Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Upon entering Life and Death realm, one had to direct their attention to a lot more matters. Although one’s strength would sharply increase due to the increase in soul power and Zhen Yuan, it was not so easy to put it in practice. For example, if a powerful ordinary man with a thousand jin of strength suddenly gained ten thousand jin, he would not be able to control this strength within a short time period; he would have trouble holding a teacup or sitting on a bench without breaking it. Strength was important, but skill was as well. And, the most important aspect of the skill was to have control over one’s strength.
Therefore, when he was creating Orbital Strike, Ye Chen could feel that there were some issues in his control over Zhen Yuan and soul power. It was no longer at his tips like before when he could move his sword as he pleased with but a thought.
Vibrational Sword Arts had even stricter requirements over skill than space profound sword moves, since this art was based on creating vibrations in the sword through Zhen Yuan. If he didn’t have a high enough control over his strength, he would never be able to create the second style of Vibrational Sword Arts. Other sword arts were primarily based on profound, but Vibrational Sword Arts were primarily based on vibrational power, and profound was secondary.
“Vibrational Sword Arts contain the metal profound. My metal profound, which is at greater completion, coupled with vibrational power will certainly make for a frightening second style. It should be able to rip through most hard substances.”
Ye Chen was confident regarding the second style of Vibrational Sword Arts, as he was different from Lashan Mei. Although the latter’s proficiency over Demonic Blade Arts was quite high, she was somewhat weak in many other aspects. Ye Chen had heard that by relying on his exceptional proficiency in Demonic Blade Arts, Demonic Blade King could knock the weapons off the opponents hands, allowing him to sweep through the Kings of the same level. However, Ye Chen’s Vibrational Sword Arts also had a potential no weaker than the Demonic Blade Arts. Most importantly, he had the sixth step Destruction Sword Intent, which coupled with Vibrational Sword Arts, would certainly produce a frightening might.
“To control strength and Zhen Yuan, nothing beats the Sword Control art. Next, I have to use the Sword Control Art nonstop!”
Sword Control Art had high requirements of soul power and Zhen Yuan, and while using it, one’s control over both soul power and Zhen Yuan would increase, which was the same as killing two birds with one stone.
Clang!
The Evil Shattering Sword left its sheath and hovered underneath Ye Chen’s feet. Placing his feet on the sword, he beckoned, employing his soul power and Zhen Yuan at the same time. The Evil Shattering Sword turned into a sword ray while carrying Ye Chen and shot through the void.
“Sword Dragon Art!”
The realm of Ye Chen’s Sword Control Art had surpassed forty-two identical swords the moment he entered the Life and Death realm. With but a flicker, the Evil Shattering Sword turned into forty two sword images, which quickly arranged themselves to form a dragon. Giving off a sharp aura, the dragon spiraled forth, scattering the spatial power.
“With the increase in Zhen Yuan and soul power, the strength of Sword Control Art should have increased by more than ten folds.”
When Ye Chen exchanged Sword Control Art from Situ Hao, he knew that this art had immense potential and was especially suitable for a person with a mutated soul like him. With this art, even if he had not been in profound comprehension, he would have swept through the heaven and earth, fighting against the proud sons and daughters of the heavens on an even footing.
“Great Bear Sword Art!”
Thirty three identical swords comprised the Snake Sword Control Art, and forty two identical swords the Dragon Sword Control Art. The forty nine sword stage was an even more powerful version of Sword Control Art, named the Great Bear Sword Art.
The Evil Shattering Sword brightly glowed and separated into seven indistinct sword images that arranged themselves to form the Great Bear, exuding a murderous aura.
“Go!” Ye Chen growled.
Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!
Like pears blossoming in the rain, the seven sword images turned into forty nine, which then turned illusory, hidden in the void. The next moment, only densely packed star-like dots could be seen instead of sword images, like a sky filled with numerous stars. They completely covered Ye Chen’s front, leaving no place to dodge or evade.
“Sword Control Art…is indeed frightening.”
This was the first time Ye Chen was using the Great Bear Sword Art, so there were a few gaps. But despite that, it was clear that its might was nothing to be looked down on.
“I really made a killing when exchanging Sword Control Art for the Spiritual Sword from Situ Hao. He couldn’t have expected that my soul was different from others. Alright, I’ve already become a Life and Death King, so I should compensate him a little.”
In fact, Ye Chen had no need to compensate Situ Hao, and the latter didn’t have anything to say either. The trade was done with mutual consent and was fair. However, Ye Chen always followed his heart. He would absolutely not go against his innermost feelings. As far as he was concerned, the cultivation of martial dao or sword dao was the refinement of one’s heart. A fair and honest heart could have great success, and a treacherous heart could also have great success. It didn’t matter as long as one didn’t betray their heart.
Days passed by, and Ye Chen became increasingly proficient in the Great Bear Sword Art, causing the art’s might to soar higher and higher. His Zhen Yuan and soul power slowly integrated with his being, and he was now not far away from the state of controlling them with but a thought.
One day, Ye Chen appeared above the great ocean. “This place is not far from the Monkey Island. Why don’t I make a trip there?” According to the marine map given by Iron Monkey King, he was merely a hundred million li away, which would only cost him around ten-fifteen minutes.
