Under the night sky, Chen Chen dragged his weary body as he began to clean up the battlefield.
He first walked over to Wang Zhan's corpse.
The once-arrogant Wang Family Head had now become a pile of cold, mangled flesh, his death a miserable sight.
Chen Chen's expression did not ripple in the slightest.
Enduring the stench of blood, he searched Wang Zhan's remains.
Very quickly, he found a storage bag several times more exquisite than Wang Lie's.
When his Spiritual Sense entered it, Chen Chen's breathing instantly quickened!
This storage bag had a space of a full ten cubic meters!
It was piled high with all manner of cultivation resources.
There were over a thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones!
All kinds of pills for healing wounds and restoring vitality filled more than a dozen jade bottles!
There were even three bottles of pills emanating astonishing energy fluctuations, with the words—"Qi Condensation Pill"—clearly written on them!
These were precious pills that could help Body Tempering Ninth Stage peak martial artists break through into the Qi Condensation Realm!
Any single bottle placed at an auction in Qingyang City would be enough to stir up a storm of blood and wind!
Aside from Spirit Stones and pills, the storage bag also contained several Martial Skill Manuals, all High-grade Yellow Tier. One of them, titled Blood Fiend Saber Technique, had even reached the Low-grade Black Tier!
Clearly, this was Wang Zhan's trump card.
"Unfortunately, it doesn't suit the path of my cultivation art."
Chen Chen shook his head, but he did not disdain them. Skills never weighed one down; they would surely come in handy someday.
Finally, his gaze fell upon something in the corner of the storage bag.
It was a Flying Sword Artifact the size of a door panel!
It was precisely the one Wang Zhan had used to fly before!
"A flying artifact!"
Chen Chen's eyes immediately lit up.
This was a true treasure!
With it, whether chasing enemies or fleeing for his life, he would be like a tiger with wings!
Without the slightest politeness, he claimed everything for himself. Then he picked up the Soul Chasing Mother Jade he had used as bait.
This thing might prove useful in the future.
After finishing all that, Chen Chen finally sank his mind into the system.
This was the biggest gain from this trip!
[Name: Chen Chen] [Realm: Seventh Level of Body Tempering Realm] [Cultivation Art: Asura God Transformation Art (First Layer)] [Martial Skill: Seven Shadows Step (Minor Mastery)] [Cultivation Points: 500]
Five hundred points!
Seeing that astonishing number, Chen Chen's heart gave a violent twitch.
This enormous fortune was enough to let him undergo another earth-shaking transformation!
"System, open the Random Cultivation Art Treasure Chest!"
He first chose to open the treasure chest rewarded by the mission.
Although Wang Zhan's Blood Fiend Saber Technique was not bad, it was only Low-grade Black Tier. He hoped to obtain something more suitable for himself.
[ Ding! Opening Random Cultivation Art Treasure Chest... ]
[ Congratulations, Host, you have obtained a Profound-grade High Rank cultivation art—Nine Nether Soul Refining Art! ]
A streak of black light exploded within his mind.
Countless methods for tempering the soul and cultivating spiritual power flooded deep into his memories.
Nine Nether Soul Refining Art!
It was actually a cultivation art dedicated to cultivating the soul!
Chen Chen was momentarily stunned, then overjoyed!
Cultivation on the Martial Path required cultivating both life and soul.
Life referred to the body and its vitality.
Soul referred to the spirit and consciousness.
Ordinary martial artists could not come into contact with methods for cultivating the soul before reaching the Qi Condensation Realm.
Yet while still in the Body Tempering Realm, he had obtained a Profound-grade High Rank soul-refining cultivation art!
This meant that his Spiritual Power would far surpass that of martial artists at the same level!
Whether it was his perception in battle or his comprehension during cultivation, both would receive an enormous boost!
This was simply more precious than giving him a Heaven-grade martial skill!
"Excellent!"
Chen Chen suppressed the wild joy in his heart and no longer hesitated.
"System! Break through for me!"
He wanted to press forward in one breath and raise his strength to the very limit of the Body Tempering Realm!
