Chapter 669: The Path to True Power

A familiar feeling appeared.

Chen Yan's eyes burst with brilliant light.

After drinking the entire bottle of medicinal liquid, the excruciating pain returned; his physical body was evolving, and every single particle throughout his entire being was trembling violently.

The medicinal liquid was like scorching magma, burning Chen Yan's entire body.

Compared to everything else, the excruciating pain was a price that was entirely bearable.

Bang, bang, bang!!!

His spine trembled section by section like a piece of iron being forged, and a metallic clanging sound came from the depths of his bone marrow.

Inside Chen Yan's body, a new personal universe of the Hard-Refining Path was rapidly being born.

Fast!

The gold content of the Shi Meng Mo was still increasing.

Your fortuitous encounter is truly useful.

It was also at this moment.

The ringing of various laws suddenly resounded within Chen Yan's mind.

Something penetrated the Shi Meng Mo's barrier of laws and reached Chen Yan's ears.

Chen Yan's eyes narrowed slightly.

This was the true essence of the Martial Dao of the Hard-Refining Path.

Profound, comprehensive, and indescribably mysterious.

The only one who could preach the Dao to him like this was the remnant soul of the Master of Hard-Refining still inside the Upper Ancient War Palace.

A smile appeared at the corner of Chen Yan's mouth.

The Master of Hard-Refining should not be someone who would preach to him again.

The arrogance in the other party's heart was almost impossible to conceal.

Gratitude welled up in Chen Yan's heart.

If a person does not help you, that is their duty; if they are willing to help you, that is something you should be grateful for.

Now, the preaching had arrived.

Chen Yan began to listen earnestly, which played a huge role in improving his cultivation.

Gradually, visible true essences of Dao-rhyme emerged around Chen Yan, with legal principles intertwining.

"Sure enough, even though I can fuse the Blood-Qi and Hard-Refining paths, my grasp of the Martial Dao is still not comprehensive."

Chen Yan murmured; the brand-new content of the preaching contained more blind spots that Chen Yan had never realized before.

The Martial Dao is like the world.

When you walk across a stretch of mountains and rivers, you will always discover that there is a taller mountain and a wider sea in the distant front.

This is something that already exists.

The process of pursuing the ultimate Martial Dao is the process of disenchantment.

The next instant.

Chen Yan's eyes trembled, and his thinking broke through its limits.

Countless thoughts operated simultaneously, beginning to analyze every point of truth and knowledge.

Inside the Upper Ancient War Palace, the white-haired old man watched Chen Yan's physical body from afar, his expression complex.

He had already been preaching fast enough.

Being this fast still involved his own intentions.

That was to let Chen Yan understand that he, Chen Yan, was still lacking a great deal.

Therefore, the Master of Hard-Refining had been waiting for the moment Chen Yan couldn't keep up, so he could explain it again.

As a result, Chen Yan was learning and applying it right in front of him, using the content of the preaching on himself at every moment.

This directly made him unwilling to preach anymore.

Is Chen Yan's talent very strong?

The Master of Hard-Refining's way of thinking is different from the general public.

In his later years, he never believed that such a thing as talent existed in the world.

There is only environmental influence and self-change.

Lu Xunyang's talent is poor, but in reality, his starting point is low.

For Lu Xunyang to want to change himself, there are only two points: finding an environment and changing himself.

For most people, if they had Lu Xunyang's starting point, they would just give up, and then they would scoff at any story that praises hard work.

This is human nature.

The more this is the case, the more unable they are to change their environment or themselves.

If one cannot save oneself, then there is only being saved by others.

But being saved by others is not that easy to come by; this is even more metaphysical than self-salvation.

In the view of the Master of Hard-Refining, human change needs to be carried out slowly.

Slowly finding an environment, slowly changing oneself.

Being too fast makes one prone to breaking.

But Chen Yan truly leaves him unable to understand.

This person, upon entering any environment, is actually able to adapt so quickly, without any signs of collapse appearing at all.

Not even a trace.

If a person can be like this, it means the other party has always been living in a painful environment.

But Chen Yan told his younger sister that he liked breaking limits.

The other party was not in pain.

"The Path of Will..." the Master of Hard Refinement murmured.

The founding of every Martial Path is related to the personality of each Master of the Martial Path.

The Path of Hard Refinement and the Path of Will are the only two Martial Paths not linked to the Ancient Gods.

They are Martial Paths unique to the human race.

The other five Martial Paths, when it comes down to it, were all founded in the shadow of the Ancient Gods.

"Does the will grow from malice? The only Martial Path that can devour and extinguish malice..."

