Chapter 109

At this moment, Han You and the other two hurriedly said, "We strictly obey the Holy Son's command." The crowd also nodded one after another: "We would never dare to spread rumors."

They, too, care about their reputation; they could not afford to lose face like this.

However, someone's eyes flickered, for he was a spy of the Holy Land. Yang Hao ground his teeth and said, "Xu Chen, I will never share the same sky with you!"

At the same time, the news of the annihilation of the Earth Hidden Gate reached Luo Shen's ears.

She showed no reaction, for she knew the Earth Hidden Gate was founded by Luo Junming and had been involved in many shady dealings behind the scenes.

She merely smiled lightly and deemed it not worth her trouble to intervene.

On the other hand, in the Imperial Prince's residence, after hearing the report, Luo Junming's eyes were filled with disbelief. "What did you say? The Nine Heavens mobilized and completely wiped out my Earth Hidden Gate?"

"Even the scouts sent out did not a single one return?"

He grabbed the scout's collar, his face gloomy as he spoke...

He could not believe it. The Earth Hidden Gate, as a high-end intelligence organization, was usually extremely secretive. Yet suddenly it was gone; he simply could not accept it. The scout trembled and said, "Y-yes. After the Nine Heavens finished killing, they left a note. There were almost no traces of battle on Star Fall Mountain, yet bodies lay everywhere. Judging from this situation, our people were likely tortured to death."

Luo Junming gritted his teeth and said, "Damn Nine Heavens! I had just begun to study them." He had intended to teach the Nine Heavens a lesson, but never expected the lesson they gave him to be far greater. He was furious. What kind of sect was this Nine Heavens? Why, while being so mysterious, did it possess such overwhelming strength?

His eyes flashed with killing intent as he said, "It seems the time has come to seek out the Five Poisons Sect and the Ten Thousand Gu Sect." These two sects had already secretly approached him for cooperation on several occasions, because of his immense wealth and vast power.

He had refused them before, but now it seemed he had no choice but to agree. This Nine Heavens must be eradicated; otherwise, his hatred would never be appeased. "Go, send people to contact the Five Poisons Sect and the Ten Thousand Gu Sect and discuss cooperation properly."

"This time, this Imperial Prince will make the Nine Heavens suffer eternal damnation." Luo Junming swept his sleeve and said icily.

At this time, after annihilating the Earth Hidden Gate, Xu Chen cultivated once more in the imperial palace for an entire night. He consumed tens of thousands of top-grade spirit stones, and his spiritual energy surged violently. By the next day, there was already a faint trend of breaking through to the late stage of the Seventh Grade. "Having top-grade spirit stones is truly wonderful!" Xu Chen said in high spirits.

These four hundred and fifty thousand spirit stones were even more effective than a Ninth-Grade Spirit Gathering Array.

After all, whenever he wished to absorb vast amounts of spiritual energy, he could do so freely; it was simply too satisfying. Thus, within seven days, he would inevitably advance to the late stage of the Seventh Grade, at which point his strength would skyrocket. As soon as Xu Chen opened the door, he saw the women lined up on both sides, gazing at him like imperial concubines. Xu Chen: "..." He was numb!

Recently, he had discovered that the number of heroines around him was increasing. If they were to play mahjong, there would easily be several tables. Yi Bingrou spoke first: "The Empress gave me a Heavenly-Grade martial art for you." Having finished speaking, Yi Bingrou handed an ancient tome to Xu Chen without hesitation.

Xu Chen thought for a moment and did not refuse. After all, Yi Bingrou truly had no use for it, as this book was prepared by Luo Shen for him, and women could not cultivate it.

"Palace Master, if there is nothing else, please return to the Academy. I still wish to cultivate properly."

Xu Chen said.

In the coming days, various Eighth-Grade experts would appear; he had no mind for idle chatter here. The old monsters of the Ten Thousand Gu Sect and the Five Poisons Sect were all treacherous and ruthless. Furthermore, the heroine of the Compassionate Zen Sect had, upon their first meeting, claimed his thoughts were impure and sought to kill him. Who knew if she would act the same way in this life? To avoid the plot going awry, it was better to quickly raise his cultivation base. Shangguan Luoyun nodded: "Let us go."

As she spoke, the Empress could not stop him and let Xu Chen return. However, the Empress stamped her jade foot, her eyes filled with grievance. This dead man did not understand her feelings at all; it was infuriating. She was left alone in an empty room; how long must she wait?

Alas, her life was so hard!

He had no doubt that if it were above the eighth rank, simply absorbing the spiritual energy from spirit stones would likely require over a hundred thousand.

By then, he would need to use supreme-grade spirit stones, not high-grade ones. "Let's see this martial art Yi Bingrou gave me." Xu Chen opened the book and began to study it.

Soon, Xu Chen was stunned: "This is a Heaven-grade spiritual sense attack martial art? This is quite rare."

In his past life as a Immortal Emperor, his spiritual sense was already perfect; any spiritual sense attack was useless against him. Although he hadn't studied much in this area, he had even created his own Emperor-grade spiritual sense martial art. It was just that his current realm was too low to learn it.

