Preparing to Break Through to the Spirit Severing Realm and Comprehend the Exiled Immortal Artistic Conception
Teng Li's expression turned grave as he looked at Luo Chuan, his face full of confusion. He had no idea what the other man meant.
He was the young lord of Teng Family City, blessed with extraordinary talent and already at the Late Foundation Establishment Realm. His future held limitless promise, yet now he was being described as so utterly pathetic.
Did Luo Chuan really think he was that weak?
Teng Huayuan personally poured Luo Chuan a cup of tea, his expression serious as he asked, "Senior Luo Chuan, what exactly do you mean? Could a calamity be about to befall my Teng Clan?"
"Had it not been for that Dragon Turtle Armor, I wouldn't have told you about this. What happens to the Teng Clan is none of my concern."
Hearing this, Teng Huayuan instinctively looked toward his great-grandson, Teng Li. If it was true, then they really did need to prepare in advance. Otherwise, the punishment awaiting the Teng Clan would be beyond imagination.
Teng Huayuan knelt before Luo Chuan and bowed repeatedly. "Then... how can my grandson's death tribulation be averted?"
"For the next hundred years, you must not leave this place, not even by half a step. And don't hunt down other cultivators. Otherwise, no one will be able to protect your Teng Clan."
Luo Chuan slowly rose to his feet. He glanced at Teng Li but said nothing more, then turned and vanished from the spot.
As for taking Teng Li as his disciple, he had no interest in it whatsoever. Teng Li was no good person, after all. If he let him grow powerful, he might well stab Luo Chuan in the back.
After all, in the world of Renegade Immortal, disciples stabbing their masters in the back was about as common as it got. Devil Lord Six Desires and Heavenly Devil Loose Cultivator, or Vermilion Bird Child and Gan Feng, for instance—they were all no good.
Watching Luo Chuan leave the Teng Clan, Teng Li sneered. "Great-grandfather, I think that guy was just talking big."
"I, Teng Li, have extraordinary talent. Breaking through to the Spirit Severing Realm is only a matter of time. Besides, Envoy Lin Yi will take me as his disciple later. What's there to be afraid of?"
Teng Huayuan clenched his fist without thinking and sighed. "I had originally planned to have you become his disciple, but I never expected Luo Chuan to refuse outright... Still, you must remember what he said. Do you understand?"
Teng Li pursed his lips, completely unconcerned.
He was the young lord of Teng Family City, a Late Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, and his great-grandfather's most treasured child.
Teng Li had been killing people since he was young, and his great-grandfather had told him that everything in Teng Family City belonged to him.
If anyone refused to hand something over, he only had to kill them and eliminate the problem.
Seeing that Li'er had paid no heed to the matter, Teng Huayuan sighed deeply. He said nothing more and turned to leave.
Hopefully, nothing like that would happen.
After returning to the Hengyue Sect, True Person Huanglong told Luo Chuan what had happened, including how all the Mystic Dao Sect's disciples had joined the Hengyue Sect.
Only a small number had refused to join and chosen to leave the Mystic Dao Sect instead. No one cared to find out where they had gone.
Luo Chuan paid no mind to the matter. What he looked forward to was the upcoming cleanup of the Outer Realm Battlefield. Everything else was merely a side issue.
Liu Mei approached with tea, placed it on the table respectfully, and said softly, "Master, please have some tea."
Luo Chuan nodded and looked at Liu Mei. "You should focus on your cultivation and enter seclusion soon. Do your best to reach the Mid Foundation Establishment Realm within four years."
The minimum cultivation level required to enter the Outer Realm Battlefield was the Foundation Establishment Realm. Liu Mei had yet to reach Foundation Establishment, so she naturally needed to speed up her cultivation.
Liu Mei pressed her lips together and replied softly, "This disciple understands."
Watching Liu Mei turn to leave, True Person Huanglong looked at Luo Chuan with a puzzled expression. "Ancestor, why did you take Liu Mei as your disciple? She has decent talent, but she also has the Natural Charm Body..."
Luo Chuan waved a hand at True Person Huanglong and nodded with a faint smile. "I know what I'm doing. Besides, things like this are all a matter of fate."
Hearing this, True Person Huanglong could only shake his head. He seemed to know Liu Mei's true identity, but seeing how Luo Chuan felt about it, he said nothing more.
Hopefully, nothing major would happen.
Otherwise, he would have to leave the Hengyue Sect early and continue his cultivation elsewhere, keeping watch over the Immortal Remnant Clan on Vermilion Bird Planet.
After returning to the rear mountain, Luo Chuan decided to enter seclusion and cultivate, hoping to break through to the Spirit Severing Realm as soon as possible. Only then could he obtain more cultivation resources and the like.
For a cultivator to break through to the Spirit Severing Realm, they had to comprehend something known as an "artistic conception." This came from the cultivator's Dao and spiritual energy.
It could be ruthlessness, madness, laziness, the passage of time, life and death, or filial piety.
The simplest way was to do as Lin Yi, the Heaven-Reaching Tower's envoy, had done: comprehend another cultivator's artistic conception, gain insight into it, and use that to break through to the Spirit Severing Realm.
But cultivators who took this path were usually rather weak. With little hope of making further progress in their lives, they chose to inherit another cultivator's artistic conception to advance their own cultivation.
The artistic conception Luo Chuan had chosen was "Exiled Immortal." Having reached the late Nascent Soul stage, he still found it difficult to fully comprehend.
The Exiled Immortal Artistic Conception wasn't one of the more common forms, but it resembled illusory conceptions such as life and death or the passage of time. Once unleashed, it made its wielder virtually invincible among those of the same realm.
With the help of the Seven-Colored Ultimate Realm, unless a Spirit Severing Realm expert attacked him without holding anything back, killing him here would be harder than reaching the heavens.
Over the next two years, things in the Zhao Kingdom remained much as they had always been.
Cultivators had little sense of time. After all, they enjoyed long lifespans, and as long as they encountered no danger, everything else could be ignored.
During those two years, Luo Chuan's strength had reached the peak of the late Nascent Soul stage. He was only one complete comprehension of his artistic conception away from breaking through to the Spirit Severing Realm.
"I've comprehended eighty percent of the artistic conception. Looks like I need to find somewhere to break through."
In the quiet room, Luo Chuan slowly opened his eyes. Clad in a white Daoist robe, he clenched his fist and felt the energy surging through his body.
He understood that if he wanted to establish himself in the Zhao Kingdom, he had to break through to the Spirit Severing Realm first.
Luo Chuan brushed the dust from his shoulders, clasped one hand behind his back, and flashed away, appearing atop a mountain a hundred li away.
To be safe, Luo Chuan didn't break through right away. Instead, he chose to set up a formation here to keep other cultivators from disturbing him.
Luo Chuan held both hands before his chest, touching his index fingers and thumbs together to form a diamond shape. Then he murmured an incantation, and a brilliant golden light shot from his fingertips.
"Open!"
The beam of light shot into the heavens. A vast surge of energy suddenly enveloped the entire mountaintop, completely sealing it off from other cultivators.