Chapter 549: Outing Team

"Junior Brother, your Blazing Sun Slash is truly formidable!"

Above the Longevity Tree, Fu Zongjue, somewhat shocked, recalled his Golden Sun Golem, which was scorched black all over, from mid-air. Although the golem itself suffered no substantial damage, the Tier 3 Divine Wood Shield it wielded was deeply scarred by a sword mark, reaching its core. Even if repaired, its quality would degrade.

"I just mastered it and couldn't quite control its power, which caused Senior Brother to lose a magical artifact," Chen Mobai said apologetically, condensing a stream of golden flame light into his palm.

"It's just a mere Divine Wood Shield. I have three spares in my storage bag, so it's no big deal," Fu Zongjue said dismissively. He didn't mind at all. With practiced movements, he removed the almost-cracked Divine Wood Shield from his Golden Sun Golem's right arm and replaced it with an identical one.

The Divine Wood Sect might not have much of anything else, but it certainly has an abundance of wood-attribute spiritual materials. As a Golden Core Ancestor of the sect, he had access to all high-grade materials within the sect. Fu Zongjue had harvested many Golden Sun Spirit Trees to create his Tier 3 golems. Even some branches from his own Tier 4 Longevity Tree were cut down and used for the golems' core components. When used for combat, these golems were naturally equipped with magical artifacts like wooden armor, wooden swords, and wooden shields. All of these were crafted by the sect's Artifact Forging Department using top-grade Tier 3 Golden Sun Spirit Wood. Even if their forging skill were mediocre, the sheer quality of the materials ensured a Tier 3 rating. Apart from easily damaged golem parts, Fu Zongjue's storage bag contained only these Tier 3 wood-attribute magical artifacts. So, after losing one shield, Fu Zongjue felt no distress.

However, the power of the Blazing Sun Slash was somewhat beyond expectation. After penetrating the Divine Wood Shield, despite Chen Mobai's control, a faint trace of fire energy still seeped into the Golden Sun Golem. If the Golden Sun Spirit Wood hadn't undergone tempering by Green Sun Fire during its transformation, giving it inherent fire resistance, the golem would likely not just be superficially charred after enduring the Blazing Sun Slash, but would have been engulfed in flames.

As Fu Zongjue polished the golem's surface, Chen Mobai picked up the replaced Divine Wood Shield to examine it. He reached out and touched the deep sword mark left by the Blazing Sun Slash. Intense, scorching heat still lingered within it. If he hadn't possessed a Fire Spirit Body, any other Foundation Establishment cultivator would likely have their fingertips melt upon contact.

"To cultivate the Scarlet Flame Sword Art to mastery with just an early-stage Golden Core cultivation," Fu Zongjue exclaimed, "Junior Brother's talent in swordsmanship truly lives up to his reputation as the foremost in the Eastern Barrens." Fu Zongjue marveled repeatedly as he looked at the golden flame in Chen Mobai's palm, which was as smooth as a water droplet and as easily manipulated as an extension of his arm.

This sword art, passed down in the Five Elements Sect to this day, had only been mastered to such a degree by the Grand Ancestor Hunyuan, who cultivated all five elements. Sheng Zhaoxi of the Fire Meridian didn't like sword arts, so he cultivated another technique, the Taiyi True Fire Art. Mo Douguang, who was skilled in swordsmanship and had attempted to cultivate all five elements to achieve the Hunyuan Dao Fruit, had only managed to condense a wisp of golden flame over many years. He then halted his progress because, not being a Fire Spirit Body, he found it too difficult to control. Therefore, Chen Mobai's current achievement in the Scarlet Flame Sword Art could truly be called unparalleled in the Eastern Barrens.

"It's a pity that the sect doesn't have enough Green Wood Malice," Chen Mobai said with some regret. "At most, I can only cultivate two more golden flames..." Chen Mobai possessed the Fire Ignition Art, which allowed him to generate an infinite amount of Green Sun Fire as long as his spiritual energy was sufficient. However, the crucial Green Wood Malice, also needed, had been completely depleted.

Giant Wood Ridge was already the place with the most Green Wood Malice in the Eastern Barrens. Of the original twenty-one strands of Green Wood Malice, due to Chen Mobai's sudden rise, Xie Yuntian conceded them repeatedly, transforming from extremely reluctant to fully willing. All but the two strands he himself had condensed were given to Chen Mobai. Of the nineteen strands of Green Blazing Sword Malice Chen Mobai had condensed, one was transformed into a Green Blazing Sword Talisman and given to Luo Yixuan for protection, and two others were completely burned away when he used the Flame Burst spell during combat. Thus, only sixteen strands originally remained.

