Qin Chen slowly opened his eyes, his gaze deeper than ever.
He stepped forward and swept his sleeve, gathering all three Purple-Gold Storage Bracelets, the Blood-Colored Jade Slip, and the Blood-Transforming Divine Saber from the white jade platform.
He probed the Storage Bracelets with his divine sense. Even with his composure, Qin Chen could not help being slightly moved.
As expected of the ruthless man who had once swept across the Chaotic Star Sea, the wealth in these three bracelets was simply staggering. Top-grade spirit stones lay piled like mountains, numbering over ten million. Various high-grade artifact-refining materials rarely seen in the outside world and thousand-year-old spirit herbs were neatly sorted by category, alongside dozens of magical treasures of considerable grade and a vast collection of cultivation manuals.
"Xiaobai."
Qin Chen called softly.
The void rippled slightly, and a snow-white, kitten-like beast appeared out of thin air on Qin Chen's shoulder. Xiaobai affectionately rubbed against his cheek and let out a soft, sweet "meow."
Qin Chen packed the three Purple-Gold Storage Bracelets containing Blood Sea Mad Saber's lifetime savings, along with some spirit herbs he had previously gathered around the outskirts of the herb garden, into a specially made high-grade Storage Ring. He then threaded it onto a tough beast sinew of unknown origin and hung it around Xiaobai's neck.
"Xiaobai, take this back to the Qianlong Continent and give it to my father, Qin De," Qin Chen instructed, rubbing Xiaobai's furry head.
Xiaobai nodded in a distinctly human manner, then lightly swiped a little paw through the void ahead.
Riiip-
The sturdy space beneath the sea was effortlessly torn open, revealing a pitch-black spatial rift.
Xiaobai flashed into the rift and vanished.
The instant Xiaobai left, that familiar mechanical notification rang out in Qin Chen's mind, right on cue.
[Ding! Detected that the host has gifted his father, Qin De, an enormous quantity of cultivation resources, including ten million top-grade spirit stones, thirty high-grade magical treasures, five hundred thousand-year-old spirit herbs, ten supreme cultivation manuals, and more.] [Congratulations, host! You have received a tenfold critical return!] [Return rewards have been deposited in the system space:] [Top-grade star spirit stones!] [Low-grade immortal artifact: Star Transformations Armor!] [One hundred Nine-Revolution Star Pills!] [Spirit Transformation-grade cultivation art: Ancestral Dragon God-Transformation Art!]
Listening to the string of notifications in his mind, Qin Chen could not help breathing a little harder.
"Top-grade star spirit stones! A low-grade spirit treasure! And a hundred Nine-Revolution Star Pills!"
A brilliant light blazed in Qin Chen's eyes.
"With these resources, I can not only break through to the Nascent Soul stage, but even develop the Heavenly Cycle Star Body to an utterly terrifying level!"
Without any hesitation, Qin Chen immediately laid down layer upon layer of defensive and concealment formations around the hall. Once he had ensured that nothing could go wrong, he sat cross-legged atop the white jade platform.
"Let's begin!"
With a thought from Qin Chen, one hundred Nine-Revolution Star Pills radiating rich starlight and that purple-gold Nine-Leaf Star Herb floated before him.
He opened his mouth and inhaled, swallowing ten Nine-Revolution Star Pills at once.
Rumble!
The instant the pills entered his stomach, they transformed into raging star spiritual energy like mighty rivers, surging wildly through Qin Chen's meridians. He drove the Ancestral Dragon God-Transformation Art to its limit. Fine, dark-gold dragon scales appeared across his skin, and peals of soaring dragon cries echoed within him.
Inside his dantian, the spinning dark-gold Golden Core, originally only the size of a pigeon's egg, began violently expanding and contracting under the infusion of immense spiritual energy.
Crack! Crack!
As the spiritual energy was continuously compressed, fine cracks began appearing across the Golden Core's surface.
Dazzling dark-gold light streamed through the cracks, illuminating his entire dantian.
"Break, then rebuild! Shatter the core and form the Nascent Soul!"
Qin Chen formed an ancient hand seal and abruptly let out a low shout.
Bang!
