When Ning Yihua descended from the sky on the Green Scaled Eagle and arrived at Shu Shi Residence, everyone's gaze instinctively fell on the two heads she carried in her hands.
Afterwards, Shen Jiulong, Chen Zheng, and the others couldn't help but inhale sharply.
The two heads belonged to Tao Zheng, the Vice Palace Lord of Jixia Academy, and Mo Huaque, the Vice Palace Lord of Shuiyue Academy.
In terms of status, they might be inferior to Ning Yihua, but they were still esteemed grandmasters who commanded respect across the seas.
Moreover, they had come to the Tianyuan Academy on behalf of their respective academies.
But now, Ning Yihua had killed them without any reservation!
How could people not be shocked by this?
"Fellow Daoist, are these two heads qualified as sacrificial offerings?" Ning Yihua approached Su Yi, who was seated on a rattan chair, and pursed her lips with a faint smile.
Su Yi replied, "They are not members of the Su family, so they don't deserve to be."
Ning Yihua nodded and said, "I think the same."
With that, she gently summoned a flame formed by Gangsha Qi on her fingertips. The two heads in her hands were instantly incinerated, turning into ashes that scattered in the air.
At this moment, everyone understood.
Ning Yihua's actions seemed to completely sever ties with Jixia Academy and Shuiyue Academy, but her true purpose was to declare her position to Su Yi!
Especially Pu Yi, Jiang Tanyun, and Lu Changfeng, after pondering Ning Yihua's thoughts, they were even more grateful for forming an alliance with Su Yi this time.
The fact that someone as powerful and mysterious as Ning Yihua expressed her position in this way undoubtedly proved that in her eyes, neither Jixia Academy nor Shuiyue Academy, nor even the Su family in Yujing City, were as important as standing on the same side as Su Yi!
Next, when Ning Yihua learned about Mu Xi and the others forming an alliance with Su Yi, she was momentarily startled but quickly understood.
She wasn't surprised.
Having experienced the events in the Bloodthorn Demon Mountain and witnessed how Su Yi beheaded Hua Liuye with a single sword and killed the Saintess of the Yinsha Sect, who wouldn't know how terrifying Su Yi's methods were?
This was the true difference between cultivators and secular warriors!
And everyone knew that as long as the "Space Barrier" deep beneath the Bloodthorn Demon Mountain still existed, it would only be a matter of three to five years before cultivators from the other realm crossed that "Space Barrier" and arrived.
By then, not just the Da Zhou Empire, but the entire Cangqing Continent would likely be plunged into immense turmoil and bloodshed.
At such a time, forming an alliance in advance with someone like Su Yi, who viewed "cultivators from the other realm" as prey, and standing on the same side, would undoubtedly be the wisest choice.
It was always better to be prepared in advance.
Of course, everything had pros and cons. By forming an alliance with Su Yi now, it meant they would face the danger of completely offending the Su family in Yujing City.
However, it was clear that Mu Xi and the others had already made their choice. With their intelligence and experience, they naturally understood the implications of their decision.
"I didn't expect that the Lord of Zhenyue would possess such discerning eyes and boldness. It's truly unexpected..." Ning Yihua swept her gaze over Mu Xi and the others, feeling somewhat emotional in her heart.
She understood Su Yi more than others, so she naturally knew that Mu Xi and the others' decision was equivalent to grasping a great opportunity!
In other words, Su Yi represented an "opportunity" for cultivation. Whoever could stand with him would be like boarding a ship heading towards the true path of cultivation!
For Mu Xi, the youngest non-clan king of the Great Zhou, to take the initiative to lower his head to Su Yi in this matter was an extremely difficult thing to do.
Not long after, Zheng Tianhe personally arrived at the residence.
He looked visibly worn out, with his originally plump and fat body having slimmed down significantly. However, his spirit was excellent, and his expression was filled with excitement and joy.
As soon as he saw Su Yi, he couldn't control his gratitude and repeatedly thanked him.
If Su Yi hadn't waved his hand to interrupt, Zheng Tianhe might have continued expressing his gratitude for a long time.
At this moment, Zheng Muyao also completely relaxed, and her exquisite and charming little face beamed with a brilliant smile.
Su Yi was never fond of noisy environments. After chatting for a while, he got up on his own and decided to return to his room to cultivate.
Ning Yihua, Mu Xi, Shen Jiulong, and the others saw this and tactfully took their leave.
Soon, the spacious Shu Shi Residence returned to its usual tranquility.
Second floor.
Su Yi opened the wooden box that Mu Xi and the others had brought.
The wooden box contained the relics of many important figures such as Xiahou Ling, Yue Qing, and Pei Wenshan.
There were spiritual weapons, spiritual materials, spiritual ingredients, spiritual medicines, and other items related to cultivation, all of which were quite valuable and not ordinary goods.
After all, with the identities and cultivations of these important figures, it was impossible for the items that satisfied their cultivation needs to be ordinary.
Among the spiritual medicines, the worst ones were of third grade, while the best were two strains of fifth grade spiritual medicines, namely the Sun Rain Spirit Ginseng and the Five-Colored Poria. They were even more precious than the Pure Yang Fire Peach Su Yi had obtained before.
There were also other treasures such as spiritual materials, spiritual ingredients, and spiritual weapons, which were also quite valuable.
In short, the gains this time were enormous.
For Su Yi, it was a solution to his pressing need.
