The days crept by, and another month pa.s.sed. The quality of Xiao Chen’s saber soul improved yet again.
According to rumors, when a saber soul reached one hundred percent comprehension, one’s gaze could take form, turning into a saber, and kill with one look.
Right now, with the enrichment of Xiao Chen’s saber soul, the most obvious change was the strengthening of its aura. It already surpa.s.sed that of a Great Perfection quasi-Emperor. Yue Bingyun estimated that even if a Consummation quasi-Emperor stood in front of Xiao Chen, they would feel a soul-deep fear.
Xiao Chen had also rapidly polished his Thunder Dragon Steps to Great Perfection. He could take eighteen steps within one breath. With each step, he would leave behind a lingering dragon-shaped figure.
His figure became like a dragon as he radiated electric light, putting the domineering nature of this Movement Technique on full display.
In a fight, this Movement Technique could enhance Xiao Chen’s aura and momentum, perfectly complementing his various Saber Techniques.
By relying on the Essence Stones, Xiao Chen had also built up his cultivation remarkably. In a mere month, he was already very close to the peak of Great Perfection quasi-Emperor.
He had upgraded his strength in every aspect. However, while he was feeling smug about his progress and preparing to charge up the deep chasm, he received a piece of rather bad news.
In the past month, Yue Bingyun finally finished reading the Life and Death Art. After that, the information she gave Xiao Chen dealt him a hard blow.
Cultivating the Life and Death Art to the ninth layer could help a quasi-Emperor condense a Heart of an Emperor in advance. However, there was a condition. One needed two items: the Flower of Life and the Death Fruit.
This condition was not really strange. Many special Martial Techniques and Cultivation Techniques in the world required certain natural treasures before one could practice or cultivate them.
However, it was really unfortunate that these two natural treasures went extinct ten thousand years ago.
Without the Flower of Life and the Death Fruit, cultivating even the first layer of the Life and Death Art would be impossible.
Yue Bingyun closed the Life and Death Art’s secret manual and said, “I initially thought that it would just be harder to cultivate the Life and Death Art without these two natural treasures. After reading through the entire manual, I found that it is impossible to properly cultivate the Life and Death Art without the Flower of Life and the Death Fruit.
“From what I recall, the Flower of Life came from the Human-Demon Sea, which is the Blood Sword Sovereign’s homeland. There should still be some there. However, the Death Fruit should be completely gone already. No Death Fruits have appeared in the past ten thousand years. Several Ghost Race Martial Emperors have been looking to purchase Death Fruits at high prices. If there were any, it would have appeared already.”
“Human-Demon Sea? What is that place?”
Yue Bingyun explained to Xiao Chen. Only then did he learn that it was a place where people like the Blood Sword Sovereign lived, people who were Demon mixed-bloods: human and Demon, or Fiend and Demon.
Xiao Chen received the Life and Death Art from Yue Bingyun’s hand. Then, he started reading for himself. He felt somewhat depressed. This was a treasure that he had spent a lot of time to obtain. Unexpectedly, this was the result. It was really unsatisfactory.
Just at this moment, Ao Jiao, who was in the Immortal Spirit Ring, appeared to have come to a big decision. Then, she said, Xiao Chen, I can help you obtain the Death Fruit.
You have the Death Fruit?
Not me. Back then, Sang Mu killed a Ghost Race Martial Emperor. Among the trophies was one Death Fruit. After you cultivate to the peak of Great Perfection quasi-Emperor, I will bring you to where Sang Mu’s inheritance is.
Xiao Chen rejoiced in his heart. He managed to find the location of the Death Fruit that Yue Bingyun said was nonexistent. All that remained was to go to the Human-Demon Sea to get the Flower of Life.
After that, he would be able to cultivate the Life and Death Art. There was still hope.
Don’t be too happy so soon. The Human-Demon Sea is not as simple as you think it to be. It is hard to say whether you can obtain the Flower of Life or not, Ao Jiao said somewhat worriedly.
What’s wrong? You’ve been to the Human-Demon Sea before?
What nonsense! Of course, I have. Sang Mu’s inheritance is in the Human-Demon Sea, so how could I have never been there?
This surprised Xiao Chen somewhat. Ao Jiao had been averse to letting Xiao Chen go and get the Thunder Emperor’s inheritance. He wondered if her reluctance was because the Thunder Emperor’s inheritance was in the Human-Demon Sea, aside from some other special reason.
He noticed that Ao Jiao was unwilling to say more, so he did not ask further.
For the next few days, Xiao Chen did some simple reading of the Life and Death Art. With the pressure of the enhanced gravity, his Movement Technique improved further. He felt like he was already capable of leaping out of the deep chasm, so he intended to bring Yue Bingyun out of this place.
“Let’s go!”
Xiao Chen roused Yue Bingyun, who was still cultivating, and informed her of his intent. Reluctance to part with him flashed in her eyes; at the same time, she said apologetically, “It seems like I still need some more time to adjust before I can leave.”
“There is no need to go to all that trouble. I’ll bring you out.”
Before Yue Bingyun understood what Xiao Chen meant, he picked her up and soared into the air, fighting against the hundredfold gravity and flying towards the mouth of the deep chasm.
Yue Bingyun cried out softly at suddenly getting carried. In her fl.u.s.ter, she struggled a little.
Xiao Chen did not say anything. He only held her tightly, not letting her struggle free.
Having spent months here, his physical body was already inured to the environment. After expending a lot of effort in cultivation, he managed to grasp the confidence to go up.
