Early Spirit Sea

Lu Lingxiao had not expected this.

He hurriedly maneuvered several Supreme Unity Golden Swords to defend, crossing them in front of him as the flame unleashed a "skill."

"Boom!"

The purple streak of fire collided violently with the Supreme Unity Golden Swords.

This time, there was no scattered explosion, only a dull, soul-shaking roar.

Golden sword light and purple flame eroded each other frantically.

In the end, before the eyes of the crowd, the condensed Purple Imperial Dragon Flame actually burned straight through the Supreme Unity Golden Swords blocking its path.

Though it had consumed most of its own energy, the remaining momentum did not fade. It shot forward as a purple gleam, stopping only a foot from Lu Lingxiao after being blocked by a thin layer of cloud energy he had hastily deployed, where it slowly dissipated.

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

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

Having his full-power Supreme Unity Golden Sword broken consumed a massive amount of his spiritual power and left his mind shaken.

Meanwhile, although Chen Xuan's Purple Imperial Dragon Flame had dimmed significantly, it still circled around him, its might remaining.

Seizing the opportunity, Chen Xuan stepped into the Flowing Cloud Moon-Chasing, his figure closing in again like a phantom.

Lu Lingxiao forced himself to gather his spiritual power, attempting to block with cloud swords manifested from Flowing Cloud Myriad Forms, but their power was far inferior to before.

With his dragon patterns flickering, Chen Xuan swung his arms, shattering the attacks made of cloud energy one by one, arriving before Lu Lingxiao in the blink of an eye.

A fist stopped right in front of Lu Lingxiao's face.

Lu Lingxiao took a deep breath, looking with lingering fear at the fist wrapped in cyan dragon patterns that had stopped an inch from his face, and swallowed hard.

"Senior Brother, I concede."

A smile appeared on Chen Xuan's face.

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

Lu Lingxiao cupped his hands, acknowledging his loss with grace.

He had exhausted all his methods, even using his strongest offensive Dao technique, the Supreme Unity Golden Sword, yet he still could not best Chen Xuan's Azure Heaven Dragon Transformation Art and that astonishingly spiritual Purple Imperial Dragon Flame.

Just as Li Junmo had been convinced of his loss, so too was he.

Hearing this, Chen Xuan withdrew his fist and momentum, the dragon patterns on his body fading away as the Purple Imperial Dragon Flame obediently retracted into his body.

Elder Zhang then announced in a loud voice, "The final victor, number one, Chen Xuan!"

Off the stage, the disciples were thoroughly satisfied.

With the Purple Imperial Dragon Flame and the Supreme Unity Golden Sword, this fight was far more spectacular than the amateur brawls from before.

Many disciples were asking around about what Dao technique Chen Xuan's Purple Imperial Dragon Flame was, hoping to learn it themselves.

But upon hearing it was a top-tier Dao technique—and that mysterious fires were not necessarily the same as Chen Xuan's Purple Imperial Dragon Flame—the crowd instantly calmed down.

Too expensive to learn, too expensive to learn.

With this, the Outer Sect Grand Competition officially concluded.

The three elders began to distribute the rewards.

Those ranked fourth to one hundredth received their Spirit Sea Pills first.

Next were the rewards for the top three, which were the most significant.

Three rings hovered in Elder Zhang's hand.

"Inside these are the spiritual item rewards for the top three of 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 rings were no simple items; they were specially crafted storage artifacts designed specifically for housing spiritual items.

Spiritual items possessed a spirit of their own and had special requirements for storage.

Moreover, these were top-grade artifacts, which could be considered a hidden reward for the top three of the outer sect.

In any case, the sect never reclaimed the rings after each Outer Sect Grand Competition.

"I hope you make good use of them and all successfully condense a Golden Spirit Sea."

Elder Zhang added.

"Thank you, Elder."

The three cupped their hands in gratitude.

Following this, the three elders departed.

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

He truly wanted to poach him.

