Business at the Door

An incense stick later.

Chen Daoxuan opened his eyes, a glint flashing through them.

Then, a surge of wild joy engulfed him.

Counting carefully, he had only been cultivating the Chasing Wind Sword Art for four months.

Even among the swordsmanship geniuses of the Qianyuan Sword Sect, those who could bring the Chasing Wind Sword Art to the Minor Accomplishment stage after only four months could be counted on one hand.

Not to mention reaching the Great Accomplishment stage Chen Daoxuan had attained before, one that had long surpassed the ordinary.

But Chen Daoxuan possessed the outrageously overpowered cheat that was the Primordial Enlightenment Scripture.

He could accumulate Comprehension and enter Enlightenment once every ten days.

Though each Enlightenment lasted only a brief incense stick's time.

Over four months, however, he had entered Enlightenment a full twelve times.

What kind of concept was that?

He had needed only two Enlightenments to cultivate the Chasing Wind Sword Art to the Great Accomplishment stage.

Then, after ten whole Enlightenments, he had finally cultivated the Chasing Wind Sword Art to the Perfection stage today.

Judging from the number of Enlightenments, cultivating the Chasing Wind Sword Art from Great Accomplishment to Perfection seemed roughly five times harder than cultivating it from beginner to Great Accomplishment.

In reality, though, it was ten times harder—perhaps even a hundred times harder!

Even if ordinary Qi Refining cultivators spent their entire lives on it, they could never cultivate it from Great Accomplishment to the Perfection stage.

After all, some things remained beyond your comprehension no matter how hard you tried. No matter how unwilling you were to accept it, no matter how much time you spent grinding away at it, you simply would not understand.

Otherwise, there would not have been so many world-class mathematical problems left unsolved in his previous life.

The next day.

Chen Daoxuan's True Qi, still somewhat unsteady from his recent breakthrough to the fourth layer of Qi Refining, had become solid again after a night of cultivation.

As he stepped out of the Cave Mansion.

Chen Daoxuan saw a small figure standing atop Scenic Cliff, practicing swordsmanship beneath the rising sun.

Perhaps because he had only recently begun martial training, the little figure's sword movements were still somewhat raw. The ten-pound refined iron longsword trembled unsteadily in his hands.

Chen Daoxuan watched quietly without making a sound to disturb him.

After a month together, Chen Daoxuan had long understood Chen Daochu's stubborn temperament.

Of course, such a disposition had both benefits and drawbacks. Its advantage was that people with such a temperament often possessed astonishing perseverance and pressed forward with fierce courage.

Its drawback was that they could easily fall into a demonic obstruction during future cultivation and be unable to pull themselves free.

Very soon, half an incense stick's time passed.

Chen Daochu was already drenched in sweat from head to toe, as though he had been fished out of the water.

"Huff!" "Huff!" "Huff!"

He dropped onto the edge of the cliff with a thump, panting heavily.

Chen Daoxuan walked over then and instructed, "Sit cross-legged and circulate your Qi. Guard your dantian in stillness."

"Young Clan Leader."

Chen Daochu turned and saw Chen Daoxuan. He hurriedly struggled to rise and salute, but Chen Daoxuan stopped him. "Circulate your Qi, quickly!"

"Yes, Young Clan Leader!"

At this, Chen Daochu adjusted his breathing, sat cross-legged, and began circulating his Qi to regulate his breath.

Seeing that Chen Daochu could already enter meditation skillfully, Chen Daoxuan nodded in satisfaction. He then used the Wind Riding Technique and flew toward the Artifact Factory.

Another busy day was about to begin.

The Southwest Sea Area of the Myriad Star Sea.

An undersea world over ten thousand li from Twin Lakes Island.

The undersea world of the Myriad Star Sea differed from what Chen Daoxuan had imagined, and it was completely unlike Earth's undersea world.

Normally.

The deep seafloor, deprived of light, would be a realm of darkness, a sight comparable to pitch-black outer space.

But the seabed of the Myriad Star Sea was different.

The undersea world of the Myriad Star Sea was a world glittering with starlight.

Here, if one looked upward, one would find hundreds of millions of "stars" suspended in the Dark Curtain Layer tens of thousands of meters above the seafloor.

