Chapter Ninety-Four: Change

After the young man had finished his instruction, the man who bore the burning drive bowed to him with solemn reverence.

Yet Xu Chen, who had possessed him for more than ten years, saw at a glance that the fellow had not taken a single word to heart.

“Stubborn fool,” Xu Chen muttered under his breath.

The young man returned to his quarters and began studying the Blood God Threefold Body, a method for building a foundation through vital blood power.

“With the strength of three dragons, the foundation he has accumulated should be enough to give him a chance at a higher realm.”

As he delved deeply into the Blood God Threefold Body, the force of his vital blood began to tremble within him according to a peculiar rhythm.

In an instant, the youth entered a state of sudden enlightenment.

That strange pulse of blood energy grew faster and faster, until at last it seemed like a song of the great dao itself, impossible to listen to without surrendering all thought.

From Xu Chen’s perspective, the young man had mastered the technique in three days and, in only one year, had reached the level where form and intent were one.

The Blood God Threefold Body seemed made for him alone.

The world shattered, and Xu Chen returned.

In the open training ground outside the cave dwelling, a sound rose, like the beating of heaven and earth’s own heart.

With that sound, a faint figure appeared behind Xu Chen.

Advancing the Blood God Threefold Body to the stage of unity of form and intent had increased Xu Chen’s strength by the force of six tigers.

Crash!

Xu Chen struck the sparring puppet with all his power, sending it skidding back dozens of steps. A palm imprint remained on the spot where he had hit it.

The sparring puppet could be configured to match a chosen level of strength, and this one had been set by Xu Chen to five dragons.

“Strength: three dragons, three tigers, and seven bulls,” the puppet intoned mechanically after being driven back.

Hearing the figure, Xu Chen’s mouth curved upward, and behind him the phantom of a carp leaping over the dragon gate appeared.

In that instant, a far more vast surge of vital blood erupted from Xu Chen’s body.

Crash!

“Strength: four dragons, one tiger, and seven bulls.”

A large hollow caved in at the puppet’s chest, then slowly healed back to normal.

“Not enough yet.”

Xu Chen took out the jade slip for the Yin-Yang Sixfold Turning Vital Blood Foundation Method.

“The Sixfold Turning of Yin and Yang. Once you reach the stage of unity of form and intent, you have the strength of three dragons and five tigers. After advancing to the treasured body realm, a thread of yin and yang energy is born within you, and with those two forces you can cultivate special divine powers and spell arts.”

“This is currently the best vital blood foundation method the sect can openly provide. If I want something even higher grade, I’ll probably have to exchange sect contributions for it.”

“In the capital of Thunder Province, the Emperor’s Great Dao Hall also has more advanced vital blood foundation methods, but those require human contribution points to obtain.”

“In the vital blood realm, there are no sect contributions to be earned from missions at all. What a damn headache.”

Xu Chen rubbed his chin. There was another way to obtain a higher-grade vital blood foundation method within the sect: become a disciple of one of the elders and receive one as a gift.

“Forget about apprenticeship. No power, no influence, no backing, just an ordinary talent. To outsiders, I’m only a little strong in combat.”

Xu Chen thought of the cheap master he had been assigned when he first entered the sect, and could not help but laugh at himself.

That feeling of being ignored into the dust remained vivid in his memory even now.

“Let’s finish cultivating the Sixfold Turning of Yin and Yang first. There’s still the Stellar Body Forging Method after that, and then the Sun-Silencing Sacred Form Body. That should be enough for now.”

Thinking of this, Xu Chen returned to his cave dwelling and entered the Sacred White Space.

Inside the gate of the Stellar Body Forging Method, Xu Chen directly drove the secret art with his vital blood at its most extreme.

He climbed from the strength of three dragons and three tigers to four dragons and five tigers in one breath, but the price was that his vital blood could only sustain half a quarter of an hour of battle.

So the moment he entered, Xu Chen went straight into fierce hand-to-hand combat. The two of them were like monstrous brutes, colliding endlessly within that space.

Boom!

