Chapter Thirty: Tian Yue Tong Ju

  Tianzhu Mountain is in the south, and the Grand Canyon is located there. Looking far away, it seems like a burning cloud, as if a volcano is solidifying during an eruption.

  A vast mountain valley, planted with a tree of red leaves, pieces of fallen leaves like fire, the rising mist is also a brilliant smoke and haze, covering the entire mountain valley.

  "This is Fushang Valley..."

  The wind was walking in the valley, the mountain valley was quiet in the morning, and underfoot "rustling" were all the sounds of stepping on fallen leaves. He muttered to himself: "It's really like what Shixiong said, a bit disappointing."

  "Fusang Valley, actually there's nothing special about it, it's just the place where our Sun God Temple founder received the Taihao Jinque Divine Edict back in the day."

  The divine chapter descended from heaven, with a shocking momentum. The ancestors were the first to come and obtain it, and later took it as the foundation to create the Sun Method. Next to the Tian Du mountain range, we opened up the Taiyang Shen Gong lineage in the desolate valley, which was named Fusang Valley.

  Ning Feng looked around as he walked deeper into the valley, and everything he saw confirmed Shen Zhaoxuan's words - this Fosang Valley was indeed nothing special.

  All the way, he met several fellow apprentices who were also newly promoted, each with a gloomy face, as if they had just lost their parents, and greeted him weakly.

  No matter who it is, they are practicing with great enthusiasm. Being called to participate in some task without feeling depressed would be a miracle.

  Mount Fuji's valley appears misty and hazy from the outside, but as you walk deeper inside, it suddenly clears up, the mist disperses, and it becomes refreshingly cool.

  Not yet at the very center, in the second half of the journey, Ning Feng was almost always walking with his head raised, looking up while walking.

  "Tsk tsk tsk, good fellow, it's really big, indeed worthy of being the spiritual root of heaven and earth, the ancient bronze tree."

  The wind was rustling with admiration, but I couldn't fully appreciate the shocking feeling until I saw it with my own eyes yesterday when Shen Zhaoxuan was talking about it.

  Originally there were no trees in Fuso Valley. The Shinto priests who came after the founder thought that since it was named Fuso Valley, not having a keyaki tree would be unconvincing.

  The Fuso tree's spiritual root is nowhere to be found, but there are still other spiritual roots available.

  Seniors heard that the demon clan has a divine tree, called Qingtong ancient tree, as big as the heavenly spirit species in the distant ancient barbaric era. They killed their way into the Ten Thousand Great Mountains and had a battle with the various demon kings. After moving this ancient tree back, they planted it in Fusan Valley.

  Ning Feng was already speechless when he heard the four words "done once" at that time. Having entered the Temple of the Sun God for only a few days, his ears were about to produce silk cocoons. The reputation of the Seven Sects shouldn't be something that can be "done", right?

  At this moment in front of Ning Feng, the towering trees that pierced the clouds were the ancient bronze trees mentioned by Shen Zhaoxuan.

  The tree stands tall, with not a single leaf in sight. The trunk is as thick as it can be hugged by dozens of people, and the branches stretch out in all directions at an angle. The entire body is a deep green color, like it was cast in bronze and left to stand for thousands of years.

  "What a magnificent sight!"

  Ning Feng nodded his head in admiration, and in the distance ahead, he could already see fellow disciples standing sparsely under the ancient bronze tree.

  "It's both majestic and ingenious in its use of all things, no wonder the seniors of Shen Gong wanted to snatch it from the hands of the demon tribe."

  Simply being big doesn't necessarily mean you have a noble spirit.

  Ning Feng's mind flashed back to what Shen Zhaoxuan said yesterday about the origin of the bronze ancient tree, and before he could ask, Ning Feng took the initiative to say a long string...

  "The Bronze Ancient Tree is indeed the spiritual root of heaven and earth, it has a special property, which is that it can graft all yang attribute plants, as long as there are no other special requirements, they can grow very well on it."

  One mother can plant ten thousand plants.

  At that time, Shen Gong thought that the bronze ancient tree was also invited to Fusang Valley, so he might as well plant some more things. After thinking for a while, he chose a kind of rare fruit called Taiyang Fruit, which is what you are going to pick this time.

  The sun fruit can be refined into a spiritual wine, which can slowly change the constitution when consumed, gradually leaning towards a pure yang body. It is highly beneficial for all practitioners of pure yang attribute techniques.

