Chapter Seventy-Five: Sword Pointing at Xiao Yue Ridge

  The second update!

  After killing Chai Letian and Yu Haibai, Chen Xiao rested for a while before returning to Bao Yue Shan.

  "The giant demon wants to capture Du Qingxi and the others to refine elixirs, even if they're alive, their situation will be extremely dangerous, with their lives in danger at all times... looks like I need to hurry up."

  Chen Yu quickly returned to Bao Yue Shan after a moment of contemplation.

  In the cave mansion, Mu Kui saw Chen Tang return and was overjoyed, trembling with excitement as he said: "Senior, you've finally returned! I was worried sick about you for so long!"

  "Don't worry, I've already killed the Thunder Eagle King, it should be quiet for a while." Chen Xiao sat cross-legged on the mat and said, "I'm going to meditate to recover my strength, help me guard against any intruders."

  "Senior, rest assured and continue your cultivation, I'll take my leave now."

  Hiss!

  After Mu Kui hastily walked out of the cave, he could no longer hold back the shock in his heart and took a deep breath. Chen Tai had killed Lei Ying Wang again?

  ……

  "Fighting against the Black Ape King, my advantage lies in my superior martial arts skills, which surpass his by a great margin. However, in terms of cultivation, I am far inferior to him. If not for the Gujin Sword in my hand that can suppress those vengeful spirits and evil ghosts, it would be difficult to predict the outcome."

  "Lei Ying Wang's cultivation is even more profound than Hei Yuan Wang, but unfortunately, his mind is too heavy, always thinking of using all means to give himself an absolute advantage, lacking the courage to charge forward, although he set up a thousand eagle array and had Zi Tong Xuan Chong Peak in hand, under his own silent and unexpected sneak attack, it was fundamentally unable to play its role, naturally doomed to defeat."

  "But if I can form a mysterious sword array with eight handles of Xuanming flying swords, it seems that I can also compete with the Thunder Eagle King without using sneak attacks."

  Sitting cross-legged on a straw mat, Chen Tang silently pondered the two battles of the day, with threads of insight surging up in his mind.

  Actual combat is the sharpest whetstone for tempering one's martial arts skills.

  The greater the danger, the greater the potential for growth. Any master must go through countless life-and-death struggles to be reborn from the brink of death and rapidly rise up.

  Successively killing the Black Ape King and the Thunder Eagle King made Chen Xiao realize his own strength, but at the same time, he also discovered his inadequacy, which was that his cultivation level was too low. With a cultivation level of only one star in the Purple Mansion realm, once he encountered those martial artists whose cultivation levels were not inferior to his own, he could only flee in defeat.

  To make up for this deficiency, in addition to diligent practice and hard work on qigong skills, mastering some powerful attacking techniques is also a way.

  "All eight flying swords of the Xuanming have the power of a top-grade Huangjie, it seems I need to spend some time studying the way of the symbol array. If I can comprehend some techniques for setting up sword arrays to kill enemies, my strength should be able to advance another step."

  Chen Xiao sank into deep thought for a long time, shook his head, dispelled the miscellaneous thoughts in his mind, and began to sit cross-legged in meditation.

  Splash!

  The elixir in the octagonal palace bottle poured out.

  In the endless purple mansion of void space.

  Along with Chen Xiao's display of the "Ice Crane Technique", a stream of crystal-clear liquid true yuan, like dark ice, flowed into the Zifu Lake. Meanwhile, above the lake, the originally dim true yuan star also gradually became brighter, crystal clear and translucent, emitting a faint cold glow, resonating with the lake in harmony.

  After advancing to the Purple Mansion realm, every time a stage is upgraded, a true yuan star will condense in the Purple Mansion. These true yuan stars resonate with the True Yuan Lake, and the brighter they are, the more they indicate that the true yuan is purer and more condensed. After nine of them have condensed, a peculiar scene of nine connected stars will form above the Purple Mansion Lake, like an arch bridge built on the lake. At that time, preparations can be made to impact the Yellow Court realm.

