Chapter 147: The Complete Three Methods of Cicada Transformation

Inside the pristine white space, a blood-red phantom of a candle dragon soared and roared across the heavens.

Xu Chen circulated his surging blood-energy, practicing the Nine Transformations of the Candle Dragon to his heart's content.

With one self-detonation after another, Xu Chen ignored the pain entirely as if enchanted, focusing solely on the Nine Transformations of the Candle Dragon.

Gradually, upon reaching the blood-energy level of ten dragons, Xu Chen was able to hold on for the duration of an incense stick, though he still could not finish even the very first form.

A subtle intuition told Xu Chen that once his blood-energy reached ten dragons, as long as he could successfully execute the entire sequence of the Nine Transformations of the Candle Dragon just once, he would be able to ignite the lamp of bone and flesh.

Guided by this thought, aside from attending his doctrinal text lectures in the Human Realm, Xu Chen spent all his remaining time within the pristine white space.

Xu Chen had originally thought this process would be swift.

Until Li Chengfu also advanced to the Treasure Body Realm, and the scenery outside the immortal cave shifted from the spring of all things to a thin layer of snow blanketing the practice grounds.

Unawares, a full year had passed.

The battles on the front lines continued, and his parents frequently sent him messages saying that all was well.

"Unconsciously, a year has already passed."

Xu Chen looked at the thin layer of snow on the practice grounds, waved his hand gently, and a wondrous force gathered all the snow together, piling it into a snowman.

At that moment, Li Chengfu and Zong Changshou happened to arrive at his doorstep.

"Junior Brother Xu is in high spirits."

Seeing the snowman crafted from Xu Chen's energy, Li Chengfu and Zong Changshou smiled.

Knowing that their thigh-pillar had reached the limit of the Blood-Energy Realm and yet had not advanced to the Treasure Body Realm for over a year, they had a pretty good idea of what Xu Chen was trying to accomplish.

Thus, the two of them dropped by every once in a while to see Xu Chen and chat. Seeing that Xu Chen was in a fairly good mood today, both of them felt reassured.

The three of them drank and chatted in the dining area beside the practice grounds.

"Senior Sister Bai underwent reincarnation and reconstruction, expending a tremendous price just to maintain her aptitude at its original level."

"In a short while, she will probably enter the Great Stream Sect," Zong Changshou said, sharing the news he had recently learned.

Hearing this, Xu Chen recalled the days when he served as Bai Ningxue's sparring partner; she could well be considered his very first little benefactor.

"If Senior Sister Bai doesn't come to the Great Stream Sect, she really has no other choice."

"Our sect is getting better and better. With the increase in various resources, the newly recruited batch of blood-energy realm disciples is growing stronger by the day."

"There are even a few with supreme-grade, top-tier aptitudes, which has made those elders overjoyed," Li Chengfu said with a smile.

"Not only that, although our sect's overall strength hasn't fully caught up yet, our overall ranking has risen to fourth place. We're no longer at the bottom."

Listening to Zong Changshou, Xu Chen asked curiously, "Then which sect is currently at the bottom?"

"The Crimson Sun Peak. They used to suppress us in both open and covert ways all the time, but now they've become the bottom-ranked ones."

The three of them burst into laughter.

At the end of their chat, Zong Changshou suddenly looked cautiously at Xu Chen and asked, "Junior Brother, are you about to light your lamp?"

"Still a little bit off," Xu Chen said after pondering. Currently, under the blood-energy level of ten dragons, he could practice that set of the Nine Transformations of the Candle Dragon up to the sixty-eighth form.

"That's great!"

The two of them instantly looked delighted.

"There's no need for you two to wait around for me for certain matters. Go wherever you need to go."

"Although the front lines are still fighting recently, it's no longer like it used to be."

"If you want to go check out the front lines, don't wait for me."

Over the past year, the human race seemed to have freed up its hands from certain matters and dispatched quite a few powerhouses to the front lines.

On the battlefield beyond the immortal path, the human race's disadvantage was abruptly reversed.

The front lines had pushed more than forty thousand miles deep into the territory of the Holy Spirit Heavenly Court.

