Early Spirit Sea Stage

Lu Lingxiao hadn't expected it either.

This flame could even unleash a "skill." He hurriedly controlled several Supreme Unity Golden Swords to fall back and crossed them in front of him to block.

Boom!

The purple streak of flame slammed into the Supreme Unity Golden Swords.

This time, there were no scattered explosions, only a single muffled yet soul-shaking crash.

Golden swordlight and purple flames frantically devoured each other.

In the end, under everyone's gaze, the concentrated Purple Imperial Dragon Flame actually burned straight through the Supreme Unity Golden Swords in its path.

Though it had consumed most of its power, it still had force left. It shot toward Lu Lingxiao in a streak of purple light, stopping barely a foot away before the thin layer of clouds he had hastily thrown up blocked it. The flame slowly dissipated.

The Supreme Unity Golden Swords... had been broken!

Lu Lingxiao's face paled, and his figure swayed slightly.

Having his full-force Supreme Unity Golden Swords broken had drained a tremendous amount of his spiritual power and shaken his mind.

Chen Xuan's Purple Imperial Dragon Flame had also dimmed considerably, yet it still coiled around him, its might undiminished.

Seizing the opportunity, Chen Xuan stepped on Flowing Cloud Moon-Chasing and closed in again, his figure like a ghost.

Lu Lingxiao forced his spiritual power to surge and used Flowing Cloud Myriad Forms to conjure a Cloud Sword in an attempt to stop him, but its power had fallen far short of what it was before.

Dragon Marks flickering, Chen Xuan swung both arms and shattered each attack formed from clouds. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Lu Lingxiao.

His fist stopped just before Lu Lingxiao's face.

Lu Lingxiao took a deep breath. Somewhat shaken, he stared at the fist hovering barely an inch from him, wrapped in azure Dragon Marks, and swallowed.

"Senior Brother, I concede."

Chen Xuan smiled.

"Junior Brother Chen... impressive. I admit defeat."

Lu Lingxiao cupped his hands and conceded without hesitation.

He had used every means at his disposal, even bringing out his strongest attacking Dao Technique, the Supreme Unity Golden Swords, yet he still hadn't been a match for Chen Xuan's Azure Heaven Dragon Transformation Art and the astonishingly powerful, almost sentient Purple Imperial Dragon Flame.

Just as Li Junmo had been thoroughly convinced by his defeat, so too was he.

Chen Xuan heard him and lowered his fist, letting the momentum fade. The Dragon Marks around him vanished, and the Purple Imperial Dragon Flame obediently returned to his body.

Elder Zhang then announced loudly, "The final winner is Number One, Chen Xuan!"

Down below, the disciples had thoroughly enjoyed the show.

Purple Imperial Dragon Flame and Supreme Unity Golden Swords—this fight had been far more entertaining than the previous bouts between weaklings.

Many disciples were asking around about what Dao Technique Chen Xuan's Purple Imperial Dragon Flame was. They wanted to learn it too.

When they heard it was a top-tier Dao Technique and that their Mystic Fire might not even be like Chen Xuan's Purple Imperial Dragon Flame, everyone immediately cooled off.

Too expensive. They couldn't afford it.

With that, the Outer Sect Grand Competition officially ended.

The three elders began handing out the rewards.

Those ranked fourth to one hundredth each received a Spirit Sea Pill.

Next came the rewards for the top three, the main event.

Three rings floated in Elder Zhang's hand.

"These contain the spiritual treasures awarded to the top three in this Outer Sect Grand Competition."

As Elder Zhang spoke, the three rings flew into the hands of Chen Xuan, Lu Lingxiao, and Li Junmo.

These three rings were special too. They were custom-made storage artifacts, designed specifically to hold spiritual treasures.

Spiritual treasures had a spirit of their own, and storing them came with special requirements.

Moreover, these were top-grade artifacts, a hidden reward for the top three outer disciples as well.

After all, the sect had never asked for the rings back after an Outer Sect Grand Competition.

"I hope you make good use of them and all manage to form a Golden Spirit Sea."

Elder Zhang spoke again.

"Thank you, Elder."

The three cupped their hands in thanks.

After that, the three elders left first.