But it was already too late; Chen Xuan was now a disciple of Cinnabar Firmament, and it was impossible for him to take him away.

Not to mention the terrifying talent Chen Xuan had just displayed, even for an ordinary Cinnabar Firmament disciple, the elders and supreme elders of the Cinnabar Firmament lineage would never stand by and watch their own disciple be snatched away.

Isn't this just a slap in their faces?

Chen Xuan was somewhat puzzled as to why Elder Zhang had glanced at him twice.

Unable to figure it out, he decided to let it go; breaking through was the priority.

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

Chen Xuan cupped his hands toward the few people beside him.

Immediately after, he brought out his White Cloud Artifact.

"Everyone, I'll be heading off as well. Junior brother, wait for me!"

Li Junmo said hurriedly, then chased after Chen Xuan.

As both were disciples of Danxiao Peak, their paths naturally aligned.

The others departed one after another as well.

Those ready to break through all returned to seclusion to do so.

After Li Junmo caught up with Chen Xuan, he asked about Chen Xuan's residence and shared his own, hoping to build a friendship.

After all, they were both Danxiao disciples, and given Chen Xuan's talent and strength, befriending him would only be beneficial.

Chen Xuan did not refuse Li Junmo's overture.

On the path of cultivation, it was always good to have a few friends.

Previously, he had only known Senior Sister Jiang Qiong at Danxiao Peak; having another fellow daoist to know now was something to be happy about.

However, neither of them engaged in much idle chatter at the moment.

Upon returning to Danxiao Peak, the two went back to their respective residences to begin their breakthroughs.

After returning, Chen Xuan went to his room and sat cross-legged on the bed.

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

As his divine sense probed within, Chen Xuan saw a green spiritual herb inside the ring.

On this spiritual herb, there was a golden vein.

Golden veins were a feature possessed by all spiritual items.

They were the best way to identify a spiritual item; these golden veins were extremely distinct, making it easy to recognize the item at a glance and determine its nature.

Furthermore, the golden veins also represented the potency of the spiritual item.

Just as medicinal herbs had varying levels of efficacy, spiritual items were no exception.

The quality of a medicinal herb was generally judged by its age.

For spiritual items, it was judged by the golden veins.

The more golden veins, the stronger the effect of the spiritual item.

To break through from the Qi Gathering stage to the Spirit Sea stage, a one-veined spiritual item was already sufficient.

Chen Xuan took out the spiritual item.

It was truly "spiritual"—the moment it appeared, it actually tried to run away.

A thin rope made of white clouds manifested around Chen Xuan, binding it tightly.

Big Brother Flowing Cloud Technique, the goods have arrived. You can start now.

Chen Xuan thought to himself.

As he spoke, Chen Xuan enveloped the spiritual item with his spiritual power.

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

[Hehehe! I'm going to start feasting!]

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

Seeing this, Chen Xuan couldn't help but twitch.

Why the "hehehe"...

That's not something you should be learning.

As the Flowing Cloud Technique exerted its power, the energy from the spiritual item began to surge into Chen Xuan's body, heading straight for his dantian.

In a few moments, the spiritual item had transformed into spiritual light and poured entirely into Chen Xuan's dantian.

Chen Xuan sat in meditation, calming his mind.

The spiritual power around his body converged inward.

Within his dantian, the spiritual power merged with the medicinal essence of the spiritual item, beginning to condense into a sea.

A streak of gold surged forth.

Immediately after, the spiritual energy within his dantian transformed into a Golden Spirit Sea.

Chen Xuan's aura underwent a metamorphosis, officially stepping into the early stage of the Spirit Sea realm.

[Had the Flowing Cloud Technique not been born, this path would have been an eternal night.]

Brother, it's just a breakthrough to the Spirit Sea, not becoming an immortal, so don't act so pretentious.

Hurry up and continue cultivating; you can act pretentious once you become an immortal.

Chen Xuan thought to himself.