Starting with being handed over to the Imperial Concubine, building a family with a thousand-year hi

This bottle of Azure Phoenix blood essence, untouched and unadulterated by any external force, is inherently wild and pure, its strength difficult to discern, and its risks unknown. With Su Mu's current level of insight and cultivation, he is unable to accurately determine its grade, and naturally dares not risk his life by consuming it directly.

"At the same level, the ancient divine bird's combat power crushes ordinary demonic beasts and is even more superior to human warriors, possessing an unparalleled foundation."

"If the high-grade Azure Phoenix blood essence is properly refined, it can help my spiritual body complete a second transformation, greatly increasing my foundation. It is a supreme opportunity that is hard to come by."

"Xi Changfeng, as a late-stage True Martial Realm expert, possesses a remarkable spiritual foundation, yet he has never dared to use this bottle of essence blood, which is enough to show that he simply cannot withstand the backlash."

"My spiritual body is now stronger than Xi Changfeng's; I wonder if I can withstand it safely?"

"If it is the blood essence of a fifth-grade Azure Phoenix, it is safe and sound; if it is the blood essence of a sixth-grade Azure Phoenix, it will require the assistance of multiple treasures and external forces to barely refine it, which is extremely risky."

After weighing the pros and cons, Su Mu was unwilling to take any rash risks. To be on the safe side, he carefully put the white jade bottle away and stored it in the system warehouse, intending to deal with it later when his cultivation improved and he had prepared more auxiliary treasures.

After carefully storing the Azure Phoenix's essence blood, Su Mu then examined the second storage ring he had retrieved from the giant warship.

This ring is of ordinary quality, with a cramped and small storage space, even less than the storage bracelet left by Tuoba Hongzhen. The treasures inside are also very few, making it quite meager.

There were only a little over a thousand spirit stones, but fortunately, they were all high-grade spirit stones, which was better than nothing. The stock of pills was scarce, mostly quick-replenishing and healing pills for immediate battlefield use; there were no other rare or valuable items. Only a few low-grade, common talismans remained, with limited practical use.

Su Mu instantly understood. These powerful individuals had come from afar to the battlefield with a death plan in mind. They would not carry massive amounts of cultivation resources and core treasures with them, and their valuables would definitely be properly arranged in advance. This situation was quite normal.

While casually flipping through the pages, a jade identity plaque caught my eye.

Su Mu picked it up and examined it closely. His expression shifted slightly, revealing surprise. The material, polishing, and pattern of this jade pendant were exactly the same as the identity jade pendant of Situ Chengjun, sharing the same origin.

The jade plaque is engraved with two lines of text: the large characters are clear and eye-catching: Xuan Gang Men; the smaller characters below are the signature: Liang Song.

"People from the Xuan Gang Sect?"

Regarding the changes in power on the continent and the cataclysmic events of ten thousand years ago, Su Mu knew very little about the inside story. He could only rely on the fragmented clues he had collected along the way to secretly connect and deduce the truth.

The Xuan Gang Sect identity jade token in his hand at this moment was like a key piece of a puzzle, causing him to fall into deep thought and his emotions to fluctuate.

"It seems that the top powers of Tianyuan Continent ten thousand years ago did not gradually decline and perish, but rather collectively and voluntarily abandoned their homeland and migrated across realms."

"After ten thousand years, they have finally returned to their homeland."

"No, something's not right here."

"Ordinary martial arts experts, even if their cultivation reaches its peak, will not live more than ten thousand years unless they reach the true Martial God realm, and will have long since turned into a handful of dust."

"Those who return are not the old powerhouses who migrated back then, but their descendants who went to distant lands and settled down to multiply, returning to their homeland on behalf of their ancestors."

"But the wreckage of the warships and the corpses scattered on the ground show that the journey home was extremely dangerous. They were ambushed and killed along the way, suffered heavy losses, and the return trip was very difficult."

"The black mist continues to expand steadily, encroaching on the territory. Before long, it will completely engulf the entire Great Qian Empire, besiege the imperial city, and annihilate all sides."

