Chapter 2282 Raw 2389 : Unexpected Gain
A clear, jade-green sea suddenly appeared in the dark and desolate world. The water looked pure and clean, reflecting the seven black peaks.
Xiao Chen walked to the seaside with a contemplative expression, not speaking for a long time.
Before coming here, he had heard that there was a sea of bitterness at the edge of this world.
The Hidden Spirit Temple disciples who came here on experiential training could not proceed further upon reaching this place.
There were the temple’s rules on this. However, the bigger reason was that they could not cross it.
This sea was known as the sea of bitterness.
As the Buddhists would say, the sea of bitterness was endless. Since it was endless, one could not cross it.
The seven bitternesses in this world were life, age, sickness, death, resentment, parting from loved ones, and denied desire. This sea gathered the endless bitterness, making it boundless and never-ending.
Xiao Chen once faced a sea of bitterness in the Kunlun Realm. There had been a headless Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva in the sea of bitterness.
There had also been the saber light that the Azure Emperor left behind and countless aggrieved spirits and malicious ghosts crying in pain within the sea of bitterness.
Thus, Xiao Chen was not unfamiliar with the sea of bitterness.
However, this sea of bitterness was different from the Kunlun Realm’s sea of bitterness. Firstly, there was no Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva or boundless aggrieved spirits trapped within it.
Secondly, this sea of bitterness was clear and pure, reflecting the seven black peaks.
Xiao Chen raised his eyebrows slightly as he looked at the third black peak from the left at the opposite sh.o.r.e of the sea of bitterness.
That was his destination. The saber manual of the Mahāmāyā Abstinence Violation Saber Technique’s seventh move was hidden there.
Xu Ye gave Xiao Chen half a month. Now, thirteen days had already pa.s.sed. He had only two days left.
If he got delayed at this sea of bitterness, it would be impossible for him to obtain the saber manual.
Hence, he could not enter this sea of bitterness without being fully confident.
Xiao Chen bent down and scooped up some water. Then, the clear sea slipped through his fingers, dripping down.
Every drop of water showed an upside-down figure of Xiao Chen trapped within it.
“Strange. Is this really the sea of bitterness?”
Xiao Chen felt doubtful. Although many Hidden Spirit Temple disciples said that this was the sea of bitterness, he, who had seen a true sea of bitterness before, felt doubtful and begged to differ on this.
“Whoos.h.!.+”
Xiao Chen sent out a flash of saber light with a flick of his finger. The saber light stuck close to the water surface as it continuously flew forward. It kicked up splashes everywhere it pa.s.sed, endlessly flying forward. Farther, and farther, and farther…
The saber light always remained within Xiao Chen’s vision, unable to fly out of the sea.
“Interesting.”
Xiao Chen caressed his chin, entering deep thought. Then, he tested several other methods to no avail.
Xu Yun and Xu Ye secretly observed Xiao Chen from under the golden Kāśyapa Buddha statue on Spirit Vulture Mountain’s summit. They both showed faint smiles.
“It looks like he is unable to cross the sea.”
“If he cannot cross it, then he cannot blame us for not giving him a chance.”
The two had a relatively open and relaxed att.i.tude towards whether Xiao Chen could get the saber manual or not.
If Xiao Chen could obtain the saber manual, he would grow stronger. At that time, he would have better odds of suppressing the Azure Lotus Church in the Ancient Yan Emperor Tomb.
If Xiao Chen could not find the saber manual copy, it would not spread out of the Buddhist sects.
To the Hidden Spirit Temple, there were benefits either way. Unfortunately, Xu Ming could not think of this.
Just as the two concluded that Xiao Chen could not cross this sea, he took a step and calmly walked over.
“Strange…he figured it out?”
“It can’t be that fast, right?”
Xu Yun and Xu Ye showed some shock, feeling somewhat surprised.
Could it be that Xiao Chen would become the first person in the past few millennia to ascend the black peaks?
Xiao Chen walked to the center of the sea with a calm expression, moving step by step.
Along the way, bitter feelings appeared in his heart. The bitterness he felt in the past years filled his mind.
This was especially so for Liu Ruyue’s figure, moving around like a phantom. He could not obtain what he desired; the pain of parting from his loved one was indescribable.
The intense pain made one’s mind nearly collapse.
No wonder no one could cross it. One had to endure bitterness that could cause one to crumble with every step. Anyone would choose to turn back.
The sh.o.r.e was there if one turned back. However, this sh.o.r.e was not the sh.o.r.e of the other side; it was the starting point.
Xiao Chen looked down. The seawater still looked clear and clean, reflecting the seven black peaks.
Everything looked normal.
However, Xiao Chen’s reflection did not appear in the water. This made Xiao Chen think of the trapped upside-down figures in the water droplets from before.
At that time, every water droplet had his upside-down figure in them. However, his reflection was nowhere to be seen in the entire sea.
Then, Xiao Chen thought about how the many Hidden Spirit Temple disciples quoted different distances for the sea of bitterness.
Xiao Chen already understood. This was not the sea of bitterness but a sea that existed in everyone’s heart.