The white-haired old man murmured, his cloudy eyes filled with unknown thoughts.

"That remnant soul of mine once said that only when he founds the third realm of the Path of Will will all the other Masters of the Martial Path traverse time to preach the Dao for him..."

He murmured and pondered, his eyes showing disgust, resentment, and disappointment, until finally, they turned complex.

The next instant.

Golden lotuses bloomed from his mouth as he exhaled endless Martial Path Dao essence.

This speech was the ten-thousand-year history of the Martial Path, the history of the endless struggle of the human race.

It was half of the Martial Path, half of the human world.

Countless Dao essences transformed into beautiful illusions, swirling and surging around him, as illusions of the mountains and rivers of the human world appeared one after another.

At the same time.

The phantom of Xia Weimin inside the cyan light sphere trembled, looking toward the direction of the Upper Ancient War Palace in disbelief.

Immediately after, Xia Weimin exhaled all the Dao essence he heard for Chen Yan.

"Hmm?"

Chen Yan, still in the midst of cultivation, had his expression change instantly.

"Is this the true essence of the Path of Hard Refinement and the Path of Blood Qi?"

Chen Yan was stunned, because the content of the sermon he was hearing now contained not only Hard Refinement but also Blood Qi.

Moreover, it was deeper and more profound.

He did not expect to hear such magnificent truths of Blood Qi from the mouth of the Master of Hard Refinement.

It made sense, though.

A peculiar feeling emerged from within Chen Yan's heart.

The Path of Hard Refinement is a comprehensive negation of the Path of Blood Qi.

How to negate it?

It must be by thoroughly understanding it first before negating it.

Soon, Chen Yan's expression changed again.

Because within the truths of the Path of Blood Qi preached by the Master of Hard Refinement, there were things different from the traditional Path of Blood Qi.

It seemed that the Master of Hard Refinement had long ago modified the Path of Blood Qi and had long ago detected the various errors in the Path of Blood Qi.

Perhaps.

The other party never had the intention of founding a Martial Path from the very beginning.

The other party actually wanted to perfect the Path of Blood Qi for his son from the very beginning.

But in the end, he did not reveal this more perfect Path of Blood Qi to the world.

This was a secret the other party had always hidden deep in his heart.

Dao essence permeated, and legal principles converged.

Wonderful illusions rippled around Chen Yan's body.

They were mountains and rivers, earth and sea, time, and the human world.

They were the lonely figures of Martial Path sages who poured their heart and blood into deducing techniques, and the path to heaven paved by countless generations of martial artists with their flesh and blood.

Now, it was all displayed before Chen Yan.

"Many thanks, Senior, for the sermon."

Chen Yan sat cross-legged and murmured; the arrival of such truths was of immense help to him.

Every word and every sentence seemed to turn into tangible Dao patterns, branding themselves into Chen Yan's flesh, blood, and bones, resonating with the newly born Hard Refinement universe within his body.

This made Chen Yan realize that even the True Martial Path he created had many problems and many unstable aspects.

He hadn't gotten it right either.

Chen Yan was silent.

The Master of Hard Refinement could have founded the True Martial Path long ago.

Why did he treat his son that way, and treat the Path of Blood Qi that way?

This was almost a form of pathological evil.

Was it to deal with the Ancient Gods that he deliberately turned himself into that state?

Chen Yan did not understand.

But it was these various extremes and evils that made the Master of Hard Refinement who he was.

The next moment.

Inside Chen Yan's body.

That newly born universe of the Path of Blood Qi and the Path of Hard Refinement began to merge.

It was being merged in a more complete and perfect way.

This was a long process, and also a more perfect process.

At the same time.

Inside the Magnetic Storm Thunder Prison.

Chen Yan's true self was also undergoing the same transformation.

Brilliant and magnificent illusions were constantly dispersing and rippling.

The young girl watched, dazed.

"This... what is this?"

She covered her red lips in surprise.

The things revealed on her brother's body actually gave her the feeling of an ant catching a glimpse of the azure dome of heaven.

It was as if that were the true Martial Dao, the true physical body.

Sitting before her was no longer Chen Yan of Green Mountain, no longer the Great Xia Heavenly General.

But a living titan of the Martial Dao.

It was a god.

"Xiaoyu... Xiaoyu!"

In the world of consciousness, the woman in the red dress was dazed for quite a while, then immediately said:

"Quickly sense the Dao Rhyme; this is a rare opportunity."

Chen Yu shook her head and continued making the formation plate, stacking it beside Chen Yan.

Just as Chen Yan was immersed in this immense Martial Dao opportunity.

Within the dense thicket of thorns, figures were flickering, and they walked toward Chen Yan's direction.