  Moreover, the strength and weakness of the Zifu boundary is actually closely related to one's own cultivation of Qigong.

  The top-notch Qigong method is different, it can greatly expand the Zifu Lake, the larger and deeper the Zifu Lake is, the more terrifying the true yuan will be, and the power exerted will also be more terrifying.

  The true yuan refined by the superficial qigong method is not pure and condensed, and it has little effect on expanding the Zifu Lake. The power displayed is naturally of a general standard, but more importantly, the true yuan cultivated in this way will become extremely difficult to break through when advancing to higher levels.

  However, cultivating top-notch Qi-refining techniques is extremely costly in terms of spiritual liquid. After all, the larger and deeper the Purple Mansion Lake is, the brighter and more condensed the True Origin Star is, the more True Origin needs to be refined.

  Chen Suo's "Bing He Jue" was a Qi Gong method selected by Ji Yu to help him cultivate, although it only had the Purple Mansion Nine Layers Realm method, but it was a top-notch method, whether it was the quality and quantity of true yuan, both exceeded that of ordinary Purple Mansion cultivators.

  The next day.

  Chen Xiao woke up from his cultivation, the remaining 2,000 Near Spirit Liquid in the Octagonal Palace Bottle was refined by him into nothingness. Now, the True Origin Star in the Purple Mansion Space is extremely bright and dazzling, like an ice sculpture, emitting a radiant glow that is as piercing as crystal.

  "Spirit liquid, spirit liquid... indeed, cultivating a path can't be separated from the word 'wealth'. Those young masters of large families and sects have endless resources to cultivate, their cultivation naturally goes straight up, leaving those ordinary scattered cultivators who don't have identity or status far behind. It seems that if I want to quickly improve my strength, I must also collect more spirit liquid..."

  A day's worth of time consumed two thousand catties of spiritual liquid, yet his cultivation only increased by a thread. This made Chen Tai sigh deeply. The path of cultivation was summarized in four words: wealth, companions, methods, and land. These were the eternal principles that had been unshakeable since ancient times.

  "Mu Kui." Chen Tai walked out of the cave mansion.

  "What's the matter, senior?" asked Mu Kui hastily getting up from his meditation under a green pine tree.

  "I'm going to Xiao Yue Ling, if I don't come back within three days, you must leave immediately, don't stay for a moment." Chen Xiao said hesitantly.

  Mu Kui's heart skipped a beat, and he exclaimed: "Senior, you want to go and kill the Kunpeng King?"

  Chen Xiao shook his head and said, "Just save a few people." After that, he leaped into the midst of Yun Tian.

  "Senior, please wait a moment. This is the treasure left behind by Hei Yuan Wang after his death. Please accept it." Mu Kui seemed to have thought of something and hastily took out a storage bag, calling out loudly.

  "Leave it to you, if this trip is successful, I will also leave the deep mountains of Nanyue, and keep those treasures for self-defense."

  The sound is faint and distant, Chen Cang's figure has already disappeared at the end of the sky.

  "How could this be? Is it just going to end like this?"

  Mu Kui's soul was not at peace, and he muttered to himself that he couldn't bear to part with Chen Tai. In the days they spent together, he had already come to admire and obey Chen Tai sincerely, treating him as a master he would serve for his entire life.

  "No way, it can't end like this. I'll cultivate diligently and once I reach the Violet Palace Realm, I'll go find Senior Chen Xuan and make him accept me as his disciple!"

  Mu Kui gazed at the place where Chen Xiao disappeared, clenched his fists tightly, and his eyes were filled with an unyielding determination.

  ……

  Evening

  Xiǎo Yuè Lǐng, that majestic mountain range, like a ferocious ancient beast crouching, under the sunset's afterglow, smeared with a deep crimson color, appears even more desolate, bloody and magnificent.

  Whoosh!

  Ten miles away from Xiao Yue Ridge, Chen Tuan fell to the ground and looked up at Xiao Yue Ridge. He saw that the rolling demonic energy was like a straight wolf smoke, piercing through the clouds, covering the sky and sun, revealing endless gloomy and murderous colors.

