The heaven and earth suddenly became dark, as if the netherworld field was about to swallow up the mother earth. It became pitch-black within a radius of a hundred meters. The terrifying “domain” enveloped this area.
Just at this very instant, everyone who got caught up in this “domain” seemed to have lost their sense of hearing and eyesight. They couldn’t hear anything with their ears nor could they see anything with their eyes, as if they had become disabled.
The ordinary practitioners who got trapped in this field were very terrified. This kind of feeling was the most inappropriate in regards to the practitioners. They had been deprived of their sense of hearing and vision.
This was entirely caused by few of the strongest youth experts. They were still unable to create a “domain” by themselves, but when several of them got together — even if they were hostile towards one another — they were able to let off the most powerful spiritual sense and power, which brought about this terrifying scene before their eyes.
One must know that they were distinguished persons in various regions. There were hardly any equal among their peers. They might even become influential figures in certain areas in the future. Their potential could be said to be unlimited. The domain that appeared now was the hidden potential that was hibernating within their bodies. It was the manifestation of their divine power in advance.
The domain was set into motion violently. It was like the great waves of the ocean. Then, with a few sudden vibrations, the ordinary practitioners were all flung away. Soon after, several human figures moved at lightning speed within the pitch-black domain. They were as swift as a ghost.
“Clink!”
Xiao Chen raised up the broken sword to block the blow. It felt as if he was struck by a thunderbolt. His opponent’s figure also trembled. After that, he left behind an afterimage as he retreated.
Dugu Jianmo!
He made his prowess as a swordsman known to the whole world. His swordsmanship was unparalleled among his peers.
Just now, it was him who clashed with Xiao Chen. The surrounding space distorted and became fuzzy, as if the space was being squeezed by someone.
“Rumble!”
As if there was an earthquake, someone rushed towards Xiao Chen. After his foot fell to the ground, the earth burst open. That person was just like a steel demon. His savagery caused people to be appalled.
That person was tall and thin, but it felt as if there were thousand tons of weight behind his attack as it crashed down like a mountain!
“Clang!”
As if the space was ripped apart, the turbulence circulated at high speed and let out an incomparably ear-piercing noise.
The newcomer suddenly sent a punch towards Xiao Chen’s head. Words were unable to describe how aggressive and tyrannical he was. It was as if he didn’t care about anyone under the heavens. That naturally included Xiao Chen. It could even be said that he was looking at the whole world disdainfully out of the corner of his eyes while making his move at will.
It was actually Windfeathers, that wild and demonic youngster! He didn’t attach importance to anything in his eyes, it was as if he was the only one in this world, and the others were nothing more than stepping stones.
Xiao Chen restrained the restless Keke with the hand that was holding the sword. Then he sent a punch with his other hand unhurriedly. It was a test of strength! The body was a treasure, the fists were for protecting that treasure. With one punch, strong wind spread across all directions. A resplendent radiance seemed to rip apart the darkness of the domain. The violent energy caused the surface of the earth to burst open unceasingly!
“Clink!”
When the two fists collided, they actually let out a metallic sound. It was as deafening as the sudden clap of thunder. It caused many practitioners’ eardrums to buzz and go deaf momentarily.
Windfeathers distanced himself after one attack. Without much delay, he immediately charged towards the next opponent.
Xiao Chen stood there motionlessly, prepared to receive the next person’s strongest attack.
For these top-level young warriors to get together, it was something very hard to come by! Right now, in this dark, nefarious domain, everyone was looking for a chance to make their move. They wanted to test the power of their greatest enemies in the future.
As the strongest warrior in their respective regions, then they would inevitably traverse the world. These people were bound to cross swords.
“Rips!”
A glaring light tore the darkness apart and swept towards Xiao Chen. This was from a very powerful Psychic, this was a very rare and bizarre ability — the Light of Destruction. It was specialized in stripping somebody of their life. The terrifying light was like the scythe of the Grim Reaper.
