The young nobleman was named Xue Haikong and he was Xue Pan's son. He had been raised by his mother since childhood. Six years ago, Xue Pan had clashed with the defending soldiers at the city gates to save him when Ding Yan was also present.
"Just by saying a few words, you're being too arrogant to think I will take you to see my father," Xue Haikong reached out his right hand, stretching five fingers towards Ding Chen.
A large seizing technique.
Having practiced martial arts since childhood and having been personally taught by Xue Pan, Xue Haikong's martial arts skills were unmatched among peers.
Seeing this, Ding Chen shook his head slightly and reached out his right hand, pointing into the void. A stream of elemental energy emanated from his fingertip, morphing into a slender thread that easily immobilized Xue Haikong, as well as his two attendants who were preparing to act.
"This is..."
...
Inside Dayan Mountain.
Ding Yan slowly opened his eyes, and his stiff fingers twitched slightly.
After six years of enlightenment, Ding Yan was almost one with the earth.
In his body, the elemental energy was much purer than before, while the coveted Immortal Elemental Force at his dantian also became more condensed, although the quantity had not increased. For a wandering immortal, the Immortal Elemental Force was the most important force and the primary factor that differentiated them from Qi refining martial artists.
For a wandering immortal, it was extremely difficult to enhance the Immortal Elemental Force in their body. Apart from tribulations, there was no other way to increase it, which was why each tribulation would substantially boost a wandering immortal's strength.
"The Dao Intent has completely dissipated. It's a pity. If I had been able to observe for a few more years, I might have been able to deploy a few more low-grade Dao Arts. As for the middle-grade Dao Arts... my current level is still too low. It seems I need to find a time to undergo a Wandering Immortal's Tribulation..." Ding Yan lamented.
道术, is different from magical techniques.
道术's existence is completely superior to magical techniques. They are not even on the same level, the difference between the two is like that between a Qi Refiner and a Dispersal Immortal, it's fundamentally different. Previously, Ding Yan could only use some magical techniques, not a single Dao Shu, but now, through the Sadness and Regret Transcendence, he can use three kinds of Dao Shu, this is a qualitative transformation.
Retrieving the skull, standing up, he extended his right hand, slowly practicing the set of martial arts passed down to him by the old village chief on the Nameless Island.
Although this set of martial arts belongs to the Qi Refiner, it has unexpected benefits for the physical body. Ding Yan had already transformed into a Dispersal Immortal, his physical body had metamorphosed into the power of life, condensed within his mind. However, every time he practiced martial arts, Ding Yan could still clearly feel the power of life growing slowly.
On the side.
The character '道' reflected in the eye sockets of the skull on the stone tablet had completely dissipated. Upon looking again at the words on the stone tablet, they had become plain and unremarkable. Sadness and Regret Transcendence entirely relied on the power within the skull. Without the support of this power, even if one were to find the sitting place left behind by the ancestors, one would still not be able to obtain the Dao Nian left behind in it.
After practicing for a long time, Ding Yan stood up and took a deep breath.
He moved his body and the stiffness had completely disappeared.
Suddenly taking a step, Ding Yan leaped into the air. He swiftly made a hand seal and released a seal, and in mid-air it condensed into a talisman, gathering the surrounding power through the power of runes.
"Fissure Point!"
Ding Yan extended his right hand, pointing his index finger at the void.
The talisman exploded with a muffled boom.
A powerful elemental force burst forth, forming a storm, causing the bamboo grove below to sway and the bamboo leaves to rustle.
Fissure Point, the second Dao Shu mastered by Ding Yan after Stone Transformation. The result of Ding Yan's six years of seclusion.
Ding Yan nodded satisfactorily.
He waved his sleeve and descended.
The greatest advantage of the Fissure Point was its low elemental force consumption. The talisman, the foundation of the Fissure Point, absorbs the surrounding elemental force madly at the moment of formation. The force generated by the explosion is basically sourced from the surroundings, with extremely low consumption for the practitioner.
Click...
At the moment Ding Yan landed, there was a sudden rustling sound nearby.
Ding Yan turned around and found that the source of the sound was the nameless stone statue.
"This stone statue..." Ding Yan's eyes revealed a look of doubt as he walked over.
He had examined the stone statue the first time he arrived here, there was nothing unusual, just an ordinary stone statue. But now, he found that there seemed to be a strange energy hidden within.
Ding Yan extended a strand of immortal awareness and carefully scanned over the stone statue.
The stone statue remained unchanged.
Just as Ding Yan withdrew his immortal awareness, he suddenly seemed to remember something, and his face changed drastically.
Glancing at the right hand of the stone statue, he flew backward.
He tapped the void with his left foot, followed by a turn and a step. An illusory Bagua appeared at Ding Yan's landing point, rotated, then disappeared, and Ding Yan's figure strangely reappeared ten meters away.
Thundercloud Step!
The third Dao Shu Ding Yan learned after six years of seclusion.
In just three steps, Ding Yan stepped out of the bamboo grove. Looking back at the bamboo grove, a cold sweat involuntarily arose in his heart.
"That stone figure..."
The first time he observed the stone figure, Ding Yan remembered clearly that the stone figure held a ruler in its right hand, pointing to the sky. But just now, when he looked at it again, he found that the stone ruler in the stone figure's hand was missing. Its clenched hand had also opened, with the palm facing the sky.
"I should leave here first," Ding Yan quickly decided.
Thinking about sitting in this place for six years, Ding Yan couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
It's not that Ding Yan wasn't cautious enough, but no one would ever think that a stone statue could actually be alive. It's like someone finding a place to sit down, only to discover upon rising that the chair they were sitting on was actually alive.
Just as Ding Yan left, about the time it takes to make a cup of tea later, inside the bamboo grove.
The stone figure gradually retracted its right hand, and a grimace of pain appeared on its stiff face.
"Who am I?"
"Who am I?!"
The stone figure knelt heavily on the ground, its heavy legs directly shattering the blue stone slabs on the ground. But it seems like the stone figure didn't notice any of this, its hands covering its head.
"Who am I?!"
A roar!
In an instant, a terrifying elemental force emanated from the mountaintop, turning all the surrounding purple bamboos into ash. The creatures on the nearby Jiulong Mountains all cowered on the ground, trembling.
"That guy is indeed alive!" Ding Yan, who had just walked out of the mountaintop, heard that roar and couldn't help but turn back, with a touch of astonishment in his eyes.