Cultivation: Start From Simplifying Martial Arts Techniques

In Chen Fei’s spatial grid, one space held Sword Essence, while another contained the Broken Ruler Spiritual Treasure.

Chen Fei gazed at the contents within the two spatial grids, pondering slightly.

From the information currently available to Chen Fei regarding the Black Divine Domain, it seemed to be of a higher level than the Mountain Sea Realm. Of course, Chen Fei used Min Yanlu as a reference point.

In the Thousand Feathers Alliance, there was also no mention of anyone being granted special abilities by Min Yanlu; at most, there was the incident where Gu Danying sealed a Mountain Sea Realm sword intent within her sword during the sea monster attack on Sea Dominion City.

However, such power was one-time-use, difficult to replicate, and had considerable differences compared to the continuous shifting demonstrated by the Azure Dragon Carp earlier.

Therefore, it was highly probable that if Chen Fei released the Sword Essence, it would likely be sealed and suppressed, similar to the elemental energy within his body, and the actual effect would probably be no better than a sword qi.

Yet, with just sword qi, it would be of no assistance to Chen Fei within the Black Divine Domain, so taking out the Sword Essence from the spatial grid would incur no loss to him.

What Chen Fei hesitated more about was whether to also take out the Spiritual Treasure. Having one more spatial grid containing black stones would double the transport capacity of black stones in a single trip.

As Ming Zhongjiang had stated, rewards in the Black Divine City atop the peak were calculated based on the weight of black stones. The weight of these two cubic black stones would be quite astonishing.

According to the carrying capacity of an ordinary person, even with martial arts techniques increasing the load capacity, there was inevitably a limit. It was inevitable that multiple trips would be required to transport a cubic black stone.

Chen Fei found it difficult to make a decision, mainly because he was concerned that taking out the Spiritual Treasure might attract the attention of the entire Black Divine Domain.

The people and sea monsters Chen Fei had just seen were at most at the level of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, and there were no beings above the Mountain Sea Realm. The aura of the Mountain Sea Realm was extremely unique, completely different from that of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm.

If there were truly no Mountain Sea Realm beings within the Black Divine Domain, but Chen Fei took out the Spiritual Treasure with Mountain and Sea characteristics, it would likely cause some unexpected consequences.

After careful consideration, Chen Fei decided to err on the side of caution; there was no need for him to engage in such reckless behavior akin to that of a gambler.

Extending his right hand forward, Chen Fei opened the spatial grid storing the Sword Essence. A trace of sharp sword intent permeated the surroundings for a moment, but the next moment, this sword intent disappeared.

It wasn’t that Chen Fei had closed the spatial grid; rather, the Black Divine Domain instantly sealed off this sword intent. Just as Chen Fei had anticipated, although this Sword Essence was formidable, it was utterly incapable of exerting its intended effect within the Black Divine Domain.

With one spatial grid now empty, Chen Fei dashed to another location and brought back several pieces of black stone to merge them. In just a moment, a rough and uneven cubic black stone nearly emerged.

Glancing around to ensure no one was spying, Chen Fei reached out and with a sweep of his hand, the black stone before him vanished instantly.

Chen Fei’s figure flickered, and instead of hurrying towards the mountain stones for climbing, he began to walk around the base of the mountain, constantly observing the appearance of the entire Black Divine Peak.

The information he had received earlier was all from Ming Zhongjiang. However, Chen Fei believed in verifying things through his own observations.

Mainly, Chen Fei had many doubts about this Black Divine Domain.

From Ming Zhongjiang’s words just now, it seemed that many people were knowledgeable about this Black Divine Domain, and indeed, there were many people and monsters that Chen Fei had seen.

Not only at the foot of the mountain, but the number of climbers was even greater than at the foot of the mountain.

With so many people in a place capable of granting special abilities, it didn’t make sense that there was no news within the Thousand Feathers Alliance.

The Primordial Sword Sect was at least a fourth-tier power, and Chen Fei’s strength, on the surface, was also at the initial stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm. Although he wasn’t considered anything special within the Thousand Feathers Alliance, he was no longer a low-level figure.

Many overly confidential matters might be beyond the scope of inquiry for the Primordial Sword Sect, but judging from the appearance of this Black Divine Domain, it didn’t seem like the kind of excessively secretive existence where the Primordial Sword Sect wouldn’t have heard even a whisper about it.

However, the reality was that the Primordial Sword Sect was unfamiliar with this place, and no one in the entire Sea Peak City had ever mentioned the Black Divine Domain.

In such a situation, either the memories of those who left here had been completely erased, leaving no trace of information to the outside world— but then, what about that Azure Dragon Carp?

Or, the Black Divine Domain had only recently appeared in this sea area, with other entrances elsewhere, such as in the core region of the Boundless Sea?

Chen Fei leaned more towards the second possibility. The Black Divine Domain likely had numerous other entrances, not only because of the Azure Dragon Carp but also because Chen Fei had observed many people and found that none of them corresponded to anyone within the Thousand Feathers Alliance.

The Thousand Feathers Alliance was vast, with numerous individuals in the Combined Aperture Tempering realm.

During the appearance of the spiritual treasures in the Imperial City last time, almost half of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm individuals in the Thousand Feathers Alliance appeared. With a glance, Chen Fei could tell that the individuals in the Black Divine Domain at this moment did not overlap with those in the Thousand Feathers Alliance.