  In the central part of Xiao Yue Ridge, there are three thick and sturdy evil auras that are particularly eye-catching, condensed but not scattered, standing still and unmoving. The nearby drifting evil auras seem like millet grains compared to it, just like the difference between a pearl and the bright moonlight.

  Three Demon Kings? This is going to be troublesome!

  Hei Yuan Wang and Lei Ying Wang have been killed by themselves, Xuan Jing Lao Gui Wang's whereabouts are unknown, drifting and difficult to find. Qing Qiu Hu Wang and Kun Peng Wang are at the same level of existence, so they won't participate in it. That leaves only Yue Liang Hu Mo Jiao Wang and Luo Xia Sen Lin Qing Mang Wang.

  The strength of the Ink Snake King and the Green Python King is only inferior to the Thunder Eagle King, but above the Black Ape King. With these two plus the Kunpeng King, their chances of winning are slim.

  What's wrong?

  Chen Yu thought for a moment, and finally decided to sneak past quietly, waiting for an opportunity to act.

  He can't just watch Du Qingxi and the other two fall into trouble, otherwise the guilt in his heart will be irreparable and will inevitably turn into a heart demon, eroding his Dao heart and interfering with his cultivation.

  "Do you really want to go save them?" Ji Yu appeared out of nowhere and asked seriously.

  Chen Xiao was taken aback, seemingly not expecting Ji Yu to appear at this time. However, he still nodded very firmly.

  "Why?" Ji Yu continued to ask: "Do you know that they stood by and watched when you were in trouble, and at most, your relationship with them is just ordinary friends."

  "When I was at the Jianxian Dongfu, for the sake of killing Chai Letian, I caused a chaotic battle that also implicated them. This matter makes me feel somewhat guilty, and I want to make amends." Chen Xiao replied slowly.

  "What if you die?" Ji Yu continued to ask.

  Chen Xiao seemed to have never thought of this problem, and after a moment's pause, he said slowly: "I think whether it is the Heavenly Way or the Human Way, they all point directly to the human heart. If my heart is not at peace, I'm afraid I will leave behind a demon that will bring calamity in the future. So even if I die, I will still do so. Senior, didn't you say before that on the path of cultivation, one must embody the Heavenly Way and guard their original heart?"

  Ji Yu heard this and a hint of appreciation flashed in his eyes, which had experienced many vicissitudes.

  It's hard to know, in the face of great danger, with a catastrophe looming ahead, one can still be brave and charge forward with an unwavering heart. This kind of mental state is extremely rare. Ji Yu has seen too many stunningly talented individuals over the past million years - divine demons who have cultivated their bodies to perfection, peerless sword immortals... weren't they all blessed with exceptional innate talents and roots? But if we're talking about an unshakeable and resilient heart, only a handful can compare to Chen Xi.

  After all, if one's mind is not firm and strong, no matter how high their innate talent may be, they will still be unable to reach the ultimate goal of the Great Way!

  "With this mindset, the Great Way can be achieved." Ji Yu left behind only eight words before disappearing without a trace.

  The Great Way can be established? Let's talk about it after we get out of this dragon's lair and tiger's den...

  Chen Xiao muttered to himself and immediately moved his body, like a wisp of smoke, quietly approaching the Xiao Yue Ridge ten miles away.

  A moment later.

  By virtue of his ingenious use of the Wind and Feather Escape Technique, Chen Xiao narrowly avoided the big and small monsters patrolling at the foot of the mountain, and quickly ran up a secluded path towards Xi Yue Ridge. When he reached the middle of the mountain, the scenery around him suddenly changed, as if he had walked from daytime into night, with demonic fog swirling everywhere, and only faintly discernible were some landforms.

  Waaahhhh...

  A sharp gust of wind rose, wailing like a ghost, and in the sound was a strange power that disturbed people's minds.

  Formation!

  Chen Yao's spiritual soul had long since reached an extremely high level, so he was not afraid of the interference from that voice. He glanced around and instantly understood his situation, and his heart sank involuntarily.