The Mystic Sect was just ahead.
Kun stood before the passage, scowling at Jiang Chen. "The entrance to the Mystic Sect is right ahead," he said irritably. "You can get lost now, kid!"
"Senior, why the long face?" Jiang Chen asked with a grin.
"Get lost!"
Kun glared and booted Jiang Chen out of the spatial channel.
"AHH—Old Man Kun, the day I become a Demigod, I swear I’ll return this kick!" Jiang Chen’s pained cry came from outside the spatial channel.
"Hmph!"
Kun scoffed. "My true form is immeasurably vast. Even a powerful Demigod couldn’t hope to move me. And you want to kick *me*?"
He thought back to Jiang Chen’s shameless behavior earlier, extorting treasures from him without a shred of fear.
A faint smile touched Kun’s lips. ’This kid... maybe he really can revive the Mystic Sect for my old friend. But... will that person in Zhongzhou allow the Mystic Sect to rise? Alas...’
His form flickered and vanished.
「Outside the spatial channel.」
Jiang Chen stumbled and fell, landing face-first in the dirt.
Spitting out the mud and grass, he grumbled resentfully, "That damned Kun! I’ll get my revenge for this kick sooner or later!"
After muttering a few curses, Jiang Chen looked up and was instantly stunned. Before him lay a vast world, and at its center was a magnificent complex of palace-like buildings.
The complex was immense and resplendent, with every palace soaring high into the clouds.
It was like a divine residence fit for the gods!
’Huh? They’re already here?’ Jiang Chen’s gaze shifted. On a vast plaza before the palace, numerous figures sat cross-legged.
Gai Jinlong, the Feixue Country Lord, Zhao Hongluan, Gai Shi, and the others...
They were all sitting upright on cushions with their eyes closed, deep in a profound state of meditation.
Gai Shi, being the closest, seemed to sense his arrival and opened his eyes. A look of joy appeared on his face when he saw it was Jiang Chen. With a WHOOSH, he rushed over, laughing heartily. "You’re finally out, kid! We’ve been waiting for you for over half a year."
"Didn’t you guys enter the Human Gate, too? Where did you end up getting teleported?" Jiang Chen asked.
Gai Shi put on a pained expression. "Don’t even get me started. It seems like we were all sent to different places. I was thrown into a Kun Realm and had to move heaven and earth just to get out. But I’ve already reached the Human Emperor Realm now. I’ve finally surpassed you, haven’t I, kid?"
BOOM!
A terrifying aura burst from Gai Shi, precisely that of the Second Stage of the Human Emperor Realm.
Keep in mind, before he entered the Human Gate, his cultivation was only at the Fourth Stage of the Human King Realm!
He had advanced a full seven Small Realms, an absolutely remarkable improvement!
Jiang Chen smiled slightly. "Not bad, young man, you have a boundless future! But don’t be too proud. You should know that there’s always a higher mountain to climb." As he spoke, Jiang Chen quietly released a trace of his own aura.
The aura of the Seventh Stage of the Human Emperor Realm enveloped Gai Shi.
Gai Shi’s eyes widened. He looked Jiang Chen up and down, finally letting out a bitter laugh. "Damn it, how could I forget what a total freak you are? I can’t believe I came looking for a slap in the face. F*ck..."
"Hahaha!"
Jiang Chen laughed teasingly.
Gai Shi rolled his eyes, not truly angry, and pointed toward the plaza. "There are forty-nine cushions on this plaza, and forty-eight are already occupied. Hurry up and sit down! Once you do, a stone stele will appear before you, and it will project an avatar of yourself. Practicing Martial Skills on these cushions is a hundred times more effective! I’ve already trained the Asura Cross Kill passed down from my ancestor to the Great Success Realm!"
"Oh? It has such a miraculous effect?"
Jiang Chen’s eyes brightened, and he immediately sat down on the last empty cushion.
RUMBLE!
A pitch-black stele appeared before him. His head buzzed, and he entered a state of meditation.
