Chapter 518: Refining the Spirit Gathering Pearl
Xuanyuan Zhantian laughed loudly after speaking. Then, he headed off to the Exchange Room with big strides, turning his back on the four. He had no intention of paying any attention to them.
This disregard frustrated the green-robed young master greatly. He clenched his fist tightly and his face turned ashen. He felt very stifled.
The purple-robed young master at the side consoled him, “Big Brother, just ignore him. You have just advanced to Great Perfection half-step Martial Monarch. It would not be too late for you to fight with him after you trained some more.”
The green-robed young master had a cold look as he said, “This fellow is exceptionally arrogant. He seems to think that the Divine Dragon Palace is the same as it was five thousand years ago. Someday, I will make him kneel before me and beg for mercy.”
“Ha ha! Stop bragging. Xuanyuan Zhantian already defeated you once. You can forget about turning the tables on him for the rest of your life.”
Seven youths, all wearing golden Battle Armor, entered the palace. They all had swords girdled at their waists.
When all seven of them stood at the entrance together, they looked very dazzling. It felt like the hall brightened up because of them.
“The Western Sea’s Seven Knights are here too!”
“This is exciting. Now, only the Southern Sea’s Four Heroes are missing. If they were here, then all the outstanding talents of the Boundless Sea would be gathered.”
Just as everyone was saying this, a mixed group of four youths came in through a side door. They kept a very low profile. After they entered, they did not go to the point ranking wall in the middle but headed directly for the Exchange Room instead.
However, the strong aura the four gave off did not escape the notice of the cultivators in the hall. “It really is the Southern Sea’s Four Heroes. All the outstanding talents of the Boundless Sea’s younger generation are gathered.”
Clearly, the Northern Sea’s Four Young Masters and the Western Sea’s Seven Knights were not friendly with each other. However, the green-robed young master endured. He looked coldly at the leader of the seven before heading off to the Exchange Room.
Xiao Chen had not expected there to be so many strong geniuses in the Boundless Sea. There were so many hidden talents and they were much stronger than the talents of the four nations.
On the continent, probably only the peak geniuses of the Great Jin Nation would have such strength.
I am still weaker than them. However, I have only just begun. Unless they advance to Martial Monarch, I should be able to hold my own against them.
Xiao Chen could sense the distance between him and them, but he was not upset. Instead, his blood boiled with excitement and he became more motivated.
However, it seemed strange that these people returned from the Battlefield together. The timing did not seem to be a coincidence.
Bai Lixi had already recovered from his earlier shock. When he saw Xiao Chen’s serious expression, he thought that Xiao Chen was upset that these people had stolen the limelight from him.
Bai Lixi consoled him, saying, “Don’t overthink this. The limelight might have been focused on you in the Ancient Desolate Land. However, that is nothing in the Boundless Sea.
“The nine Dragon Veins of the Tianwu Continent have been gone since the collapse of the Tianwu Dynasty. Aside from the Great Jin Nation, the nations of the Tianwu Continent have sparse Spiritual Energy. As for the Spiritual Energy of the Boundless Sea, it has not changed since the Ancient Era. Furthermore, these people have strong powers supporting them. They have been eating natural treasures since they were young. All their Secret Treasures are stronger than yours.
“They ate better than you, dressed better than you, and lived better than you. Now that this is the era of geniuses, their talents are very good as well. It is normal that they are stronger than you.
“However, this is just the beginning. You still have a chance to catch up at the bottleneck of peak Martial Monarch. When you become Martial Monarchs, you will all be on the same starting line.”
Xiao Chen smiled helplessly. Although Bai Lixi was very cocky from time to time, they were still friends in the end.
“Thank you, but that is not what I was concerned about. Don’t you feel that it is too much of a coincidence that these people returned at the same time?”
When Bai Lixi heard this, he was stunned. “Coincidence? What coincidence?”
The moment Bai Lixi spoke, he thought about it and understood what Xiao Chen meant.
No one would return to the Divine Dragon Warship—unless they really had to. They would settle all their needs on the outpost islets.
There was no pattern to when the cultivators came to the Divine Dragon Warship.
However, it looked as though the outstanding talents of the Boundless Sea had agreed upon a particular time to return together. This was too much of an coincidence.
Xiao Chen continued, “It does not hurt to be prepared. Let’s not go out for these few days. We should wait until all these people have left before leaving.”
After the two chatted for a while, they took their leave of each other. Bai Lixi wanted to restore his Secret Treasures and Xiao Chen wanted to find somewhere to experiment with the Spirit Gathering Pearls.
Not long after Xiao Chen left the palace, he ran into someone. He could not help but stop. It was the yellow-robed cultivator he met a few days ago.
When the yellow-robed cultivator saw Xiao Chen exit the palace, he was stunned as well.
“Evil Moon Pavilion’s Bai Zhan?”
“The White Robed Bladesman, Xiao Chen?”
The two exchanged looks before probing each other. While Xiao Chen tried to guess the other party’s identity, the yellow-robed cultivator was doing the same to him.
The yellow-robed Bai Zhan smiled gently and said, “If I had known who you were that day, you wouldn’t be standing here today.”
Although Bai Zhan’s tone was calm and he had a warm expression, he was mocking Xiao Chen with his words. He did not care about Xiao Chen at all, like he could kill him whenever he wanted.
