somewhat dissatisfied, but thinking that the foundation of this body was too poor, it could only be so.

  To know, like Du Ming just now, the cultivation of the middle period of Xuantu, the strength of the flesh body, is only about five jin.

  Again against Du Ming, Xu ** didn't need to use any clever tricks, directly using brute force, and could easily cripple Du Ming.

  In the valley, Du Ming's face was pale and he ran all the way back, constantly looking back over his shoulder, worried that Xu Yang would catch up.

  "Huh? How did you come back alone? Where's that useless young master?" Lu Song frowned and asked.