This was a sea made of all the bitterness in one’s heart.
To get to the black peaks, one had to be able to walk out of one’s own sea of bitterness.
That would explain why every water droplet had Xiao Chen’s reflection trapped within them yet the entire sea did not.
This was because the sea was himself. How could it reflect him?
Those that could not cross could not comprehend this point. They could not figure out that they were trapped in an illusion, trapped within the sea of bitterness in their hearts.
Now that Xiao Chen knew this, it would be easy to cross.
As for how to break this, Xiao Chen had to close his eyes and examine his heart. When he saw the sea in his heart, he naturally could cross it.
Xiao Chen was not in a physical sea of bitterness. It was just an illusion, trapping him in the sea of bitterness within his heart.
“Whoos.h.!.+”
When Xiao Chen opened his eyes, he found himself already at the foot of a black peak.
He looked back and saw the indistinct, expressionless Buddha statue in the distance.
Xiao Chen smiled faintly, knowing that he had crossed the sea of bitterness.
Now, he sized up his surroundings again. After verifying that he was at the foot of the third black peak from the left, he relaxed.
Flowers bloomed at the foot of the mountain. To think that such rare and beautiful flowers grew in this land of sin.
“These are…Blood Spirit Flowers?”
Xiao Chen felt slightly stunned. He had seen these flowers before. The Blood Spirit Flowers contained a pure demonic nature, great nourishment for Demonic Dao cultivators.
That was not important. The most important thing was that these Blood Spirit Flowers bloomed exceptionally beautifully.
These Blood Spirit Flowers had existed for at least ten thousand years. When Xiao Chen looked around, he saw that similar plants were everywhere around the black peak.
The Blood Spirit Flowers at the mountain foot were just bottom-average existences here.
“What a treasure mountain!” Xiao Chen muttered to himself, rejoicing greatly. Since he dual cultivated righteous and demonic, he could freely convert his Divine Energy. Be it Spiritual Energy Divine Energy or Demonic Qi Divine Energy, there was no difference to him.
These natural treasures that the Hidden Spirit Temple monks avoided at all costs were supreme treasures to Xiao Chen.
The bigger pleasant surprise was that no one had come for a very long time. Even if someone did, they did not touch these demonic flowers or demonic fruits.
Xiao Chen looked around the bunch of Blood Spirit Flowers and fixed his gaze on a Blood Spirit Fruit.
Blood Spirit Flowers were extremely rare. However, it was even rarer for them to bear fruit. It was not easy to come by a Blood Spirit Fruit.
Today, Xiao Chen saw a Blood Spirit Fruit with a casual sweep of his surroundings.
He did not bother picking the ten-thousand-year-old Blood Spirit Flowers that other Demonic Dao cultivators considered supreme treasures. He took only this Blood Spirit Fruit.
After picking the Blood Spirit Fruit, Xiao Chen pondered for a moment before consuming it.
Then, he sat down cross-legged and quickly circulated his Demonic Cloud Heaven Swallowing Art.
The Demonic Qi that the Blood Spirit Fruit turned into poured endlessly into his Divine Energy Sea like a gus.h.i.+ng river.
After fifteen minutes, Xiao Chen completely refined the Medicinal Energy of the Blood Spirit Fruit.
He opened his eyes, and a spiritual light flashed in them. This Blood Spirit Fruit was at least ten thousand years old.
With this, his cultivation had increased by ten percent.
Xiao Chen was already a 2-Vein Sovereign Emperor. Yet, his cultivation increased by ten percent in fifteen minutes. How horrifying was this?
However, when he saw the demonic flowers and demonic fruits growing all over the peak, he felt that such an increase was nothing much. If he absorbed them all, he could advance quickly to 3-Vein Sovereign Emperor.
“Even if I do not find the saber manual on this trip, I have already gained a lot.”
Xiao Chen stood up with a faint smile. The demonic plants on this black peak were an enormous pleasant surprise.
Venerable Xu Yun and Abbot Xu Ye probably did not think of this.
Xiao Chen thought to himself, I do not have much time left. I can only absorb the most precious of these demonic flowers and demonic fruits.
I should not bother with anything under ten thousand years old and waste time.
After making up his mind, Xiao Chen frantically harvested the demonic plants on this mountain.
He did not know if these demonic plants would retain their medicinal effects after leaving the black peak, so he refined them on the spot. Over one day, his cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, reaching peak 2-Vein Sovereign Emperor.
It looked like he would break through the limits and shatter his bottleneck soon. Relying on the demonic plants on the black peak, he headed towards 3-Vein Sovereign Emperor. However, Venerable Xu Yun and Abbot Xu Ye, who were on Spirit Vulture Mountain’s summit, started to feel anxious.
As Xiao Chen zealously harvested the demonic plants, cracks started to appear at Spirit Vulture Mountain’s summit, which was replete with Auspicious Signs.
“I did not think of this. We cannot let him continue. The black mountain is losing too much of its demonic nature. If the balance between good and evil is lost, it will be problematic…”