Gu Xiao was excited. A demon beast with only half the bloodline of a Qilin was already so powerful. This little Qilin's bloodline was so pure. He really did not know how powerful it would be when it reached adulthood.
Indeed, this Qilin was not something that the people in the village could raise. It was better to hand it over to me.
"Ahem… In that case, I'll keep it for adoption. I'll give you something else. After you bring it back, make a few more sets according to this thing and give them to the villagers to use."
As Gu Xiao spoke, he took out a chess set from the treetop. This chess set had been rewarded by the system some time ago. The chess pieces were crystal clear and emitted spiritual power. Although it was weak, it was endless.
This chess piece was a supreme magic treasure for two people to cultivate. Although the spiritual power of the chess piece itself was weak, as long as the battle on the chessboard was more intense, the spiritual power contained in it would be released more and more. During the chess game, the player's dantian could automatically circulate and cultivate.
Ling Yao could tell at a glance that this chess set was an extraordinary treasure and quickly accepted it. After respectfully kowtowing three times, she bade farewell to Gu Xiao and returned to prepare to find someone to replicate the chess set.
Three days later, Liu Yang stood at the entrance of the Divine Tree Village. He was extremely surprised. He did not expect the appearance of the village to change so much after leaving the village for so long.
When the gatekeeper saw that Liu Yang had returned, he was overjoyed and quickly opened the door to let him in. Liu Yang returned to the village to pay his respects to his parents and hurriedly met with the other villagers. Then, he went to the village chief's residence.
Ling Yao had been in seclusion for the past few days, studying the chess game that Lord Divine Tree had given her. It was a pity that no one in the village could have a good game with Ling Yao.
Therefore, the real effect of the chess piece was not unleashed at all.
When Ling Yao saw that Liu Yang had returned, she was overjoyed. She hurriedly pulled the two of them to sit down and played a round. The battle was extremely intense, and their dantian were also constantly circulating during the process of playing chess. Their strength had increased by quite a bit.
In the end, of course, Ling Yao won. This chess game not only tested the wisdom of the chess player but also their cultivation.
If one's cultivation was not high enough, even a national player without cultivation could only reach the level of a three-year-old child in front of this chess game.
Liu Yang stood up, cupped his hands, and said respectfully, "Village Chief, disciple has been away for many years. When I returned to the village, I didn't expect that there would be such a huge change in the village. It's almost the same as the cave abode under the Divine Martial Sect."
Ling Yao was very happy after hearing that and waved her hand.
"This is all thanks to Lord Divine Tree. Without Lord Divine Tree, how could the Divine Tree Village be where it is today? Ah, right, since you're back, quickly follow me up the mountain to meet Lord Divine Tree. Lord Divine Tree has always missed you."
After saying that, Ling Yao brought Liu Yang up the mountain. Liu Yang knelt in front of Gu Xiao and took out a stack of magic weapons from his storage ring.
That's right, this kid had brought back many Dharma treasures. There were about ten of them. Although the highest was only a Profound-grade Dharma treasure, it was produced by the Divine Martial Sect after all. Cultivators below the Foundation Establishment Realm could use it and it would greatly increase their strength.
After taking out the magic treasures, this kid took out dozens of small bottles from his ring. These small bottles were the blood essence of spirit beasts that the Divine Martial Sect had treasured. As long as a person at the peak of the Postnatal Realm had such a bottle of blood essence to temper their body, they could definitely break through the bottleneck and reach the middle-stage Connate Realm!
Gu Xiao was also shocked by Liu Yang's actions. Even a large sect like the Divine Martial Sect would probably not be able to obtain these things, right?
"Liu Yang, it's good that you're filial, but you have to take care of yourself. Don't get yourself into trouble."
Liu Yang understood what Lord Divine Tree meant and hurriedly explained, "Lord Divine Tree, don't worry. I didn't steal these. I earned them with my own abilities."
Gu Xiao was relieved when he heard that. It seemed that Liu Yang and the others had not been in the Divine Martial Sect for nothing.
He left behind a few bottles of the purest and purest blood essence. The rest was handed over to Ling Yao for her to choose some talented villagers for the new generation to temper their bodies.
Liu Yang stayed in the village for more than ten days before returning to the Divine Martial Sect.
The reason he came back this time was to investigate the cause of death of the two cultivators. Liu Yang knew very well that these two people had either died at the hands of the Divine Tree or the Village Chief.
When he returned, he naturally said that the two of them had died in the ruins. He found traces of the two of them outside the ruins. As for where their corpses were and who killed them, Liu Yang said that he didn't know.
The village returned to its original state.
After a while, one day, a layer of black fog suddenly rose from the mountain. At first glance, Gu Xiao thought that it was the miasma in the mountain. There were many dead animals, spirit beasts, and other corpses in the mountain. These corpses had not been buried. After rotting, they naturally turned into miasma.
However, upon closer inspection, this black fog was not the miasma in the mountain. This black fog was very sticky and even gave off a slippery and strange feeling.
At first, Gu Xiao was not worried about the villagers. Living in the mountains was very normal.
However, the black fog was not as simple as Gu Xiao had imagined.
The black fog quickly surrounded the village. The villagers at the periphery of the village accidentally came into contact with the black fog. The black fog quickly corroded the villagers' bodies. Amidst painful cries, their bodies gradually shriveled like tree bark, and their eyes turned into turbid white eyes. The water in their bodies, including their blood, seemed to have been sucked dry in an instant.
The villagers hurriedly reported to Ling Yao. Ling Yao rushed to the periphery of the village and found many people lying on the ground. These people were all villagers of the Divine Tree Village. At this moment, they had already turned into dried corpses.
"What's in the black fog?" Ling Yao asked.
The villagers who were watching these people turn into dried corpses shook their heads repeatedly.
"Village Chief, there's nothing in the black fog. These people became like this after touching the black fog."
Ling Yao frowned and looked at the black fog that was approaching from the outskirts of the village. She immediately gave the order.
"All the villagers, immediately move closer to the middle of the village. Don't touch this black fog. There are either demon beasts or evil cultivators in this strange black fog. I'll go in and take a look."
After saying that, Ling Yao did not wait for the others to speak. With a tap of her foot, she stood up leisurely and flew into the black fog.
Ling Yao rushed into the black fog, originally intending to find the source of the black fog, but she didn't expect the scene hidden in the black fog to be even more terrifying.
There were countless dried corpses in the black fog. Some of them had crawled out of the ground, which meant that they were already dead. However, the black fog swept past the grave and summoned them.
Ling Yao snorted coldly and went forward to fight with these mummies for several hours. In the end, two fists were no match for four hands. One of the mummies took the opportunity to bite her arm.
The thick corpse poison violently attacked Ling Yao's meridians and mind. Ling Yao knew that something was wrong and hurriedly rushed out of the encirclement and out of the black fog. The moment she landed, she fell to the ground and fainted.