Chapter Ninety-One: In High Demand

"It's nothing, my needs are modest; deliveries can't reach that far."
The courier crane flew away in disappointment.

Night descended, and within the Holy White Space, Xu Chen began practicing the Fish-Dragon Secret Technique, facing off against his Star Body Technique avatar.
For the first time, he felt the power of blood and qi surpassing three dragons, and Xu Chen was exhilarated.
But after exchanging a few blows with his avatar, reality set in again.
Each move from the avatar carried the weight of a thousand mountains. If the force touched him, it was as if a mountain pressed down upon his body.
After a hundred exchanges, Xu Chen unleashed all his blood and qi, forcibly activating the Fish-Dragon Transformation Dance secret once more.
Every inch of his skin burst forth blood, his internal organs shattered.
Xu Chen became a man of blood, yet the terrifying aura from the second activation of the secret forced even his avatar to take him seriously.
A colossal phantom, fifteen zhang tall, emerged behind the avatar—a giant of stars.
"Damn! Die!"
Xu Chen, pushed to his peak by the secret technique, struck with his strongest palm.
Boom!
The star giant's enormous phantom hand descended upon Xu Chen.
When it met Xu Chen's greatest strike, only a tremor resulted, but those massive hands ultimately landed on Xu Chen.
Like red fireworks, a mist of blood exploded in midair.

Within the Holy White Space, Xu Chen's consciousness condensed.
"I still need to improve my strength, otherwise I truly cannot contend."
Xu Chen reviewed the battle; every ounce of his blood and qi had been exerted to its limit, yet had only shaken his avatar for a moment.
His consciousness returned to his body, and Xu Chen gazed outside the window.
The bright moon hung high, the sea of stars scattered across the night sky.
"About eleven months left. I must hurry to strengthen myself."
"If my spirit doesn't wither, I can sleep a little less at night."

Out in the training grounds of the courtyard, Xu Chen practiced the Blood God Three Body method to build his blood and qi foundation.
In the quiet night, the sound of his pulsing blood echoed like a heartbeat, audible for dozens of yards around.

He trained until dawn, and just as Xu Chen felt a pang of hunger, thinking of asking the monkey chef to cook, his disciple token rang.
"Who could this be?"
Xu Chen took out his disciple token.

"You have traveled twenty thousand li on the Immortal Path, ranking ninth among the disciples in the sect's blood and qi realm. Rewards: five hundred fifty thousand spirit coins, one treasure weapon, five bottles each of supreme Blood Qi Pills and Flood Dragon Bone Pills, and five cultivation secret realm tokens."

"A Daxi Sect master token; you may seek out an elder in the sect to accept you as a disciple."
"Within one year, there will be a great opportunity related to the human race's destiny. This quota is awarded to you."
"Before the arrival of this opportunity, you may freely use the sect's teleportation hall to travel to Cloud Sky Island and enter the Realm of Humanity."
"The Realm of Humanity has now opened the Five Great Sect Arena Games of Thunder State, where disciples may spar with those from the other four great sects."

Reading the long message delivered through his disciple token, Xu Chen deeply felt the sect's regard for him.
"All these rewards must be claimed at the sect's treasury. I'll do that first."

Just as Xu Chen was about to set out, his disciple token rang again.
"Fifty thousand spirit coins for one hour of sparring—truly impressive."
Having spent the night cultivating Blood God Three Body, Xu Chen's blood and qi were now somewhat depleted, not suitable for continued training.
"If I'm idle, I might as well accept the task."
Xu Chen took the assignment.

Meanwhile, not far from Xu Chen's doorstep, several wine monkey chefs were busy in the kitchen.
Xu Chen had an agreement with them: as long as he was home, whether he ate or not, they had to cook. If he didn't eat, the wine monkeys could take the food for themselves.

Breakfast was tofu pudding, fried dough sticks, and three large baskets of steamed buns, which Xu Chen finished in a few bites.

At Illusion Valley, as Xu Chen was about to enter the teleportation array, he was stopped by a tall blood and qi realm disciple.
"Junior brother, are you Xu Chen?" The tall disciple looked at Xu Chen with a sinister gaze.
"Senior brother, how may I help you?" Xu Chen's expression was calm.
"I am Li Wenjie. I'd like to spar with you in the illusion realm, and see what allowed you to traverse twenty thousand li."
Li Wenjie was deeply dissatisfied; in this Immortal Path trial, he had believed himself sure to make the top ten.
But when the trial ended, he was ranked eleventh, and the sect's attention and rewards diminished greatly.
Unable to resist, he pulled strings to get the rankings; nine of the top ten were familiar to him and he could accept that.
Only this obscure Xu Chen he had never heard of. He made inquiries, and today happened to run into him.

"Senior brother, my rate is fifty thousand per hour. If you wish to spar, please submit a task."
Xu Chen smiled politely, attempting to pass Li Wenjie and enter the small illusion formation.

"You can't go!"
Li Wenjie suddenly reached out to block Xu Chen, but before his hand was fully extended, Xu Chen had already pressed it down.
"Senior brother, one must be courteous."
Feeling the strength in his arm, Li Wenjie didn't press further, and watched Xu Chen enter the small illusion formation.

"What a peculiar force. The blood and qi are a bit weak, but today's not the day. There will be plenty more chances to meet; sooner or later, I'll get my match," Li Wenjie said as he massaged his arm.

Inside the illusion world, the two appeared atop a mountain.

"How many li did you cross on the Immortal Path?" Bai Ningxue asked.

"The mirror at twenty thousand was too troublesome, so I gave up. What about you?"
From the earlier encounter with that trouble-seeking senior brother, Xu Chen knew his information could not be concealed.

"Sixteen thousand li. So today, I've come specifically to ask your guidance," Bai Ningxue replied with sincerity.
"I wouldn't presume. Let us spar together."
"My combat strength is innate. If you wish me to guide you, you'll have to fight more."
"Alright."

Bai Ningxue transformed into a shadow, rushing toward Xu Chen.
Since their last match, Bai Ningxue's strength had clearly advanced.
But even with improvement, Xu Chen still considered her within the realm of common fighters.
A problem solvable with one palm, but for fifty thousand spirit coins, he decided to stretch it to ten moves.

Bai Ningxue pushed her blood and qi to the limit, every punch and palm maximizing her power.
She had expected this to be a fairly evenly matched battle.
Yet Xu Chen's response left her somewhat flustered.

With calm elegance, Xu Chen moved as if strolling in a garden, every move executed perfectly, like an old man playing with a child.

After ten exchanges, Xu Chen struck with a palm, sending Bai Ningxue flying like a kite with a broken string.

The scene shifted; the two now stood on a small island at the center of a lake.

"Xu Chen, you..."
Bai Ningxue started to say she would go all out, but the words stuck in her throat.

"Let's continue!"

In one hour of sparring, they switched through more than thirty different scenes.

When the sparring ended, Xu Chen went to the sect's treasury and claimed everything except the treasure weapon, which he would retrieve when he could use it.

"Xu Chen, an outsider of the Wei family, with ordinary aptitude but extraordinary talent in battle."
"I had wanted to recruit you into my team, but unfortunately someone beat me to it."

Just after collecting his rewards and before leaving the treasury, Xu Chen was confronted by a lavishly dressed blood and qi realm disciple, whose tone was far steadier than the previous one.