Chapter 320

On Flower-Fruit Mountain, Su Chen and Sun Wukong landed in the mountains and arrived at Bai Ze's cave dwelling.

Bai Ze was sitting alone before a stone table playing chess; seeing the two return safely, he set down the chess piece in his hand.

"How did the play in the Southern Shan Bu Zhou go?" Bai Ze asked.

Su Chen walked to the table and sat down, pouring himself a cup of tea: "It could be called extremely spectacular. I didn't expect that Golden-Winged Great Peng was actually a Semi-Sage. Caught off guard, Maitreya nearly suffered a loss, but in the end, he relied on his innate magic treasure, the Golden Cymbals, to forcibly suppress the Golden-Winged Great Peng, which can be considered a barely successful completion of his scheme."

Bai Ze tapped his fingertips lightly on the stone table, producing a dull, rhythmic sound.

"The Golden-Winged Great Peng is unconvinced in his heart, having been forcibly suppressed by Maitreya. If the Fomen has no means of restraint, I fear they are planting a nail for themselves in the future," Bai Ze analyzed, hitting the nail on the head. "It seems the Fomen is very anxious now; I fear they want to accelerate the progress of the Journey to the West Great Tribulation."

Sun Wukong plopped down onto a stone chair: "Old Sun sees that those bald donkeys are already impatient. The reincarnation of Tathagata is lost, and the demonic path's fortune is reviving; the Fomen must be afraid that if they drag it out any longer, the demonic path's fortune will influence the Journey to the West Great Tribulation."

"Monkey Brother is right." Su Chen took a sip of tea, his gaze profound. "It seems the revival of the demonic path's fortune has a greater impact on the Fomen than we imagined. With the Fomen so anxious, it seems the Great Tribulation's arrival is not far off."

Bai Ze nodded: "The tribulation energy of heaven and earth is becoming increasingly heavy. The time left for us to prepare is not much."

Su Chen did not respond; he set down his teacup and bid farewell to Bai Ze and Sun Wukong, for he had to seize the time to cultivate.

"Senior, Monkey Brother, I am going into seclusion to cultivate. Flower-Fruit Mountain is left to you both; unless there is a pressing matter, do not let anyone disturb me."

Sun Wukong and Bai Ze readily agreed.

Su Chen returned to his cave dwelling, set up restrictions, and entered the quiet room.

Inside the quiet room, Su Chen sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, closed his eyes, and turned his spiritual sense inward.

Within his dantian, a Jin Dan floated quietly.

Five-colored brilliance flowed ceaselessly, and the Qi of the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—circulated without end, perfect and flawless.

Surrounding the Jin Dan, two streams of yin and yang Qi, one black and one white, linked head to tail, forming a Taiji pattern that rotated slowly.

Beyond this, mixed within the Jin Dan were the two paths of termination and destruction obtained from Luo Hou, along with a fragmented silver path of space.

This was his current cultivation situation; relying on the strange path of the "Hunyuan Jin Dan True Explanation," he scoured for spiritual objects of the five elements and supreme treasures of yin and yang, forcibly pushing his own cultivation base to the peak of the Tai Yi Jin Xian realm in just over two hundred years.

One step further forward, and it would be the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm.

A Great Luo transcends the long river of time, indestructible through ten thousand tribulations.

But this hurdle is extremely difficult.

Su Chen opened his eyes, his brows tightly locked.

The strange path of the "Hunyuan Jin Dan True Explanation" ultimately has its limits.

External objects can fill in the foundation and forge a perfect Jin Dan, but they cannot replace the enlightenment of the Dao.

To attain the Great Luo Dao fruit, one must thoroughly master these five elements and yin and yang, and realize a Dao that belongs uniquely to oneself.

This requires time. Orthodox cultivation is a slow, grinding process.

With Su Chen's aptitude, if it were a peaceful and prosperous age, he could easily find a blessed cave dwelling and go into seclusion for thirty or fifty thousand years.

By the day he emerged, success would come naturally, and he would naturally be a Great Luo Immortal.

But he does not have thirty or fifty thousand years.

The Journey to the West Great Tribulation is close at hand.

The Fomen is already impatiently pushing the progress forward; in at most another hundred years, the scripture seeker will step onto the path of the journey west.

By then, under the engulfment of the great trend of heaven and earth, if one does not become a Great Luo, one is ultimately just a slightly larger piece on the chessboard.