During the two days of cultivation in the underground world of the Bloodthorn Demon Mountain, in order to temper all his cultivation into Dao Gang and step into the Martial Grandmaster realm, Su Yi had almost depleted all the spiritual medicines he had accumulated.
And in the Qingjia Army camp, in order to refine the "Xuanwu Sword," Su Yi had also used up various spiritual materials.
It could be said that since returning from the Bloodthorn Demon Mountain to Gunzhou, Su Yi's wealth had already dwindled to almost nothing.
And one should know that he had already reached the Martial Grandmaster realm, and his foundation was far beyond that of others at the same realm. Therefore, the resources he needed for cultivation were also enormous.
Strictly speaking, at his current cultivation realm, only third-grade or higher spiritual medicines, or third-grade or higher spiritual stones, could meet his daily cultivation needs.
"With these cultivation items in front of me, I won't have to worry about cultivation resources for at least a period of time."
"However, it's far from enough to rely solely on these to advance my cultivation realm."
Su Yi rubbed his temples.
He finally understood why characters like Ning Yihua and Mu Xi would venture into the Eight Great Demonic Mountains in search of opportunities.
The reason was simple: the higher the cultivation, the scarcer the resources available in the mundane world to support one's own cultivation. Only by exploring opportunities could one gather the resources necessary for their cultivation.
Inside the box, in addition to items related to cultivation, there were also various miscellaneous items.
There was nothing worth paying attention to, except for one item that caught Su Yi's eye.
It was a palm-sized Buddha statue, sitting in a cross-legged position, with hands folded in front of the abdomen, fingers intertwined to form a lotus seal.
The features of the Buddha statue were blurry, obviously eroded by the passage of time, but from the outlines, one could still see that the Buddha statue was young and had a solemn and righteous expression.
On the shoulder of the Buddha statue, there was a winding dragon coiling above its back, with the dragon's head resting on its shoulder and its tail coiling around its lower spine.
The dragon was also blurry, and only its general shape could be discerned. The scales, whiskers, horns, and other delicate details were all incomplete.
"A true dragon coiling, hands holding a lotus seal, with a strong and righteous aura. This seems to be the image of the legendary Dragon Subduing Arhat in the eyes of the Buddhist sect..."
As Su Yi contemplated, he was about to take the Buddha statue in his hand when his fingertips suddenly sank, and he couldn't lift it up.
He couldn't help but be surprised, and activated his cultivation to finally pick up the Buddha statue.
"Oh, no wonder it's so heavy. It weighs three thousand catties even though it's palm-sized. It's actually refined from a 'True Spirit Bone'!"
A glint of excitement flashed in Su Yi's eyes.
True spirits were regarded as naturally born divine beasts and divine birds, such as Pixiu, Bixi, Yazi, Qiongqi, Bi Fang, Zhu Que, Xuanwu, and so on.
Such existences were also known as "True Spirit Beasts."
Even in the vast wilderness of the Nine Provinces, they were extremely rare and terrifying, and sometimes only existed in legends.
In his previous life, Su Yi searched the world but only managed to capture a very young Xuanwu True Spirit, which he raised in his own blessed land to suppress the aura of fortune and guard the mountain gate.
Later, when the "Xuanwu True Spirit" transformed into human form, Su Yi accepted it as a true disciple, ranking seventh, with the title "Xuan Ning."
But Su Yi didn't expect that at this moment, in this mundane world, he would actually see a Buddha statue refined from the bone of a True Spirit!
This was truly rare.
Su Yi carefully pondered and tried to sense it using his spiritual power.
Boom!
Suddenly, in Su Yi's mind, it seemed as if he saw a true dragon, soaring through the vast starry sky, appearing and disappearing, with its massive body making countless stars appear small and dim. It exuded a vast and heavy aura, with swirling mist, making it difficult to see clearly.
Yet Su Yi could still see faintly that on the immense dragon body, there was a figure sitting cross-legged, dressed in a moon-white kasaya.
When Su Yi's gaze touched that figure for a moment, the figure seemed to sense it and turned around to take a distant look.
Boom!
Without waiting for Su Yi's reaction, the grand, mysterious, and vast scene he sensed instantly exploded, disintegrated, and dissipated without a trace.
Su Yi couldn't help but frown. A monk riding a true dragon and traversing the depths of the starry sky?
Who is this guy?
Why didn't he hear in his previous life about any old antique in the Buddhist realm who had subdued a true dragon and traveled through the stars?
Could it be, as recorded in the Buddhist scriptures, that this is the legendary Dragon Subduing Arhat?
Traversing the starry sky is something even Emperor Realm figures dare not easily attempt!
Countless doubts surged in Su Yi's mind.
He looked down at the Buddha statue in his hand, sitting in a cross-legged position, surrounded by a true dragon, holding a lotus seal, exuding a strong and righteous aura.
"Is this the guy who rode the true dragon through the starry sky just now?"
Su Yi pondered.
After a while, he once again tried to sense it using his spiritual power.
Unfortunately, to Su Yi's disappointment, the spirituality on the Buddha statue seemed to have completely disappeared, and he could no longer sense the bizarre scene he had witnessed earlier.
"I wonder who left behind this relic of the Buddha statue. I should ask the Lord of Zhenyue when I see him again."
Su Yi thought to himself.
In the mundane world of the Azure Continent, being able to encounter a Buddha statue refined from the bone of a true spirit, and even catch a glimpse of the scene of a "white-robed monk riding a dragon through the starry sky," was undoubtedly highly unusual.
If he could uncover the origin of this Buddha statue, perhaps he could further delve into its mysteries!