…
Monkey Island…
“Old Chang, this is the last bottle. After this, you’ll have to wait until next year. You better drink it sparingly.” Beside the hot spring at the center of the island, Iron Monkey King and Anicca Spear King were sitting across a stone table. Iron Monkey King took out a wine bottle with a pained heart. The bottle had an earthen-yellow color and seemed completely inconspicuous.
Anicca Spear King impolitely snatched the bottle before he opened its cork and drank half of it in one breath, “Ha, this gulp can increase my cultivation base by half a year. A pity, it’s so little! Monkey, you better change your words. I’m getting tired of hearing the same words over and over again. I know you have a secret stash somewhere. Why are you so stingy?”
Iron Monkey blew on his hair and glared, “I’m stingy? This year, you’ve drunk four bottles of my wine, and I’ve only drunk three and a half. You think I’m stupid?”
The man and the beast always quarreled back and forth. If they didn’t nag at each other, they would feel that something was amiss. Of course, this didn’t mean that their relationship was not good. In fact, their friendship was to the extent of living-together-dying-together. Although Anicca King would come to Monkey Island every once in a while to drink the Monkey Wine, he was not freeloading. He spent a lot of energy and resources to find the wine ingredients and handed them over to Iron Monkey King. The latter was not stingy either, and would offer a whole bottle every time Anicca King visited,
With a chuckle, Anicca King said, “Stop that blowing your hair and glaring. I know you’ve stashed those bottles to prepare for Ye Chen’s visit. We owe a life to him.”
“I wonder when he will be coming.”
Iron Monkey King had an exceptionally straightforward character. Fearing that he might miss Ye Chen when the latter visited him, he never went into seclusion nor left the island, and relied completely on Anicca King to find the ingredients of supreme grade Monkey Wine.
“No hurry! At worst, whenever there is any information about him, we can go visit him ourselves.” Anicca Spear King took a light sip from the bottle, slowly savouring the wine.
“That’s good too.” Iron Monkey King took out a half-empty bottle of wine and began to drink.
“Eh? Someone is coming! Suddenly Anicca Spear King’s head moved before he let down the bottle.
“Who is it?” Iron Monkey King stood up. His soul power perception was inferior to Anicca Spear King.
“Talk about the devil…It’s Ye Chen! Monkey, we better go greet him.” A smile appeared on Anicca Spear King’s face.
“He’s really here?” Iron Monkey King grinned.
Just as he finished speaking, a bright and clear voice came, “Gentlemen, pardon for this Ye’s sudden intrusion. I come in good faith.”
The moment they heard the voice, a figure appeared outside the island. It was a young man in blue robes, flying toward them.
“Here!” Iron Monkey King and Anicca Spear King went forth to greet him.
“Eh, you’ve entered Life and Death realm.” Anicca Spear King asked with a stiffened face.
Ye Chen faintly nodded, “Fortunately, I passed the Life and Death Calamity.”
“As expected of the peerless genius under the heavens. Even before entering Life and Death realm, you could fight Life and Death Kings. Now, you can actually roam this world as you please.”
Although Ye Chen had the ability to fight Life and Death King before, the Kings that didn’t know him would have inevitably looked down on him, not considering him an existence of the same level. However, now nobody could look down on him, and his status had drastically upgraded.
Life and Death King realm was a symbol of strength and also status. It was the highest level existence of True Spirit Continent, which held immense significance.
“Please, come this way!” Iron Monkey King added another bench and swept his palm over the table. Amidst dim rays, three types of bright colored fruits appeared on the table: one was a green, banana like fruit, one was a yellow-colored, longan-sized fruit, and the last was a gemstone-like orange-colored fruit. All three kinds gave sharply different feelings, but all three gave rich, aromatic odor. They were clearly rare treasures.
However, this was not all. Iron Monkey again swept his hand through the table, placing one wine bottle before each of them.
“Ye Chen, this is the supreme grade Monkey Wine. Try this out first!” Iron Monkey King looked at Ye Chen with eager eyes.
Ye Chen let out a laugh in spite of himself as he uncorked the bottle and took a light sip.
“Good wine!” Ye Chen’s eyes brightened. This wine was gelatinous and stimulated the tongue with a rich alcoholic flavour. Upon gulping it down the throat, the wine energy instantly dispersed into the four limbs and all the bones, making one feel rejuvenated. Most importantly, the wine was rich with the energies of the heaven and earth. With a circulation of Zhen Yuan, these energies instantly refined into Zhen Yuan. With a single sip, he could feel his cultivation increasing by several days, and this sip was about twentieth part of the whole wine. If he drank the whole bottle, his cultivation base would increase by almost a year.
“You two are really living up. This is my first time seeing such a perfect wine that can increase one’s cultivation base too.” Ye Chen couldn’t help but take a big gulp before letting the bottle down.
Iron Monkey King’s face beamed with delight, “I will not hide it from you. Not just any monkey Beast King can brew this wine. Last time, a Life and Death King came to buy the method of brewing this wine, but he couldn’t manage to grasp it. Come, try these fruits. They go along well with the monkey wine and have many benefits for the body. This is Green Mist Fruit, the Sweet Nectar Fruit, and the Gemstone Fruit.”
Ye Chen tried a few pieces of every kind. They all had good flavors and carried substantial nourishments for the body. Once he finished his meal, the three began chatting.
