Breakthrough! Breakthrough! Breakthrough!

The master of Spirit Ruins Grotto-Heaven came personally. After giving the elders and disciples a round of instructions, he cast a deep glance at the cave dwelling where Monk Sanzang cultivated, then transformed directly into a streak of azure light and departed cleanly.

The Western Desert was far too distant from the Eastern Wasteland. As the leader of a mere grotto-heaven blessed land, he could neither curry favor with the lineages of the Bodhisattvas and Buddhas of the Western Desert nor lower himself to befriend Monk Sanzang.

Better to avoid him altogether.

The reason he had rushed over was mainly because he feared the elders and disciples of the blessed land would do something foolish and bring disaster upon Spirit Ruins Grotto-Heaven.

Jiang Ming, meanwhile, did not wish to remain at Spirit Ruins Grotto-Heaven for too long. After staying another day, he offered some guidance to Han Yishui's disciples, then drank and shared tea with Han Yishui and Han Bugua, the three of them chatting merrily.

As for the other elders of Spirit Ruins Grotto-Heaven, he ignored them outright. In particular, when a Supreme Elder named Wu Qingfeng came to pay him a visit, Jiang Ming simply ignored him.

Sorry, refusing to see you was for your own good.

On the third day, Jiang Ming bid them farewell directly, saying that he intended to enter the Primordial Ruins to train. He spoke openly and frankly, as though he had no concern that someone might learn of his whereabouts and harm him.

After leaving Spirit Ruins Grotto-Heaven, Jiang Ming summoned his Life-Bound Sword and flew on it. With a flash, a scarlet rainbow streaked away. Han Yishui, who had harbored some ill intentions, stood dumbfounded. He could not catch up at all. At that speed, even the master of the grotto-heaven might not have been able to pursue him.

Naturally.

A mid-grade spirit artifact Life-Bound Sword, combined with the Sword Flight Technique, was faster even than ordinary Dao Palace Realm cultivators, let alone cultivators of the Wheel of the Sea Secret Realm.

Moreover, the Sword Flight Technique was especially suited for long-distance travel.

He had made all the "friends" he needed to make.

He had even had to give his two friends, as well as the "nephews" who had come seeking his guidance, a few extra blessings, lest they die too quickly.

This time, when he entered the Primordial Ruins, it would be best if he could reach the tenth level of the Qi Refining Stage.

It would be even better if he could improve his Life-Bound Sword a little further.

That way, he could destroy the Lightning Bird, seize the Lightning Grass, and harvest the Three Yin Cold Lotus.

Besides, he admitted that he could not stop worrying about his little padded jacket and his old man. He only wanted to take a look at them from afar.

Three months later!

Within the Primordial Ruins, inside an underground stalactite cave.

Jiang Ming sat cross-legged atop a large bluestone slab he had carved out with his sword. He wore a long azure robe artifact, one he had refined anew after entering the Primordial Ruins. It fit as though it had been tailored for him, accentuating his tall, slender frame.

As he sat there, his posture was upright as a green pine. His gentle, refined features had gained a trace of chilliness, and the lines of his face had become sharper and more distinct. He exuded a calm, unhurried confidence, while a faint, biting killing intent flickered around him.

Three months of training.

Jiang Ming's cultivation results were as follows: boom! Violet-gold divine radiance blossomed from his dantian and surrounded his body, surging into a seven-foot pillar of divine light. His cultivation aura had astonishingly entered the tenth level of the Qi Refining Stage.

Not bad. At this cultivation speed, I was already three times faster than in my previous life.

In his previous life, Jiang Ming had also been a genius of his world, hailed as Shushan's foremost prodigy. In less than a century, he had raised Shushan's combat strength to its absolute peak.

Furthermore, Jiang Ming's Shrouding Method remained at the Sea of Bitterness Realm.

Originally, Jiang Ming had thought that with his talent, he would soon be unable to continue cultivating and could only wait for the Dao Scripture.

Unexpectedly, cultivating the methods of Chinese Paladin resembled the ancient sages he had read about in Shrouding the Heavens in the life before last. They focused on cultivating only one secret realm. For instance, by cultivating only the Sea of Bitterness Secret Realm, they could still attain terrifying combat strength no weaker than saints who cultivated multiple secret realms.

Some ancient cultivators who cultivated only the Sea of Bitterness Secret Realm could even develop Sea of Bitterness phenomena.

For example, Ji Haoyue, the Divine King Body and Ye Fan's elder brother-in-law, had cultivated the Sea of Bitterness phenomenon, Sea-Rising Bright Moon.

Then there was the Peacock King, a mighty figure at the level of a Holy Lord in his era, who had cultivated the Sea of Bitterness phenomenon, Stars Shining on the Azure Sky.

