Chapter 1776 (Raw 1788): Venerable"s Painstaking Effort
"Might you be Senior Thunder Saber Xiang Tian?!" Xiao Chen shouted under the heavy pressure.
"Whoos.h.!.+"
The boundless electrical light scattered, revealing an aloof person hovering in the air.
It was the Thunder Saber Xiang Tian. He was the one who made a move, killing the old man pursuing Xiao Chen with one saber strike.
Xiao Chen showed a stunned expression. Unexpectedly, it was really the Thunder Saber Xiang Tian.
"You are rather smart. How did you guess that it was me?"
"Within the vicinity, Senior is the only one who can bring out the Thunder Dao"s Dao Might and have such exquisite saber skills. I only wonder whether Senior is here to kill me or save me."
Xiao Chen narrowed his eyes at the other party. He did not relax the caution in his heart at all.
"Naturally, I"m not here to kill you. If I wanted to kill you, I would have already attacked the day Ye Zifeng left. However, that bunch of idiots at the sect seem to think that Ye Zifeng won"t return after leaving. So, they rushed to make a move. They think they can hide this from the world."
The Thunder Saber Xiang Tian said seriously, "When I return to the sect, I will definitely punish everyone involved in this matter. Can we write off today"s matter and leave it at this?"
"Senior is too polite."
Xiao Chen looked at this Thunder Saber Xiang Tian. He felt that this person was quite bold and straightforward, rather honest.
"I"m not being polite. I just fear Ye Zifeng. Without Ye Zifeng, I would be the first one to kill you."
"Whoos.h.!.+"
Right after saying that, the Thunder Saber Xiang Tian left. The sea regained its calm as if nothing at all had happened.
Unexpectedly, the ambush ended this way.
Honestly speaking, Xiao Chen had not fought to his heart"s content yet.
Now that his strength had improved, he needed a strong opponent to face, to see where his limits were. The old man that chased him to kill him clearly fit the bill.
However, that earlier exchange gave Xiao Chen more confidence.
Even a Star Venerate Elder of a Rank 4 sect with deep acc.u.mulations could not do anything to Xiao Chen. Even without advancing to the Starry Sky Stage, Xiao Chen could hold his own against Star Venerates.
Xiao Chen did not rush to leave. He closed his eyes and carefully pondered the old man"s killing move, the lightning palace.
Infusing the will of soul into the killing move. This was the first time Xiao Chen saw such a thing.
Was it done like this?
Xiao Chen activated his will of soul in his Soul Pool, then infused it into the surroundings, building it up and not unleas.h.i.+ng it.
Then, he slowly spread out his saber intent, merging it with the world and that will of soul.
"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"
Endless saber hums suddenly appeared in the surroundings.
In the next instant, Xiao Chen opened his eyes and flicked his finger.
"Whoos.h.!.+"
The boundless saber intent containing the will of soul in the world gathered and turned into a strand of resplendent saber Qi.
The saber light flickered, and the entire world turned dark, immediately reduced to black and white.
Only that saber light appeared resplendent, dazzling and clear.
However, this saber Qi lasted for only a thousandth of a second before disappearing.
Xiao Chen revealed a gratified expression. It turned out that was how it was. It was as he expected.
Although this move did not last long at all, it verified his line of thought.
Once the direction was right, it was just a matter of time before he truly merged his will of soul with his saber intent.
That earlier saber strike brought to mind the Kunlun Realm"s Yellow Springs Road.
Xiao Chen remembered the saber light that the Azure Emperor had left behind there.
Could it be that the Kunlun Realm"s Azure Emperor had already gained the strength of a Star Venerate?
This thought was truly incredible. Xiao Chen shook his head, finding it somewhat ridiculous.
The Azure Emperor should have used some other method to achieve such an effect.
---
On the other side, the Thunder Saber Xiang Tian, who had not gone far, felt the saber light that disappeared in a flash.
He showed a stunned expression for a long time before recovering his wits.
"This person"s comprehension ability is really astonis.h.i.+ng. I nearly wavered on my earlier decision."
A murderous intent flashed in the Thunder Saber Xiang Tian"s eyes before fading. He figured that such a person would definitely not remain in the Purple Flame Sect for long.
Such a person would go to the Central Great Realm, where, with his strength, trouble would eventually find him, even if he did not cause any problems.
The Thunder Saber Xiang Tian"s murderous intent disappeared. Then, he shook his head and continued flying back to the Divine Firmament Sect.
When the Thunder Saber Xiang Tian thought about the Divine Firmament Sect"s Sect Master, his face sank reflexively. The Sect Master was really too foolish.
To think that the Sect Master tried to hide such a huge decision like this! He must have already forgotten about the horror that is Ye Zifeng.