[ Consuming 500 Cultivation Points. Beginning realm enhancement... ]
[ Detected that the Host possesses the cultivation art Asura God Transformation Art. Automatically optimizing the enhancement route... ]
Rumble!
An unprecedentedly pure surge of energy detonated within his body!
This time, it was no longer a violent scouring. Instead, guided by the Asura God Transformation Art, it was like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, strengthening every inch of his flesh and every bone in an orderly fashion!
His cultivation began soaring wildly at a terrifying speed!
Seventh Level of Body Tempering peak!
Eighth Level of Body Tempering!
Eighth Level of Body Tempering peak!
Ninth Level of Body Tempering!
When all the energy had been completely absorbed, Chen Chen's cultivation had firmly settled at the Ninth Level of Body Tempering peak!
He was only one step away from the legendary Qi Condensation Realm!
He slowly opened his eyes. Blood-red light and lightning interwove within them, as though stars were being born and extinguished there.
His entire aura underwent another transformation.
If he had previously been a sharp blade drawn from its sheath, with its edge fully exposed—
Then now, he was an unparalleled murderous weapon hidden within its sheath. All his sharpness and killing intent had been restrained to the utmost, instead giving people an even more dangerous and unfathomable feeling.
He clenched his fist, and a series of dull sonic booms rang out through the air.
He had absolute confidence that if he faced the Wang Zhan from three days ago again, he would not even need to use any schemes. With strength alone, he could crush him head-on within thirty moves!
[Name: Chen Chen] [Realm: Body Tempering Ninth Stage (Peak)] [Cultivation Art: Asura God Transformation Art (First Layer), Nine Nether Soul Refining Art (Beginner)] [Martial Skill: Seven Shadows Step (Major Mastery)] [Cultivation Points: 0]
His Cultivation Points had been emptied once more.
But in exchange, he had gained a genuine increase in realm!
"Wang Family..."
Chen Chen rose to his feet and gazed toward Qingyang City in the distance, his eyes as cold as blades.
Wang Zhan was dead, but the revenge had only just begun.
He knew very well that news of Wang Zhan's death would likely reach Qingyang City before long.
It might even reach the ears of his son, Wang Teng, who was far away in the Azure Cloud Sect.
He did not have much time left.
Before the Wang Family's strongest outside support returned, he had to uproot the entire Wang Family!
He took a deep breath, pulled out a clean set of black martial attire from the storage bag, and changed into it. He then washed the blood from his face with clean water.
He took out a bottle of pills and swallowed one, quickly restoring his depleted vitality.
An hour later, his condition had returned to its peak.
He did not linger any longer and summoned the door-panel-sized Flying Sword Artifact.
As he poured vitality into it, the flying sword gave a soft tremble and expanded with the wind, hovering steadily before him.
Chen Chen leaped onto the flying sword.
"Qingyang City, I'm back!"
Killing intent flashed in his eyes. The flying sword turned into a streak of light, shooting into the sky and vanishing into the night.
At the same time.
In Qingyang City, a hundred miles away, within the Wang Family Mansion.
Inside that heavily guarded secret chamber.
Upon the altar where the Life Soul Jade Slips of the Wang Family's core members were enshrined.
The jade tablet engraved with the words "Wang Zhan," representing the Lineage's strongest combat power and symbolizing the pillar holding up the Wang Family's sky, suddenly split down the middle with a crack, without any warning.
Immediately afterward, spiderweb-like cracks spread across the entire jade tablet in an instant.
Crash!
With a crisp sound, the jade tablet shattered completely, turning into powder scattered across the floor as its light went utterly dark.
The two guards stationed outside the secret chamber heard the noise, their faces changing drastically as they hurried inside.
When they saw the jade tablet powder covering the ground, all color instantly drained from their faces, their eyes filled with endless terror and horror.
"The... the Family Head's Life Soul Jade Tablet... shattered?!"
"The sky has fallen... the Wang Family's sky has fallen!"
A shrill howl tore through Qingyang City's silent night sky.
An unprecedented, enormous storm was about to erupt completely across all of Qingyang City!
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