  Then, Senior Shen Gong went to retrieve the seeds of the Sun Fruit... Cough cough, and brought them back. At that time, it was said that there were some issues, and all the Sun Fruits outside were cut off at the roots, becoming exclusive to our Sun God Temple."

  Yesterday, when it was mentioned here, Ning Feng and Shen Zhaoxuan, two sworn brothers, looked at each other in dismay, then simultaneously turned their heads away, clearing their throats a few times. One didn't ask further, the other didn't say more, and they just let it pass like that.

  It's really impossible to go on talking about this.

  "Hmm, Jingong's way of doing things is really..."

  Ning Feng couldn't help but look strange, and it wasn't until he thought of his own family being one of them that he felt at ease and praised: "Domineering!"

  "What's that liquor called again? Oh, I remember, it's 'Drunken Golden Crow'."

  At the mention of this name, Ning Feng felt that the Sun God Temple was indeed a place where talents emerged in large numbers. Just look at the name, Jinyu can also get drunk, and for those who cultivate all yang-based techniques, the benefits are immeasurable.

  It is said that the Shinto shrine produces a limited quantity of sake every year, which is sold outside and is extremely valuable. Every bottle of sake that flows out of the shrine is priceless, bringing countless profits to the shrine every year.

  "Huh?"

  Ning Feng arrived under the ancient bronze tree, and before he could even lift his head to appreciate it, he felt that the atmosphere seemed off. A group of newly admitted disciples were all lowering their heads, staring at their toes as if there was money on the ground to be picked up.

  "What's going on?"

  He looked around blankly for a moment, and when he finally understood, his heart skipped a beat.

  Under the ancient bronze tree, a small figure was blocked in the shade of the tree and had just not noticed. It was an eight or nine-year-old girl who sat on a mat with her legs crossed, her expression seeming somewhat unfriendly.

  "It's Tian Yue Tong Mu."

  Ning Feng did not expect that this time the person in charge would be such a one.

  In legend, among the nine mountain masters of Shen Gong, the most eccentric and difficult to serve is Tian Yue Tong Lao, the master of Tian Yue Peak.

  "It's said that Tiān Yuè Tóng Gū has some unclear relationship with Zhǎng Jiào Zhēn Rén..."

  The thought had just flashed through her mind when Ning Feng hastily extinguished it in its infancy. A young girl's appearance, an elderly man's demeanor, these two together... the scene was too unbearable to look at.

  Don't even mention looking, Ning Feng didn't dare to think about it, heaven knows what kind of divine abilities these true person-level golden elixir masters have, if his thoughts were to be discovered, then the consequences would be disastrous.

  His mind was racing fast, and his movements were even faster. As soon as he found Tian Yue Tong Ju, he was about to go forward and pay his respects, but she stopped him with a wave of her hand in a bad mood.

  "Twenty-nine, who's missing one?"

  The little girl Tian Yue opened her mouth, and her voice was as tender as possible, soft and sweet to listen to, like a lovely little sister pouting.

  His lips twitched at the corners and he hastily lowered his head, afraid that someone would notice something was amiss.

  His eyes swept over, and in this instant, he made a general movement that was at least half of the new disciples.

  "I've heard that if a young girl's voice sounds like an old woman, she's in a terrible mood; but if her voice sounds like an elderly lady, she's in a great mood. I wonder if this is true?"

  Ning Feng's mind wandered, but he quickly calmed down and discreetly swept his gaze over all the new disciples present.

  At a glance, he had already figured out who hadn't arrived yet.

  It's really too familiar.

  "What's wrong with Chen Xiwei?!"

  "Why didn't she come? What happened?"

  The wind blows and can't be stopped, the heavenly moon is on the other side of the mountain, looking back at the time when I entered the valley, there is no one in sight.

  Chen Xiwei is the first of this generation's newly promoted disciples. How could she possibly hide from Tianyue Tongyu?

  She was just about to erupt when a "ding" sound came from her waist, like the collision of a ring pendant.

  Ning Feng and the other disciples all saw that at the moment when the sound came out, a jade pendant on Tian Yue Tong's waist shone with a bright purple color, flashing like purple eyes.

  "What is this?"

  The wind and fog swirled around, but among the new disciples, several from noble families looked bewildered, some with insufficient composure even letting out an "ah" of envy.

  The heavenly moon fairy was about to speak when she stopped herself, impatiently pulling down her jade pendant and sticking it to her forehead.

  The next moment, with a speed visible to the naked eye, Tian Yue Tong's face sank, and it was iron-green, how crazy.

  "Too much deception!"