"With the remaining martial arts strength of the Tianyuan Continent, it is simply powerless to resist the eerie black shadows of the black mist, and cannot withstand the calamity. Its destruction is inevitable."

Thinking of this, Su Mu couldn't help but feel conflicted and conflicted.

On the bright side, the descendants of the top forces from ten thousand years ago have returned, bringing extraterrestrial combat power to aid them. They can join forces to fight against the black mist, providing more assistance and a greater chance of survival.

On the downside, if too many powerful individuals return and their combat strength is too great, it will inevitably disrupt the existing power structure of this world. He will no longer be recognized as the strongest in the Tianyuan Continent, and his position will be in jeopardy.

He was surrounded by enemies and fraught with hidden dangers. Not to mention the two major external enemies, the barbarian tribes from beyond the border and the Japanese tribes on the border, there were also three top sects from ten thousand years ago—the Xuan Gang Sect, the Xi Chuan Sword Pavilion, and the Tian Wu Sect—watching him with covetous eyes from within the human race.

Previously, the three direct descendants of the three major sects, Situ Chengjun, Su Feiyang, and Xi Changfeng, all perished at the hands of Su Mu. Each time, he was killed in public with great force, and everyone knew about it, making it impossible to conceal.

Su Mu's actions were all justified: self-defense, retaliation, and killing his enemies were all perfectly reasonable. However, the powerful figures of the sect were vengeful and would never patiently listen to his explanations or reasoning.

Top-tier powers and unparalleled experts always speak only through strength and never reason with the weak.

If they hadn't been bullying the weak and acting unreasonably, the three True Martial experts who had been sealed away for ten thousand years wouldn't have provoked trouble for no reason and ended up dying.

The course of events and the future are no longer within Su Mu's control. He can only remain calm, take it one step at a time, and adapt to changing circumstances.

Fortunately, with this trump card in hand, I remain calm. I keep the Teleportation Talisman close to my body, so that if I am truly in dire straits, I can instantly teleport away to escape and save my life, without having to worry excessively about disasters that have not yet occurred.

Su Mu put aside his distracting thoughts and stopped daydreaming, focusing his attention on the two key battlefields within his body.

Within his Qi Sea, the deep blue true fire left behind by Xi Changfeng had largely merged with his own golden true fire, achieving perfect harmony.

The fusion process was clear and intuitive. Su Mu could truly sense that his own innate true fire foundation was steadily increasing, its power was rising steadily, and his combat strength was improving in tandem.

This was exactly the result he had been dreaming of. The stronger the true fire, the faster he could refine the sword embryo left behind by the Western Sichuan Sword Pavilion, greatly accelerating his cultivation pace.

Within his sea of ​​consciousness, the battle between their primordial spirits was becoming clear. Xi Changfeng's primordial spirit was suppressed throughout, its power continuously weakening, yet it stubbornly resisted to the end, refusing to be defeated and disintegrate.

In a battle of the soul, without an absolute overwhelming advantage, the outcome is bound to be a stalemate, difficult to resolve quickly, and can only be patiently dragged out.

Time slips away quietly, and a whole day passes in the blink of an eye.

Xi Changfeng's deep blue true fire finally melted away completely, perfectly merging into Su Mu's natal golden true fire origin.

After the fusion, the true fire's original color remained unchanged, still a brilliant golden yellow, and its power was even greater than before. Only the sparrow shadow attached to it retained its original deep blue color, clearly distinct from the original.

"This fire must be imbued with the wind element, making it agile and swift. The Sparrow Shadow has a real bloodline and should be a rare bird with an extremely high bloodline grade."

"It is definitely not the bloodline of the ancient Vermilion Bird. It is most likely to be of the same origin as the Azure Phoenix bloodline. That is why the Heavenly Martial Sect specially preserved a bottle of Azure Phoenix essence blood for future generations to refine and adapt to."

Su Mu secretly reviewed and deduced the origins of the True Fire.