Smiling, Xiao Chen countered, “Why, your Movement Technique that day was quite exquisite. You disappeared without a trace very quickly.”
Naturally, Bai Zhan could tell that Xiao Chen was mocking him for fleeing without a fight.
Bai Zhan’s lips curled up, drawing a smile on his handsome face. He said faintly, “You better pray hard that you don’t run into me in the Battlefield. The Pavilion Master already issued orders. As long as you are not dead, I will never become Pavilion Master.
“Although I don’t care about the position of Pavilion Master, I don’t mind using your head to repay the Pavilion Master’s favor.”
After Bai Zhan spoke, he bumped Xiao Chen’s body as he passed, walking towards the large palace.
Although Bai Zhan was a Small Perfection half-step Martial Monarch, the combat prowess he displayed rivaled that of a Great Perfection half-step Martial Monarch.
He used a Martial Technique that alternated between two opposing attributes—fire and ice. This was very terrifying. The most important thing was that this person was extremely cautious. He considered the big picture and knew when to advance or retreat.
It would be fine if Bai Zhan did not make a move. However, the moment he made a move, he would be confident of victory.
When Xiao Chen compared his own strength against Bai Zhan’s, he discovered that Bai Zhan’s overall combat prowess was much greater than his.
At the very least, Xiao Chen would not dare to fight with more than twenty high-ranked Superior Grade Winged Demons simultaneously. Being targeted by this person would be very problematic.
Xiao Chen had to quickly advance to Superior Grade Martial King. Otherwise, when they fought, he would only have a forty percent chance of victory.
After Xiao Chen left the palace, he spent a lot of money to find an isolated courtyard away from people on the Divine Dragon Warship.
“Xiu!”
When Xiao Chen arrived at the courtyard, Leng Yue immediately rushed out of the Spirit Blood Jade. Xiao Chen pointed at a side room and said, “You can stay there for the next few days. I won’t be going out for a while.”
Leng Yue thanked Xiao Chen before saying, “That person is much stronger than you. He may have sounded very casual about it, but he actually has already made up his mind to kill you. Be very careful of this person.”
The Eros Demons were very good at reading the hearts of people. Bai Zhan might have spoken very casually outside the palace, and his smile had never left his face, but he could not hide the murderous intent in his heart from an Advanced Demon like Leng Yue.
Xiao Chen smiled faintly and said, “I know what I’m doing. He is very strong, but he would not be able to stop me from fleeing. You don’t have to bother about this.”
When Leng Yue heard the confidence in Xiao Chen’s words, she did not say any more. She headed for her own room.
Xiao Chen went to his room and took out the twelve Inferior Grade Spirit Gathering Pearls from his Universe Ring before laying them on the table. After that, he took out the two blue Spirit Gathering Pearls.
The blue Spirit Gathering Pearls were part of the Savanna King’s burial items. When placed together with the white Spirit Gathering Pearls, it was immediately clear which was better.
Regardless of the glow or the amount of Spiritual Energy, the blue ones were far better; they were clearly in a different league altogether.
Xiao Chen played with the two blue Spirit Gathering Pearls in his hands for a while before putting them away. He thought, The blue Spirit Gathering Pearls should be Superior Grade Spirit Gathering Pearls. However, now is not the time to use them.
“It’s time to try out how powerful a white Spirit Gathering Pearl is.”
Xiao Chen picked up a white Spirit Gathering Pearl and carefully placed it on the Tianmen Acupoint on his head. Then he sat cross-legged on a prayer mat.
Although the white-haired old man from the Divine Dragon Palace said that one could not cultivate with them before Martial Monarch, Xiao Chen believed that his condition was special.
Xiao Chen had been stuck at peak Medial Grade Martial King for a while already. If Xiao Chen’s cultivation were compared to a bottle, then rather than him reaching the bottleneck, the bottle was continuously expanding.
Xiao Chen drained twenty-odd Medial Grade Spirit Stones every day. When accompanied with the sixth layer of the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation, a Heaven Ranked Cultivation Technique, his cultivation speed was particularly fast.
However, Xiao Chen had yet to arrive at the bottleneck of Medial Grade Martial King. The bottle kept enlarging. He could still go a lot further as a Medial Grade Martial King.
This was a happy inconvenience. If anyone else cultivated at Xiao Chen’s speed, they would have reached peak Superior Grade Martial King long ago.
However, Xiao Chen was still slowly progressing as a Medial Grade Martial King. He could not even see the end point; it seemed infinitely far away.
With such strong foundation, once Xiao Chen became a half-step Martial Monarch, the older-generation experts that were stuck at half-step Martial Monarchs for a long time would not have any advantage over him.
“It is time for some shock treatment. Even though there are some risks, I need to take them. I do not have any time to remain stuck. All the outstanding talents in the Boundless Seas are stronger than me. Furthermore, Bai Zhan is now targeting me; he might kill me at any time.
“I no longer have a choice. I need to charge forward without stopping!”
Xiao Chen made up his mind. He steeled his nerve and no longer hesitated. Then he closed his eyes and circulated his lightning-attributed, Yang-attributed energy to his head.
“Hu! Hu!”
After some time, white smoke came out from Xiao Chen’s head and the white Spirit Gathering Pearl started to melt slowly.
Xiao Chen remained calm. He was not in a rush to pour the white fluid into his body. He sent out a strand of Essence and made the white liquid float above his head.