35: Chapter 35 Peak of Qi Gathering Level 5

Ye Tian's mind was completely immersed in the resonance with the tree of longevity, feeling the majestic and gentle life essence nourishing his damaged Meridians and internal organs. His injuries were rapidly improving, and his consumed True Qi was also recovering at an accelerated pace.

This feeling of merging with the heaven and earth Spiritual Root was incomparably profound, making him almost forget the dangers surrounding him.

However, at the very moment his mind was most relaxed...

"Hehehe... brat, your death has arrived!"

A cold, ferocious laugh reached his ears!

Every hair on Ye Tian's body stood on end instantly!

An intense sense of crisis jolted him awake from that profound state!

But, it was too late!

A black shadow erupted from the shadows behind him to his side!

The speed was extreme!

A flash of cold light in its hand stabbed straight at the vital point on Ye Tian's back!

It was precisely that poisoned short dart!

This strike had been premeditated for a long time, and the timing was incredibly tricky and vicious!

It had seized the exact moment when Ye Tian's mind was connected to the tree of longevity, leaving his defense at its weakest!

"Not good!"

Ye Tian's pupils constricted sharply; it was already too late to dodge!

In his haste, he could only desperately twist his body while frantically concentrating his remaining True Qi and Body Refining strength onto his back!

"Ssh!"

The poisoned dart still viciously pierced beneath his right shoulder blade!

A heart-piercing pain and a cold, numbing sensation spread instantly!

Ye Tian spat out a mouthful of blood, his entire body sent flying forward by the immense impact force, crashing onto the ground!

He felt half of his body go numb instantly, his blood surging in reverse, and his vision blurring with waves of darkness!

The black shadow, having succeeded with one strike, showed no mercy and slammed another palm ruthlessly toward Ye Tian's head!

It wanted to kill him completely!

"Die!"

At the line between life and death, a hint of madness flashed in Ye Tian's eyes!

He forcefully gathered a breath of True Qi, ignoring his injuries, and performed a sudden roll on the ground to dodge the lethal palm. At the same time, he kicked the ground hard and threw his body toward the direction of the tree of longevity!

"You are courting death!"

The black shadow paused, then sneered, thinking Ye Tian was panicking and choosing a path to his doom.

He had seen the terrifying Restriction around the tree of longevity with his own eyes just moments ago!

However, at the very moment Ye Tian's body was about to collide with that invisible Restriction, the chaos bead in his embrace suddenly erupted with unprecedented heat!

He immediately drove the thread of connection he had established with the tree of longevity to its limit, while simultaneously pouring all the strength in his body, including the poison that had invaded his system, into his right fist!

"Open for me!"

He roared, his Overlapping Wave Fist's third-layer force, mixed with the power of resonance, blasted toward the Void Realm in front of him.

The place where the Restriction was!

A strange humming sound rang out!

The Restriction, which was originally formless and capable of annihilating all things, rippled violently upon contacting Ye Tian's fist—which contained a trace of the tree of longevity's Origin aura and the extraordinary power of the chaos bead—creating a brief and extremely unstable gap!

The black shadow, following closely behind Ye Tian, never expected such a turn of events and, unable to stop in time, crashed headlong into the gap in the Restriction!

"No!"

The black shadow let out a scream of extreme terror!

He only felt a destructive energy instantly envelop and tear him apart!

His protective True Qi shattered instantly, every bone and tendon in his body snapped, and blood sprayed wildly!

The next second, the black shadow was violently repelled, crashing into the distance, charred all over, with fading breath, near death.

As for Ye Tian, he used the recoil force to land staggeringly, right at the edge of the Restriction gap!

Enduring his severe injuries and the virulent poison, he was quick-witted and agile, reaching out to pluck a leaf from the nearest branch of the tree of longevity!

The leaf felt warm and smooth in his hand, and a majestic life essence instantly surged into his body, temporarily suppressing the spread of his injuries and the poison.

But he dared not linger for even a second!

Because he could feel the Restriction behind him rapidly recovering, and furthermore, several powerful and violent auras of Vicious Beasts were already approaching from afar!

They were clearly attracted by the commotion and the aura leaked by the tree of longevity just now!

"Go!"

Ye Tian did not hesitate, hid the leaf of the tree of longevity close to his body, turned, and headed in the opposite direction of the oncoming Vicious Beasts. Forcing himself to hold his breath, he utilized his movement technique and fled for his life!

Barely ten breaths after he left, several powerful Vicious Beasts of various forms, all with auras above the fifth rank, rushed to the vicinity of the tree of longevity. They glanced at the charred corpse of the black shadow on the ground and then looked greedily toward the tree of longevity, but cowed by the terrifying Restriction, they dared not approach and could only let out roars of frustration.

Deep in the dense forest, Ye Tian ran wildly, not daring to look back.

The wound on his shoulder blade remained numb and excruciatingly painful, and the poison was slowly spreading, but the life essence emitted by the leaf of the tree of longevity was constantly nourishing him, sustaining his Origin Qi.

This time, it was truly a narrow escape from death!

If not for a flash of inspiration at the last moment to use the black shadow to break the Restriction, he would likely be a corpse by now.

That lurking black shadow was indeed coming for him!

But was it someone from the Black Cloud Stronghold? Or someone sent by the Lin family?

A chill deepened in Ye Tian's heart.

In this Secret Realm, danger lurked everywhere; not only did he have to face Vicious Beasts, but he also had to guard against arrows shot from behind!

He had to find a place that was absolutely safe as soon as possible to refine the leaf of the tree of longevity, recover from his injuries, and improve his strength!

Otherwise, next time, he might not have such luck.

Ye Tian endured the intense pain and numbness from his shoulder blade, as well as the waves of dizziness brought by the toxins in his body, fleeing for his life through the dense jungle.