The Golden Core within his dantian shattered with a thunderous crash, dissolving into a skyful of golden motes.
At the center of those endless motes, an infant barely an inch tall slowly took shape with its eyes tightly closed. Its entire body was dark gold, its features were identical to Qin Chen's, and a layer of miniature dragon scales covered its body.
This was Qin Chen's Nascent Soul-the Ancestral Dragon Nascent Soul!
The moment the Nascent Soul took shape, a terrifying pressure dozens of times greater than that of the Golden Core stage erupted from Qin Chen.
As though drawn by some force, the spiritual energy within the hall formed a massive vortex and poured wildly into Qin Chen's body, stabilizing his newly attained cultivation stage.
The early Nascent Soul stage!
Yet this was only the beginning.
"My cultivation has broken through. Now comes the main event-the Heavenly Cycle Star Body!"
Qin Chen abruptly opened his eyes and swallowed all ninety remaining Nine-Revolution Star Pills in one go!
Boom-!!!
If the spiritual energy of his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage had been mighty rivers, then the Star Force erupting within Qin Chen now was a raging ocean!
The terrifying Star Force nearly burst Qin Chen's body apart. Traces of blood seeped through his skin, only for his powerful regenerative ability to repair the damage instantly.
"Condense!"
Enduring the excruciating pain of his meridians tearing, Qin Chen guided that vast Star Force toward the acupoints within his body that had yet to be lit.
He had already lit five Micro Star-Dusts, including those at his Danzhong and Qihai Acupoints.
Now, under the onslaught of immense Star Force, the sixth acupoint-the Shenque Acupoint-instantly erupted with brilliant starlight!
The sixth Micro Star-Dust ignited!
Then came the seventh, the eighth, the ninth...
Qin Chen's body seemed to become a miniature universe. Micro Star-Dusts lit up inside him one after another, connecting through his meridians to form an incomparably profound star chart.
Each time a Star-Dust lit up, Qin Chen's physical strength underwent an earth-shattering qualitative transformation.
His bones became as indestructible as Star Iron, and his flowing blood roared like a tsunami.
When the final wisp of Star Force was exhausted, the tenth crucial acupoint within Qin Chen-the Baihui Acupoint-blazed with light!
The tenth Micro Star-Dust ignited!
Hum-
The ten Micro Star-Dusts formed a perfect circuit within Qin Chen. An ancient, boundless, terrifying physical power that seemed capable of plucking stars with a single hand lay dormant throughout his limbs and bones.
Qin Chen slowly rose to his feet.
He did not deliberately release any pressure, yet the mere act of standing made the surrounding space groan beneath an unbearable burden, as though even this stretch of heaven and earth could not bear the weight of his body.
"Early Nascent Soul cultivation, combined with a Heavenly Cycle Star Body with ten miniature stars..."
Qin Chen clenched his fists. Feeling the terrifying power within him, as though he could shatter a star with a single punch, his lips curved into a confident smile.
"With physical strength alone, I can now tear late Nascent Soul cultivators apart with my bare hands. If I unleash all my trump cards, I can take even a Soul Separation stage old monster head-on!"
At Qin Chen's thought, the low-grade spirit treasure returned by the system, the Star Transformations Armor, became a streak of light that fitted itself to his body before disappearing beneath his skin.
He raised his head, his gaze seeming to pierce through the massive, thick Bronze Giant Gate and ninety thousand meters of deep sea, seeing the countless powerful auras frantically converging on the surface.
The retaliation of Blackwater Palace and the Heavenly Sword Sect had clearly arrived.
"It seems the deaths of Yin Wuque and those other pieces of trash have already alerted the powers behind them."
There was not the slightest fear in Qin Chen's eyes. Instead, a searing fighting spirit burned within them. He strode toward the Bronze Giant Gate, and with every step, the entire undersea cave abode shook violently.
"Since you're so eager to throw your lives away, I'll use your blood as an offering to my newly advanced Nascent Soul and star body!"
Boom!
The Bronze Giant Gate was blasted open by Qin Chen with a single punch. Raging seawater surged in, while his figure became a long, dark-gold streak shooting against the current, charging straight toward the surface with an invincible momentum that tore through everything!
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