Challenger Enters Cloud Pool Sea Territory

"Daoist Xiao, please think it over!"

Xiao Chen's straightforward plan completely surprised Hidden Ice True Monarch.

He never expected that Xiao Chen would prepare to deal with the Yin Corpse Sect in such a simple and brutal way.

That's one of the few dominant forces in the entire Eastern Domain.

To deal with such a behemoth, shouldn't we employ alliances and strategies, meticulously plan and strategize, and carefully weave a vast net to hunt it down?

What's with this "suddenly showing up at their door" thing?

That's not to say that this method is completely unacceptable.

The problem is that the simpler the plan, the higher the requirements for the executor's hard skills.

If you want to wipe out the Yin Corpse Sect in a fair and square manner, you must have the strength to crush all the True Lord within its ranks.

The problem is that, hundreds of years ago, Yang Jiu True Monarch was already a top True Lord in the Eastern Domain.

He had mastered a Heaven-rank Cultivation Method to perfection, possessing not only a large Total True Essence but also extremely high quality of true essence.

He is also proficient in many Heaven-grade Spell, and after so many years, he must have already reached the Great Accomplishment Realm.

Throughout the entire Eastern Domain, no one dared to claim they could absolutely crush Yang Jiu True Monarch in terms of Law Technique.

In other words, in the eyes of Hidden Ice True Monarch, Xiao Chen's response plan did not even meet the basic conditions and had no chance of success.

He couldn't even pass the test of the Yang Jiu True Monarch alone.

Not to mention, he also has three junior brothers who can help him.

"Daoist Xiao, there may be some things you don't know."

After carefully considering his words, Hidden Ice True Monarch stated as tactfully as possible, "Last month, the Heavenly Sound Sect, on behalf of the Yin Corpse Sect, sent an invitation to the other sects."

"The main purpose is to hold a Dao Discussion Exchange Meeting, and incidentally celebrate You Zhong True Monarch's breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Late Stage."

"So the Yin Corpse Sect now has another Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator."

"That makes them even more difficult to deal with."

However, after he finished speaking, all Hidden Ice True Monarch was heard was a faint "Oh," and then nothing more.

Xiao Chen's expression remained almost unchanged.

It was as calm as hearing something as casual as 'Ants are moving house outside, it might rain soon.'

The Yin Corpse Sect has gained another Nascent Soul Late Stage!

Why aren't you responding?

When Hidden Ice True Monarch first received the invitation, he was so angry that he almost ground his back teeth to powder.

The matter of revenge seems to be becoming increasingly difficult and arduous.

However, Xiao Chen didn't care at all, as if You Zhong True Monarch's breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Late Stage had nothing to do with him.

Hidden Ice True Monarch muttered to himself.

Could it be that he didn't clearly explain the seriousness of the problem?

However, if he had expressed himself more bluntly, he might have been accused of boosting the morale of others while diminishing his own.

But if we just let it slide like this, won't Xiao Chen suffer the consequences?

For a moment, Hidden Ice True Monarch was at a loss for words.

Fortunately, Xiao Chen roughly guessed his thoughts from the change in his expression. "Haha, fellow Daoist, don't worry too much."

"Since I chose to come back, I naturally have every reason to be confident."

"These minor changes are insignificant. Just rest assured and wait for my good news about Exterminate Demons and Defend the Dao."

Upon hearing this Hidden Ice True Monarch was taken aback.

Complete certainty?

Exterminate Demons and Defend the Dao?

But he soon realized—oh, I see, there's a backup plan!

It's possible that there are other True Lord lurking in the shadows, acting as ambushes.

There are just some things that might be inconvenient to say directly.

Understand!

I completely understand!

Such an important strategic plan certainly cannot be revealed casually.

As the saying goes, things are accomplished in secrecy.

Hidden Ice True Monarch immediately put aside his original worries, smiled knowingly, and let the matter drop.

He simply picked up his teacup and said, "Then I'll offer this tea in lieu of wine, wishing Daoist Xiao every success in advance!"

Xiao Chen smiled at him and raised his glass to drink with him.

After chatting for a while, he took the initiative to get up and say goodbye, "There are still some preparations to be made before heading to the Heavenly Sound Sect."

"Fellow Daoist, there's no need to see me off. Let's part ways here, and meet again someday."

Upon hearing the word 'prepare,' Hidden Ice True Monarch became even more certain of his previous suspicions.