This was Chen Fei’s first doubt about the Black Divine Domain. The second doubt was: what was the purpose of this Black Divine Domain?

“The heavens are unjust, and all things are unequal!”

This sounded like something that could evoke empathy in others, but what was the original intention behind the Black Divine Domain doing this? Was it simply because they couldn’t stand the injustice in the world, so they wanted to create a fair world of their own?

Certainly, there were people like that, but it all seemed somewhat insincere.

Master Haiyue established the Hidden Dragon and Young Phoenix Ranking, conducted trials in the Haiyue Cave, and Min Yanlu placed his divided body of Enlightenment Towers in various major cities.

Although Chen Fei didn’t know the purpose behind their actions now, he speculated that in the past, it should have been related to the cultivation methods of the Mountain Sea Realm.

In other words, the original intention behind Master Haiyue and Min Yanlu’s actions was very likely for their own cultivation, hence the elaborate efforts.

So, what kind of purpose did the Black Divine Domain have in making people and monsters carry these black stones up the mountain? Was it also for cultivation?

Various thoughts flashed through Chen Fei’s mind as he occasionally glanced down at the rocks beneath his feet and looked up at the various features of the mountain peak.

After circling around the base of the mountain for a short distance, Chen Fei’s footsteps gradually came to a halt, and a hint of contemplation appeared in his eyes.

The undulating terrain at the base of the mountain and the successive mountain walls on the peak made Chen Fei increasingly feel like he was facing a large-scale formation.

However, the effects of this formation remained a mystery to Chen Fei, as his understanding of formations was still insufficient to decipher its purpose.

Thoughts of Guo Huasheng crossed Chen Fei’s mind. Guo Huasheng was passionate about formations, and if he were here, he would likely be able to discern the nature of this formation.

Chen Fei began to head back, picking up a black stone along the way to carry on his back as he hurried towards the mountain stones for climbing.

Even though there was already a cubic meter of black stone in the spatial grid, Chen Fei couldn’t just climb the mountain empty-handed; it would seem suspicious no matter how you looked at it.

With agile movements, Chen Fei concealed the fact that he was carrying a huge stone on his back.

Back in Pingyin County, Chen Fei had firmly adopted the martial philosophy of being fast. He might not be able to defeat others in combat, but when it came to running away, he had to be able to escape.

Therefore, Chen Fei had assimilated numerous agility techniques in the past, similar to martial arts, and given his cultivation level at the time, the agility techniques he could find were all very basic.

Thus, even without using elemental energy, Chen Fei could swiftly move with the weight of the black stone on his back.

The black stone on his back seemed to have become a part of Chen Fei’s body.

However, the weight was already close to the limit; any heavier, and it would disrupt his balance, making it even more strenuous for his body. The size of this black stone was also a common choice for most people.

Arriving at the mountain stones for climbing, Chen Fei’s eyebrows twitched imperceptibly. Not far away, the person from the Fallen Heaven Pavilion whom Chen Fei had just encountered half a month ago appeared in the Black Divine Domain as well.

“What a coincidence!” Chen Daoheng watched Chen Fei’s figure, feeling somewhat surprised.

“What’s wrong?” Huang Yuheng turned to look at Chen Daoheng.

“The person we saw outside Bianhu City before has also appeared here,” Chen Daoheng gestured towards Chen Fei.

Huang Yuheng also felt surprised. It was indeed a special coincidence. This place was unique, and the Fallen Heaven Pavilion had not received any prior information.

They had entered this place purely to pursue someone and had ended up here by mistake. Therefore, other members of the Fallen Heaven Pavilion probably had no idea where they had gone.

“This young man seems to have a solid foundation!” Huang Yuheng observed Chen Fei for a moment, somewhat astonished.

Although his cultivation was sealed, his insight was still evident. Chen Fei’s agility in carrying the black stone was rare among other martial artists, indicating that his understanding of body refinement techniques during the foundation stage was extremely thorough.

Chen Daoheng remained silent, nodding slightly. He knew that even he himself would probably find it difficult to match Chen Fei’s level of skill.

On the mountain path, Chen Fei faintly sensed someone watching him, but he didn’t show any other reaction. Instead, he continued climbing the mountain with the black stone on his back.

Chen Fei wanted to quickly reach the summit to see what the Black Divine Domain was all about and to confirm if it was truly possible to leave this place.

On the mountain path, violence was prohibited, as it would result in immediate death.

There were many rules on the mountain path, and violating any of them would lead to certain death. However, as long as one was careful, the issues were not insurmountable.

Yet, all the rules seemed to hint at one thing: ensuring there were enough black stones heading towards the summit was paramount, and going against this was strictly forbidden.

After climbing for two hours on the mountain path, Chen Fei had to stop and rest.

Even with strong skills, the weight of the stone had reached the limit of his physical endurance.

Chen Fei leaned against a tree, holding the black stone in his hands as he rested.

The black stone couldn’t touch the ground, as doing so would also trigger the rules.

Looking down from above, Chen Fei noticed many people resting, as well as some monsters. Unlike the martial artists, these monsters lacked techniques but possessed naturally robust bodies.

Carrying the black stone, these monsters hardly took any breaks and continued climbing towards the summit step by step.

If the Black Divine Domain indeed needed these black stones, then monsters were indeed more efficient than humans in this regard..