CHAPTER 1610: CHAPTER 1610: SHOOT YOU DEAD WITH ONE ARROW!

The Five Elements Origin Qi Cauldron truly lives up to its name as a Divine Artifact. Even though only a fraction of its power was unleashed, it was still able to forcefully deflect the Bone Axe that the skeleton had fiercely swung down.

Taking advantage of the moment, Fang Bai opened the cauldron’s lid and slipped inside the Great Cauldron, letting it fall into the river.

The skeleton reached out a large hand to grab the Five Elements Origin Qi Cauldron before it touched the river’s surface, trying to crush it with force.

However, no matter how hard the skeleton tried, the cauldron remained entirely unaffected.

The skeleton seemed to be enraged and hurled the cauldron into the air with great force. The cauldron soared high into the sky, reaching hundreds of meters before it began to fall back down.

"Boom!"

Sand and dirt flew, smoke and dust filled the air. The massive cauldron landed heavily on the riverbank, creating a pit several meters deep in the ground.

The skeleton reached in, retrieved the cauldron from the pit, and found it still intact.

No matter what methods the skeleton used to try to destroy the cauldron and kill Fang Bai, all attempts ended in failure.

After struggling for a while, the skeleton seemed to give up and casually tossed the cauldron into the river, then lay its own body into the river water.

Inside the cauldron, Fang Bai paid no mind to the outside, sitting cross-legged within, using the rich Five Elements Spiritual Qi inside the cauldron to heal his injuries.

Inside the cauldron, time seemed to stand still.

No telling how much time had passed, Fang Bai’s injuries had fully healed, his inner Spiritual Qi filled to the brim. He sensed that his strength had improved considerably after the recent battle.

But to progress further and reach the Soul Severing realm, he would still need a significant amount of cultivation resources to keep accumulating Spiritual Qi.

For Fang Bai, advancing each minor realm required several times more Spiritual Qi than others, and the power he gained after advancing was similarly several times stronger than others.

Extending his Divine Sense, Fang Bai discovered that the enormous skeleton was currently lying next to the Five Elements Origin Qi Cauldron. Any slight movement from him could potentially alarm it.

Fang Bai had no idea how long he had been in the ninth level of the Linglong Tower. This time upon entering the tower, he was determined to challenge the ninth level, and he couldn’t just stay idly in the Five Elements Origin Qi Cauldron, wasting time. Otherwise, after eighty-one days passed, he would be forcibly expelled from the Linglong Tower.

With this thought, Fang Bai calmed his mind and began contemplating a plan to escape.

"This skeleton has been staying in the river water; could it be that it relies on the river to gain formidable ability?"

Fang Bai’s eyes suddenly lit up with this realization.

With both hands, he summoned the Red Silkworm Spirit Fire and the Nether Spirit Fire, directing the Fire Spirit Energy of the fires out towards the river water outside the cauldron.

The rapidly rising temperature caused the water within a hundred meters to boil furiously, white mist rose, smoke lingered, and the pure and concentrated Water Spirit Qi contained in the river began to weaken under the high heat.

The huge skeleton lying at the river bottom seemed to feel discomfort and started to become restless.

Upon discovering this through his Divine Sense, Fang Bai was overjoyed, realizing that his method was working, so he continued to release the Fire Spirit Energy of the two types of Spiritual Fires outward.

Both the Red Silkworm Spirit Fire and the Nether Spirit Fire could instantaneously cause thousands of miles to be reduced to scorched earth - their power was utterly immense.

As the temperature continued to rise, the river water within a thousand-meter radius centered on the Five Elements Origin Qi Cauldron began to boil. The water reaching the border of this radius seemed to encounter an invisible barrier, halting its flow and swirling in place, forming vortexes.

Amidst the sizzling sounds, the river water began to evaporate, lowering the water level continuously.

Half an hour later, the water within a hundred meters around the cauldron had evaporated completely, revealing the riverbed and the enormous skeleton lying at the bottom.

Without the river, the skeleton’s movements seemed significantly sluggish. It struggled to stand and walked step by step toward the distant water, attempting to leap into it.

"One arrow to take you down!"

Fang Bai opened the cauldron’s lid, leapt atop the cauldron, and summoned the Houyi Bow, notching an arrow imbued with his vital blood and a wisp of Spiritual Fire.

The Flame Arrow shot out with a whistle, tearing through the air, aimed at the huge skull on the skeleton’s neck.

"Boom!"

Deprived of the river’s sustenance, the enormous skeleton became extremely fragile. Fang Bai’s arrow pierced through its skull, causing it to explode, then it collapsed and shattered on the ground.

"Success!"

Fang Bai put away the Houyi Bow, excitedly pumping his arm in triumph.

He stored the Five Elements Origin Qi Cauldron into the Five Elements Space Ring, and before the blocked river water a hundred meters away could flow over, he quickly traversed the riverbed to the opposite bank.

Using Spiritual Fire to evaporate the water and using the Houyi Bow to slay the skeleton, these two attacks greatly consumed his Spiritual Qi and Divine Sense. Therefore, after reaching the shore, Fang Bai again sat quietly for recovery.

When his strength was restored to its peak, Fang Bai looked up at the sky and murmured, "The pressure in the ninth level space of the Linglong Tower must certainly be several times stronger than the eighth layer, and the spirit beasts there must also be immensely more powerful. If I don’t advance to the Soul Severing realm, even if I manage to ascend, I fear I would be overpowered by spirit beasts."

After contemplating this, Fang Bai decided to advance to the Soul Severing realm within this eighth level space before attempting to ascend to the ninth level of the Linglong Tower, otherwise, it wouldn’t hold much meaning.

Leaving the river behind, Fang Bai continued forward.

In each Linglong Tower level, the area with the densest Spiritual Qi is always at the entrance to the next level.

After another day of searching, Fang Bai finally discovered the stairway leading to the ninth level space. He lingered nearby for a long while, sensing the pressure on each step, knowing that with his current cultivation level, he could at most ascend halfway before being overwhelmed, so he restrained his impulse and continued searching the surroundings for opportunities.

For several days in a row, Fang Bai managed to gather hundreds of Royal Grade cultivation resources and slew over a dozen spirit beasts equivalent to early or mid-Soul Severing stage, obtaining their inner cores.

This result satisfied Fang Bai, and he thought that with the plentiful Royal Grade cultivation resources he had previously gained, they might aid him in advancing to the Soul Severing realm.

Having been in the eighth level space of the Linglong Tower for an unknown duration, Fang Bai had yet to encounter Qingzhu Venerable or any other Soul Severing experts, realizing that aside from himself, there might be no others who had set foot in this eighth level space.

On this day, with a bounty of gains, Fang Bai began climbing the stairs leading to the ninth level space of the Linglong Tower, stopping at the twentieth step, where he refined the Royal Grade Spiritual Medicine he had gathered into Royal Grade Spirit Pills, consumed them, and sat cross-legged entering into a Cultivation State.

Three days later, when Fang Bai exited the Cultivation State, his spiritual energy, essence, and vigor were in excellent condition, with faint lights swirling around him, just half a step away from the Soul Severing realm.

Fang Bai took out dozens of Spirit Beast Inner Pills he had acquired, swallowing them all at once, and entered the Cultivation State once again.

The massive cultivation resources transformed into massive amounts of Spiritual Qi, surging and churning furiously within Fang Bai’s body. Ultimately, like tamed wild horses, they were drawn into the Qi Sea, merging into each of the Nascent Souls.