So he didn't linger, only saying, "I had a very pleasant conversation with Daoist Xiao today. If I have time in the future, I will definitely come to visit again."

After leaving the Subduing Ice Sect, Xiao Chen found a nearby Desolate Island to settle down on.

All he needed to do was simply strike while the iron was hot and try to take the <Crimson Sky Mountain Severing Palm> to the next level.

However, before actually starting the cultivation...

Xiao Chen first took out three Storage Ring of different styles and focused on breaking the restrictions on them.

My main goal is to see if I can find more spiritual items that will help me cultivate Fire Element Spell.

If we have them, we can use them together.

This was thanks to Xiao Chen's cultivation level, which had already reached the Nascent Soul Middle Stage.

He also shortened the total time it took him to decipher the three Storage Ring by an hour and a half.

He first used his Divine Sense to count all the Spirit Stone stored inside.

These three Storage Ring together provided a total of 4.28 million Low-grade Spirit Stone and 20,820 Mid-Grade Spirit Stone.

Of course, Spirit Stone are not the main point.

As Nascent Soul True Lord, what they value most in their Storage Ring are the Fourth-Order Spiritual Item they carry with them.

Unlike the Sect Warehouse, which mainly stores items that have already been selected by the sect's True Lord.

Or perhaps some basic raw materials or spiritual items that are easy to preserve.

These three Storage Ring contain many different types of Fourth-tier Talisman and Fourth-Order Spirit Pill.

The former are mostly used to assist in combat, while the latter are diverse and varied.

There are elixirs that increase the speed of true essence recovery, those that accelerate the Condense True Essence, and others that have different functions such as detoxification, healing, and harmonizing different types of true essence.

"Perhaps we could keep this bottle of Zeping Smooth Qi Pill?"

Xiao Chen placed the remaining spirit pills in his Sundries Ring for easy access and resale later.

He separately put away the bottle of Zeping Smooth Qi Pill, which could harmonize different types of true energy.

Although so far, he has not encountered the problem of alien true essence invasion, whether he is fighting against cultivators or Great Demon.

But we might need it in the future, so it's better to be prepared.

"As for these Formation Flag, I wonder if they're still of any use?"

Xiao Chen took out a total of twenty-three Formation Flag of different sizes and styles from the three Storage Ring.

He could roughly recognize some of them; they should be large-scale formations used for Mountain Protecting Grand Array.

The two sides of the Yin Corpse Sect were naturally useless now, since the Mountain Protecting Grand Array was gone.

However, the Heavenly Sound Sect's formation should still be effective until the other side modifies it.

The situation is more complicated for the other Formation Flag; perhaps only those involved know which formation they belong to.

"Fine, keep them all."

Xiao Chen thought for a moment and decided that in order to prevent the possibility of something like the Earth Dragon Relic Barrier Breaking Flag inside, it would be best not to deal with it easily.

Fortunately, these Small Formation Flag don't take up much space.

All you need to do is empty one of the boxes that originally contained Spirit Stone, and then put them all inside for later use.

"Now it's truly a treasured possession."

Xiao Chen picked out the oldest-looking Formation Flag and placed it at the bottom of the box. "Hopefully, one day we can take it out and use it again."

Next came mostly semi-finished spiritual materials, a few Spirit Artifact that seemed to be prepared for the younger generation, and miscellaneous items such as sect registers and ledgers.

besides.

There are also a few relatively valuable items in the Storage Ring.

First, there is half Inheritance Secret Method passed down from the Yin Demon Immortal Sect.

Next came two cultivation manuals, one on raising Demonic Insect and the other on assembling Corpse Puppet.

Then there was a magnificent ancient zither, crafted entirely from Third-Order Spirit Material.

Finally, there are two Spirit Accumulating Treasure Box.

"It appears to be Ancient True Copy, but unfortunately the second half is missing."

Xiao Chen noticed from the beginning that the booklet recording the inheritance clearly showed signs of being torn, and it must have been damaged many years ago.

It's unclear whether an accident occurred during its transmission over hundreds of thousands of years.

It's still the same old practice of the Demonic Sect—only giving half to their subordinates as a way to control them.

In short, Xiao Chen only had the first half of the book, which recorded a Demonic Secret Canon from the Yin Demon Immortal Sect that led directly to the Nascent Soul Great Perfection stage.

However, it only contains the mental cultivation method; all the accompanying Fourth-tier Secret Method are missing.