If Xiao Chen were to wait for Yue Bingyun to be able to go up herself, she would take at least another month. Wasting this time was not acceptable to him.
“Stop moving. We will arrive soon.”
After the initial struggle, Yue Bingyun blushed slightly. She felt some change in her emotions and tried to cover it up with a smile. “Fortunately, you did not sling me over your shoulder this time.”
These words were teasing Xiao Chen about when he carried her away from the Treasure Master’s residence without saying a word.
Xiao Chen gave an embarra.s.sed laugh. Even though she was the aloof Holy Daughter, she was not one of those overly conventional n.o.ble girls. This improved his impression of her.
---
Above the deep chasm, Jin Liangqi and the other three Consummation quasi-Emperors were seated cross-legged, guarding the place. When they heard the sound of air tearing apart, they opened their eyes and quickly stood up.
“Prepare to attack!”
These people endured for a long time and had already prepared long ago. When they heard the rus.h.i.+ng wind, a solemn expression appeared on their faces as they unleashed killing Qi, releasing the auras of Consummation quasi-Emperors.
A gale blew, and the four strong auras merged, giving the impression of an endless, intangible mountain range pressing on the deep chasm.
The four waited for Xiao Chen to emerge, and they would suppress him with their full strength and instantly kill him. Various Profound Martial Techniques quickly brewed in their bodies.
Staring at the deep, dark chasm, Jin Liangqi said coldly, “After making us wait for such a long you, you’ve finally come!”
The other three old men evinced a murderous intent in their eyes as well, cold and emotionless. Aside from this, there was some excitement in their hearts, a fiery antic.i.p.ation for the Life and Death Art.
To these old men, working together to deal with two Great Perfection quasi-Emperors would be easy. There would not be any pressure at all.
One Consummation quasi-Emperor could easily crush four or five Great Perfection quasi-Emperors. With four Consummation quasi-Emperors, if they could not take down two Great Perfection quasi-Emperors, it would really be a great joke.
The wind howled, and the sound of air tearing became increasingly piercing and sharper, making others s.h.i.+ver at the sound of it.
The hearts of everybody pounded heavily as they stared at the deep chasm, not daring to relax at all.
An intangible mountain range above the deep chasm layered over each other, giving off a scary, oppressive pressure.
One…two…three…four…
As the sound got closer, the group started counting in their hearts. In less than ten breaths of time, that white-robed bladesman would vanish from this world forever.
Nine!
When the group counted to nine, a fiery light appeared from the deep chasm. A white figure seemed to charge through the chasm’s final barrier.
Because of this white figure’s extreme speed, the air friction caused it to glow with a purple flame.
Jin Liangqi’s eyes lit up, and he immediately roared, “Kill him!”
Jin Liangqi’s voice contained a boundless aura and an overwhelming killing intent. That intangible mountain range of auras bore down, pressing heavily towards the ascending Xiao Chen.
In an instant, the entire s.p.a.ce started trembling violently, shaking and heaving, shocking the heart.
However, to everyone’s surprise, the scene of Xiao Chen cras.h.i.+ng into the mountain range failed to occur. That intangible layered mountain range looked like it pa.s.sed through air and fell into the deep chasm.
This result stupefied the four, rooting them in place. They had planned to use the huge aura to eradicate Xiao Chen’s sharpness first the moment Xiao Chen emerged. Then, they would quickly follow up with all sorts of killing moves to suppress him.
However, the mountain range of auras did not faze Xiao Chen at all, falling instead into the deep chasm.
In that case, there was only one possibility: the White Robed Bladesman was too fast. The instant he broke through the barrier of the deep chasm, his speed multiplied, and he had charged out at the moment the mountain range fell.
Everyone in Jin Liangqi’s group was a Consummation quasi-Emperor who had been through hundreds, even thousands, of battles. Their thoughts were as fast as lightning. After some quick thinking, they immediately came to a conclusion.
“Retreat!”
Their expressions changed at the same time. Then, they pushed off the ground and quickly flew back.
“You think you can run?!”
A cold snort resounded in the air. Then, the group saw that white figure charging over while carrying a girl with an exquisite figure.
“Thunder Dragon Steps!” Electric light shaking the heavens, the body like a dragon.
Amid the electric light, the horrifying aura of Xiao Chen’s saber soul erupted ferociously. He carried Yue Bingyun with his left hand and held his saber with the right. Looking like a peerless killing G.o.d, he stood on the boundless electric light, moving as fast as a meteor.
Xiao Chen’s figure turned illusory as electric light shone everywhere. He swung once with every step, taking a total of twelve steps—twelve swings.
The combination of his thunder saber soul and the Great Perfection Thunder Dragon Steps allowed Xiao Chen to sweep everything before him. With each swing of the saber, he sent a Consummation quasi-Emperor flying.
Xiao Chen was simply too fast, making others feel like he had executed these twelve saber strikes simultaneously.
Jin Liangqi and the other three each received three blows. Their bodies got mangled with electricity flickering on them, paralyzing them and inflicting incredible pain.
The four looked severely injured, but they were not actually fatally injured. The focus of these twelve attacks was on speed, but their might was not as strong as a Martial Technique.
Xiao Chen’s purpose was not to kill these four in one go. Instead, it was to mess up their formation and suppress their auras.
The true killing move came later.
After Jin Liangqi’s group landed, they roared and prepared to counterattack.
However, Xiao Chen did not give these four a chance to make a comeback. If he showed any opening, he would have truly wasted the time he spent cultivating in the deep chasm.