Chapter 867: Returning to Thunder Emperor Valley
It was obvious from the state of Xiao Chen’s clothes that he had been soaking in the sea for a long time. However, the complexion of his skin was even better than Bai Lixi’s. It was like Xiao Chen just fell asleep, certainly a contradictory sight.
Logically speaking, given Xiao Chen’s strength and this commotion, he should have woke up already. However, why were his eyes still shut?
Bai Lixi did not dare to act rashly. He did not know what this brother of his was doing. After thinking for a while, he said, “Turn around. We’ll bring him back to the Heavenly Saber Pavilion.”
“Big Brother, after spending so much time, we are not going to the Deep Sea Battlefield?”
Bai Lixi scolded, “You fool! When this brother of mine wakes up, just any casual benefit that he gives out would be worth more than wandering around in the Deep Sea Battlefield for a hundred years.”
The others felt that this made sense. They immediately and happily turned the s.h.i.+p around, making for the Heavenly Saber Pavilion.
That squinty-eyed skinny cultivator suddenly spoke up. “Have you all noticed that this Xiao Chen is giving off a rather special aura? I just absorbed some of it, and my Mental Energy immediately grew much stronger.”
Some of the others did not believe him. However, when they tried it, they goggled in incomparable shock. They all exclaimed when they realized that their Mental Energy had patently improved.
Bai Lixi remained silent. When he saw the apathetic expression on Xiao Chen’s face, for some reason, he had an impression of grief so deep that the heart had died.
The impression struck Bai Lixi so hard that he did not care about the situation that the others discovered.
Could it be that Brother Xiao Chen will not wake up?! For some reason, this thought appeared in Bai Lixi’s mind.
As the s.h.i.+p turned around, the other cultivators aboard were still rather happy.
After about one month, the Mental Energy of all the cultivators on the s.h.i.+p improved significantly. The special energy that Xiao Chen emanated showed no signs of waning.
Aside from the natural talent that allowed the Deity Race to cultivate Mental Energy, the various races of the Kunlun Realm had almost no Cultivation Technique for Mental Energy; it was very hard to come by.
Only Bai Lixi continued frowning without let-up. Even after one month pa.s.sed, Xiao Chen’s state was as Bai Lixi guessed; he never woke up at all.
Xiao Chen grasped the Lunar Shadow Saber with his two hands. He had sunk into a deep sleep, not willing or wanting to wake up.
“Big Brother, we’ll be at Thunder Emperor Valley soon!” that skinny cultivator said as he pointed to the valley in front with a bright smile.
Bai Lixi raised his head to take a look. Indeed, they were approaching Thunder Emperor Valley. He muttered, “I really can’t get used to going through this Thunder Emperor Valley that doesn’t have that immortal will of thunder.”
The small s.h.i.+p proceeded slowly, traveling calmly up the river. The two sides of the valley still had the towering sculptures of the Thunder Emperor.
Suddenly, Xiao Chen, who was on deck, moved. When Bai Lixi noticed this scene, he thought that he missaw. He rubbed his eyes and discovered that Xiao Chen’s eyes were now open.
The sharpness in Xiao Chen’s eyes remained unparalleled. However, there was a desolate silence in their depths that strangers could not catch.
“Thunder Emperor Valley.”
Xiao Chen lay on the deck and whispered, “Thunder Emperor Valley…Thunder Emperor Valley…why did I wake up here?”
He stood up on the deck. When he saw the colossal sculptures at the sides of the valley, the sight put him in a daze as the s.h.i.+p drifted with the flow.
When the others saw Xiao Chen stand up, they silently endured a strong pressure. Even speaking took a lot of effort.
Xiao Chen smiled and turned around. When he saw Bai Lixi, he showed a surprised expression.
“Brother Xiao Chen, are you fine?” Bai Lixi asked joyfully after seeing Xiao Chen awake.
Without giving any explanation, Xiao Chen said, “Brother Bai, is there any wine?”
The two drank and chatted for a long time. When Xiao Chen found out that he had slept for half a year, he could not help but fall silent again.
When the s.h.i.+p left the valley, Xiao Chen returned the wine bottle and thanked him. Then, without saying another word, he flew up Thunder Emperor Valley.
Just like that, Xiao Chen stood on a clifftop of Thunder Emperor Valley and looked at the distant sky. His thoughts drifted together with the wind. After a long time, he took out the Lunar Shadow Saber from the Universe Ring.
“Huang dang!” Xiao Chen drew the saber from the scabbard. The cold, slender, and long saber looked as sharp as before. He touched the sharp edge of the saber with his finger and gently slid it down. Blood immediately trickled down the blade.
Before the blood dripped off, Xiao Chen sheathed the saber back in the scabbard. Then, he sent a palm strike at it. The Lunar Shadow Saber instantly entered Thunder Emperor Valley. A small, pitch-black hole appeared in the ground. The Lunar Shadow Saber got buried deep at an unknown depth.
Xiao Chen fell to his knees and kowtowed, hitting his head against a hard rock. Blood flowed from his forehead, dyeing the blue Sea Monarch Headscarf red.
“If I cannot bring Ao Jiao back, then I, Xiao Chen, will never use another saber.”
Xiao Chen had seen the extreme power of the mysterious and strong talisman in Misleading Fog Lake. When one’s strength reached the peak, a miracle might happen.
“Big Brother, what is that Xiao Chen doing?”
The small s.h.i.+p sailed out of the valley, but it did not go too far away. When the group of people saw Xiao Chen kneeling on the ground, they were all baffled.
Bai Lixi sighed silently. This brother of his was probably truly in a deep pit. He waved his hand and said, “Let’s go. There are some things that we cannot understand.”
