Lynn Long's cultivation was going ridiculously smoothly—so smooth even she could barely believe it. Everything was done in the blink of an eye. But what left Ryan Ling speechless was that his own realm just refused to budge!
Sure, he was stuck at a bottleneck, but he hadn’t given up. After all, he’d made it to a whole new city, and the aura here was more than rich enough for training. The place was packed with strong heaven-and-earth qi—not super rare, but still a huge help for his current cultivation. In other words, this qi wasn’t enough to push him straight into the Heaven-Earth Eternal Realm, but it should at least boost his strength. Yet, no matter what he tried, no matter how hard he trained, his power just wouldn’t rise at all. Not even a smidge!
“Ryan, don’t worry! Maybe the timing’s just not right yet. How about you stop cultivating for now and go outside for a walk? You might stumble on something new!” Lynn Long, sitting nearby, had clearly noticed Ryan’s current mood and immediately offered a sweet, sensible suggestion.
“Yeah, I know.” Ryan was seriously frustrated, but there was nothing he could do. He could only stop cultivating, get up, and head out for a walk to clear his head. Maybe he’d find some new breakthrough out there—the city was huge, after all, and who knew what kind of opportunities might be waiting.
So Ryan started wandering aimlessly around Earth City, not really sure what he was looking for. He knew that if he didn’t use this chance to power up before the tournament, he’d be in serious trouble. He’d already pissed off the entire Heaven-Earth Sect, and this was the only window he’d managed to buy himself. He was hoping to use it—and maybe some outside help—to blast his way into the Heaven-Earth Eternal Realm. But now, that dream was looking like a total bust. He couldn’t help feeling disappointed.
But it was what it was—he’d just have to take things one step at a time.
After all that walking, Ryan realized he was starving. He wandered into a little tavern—looked pretty ordinary from outside, but the food was surprisingly awesome. As he ate, all his bad vibes melted away, and he felt way better.
Just as he was happily stuffing his face, he overheard a group of drinkers at the next table gossiping about the big events shaking up the city lately—mostly stuff about him and Lynn Long. Ryan only listened for a few seconds before tuning out; he wasn’t interested. But right as he was about to pay and leave, he suddenly caught something that made him freeze.
“You guys heard? The Elysium Sect mess is blowing up huge this time. Heaven-Earth Sect is scrambling to make all kinds of adjustments, and Vice Master Ding Chunqiu is even planning to invite Earth City’s number-one elder, Lord Ezra Earthgrave, out of seclusion. Looks like things are really getting out of hand. Earthgrave’s strength has already reached the Immortal Lord Realm—if they actually get him to show up, no matter how strong Elysium Sect’s opponents are, they’ll be wiped out for sure. There’s no way anyone survives that!”
“No way, really? If Lord Earthgrave actually gets involved, then it’s game over—there’s zero suspense left. He’s a total top-tier monster. And where did he even get that treasure that let him jump straight into the Immortal Lord Realm? I heard he’s still getting stronger! I remember last year he was only at the peak of the Heaven-Earth Eternal Realm, and now, just half a year later, he’s reached Immortal Lord! What kind of insane artifact could make him shoot up so fast?”
So Ryan needed a flawless plan. As he walked, an idea suddenly lit up in his head: why not use the power of Primeval Heavenwood? Ever since arriving in the Immortal World, Heavenwood hadn’t stopped growing for a single day. In the special range Ryan set, its roots were thriving—shooting out faster than weeds. Wherever Ryan went, Heavenwood’s roots followed. After days in Earth City, its roots had already spread beneath most of the city, merging so perfectly with immortal soil that even an Immortal Lord couldn’t tell them apart from ordinary tree roots.
Checking his map, Ryan realized Heavenwood’s roots had already reached under Lord Ezra Earthgrave’s mansion. No way he could just scale the wall—he’d be spotted instantly. But if he tunneled in through Heavenwood’s roots underground, his odds of getting caught dropped to near zero. Most people wouldn’t even notice.
"That settles it!" Ryan didn’t hesitate. With an opportunity this good, he wasn’t about to let it slip away.
He stopped one or two li from the mansion—close enough for Heavenwood’s underground reach, but far enough to stay safe. Any closer and he risked tripping the mansion’s alarms. Ryan could sense tons of Heaven-Earth Eternal realm experts inside, each radiating a distinct, intimidating aura.
But he also picked up on the unique energy of rare treasures hidden inside. If he could get his hands on even a few, it’d be a massive boost for his breakthrough. With any luck, he might even jump straight into the Heaven-Earth Eternal realm.
"Screw it!" Ryan decided not to overthink it. Even grabbing just a handful of these treasures would be huge for his next breakthrough.
To Ryan, the mansion was basically a giant treasure trove. Even a couple of items could push him to the next level. He fused with Heavenwood’s roots and began tunneling underground. The roots stretched for miles, and Ryan and Heavenwood were so intertwined they were basically one entity.
Riding those roots, Ryan zipped straight to the mansion’s perimeter, burrowing beneath the outer wall. He could feel the powerful defensive aura above—without the roots’ stealth, he’d never have made it. Standing right at the wall would’ve gotten him zapped by the defenses or caught in a heartbeat.
