Martial Arts Plaza

After thinking it over, Ye Chen opened the chest beside his bed and felt beneath the clothes for a blue jade pendant carved with dragon patterns. It looked somewhat damaged.

Ye Chen had taken a liking to this jade pendant at a pawnshop. Back then, he had felt that it was extraordinary, though he had not known what made it so. Now, with a single glance, he saw through its mystery: a stream of blue energy circulated endlessly within the pendant, constantly repairing its damaged portions.

"Innate Blue Jade!" Ye Chen exclaimed in surprise.

Jade was divided into innate and acquired varieties. The latter formed gradually after birth over hundreds or thousands of years, while the former came into being when a strand of innate Origin Energy entered an uncut piece of jade, evolving a faint spiritual nature. It often brought its wearer indescribable, subtle benefits.

However, the two types of jade were extremely difficult to distinguish. If Ye Chen's Soul Force had not been so powerful, he certainly would not have recognized it.

"With this piece of Innate Blue Jade, I can save myself a great deal of time. Just as I was nodding off, someone delivered a pillow." Ye Chen smiled and clasped the Innate Blue Jade in his palm.

Steadying his mind, Ye Chen took a deep breath and pushed the Pure Origin Skill to its limit, sending it through the Meridians in his arm and into the Innate Blue Jade.

Pop!

The Origin Energy and jade energy within the blue jade had long since fused into one, forming a special spiritual energy that was exceptionally viscous and dense. Drawing it out with the Pure Origin Skill's Internal Energy was truly troublesome; each time, he could only pull out a single wisp. If he tried to draw more, he would run out of strength.

One wisp at a time, then. Slowly but surely.

As the spiritual energy entered his body, it exploded outward the instant it lost the restraints of his Internal Energy. It did not merge with the Internal Energy, instead dispersing throughout every part of his body, as though it regarded his flesh as a jade body.

What followed was the crucial part.

The incantation of Jade Tempering Body Strengthening flowed through his mind. Using his powerful Soul Force, Ye Chen gathered the dispersed spiritual energy and continuously scoured his flesh with it. In the end, he simply fused it into his body until the two became inseparable. Looking closely, one could see a faint jade glow flickering over the surface of his skin, so weak it could be ignored.

In the blink of an eye, six days passed.

Ye Chen finally reached the minor success stage. His body had fused with one hundred and thirty-three wisps of spiritual energy, while the luster of the Innate Blue Jade gradually dimmed as it lost its spiritual energy.

Now, whenever he activated the Jade Tempering Body Strengthening Art, a jade-like sheen immediately surfaced across his body. He looked impregnable, presenting a striking visual impact.

Picking up a fruit knife from the table, Ye Chen gritted his teeth and used sixty percent of his strength to stab a nonfatal spot on his chest.

Snap!

The fruit knife was, after all, no match for a Fine Steel Sword. It broke into two pieces, while Ye Chen's skin only gained a pale mark.

When he withdrew the jade energy, Ye Chen's skin became soft again, and the jade-like sheen vanished. It was smooth as brocade, full of elasticity without losing its explosive power.

"Even with the Third Art only at minor success, it already has such defense. I wonder what effects the Fourth Art and Fifth Art will have."

He had originally planned to use Spirit Stones for cultivation only after the Third Art reached major success, but Ye Chen felt that the time was about right. Both his Meridians and flesh were sufficient to withstand the impact of Spirit Stone Origin Energy, so there was no need to worry about side effects.

Just as he had expected, the Spirit Stone's Origin Energy remained vast and pure, but it was now under his control and could no longer stir up any great waves.

As a massive amount of Spirit Stone Origin Energy transformed into Internal Energy, Ye Chen quickly broke through the barrier of the Qi Cultivation Realm Seventh Layer and reached the Qi Cultivation Realm Eighth Layer Early Stage.

Looking at the unchanged Low-Grade Spirit Stone in his hand, Ye Chen thought, A single Low-Grade Spirit Stone is enough for a True Condensation Realm Early Stage martial artist to use for five days. I'm only a Qi Cultivation Realm Eighth Layer martial artist, so it should last me ten days, perhaps even longer. That deceased senior really left me an enormous fortune.