However, due to the rich geographical environment of Giant Wood Ridge, a strand of Green Wood Malice could be generated approximately every two years. Over the years, eight more strands had formed. As the sect master and a Golden Core Ancestor, he naturally had priority in using them. Unfortunately, even if all of these were condensed into Green Blazing Sword Malice, according to the standard of nine strands forming one golden flame, Chen Mobai could only cultivate two more golden flames at most. To truly master the Extreme Yang Slash, the pinnacle of the Scarlet Flame Sword Art, he would need to wait another century for more Green Wood Malice to generate. This was quite unacceptable for Chen Mobai, who always preferred using resources to accelerate his cultivation and take shortcuts.

"Although Giant Wood Ridge has the most Green Wood Malice in the Eastern Barrens, other sects and families also possess such malicious energy resources," Fu Zongjue suggested. "Junior Brother can acquire them in the sect's name." Fu Zongjue naturally hoped Chen Mobai could master the Extreme Yang Slash as soon as possible. That was a regular Tier 4 technique; no one in the entire Eastern Barrens would dare face that sword strike!

"Senior Brother, you think just like me. I've already tasked Yue Zutao with this matter," Chen Mobai replied. "It's just a pity that many of the acquired Green Wood Malice strands are not even Tier 2 quality." Chen Mobai's first thought, naturally, was also to buy Green Wood Malice from other factions with spirit stones. However, most of the cultivation families, due to their limited foundations, possessed mainly Tier 1 Earth Malice. Chen Mobai also instructed Ma Gang of the Spiritual Vein Department to arrange for the sect's geomancers to search for Green Wood Malice in dense forests across the Eastern Barrens. For any Tier 2 discovery, he was willing to offer an additional thousand spirit stones as a reward, besides a thousand sect contribution points.

"I recall that the Reversal Heaven Valley has Tier 2 Green Wood Malice. After all, they own the Eastern Barrens' foremost medicinal field, which also provides the conditions for nurturing this Earth Malice," Fu Zongjue offered another idea. "Junior Brother, you can mention this when you visit. Yan Shaoyin is surely a startled bird now and won't refuse you." Fu Zongjue offered another idea, and Chen Mobai's eyes lit up as he nodded.

If sufficient Green Wood Malice couldn't be found throughout the Eastern Barrens, Chen Mobai would have no choice but to resort to his last method: to impart the Immortal Sect's method for artificially synthesizing Earth Malice. When he was at the Heaven-Mending Daoist Academy, he didn't just study statecraft, warfare, commerce, and finance; he also attended the most renowned Yuanqi (Primordial Energy) courses with Yan Bingxuan, especially focusing on the artificial synthesis of Earth Malice. After all, considering the need to legitimize the origin of Earth Malice in the Celestial River Realm, this was the simplest method. As Green Wood Malice was one of the seven types of Earth Malice that could be extracted by the Immortal Sect, there was abundant research material. Therefore, various institutions and organizations within the Immortal Sect had completed artificial synthesis experiments, and the theory was already perfected.

The only unknown was whether the disciples of the Divine Wood Sect would be willing to sacrifice their hard-cultivated spiritual energy to convert it into the fundamental Five Elements Essence Qi for Green Wood Malice, all for sect contributions and spirit stones. This was Chen Mobai's sole concern, as cultivators in the Celestial River Realm valued cultivation level and realm above all else, and converting spiritual energy into Five Elements Essence Qi would delay their progress. Many Divine Wood Sect disciples who aspired to the Grand Dao might not be willing to accept such a task. However, Chen Mobai's thinking was very open-minded. If the sect couldn't gather enough Five Elements Essence Qi internally, he would disseminate the task to the seven subordinate nations, dozens of cultivation families, and tens of thousands of rogue cultivators. Surely, some would be willing for the sake of resources like spirit stones, elixirs, and magical artifacts. He firmly believed that even in the Celestial River Realm, people could be swayed if the price was right.

After testing the Blazing Sun Slash with Fu Zongjue and confirming its top-grade Tier 3 power, Chen Mobai felt at ease and began to continue condensing his second golden flame.

Time passed quickly; soon, a month had gone by.

Inside the Divine Wood Hall!

Chen Mobai stood with one hand behind his back and the other resting on his chest, two golden flames in his palm, like brilliant golden orbs, which he continuously manipulated and rotated, resembling the constant movement of Tai Chi. The deputy hall masters and department heads of the Three Halls and Twelve Departments, standing in two rows, watched this scene with twitching brows and faces full of trepidation. The sign of the Scarlet Flame Sword Art's mastery had, in recent days, spread throughout the Divine Wood Sect via Xie Yuntian. Everyone knew that the explosive power of a single golden flame was enough to incinerate half of Divine Wood City.

Shortly after, Yin Qingmei and Mu Yuan, who had been summoned and entered, also retreated, their faces pale, to the position closest to the hall entrance after saluting Chen Mobai. Both of them had grasped the essence of the Longevity Scripture and possessed outstanding, even excellent, wood spiritual roots, making them particularly sensitive to the golden flames. They felt the same kind of fear as when they were children, before cultivating, encountering a tiger or wolf in the wild.