Ryan swallowed nervously but pressed on, tunneling toward the mansion’s center. He’d have to dodge the experts’ divine senses and find the vault. If he could dig right into the treasure room, he’d hit the jackpot—just grab what he wanted and walk away like a boss.
Moving fast, Ryan dodged every detection zone and melded his body perfectly into the roots—basically vanishing into the earth. Unless Lord Ezra Earthgrave himself started scanning every inch of ground, there was no way anyone would spot him. Ryan stayed cautious, and so far, hadn’t been detected at all.
For Ryan, this was a golden opportunity. With his underground sneaking skills, he dodged all the experts’ attention. They were clearly busy discussing something important upstairs, not even glancing at the ground—perfect cover for Ryan’s infiltration!
"Talk about heaven’s help!" Ryan was buzzing with excitement. He’d been feeling stuck in this city, unable to break through, but now a massive chance was right in front of him. He searched around and quickly found the entrance to the mansion’s treasure vault—actually, he was already underneath it, since the vault was built underground. Easy pickings!
"This should be it!" Ryan kept his cool. He was just a step away from the vault, but now was the time for caution, not excitement. Who knew what kind of defenses were lurking nearby? Rushing in recklessly would be a rookie mistake.
"Better scope out the area first!" Ryan stayed calm, sending out Heavenwood’s roots to explore. With this trick, even the strongest defensive arrays would just treat his roots as normal tree roots.
After a thorough scan, Ryan found that the underground was wide open—no serious defenses at all. Apparently, Lord Ezra Earthgrave never considered anyone would break in from below. Or maybe he just thought, as an Immortal Lord, nobody would dare try!
"What luck!" Ryan was practically shaking with excitement. He slipped out of Heavenwood’s roots and found the vault’s weakest spot, then used his power like a giant drill, slowly boring a hole up into the vault from below.
"Now this is a whole new world!" After some serious digging, Ryan broke into the underground vault. The place was huge, packed with treasures everywhere—no idea how Lord Ezra Earthgrave managed to hoard so much loot.
Most of the treasures were covered in thick dust—clearly, nobody came down here much. Even better for Ryan: he could cultivate in peace, and nobody would notice him for a while.
With all this loot around, there was no way Ryan could stay calm. He sat down cross-legged, trusting Heavenwood to keep him hidden. In this state, nobody was going to dig him out easily!
"Absorb!" Ryan shouted, and all the good stuff—pills, rare herbs, breakthrough essences—flew straight into him. He was a pro at devouring treasures; in a blink, tens of thousands of items were swallowed and refined into pure energy, flooding his dantian. The rush was unreal—he was practically glowing with excitement!
Before, his cultivation hadn’t budged, but now his power was exploding—so much that Ryan could barely believe it. At this rate, he might break straight into the Heaven-Earth Eternal realm!
He quickly drained almost everything on this vault level, but honestly, these treasures weren’t even the best of the best. Ryan’s cultivation was still at Immortal King tier, but his foundation was already close to Heaven-Earth Eternal.
He needed even more accumulation, stronger spirit herbs, to really make the leap. Ryan knew that to break into the Heaven-Earth Eternal realm, he’d have to pile up endless resources—what he’d gathered so far just wasn’t enough.
Without hesitation, Ryan charged up to the second level. The vault had three floors, and he’d started at the bottom. Normally, the best stuff would be hidden deepest, but Lord Ezra Earthgrave did things backwards—the third floor was pretty ordinary, but Ryan could sense a much richer aura coming from the second.
Getting to the second level was way riskier, but Ryan couldn’t resist. He rushed up, finding the second floor thick with dust, but the treasures here were clearly higher-grade: celestial pills, immortal herbs, powerful artifacts, and mysterious items he couldn’t even name—just looking at them made his mouth water.
Ryan didn’t bother holding back—he swept up every treasure he could, devouring them in one go. Inside, his body was like a giant furnace, refining everything into surging power.
"Heaven’s really helping me out!" Ryan shouted, barely able to contain himself. His internal reserves were piling up so fast it was unreal, and the second level’s treasures were nearly tapped out. He felt a powerful force inside him, ready to burst upward—he could break into Heaven-Earth Eternal at any moment!
But Ryan forced himself to suppress the urge. He knew this wasn’t the time—if he broke through now, the realm wouldn’t be as strong or stable as he wanted. If he was going to step into Heaven-Earth Eternal, he wanted the maxed-out, overbuilt version!
With the second level nearly drained, Ryan’s eyes turned to the first floor. The treasures up there had to be the real deal. If he could absorb them all, his strength would skyrocket into Heaven-Earth Eternal. Of course, he knew barging into the first floor was a huge risk. The third and second levels were still buried deep underground, shielded by Heavenwood’s concealment, so his chances of getting caught were low.
But he wasn’t about to settle for a half-baked breakthrough!
"Charge the first floor and see what happens!" Ryan finally couldn’t hold back. He rushed to the staircase between the second and first floors—and what he saw at the top made his eyes go wide, freezing him in shock...
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