The phantom of a fifteen-zhang stellar giant slammed down with its palm, and Xu Chen was forced back dozens of steps, barely enduring the blow.

Just as he thought the clone would press the attack, the giant phantom vanished.

The clone’s crazed face appeared before Xu Chen.

“Getting stronger and stronger, but what good does that do?”

“A miserable fate cannot be resisted.”

“The present life of seeming happiness is only a sweet appetizer before tragedy begins.”

“The stronger you become, the more wretched your destiny will be.”

That frenzied expression, paired with that eerie tone, sent a chill through Xu Chen.

“I don’t know what you went through before,” Xu Chen said.

“But you should understand this: cultivation itself is already a path against heaven.”

“Much less one’s own fate.”

Xu Chen coughed blood from every orifice; his internal organs had shifted out of place, yet he still endured the agony and answered the clone.

“My fate is mine, not heaven’s?”

“I shouted that for a lifetime. What good did it ever do?”

“You understand nothing!”

The stellar giant image appeared once more, and this time it erupted with its full strength.

Brilliant red blossoms bloomed across the earth.

Within the Sacred White Space, Xu Chen’s consciousness took form once more.

“The strength is still a little lacking. At the very least, I’ll need six dragons of power to break through the Stellar Body Forging Method clone.”

After reviewing the battle, he reached this conclusion.

“This is a bit troublesome. Looks like I’ll have to wait a while longer.”

With that, Xu Chen left the Sacred White Space and sank into deep sleep on his bed.

During this period, he had been wholly immersed in cultivation and had not rested properly.

The next morning, when he woke, Xu Chen had planned to cultivate, but for some reason an inexplicable unease twisted in his heart.

His parents couldn’t have run into trouble, could they?

In this world, a sudden premonition was not something to dismiss lightly.

So Xu Chen raised his disciple token and summoned a courier crane.

“Here are nine hundred spirit coins. Help me handle something urgent.”

He quickly took out brush and paper, wrote a letter at high speed, then sealed it and handed it to the courier crane.

“Use spatial speed to deliver this to my parents in Mountain Pass City as fast as possible.”

“And when they reply, bring their letter back to me with the same spatial speed.”

In total, Xu Chen handed over fourteen hundred spirit coins to the courier crane.

“In one quarter of an hour, this letter will be in your parents’ hands.”

“Trust the crane clan!”

Having said that, the courier crane transformed into a streak of light and flew toward the sect’s teleportation hall.

In Mountain Pass City, at the residence of Thousand-Man Commander Xu Spear Armor.

Xu Spear Armor, who had had one arm and one leg severed, lay on the bed cursing nonstop.

“That damn Mountain-splitting Saber Spirit played dirty!”

“I saw he was a spirit worth shaping and wanted to recommend him for formal appointment as a human mountain guardian, so he could enjoy the blessing of human fortune.”

“Who would have thought that bastard would go back on his word and even try to kill me and seize my treasures.”

“Good thing my son gave me that spatial jade talisman and armor, or I’d really have died there.”

As he spoke, Xu Spear Armor touched the wound on his neck, still shaken.

“I told you to bring more men, but you refused to listen and insisted on going alone.”

“We humans have only just taken this place. They have not yet seen the might of humanity.”

Looking at her husband’s severed limb and foot, Wei Miaoqiu’s eyes brimmed with tears, her face full of distress.

Seeing her expression, Xu Spear Armor sighed.

“I didn’t die in battle, but almost did here instead.”

“Still, my life isn’t meant to end like this.”

“Don’t grieve too much. At most, three Life-Reviving Bone-Forging Pills will restore both leg and foot.” Xu Spear Armor comforted her.

“One Life-Reviving Bone-Forging Pill costs fifty thousand spirit coins, and as a thousand-man commander, you get a twenty percent discount.”

“Three of them come to one hundred and twenty thousand spirit coins. I’m heartbroken for you, and I’m heartbroken for the money.”

Under the weight of this double sorrow, Wei Miaoqiu could not hold back her tears.