"This time, when I travel to visit the various major sects in the Eastern Barrens," Chen Mobai announced, "Nephew Mu, Nephew Xi, and Nephew Yin, the three of you shall accompany me. Consider it an opportunity to broaden your horizons." As soon as Chen Mobai finished speaking, Mu Yuan, Xi Jinghuo, and Yin Qingmei immediately stepped forward, bowing in acknowledgment. These three were among the Foundation Establishment cultivators remaining in the sect, and aside from Zhuo Ming, they had the highest hopes of reaching Golden Core. As sect master, Chen Mobai naturally intended to cultivate them well.

Actually, Chen Mobai also wanted to bring Zhuo Ming along. After all, this disciple was thoughtful and familiar with all his preferences; having her by his side would make the journey much easier. But upon reflection, the spiritual rice field experiments in Little South Mountain, the transplanted immortal peach trees, the Enlightenment White Tea, and Zhou Shengqing's Soul Nurturing Wood all required Zhuo Ming. It was better to leave this precious disciple in the sect. Moreover, Chen Mobai considered himself not to be someone who couldn't endure hardship, nor did he constantly need to be waited on. Once they reached Ming Nation, he would have his eldest disciple, Liu Wenbai. It would only be a bit tough in the Snow Blowing Palace and Reversal Heaven Valley. At this moment, Chen Mobai particularly missed his young disciple, Luo Yixuan. If she were by his side, he wouldn't have to worry like this.

"After I leave, Nephew Yue, please bear the burden of remaining in the sect to act as sect master in my stead, managing all the sect's affairs, big and small." Yue Zutao, upon hearing these words, immediately stepped out from the row to Chen Mobai's left. After receiving the order, he bowed to the members of the Three Halls and Twelve Departments. With Chen Mobai as his backing, everyone respectfully returned his greetings.

"Reporting to the Sect Master," the head of the Puppet Department, An Jinghui, stepped forward after all the arrangements were made, "as the face of our Divine Wood Sect, I feel that bringing only three people might not be enough. My disciple, Li Yixian, also successfully established his foundation a few years ago. Why not let him accompany you to broaden his horizons? He could also attend to various small tasks under your command." He understood clearly that Chen Mobai was bringing along only the most promising disciples in the sect. If Li Yixian could join them, even if he couldn't reach the Golden Core stage in the future, he could at least build good relationships with cultivators who might. An Jinghui was a rare master in the Celestial River Realm who truly considered his disciple's future.

Chen Mobai's relationship with him was decent, and he also had a good impression of the chubby Li Yixian, as the boy had served under him during the campaign to conquer Shaking Mountain Peak. So, he nodded in agreement.

"Sect Master..." Who would have thought that this one nod would alert everyone else? They all began to introduce their own disciples, relatives, and so forth to Chen Mobai, also wishing to join the delegation visiting the major sects of the Eastern Barrens. Since Chen Mobai had opened this door, he naturally had to treat everyone fairly.

"Each of the Three Halls and Twelve Departments can send one person. Submit the list to Yue Zutao, and we will depart tomorrow morning." After saying this, Chen Mobai left the Divine Wood Hall with Zhuo Ming. After respectfully seeing him off, everyone immediately turned and surrounded Yue Zutao.

"Sect Master, this is this month's Longevity Tree Sap!" After Chen Mobai returned to his Longevity Tree cultivation grounds with Zhuo Ming, a clear-eyed and graceful female cultivator respectfully approached him and handed him a pure white porcelain bottle.

"Thank you for your hard work, Nephew Gu Yan." Chen Mobai smiled as he took it, nodding to Gu Yan. Throughout the Divine Wood Sect, apart from his disciples, only Gu Yan could freely enter and exit his cultivation grounds. Occasionally, when there was a sudden matter, Chen Mobai would even ask her to run errands or call people for him. Because of this, Gu Yan was already regarded within the Divine Wood Sect as Chen Mobai's semi-disciple and attendant.

Chen Mobai handed the bottle of Longevity Tree Sap to Zhuo Ming, who was beside him. "Later, take this to the Elixir Forging Department and have Zeng Woyou and Junior Sister Yan refine Longevity Dew from it."

"Yes, Master!" Chen Mobai hadn't forgotten his Longevity Dao Body. With Gu Yan continuously extracting and refining Longevity Tree Sap, he felt very hopeful about cultivating this body-tempering technique to mastery. However, Longevity Dew was considered an ancient elixir formula, and Zeng Woyou had already failed twice in its refinement. But Chen Mobai now possessed abundant resources, so this small loss merely caused a slight pang of regret.

After the master and disciple conversed for a while, Zhuo Ming departed.

"Sect Master..." Just as Chen Mobai was about to head up to his wooden house, Gu Yan, who had been silent beside him, suddenly spoke.

"Oh, what is it?"

"For this journey, could I also accompany you?" Hearing Gu Yan's words, Chen Mobai looked at her with some surprise. He hadn't realized before that she was so ambitious. Considering her hard work by his side over the past year, Chen Mobai nodded and agreed.