His vision went black, and in the center of the darkness, motes of light began to coalesce.
At last, they formed a figure made of light!
It had Jiang Chen’s exact appearance!
’What a strange sensation. It’s like watching myself train from a third-person perspective,’ Jiang Chen thought, overjoyed. ’What’s more, I can feel everything the light avatar feels as it practices Martial Skills. I’ll start with the Ten Directions Sword Manual!’ He excitedly urged the figure of light to execute the Ten Directions Sword Manual.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
Surging and violent Sword Qi, majestic and immense, erupted from the figure of light.
The One-Origin Sword, the Liangyi Sword, the Three Talents Sword...
He hadn’t had much time for training before and had only mastered up to the Five Elements Sword. But with the light avatar’s aid, Jiang Chen fell into a frenzied state of cultivation.
As the saying goes, "The spectator sees more of the game than the players."
The same held true for cultivation of the Martial Dao!
Often when training alone, one feels their path is the correct one, unable to spot the flaws within. Only from an observer’s perspective can the errors be seen. ’So that’s it... When I tried practicing the Six Harmonies Sword before, I always felt something was off, and this is why. My sword strike isn’t fast enough. It has to be even faster!’
Jiang Chen trained continuously.
As time passed, he had already cultivated the Six Harmonies Sword and the Seven-Star Sword of the Ten Directions Sword Manual to the Great Success realm.
As for reaching the Perfection realm, that would require the tempering of actual combat!
His progress was astonishingly fast!
"I just can’t seem to get the hang of the Eight Trigrams Sword. How frustrating!" Jiang Chen shook his head in annoyance.
He decided to stop obsessing over it and took out the North Nether Divine Fist. This was a Demigod Level Martial Skill!
An excited look appeared on Jiang Chen’s face. ’The North Nether Divine Fist... so it’s an explosive Fist Technique. It has five stages in total. The First Stage can unleash double my power, the Second Stage four times, the Third Stage eight times, the Fourth Stage sixteen times, and the Fifth Stage can unleash a full thirty-two times my power. With my current strength, if I unleash my God-Devouring Realm at full force to raise my cultivation to the Peak of the Human Emperor Realm, then combine that with the thirty-two-times power of the North Nether Divine Fist, I could smash even an Emperor Realm expert to pieces with a single punch!’
With this in mind, Jiang Chen began to comprehend the North Nether Divine Fist. But it was a Demigod Level Martial Skill, after all, so the difficulty of comprehending and practicing it was extremely high.
Fortunately, he had the stele before him, and the figure of light could endlessly practice the North Nether Divine Fist.
’Hiss! The First Stage alone consumes a full five percent of my True Essence with a single punch! It’s a good thing this light avatar doesn’t need to worry about True Essence consumption and can practice endlessly!’ Jiang Chen was secretly shocked. As expected of a Demigod Level Martial Skill. The True Essence cost alone would be more than an ordinary master at the Seventh Stage of the Human Emperor Realm could handle!
Fortunately, Jiang Chen possessed the Ultimate Spirit Sea, so his True Essence was as vast as an ocean—dozens of times more than other Martial Artists of the same rank!
Through constant practice and comprehension, Jiang Chen’s mastery of the North Nether Divine Fist progressed by leaps and bounds. He had already reached Second Stage Perfection, capable of unleashing four times his power.
Just as he was preparing to continue practicing the Third Stage...
Suddenly...
Jiang Chen’s Divine Thought was pulled from the stele, and a cold voice rang in his ears. "Kid, I’m taking this cushion. Scram if you know what’s good for you!"
Jiang Chen’s face darkened as he looked toward the speaker.
It was Snow Vajra.
At this moment...
He stood with his arms crossed, looking at Jiang Chen with an expression of contempt and disdain, the very picture of self-confidence.
Jiang Chen frowned. Being interrupted at such a critical moment in his comprehension of a Martial Skill was infuriating. With a dark expression, he snarled, "Get lost!"