Chapter 402 - 399: Sixth Layer Peak
Time flew.
Three years passed in the blink of an eye.
By now, Barbaric City had grown much quieter.
After all, Barbaric City was merely a bridgehead established by the Tian Nan Domain’s allied forces for their attack on the Demon Cultivators of the Nanyue Kingdom.
Neither its geographical location nor its natural conditions made it a suitable site for a city.
The city had been built here,
purely for its strategic military value during the invasion.
Therefore,
when the Battle of Broken Soul Mountain ended a year ago with a decisive victory for the Tian Nan Domain’s allied forces,
Barbaric City, aside from serving as a transit point between the two regions, had essentially lost its purpose.
Consequently,
the strongholds of the various factions, numerous important facilities,
and even the main base of the Tian Nan Domain’s allied forces were all relocated to the Broken Soul Mountain Range after the victory.
Even the Loose Cultivators who continued to pour in from the Tian Nan Domain,
hoping to get a piece of the action from the war, had nearly all relocated there as well.
Compared to three years ago,
with the various factions having departed,
Barbaric City was now considerably more peaceful.
However,
none of this had much to do with Shen Changchuan.
At this moment,
he was in the cave residence within Barbaric City that had the most abundant Spiritual Qi, seated cross-legged upon a White Jade Meditation Mat.
His eyes were tightly shut.
His hands rested on his knees, each one clutching a Top Grade Spirit Stone.
The exceptionally pure Spiritual Qi within the Spirit Stones was being absorbed, little by little.
A faint cyan glow began to emanate from Shen Changchuan’s body.
It resembled wisps of vapor,
swirling around him.
A powerful and peerless aura rose and fell, spreading out and causing the very air to visibly distort!
At the same time,
behind him,
along the great dragon of his spine,
a golden, jade-like light shimmered. Through his skin and flesh, one could faintly perceive a radiance as clear and translucent as jade and colored glass!
As the golden, jade-like light flickered,
the Spiritual Qi in the air seemed to be devoured in great gulps by an invisible mouth,
forming a visible vortex of Spiritual Qi in the air behind him!
Shen Changchuan’s aura,
at this very moment, began to slowly yet visibly increase.
Until, at a certain moment,
this increase seemed to reach its limit,
as if it had hit a ceiling.
It could go no further, stagnating.
But Shen Changchuan had no intention of opening his eyes and stopping his Cultivation.
The Spiritual Qi from the Top Grade Spirit Stones in his hands continued to be rapidly absorbed.
The golden, jade-like great dragon of his spine
also began to devour the Spiritual Qi in the air at an accelerated rate.
The atmosphere
grew increasingly oppressive,
the pressure
building like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
Until, at a certain moment,
CRACK!
BOOM!!!
Like a flood bursting through a dam, Magical Power surged forth!
Shen Changchuan’s aura
broke through in an instant,
ascending to a new level!
Soul Emergence Sixth Layer Peak.
He’d done it!
Shen Changchuan opened his eyes. A sharp glint flashed within them, like an infinitely sharp blade slicing through the void!
The roiling Magical Power around him stirred up visible shockwaves that rippled through the surrounding space!
WHOOSH!
Shen Changchuan exhaled a long breath.
The breath shot out like a sharp sword, carving a visible fissure into the ground.
Having expelled the turbid qi from his chest,
he reined in his Magical Power,
guiding it back to his Circulation Dantian.
Only then did the turbulence in the cave residence gradually begin to subside.
Once everything had settled,
the elation in Shen Changchuan’s heart could no longer be contained, bursting forth like a flood!
"Three years, and I’ve finally reached the Sixth Layer Peak!"
He had been prepared for this,
but to actually take this step in just three short years,
Shen Changchuan still felt a sense of disbelief!
’Because,’
’this rate of progress is just too fast!’
’After all,’
’from the time I first broke through to the Soul Emergence Realm, it took me more than five years to cultivate step-by-step to the Soul Emergence Third Layer Peak.’
’And yet this time,’
’starting from the moment I entered the Soul Emergence Fourth Layer,’
’I’ve crossed the three entire realms of the Soul Emergence Middle Stage—the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth—’
’and it only took me a mere three years!’
Shen Changchuan couldn’t help but be thrilled!
’In the Immortal Cultivation Realms, the higher you go, the more time it takes to make any progress!’
’After entering the Soul Emergence Realm Middle Stage, the time and effort needed to take even a single step forward should be at least five, or even ten times, what it was before!’
’Under normal circumstances, like my progress in the Soul Emergence Realm Early Stage, even I would have needed at least thirty or forty years of hard work to cultivate from the Fourth Layer Early Stage to the Sixth Layer Peak!’
’Thankfully, I have a cheat, and I successfully completed the Refinement of the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu.’
’And, because of the choice I made three years ago—choosing Master, choosing to stay—I ultimately received his focused attention and training!’
The joy in Shen Changchuan’s eyes was completely undisguised.
Because he knew
that now,
this was only the beginning!
「Three years ago」
After Shen Changchuan provided specific intelligence, Master Wandering Dragon had a clear target and flew straight for the Spirit Race’s main encampment.
Although the Spirit Race was one of the Four Major Clans,
their clan only had a single king with power comparable to the Divine Travel Realm. He was no match for Master Wandering Dragon, who was at the Divine Travel Peak Realm,
to say nothing of the Witch Clan under the Spirit Race’s command.
And so,
with almost no resistance,
Master Wandering Dragon drove straight in.
He barged into the main encampment of the Spirit Race’s Witch Clan, forcefully plundered their entire collection, and interrogated them until he found the whereabouts of the crucial Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu, which he then seized.
In less than a month,
Master Wandering Dragon returned to Barbaric City with the Gold-Devouring Spirit Butterfly and handed it over to Shen Changchuan.
With the final ingredient for the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu’s Refinement in hand,
Shen Changchuan
began the process.
He placed the Ten Thousand Year Spirit Jade, which had been nurtured in a Spirit Stone Vein for over ten thousand years, under the moonlight to absorb its essence for forty-nine days and nights, transforming it into pure Jade Spirit Power.
Next, he took the Gold-Devouring Spirit Butterfly, which had absorbed ninety-nine wisps of Golden Wind Aura, and sealed it within a specially crafted Star Sand Bottle.
He procured an urn of Rootless Water, into which he placed forty-nine stalks each of Immortal Herbs such as Spirit Void Grass, Star Frost Flower, and Ghost Dream Vine. He then boiled the mixture with alchemical fire fueled by his Magical Power for forty-nine days, until it became a Spiritual Liquid...
Guiding it with his blood essence and Magic Spells,
aided by auspicious timing,
he placed it all within a Spirit Vein Node.
For eighty-one days, it rested,
until,
within the Jade Spirit Medicine Liquid,
the spirit butterfly was reborn!
The Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu was finally complete!
It was a silkworm-shaped Gu Insect that looked as if it were carved from golden jade and colored glass, wreathed in fine wisps of light that resembled a misty veil.
Following the instructions in the Minghuan Gu Scripture,
Shen Changchuan performed the Refinement, merging the Gu into the great dragon of his spine.
It was like adding an external Qi Cultivation Organ.
After that,
Shen Changchuan’s efficiency at absorbing and performing the Refinement of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi
increased severalfold!
His Cultivation speed
surged as well!