However, it was impossible for him to reap Xiao Chen’s life with a single strike. The jet-black broken sword swept across his view. The resplendent sword-qi rolled out like the torrential river and clashed with that glaring Light of Destruction. Just like the melting ice and snow, the two energies fell apart in a flash.
“Hah!”
Another terrifying light beam swept towards Xiao Chen. The light of death rushed over from another direction. It was yet another terrifying young expert. Xiao Chen was more happy than fearful as he responded unhurriedly. While maintaining the status quo, he confronted everyone’s attack from all directions.
Just how many young experts were there in the dark, gloomy domain? Nobody knew for sure. At present, the figures in the domain were leaping all over the place with speed as fast as lightning. Only the terrifying spiritual spells and the resplendent sword-qis ripped apart the darkness from time to time.
In a brief instant, everyone in the domain had already carried out the most thrilling clash.
At this moment, time seemed to have stopped. However, it suddenly sped up again in the next instant.
“Rumble!”
After a loud sound, the dark domain collapsed. Nobody knew who was the first to rush out of the domain. Following closely, human figures leapt towards all directions and dispersed.
Everyone in the domain had retreated in that very instant. When the dark domain completely faded away, only Xiao Chen and the two little beasts remained.
The breeze brushed past lightly. Xiao Chen stood on the field calmly. His tall and straight body was motionless. Only his black hair was fluttering along with the wind.
Traces of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth but Xiao Chen stood there unmoving for a good while before he wiped the traces of blood. After that, his body suddenly exploded with a burst of glaring light and his light injuries instantly healed. This was the power of vajra. Every time he was wounded, his body would become more resilient.
He knew that those people had also sustained injuries. After launching their strongest attacks respectively, none of them came out unscathed.
“Let’s hope nobody can breakthrough to Historia realm in a short time…” Xiao Chen muttered under his breath. These people already reached Exuvia Ninth Celestial Layer, they were on the same level as him. Just one more step and they would enter the incomparably vast whole new world.
But these people knew, that it was very, very hard to make a breakthrough. There was a huge protective screen blocking their path. Not only did they need time to breakthrough, what they needed even more was a stroke of luck.
“Let’s go!”
Xiao Chen unfolded the Undying Divine Wings. He soared into the sky with Keke and Tenax as he flew towards his residence.
Only now did the spectators let out a cry of surprise.
“Dragon King, that was a Dragon King!”
“A never seen before Dragon King.”
“Don’t tell me… rather than eleven Dragon Kings, there are twelve?!”
……
Xiao Chen didn’t want to cause Tenax to feel wronged again. A dragon was a dragon! There shouldn’t be a need to disguise itself as a horse or a tiger. It was time to restore it to its original appearance. There was no need to cover up its drive! Want to scheme against Tenax? Go ask that big demon king in the depths of the south first!
He believed that the news should have already spread to a limited extent. Those who had sufficient power should have already received the news that Tenax and three young Dragon Kings were walking side by side in the south desolate region. If they think they have enough power to confront that existence in the depths of the south, then let them go ahead and come up with some devious schemes. Otherwise, they could only feign ignorance.
There were only about two more months before the warbeast tournament began. The people that should come should have already arrived. At present, numerous experts gathered in Celestial City. The practitioners from every regions were gathered in the south. A huge storm was about to break out.
Xiao Chen was behind closed doors for three days. He had indulged in training these past few days, wanting to take a step into Historia realm in one go. The scene where he was tormented by the four experts of the Reagan Family constantly irritated him. Xiao Chen wanted to break into that even wider domain as soon as possible.
He knew that those Ninth Celestial Layer genius were of the same mind as him. They wanted to be the first to break into the Historia realm and overpower the young generation!
“Xiao Chen, are you crazy?” Fairsky looked at him bewilderedly and said, “You are only digging your own grave by doing this!”
Fairsky was a practitioner, in regards to the martial way, he was very clear about all kinds of taboos. When he heard that Xiao Chen actually wanted to use spiritual items to break through, he promptly opposed against the idea.