"Divine God Soul-Calming Palm, a Heaven-grade intermediate martial art. It can condense a palm print through spiritual sense to attack the opponent's spiritual sense."

"Only with a late-stage seventh-rank spiritual sense can one learn it; otherwise, the spiritual sense cannot be controlled and will backfire on the user."

"When attacking, depending on the opponent's spiritual sense strength, the Divine God Soul-Calming Palm can fight across ranks." Xu Chen murmured. He nodded; not bad. In other words, with a late-stage seventh-rank spiritual sense, he could clash with an eighth-rank spiritual sense.

However, for now, he should first cultivate his spiritual sense to the seventh rank. Currently, it was only early-stage seventh rank. Therefore, Xu Chen went to ask Shangguan Luoyun for resources, but this time she refused. She angrily said, "You always just ask me for things; this time you must reward me." Xu Chen: "..."

Big sister, you are the female lead, and I have to be careful! At this point, if you were reborn, wouldn't I cry myself to death? He said helplessly, "You are the Palace Master; what can't you get?" Shangguan Luoyun snorted, "Your reward!"

Xu Chen's teeth ached. He coughed, "Palace Master, keep a low profile. I am a person, not an object." Shangguan Luoyun said coldly, "Just say if you will reward me or not. If not, get out and cultivate on your own, hmph!"

Xu Chen was numb; he had never seen such a demand before. He asked the system, "Will something bad happen?"

The system replied, "I don't know. Handle it yourself."

Xu Chen instantly felt the urge to beat up the system; it was too unreliable.

Xu Chen's scalp went numb. He never actively provoked the female lead, but he couldn't back down this time! This time, he had no choice but to choose.

After all, if he didn't get stronger quickly, there would be plenty of trouble, but to achieve that, he needed resources.

Thinking this, he gritted his teeth, "Then don't tell the other women." Shangguan Luoyun snorted, "Where is the reward?"

Xu Chen had no choice, then walked over and kissed Shangguan Luoyon.

Xu Chen had a blank expression, "Alright, I've given you my first kiss; is that enough?" Shangguan Luoyun instantly felt a surge of happiness, her excitement overflowing.

Her heart suddenly raced, and her face turned red with shame. "S-satisfied? From now on, take resources whenever you want." Xu Chen glared at Shangguan Luoyun, "Remember, don't tell the other women."

Shangguan Luoyun immediately nodded like a chick pecking at rice, "Mm, mm, mm, I won't. It's our secret."

At this moment, where was the proud and cold Palace Master? She looked exactly like a pampered little girl.

Xu Chen rubbed his temples, hoping she wouldn't say anything.

He really didn't want to see the scene of the female lead lining up to ask him for rewards. After all, he wasn't bragging; these women could really do such a thing. "Hurry back and seal yourself in seclusion for a damn month."

Afterwards, Xu Chen found that the system gave no warning, and he was overjoyed.

It seemed this was fine. Understood, understood; he could be a bit more reckless in the future.

After figuring it out, Xu Chen quickly took various resources for refining his spiritual sense and body from Shangguan Luoyun's hands.

Then Xu Chen slipped away and returned to his own den to cultivate. From then on, he refused to see the female lead at all.

Even if Jesus came, it wouldn't help. That's what he said.

Soon, Xu Chen focused entirely on refining his spiritual sense and cultivating his realm.

About half a month later, Xu Chen's realm showed a faint trend of breaking through to the eighth rank. His spiritual sense also skyrocketed from early-stage seventh rank to late-stage seventh rank.

This also meant that Xu Chen could now cultivate the "Divine God Soul-Calming Palm."

This palm technique was not difficult to cultivate. Xu Chen mastered it in just two hours. "Voom!"

His spiritual sense, like a surging tide, flowed endlessly from his mind. Then, the spiritual sense condensed into an invisible, colorless palm print, which suddenly slammed into the void. The void trembled, showing a faint trend of collapsing.

Xu Chen analyzed softly, "It seems that as long as the power is sufficient, space can be shattered."

He nodded. This "Divine God Soul-Calming Palm," as a Heaven-grade martial art, could already shake an early-stage eighth-rank spiritual sense.

"Next, refine the body and the Divine Jade Battle Armor, then raise the realm to the eighth rank."

"If all these are complete, try refining the spiritual sense to the eighth rank as well."

"This Earth-grade protective aura also needs a slight upgrade; otherwise, it will be hard to fight an eighth-rank opponent."

Xu Chen quickly decided on his cultivation goals.

Every time his realm increased, he needed to cultivate many things.

Although it was troublesome, it allowed him to be invincible among peers and crush them with one hand. Soon, another month passed.