At just the thought of Ye Zifeng, some hidden shadows in Xiang Tian"s heart inevitably resurfaced.
That is a truly ruthless person. This pair of senior brother and junior brother are indeed the same kind of people.
---
Three days later, Xiao Chen arrived at the Potala Mountain blessed land.
A fog spread on the sea. There was a vague Buddhist light in the fog, illuminating the surroundings.
At every moment, believers rushed over to the nearby islands.
As they faced this seemingly miraculous scene, they bowed in wors.h.i.+p, praying sincerely.
When Xiao Chen stated his ident.i.ty on the outskirts of the Potala Mountain, the expression of the person responsible for receiving honored guests changed right away.
"You are Benefactor Xiao Chen?"
"Authenticity guaranteed."
"I have heard of your reputation. However, if you want to meet the Venerable Xuan Bei, you still have to follow the rules. I will need to inform him first. The Venerable Xuan Bei has been in closed-door cultivation for a long time and does not meet guests."
"That is not a problem."
Xiao Chen felt certain. He believed that Xuan Bei would come out to meet him.
Indeed, Xiao Chen waited for only fifteen minutes before that monk walked back with a smile.
"Benefactor Xiao is truly extraordinary. I will lead the way for you."
Xiao Chen smiled faintly and stood up to follow the monk and enter the Potala Mountain.
The journey brought them past many peaks and took a long time.
However, Xiao Chen got to enjoy the scenery of the Buddhist sect blessed land, so it was not too boring.
Soon, Xiao Chen saw a few martial monks exchanging moves with each other, which gave him a deeper understanding of Buddhist Martial Techniques.
"We have arrived. Benefactor Xiao, please enter."
The monk pushed open the doors to a meditation room and performed an inviting gesture.
Xiao Chen took a large stride in, and a fragrance immediately welcomed him. His mind became much clearer and alert. The effect was indescribably wondrous.
The Venerable Xuan Bei sat cross-legged before a red table.
There were tea and incense on the table, with two strands of smoke swirling about that lent a certain charm.
"How rare. To think that Benefactor Xiao would come and visit me before leaving."
Xiao Chen picked up the teacup and sampled the tea. Then, he smiled and said, "Venerable, weren"t you in closed-door cultivation? You seem to have up-to-date information about me."
"Earlier, when I heard that Benefactor was coming, I got people to report on your recent activities, and I knew that you would probably be leaving." The Venerable Xuan Bei"s words were slow and drawn-out; there was no grief or joy in them.
However, Xiao Chen still detected lingering worry and self-reproach in the Venerable Xuan Bei"s expression.
"Venerable, is something troubling you?"
Xuan Bei raised his eyebrow at Xiao Chen. Then, he sighed softly and said, "There is no need to hide it from you. You probably guessed it already. Are you here to blame me for taking away your saber manual?"
Xiao Chen shook his head. "No. Although I felt dissatisfied about losing my saber manual, Venerable gave me Spirit Jades and the Golden Letter. I can still understand Venerable"s painstaking efforts."
When Xuan Bei looked at Xiao Chen"s expression, he sighed helplessly. "If only Zhen Yuan had half your mental state, he would not have fallen to his current state. I am also to blame. He had long since wanted to go to the Hidden Spirit Temple, but I kept thinking that his Buddhist cultivation was still insufficient and that the time was not right yet, so I had him bide in patience. I did not know that this planted a heart demon in him."
Xiao Chen placed down his teacup and said, "This time, aside from catching up about the past, I also came to tell Venerable about something. It is related to Zhen Yuan."
"You have seen him!"
The Venerable Xuan Bei raised his voice, his expression changing drastically. It was clear that he cared a lot about this disciple.
"I have seen him."
Xiao Chen nodded and honestly told the Venerable Xuan Bei about his encounter with Zhen Yuan in the underground dragon city. However, he did not mention his connection with the Faux G.o.d Flame.
When the Venerable Xuan Bei heard that Zhen Yuan absorbed the demonic nature of the Black Dragon King, his complexion paled.
The Venerable Xuan Bei let out a long sigh and appeared to have aged by a decade.
"Benefactor, many thanks for telling me this."
When the Venerable Xuan Bei bowed to him, Xiao Chen quickly stood up and bowed back. "Venerable is too serious. Venerable saved me once. I hold great grat.i.tude to you. This is nothing."
After thinking for a long time, the Venerable Xuan Bei said, "Benefactor Xiao, will you promise me something?"
Xiao Chen felt curious and asked, "What is it?"
"If you meet Zhen Yuan, could you spare his life and help him leave the sea of bitterness, if possible?"
The Venerable Xuan Bei looked at Xiao Chen with an extremely serious expression.