In other words, if people in later generations only cultivate this lineage, they can only refine their true essence and reach a certain realm, but they will not be able to master any Law Technique.

"These people from the Yin Corpse Sect really haven't forgotten about the demonic path."

Xiao Chen noticed that Nether Silkworm True Monarch had written down a lot of his thoughts and insights in the gaps between the lines.

It is clear that they are studying this Demonic Legacy and attempting to complete it.

He also discovered that the other two cultivation manuals contained excerpts of cultivation techniques from the Yin Demon Immortal Sect.

They attempted to study and improve the original Secret Method of the Yin Corpse Sect through this method.

For example, in the book about raising Demonic Insect, the Nether Silkworm True Monarch mentioned that the Essence Blood refined using the methods of the Yin Demon Immortal Sect improved the feeding effect by 10%.

To this end, he carefully studied the differences between the two, obtained a completely new improved version, and also formulated a testing plan.

The plan is to secretly capture six more Golden Core cultivator of similar cultivation levels over the next three years, dividing them into pairs.

Then, their Essence Blood were extracted and fed to a new batch of Demonic Insect using the three different methods, in order to compare the actual differences in effects before and after the improvement.

The reason why Nether Silkworm True Monarch went to such lengths and put so much effort into it is...

It was because he had previously obtained a special Demonic Egg in the ruins.

Thanks to the preservation measures on the outer perimeter, life has not been completely extinguished.

If enough Essence Blood can be collected, it can be re-hatched.

The key point is that, after investigation by the Nether Silkworm True Monarch, it was discovered that it was actually the Soul Devouring Fire Roach, ranked ninth among the High Antiquity Demonic Insect.

Don't let its low ranking fool you into thinking it's not very impressive.

If that's really the case, they don't deserve to be remembered for eternity.

In fact, nine out of the ten High Antiquity Demonic Insect are Fifth-order Demonic Insect!

Once cultivated to maturity, even Spirit Transformation Venerable would have to be wary of it.

If used to deal with other Nascent Soul True Lord, it would be a piece of cake.

Of course, cultivating such a powerful Demonic Insect is also very difficult.

Simply feeding and caring for them is not the key point; the more crucial aspects lie in two areas.

The first is the breeding time, specifically the process from larvae to maturity.

This is also the main research direction of the Nether Silkworm True Monarch, in order to shorten the cultivation time as much as possible, even if it requires more resources.

The second factor is the loyalty of the Demonic Insect.

Compared to ordinary Spirit Beast, these dangerous Demonic Insect may not be loyal to their owners, after all, they have the word "demon" in their name.

If not handled properly, it could potentially devour its Devour Master once it matures.

That would be equivalent to raising a level 5 enemy for yourself.

Therefore, Nether Silkworm True Monarch also tried to find some reference material from the inheritance of Ancient Demonic Gate such as Yin Demon Immortal Sect.

"Soul Devouring Fire Roach, Fifth-order Demonic Insect."

Xiao Chen's gaze sharpened slightly. "Logically speaking, this should be a good thing."

And if he wasn't mistaken, the Demonic Egg should be stored in one of the Spirit Accumulating Treasure Box.

I randomly selected one to open, and sure enough, I saw an antique-looking long-mouthed jade bottle inside.

There were also flashing restrictions on the jade bottle, maintaining the vitality of the Demonic Egg inside.

"Hiss~, no wonder it's Ten Great Mysterious Insects!"

Xiao Chen glanced inside the bottle and immediately sensed the fifth-tier aura remaining on the surface of the Demonic Egg, which came from the Demonic Insect that laid the egg.

Thanks to the protection of the seal on the jade bottle, this aura has not dissipated even after so many years.

At the same time, the presence of the aura strongly proves that this Demonic Egg is genuine and not a fake.

"But should I try to cultivate this?"

However, Xiao Chen hesitated. "I've never learned how long it takes to Raise Insects before."

Although he had read many Ancient Books, he had never come into contact with a sect that focused on beast taming.

Not to mention Insect Taming, which is a major branch that is almost independent of beast taming.

Naturally, they knew almost nothing about the less common Demonic Insect among Insect Taming.

"If the training period is relatively short, then we can consider it."

Xiao Chen thought for a moment, "But if it takes a long time, then it definitely won't be worth it."

Now that he has the <Spirit Devouring Yuan Great Method> to accelerate the Condense True Essence, it can be said that he has greatly saved cultivation time.

