Chapter 1721 (Raw 1732): Hidden Cultivation
After Xiao Chen, Hua Yunfeng, and the others returned to their sect, the calm sea bubbled noisily.
A while later, black lotus flower petals appeared on the surface of the sea before forming a complete black lotus.
"Whoos.h.!.+"
The moment the black lotus formed, the Black Lotus Church Holy Son"s naked body appeared within it. He took a large gulp of breath, appearing extremely weak.
The Black Lotus Church Holy Son"s cultivation had dropped from peak Major Primal Core Realm to peak Minor Primal Core Realm—one complete cultivation realm.
"That was dangerous. I nearly died in this Fiendish Demon Battlefield."
The Black Lotus Church Holy Son felt some lingering fear. If not for crus.h.i.+ng the Buddhist prayer beads at the final critical moment, activating the Undying Seal in it, he might have fallen in this Fiendish Demon Battlefield.
"Xiao Chen, you really startled me. I will definitely obtain the Demonic Bone Śarīra. The grudge between us will definitely not end so easily. It is not over yet!"
A light flashed in the Black Lotus Church Holy Son"s eyes. Xiao Chen"s figure appeared in his mind. He wished that he could rend Xiao Chen"s body and extract the Demonic Bone Śarīra.
After a long time, the black lotus bore the Holy Son Ming Xuan into the air, heading for the Starry Heavens. He needed to return to the Black Lotus Church to recover from his injuries.
---
After receiving the news at the Purple Flame Sect, the Purple Flame Sect"s Sect Master personally led the various sect elders to the foot of the main peak to welcome Xiao Chen"s group.
Such things rarely happened in the history of the Purple Flame Sect.
The scene of the Sect Master personally welcoming the disciples returning from the Fiendish Demon Battlefield was an uncommon sight.
The Purple Flame Sect"s Sect Master was a gray-robed old man named Duan Ya. His aura was withdrawn, preventing others from making out his strength.
However, Xiao Chen knew that the Sect Master had reached the late-stage Starry Sky Stage many years ago and was exceptionally strong.
"You truly live up to being Martial Uncle Ye"s junior brother. The sect is blessed to have you!"
Xiao Chen performed a cupped-fist salute and replied, "Sect Master Duan is too polite."
Duan Ya did not say much more. He smiled and said, "Go on first. Martial Uncle has already been waiting for you for a long time. When we return, I will discuss with the various Elders how to reward you."
Be it s.n.a.t.c.hing the Dao Tool or suppressing the Divine Firmament Sect disciples, it invisibly raised the Purple Flame Sect"s Luck.
These dealt a huge blow to the Divine Firmament Sect, especially defeating Shangguan Lei. To the Purple Flame Sect, this was a very joyous thing.
This was how Luck increased or decreased.
The Divine Firmament Sect had long been suppressing the Purple Flame Sect, to the point of frustration. The Purple Flame Sect believed that after this, the situation would turn around.
Senior Brother is looking for me?
Xiao Chen did not dare to be slow. After saying his goodbyes to the rest, he headed quickly for the summit.
About seven minutes later, Xiao Chen reached the seven-colored fog encasing the peak.
When Ye Zifeng saw Xiao Chen arrive, he nodded gently, gesturing for Xiao Chen to sit down.
"Senior Brother, why were you looking for me urgently?" Xiao Chen immediately asked.
Ye Zifeng answered honestly, "You just came back from the Fiendish Demon Battlefield, so I should not have sought you out. However, I really need to do so now. Tomorrow, I will be leaving the Purple Flame Sect."
"Where are you going?"
"The Central Great Realm!"
"However, Senior Brother, what about your injury?" Xiao Chen frowned slightly. When Ye Zifeng fought with the Black Lotus Church"s Sect Venerate, he had been injured, and his cultivation regressed as a result, falling from Holy Venerate to peak Star Venerate.
Ye Zifeng smiled faintly and revealed some of his aura.
A vast and boundless sagely aura leaked out. It was like Ye Zifeng was an ancient sage, n.o.ble and respected, appearing very pure.
"Holy Light Stage?"
Ye Zifeng nodded. "That"s right. I never despaired after getting injured by the Black Lotus Church"s Sect Venerate. This is because I know that fortune and disaster come hand in hand. To me, that was not a bad thing. When you entered the Fiendish Demon Battlefield, an old friend visited, bringing a gift. Not only did my injuries recover, but my strength improved further."
Xiao Chen said sincerely, "Congratulations, Senior Brother!"
Xiao Chen"s senior brother got injured because of him. It was great that Ye Zifeng had now gained this stroke of luck due to that disaster.
Xiao Chen asked probingly, "Senior Brother, why are you going to the Central Great Realm?"
"To make a breakthrough to the Sovereign Stage. It is nearly impossible to become a Sovereign Personage in this Grave Sea. Only by entering the Central Great Realm will I have an opportunity."
When Xiao Chen heard that, he found it strange because he could not tell that his senior brother particularly desired power. The impression Ye Zifeng gave him was more of indifference, having no desire.
For some reason, this changed.
Ye Zifeng continued, "I will be leaving tomorrow. So, if you have any requests, you can tell me now. Senior Brother will help with whatever I can."
Xiao Chen felt embarra.s.sed. How could he be thick-skinned enough to make more requests? Ye Zifeng already helped him too much.
"Many thanks, Senior Brother. However, Junior Brother had some fortuitous encounters in the Fiendish Demon Battlefield already. The black lotus mark in my body was also completely removed. For now, I have no other requests."
Ye Zifeng narrowed his eyes at the saber at Xiao Chen"s side. "Your saber…"
"The Tyrant Saber. This is the Dao Tool I obtained in the Ten Thousand Weapon Pavilion."
