Time trickled by, and in the blink of an eye, more than half a month had passed.

Inside the Xiao Family's Lake Mansion, an ancient black tree stirred restlessly, bearing two large black cocoons hanging from it like fruits.

Suddenly, with a "hiss" sound, a huge slit tore open on one of the black cocoons, and a figure tumbled out. It was none other than the Xiao Family's Ancestor.

His eyes slightly bewildered, he just lay there on the ground, motionless.

"Has he... failed?" Not far away, Xi Ying sat cross-legged, slightly surprised as she watched this scene unfold.

Before she could even extend her Divine Sense to investigate, she saw a blurred shadow of a Divine Soul fly out from the Undying Tree, landing on the Xiao Family's Ancestor's body. In a flicker, it melded into him.

The next instant, the Xiao Family's Ancestor on the ground took a deep breath and climbed to his feet.

The expression on his face was one of pain, confusion, and reluctance, but eventually, it settled into calmness. He turned and bowed to Yuan Ming, saying,

"My lord, I have seen you."

Seeing this, Xi Ying's lips curled up in a smile.

The very next moment, a tendril from the Undying Tree wrapped around a long sword and suddenly cleaved downward, striking the Xiao Family's Ancestor's shoulder.

He stood firmly in place, not dodging at all.

With a "sizzle" sound,

the Xiao Family's Ancestor's arm was severed by the sword's blade flush with the shoulder and fell to the ground.

Xi Ying frowned and looked over, only to see that no blood flowed from the severed shoulder. Instead, thin tendrils grew out on their own, intertwining and knitting together, eventually forming a new arm identical to the original.

At the same time, a face emerged from the body of the Undying Tree, speaking human words:

"My Tree Puppet and the Undying Tree Demon aren't comparable in strength, but their Divine Skills are similar. His flesh, to a certain extent, is also undying. I can also discard that body at any time, recall his Divine Soul, and condense a new shell for him, although it takes quite some time."

"To be able to do so is indeed commendable," Xi Ying said.

"With the Soul Lowering Talisman in place, my control over them far surpasses how the Undying Tree Demon controls Elder San Jue and the others," the face on the Undying Tree continued.

The implication was that the possibility of his Tree Puppets rebelling against him like Qi Ye did was absolutely impossible.

Xing Rong's Cultivation was higher, and refining him took slightly longer, yet it was only two days later than the Xiao Family's Ancestor.

However, at the same time as Xing Rong's refinement was completed, Yuan Ming encountered an unexpected joy.

After the Xiao Family's Ancestor absorbed the Origin Power of the Undying Tree transferred by Yuan Ming, his Nascent Soul Realm bottleneck, which had been unbreakable for many years, began to loosen.

Yuan Ming immediately ordered him to attempt a Breakthrough.

The Xiao Family's Ancestor was overjoyed and immediately consumed a Five Elements Infant Condensing Pill he had bought many years ago at great expense. Swallowing it, he then began his attempt to Breakthrough.

Yuan Ming's Divine Thought connected with him, and he too could feel the various inspirations during his Breakthrough.

It felt as though the tree roots clearly sensed each new bud bursting forth from the treetops, a truly peculiar sensation.

As the Xiao Family's Ancestor entered the Dao through the Formation, during his Breakthrough, the "Nine Palace Array Heart Technique" automatically operated within him, and the circulation of his Mana internally was as regulated as the operation of a Formation.

As his understanding deepened, his Mana started to uncontrollably disperse out of his body, and one Array after another formed by condensed Mana began to emerge around him, forming overlapping and intertwining patterns of light.

At this moment, Yuan Ming's mind seemed to be drawn by him, resonating and comprehending the way of the Array Formation together.

If it had been left to the Xiao Family's Ancestor's original Mana reserves alone, it would not have been enough to support such an Array Formation comprehension. Consequently, his understanding would have ceased, and his path to Breakthrough would have been severed.

It was for this reason that he had never forcibly tried to break his shackles and advance to the Nascent Soul Realm.

However, with the root foundation of Yuan Ming's Undying Tree God, he no longer had such concerns, and the abundant Mana and Life Essence Power sustained his continuous comprehension and evolution of the Array Formation.

Three days later, one Formation overlapped another, beginning to merge and converge, and eventually integrated into a Great Array with complex Array Patterns.

As the Xiao Family's Ancestor opened his eyes in that instant, the Great Array began to condense and shrink, turning into a miniature representation and returning into his Dantian.

At the same time, the rich Primordial Qi of the world around began converging into the center and surging into the Xiao Family's Ancestor's body.

Yuan Ming facilitated the rapid fusion of the Xiao Family's Ancestor's Divine Soul with the Mana pouring into his body, quickly transforming into a Nascent Soul little figure, returning to the Sea of Consciousness in the Xiao Family's Ancestor.

With this, his Breakthrough was successful, and he officially stepped into the Nascent Soul Realm.

In the following half month, Yuan Ming assisted the Xiao Family's Ancestor in stabilizing his Cultivation while also, combined with his inspirations, contemplating the true intent of the Array Formation comprised of hundreds of Array Formations within his Dantian.

His Array Formation Cultivation also rose with the tide, reaching unprecedented new heights.

"Thank you, Master." The Xiao Family's Ancestor bowed deeply towards Yuan Ming, his emotions complex.

