Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Eye of the Extraordinary

Li Haizhu immediately stepped forward.

"Brother Tianchen?" Li Haizhu asked with concern.

His eyes were filled with confusion, as he had never seen such a scene before. One moment everything was fine, and the next, this had happened.

Chu Tianchen regulated his breathing, steadying his inner energy.

"I’m fine, Brother Zhuzi," Chu Tianchen said, forcing a smile.

Only he knew the truth of his condition. Furthermore, he now understood the origin of the sword wounds on Tang Shisan: they were caused by the runes on this Bloodline Inheritance Stone.

The stone, standing over a person’s height, radiated an ancient aura. The intricate runes carved upon it were likely left behind by a master of the sword; the terrifying sword intent contained within them was enough to make even Chu Tianchen feel a sense of dread.

A moment ago, he had only allowed his soul power to probe slightly into the stone when that ancient sword energy forcibly shattered it. His internal organs were now in agony, and though that sword energy had flashed through his body only for an instant, it had nearly destroyed his meridians and left his dantian pulsing with sharp pain.

It was exactly the same type of injury that Tang Shisan had suffered. The only difference was that Chu Tianchen’s body had undergone two rebirths and possessed a formidable martial physique, which saved him from being as severely crippled as Tang Shisan.

Quietly, he began to operate the Nine Dragon Heaven-Swallowing Art, slowly refining and absorbing the sword energy within him. After seven or eight minutes, Chu Tianchen finally recovered enough to walk toward the Bloodline Inheritance Stone again.

"Brother Tianchen, the runes on this stone must be a set of divine abilities. The power of the runes is what injured you just now," Li Haizhu continued. "If it's too much, let's look at it another time."

While the divine ability was important, it wasn't worth losing his life over. Chu Tianchen simply smiled to indicate he was fine. He took another step forward and stood directly before the stone.

This time, he did not recklessly probe with his soul power but instead focused on the patterns etched into the stone. Having received the inheritance of the Dragon Emperor, while he had not deeply studied the way of runes, he still possessed some foundational knowledge.

A few minutes later, Chu Tianchen realized he could decipher the runes. The Dragon Emperor’s inheritance was truly terrifying. And this was only the first inheritance; if he were to one day open the second, third, or even the ninth gate of the Zixiao Divine Pattern Array, the scene involving the nine ancient Dragon Emperor inheritances would be absolutely earth-shattering. Just thinking about it made his blood boil.

He spent over an hour there. While he did not fully comprehend every detail of the runes, he learned a great deal. The stone contained a vast amount of information, and as Li Haizhu had suggested, a portion of it was indeed a divine ability. However, the ability was strange; it was not a technique for palms, fists, swords, or blades, but a power of the eyes.

In this world, there were those born with "Divine Eyes," "Demonic Eyes," or other special ocular traits. This was a rare gift; some could cast illusions, others could see across ten thousand miles, and some could kill from ten miles away with a single glance.

Cloud Sea Academy had been established for about twelve hundred years, but Chu Tianchen estimated that this Bloodline Inheritance Stone was at least three thousand years old. From the records, he learned how those with special ocular gifts could "open" their eyes, the origin of the sword energy inside the stone, and what else lay hidden within it.

"Brother Tianchen? How did it go?" Li Haizhu asked.

Judging by the look in Chu Tianchen's eyes, he could tell that Chu Tianchen had understood something, and his voice grew excited.

Chu Tianchen turned to look at Li Haizhu, staring intently into his eyes. Li Haizhu subconsciously averted his gaze. In that moment, Chu Tianchen understood why Li Haizhu had brought him here.

"Brother Zhuzi, I need more time to fully grasp what is written here," Chu Tianchen said.

"So, you can read the contents, right?" Li Haizhu asked eagerly.

Chu Tianchen nodded. There was no need to lie to him.

"That’s great! That means there is hope for me to open my eyes," Li Haizhu whispered joyfully.

It was exactly as Chu Tianchen had suspected: Li Haizhu possessed a special ocular gift, but it had yet to be awakened. Seeing his excitement, Chu Tianchen said nothing more. As he had seen, opening one's eyes required paying a painful price, and he had not yet fully mastered the contents of the stone, so he dared not give a definitive conclusion.

Chu Tianchen was more curious about what was inside the stone. The sword intent that had nearly killed Tang Shisan was indeed left by a master, and if the records on the stone were true, the soul of that master was sealed within. It was someone who had reached the pinnacle of the sword.

Ordinary soul power could not penetrate the stone; only those who simultaneously mastered both the way of runes and the way of the sword could succeed. Tang Shisan happened to be such a person, which was why he had suffered so severely.

Learning more about the stone made Chu Tianchen even more determined to enter the inner court of Cloud Sea Academy as soon as possible. The inner court was far from simple. No wonder it attracted so many people from the Great Worlds. It seemed the upcoming Cloud Sea Secret Realm would be a bloody trial.

Chu Tianchen needed to find out why these people from the Great Worlds had come to the academy and what the Human Emperor was plotting. How could the Emperor turn a loyal family of generals into public enemies overnight?

Power. At this moment, Chu Tianchen craved power more than ever.

"Brother Tianchen, what’s wrong?" Li Haizhu asked, noticing Chu Tianchen’s sudden emotional shift.

Chu Tianchen shook his head with a smile. "There is just a lot here I don't understand yet. Let me go back and think on it."

"Alright, no rush," Li Haizhu said. "By the way, since we're here, why not test your talent?"

The Bloodline Inheritance Stone was a rare artifact capable of measuring one's talent and determining the quality of their bones. Chu Tianchen did not want to miss this opportunity. He knew his talent was high, but he wanted to see exactly what level he stood at.

He reached out, pricked his finger, and let his blood drip onto the stone.

Suddenly, the Bloodline Inheritance Stone began to tremble violently.