The people from the Skywalking Alliance had all been grumbling inwardly. Sending over two hundred of them just to deal with
However, after
Nie Li was incredibly generous. He had given away so many spirit stones that when divided among each person, everyone ended up with over fifty pieces. Coming all the way out here for such a high reward — they were all quite pleased. This was more than they usually earned in a whole month. When they thought about it more carefully, this one trip alone meant that Young Master Nie Li had spent a full ten thousand spirit stones!
Heavens, that kind of wealth was truly staggering!
The fact that Li Xingyun had dispatched over two hundred people just to help Nie Li cut off Hua Ling and his crew showed how much Li Xingyun valued him. This Young Master Nie Li was definitely no ordinary person. Having spent so many years in the Dragon Ruins Domain, they all quickly shed their earlier contempt and had no more complaints about the mission whatsoever.
When they saw Nie Li dashing toward the Divine Jade Pool, Li Hu and the others looked at him in confusion. What was Nie Li going to do at the Divine Jade Pool?
Sure, the pool produced spirit stones, but only a few thousand per year. Nie Li had just thrown around over ten thousand spirit stones without blinking — would he really care about that small amount?
Inside the Divine Jade Pool.
Nie Li submerged his feet in the pool water and rapidly inscribed one runic pattern after another.
The patterns fell in succession.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The inscriptions bombarded the bottom of the pool, sending water spraying everywhere. At the pool's depths, a series of mysterious runic formations quickly assembled themselves, and the entire Divine Jade Pool began to shudder violently.
The runic formations erupted with dazzling, blinding light. Then, rising slowly from the depths of the dark water, a black shadow emerged. The shadow vaguely resembled a serpent, though it wasn't one.
This was the origin of the divine pool — the legendary Divine Root!
Deep beneath the earth of the Dragon Ruins Domain, mysterious and spiritual things could be nurtured. They were called Divine Roots. A Divine Root would incubate underground for tens of thousands of years, absorbing the essence of heaven and earth. When the time came, it would rise slowly into the sky, carrying with it a mound of earth, forming a divine pool. As it continuously absorbed the power of the Heavenly Dao between heaven and earth and gave birth to spirit stones, it would also continue growing on its own.
Most people didn't know that Divine Roots existed. Hidden deep in the earth and extremely elusive, they were nearly impossible to find. Moreover, once a divine pool ran dry, the Divine Root would dissipate into nothingness. Only special runic formations could slowly draw the Divine Root out from the soil.
Nie Li reached out and grasped the Divine Root. It writhed and struggled desperately, trying to break free.
Trying to run? Not so easy!
Nie Li's right hand moved, tossing the Divine Root into his Myriad Rivers and Mountains Scroll.
He had finally captured the first Divine Root!
The captured Divine Root would continue to be nurtured inside the Myriad Rivers and Mountains Scroll. Although this Divine Root from the Divine Jade Pool was already in a state of decline, something was better than nothing.
Nie Li flew back.
Li Hu thought he had seen Nie Li take something from the Divine Jade Pool, but he hadn't caught what it was.
Nie Li flew back and said with a smile, "Let's go!"
The group soared off into the distance.
After Nie Li and the others had left, the Divine Jade Pool, which had been hovering in the sky, rapidly collapsed and crumbled, falling from the heavens.
The Divine Jade Pool had completely vanished!
Several days later, Hua Ling returned with a large entourage, but when they arrived, there was no trace of the Divine Jade Pool.
Seeing this scene, Hua Ling roared in fury, veins bulging across his entire body: "Nie Li! Li Xingyun! Killing me would have been one thing, but destroying my divine pool — I will never forgive you!"
Try as he might, Hua Ling couldn't make sense of it. Killing people was one thing, but why destroy the pool? Who kills someone and then destroys their divine pool on top of it? Was that hatred really that deep? The Divine Jade Pool only produced a few thousand spirit stones a year — was that worth such a vicious act?
Among the great powers of the wider world, plenty fought over divine pools, but he had never heard of someone killing a person and then destroying the pool on top of that.
What the hell was this?!
Hua Ling's lips trembled with rage. This was absolutely unconscionable!