He dared not stop for even a moment; the roars of Vicious Beasts could be faintly heard behind him.

He had to find an absolutely safe place as soon as possible!

Relying on his previous observations of the terrain, he sped toward a relatively remote cliff in the Secret Realm.

The vines there were quite dense, and perhaps he could find a place to hide.

Finally, before his stamina was completely exhausted, he discovered a narrow stone crevice halfway up the cliff, concealed by vines.

He gritted his teeth, used his last bit of strength to push aside the vines, and squeezed inside.

The inside of the stone crevice was deeper than he had imagined, forming a small cave that could only accommodate one person curled up; it was dark and damp, but its advantage was that it was concealed.

"Hoo..."

Ye Tian leaned against the stone wall, breathing heavily, cold sweat soaking his clothes.

He immediately checked his injuries; the wound beneath his right shoulder blade was already black and purple, and the toxins were slowly spreading toward his heart Meridians—he had to treat it immediately!

He dared not delay, first taking out the detox powder he had prepared from his embrace to sprinkle on the wound, then swallowing a few Medicinal Pills for healing to temporarily stabilize his condition and prevent it from worsening.

Then, he carefully took out the leaf of the tree of longevity, which emitted a rich aura of life.

The leaf felt warm and smooth in his hand; just by holding it, Ye Tian felt the pain and numbness in his body diminish slightly.

"So this is the leaf of the thousand-year tree of longevity..."

A hint of excitement flashed in Ye Tian's eyes, "It truly contains majestic vitality! I hope it can neutralize this poison and help me recover!"

Without any hesitation, he gently placed the leaf of the tree of longevity into his mouth.

The leaf dissolved as soon as it entered his mouth, not turning into liquid, but into an incomparably pure warm current that instantly surged throughout his entire body!

"Ngh!" Ye Tian couldn't help but let out a comfortable moan.

An astonishing itchy sensation came from the wound on his shoulder blade; the black toxins were being forced out and purified at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the muscles of the wound were rapidly wriggling and healing!

The internal injuries caused by forcefully resisting the Restriction's recoil and the black shadow's sneak attack were also rapidly repairing!

Even some hidden injuries left over from previous Cultivation were nourished and smoothed over by this life essence!

What surprised him even more was that the majority of this warm current surged toward his Dantian and Meridians!

The True Qi, which had been nearly exhausted due to the fierce battle, was recovering frantically at an unprecedented speed!

His Meridians were widened, becoming tougher and more unobstructed!

"Such strong medicinal power! I cannot waste it!"

Ye Tian was overjoyed; he immediately focused his mind, fully operating the Qi Induction Mantra and that nameless Body Refining technique, guiding this massive energy to circulate through his body's Meridians while simultaneously striking the Bottleneck of the Late Stage of the Fifth Stage of Qi Gathering!

Inside the cave, Ye Tian was enveloped in a faint emerald-green halo, his aura climbing at an astonishing speed!

Time flew by during his Cultivation.

Don't know how much time had passed, but when Ye Tian had completely refined and absorbed the last trace of the medicinal power from the leaf of the tree of longevity, he opened his eyes abruptly!

His eyes shone with brilliance, and the aura around him surged violently; he had actually reached the Fifth Stage Peak of Qi Gathering!

He was only one step away from the Qi Gathering Level 6!

He stood up slowly, stretched his joints, and a series of popping sounds like exploding beans came from within his body, full of a sense of power.

The wound on his right shoulder had already healed, leaving only a faint red mark.

The toxins in his body had long since been completely cleared, and his state was better than ever before!

"Fifth Stage Peak of Qi Gathering!"

Ye Tian clenched his fists, feeling the surging, endless True Qi within him that was many times more vigorous and refined than before, his heart filled with confidence, "This leaf of the tree of longevity is truly miraculous!"

"It not only allowed me to fully recover from my injuries, but my cultivation also directly improved to the Fifth Stage Peak of Qi Gathering!"

He even regretted not pushing harder at the time to pluck a few more.

However, he was just being wise after the event; if he had truly been greedy at that time, delaying for even one more second, he might have been surrounded by Vicious Beasts or swallowed by the rapidly recovering Restriction.

Ye Tian carefully experienced the changes in himself; his True Qi was more profound, and his control over his power was more precise.

The power of his Overlapping Wave Fist would definitely be stronger.

His third level of Body Refining was also more stable, and his Physical Body strength had reached a higher level.

"With my current strength, if I were to face Ye Long again, I am confident that I could completely defeat him within ten moves!"

A cold glint flashed in Ye Tian's eyes.

He had not forgotten Ye Long's despicable act of taking advantage of his misfortune.

"And that black shadow..." He thought of the guy who had ambushed him, his eyes growing colder, "It must have been a death warrior sent by the Black Cloud Stronghold or the Lin family."

"They failed to kill me this time; next time, I will ensure they never return!"

The improvement in strength brought about strong self-confidence.

But Ye Tian was not carried away; he knew deeply that the Secret Realm was still fraught with danger, and Ye Long, potential enemies, and those powerful Vicious Beasts were not to be underestimated.

"It seems there is still some of the medicinal power of the leaf of the tree of longevity deposited in my body that hasn't been completely absorbed."

"In the next few days, I will strike while the iron is hot, consolidate my Realm, and strive to touch the threshold of Level 6 before leaving the Secret Realm!"

He estimated the time; it should have been three or four days since entering the Secret Realm, and there were about three days left until the exit opened again.

"I must seize the time."

Ye Tian did not immediately leave this temporary cave but sat down cross-legged again, beginning to consolidate his newly broken-through cultivation while digesting the remaining medicinal power deposited in his body.