In the end, all the Phoenix Spirit Fire scattered into blue streams of light within the crystal palace.
Gu Chen stood where he was as if nothing had happened, utterly unchanged.
Though if one insisted, there did seem to be a change.
Shi Mengying noticed that Gu Chen's complexion seemed even better than before!
"I didn't expect you to master the Phoenix Spirit Fire so quickly in this life."
"In your previous life, you only learned this spell after reaching the Nascent Soul Realm."
The corners of Gu Chen's lips curved upward. His expression seemed like praise, yet also like mockery.
Shi Mengying could hardly believe her eyes.
She was already at the seventh level of the Innate Realm, and her Cultivation Level was clearly far above Gu Chen's!
With the Phoenix Bloodline empowering her, how could she possibly fail to kill Gu Chen?
Even the Phoenix Spirit Fire, capable of burning everything in the world to ashes, could do nothing to Gu Chen!
While Shi Mengying was lost in wild thoughts,
Gu Chen acted as though he had not seen her at all and walked straight toward the throne at the end of the crystal stairs.
Seeing Gu Chen ignore her, Shi Mengying's fury flared even higher.
She stepped directly in front of Gu Chen and said sharply, "Gu Chen, don't even think about getting your hands on the treasure!"
"I'm telling you, I absolutely won't—"
Yet before Shi Mengying could finish speaking,
she suddenly felt as though all the blood in her body had frozen solid.
Then she saw a vast spray of blood appear before her.
Gu Chen had shattered her internal organs with a single palm strike!
"You sure talk a lot."
After coldly tossing out those words, Gu Chen stepped straight over Shi Mengying.
From Shi Mengying's perspective, she could only watch helplessly as Gu Chen's legs strode over her head.
At that moment, she felt utterly humiliated!
Yet no matter how furious Shi Mengying was, she had no strength left to stop Gu Chen.
Even as the lost pearl of the Phoenix Clan, even with the cultivation of the seventh level of the Innate Realm, she could not hinder Gu Chen in the slightest!
"No... that's impossible."
"Why is this happening?"
Shi Mengying could not even speak a complete sentence.
She could only watch helplessly as Gu Chen took the orb atop the throne and vanished completely from before her eyes.
In the blink of an eye, Gu Chen returned to the entrance of the Lingxu Secret Realm.
Standing in the dark, frigid forest, Gu Chen slowly spread his arms and sensed the changes in the power within his body.
Gu Chen had long expected Shi Mengying's cultivation to advance quickly in this life.
But even he had not expected her talent to be so high.
The Phoenix Spirit Fire, which she had needed the Nascent Soul Realm to learn in her previous life, had been mastered by her while she was still in the late Innate Realm.
Of course, that was not what surprised Gu Chen the most.
Just now, when Shi Mengying attacked him with the Phoenix Spirit Fire,
Gu Chen discovered that he could evade all fire-attribute techniques.
As he continued probing the changes in his inner force, Gu Chen found that he seemed able to sense the divine power the Azure Luan Blazing Fire Pill had bestowed upon him.
It granted immunity to all fire-attribute techniques and could slightly increase his Cultivation Level.
Gu Chen had deliberately let Shi Mengying's Phoenix Spirit Fire burn him a little longer, hoping to use the opportunity to raise his cultivation a bit further.
In the end, he discovered that Shi Mengying was simply too weak.
The increase in his cultivation was so tiny that it was practically negligible!
That was why Gu Chen could not be bothered to waste more words on Shi Mengying and directly broke free of the Phoenix Spirit Fire's restraints.
"I thought the Azure Luan Blazing Fire Pill had some other use. This is it?"
Gu Chen had originally thought he would awaken some other divine power or acquire some peerless technique.
After all, if it merely granted immunity to fire-attribute techniques, then once his cultivation reached a certain level, he could simply create a barrier around himself to solve the problem.
Still, having it was better than not having it, so Gu Chen gladly accepted it.
Next, Gu Chen began examining the treasure he had obtained from the Third Divine Hall.
To his surprise, it was a pearl.
Brilliant green streams of light shimmered across its surface, making it look more like a piece of jade at first glance.
"What is this thing for?"
"Can it increase my cultivation?"
Gu Chen muttered to himself. But when he channeled some inner force into the pearl, he found that it gave no response.
"Could its only use be that it's valuable?"
With that thought, Gu Chen simply stopped thinking about it.
The spiritual energy in the Lingxu Secret Realm was abundant, and that crazy woman Shi Mengying would definitely come chasing after him soon, screaming for blood again.
It was not that Gu Chen feared he could not defeat her. At worst, he could just beat her half to death again.
He simply could not be bothered to fight. With that time, he might as well sit in meditation and cultivate some more.
With that thought in mind, Gu Chen suddenly realized that his cultivation had risen far too quickly within the Lingxu Secret Realm.
Although that was a good thing, Gu Chen still preferred the feeling of building a solid foundation step by step.
He sank his qi into his dantian and suddenly let out a fierce roar. His cultivation immediately receded like the tide.
Gu Chen's cultivation, originally at the third level of the Profound Gang Realm, was forcibly reduced to the first level of the Profound Gang Realm!
Because he had constantly tempered and consolidated his cultivation, his foundation was now even more solid than that of many Nascent Soul experts!
It was precisely because of this that Gu Chen had just been able to withstand Shi Mengying's sneak attack head-on.
Just then, Gu Chen raised his head and looked toward the horizon.
Through the dense shadows of the trees, Gu Chen seemed to see the first glimmer of dawn.
"The Rookie Competition in Immortal County is about to begin."
"In my previous life, I failed to obtain the most generous tier of rewards."
"This time, I'll just casually take first place."
After saying that, Gu Chen put away the pearl and walked straight out of the forest.
East Desolation Commandery, Cangshan Sword Sect.
Gu Youwei did not immediately go down the mountain to ask her parents about the truth.
Instead, she placed Chi Ling to one side, sat cross-legged, and began cultivating.
Because her current cultivation was still very low, she should ordinarily have been nowhere near capable of summoning Chi Ling.
Wielding Chi Ling and cutting down all opposition just now had severely depleted Gu Youwei's vitality.
She had not even understood at the time why Chi Ling had answered her summons.
As she cultivated, she thought it over carefully.
Perhaps it was because she had cultivated to the level of the Empress in her previous life.
Even after crossing the river of time and losing a lifetime of cultivation, Chi Ling, as one of the ancient Four Divine Swords, still possessed an extraordinarily special connection to its master.
Furthermore, Gu Youwei believed that she possessed a Heavenly Dao Bone, which was why she had successfully summoned Chi Ling at that time.
"But I've already reached the Innate Realm. Why can't I sense the existence of the Heavenly Dao Bone?"
Gu Youwei searched desperately within her body for the Heavenly Dao Bone.
Yet after searching over and over several times, she still found no trace of it.
"Could it be that my current cultivation is still too low?"
Before you continue