Entering the cave, their figures were constantly elongated on the rock walls under the illumination of the torches in their hands.

Until Chen Yan slowly opened his eyes.

More than a dozen men and women, some in rags and some in neat attire, stood side by side, looking at the youth sitting cross-legged with complex and reverent expressions.

The leader was a man wearing black clothes and a pair of black-rimmed glasses.

He was a middle-aged man who looked very world-weary, and he was smiling at Chen Yan.

"Your appearance has given us the only chance in ten thousand years."

The bespectacled man said, his eyes filled with endless world-weariness and pain.

His words were clearly not in a language commonly used in the human world; they were very vague, yet they had some similarities to the language used in the human world.

Chen Yan did not understand at first.

But parsing language was child's play compared to understanding the Martial Dao.

Behind the bespectacled man, those dozen or so people had somber expressions, and within those pairs of eyes, it was as if an eternal, ceaseless despair was flickering.

But within this final despair, there was also a certain hope contained.

They looked at Chen Yan again, sensing the various Dao Rhyme illusions emerging from Chen Yan's body, and their eyes became completely resolute.

Only the bespectacled man was still smiling, a very bitter smile, as he looked at Chen Yan again:

"I think you have no other choice either."

…………

Time passed slowly.

Morning class began.

But this time, the principal gathered all the students on the playground.

The fat-faced principal's small eyes contained anger, and the fleshy growths on his face opened and closed like breathing voids.

All the students stood on the playground.

Most of the students were like machines, without the slightest expression.

But the human martial artists disguised as students each had stifled frustration and anger appearing in their eyes.

They were top-tier Creation Realm experts, the supreme combat power of the human world, yet here they were completely suppressed like stray dogs.

"A major event happened at the school last night; I presume you all already know about it!"

The fat-faced principal stood with his hands behind his back, scanning the crowd indifferently:

"Yu Laiwei has escaped; someone must have helped him, and the person who helped him is among you!

I know who it is, but I hope you can stand out yourselves, otherwise don't blame me for being impolite."

As the fat-faced principal's voice fell, many martial artists' expressions tightened.

But absolutely no one stood out.

Such rhetoric used on elementary school students could not possibly work on them.

But many people's hearts were still shaken.

Did Yu Laiwei really escape?

Last night, the entire school was searched thoroughly, and even then, they hadn't found him.

The Great Xia Creation Realm experts were incredibly excited inside.

If Chen Yan could escape, that was hope.

Sure enough, the fat-faced principal's expression remained gloomy for quite a while before he spoke:

"Whoever is willing to report, I will tear up the poem they copied!"

As his voice fell, some people's expressions became strange.

Some Creation Realm experts of the Five Clans who had recorded the teachers' dormitory inspection patterns felt excitement rise in their hearts.

"That is all for now; whoever is willing to talk later, come find me in my office."

The fat-faced principal's gaze was cold:

"Yu Laiwei is not a bad student; skipping class will make him pay a price he cannot afford.

Do not think he will be fine; this is a school, not an amusement park. The number of people looking for him will only increase. Where do you think he can escape to?"

The voice of the Fatty Principal fell.

Many people felt their hearts sink.

That was right; the other party had touched upon a key point.

If Chen Yan had no way to leave the Illusion Realm world, then what was the point of even escaping the school?

Shen Yiwei and Xia Long exchanged a glance, both seeing the worry in each other's eyes.

"Let me mention the second matter: from this moment on, the Student Council President of the school will no longer be Yu Laiwei."

As the Fatty Principal's voice fell, a figure walked out from among the students and appeared beside the Fatty Principal.

"The future Student Council President will be Chen Changyuan."

Chen Changyuan stood there quietly, his eyes devoid of any emotion, merely scanning the crowd in silence.

In an instant, coldness appeared in the eyes of everyone looking at him.

But very quickly, the coldness in some people's eyes turned into complexity.

There was no other way.

Chen Changyuan seemed like the Child of Destiny of this world, walking at the very forefront of everyone.

Many people had already signed a contract with Chen Changyuan.

Chen Changyuan's expression was calm as he scanned all the Creation Realm cultivators below.

Among these people were top figures of Great Xia such as Xia Long, Xia Xin, and Luo Wuji.

There were also the Five Clan Divine Children such as Yu Laiwei, Chen Mi, and Lu Wuyi.

Although he, Chen Changyuan, was previously the son of the Invincible Luo Chen.

But that was only Luo City.

Merely a city in Qin Province.

No matter what he did, he could not compare to these people.

But now, the life and death of these people were entirely within a single thought of his, Chen Changyuan.