After staying at the clifftop at Thunder Emperor Valley for three days, Xiao Chen settled down and checked the benefits that the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation’s seventh layer brought him.
Firstly, all the Mental Energy in his sea of consciousness had actually turned into Magic Energy; moreover, he emanated it when he did not make an effort to contain it.
Looking at the vast Magic Energy, Xiao Chen sighed. Indeed, the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation’s seventh layer had brought him an Immortal Destiny.
The distant Penglai Sea in the Kunlun Realm had people who cultivated Immortal Cultivation. However, as far as he knew, these people could not cultivate Martial Cultivation. Furthermore, he had never heard of any Martial Cultivator who cultivated Immortal Cultivation.
However, not just anyone could cultivate Immortal Cultivation. They needed that faintly discernible Immortal Destiny. Otherwise, no matter how talented one was, there would be no way for one to cultivate Immortal Cultivation.
Now that this was the Martial Epoch, people with Immortal Destiny were rare. Only the Penglai Sea had some Immortal Cultivators gathered there.
These Immortal Cultivators had nothing to do with the Immortal Epoch. They were just members of the later generation that gained some inheritances. Compared to the true experts of the Immortal Epoch, these Immortal Cultivators were like mud to clouds.
After checking again, Xiao Chen discovered that his Heavenly Sage Laws had not diminished or disappeared. He still had his strength as a Martial Cultivator. Furthermore, they had become even purer and denser.
All three hundred of his Heavenly Sage Laws had thickened threefold; they were now as thick as a baby’s arm.
A peak Inferior Grade Martial Sage could have five hundred Heavenly Sage Laws. Although Xiao Chen’s cultivation had not changed, the might of a Kunlun Realm regular Superior Grade Martial Sage’s Heavenly Sage Laws could not compare to that of his Heavenly Sage Laws.
Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation!
Suddenly, these words popped up in Xiao Chen’s head. Perhaps the purpose of the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation was Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation!
The Immortal Spells recorded in the Compendium of Cultivation were too weak. Compared to the Martial Techniques of the Kunlun Realm, they were much weaker; they were only rudimentary knowledge.
However, only this Purple Thunder Divine Incantation far surpa.s.sed Heaven Ranked Cultivation Techniques. Now that Xiao Chen had broken through to the seventh layer, the change could be described as earth-shattering.
Who exactly created the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation?
From Xiao Chen’s viewpoint, it was impossible for an expert of the Immortal Epoch or the Martial Epoch to have created such a Cultivation Technique.
Only a person who was deeply familiar with both Immortal Cultivation and Martial Cultivation, as well as the body of a Martial Cultivator, would be able to create this Purple Thunder Divine Incantation.
The strength of the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation was beyond doubt. Now, Xiao Chen had a realistic understanding of the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation’s danger.
The purple Lightning Talisman in Xiao Chen’s sea of consciousness spun. The spreading Magic Energy immediately stopped leaking out after he contained it.
Xiao Chen sank his consciousness into his body to his dantian. He wanted to see what the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit, which had dwindled to a spot of light after the lightning baptism, looked like now.
He would not know without looking for himself. When he saw it, he was startled. The tiny Azure Dragon had already recondensed. However, he felt that it was very different from a Martial Spirit.
Previously, the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit had been just like a dragon-shaped energy without any consciousness, which did not accept his control.
However, the feeling this Azure Dragon gave him was like it was a part of himself. Furthermore, it felt vaguely like a Yuanying. Not only could he control it as he pleased, but it even contained a great amount of energy; it had an extremely deep connection with him.
If this Azure Dragon got destroyed, the consequences would not be as simple as before. Now, he would die with it.
Xiao Chen exclaimed with some shock, “What is this? Yuanying? Or a Nascent Dragon Soul?”
[TL note: Yuanying can be translated into Nascent Soul. For the Nascent Dragon Soul, the word for soul was replaced by the word for dragon. However, Nascent Dragon just means baby dragon, so I settled for Nascent Dragon Soul, merging the two concepts.]
Clearly, this small Azure Dragon had the characteristics of a Yuanying, as described in the Compendium of Cultivation. However, an Immortal Cultivator’s Yuanying should share the cultivator’s appearance.
After trying to circulate his energies, Xiao Chen discovered that this Azure Dragon was indeed his Yuanying. This irregularity was probably the result of dual cultivating Martial and Immortal Cultivation.
Since he could not do much about this, he could only leave it be.
A fierce flame started burning intensely in Xiao Chen’s right eye. With a thought, the Purple Thunder True Fire spewed out. The purple fire landed on the river, covering a large portion of it.
“Chi!” Boundless steam instantly rose up from the river surface, blanketing the surrounding fifty kilometers.
This white steam was very thick; a significant portion of the river evaporated, forming a ma.s.sive pit in the water. The surrounding water surged in, and an incredibly enormous whirlpool spun wildly.
Xiao Chen retracted the Purple Thunder True Fire into his eye. When he saw the scene before him, he was astonished.
This was the most objective change that he obtained after the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation advanced. Now, the Purple Thunder True Fire could serve as a true weapon. He would be able to compete with the outstanding geniuses of the same generation in the Kunlun Realm.
However, Yin and Yang had lost their balance, making it more difficult to form the Taiji Yinyang Flame Diagram. He had to find more Yin-attributed flames for the Lunar True Flame to absorb.
Xiao Chen could now be described with the word “reborn.” Now, he would walk a path that no one had taken before or would take after.
He calmed down after a long time. A jade strip appeared in his hand. This was the Immortal Spell that he obtained with the Golden Crow Egg—Starry Heaven Storm.
Previously, Xiao Chen did not have Magic Power and could not practice this powerful Immortal Spell; it could only serve as eye candy for him. Now, it seemed like it was made just for him.