Yuan Ming didn't mind and, after taking him into the Stealing Heaven Tripod Space, he returned to his human form.

He waved his hand, and streams of Mana burst from between his fingers, weaving and condensing in the void, quickly forming into a vast crimson Array several meters across.

Around the Array, eight Fire Dragons rose, each spewing fierce flames towards the center of the Array.

It remarkably resembled the Eight-direction Fire Python Formation previously used by the Xiao Family's Ancestor, but the one Yuan Ming displayed was more powerful, having transformed into the more formidable Eight-direction Fire Dragon Formation.

"This Wave Hand Array skill of yours is already at the level of a master," Xi Ying sincerely praised.

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The speed of Yuan Ming's development and his breathtaking learning ability made even her feel a bit alarmed.

"I can only perform a handful of Arrays effortlessly, I must continue to comprehend and learn to genuinely master this art," Yuan Ming said with a smile as he waved his hand to retract the Array.

What he didn't mention was that the reason he knew so few Arrays was that after his breakthrough in understanding, he had focused more energy on refining the forbiddances within the Stealing Heaven Tripod.

In just this past month, he had successively refined ten forbiddances.

Yuan Ming felt his connection with the Stealing Heaven Tripod growing stronger, and while the Divine Soul Power in his Nascent Soul had not noticeably strengthened, his Divine Sense had become sharper.

"It won't be long before the agreed time with the Xiao Family and the Senluo Sect; we should head to Little Silver Mountain," Yuan Ming said after getting everything ready.

"Hmm, you had sent Xing Rong back to the Senluo Sect earlier; counting the days, he should be arriving soon; indeed, it's time we left," Xi Ying nodded in agreement.

Soon after, the two left Red Lotus Island, heading towards Bamboo Sea Square.

...

Just as the Xiao Family's Ancestor began his Nascent Soul breakthrough, in the Southern Border Southern Domain, at a mountain range shrouded in thick fog.

A dazzling tunneling light flew from the horizon, directly landing before the mist, revealing the figure of Xing Rong.

Looking at the mist before him, he suddenly flipped his palm to retrieve a token and waved it forward, causing the valley's fog to immediately disperse to either side, unveiling a path leading to a towering gate.

The gate, seemingly forged from mysterious iron, appeared dark and solid, with carvings of all things in heaven and earth on the columns on either side, including plants and architectural structures as well as Immortal Demons and Exotic Beasts.

In front of each pillar stood a stone lion statue, which, upon seeing Xing Rong approach, seemed to come to life as they bowed their heads and spoke in human tongues.

"Welcome back, Ancestor Xing."

Xing Rong did not pause or react, simply passing through the gate and heading straight to the temple at the summit.

As he reached the entrance of the grand hall, before even pushing the doors, he heard a somewhat hoarse voice from inside.

"Junior Brother Xing is back? Come in. Did you accomplish anything on this trip?"

Xing Rong immediately entered the hall and looked up to see a middle-aged man wearing a black robe, with a hawk nose and wolf eyes—a decidedly difficult man to deal with—sitting at the head of the hall.

This was Luo Yongqi, the Late-stage Nascent Soul Ancestor of the Senluo Sect, and nominally, Xing Rong's senior brother.

"Senior Brother Luo," Xing Rong greeted him calmly with a cupped fist salute and then turned his head towards the three people sitting to the side.

Sitting to the left of Senior Brother Luo, wearing a dark purple robe, with sword brows and tiger eyes, exuding the serene air of a high-ranking leader, was Xi Zheng, Xi Ying's father.

Sitting opposite him was a tall man, unnaturally pale as if carved from stone. His eyes were gray and white, making him look blind, but he had a third eye on his forehead, its pupil deep purple, profound and sinister.

And beside Xi Zheng, Ximen Rui was leisurely sipping tea. Seeing Xing Rong's gaze, he put down his teacup and nodded with a smile.

"What did old Xiao Fangcheng say? Did he agree to trade with us?" Luo Yongqi asked without preamble.

"Heh, he's desperate to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. As soon as I mentioned giving him the Transplanting Technique, he immediately agreed to our terms," Xing Rong laughed disdainfully.

"That's good. With his help, our plan's chances of success increase by another notch," Luo Yongqi nodded, a flicker of joy in his eyes.

Xing Rong nodded in agreement.

At this moment, Xi Zheng suddenly gave Luo Yongqi a look, as if he had something to say.

Seeing this, Luo Yongqi immediately waved his hand, dismissing Xing Rong.

"Junior Brother Xing has done great labor this trip. Once successful, he shall be credited first. Now, having just returned, go rest," he said.

Xing Rong, having heard this, did not object. He saluted Luo Yongqi, gave the three-eyed man a final scrutinizing glance, then turned and left.

"We still can't be careless. Pan Si Island might not fully trust Xiao Fangcheng. They might have kept something back in the Array concerning their own safety; best to find out all there is, to avoid further complications," Xi Zheng cautiously said after Xing Rong had left.

"Venerable Xian Kong is right; however, although Xiao Fangcheng's cultivation isn't much, his skill in Arrays is possibly unmatched in the entire Southern Border. Even if Pan Si Island held something back, as long as he wants to scheme, it ultimately won't amount to much," Luo Yongqi asserted.