  The Celestial Maiden flung the purple jade pendant to the ground, and the little girl's body began to shake violently, as if her lungs were about to burst. In a shrill voice, she said: "Shen old scoundrel, it was you who made the proposal, and it is also you who broke the rules. Miss will not let you off so easily."

  "Ah-choo! Your disciple is about to go into seclusion, and our disciples are just idle, huh?"

  "I'm so angry I could die!"

  The Heavenly Maiden gazed at him with a look that seemed to suggest she was about to jump up and trample the purple jade pendant again, but fortunately restrained herself. Her face turned bright red as she stretched out her hand and beckoned, and the jade pendant flew back into her palm.

  She brought the jade pendant to her lips, and a childish voice suddenly burst out: "Tianji, Tianxing, Tianyun...... Shēn old rascal is playing tricks, wait until I'm done with things here, we'll go together to have a good 'chat' with him."

  "Isn't it great to have finally found a true master?!"

  The Tian Yue Tong Ju coldly laughed and hung the purple jade pendant back on her waist, looking at the disciples below with a stunned expression, their mouths agape as if they could swallow an egg. She said: "Chen Xi is in closed-door cultivation and can't come, so it's just you twenty-nine."

  Ning Feng and others had long understood the situation, so they all nodded in agreement, not daring to say a word more, lest they be blamed by mistake.

  They were still fantasizing about the scene where the other mountain masters of the Temple of the Sun God would join forces with Shen Bu Yi to "chat" with them, but Tian Yue Tong Ju quickly and clearly assigned tasks to them in three to five minutes.

  It's quite simple, just picking all the sun fruits from the ancient bronze tree now, only a bit more in quantity...

  "One hundred thousand!"

  Tian Yue Tong Mu's gaze swept over the crowd, and she coldly hummed: "Three days' time, three days later, if there is still one fruit left on the tree, you will all be confined for three years. Within those three years, stay within the sect and cultivate well, learn how to love and cherish each other, and don't go anywhere else."

  Ning Feng and others looked at each other in dismay, finally understanding how their elders planned to make them get along.

  Everyone simultaneously made the same action: they lifted their heads, looked up at the sky, no, towards the top of the ancient tree.

  To be honest, it's no different from looking up at the sky. The ancient tree towers into the clouds, and no matter how you look at it, you can't see the highest point.

  The whole ancient bronze tree is shrouded in countless dense light spots, which look like countless fireflies when viewed from the ground.

  Tianyue Tongmu had said before that it was called the "Sunbird", a kind of insect that coexisted with the Sun Fruit. If you wanted to pick the fruit, you would have to get past them first.

  "In other words......" Ning Feng couldn't help but wipe his non-existent sweat, "You have to climb on the towering, cloud-reaching, smooth and slippery ancient bronze tree, while also guarding against the sunbirds, picking fruits, and most importantly, helping and protecting your fellow disciples!"

  "If there are too few people, even three heads and six arms can't pick all the fruit in three days..."

  Ning Feng thought of everyone being busy and flustered, with scorched heads and having to rescue each other, and felt that one brain was worth two big ones.

  "Also..."

  The Heavenly Moon Old Ancestor raised her second finger, shaking it at the crowd, "I have a ring that was accidentally pulled onto the highest branch of an ancient tree. It's made from the essence of the Sun God Stone Crystal. Whoever retrieves it for me can come to the Heavenly Moon Peak in the future and I will personally craft a magical artifact for them."

  With a "brush" sound, everyone's eyes lit up.

  Tianyue Tongmu, as the top alchemy master of the Sun God Palace, was particularly skilled at refining special artifacts that complemented the nine methods and thirteen transformations of the palace. She personally crafted these artifacts, a privilege not afforded to the other mountain masters.

  This is more than enough as a reward for being first.

  Although it's difficult, it's not all bad; even the wind can be invigorating, and love can conquer first place.

  "Now, let's start!"

  The fairy of heaven and moon obviously had limited patience, after saying things clearly, her small foot lightly tapped on the ground.

  "Ah~~~~"

  Ning Feng and the others cried out in surprise as a burst of energy erupted from the ground, causing the earth beneath their feet to become soft and elastic, sending them flying into the air, soaring to a height of over a hundred zhang.

  All of a sudden, everyone was busy grabbing onto the nearest branch, and then trouble came.

  "Damn it!"

  Ning Feng had just lifted his head when a flower appeared before his eyes. A large thumb-sized, bird-like winged insect with a bee-like body was charging towards his eyes with a fierce expression.