Journey to the Demonic Beast Forest

Lu Chen felt the strength in his body and threw a punch directly at the giant rock in front of him. The giant rock turned to dust, and the power of the punch was as much as ten thousand jin. Just as Lu Chen was happy about his realm, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood onto the ground, and the blood instantly corroded the ground.

Feng Tiancheng quickly helped Lu Chen and made a thorough investigation.

"I'll use my Spiritual Energy to temporarily imitate the Yin Sea Pearl and achieve the Twin Fish Yin-Yang Balance. However, the Yin Sea Pearl in the White Fish is always just an imitation. The Fire Toxin accumulated from the Black Fish Yang Sea Pearl is temporarily offset, but it continues to accumulate with each cycle. If the true Yin Sea Pearl isn't found, then the next outbreak will be beyond my ability to save you, even if I give my all."

Feng Tiancheng re-guided the Spiritual Energy within Lu Chen's body, clasped his hands together, slightly bent his middle and index fingers, and chanted a spell, carving a Sealing Array Formation at Lu Chen's Celestial Pool to strengthen and stabilize the Yin-Yang balance within him.

"So we must go find the Yin Sea Pearl. That's our next goal, isn't it?" Lu Chen said weakly.

Feng Tiancheng helped Lu Chen onto the bed. "Yes, not only do we need to find the Yin Sea Pearl, but we also need to find the other fragments. The Primal Yang Twin Fish Compass is a whole. If any part is missing, the Yin-Yang will be unbalanced, and the problem will likely worsen."

Lu Chen looked at the ceiling, thinking about his experiences over the past few years. He was fifteen now. His carefree days seemed to have changed since he was nine.

The day he failed the test at the Celestial Lake, his life took a turn. After failing the test, being deemed untalented, and being mocked and discussed for years, he finally became a Cultivator. However, the price was the lives of his entire village. Now that his cultivation had just increased, he had a huge flaw. He had to speed up his cultivation and obtain treasures to survive.

He thought of the stories he heard from the storyteller when he was a child, about young masters being jilted, and about useless people rising to become family heads. Lu Chen felt that his life was like a pre-written script planned by the storyteller, just without a good ending yet.

As he thought, Lu Chen fell asleep. Feng Tiancheng tucked him in, watching the black and white twin fish constantly converting Spiritual Energy within Lu Chen's Celestial Pool, improving Lu Chen's realm without a moment's rest.

"This child is truly unfortunate. He possesses the highest Talent, yet he has suffered such hardships these past few days."

With that, Feng Tiancheng returned to the Twin Fish Plate to recover his Spiritual Energy. The space within the Twin Fish Plate had expanded nearly tenfold. With the addition of the Yang Sea Pearl, the Fire Attribute Spiritual Energy within the Twin Fish Plate had also significantly increased. This time, Feng Tiancheng could clearly feel the speed of Spiritual Energy recovery.

Feng Tiancheng looked at his own recovery speed. After accumulating for a few more months, his cultivation would be able to recover to the Grand Perfection of the Breath Regulation Realm.

Feng Tiancheng then looked at another area within the Twin Fish Plate. It was a piece of land that had been opened up due to the addition of the Yang Sea Pearl. Looking at this Spirit Field, Feng Tiancheng transplanted some important Spirit Plants into it. The growth rate of Spirit Plants in this place was ten times faster than outside, and it might even be faster in the future.

After doing all this, Feng Tiancheng sat down to recover his Spiritual Energy. He always had a feeling that something was urging him to recover his Spiritual Energy quickly. This feeling was very important for a cultivator; it might be a premonition of future events.

Time flew by. Since Lu Chen integrated the Twin Fish Plate into his body, his cultivation had greatly increased. However, due to the lack of news about the next fragment, Lu Chen had no choice but to start honing his own skills.

On the Eastern Pole Continent, besides cultivating with the Heavenly Net, a large number of Cultivation Techniques and Magic Treasures had also emerged. These were divided into Mortal Tier, Human Tier, Earth Tier, and Heaven Tier based on their power. Heaven Tier possessed immense power but rarely appeared in the world. Mortal Tier was the weakest and the most used by cultivators. Often, a single Human Tier Cultivation Technique or Magic Treasure could cause countless people to fight over it.

Lu Chen practiced daily against a wooden stake, learning how to exert force, how to dodge, and how to quickly defeat the wooden stake in front of him.

During this period, Lu Chen had successfully achieved the second transformation of the Nine Transformations of the Golden Serpent, Silver Serpent Emerging from its Lair. This was a Movement Technique attack. Looking at the wooden stake, Lu Chen circulated the Spiritual Energy in his body. Lu Chen's body gradually became ethereal, and then two serpent-like figures shot out from underground, directly smashing the wooden stake in front of him to pieces. The two illusory figures disappeared, and Lu Chen's figure reappeared two meters away.

Lu Chen was already extremely familiar with this move. Although the Nine Transformations of the Golden Serpent was a Mortal Tier cultivation technique, its upper limit was immense. If all nine transformations were mastered, its power would be comparable to a Heaven Tier cultivation technique, and it might even lead to the enlightenment of the Great Art of Nine Dragon Clones.

The first transformation of the Nine Transformations of the Golden Serpent, Star Serpent Hidden in Clouds, was a pure evasion technique. After using it, the body would become ethereal, dodging the enemy's attacks. The second transformation was Silver Serpent Emerging from its Lair. However, Lu Chen was already extremely proficient in using Silver Serpent Emerging from its Lair, yet he always felt something was not quite right.