These hundreds of millions of "stars" illuminated the entire undersea world of the Myriad Star Sea, allowing countless species to survive and multiply within the Myriad Star Sea Underworld.

This was also the origin of the Myriad Star Sea's name.

"Father!"

On the seabed of the Southwest Sea Area of the Myriad Star Sea.

A Merfolk woman with an injured left arm and a gash split across her right shoulder swam before a Merfolk man whose chest had been torn open by a huge wound. She cried mournfully, "If this continues, even if we seize the Water Ape Tribe's territory, our clansmen will suffer terrible casualties!"

The Merfolk woman speaking was none other than Luo Li, the Merfolk princess Chen Daoxuan had encountered on his way back.

But judging by her miserable state, she clearly had not been having an easy time these past days.

"Cough, cough!"

Hearing this, the Merfolk Clan Leader coughed violently. "The injuries Zhou Mubai inflicted on me are more serious than I imagined."

As he spoke, he lowered his head and looked at the wound across his chest, where Sword Qi raged unchecked. With a headache, he said, "I have to use Magical Power to suppress this Sword Qi at all times. Otherwise, my injuries will only worsen."

At this point, the Merfolk Clan Leader's face darkened. "But if I do not fight, you will not be able to deal with the Water Ape leader."

Luo Li fell silent.

She knew that everything her father said was true.

Without her father, a Third Order Late Stage High-rank Merfolk, their Merfolk clansmen—whose highest cultivation was only equivalent to the human Foundation Establishment Realm—could not possibly do anything to the Water Ape Tribe.

Because the Water Ape Tribe leader entrenched on Demon Ape Mountain was a Third Order Middle Stage existence.

The reason the other side had not attacked the Merfolk Tribe's low-rank Merfolk was entirely because it feared her father, the Third Order Late Stage Merfolk Clan Leader.

It simply did not know that her father had suffered such grave injuries.

Otherwise, it would not be the Merfolk Tribe suppressing the Water Ape Tribe now. The situation would be the reverse.

"Damn it!"

Seeing her grievously injured father, Luo Li felt powerless for the first time, unable to hold up a patch of sky for the Merfolk Tribe.

"Father, why don't we stop attacking Demon Ape Mountain and find another territory instead?"

Perhaps seeing the vexation in Luo Li's eyes, the Merfolk Clan Leader finally made a decision in his heart. He stroked Luo Li's soft hair and smiled faintly. "Silly child, after searching the seabed for so long, where could we find a territory more suitable for our Merfolk Tribe to thrive and multiply than Demon Ape Mountain?"

Luo Li remained silent at these words.

She knew her father was right. Competition among the races of the undersea world was even crueler and more naked than competition in the human world.

"In three days, I will face the Water Ape leader and slay that beast!"

The Merfolk Clan Leader's words rang like iron striking stone.

"But Father, your injuries..."

"It is nothing. A mere Third Order Middle Stage Water Ape leader is beneath my notice!"

The Merfolk Clan Leader's spirit soared to the clouds, yet a trace of reluctance flickered in his gaze as he looked at Luo Li. At last, he cast that reluctance aside, and it became resolve.

"In three days, we will launch a full-scale assault on the Water Ape Tribe of Demon Ape Mountain!"

"Mm!"

Luo Li nodded excitedly. But then she seemed to think of something. "Right, Father, didn't we agree to cooperate with that Chen Family of Twin Lakes Island? Why not purchase a batch of weapons from them to strengthen our clansmen?

"With weapons, our clansmen's strength will surely rise by a great deal!"

Thinking of Chen Daoxuan's Flying Snow Sword, Luo Li grew excited.

Previously, because of the Water Ape leader, the Merfolk Tribe had only launched probing attacks. But now that they were launching a full-scale assault, they naturally had to stake every chip they possessed.

Weapons capable of increasing the clansmen's strength were clearly a crucial chip.

The Merfolk Clan Leader considered it, then nodded. "Good. I'll leave this matter to you!"

Clearly, he too believed that Magic Artifacts could provide an extraordinary boost to his clansmen's strength and would certainly be of great help in the coming battle.