“I am very normal. I know what I am doing.” Xiao Chen was very calm.
“You… really don’t know or are you faking it?” Fairsky looked at Xiao Chen in puzzlement and said, “What people should abstain the most in the martial way is a ‘shortcut’. As long as you want to become a practitioner with great accomplishments, you must breakthrough with your own strength. Through hard work and not by relying on external forces. This was the crystallization of the predecessor’s wisdom.” ⌈1⌋
Fairsky said, “I don’t believe you are unaware of these reasons. Spiritual items might allow oneself to obtain great power in a short time, but if there’s a gain, there’s also bound to be a loss. By the time he obtained that dream-like power, it also meant that he lost the qualification to become the strongest. The power he obtained from an external source became a shackle that prevented him from developing his own power. It became a chain that made him unable to breakthrough forever. Doing this is equivalent to sealing your own future path. Do you really not understand the crystallization of the predecessor’s wisdom?”
“Of course I know about this.” Xiao Chen replied calmly, “but my ‘way’ is different from that of the masses!”
“Is your training method very special? Do you think you have surpassed all of the predecessors?”
“It’s not because of the training method.” It seemed like Xiao Chen didn’t want to reveal too much.
Looking at how Xiao Chen obstinately persisted on going about things the wrong way, Fairsky shook his head and said, “If you were other people, I wouldn’t even try to advocate you. But you are out of the ordinary, being this willful will only get your fingers burnt. What a warrior needs apart from an excelling constitution is a will to never give out. If your power is stuck at a certain level sometime in the future, how will you be able to bear it for eternity? You will ultimately be destroying yourself!”
Fairsky heaved a sigh and said, “Among the quotes from the crystallization of wisdom, some quotes are truer than the truth! ‘Warriors are not afraid of loneliness, they are most afraid of standing at a standstill forever.’ If you really want to cling to this course so obstinately, you will eventually understand the meaning behind this quote.”
“What I want to do is to walk a path the predecessors didn’t dare to take. Why must I follow the path of the predecessors?” Xiao Chen looked at the clouds and said, “Everything you said, I’ve heard of them before. I know that continuing down this path is not wrong. What I want to say is, my martial way is also not wrong. I am speaking as a fact. I have tried to take some spiritual items before, and indeed, my path had been sealed for a short period of time. However, I didn’t believe that it was a dead end and continued to train hard. And the result? My power was like the river water that burst out of the dam, it was unstoppable. I kept making breakthroughs after breakthroughs. I had smashed the so-called chains, I had overcame the so-called shackles, and I took a step into a new peak.”
“You are too stubborn.” Fairsky felt very helpless. He tried to advise him one last time, “With your current power, there’s hardly anyone among your peers that can stand up to you. Just keep going down this path, and your future outlook will be unlimited. Why must you make a breakthrough so hurriedly?”
“You still don’t believe my words, but you must know that my analogy is not wrong.” Xiao Chen explained, “This so-called ‘shackle’ or ‘chain’ is similar to an invulnerable ‘dam’. It is a well fortified ‘dam’ that cannot be destroyed. It cuts off the river and blocks the path. In this case, the most possible outcome is that the river will change its course and rush upstream, break away from the river mouth and flow into disorder. This is the self-destruction you were talking about. However, if you can hold on to your own body, rely on that inextinguishable torrential river, and focus on pounding against that invulnerable dam, it is not impossible to overcome the obstacle. At this time, if the accumulated torrential river surges on, not only can you break through the dam, you can even force open some of the ‘hurdles’ downstream. It could even be said to be a smooth and rapid progress!”
Fairsky was totally speechless. Of course, that was not because he was convinced, but rather, he felt helpless. He knew that it was pointless to continue persuading him. He said, “What you are doing is a dishonest practice.”
“There’s no such thing as the so-called wrong path. There are three thousand main paths, so why should we follow the path set by the predecessors? If we follow every step set by the predecessors, there’s no way we can ever surpass them. Of course, the ‘way’ I am currently practicing is definitely not the only ‘way’ in the future. It is constantly evolving because I believe a lot of people have already practiced this kind of ‘way’. What I want to do at the present stage is to have the courage to walk a different ‘path’, and practice a different ‘way’.”