Before Elder Zhang left, his gaze lingered on Chen Xuan for an extra two seconds.

He really wanted to recruit him.

But it was too late. Chen Xuan was already a disciple of Danxiao Peak; there was no way he could take him away.

Forget someone as talented as Chen Xuan—even if he were an ordinary disciple of Danxiao Peak, the elders and Supreme Elders of the Danxiao lineage would never stand by and let someone snatch one of their own.

That would be a slap in their faces.

Chen Xuan was a little puzzled about why Elder Zhang had looked at him for those extra two seconds.

He couldn't figure it out. Forget it. Breaking through as soon as possible was more important.

"Everyone, this junior will take his leave. Farewell."

Chen Xuan cupped his hands to the people around him.

Then he took out the White Cloud Artifact.

"Everyone, I'll be off too. Junior Brother, wait for me."

Li Junmo hurriedly spoke and chased after Chen Xuan.

They were both disciples of Danxiao Peak, so they were headed the same way.

The others also left one after another.

Those who were ready to break through returned to their quarters to enter seclusion.

After catching up with Chen Xuan, Li Junmo asked where he lived and told him his own address as well, hoping to make friends with him.

After all, they were both disciples of Danxiao Peak, and befriending someone with Chen Xuan's talent and strength could only benefit him.

Chen Xuan didn't turn down Li Junmo's friendship.

There were still a few friends to be made along the path of cultivation.

Before, he had only known Senior Sister Jiang Qiong at Danxiao Peak. Now he had another fellow cultivator to get to know, which was something worth being happy about.

Still, neither of them chatted much just then.

After returning to Danxiao Peak, they each went back to their quarters and began their breakthroughs.

After returning, Chen Xuan sat cross-legged on his bed.

He took out the ring and inspected the spiritual treasure inside.

When he sent his divine sense into it, Chen Xuan saw a green spirit herb inside the ring.

A golden marking ran across the herb.

Golden markings—every spiritual treasure had them.

They were also the best way to identify a spiritual treasure. These markings were extremely distinctive, and could be recognized at a glance, revealing that the item was a spiritual treasure.

The markings also indicated how powerful the treasure was.

Just as some spirit herbs were more potent than others, spiritual treasures varied in quality too.

A spirit herb's potency was generally measured by its age.

A spiritual treasure's quality, on the other hand, was determined by its golden markings.

The more golden markings it had, the more powerful the treasure.

To break through from Qi Gathering to the Spirit Sea stage, a spiritual treasure with just one marking was enough.

Chen Xuan took out the spiritual treasure.

It really did have a spirit of its own. As soon as it emerged, it actually tried to run away.

A thin white cloud rope appeared around Chen Xuan and tied it up tight.

Flowing Cloud Technique bro, the goods are here. You can get started.

Chen Xuan thought to himself.

As he spoke, his spiritual power enveloped the spiritual treasure.

[Your cultivation technique "Flowing Cloud Technique" has gotten excited!]

[Heh heh heh! Time to dig in!]

[Your cultivation technique "Flowing Cloud Technique" has begun absorbing the spiritual treasure.]

Chen Xuan almost lost it when he saw that.

Why was it going "heh heh heh" now...

That was not something it should be picking up.

As the Flowing Cloud Technique began to work, the spiritual treasure's power flowed into Chen Xuan's body, heading straight for his dantian.

In a few moments, the spiritual treasure had completely transformed into spiritual light and surged into Chen Xuan's dantian.

Chen Xuan sat cross-legged and calmed his mind.

The spiritual power around him gathered toward his body.

Inside his dantian.

The spiritual power and the spiritual treasure's medicinal essence blended and began to coalesce into a sea.

A hint of gold appeared.

In the next instant, the spiritual power in Chen Xuan's dantian had transformed into a vast Golden Spirit Sea.

The aura around Chen Xuan underwent a transformation, and he officially entered the early Spirit Sea stage.

[Were I, the Flowing Cloud Technique, never born, this path would have lain in darkness for eternity.]

Bro, I only broke through to the Spirit Sea stage. It's not like I've become an immortal. Don't show off so much.

Hurry up and keep cultivating. You can show off after you become an immortal.

Chen Xuan thought to himself.