"No need."
Gu Xiao did not take the thrown storage ring, turning to leave. Her intuition told her this person would come again.
"Thump."
After Gu Xiao left, Tang Shaoqing collapsed onto the ground again, clutching his abdomen with both hands, his face etched with pain.
"Boss, Boss, are you okay?"
Seeing Tang Shaoqing's pained expression, his subordinates rushed over.
"Go and bring me the storage ring."
Tang Shaoqing was helped up by his subordinates. One hand clutched his stomach, and the other trembled as he pointed toward the storage ring.
"Oh, okay, okay, okay."
Huang Mao nodded quickly, turned, and ran to retrieve Tang Shaoqing's storage ring.
"Boss, here."
Taking the storage ring from Huang Mao's hand, Tang Shaoqing retrieved and consumed a Healing Pill. The pain in his abdomen slowly subsided.
"Boss, are we just going to let her walk away?"
Only after seeing Tang Shaoqing recover did Huang Mao bring up the matter of Gu Xiao again.
"What? Can you beat her?"
Tang Shaoqing turned and glared sideways at Huang Mao. After confirming that Gu Xiao possessed an Emperor-tier Legacy, although he was excited, he knew he couldn't defeat Gu Xiao.
Judging by the fact that Gu Xiao could produce a Forbidden Artifact, it was clear that the Founding Patriarch of the Cloud Sea Sect left behind more than just Cultivation Technique Legacies.
The Forbidden Artifact he held was King-tier at most, but the one in her hand was Emperor-tier. How could they fight that?
So, after seeing Gu Xiao activate the Forbidden Artifact, Tang Shaoqing wanted to surrender.
However, Gu Xiao was too fast, and before he could speak, Gu Xiao had already sent him flying.
"Then what should we do? Just let it go?"
"Of course, we can't just let it go. My Second Grand-Uncle is near the Ruins. Once we get out, we'll have plenty of ways to deal with her."
Putting aside the fact that he was beaten up today, how could he possibly let go of an Emperor-tier Legacy?
His Second Grand-Uncle is a Mid-King Rank Professional, one of the five King Ranks in the clan.
After all, a Forbidden Artifact is just that—a Forbidden Artifact. a King Rank Professional is not a stationary target, and the person wielding it is only Captain Rank.
If you can't hit them, even an Emperor-tier Forbidden Artifact is useless.
Moreover, given the strength gap between Captain Rank and King Rank, it's uncertain whether she could even use the Forbidden Artifact in time.
After leaving, Gu Xiao hummed a little tune all the way to the Forest of Life.
At this time, the Forest of Life was also crowded with people. Everyone was diligently cultivating, and no one paid attention to Gu Xiao's arrival.
She arrived at the ancient tree of life. The Emerald Green Sphere suspended in mid-air was still there, and inside, Lu Li was curled up, sleeping like an unborn infant.
This time, after arriving at the Forest of Life, Gu Xiao realized a problem: it wasn't that the Forest of Life was less dangerous than other Cultivation Sanctuaries; it was just that they hadn't encountered the danger previously.
In a place where life energy is so abundant, few of the animals living here are ordinary. They are mostly Demonic Beasts, and their strength is generally not weak.
Perhaps they had been warned beforehand by people from the Noble Families, as these Demonic Beasts did not harm anyone.
But if the Professionals who came wanted to enter the depths of the Forest of Life, they had to defeat the corresponding Demonic Beasts.
Not to mention near the ancient tree of life, Gu Xiao didn't even see anyone enter the surrounding Ash Forest.
They hadn't encountered any of this when he and Lu Li came before; they had even proceeded inward while sightseeing.
At the time, he thought the Forest of Life wasn't particularly dangerous. Now, thinking back, it must have been because of Lu Li that they didn't encounter any Demonic Beasts blocking their path.
Recalling how Lu Li received nourishment from the ancient tree of life's origin as soon as she arrived, he couldn't help but sigh that Elves truly deserve to be called the darlings of nature.
Seeing that Lu Li was not finished yet, Gu Xiao simply found a spot to sit down and cultivate. He needed to continue sorting out his foundation and stabilize his cultivation base.
Startling Thunder Pool.
After enduring repeated baptisms by the thunder storms, Jing Yuan's spiritual energy accumulation finally reached the breakthrough point.
Mobilizing the refined spiritual energy within his body, Jing Yuan began to open the Foot Taiyang Bladder Meridian.
Having already achieved a breakthrough once using the female body, opening it up with the male body was just as familiar.
As the meridian opened, spiritual energy fed back into the physical body, and faint lightning sparks pulsed beneath Jing Yuan's skin.
He could clearly sense that his physical strength had increased by more than one level compared to before.
Since breaking through the Fourth Meridian, Jing Yuan's situation was similar to Gu Xiao's back then: the thunder power inside his body began to stir uncontrollably.
However, compared to the female body, the male body's foundation was more stable because he cultivated by extracting spiritual energy himself. Although arcs of electricity also uncontrollably jumped out of his body, it wasn't on the same scale as Gu Xiao.
After briefly sensing his physical condition, Jing Yuan stepped out toward the area outside the Thunder Pool.
"Young Master Yuan."
"Young Master Yuan."
"Young Master Yuan, travel safely."
As he left the Startling Thunder Pool, he naturally received another round of greetings, finally departing under the gaze of the crowd.
"He's truly incredible. Just getting close, the aura he emitted made it hard for me to breathe."
"I heard that the geniuses from these Top Noble Families and Super Noble Families generally break through to Captain Rank before the College Entrance Exam. Now, with an extra trip to the Ruins, I wonder what level Young Master Yuan's cultivation has reached."
"At minimum, he's opened the Third Meridian."
"That's thinking too small. Maybe the Fourth one?"
"Sigh, if only I had such an amazing family."
"Go wash up and sleep. You can have anything in your dreams."
"Don't discourage them like that. They could go to the Daydream Sanctuary."
"Wake up, everyone. The ticket price for the Daydream Sanctuary isn't meant for ordinary 'cattle and horses'."
"Even dreaming depends on class. What a screwed-up world."
"Hurry up and cultivate. Improving your cultivation base is better than anything."
After leaving the vicinity of the Startling Thunder Pool, Jing Yuan found a relatively secluded spot to begin consolidating his cultivation.
Meanwhile, in four other locations.
At Fire Cloud Peak of the Cloud Sea Sect, the Fire Attribute Cultivation Sanctuary is a volcano.
Above the Lava River where magma bubbles burst, Liu Zhen sat cross-legged, suspended in the air. Dense fire attribute spiritual energy gathered around him.
His appearance had also changed at this moment: crimson dragon scales appeared on both his arms, his hands had transformed into a pair of dragon claws, crimson dragon horns sprouted from his head, and a thick dragon tail extended behind him.
The Dragon Transformation unique to Dragon Blood Warriors made Liu Zhen's appearance even more heroic and extraordinary. Flames coiled around his body, as if a Dragon Lord had descended.
At a certain moment, the aura around Liu Zhen suddenly soared. His tightly closed eyes opened, and his pupils were transforming into Dragon Eyes.
Having opened the Fourth Meridian within his body, Liu Zhen let out a furious roar toward the sky and transformed into a streak of red light, rushing out of the volcano crater.
"That lord has broken through."
Apart from Liu Zhen, Fire Cloud Peak naturally had other Professionals.
However, most of them who came here cultivated at the foot of the mountain, and the few who were slightly stronger hadn't even reached the halfway point.