"Since Junior Brother has said so, the two of us will go take a look first and scout the path ahead," Zong Changshou nodded.

After chatting for a while longer, Li Chengfu and Zong Changshou bid farewell and left.

Xu Chen re-entered the pristine white space, shouldering the blood-energy level of ten dragons to continue practicing the Nine Transformations of the Candle Dragon.

At this moment, whenever Xu Chen practiced in this state, his mind was completely focused and undisturbed by anything in the world.

The complete set of one hundred and eight forms of the Nine Transformations of the Candle Dragon caused Xu Chen to become increasingly self-forgetful the more he practiced.

This time, he persisted all the way to the sixty-ninth form of the Nine Transformations of the Candle Dragon before his body could no longer hold out and he exploded into death.

At this point, what exploded was no longer a mist of blood, but shattered fragments scattered here and there.

Following his thirty-fourth death by self-detonation, Xu Chen finally could not hold on any longer, his consciousness returning to his physical body as he lay on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

Waking up the next day, just as Xu Chen was about to enter the Myriad Dao Peak of the Human Realm to study doctrinal texts, a message arrived on his communication artifact.

"The complete Three Cicada Transformations has been found." Xu Chen's eyes lit up.

As Xu Chen frequently practiced within the pristine white space, the three doors standing erect within it had become particularly conspicuous.

A few months ago, while in a foul mood, Xu Chen had gone inside the door of the Three Cicada Transformations to chat with his clone, suddenly remembering that the technique was incomplete.

Thus, he had gone to the Human Emperor Great Avenue Tower in Leizhou City and entrusted the supervisor there to help him find the complete Three Cicada Transformations.

Now, it had finally been found.

Upon arriving at the Human Emperor Great Avenue Tower, the supervisor immediately recounted to Xu Chen just how difficult it had been to track down this version of the Three Cicada Transformations.

"The Three Cicada Transformations was originally an internal blood-energy foundation-building technique of a prominent human clan, specially created for their family by a Great Luo Ancestor."

"Now, that clan has vanished into the long river of human history, and the incomplete version of the Three Cicada Transformations that had been circulating was merely used by that family in exchange for contributions."

"It took a great deal of effort on my part to find the descendants of that family, and after offering quite a few conditions, I finally managed to secure the complete version."

"What conditions? I'll compensate you," Xu Chen said.

"The conditions have been laid out, but the item hasn't been handed over yet."

"The descendant of that family gave you a choice."

"First: twenty contribution points and ten million spirit coins."

"Second: you owe their family a favor, and after achieving success in your cultivation, you help them accomplish a single task."

"I wonder which one the little friend chooses?" the supervisor asked, looking at Xu Chen.

"The first one. I have the contribution points, and I'll scrape together the spirit coins," Xu Chen said, sending a message to Li Chengfu.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Li Chengfu hurried over excitedly.

"Junior Brother Xu, I've brought fifty million spirit coins! If that's not enough, I have more!" Li Chengfu wore the expression of someone whose money was entirely his big brother's money.

"I don't need that much, just seven million."

Xu Chen had three purple crystal cards on him, equivalent to three million spirit coins.

"Then take these fifty million spirit coins, Junior Brother. Use them whenever you need," Li Chengfu said, shoving the storage pouch into Xu Chen's hands.

"I won't need that much, seven million is enough. If I need spirit coins in the future, I certainly won't hesitate to ask you."

Xu Chen took seven purple crystal cards out of the storage pouch and returned the pouch to Li Chengfu.

"Very well. At just a word from you, Junior Brother, I can pay from anywhere."

Originally, Li Chengfu had wanted to give all the spirit coins to Xu Chen, but on second thought, paying for his big brother was far more convenient than having his big brother pay.

"Supervisor, here are ten million spirit coins."

"As for the other twenty contribution points, just deduct them from my account."

The moment Xu Chen finished speaking, a colorful light screen appeared before him, and he clicked to confirm the payment.

"Very good. I'll send the items over there, and the jade slip for the Three Cicada Transformations will be directly mailed to you."

"Alright," Xu Chen nodded.

