Cultivation: Start From Simplifying Martial Arts Techniques

With one sword strike, Duan Suizhi with seven Divine Palaces in the later stages of the Mountain Sea Realm met his end without a trace of luck.

Chen Fei swung his right hand, drawing out spiritual essence, turning the blood mist to flying ash. Holding Duan Suizhi’s Bird Cloud Blade, he executed the Illusionary Form, erasing all residual aura and soul imprints at the scene before disappearing.

The Return to Nothing bestowed by the Black Divine was indeed crafted for the sole purpose of killing and looting.

Not only could it conceal one’s soul imprints and aura, but after achieving its purpose, it could also devour and erase any lingering soul imprints and auras left at the scene.

Compared to Chen Fei’s Slaughter Spirit Technique, which could only erase half of the imprints, this Return to Nothing was incredibly effective.

“Hum!”

Just as Chen Fei vanished, the forces of various sects within a hundred-mile radius automatically surged into the air, with cultivators in the Mountain Sea Realm looking over in bewilderment and suspicion towards the direction of the disturbance.

The battle just now was brief, almost fleeting, but the dispersing waves of elemental energy were extraordinarily powerful, perceivable even from dozens of miles away.

In less than a moment, several streaks of light crossed the sky, arriving at the area where the battle occurred.

“The soul imprintsand auras are all erased, much like what those people do!” Wu Zhankun sensed for a moment with a secret technique, speaking solemnly.

Ji Zhanfeng remained silent, scanning his surroundings. This time, those people had mobilized not to attack other sects, but to engage in a battle solely in mid-air.

With the soul imprints and auras erased at the scene, Ji Zhanfeng couldn’t determine what had exactly transpired here earlier.

“How’s the method of deploying the Viewing Stone previously set up in Thousand Geese City now being promoted in the Sacred City?” Ji Zhanfeng turned to Wu Zhankun.

Their responsibility lay in maintaining order within this region. The method of the Viewing Stone set up in Thousand Geese City had left a deep impression on several of them.

Sometimes, many things weren’t necessarily difficult but lacked a certain approach. Previously, no one had considered integrating Viewing Stones into formations.

“The Sacred City is vast, and there aren’t enough Viewing Stones. It’s not going to be rolled out comprehensively anytime soon,” Wu Zhankun shook his head.

Viewing Stones weren’t expensive, at least not for the major Sacred Lands where they were almost negligible.

However, previously, the spiritual materials hoarded by the Sacred Lands typically started at the third rank, with very few starting at the second rank. Most were fourth-rank materials.

As for second-rank materials used for cultivating insights, the Sacred Lands did collect some, but in very limited quantities.

Every disciple admitted to a Sacred Land was an extraordinary individual, rigorously selected and demanding even stricter criteria. Such disciples almost inevitably reached the Combined Aperture Tempering realm upon entering.

Before reaching the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, cultivation rarely relied on elixirs, instead thriving on the rich celestial qi within the holy grounds.

First-rank spiritual materials like Viewing Stones were merely symbolically stocked. Now, suddenly needing such a large quantity of them posed a logistical challenge, especially amidst current dangers.

Especially now, with external dangers looming, it would certainly take some time to excavate a sufficient quantity of Viewing Stones.

Ji Zhanfeng nodded. Currently, only a few sects within the Sacred City had deployed Viewing Stones in their formations.

Those aligned with the Black Divine could erase soul imprints and auras, so now they had to resort to using Viewing Stones as an auxiliary tracking method. However, as Viewing Stones became more widespread in the future, these Black Divine loyalist would likely target and sabotage them.

It would then be a test of whether their methods were more advanced or if their ways of concealing the Viewing Stones were better.

The swift end to this battle heightened tensions among the surrounding sects.

At Jade Spring Valley, Tang Zhiliang was in deep meditation when suddenly an elder rushed in, visibly flustered.

“Did Junior Brother Duan’s soul token shatter?” Upon hearing the elder’s report, Tang Zhiliang abruptly stood up.

“How could this happen!”

Tang Zhiliang paced back and forth in his study, his expression filled with perplexity.

Subconsciously, Tang Zhiliang wondered if Duan Suizhi had been captured by the Sacred City and chose to self-destruct.

But soon, Tang Zhiliang dismissed this speculation. If it were true that the Sacred City had captured him, Jade Spring Valley would have been surrounded long ago, or even the experts of the Sun and Moon Realm would have intervened directly to capture everyone in Jade Spring Valley.

From top to bottom, Jade Spring Valley had already fully pledged allegiance to the Black Divine.

Ever since he and Duan Suizhi joined forces at the Ethereal Lake and allied with the Black Divine, there was no turning back for Jade Spring Valley. They might as well fully embrace the Black Divine’s camp.

As long as they didn’t attack other sects on the Middle Continent, it was difficult for others to ascertain whether they had truly aligned with the Black Divine.

“I’ll go outside and gather some information. Tell the disciples not to panic!” Tang Zhiliang’s expression regained its calmness. With a flicker, he disappeared from the study.

Dozens of miles away from Jade Spring Valley, in Thousand Geese City, Chen Fei’s figure slowly emerged, watching the streaks of light rising from Jade Spring Valley.

Chen Fei’s gaze flickered. Judging from the speed of those streaks of light, it should be Tang Zhiliang, another late-stage Mountain Sea Realm cultivator of Jade Spring Valley.

Compared to Duan Suizhi when he first entered the late-stage Mountain Sea Realm, Tang Zhiliang’s cultivation was much deeper, having reached the level of the eight Divine Palaces.