There was also Old Immortal Xingxiu and Nangong Zheng—beings whose magic power was boundless and whose legacy would endure for ten thousand ages, who had carried the remains of the Ruthless Emperor out of the Bronze Immortal Palace. He had cultivated the ancient phenomenon Jianmu Stabilizing Mountains and Rivers.

Jiang Ming felt that the techniques he had inherited from Chinese Paladin 1 were likewise a method for developing the Sea of Bitterness Secret Realm. He had a feeling that perhaps he could cultivate some strange, mutated phenomenon in the future.

Historically, those with the Heavenly Tyrant Body generally only needed to study the Tyrant Body's nine great divine forms. Who could have encountered an opportunity like Jiang Ming's, obtaining a cultivation method whose many transformations were all completed within the Sea of Bitterness?

Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul.

The changes in the first four major realms all took place almost entirely within the dantian—in other words, within the Wheel of the Sea Secret Realm of Shrouding the Heavens.

This was ruthlessly excavating the mysteries of the Wheel of the Sea Secret Realm. Digging and digging like this, he really might uncover a mutated phenomenon, a brand-new phenomenon belonging to the Tyrant Body.

The phenomena of the Desolate Ancient Sacred Body restrained most phenomena in the world.

But one thing was certain: the phenomena of the Chaos Body could not possibly be restrained by the Desolate Ancient Sacred Body.

Then if the Heavenly Tyrant Body, which contended against the Desolate Ancient Sacred Body, suddenly produced an unknown and entirely new phenomenon, could the phenomena of the Desolate Ancient Sacred Body still restrain it?

As the two methods were cultivated together, they would inevitably complement each other's strengths. This also caused his Sea of Bitterness to become increasingly mysterious the more he developed it, accompanied by some indescribable strange occurrences.

For example, over the past few days, Jiang Ming had inexplicably been struck on the forehead by lightning. There was not much lightning, just one bolt each time, but it left stars swimming before his eyes, smoke rising from his hair, and his clothes charred to ash.

Jiang Ming had no choice but to take time out to refine several extra sets of clothes for himself and store them away for emergencies.

Boom—

Well, speak of the devil.

In broad daylight, with the ground above him in between, Jiang Ming was struck by lightning again.

"Fuck."

Jiang Ming cursed reflexively. It really hurt.

He had just broken through and had not even had time to admire his own magnificent bearing before his hair became a bird's nest and his clothes were blasted away in an instant.

These hastily refined low-grade artifact robes were utter trash before lightning.

Rumble!

The lightning was not over. Clearly, this time there was more than one bolt.

Crackle, crackle.

Silver lightning snakes as thick as an adult's thumb slithered across Jiang Ming's body.

Jiang Ming's body convulsed uncontrollably on the spot, and his expression twisted into a complete mess. It was not his fault; he simply could not control his facial expressions under these circumstances.

After twitching for a while, the lightning that had entered his body was finally drained of its essence by his Life-Bound Sword and exhausted. By now, his Life-Bound Sword had transformed into a high-grade spirit artifact.

Opportunities did not come often. Perhaps he had killed too few people with bad luck lately, which was why his own luck had been poor.

Or perhaps it was because he had been struck by lightning so often.

"Starlight Technique."

Jiang Ming discovered that the healing secret art recorded in the Yaoguang Scripture was quite good. After all, it was a quasi-emperor-level method. Golden holy light emerged around him, and his charred skin, injured internal organs, and hair all recovered at a visible speed.

Boom—

Then another silver bolt as thick as a bowl descended, knocking Jiang Ming staggering. He accidentally crushed the bluestone beneath his feet into four pieces, and the foundation in the middle of the stalactite cave also collapsed beneath his foot.

Rumble, rumble—

The stalactite cave collapsed.

Jiang Ming hurriedly used the Seventy-Two Transformations, turning into a First-Generation Pangolin. Using an earth escape technique, he fled the stalactite cave.

Boom!

The lightning continued to fall. Clearly, this lightning was different from the previous few times. It seemed to be getting serious.

"Tsk, tsk—

This Daoist master has searched the Primordial Ruins for half a month and still has not found the Demon Emperor's Tomb.

Well now, this Daoist master's eyes have truly been opened. I actually saw a Pangolin being chased and struck by lightning? Could it be some old demon undergoing tribulation? It doesn't seem like it. Strange, strange, truly strange!"

This burly fat man dressed in a luxurious violet robe artifact was sneaking around, walking the celestial dipper as he muttered incessantly, seemingly searching for something amid the towering mountains. When a golden Pangolin more than three meters long burrowed out of the earth and was struck by lightning again and again, it finally caught his attention.