Three days later, Xu Chen received a verdant green jade slip.

"A blood-energy foundation-building technique created by a Great Luo. Let me see what the complete version looks like."

Xu Chen pressed the jade slip against the center of his brows, and the slip emitted a ray of spiritual light, instantly dragging Xu Chen's consciousness into an illusory space.

He found himself in a place brimming with the vitality of all things, and a voice as ethereal as the sound of the Great Dao echoed out.

"That upon which life depends, the planning of the five elements, the transformation of yin and yang, blood-energy..."

Because Xu Chen had already attained mastery over the introductory portion of the Three Cicada Transformations, he easily understood the opening content.

Following the sound of the Great Dao, Xu Chen gradually became immersed in it.

When he finally snapped out of it, his consciousness had returned to his physical body.

A majestic surge of vitality radiated from within Xu Chen's body outward.

"Upon reaching the realm of Form and Will in Harmony, one possesses the strength of seven dragons, and the body teems with vibrant vitality. After advancing to the Treasure Body Realm, the Three Cicada Transformations can condense into a divine ability of vitality."

"As expected of a technique created by a Great Luo. I've struck gold," Xu Chen's eyes lit up.

Within the pristine white space, the original door of the Three Cicada Transformations had now transformed into a golden door.

Just as he was about to push open the golden door to challenge his clone, his hand stopped abruptly.

"If this blood-energy increases any further and reaches ten dragons, wouldn't that spell trouble?" Xu Chen hesitated slightly.

"No, absorbing all the insights doesn't necessarily mean I have to push the Three Cicada Transformations all the way to the realm of Form and Will in Harmony right now."

Having already achieved perfect control over himself, Xu Chen was confident he could stop before his blood-energy reached ten dragons.

With that thought, he directly pushed open the golden door and stepped inside.

"It wasn't easy. After telling you so many times, you've finally decided to complete it," the clone smiled as he looked at Xu Chen.

The clone waved his hand gently, his figure dissipated, and this world began to shatter.

"Sigh, we haven't even chatted yet. Fighting me would have worked too."

Xu Chen's voice carried a hint of reluctance, but then a force dragged his soul into an unknown space.

This time, Xu Chen possessed a small sapling.

"Possessing a tree body? This is going to be boring," Xu Chen muttered internally, feeling somewhat speechless.

Fortunately, Xu Chen had experience; within the realm of comprehension, as long as he emptied his mind, time would pass very quickly.

Buffeted by wind and rain, absorbing the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, the small sapling slowly grew.

By a stroke of sheer coincidence, a spiritual deer reached the end of its life right beneath his tree.

The flesh and blood of the spiritual deer transformed into nutrients, allowing the small sapling to gradually grow into a towering ancient tree and give birth to spiritual intelligence.

The subsequent time passed smoothly until adulthood, without a single ripple.

From the minuscule vitality of the sapling all the way to the boundless, ocean-like vitality of the towering ancient tree now, it gave Xu Chen a profound realization.

His soul was dragged out, and Xu Chen's consciousness returned.

Outside the immortal cave, the phantom of a towering ancient tree manifested behind Xu Chen.

A majestic wave of vitality overflowed from within Xu Chen's body, infusing his blood-energy with a unique, vibrant life-force.

After the Three Cicada Transformations reached the realm of Form and Will in Harmony, Xu Chen felt his blood-energy reach the level of nine dragons, nine tigers, nine bulls, and nine hundred and ninety-nine catties of blood-energy.

Now, he was just a single catty short of reaching the strength of ten dragons.

Furthermore, Xu Chen felt that under this ocean-like surge of vitality, some of his internal deficiencies were being mended.

Within the pristine white space, Xu Chen merely caused his blood-energy to vibrate slightly, and it broke through to the level of ten dragons.

The blood-energy within his body surged and expanded once again.

However, unlike in the past, this time he felt a profound sense of control over this rapidly increasing blood-energy.

I stayed up late watching the match yesterday.

However, the four chapters will definitely be delivered in full, and the remaining two chapters will be updated before eleven o'clock.

(End of this chapter)