Xu Chen's realm rose to early-stage eighth rank, but at the same time, the 450,000 spirit stones were completely consumed. He upgraded the Earth-grade "Indestructible Saint Body" into the Heaven-grade advanced martial technique "Eternal Saint Body," which could only be cultivated at the eighth rank. The effect was similar, but the "Eternal Saint Body" could now block an opponent's attack across one rank, which the "Indestructible Saint Body" could not do. Similarly, with Shangguan Luoyun's massive resource assistance, Xu Chen's body also rose from mid-stage seventh rank to early-stage eighth rank.

In an instant, Xu Chen's realm and body were both raised to early-stage eighth rank, while his spiritual sense remained at late-stage seventh rank. Even the Divine Jade Battle Armor was refined by Xu Chen to early-stage eighth-rank strength.

Under normal circumstances, refining battle armor only required consuming spiritual energy; slow work yields fine results, ensuring no flaws.

If speed was needed, one had to recklessly consume various heavenly treasures and earthly herbs. But Xu Chen felt it was unnecessary; with time and technique, that would be a pure waste of resources. He stretched, thinking inwardly, "In half a month, the latest poisons from the Ten Thousand Gu Sect and the Five Poisons Sect will fully arrive."

However, my protective aura and Divine Jade Battle Armor are not afraid; they can completely block them. It's just that female lead from the Pure Land of Compassion; I remember she was poisoned by the gu, and in the original text, Ye Xuan saved her. This time..." Xu Chen felt a bit worried. If the plot continued to collapse, he would be in quite a bit of trouble. "Can you hear me?"

At this moment, Zhao Qingyun suddenly transmitted a voice to him through the mask. She thought Xu Chen was still deep in mental cultivation, so she tried calling out. Xu Chen nodded, "I can hear you. What's wrong?" Zhao Qingyun said, "An early-stage eighth-rank elder from the Ten Thousand Gu Sect is spreading gu poison inside your Jixia Academy. This poison has recently spread throughout the martial world and is very powerful. Do you want to stop him?" Xu Chen's face darkened slightly, "Give me some more specific information." Zhao Qingyun nodded, and quickly transmitted the person's appearance, current location, cultivation method, and martial arts into Xu Chen's mask.

This was the greatest function of the Nine Heavens mask; it could transmit almost anything. After receiving it, Xu Chen also marveled at Zhao Qingyun's ability to detect intelligence. It was too strong; absolutely unique to the Tianzun Imperial Dynasty.

Thinking this, Xu Chen slowly stood up, and his body emitted crackling sounds.

Bu Fengshuang and the other women beside him asked Xu Chen, "You look like something is wrong. What happened?" Xu Chen narrowed his eyes slightly, "Someone is invading the Jixia Academy. The people inside the academy may not know yet. I'll go check."

"Whoosh!"

After speaking, Xu Chen's body vanished from the spot. The women, hearing this, hurriedly followed behind Xu Chen. Soon, Xu Chen arrived at the square of the Jixia Academy.

He frowned; the square was the place with the most people, and this person from the Ten Thousand Gu Sect certainly knew how to choose a location. The person was disguised and looked exactly like a young disciple of the academy. "That person is from the Ten Thousand Gu Sect. Fengshuang, set up an array first to block his path." Xu Chen pointed at someone and said.

Bu Fengshuang nodded without a word and began setting up an array in the academy square. Soon, an eighth-rank great array condensed above the square, its aura locking onto that person, ready to launch an attack at any moment.

That person sensed the special aura and realized he had been exposed. His face darkened slightly, and he immediately grabbed a disciple of the academy, sneering, "Let's see who dares to move."

Those academy disciples were terrified, "Save, save me!" Xu Chen looked up at that Ten Thousand Gu Sect elder and saw that he was already injecting gu poison into that academy disciple.

In an instant, the academy disciple's whole body turned black, and black aura gradually spread and emanated. Xu Chen knew that this gu poison could only be removed if the master died; otherwise, it was useless. Therefore, Xu Chen locked onto that Ten Thousand Gu Sect elder, "Who are you?"

The Ten Thousand Gu Sect elder curled his lips, "Ten Thousand Gu Sect, Shang Tianzai, the brother of Shang Bu Xiang." Xu Chen said indifferently, "Your names are truly calamities." Shang Tianzai sneered, "Xu Chen, after the battle between the Calamity Storm and the Tianzun Imperial Dynasty, your name shook the world, and your reputation is even greater than mine."

Today, I personally came to the Jixia Academy, and one of my goals is your alchemy and artifact-refining techniques. How about it?"

While speaking, Shang Tianzai gripped the academy disciple tighter, showing a clear threat towards Xu Chen. Xu Chen asked, "What if I don't agree?" Shang Tianzai let out a wicked, cold laugh, "Then I will spread the gu poison and kill all tens of thousands of disciples in your Jixia Academy."

"Even you, merely at the mid-stage of the Seventh Rank, will be slain by me and finally refined into a poison puppet. Tsk tsk, how will you choose now?"

Xu Chen said indifferently, "I can see this is a puppet avatar of yours; otherwise, you would not have the courage to enter the Academy."

"However, within the same realm, I can use a puppet avatar to slay the true body." "Boom!" Having spoken, Xu Chen's body trembled.

— Author's Notes —

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