If it was originally thought that it might take ten years to achieve the Nascent Soul Great Perfection...

Now, as long as there are enough Spirit Stone, it should take about one or two years.

Even though breaking through Major Bottleneck is not an easy task, the New Cultivation World offers additional fortuitous opportunity, which may not necessarily keep him trapped for long.

"Hmm, let's keep this Demonic Egg for now and look up some information about it when we have the chance."

Xiao Chen put the jade bottle back into the Spirit Accumulating Treasure Box: "We'll decide whether to raise it or not once we have a clear idea of the exact timeframe."

"But information on this is probably not easy to find."

"It seems that there aren't many major powers in the Eastern Domain that follow the path of beast taming."

"Oh, right!"

Xiao Chen had a sudden inspiration. "It seems that the Golden Haze Sect is a major sect in beast taming."

"And they're right next to the Nether Sky Sea."

"After dealing with the Three Great Families, I can conveniently borrow some scriptures from the Golden Haze Sect's Scripture Pavilion."

"Okay, that's decided!"

Xiao Chen secretly made a mental note of this, and then continued to look at the ancient zither.

Then I put it into my Sundries Ring.

After all, he doesn't practice Way of Melody, so he has no use for such things.

Finally, there is a Spirit Accumulating Treasure Box.

"Whew!"

Even though there was only one box left, Xiao Chen still placed his hand on the lid and took a deep breath, maintaining a certain sense of ritual.

Then he softly shouted, "Open!"

Inside the treasure box lay a round Jade Wall, about a foot in diameter.

"Huh? What is this?"

Xiao Chen was unable to sense any Spiritual Power from the Jade Wall.

Curious, he picked it up and examined it. "It seems to contain a hint of the Way of Melody?"

"No, it seems like it's more than just a trace?"

When he tried to probe into it with his Divine Sense, although he couldn't sense it clearly, he could vaguely perceive that it seemed to contain countless musical pieces.

"It looks like a special Fourth-tier Mysterious Item?"

Xiao Chen wasn't quite sure what the item's purpose was. "But since it contains the Dao Charm, it should be a treasure from the Heavenly Sound Sect."

It just so happens that he obtained this item from the Storage Ring of Zhi Qin True Monarch.

Those must be the Enlightenment Spirit Item.

"What a pity, it's not Fire-element Spirit Item."

Xiao Chen expressed slight regret, it seemed he could only rely on the spiritual objects he already possessed for cultivation.

Fortunately, he had also collected quite a few Fire Element Dao Comprehension Crystal and Fire-element Spirit Item beforehand.

Having already experienced the benefits of Dao Comprehension Crystal.

Xiao Chen simply took the Purple-Gold Bodhi Fruit right away, and then absorbed two pieces of Fire Element Dao Comprehension Crystal.

This is to enhance one's understanding of the Great Dao of Fire.

Then he took out Fire-element Spirit Item such as Azure Luan Incinerated Feather Ash to help him upgrade the <Crimson Sky Mountain Severing Palm> to the Great Accomplishment Realm.

But five days and five nights have passed.

Two batches of Azure Luan Incinerated Feather Ash have been used up.

Xiao Chen still felt that he was still a little short and couldn't master the final palm technique.

After thinking for a moment, he absorbed another piece of Fire Element Dao Comprehension Crystal.

But I still feel like I can't take that last step.

"That's strange, why is my control always just a little off?"

Xiao Chen pondered for a moment, "Could it be because I didn't use enough spiritual items?"

"That shouldn't be the case. Six fourth-tier Fire Element Fourth-Order Spiritual Item have been used in just six days. This level of consumption can only be described as extravagant."

To be honest, most Nascent Soul True Lord probably don't have his qualifications.

"Since it's not a matter of quantity, then it must be a matter of quality."

Xiao Chen immediately concluded, "It must be because the Fire-element Spirit Item I used wasn't good enough, and its helpful effect wasn't strong enough!"

Imagine there is an Immortal Pill that can instantly transform a mortal into an immortal.

Will he still have the same troubles he has now?

Definitely not!

So the problem lies in the fact that the spiritual objects he already possesses are not good enough!

Of course, there's no hope of finding Immortal Pill immortality.

However, Xiao Chen happened to have a Life Bead left behind after the Jin Luan burned out.

He immediately took out the Life Bead and used his true essence to activate the Fire Spiritual Power contained within it.