Xiao Chen stepped forward and handed the Tyrant Saber to Ye Zifeng with both hands.
Ye Zifeng held the Tyrant Saber and felt it. Then, he nodded slightly. "A good saber. This is a Superior Grade Dao Tool. Although it contains only the Thunder Dao, it is in perfect harmony with the word "tyrant. These two are naturally compatible. The Thunder Dao takes the path of being tyrannical, ferocious, and decisive. It is simple, straightforward, eager, and nimble.
"However, do not take the wrong path. Otherwise, you will end up like that saber idiot of the Divine Firmament Sect."
The "saber idiot of the Divine Firmament Sect" referred to the Thunder Saber Xiang Tian, Shangguan Lei"s master.
Ye Zifeng handed the saber back to Xiao Chen. Then, he entered deep thought before saying, "Your level of mastery over the saber is very high. However, it gives me the feeling of being flashy and hollow inside."
"Flashy and hollow inside?" Xiao Chen felt shocked. This was the first time someone described his saber skill that way.
However, since it was Ye Zifeng saying this, there had to be some reason for it. He would not say so with no evidence at all.
Ye Zifeng did not find Xiao Chen"s expression strange. "You have not met a true expert with the saber. The Grave Sea Cl.u.s.ter ranks within the top hundred of the many cl.u.s.ters of the Great Thousand Realms. However, compared to the Central Great Realm, it is not worth mentioning at all. Your generation does not have even a single expert in the saber here."
After pausing for a moment, Ye Zifeng continued, "Your skill in the saber is exquisite, and your comprehension ability is astonis.h.i.+ng. However, your saber strikes are not heavy, lacking solidity."
Xiao Chen pondered on this. He had long felt that his skills with the saber had reached a bottleneck. However, he did not know where.
After Ye Zifeng"s reminder, Xiao Chen seemed to understand something, thinking of something.
"What should I do?" he asked sincerely.
Ye Zifeng advised softly, "Seek out experts of your generation and have an exchange with them. You have to find experts of the saber who are your contemporaries and are truly evenly matched with you. You have to comprehend these things for yourself."
After the two chatted for a while and it was about time for Xiao Chen to depart, Xiao Chen asked, "Senior Brother, if I go to the Central Great Realm in the future, where should I go to look for you?"
"The Tianwu Dynasty!" Ye Zifeng replied calmly.
However, when Xiao Chen heard that, he was stunned. Those words were quite familiar.
So, it turned out that there really was a Tianwu Dynasty in the Central Great Realm. Xiao Chen could not help thinking about the descendant of the Kunlun Realm"s Tianwu Dynasty, Chu Chaoyun.
Xiao Chen wondered if the Central Great Realm"s Tianwu Dynasty was connected to the Kunlun Realm"s Tianwu Dynasty.
He asked a follow-up question. "Senior Brother, who established the Tianwu Dynasty?"
Ye Zifeng was surprised by the question. "The four Immortal Dynasties of the Central Great Realm were established by the Great Desolate Eon bloodlines working in concert to resist the sects. The Tianwu Dynasty was established by the ancient Chu Royal Clan."
Xiao Chen nodded silently, but waves surged in his heart; he was extremely shocked.
Chu Royal Clan…Chu Chaoyun. It looks like it is not a coincidence.
Xiao Chen said goodbye to his senior brother and returned to his courtyard. He could not calm his emotions.
If what Xiao Chen"s senior brother said was true, then the Tianwu Emperor that established the Tianwu Dynasty in the Sky Dome Realm must have been an expert of the Central Great Realm"s Chu Royal Clan.
However, Xiao Chen was not clear on why someone like that would enter an abandoned land.
Was it to lie low, waiting out difficult times? Or perhaps to explore? Or perhaps that person was purely bored?
Xiao Chen also had no idea where Chu Chaoyun was now. Aside from the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, only Xiao Chen and Chu Chaoyun left the Kunlun Realm.
Xiao Chen shook his head and stopped thinking about these things.
Right now, the most important thing was still to raise his own strength, to properly digest the fortuitous encounters he obtained in the Fiendish Demon Battlefield.
Previously, Xiao Chen had not been strong enough. Now that he had advanced to the Primal Core Realm, he could test out some things.
Among the harvest from the Fiendish Demon Battlefield was the Tyrant Saber.
Xiao Chen had not even brought out ten percent of this saber"s might. It still had a lot of potential for him to dig out. There were also a lot of aspects about the Thunder Dao contained within it that he could study.
After that was his cultivation. He needed to temper it, to stabilize his current cultivation realm.
Finally, there was the Earthen Fire Golden Lotus. After absorbing the Earthen Fire Golden Lotus, he would work on comprehending Entering h.e.l.l, the final move in the Mahāmāyā Abstinence Violation Saber Technique"s manual.
In the following days, Xiao Chen remained busy, familiarizing himself with the Tyrant Saber in his hand every day.
Xiao Chen used this saber to evolve all the Saber Techniques he knew, using the Army Breaking Saber Technique as the main component and the Flawless Saber Technique as supplement to form a complete Saber Technique.
The Army Breaking Saber Technique became even more compatible with the Tyrant Saber. With these two combined, Xiao Chen felt that he could bring out nearly twenty percent of the Tyrant Saber"s might.
It had to be said that this discovery turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
After familiarizing himself with the Tyrant Saber for half a month, Xiao Chen could finally bring out twenty percent of its might. The might of the Army Breaking Saber Technique also reached unprecedented levels.
The upper echelon of the Divine s.h.i.+eld Army probably would not be able to tell that the Army Breaking Saber Technique that Xiao Chen practiced had its roots in their Thousand Army Sword Technique. Now, it was already an entirely different Martial Technique.