This feeling of unease also appeared in another palm technique – the Six Yang Palms that Split the Heavens. This was specifically taught to Lu Chen by Feng Tiancheng. It was an Earth Tier Martial Skill he had obtained when fighting for resources in the past. It was said that if one cultivated it to the end, they could split the heavens with a single palm. Although it was only a part of it, combined with the Yang Sea Pearl within Lu Chen's body, it could release a blazing fire that burned everything. Its power was still quite good.

This cultivation technique also had problems. After Lu Chen successfully cultivated it, each time he unleashed a palm strike, it would exhaust all his Spiritual Energy, leaving him unable to continue. No matter how much Lu Chen's Spiritual Energy increased, this palm strike would directly deplete all of Lu Chen's Spiritual Energy.

All of this made Lu Chen increasingly anxious. He slowly felt that he had reached a bottleneck. He practiced movement techniques every day and practiced palm techniques against the wooden stake, but he felt that his movements were becoming more and more awkward.

His grandfather was still waiting for him to save him, and there were other fragments he needed to find. But now his martial prowess had stagnated. What should he do?

One day, Lu Chen found Feng Tiancheng and explained his doubts, seeking his advice.

Feng Tiancheng explained, "Although your cultivation has advanced by leaps and bounds with the help of these few opportunities, cultivators don't just rely on cultivation to traverse the world. They also need Martial Skills and Movement Techniques to deal with enemies with ease. However, true Martial Skills and Movement Techniques are often forged in the crucible of life-and-death combat."

"Practicing like you are now will only make you more familiar with the Martial Skills and Movement Techniques, but when you truly face other cultivators or Demonic Beasts, you will often be caught off guard. Therefore, if you want to advance further, you must temper yourself in life-and-death combat."

Lu Chen's heart was enlightened upon hearing these words. "Then, Grandpa Feng, let's go outside. I inquired earlier, and if we walk a bit further, we will reach the territory of the Fengtian Prefecture. There is a Demonic Beast Forest there. We can go there to hunt Demonic Beasts and hone our skills. By the way, we can also find an opportunity to join the Fengtian Prefecture and see if anyone knows about the Token."

Feng Tiancheng nodded in agreement with Lu Chen's suggestion. He was not yet familiar with the distribution of forces on the continent and could only proceed step by step if he wanted to know what was happening on the continent.

The next day, Lu Chen collected all the Medicinal Herbs, Spirit Plants, and Magic Treasure Manuals from the Secret Realm into the Twin Fish Plate for future use. Then, the old and young pair set off towards the Demonic Beast Forest.

Lu Chen and the two walked and stopped, inquiring about Blind Lu along the way, but they did not get any accurate news. However, they finally reached the Demonic Beast Forest.

Lu Chen walked into a nearby tea stall and ordered a pot of tea. At the tea stall, four or five groups of cultivators were eating dry rations and drinking tea.

Just then, Lu Chen heard people around him discussing a strange matter. The Demonic Beasts in the Demonic Beast Forest had inexplicably gone into a frenzy, as if a Secret Realm was about to open in a few days. Cultivators from various sects were rushing towards it.

Lu Chen listened from the side about the commotion in the Demonic Beast Forest. He was about to go to the Demonic Beast Forest and had to get some good information.

So, Lu Chen spoke up, "Brother Dao, what's going on with the Demonic Beast Forest? Can you tell me more specifically?"

The cultivator looked at Lu Chen and continued, "I heard that someone in the Demonic Beast Forest, outside a Secret Realm, obtained Yin-Yang Sand. Do you know what Yin-Yang Sand is? Just one grain can increase the power of a magic treasure."

"For some reason, the news spread, and the Fengtian Prefecture invited everyone to go to the Secret Realm together. Now, cultivators from all over are gathering towards the Demonic Beast Forest. I heard that Purple Flame Fortress and Medicine King Villa have also arrived. Such a treasure will surely be fought over by everyone. We probably don't have much of a chance."

Another table of cultivators also chimed in, "Brother Dao, you can't say that. There are so many cultivators now, the lowest being in the Breath Regulation Realm. If we sneak in during the chaos after the Secret Realm opens, they won't be able to stop us. Fortune favors the bold. Perhaps we can obtain some resources. If we succeed this time, we will surely soar to great heights in the future."

The people around also echoed their sentiments. After saying this, the two groups of cultivators left directly, no longer paying attention to the remaining people, and headed towards the Demonic Beast Forest.

The other cultivators also hurried to catch up, afraid of missing the time for the Secret Realm to open.

Lu Chen watched the cultivators leave one by one. He also wanted to go to the Secret Realm, but the cultivators going there were at least in the Breath Regulation Realm. He was only at the fifth level of the Qi Gathering Realm. Going there would be like throwing his life away. However, he still had to go to the Demonic Beast Forest. Even just watching the high-level cultivators fight from afar would be a good opportunity for enlightenment at this time.

After speaking, he told Feng Tiancheng his plan. Feng Tiancheng's voice came from the Twin Fish Plate into Lu Chen's mind, "This is your first time going to the Demonic Beast Forest. You absolutely cannot go deep. You must be cautious."

"I will, Grandpa Feng," Lu Chen replied to Feng Tiancheng, then began to drink tea and rest, contemplating his current situation.

Lu Chen was now eighteen years old and already at the fifth level of the Qi Gathering Realm. He had to raise his cultivation as quickly as possible and then join a sect to search for news about the identity token. His grandfather was still waiting for him to save him, and he still had to search for the remaining fragments of the Primal Yang Twin Fish Compass, otherwise, his Fire Toxin would erupt again sooner or later.

A pile of matters was constantly pressuring Lu Chen to become stronger quickly. Time was running out for Lu Chen. Thinking of this, Lu Chen had no intention of resting any longer. He wanted to immediately head to the Demonic Beast Forest for training.