As expected, its effect was far superior to that of ordinary fourth-tier Fire-element Spirit Item.

It only consumed about half of the power, yet it successfully helped Xiao Chen fully master the fifth move of the Crimson Sky Mountain Severing Palm -Cloud Shattering Mountain Merging Palm.

He elevated this Law Technique to its Great Accomplishment Realm.

"I knew it, the problem really was with the spirit object."

Feeling the unprecedented power in his palm, Xiao Chen couldn't help but reveal a satisfied smile.

He had mastered the Law Technique and all matters had been resolved.

He didn't waste any more time, got up, opened the latest sea chart given to him by Hidden Ice True Monarch, and determined the direction.

Then they headed straight for the location of the Heavenly Sound Sect.

During the few days that Xiao Chen practiced the Crimson Sky Mountain Severing Palm.

The True Lord of the other forces in the Inner Sea have already arrived.

They were all there to attend the upcoming Dao Discussion Exchange Meeting.

In reality, they each had their own agendas, coming to observe the Yin Corpse Sect's reaction and to understand the situation in the Lightless Sea.

In order to obtain the most authentic, detailed, and useful intelligence.

The major powers also used their Divine Ability and almost every channel to gather information about Xiao Chen.

Through their efforts, they actually obtained a very crucial piece of intelligence.

That means the island where the Dai Family lived was attacked by Xiao Chen.

The island's Fourth-tier Defensive Formation and guardian Spirit Beast combined couldn't withstand more than two moves before being completely crushed.

Then, as if Heavenly Fire had descended, the entire island was engulfed in a vast sea of flames.

Even after Xiao Chen left, the remaining flames continued to burn for three days and three nights.

During this time, a rogue cultivator at the Golden Core stage tried to scout the island, but his scouting shield melted into a pool of molten iron the moment it touched the remaining flames.

The sight frightened all the onlookers, who abandoned their plans to land on the island ahead of schedule.

When the news reached them, it naturally surprised all the True Lord present.

"I originally thought it would be Daoist Hidden Ice would step forward."

The Azure Firmament True Monarch of the Five Thunder Temple was clearly somewhat surprised. "Judging from this, the Heavenly Star Devil Lord's strength is probably not simple either!"

Lie Que True Monarch of the Soul Division Sword Pavilion also sighed, "Indeed, the residual power of Law Technique alone can melt Spirit Artifact."

"Even though it's only Third-tier Spirit Shield, that's enough to demonstrate its terrifying power!"

The Heng Yi True Monarch from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance also noticed something. "According to the nearby rogue cultivators, that was an area- Law Technique, yet it already possessed such power."

"If it were a single-target Law Technique, its power would likely be several times greater."

Regarding this point, Huo Xinghuai added, "There were rumors in the early years that he was following the Path of Enlightenment."

"Now it seems that it's almost certainly true."

Upon hearing this, another elder of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, the Raging Tide True Monarch had been in seclusion for a long time, suddenly realized. "So that's how it is! No wonder he has such attainments in Law Technique!"

"I was wondering about that just a couple of days ago."

"Why did he dare to spread the word and declare that he would take the initiative to fight the other fellow Daoists of the Yin Corpse Sect?"

"Now it seems that in a one-on-one fight, I might actually have a fighting chance."

Gao Changgeng of the Star Plucking Sword Pavilion disagreed. "I think that Heavenly Star Devil Lord is just an overconfident fool."

Upon hearing this, Mu Yayang, who was standing behind him, quickly and quietly tugged at his sleeve.

Remind him that today's occasion is different from usual, and he should be mindful of the impact of his words.

Gao Changgeng immediately explained, "As everyone knows, Fellow Daoist Yangjiu achieved the Nascent Soul Great Perfection two hundred years ago."

"Whether in terms of realm or Law Technique, he has reached the pinnacle, with few rivals."

"Look at that Heavenly Star Devil Lord, he's only broken through to the Nascent Soul less than six years ago."

"In my opinion, he needs to go back and train for a while before he has any chance of winning."

"At best, he's just an overconfident challenger."

As everyone was talking, a disciple suddenly came to report.

Two days ago, someone saw Xiao Chen enter the Flying Crossing Sea.

Xuan Ren True Monarch, also from the Star Plucking Sword Pavilion, chuckled and said, "If we estimate based on this speed..."

"At the latest, we should hear from our disciple again by tomorrow evening."

"Challengers have entered the territory of the Cloud Pool Sea."