If there’s a chance to advance further and forge the nine Divine Palaces, connecting them all with formations could achieve the pinnacle of the Mountain Sea Realm.

This step had stumped countless people, but with the Black Divine’s assistance, it might be possible to take that leap.

Chen Fei initially intended to pursue and slay Tang Zhiliang together with Duan Suizhi.

However, he reconsidered. With Duan Suizhi just deceased, the authorities in this area’s Sacred City were on high alert. Any misstep could easily expose Chen Fei.

Slaying Duan Suizhi pushed Chen Fei to unleash all his combat power, even resorting to burning his soul.

It wasn’t that killing Duan Suizhi required such measures, but Chen Fei wanted to test the extent of his power when fully unleashed.

Compared to experimenting alone, facing an opponent like Tang Zhiliang in the late-stage Mountain Sea Realm provided a clearer assessment.

The results proved highly effective!

However, this exertion drained Chen Fei physically, mentally, and spiritually to the utmost. He doubted he could sustain such a state for even a quarter of an hour.

Nevertheless, these were manageable issues. As his cultivation realm continued to advance, each challenge could be addressed in turn.

Back in the secluded chamber of the Tingfeng Pavilion, Chen Fei retrieved Duan Suizhi’s Bird Cloud Blade and infused Duan Suizhi’s spiritual essence into the Qianyuan Sword.

Chen Fei gripped the Bird Cloud Blade and gave it a slight shake, causing the contents hidden within to scatter across the entire secret chamber.

As a late-stage Mountain Sea Realm cultivator, Duan Suizhi’s collection was incredibly rich. There were nearly thirty thousand top-grade elemental stones alone.

These top-grade elemental stones instantly filled Chen Fei’s previously empty pockets. Based on the market price for the Myriad Bamboo he purchased last time, just these top-grade elemental stones could buy him seven stalks.

A single stalk of Myriad Bamboo costs four thousand top-grade elemental stones, making it a fourth-grade top-grade spiritual material with an exorbitant price due to its inability to serve as the main material for refining top-grade spiritual treasures.

Other slightly more precious fourth-grade top-grade spiritual materials had no upper limit on their prices.

“Simplify!”

“Talent Divine Blessing Simplification in progress… Simplification successful… Divine Blessing -» Soul Visualization!”

Finally having the money to simplify, it had been a while since Chen Fei had spent money so thoroughly. In the past, every time he acquired new techniques or talents, he would simplify them directly.

Chen Fei glanced at the simplified result. Soul Visualization turned out to be an imagery from the Divine Blessing Dream Entry Technique.

It wasn’t overly complex. During cultivation, he only needed to visualize the imagery with his soul and keep it suspended in his mind.

Chen Fei’s spiritual essence shifted slightly, and in moments, an imagery of visualization emerged from nothingness, floating within his soul.

Insights regarding the Talent Divine Blessing began to appear in his sea of consciousness. Chen Fei absorbed them for a moment, then frowned slightly as he observed the gradual change in proficiency on the panel.

It seemed a bit slow. He wondered if it was because this talent involved the soul, causing the proficiency to increase slower compared to the Adamantine Body.

However, Chen Fei quickly calmed himself.

Whether faster or slower, several years of dedication were unavoidable.

Currently, Chen Fei could only focus on earning money and purchasing Myriad Bamboo to rapidly perfect his talents.

As for spending several years to cultivate these talents, he simply didn’t have that kind of time anymore.

Chen Fei continued sorting through the spiritual materials on the ground, storing some of the materials and pills useful for cultivation into the Qianyuan Sword.

The remaining majority of spiritual materials and pills, while not useless to Chen Fei, provided relatively little assistance. He set them aside in a separate place.

In the past, Chen Fei would have kept these materials and pills since they didn’t take up much space, possibly using them sometime in the future.

However, now the only outcome for these materials and pills was to sell them all and exchange them for top-grade elemental stones.

Chen Fei carefully examined several inherited techniques and finally stored them all inside the Qianyuan Sword.

These techniques were quite good; after all, being specially collected by a late- stage Mountain Sea Realm cultivator meant they couldn’t be lacking in quality.

However, for Chen Fei at present, if he wanted his primary cultivation technique, the Purple Sky Stellar Technique, to progress, ordinary top-tier techniques were no longer sufficient. He needed the sect-defining techniques of several other holy grounds.

After spending more than an hour sorting through everything on the ground, Chen Fei finally organized everything neatly, with only the Bird Cloud Blade remaining in his palm.

In the past, Chen Fei would have directly extracted spiritual essence from such personalized spiritual treasures. After all, Duan Suizhi, a late-stage Mountain Sea Realm cultivator, was a well-known figure on the Middle Continent.

His treasures were widely recognized. Selling them would pose significant risks.

But that was then. Now, directly absorbing the spiritual essence from such treasures would be too wasteful. A top-grade spiritual treasure like this could fetch a hefty sum of top-grade elemental stones.

With the top-grade elemental stones just obtained in the Qianyuan Sword and the spiritual materials and pills to be sold, once he exchanged them for Myriad Bamboo, Chen Fei would return to his previous state of extreme poverty.

Therefore, the Bird Cloud Blade couldn’t be absorbed crudely like before; Chen Fei needed to find a way to safely sell it.

Furrowing his brow in thought, Chen Fei grasped the Bird Cloud Blade and suddenly vanished within the secret chamber.

He hadn’t actually left the chamber; right now, he was within the spatial crevices.