The Martial Arts Plaza was where the Flowing Cloud Sect held competitions for its disciples.

Today was not an important day, nor was any competition being held, yet quite a few people had gathered from all directions. Most were Outer Sect Disciples, though there were several dozen Inner Sect Disciples as well.

"Huang Bingwen, don't underestimate Zhang Haoran. Since he is called a genius, he must have a couple of tricks up his sleeve."

"Senior Brother Cui is right. Challenging opponents above one's level is nothing new in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom. Don't let your boat capsize in the gutter and bring shame upon us Inner Sect Disciples."

Three Inner Sect Disciples walked side by side, with two of them speaking one after the other.

Huang Bingwen, dressed in a fitted yellow outfit, said proudly, "Of course I won't underestimate him. I gave him two months because the Mysterious Heavy Heart Sutra I cultivate was about to break through to the fifth level. You should know that the gap between every level of the Mysterious Heavy Heart Sutra is enormous. That gives me even greater confidence."

Two months had passed since the Martial Arts Pavilion incident. Huang Bingwen had not forgotten his wager with Zhang Haoran, and besides, he wanted to test the power of the Mysterious Heavy Heart Sutra's fifth level.

"The fifth level of the Mysterious Heavy Heart Sutra? You hid yourself well! Zhang Haoran won't be able to raise any waves now."

"By the way, I heard you also made a wager with another Outer Sect Disciple. That's today as well?"

Huang Bingwen said disdainfully, "Him? He's only at the late Qi Cultivation Realm Sixth Layer. I could poke him to death with one finger."

"The late Qi Cultivation Realm Sixth Layer? He really doesn't know the height of the heavens or the depth of the earth!"

"Heh heh, this year's Outer Sect Disciples are all itching for a beating. Even I can hardly resist teaching them a lesson."

Huang Bingwen was the protagonist of the day. With his arrival, everyone's gazes gathered on him, giving him a sense of glory unlike anything he had felt before.

Standing on the platform, Huang Bingwen shouted, "Zhang Haoran, come up and meet your death!"

Below the platform, Zhang Haoran, dressed in green, sneered. "Huang Bingwen, if you want to die, there's no need to rush so eagerly. You should deal with that Outer Sect Disciple who doesn't know whether he's alive or dead first!"

He already knew that his cousin had been severely injured, but he had not hurried to take revenge. To him, it was not bad to let Ye Chen be trampled beneath Huang Bingwen's feet in full view of everyone. Why dirty his own hands? If he fought Huang Bingwen first, Huang Bingwen would surely lose, and he would not get to see that scene.

"Fine. It only takes one move to deal with him, and he can't run away anyway." Huang Bingwen did not care about such a trivial matter. His gaze swept around as he searched for Ye Chen.

Within the crowd, Wu Zongming said worriedly, "Ye Chen, although you've reached the late Qi Cultivation Realm Ninth Layer, he entered the True Condensation Realm Early Stage a long time ago. The cultivation techniques and martial skills he practices are both more advanced than yours. It'll be extremely, extremely difficult for you to win! Just try not to lose too badly." Throughout the Flowing Cloud Sect's history, there had been very few cases of an Outer Sect Disciple defeating an Inner Sect Disciple, and every one of those Outer Sect Disciples had been a stunning genius. Although Ye Chen's talent was not bad, contending against Huang Bingwen would be immensely difficult—almost impossible.

Ye Chen smiled faintly. "I know what I'm doing."

Parting the crowd, Ye Chen walked toward the fighting platform and called out, "Stop looking. I'm here."

Huang Bingwen's gaze fixed on Ye Chen as he grinned savagely. "Looks like you've been here for quite a while. What, you only dared to show yourself now?"

Whoosh!

With a leap, Ye Chen landed upon the vast, spacious fighting platform.

"To be honest, not fighting Zhang Haoran first was a mistake, because you no longer have the chance."

Huang Bingwen raised a brow. "What shameless boasting. Soon, I'll let you taste the sole of my foot."

He did not place an Outer Sect Disciple in his eyes at all.