“In the end, this is still a dishonest practice.”
“The way that I want to practice is not the ‘indirect route’ that you are thinking of. The ‘way’ I want to practice is the ‘main path’ that comprises all living things in the world. I don’t want to confine myself in a small world, I want to grasp everything in the big world.” Xiao Chen said very casually, “Small as in a blade of grass, or a tree. Big as in a long river, a huge mountain, the vast ocean, or all living things in the big world. Any one person is only an insignificant part of this big world. In the eyes of the world, what differences does it make? How to differentiate foreign materials from itself? The ‘way’ of the predecessors derives from main path. But my ‘way’ comprises the whole world. It contains everything, accepts anything… the so-called truth, should ultimately be, for all living things to be in harmony…”
Fairsky did not feel like saying much anymore.
“Don’t worry, I will not build up a ‘huge dam’ all at once. I will do it like before, slowly building up the small dam, slowly pounding against it, and slowly breaking through.”
Letting Zhuge fatty to purchase the spiritual items was not a problem. With his connections, he should be able to get something good. Xiao Chen had more than hundred thousand gold coins with him. He had given it all to the fatty.
In regards to this, even if the whole world was opposed to it, Xiao Chen still had one who supported him. That was precisely Keke. The little critter cheerfully lifted four of its little beast paws to approve. ⌈2⌋
It must be mentioned that the fatty’s work efficiency was very high. On the second day, he had already delivered a batch of spiritual items. Of course, the expenditure was also very astonishing. He had spent eighty thousand gold coins in one go. Half of the gold coins were already spent.
It was easy to see from this. It was impossible to train like this without money!
The most expensive spiritual item among this batch was an Amethyst Ginseng King. According to the estimate, it should be very old. Fifty thousand gold coins were spent on this alone.
“This is beyond reasonable limits. Zhuge Liang, you sure you haven’t been scammed?”
“The seller wouldn’t even sell it if there was one gold coin less. Reportedly, this old ginseng is very bizarre. When the seller purchased it, he had heard from the old native who excavated the mountain ginseng that the old ginseng king was excavated along with a white tortoise. You must know this, the people who excavate ginsengs pay particular attention to these. If they can excavate an old ginseng guarded by living animals, be it a snake or a rat, it is enough to say that the old ginseng is a rarely seen spiritual item. Even more so when it is the rarely seen long lived white tortoise. That intelligent tortoise is an auspicious animal! It was a pity that the old native did not know of these. He sold the white tortoise separately. Otherwise, as that seller had said, if that white tortoise was still around, he wouldn’t even sell it for less than a hundred thousand gold coins.”
Xiao Chen stared at it blankly, then his mind burst into a frenzy. What white tortoise guarding the old ginseng? That was evidently a dragon! If that was true, then wouldn’t this old ginseng be a genuine article?
Xiao Chen wasn’t the only one who had realized this. Tenax had also figured it out. It was no longer acting cool. Its pair of dragon eyes already turned soft as it looked at that pile of spiritual items together with Xiao Chen.
However, they found that the old ginseng king had disappeared. They suddenly turned their heads around to find the incomparably infatuated snow-white little Keke. It was embracing that old ginseng king firmly while drooling. Its expression was brimming with happiness and satisfaction. It seemed like it would faint from happiness.
Xiao Chen yelled hurriedly, “Wait!”
The snow-white little critter was already prepared to take a bite. After hearing this, it turned its head around to cast a doubtful glance. However, it was still unable to resist the temptation and took a small bite with a “crunch”.
In that instant, a colorful light soared up and the entire courtyard was filled by that bewitching aroma.
Naturally, the little critter would never eat without sharing some with the others.
1. Silva: But the MC of Battle Through the Heaven was using “drug” to strengthen his body though~
2. Silva: Because just two is not enough? haha xD