If one cannot stop the Great Tribulation, how can one delay the pace of Hongjun devouring the Heavenly Dao?

"One hundred years, the time is truly too short." Su Chen muttered to himself.

He stood up and paced back and forth in the narrow secret room.

The strange path is exhausted, the orthodox path is too slow; this is a dead end.

Unless one can break the limitations of time.

"Time..." Thinking of this, Su Chen stopped his steps, a glimmer of light flashing in his eyes.

He turned abruptly, walked to the stone door, and raised his hand to remove the restrictions.

The stone door opened.

Inside the Water Curtain Cave, Sun Wukong was dragging Bai Ze to play chess.

Bai Ze was feeling quite helpless due to Sun Wukong's cheating at chess and was just about to flare up when he saw Su Chen walking out with long strides.

"Little Brother, why did you come out of seclusion so quickly?" Sun Wukong threw down a chess piece.

Su Chen walked to the stone table, supported the tabletop with both hands, and leaned forward.

"I have encountered a dead end."

Bai Ze's expression turned solemn, and he sat up straight: "Did something go wrong with your cultivation?"

Su Chen spoke bluntly, "My Jin Dan foundation is full, but to realize the Great Luo Dao fruit, I need at least tens of thousands of years. The Great Tribulation is approaching, and there is not enough time."

Sun Wukong scratched his cheek: "That is difficult to handle. Old Sun also went into seclusion for many years back then before barely breaking through."

Hearing this, Su Chen glanced at Sun Wukong, very much wanting to retort: Does breaking through to Great Luo in a few decades count as a long time?

But in the end, he held back; this monkey's talent and fortune are uniquely endowed, and it is impossible to explain it to him.

"I intend to find an external force." Su Chen said, looking at the two.

Bai Ze frowned: "What external force? One cannot rely on external forces to break through to the Great Luo realm."

"Senior, do you still remember when I asked you about the Chaos Bell before?" Su Chen asked, "I want to borrow the space-time laws of the Chaos Bell to reverse time for cultivation."

"You want to set your sights on the Chaos Bell?" Bai Ze's brows furrowed upon hearing this, and he looked at Su Chen, "Su Chen, do you know what you are saying? That is the companion supreme treasure of Emperor Taiyi! During the Lich War back then, Emperor Taiyi died in battle, and the Chaos Bell tore through the void and vanished without a trace. Over endless years, how many powerful beings, and even those few high-and-mighty Sages, have tried to deduce its whereabouts, only to return empty-handed!"

Bai Ze stepped forward, pressing his hands onto the stone table: "Things that even Sages cannot find, where will you go to find them?"

"Precisely because even Sages cannot find it, I must find it." Su Chen did not retreat in the slightest, "The Chaos Bell possesses the power to suppress the Primordial World and the power to reverse the space-time of the heavens. As long as I obtain it, I can form a world within the bell and set up a time-acceleration array. This is the only way I can attain the Great Luo Dao before the Great Tribulation erupts."

"But that is an ethereal legend!" Bai Ze shook his head slowly, feeling Su Chen's idea was unreliable.

"Bang!"

With a dull thud, Sun Wukong, who was to the side, kicked the stone stool away and leaped onto the stone table.

"What is so ethereal about it!" Sun Wukong grinned, revealing his sharp white fangs, "If the Sages can't find it, that's because they lack the ability!"

Sun Wukong looked at Su Chen and wrapped his arm around his shoulder: "Little Brother, forget about whatever bell! Since you need it, Old Sun will accompany you to turn these Three Realms upside down! If it's not in the Heavenly Court, we'll go to the Netherworld; if it's not in the Netherworld, we'll go into the sea. Even if it's hidden in the Heaven Beyond Heaven, Old Sun will accompany you to find it!"

Bai Ze looked at these two fellows and let out a long sigh.

"You two are really..." Bai Ze shook his head but did not try to dissuade them further, "Fine. Since you have decided, let the Demon Alliance's intelligence network cooperate with you fully. But you must be clear: once the Chaos Bell appears in the world, all the powerful beings in the Three Realms will go mad. By then, what you face may not just be the Fomen."

"I naturally know." Su Chen nodded, "Therefore, this matter cannot be done with great fanfare."

He patted Sun Wukong on the shoulder: "Monkey Brother, thanks. However, there is no need to turn the Three Realms upside down for this."

Sun Wukong was stunned: "You know where it is?"

Su Chen smiled slightly and said: "I have my own methods; wait for my news."