The Golden Sun Condor flapped its wings and whizzed away, getting further away from the Nether Palace.
Ye Chen took out a sheet of white paper and drew a map, recording the specific location of the Nether Palace as well as everything he had encountered there. He was noting down all the information.
Two days later, Ye Chen’s group had finally reached the Capital City. He did not stop over at any place, flying directly to the Imperial City to look for Great Emperor Mingwu and Master Apothecary Xuanyi.
When Ye Chen had reached the Imperial City, it was already nighttime. Still, the Imperial Palace was brightly lit.
The Golden Sun Condor landed next to an empty space beside the riding arena, causing the horses there to whinny in alarm.
After a moment, the gold-armored imperial guards rushed forward but they kept their distance, not daring to get too close. A few of the guards recognized Ye Chen and hurried to report to Great Emperor Mingwu.
“This mystical beast is so gigantic. I wonder what rank is it?” a gold-armored imperial guard asked timidly.
“It must be Earthly Adept Rank at least, possibly Heavenly Adept Rank!” another gold-armored imperial guard replied in a lowered voice.
They looked toward the magnificently built Golden Sun Condor and felt a small surge of fear. A mystical beast like this had appeared in the Capital City and it was tamed by a youth. It was truly unimaginable.
After a moment, Great Emperor Mingwu, Master Apothecary Xuanyi, and Li Xu arrived.
“Master, Your Majesty, Senior Brother Li, I’m back,” Ye Chen smiled and greeted them one by one.
Master Apothecary Xuanyi nodded slightly. Ye Chen had been gone for so many days that he was somewhat worried. Now that he saw Ye Chen had returned, he could be rest assured. By one side, Li Xu greeted Ye Chen as well.
“Let my people take care of the Golden Sun Condor for now. We’ll go inside the palace first.” Great Emperor Mingwu was beaming with joy as he led Ye Chen and the rest into the Imperial Palace.
“Ye Chen, let me return The Grand Supreme Way of Alchemy.” Li Xu took out The Grand Supreme Way of Alchemy and handed it to Ye Chen.
“Mm.” Ye Chen accepted The Grand Supreme Way of Alchemy from Li Xu, who must have already finished copying its contents.
On their way, they laughed and talked. After entering the palace, Great Emperor Mingwu sent his men to look for a quieter yard where Ye Chen could stay. The ladies-in-waiting had already cleaned and arranged everything in order. As they spoke, Ye Chen offered to enter the Exclusion Zone with Great Emperor Mingwu. Great Emperor Mingwu was rather thankful for that. Although he was a Heavenly Venerable expert, no man is an island. After entering the Exclusion Zone, the situation would not be in his favor. However, with Ye Chen joining, the tables were turned.
Throughout this period, Nie Qingyun and his Great Ancestor had been staying in a side courtyard of the imperial family, waiting for Ye Chen’s orders at all times. Ye Chen had heard that Nie Qingyun’s Great Ancestor was also a “Heavenly Venerable Rank” expert. In that case, the Xiwu Empire had three Heavenly Venerable experts, a Heavenly Adept Rank mystical beast plus Ye Chen, Little Wingsy, and Little Tanuki. They had a high chance of winning. Still, they did not know which fighters the Nanman Kingdom would send into the Exclusion Zone. At the moment, the Nanman Kingdom had just lost two Heavenly Venerable Rank fighters. It was probably difficult for them to mobilize a lot of fighters.
The Xinsi Year, in the month of Chen[1] It was morning.
Ye Chen was one year older. He was eighteen now. Previously, he had spent his birthdays in Ye Castle. This was the first time he was spending his birthday outside of his home.
Throughout this period, Ye Chen had taken the leaves and petals of the Spirit Tree to ask Master Apothecary Xuanyi about them. Master Apothecary Xuanyi looked through many ancient books but still could not find out the origins of the Spirit Tree. Ye Chen could only give up for now. What species this Spirit Tree was had become an unsolvable puzzle. He could only wait and see if he could dig up information regarding the Spirit Tree in the future.
The morning fog was thick.
In and around the Capital City, the climate was pleasant all year round. The differences between the four seasons were rarely seen. Within the Imperial City, flowers blossomed everywhere like a beautiful brocade.
Ye Chen quietly cultivated at his residence. He summarized the results of his recent cultivation and began to learn the martial art technique subsequent to Heavenly King Rupturing the Sun, which was Rage Against the Horizon. This Form was significantly stronger than Heavenly King Rupturing the Sun.
Ye Chen stood silently in the yard, his sleeves billowing despite an absence of wind. His eyes were filled with divine light as he carefully pondered upon the style of this martial art technique. Sudden Move, Icy Wind Fists, From Fists to Claws, Tiger Through the Woods, Gale Over Terrain, From Claws to Fists, Blue Dragon Rising From the Sea, Thunder Striking the Earth – within the Form of this martial art technique, there were fifteen transformations. It was incomparably intricate. Ye Chen studied them scrupulously. It was too bad that there was no Chi-amassing Formation around or his cultivation speed would be much faster. Fortunately, after reaching Earthly Venerable Rank, Ye Chen’s ability to comprehend martial arts had improved. He no longer felt that it was that complicated to master this.
Rage Against the Horizon, Purgatory on Earth!
This Form contained endless ruthlessness and savagery. A Pressure that surged to the heavens combined the complexity of the previous four Forms.
Ye Chen’s understanding of the Dao suppressed the ruthlessness and savagery, so the resulting martial art technique was different than usual. Every move and every Form was filled with the energy of the Secret. With a strike from his fist, there was a deafening boom. A large tree five meters away was destroyed by Ye Chen’s punch. This Rage Against the Horizon was an extremely formidable technique. Fist, palm, crossed claws, knee, elbow, shoulder – all these could be turned into lethal weapons. Each attack contained boundless brutality.
Learned one technique, learned them all. Rage Against the Horizon was not that much difficult compared to Heavenly King Rupturing the Sun. After an entire day of practice, Ye Chen had cultivated Rage Against the Horizon to a Minor Adroitness Attainment Level.
After he stopped practicing, Ye Chen noticed that, within a range of ten meters from where he stood, the stones, grass, and trees had all been leveled to the ground.
This Form, Rage Against the Horizon, was not bad indeed. In this case, among the six Forms of Palms Puncturing the Cosmos, Ye Chen had learned five of them. Only the sixth Form – Usurper of the Welkin, was left.
Only after Ye Chen had trained Rage Against the Horizon to True Advance would he be able to learn the final Form.
Ye Chen slowly let out a breath, allowing the energy of his body to gradually stabilize. His mastery of martial art techniques was progressing at an incredible pace. If he could integrate these martial art techniques into his Astral Body so that the gold-armored soldier could wield martial art techniques too, then his battle powers would be greatly enhanced when facing an enemy.
Previously when Ye Chen was facing Dongmen Yingyang, the final Form that killed Dongmen Yingyang had integrated some techniques of Heavenly King Rupturing the Sun. An Astral Externalization was similar to humans, possessing a corporeal form too.
Since the gold-armored soldier could utilize some of the martial art technique Heavenly King Rupturing the Sun, it could also integrate the five Forms that Ye Chen had learned so far into its own martial learning. Moreover, there was an immense advantage to having the gold-armored soldier learn martial art techniques. Each Zang Organ of the human body was a vital point. When one had unleashed a martial art technique in battle, one would instinctively protect one’s vital points. However, the gold-armored soldier did not need to do so because it was condensed from an Astral Body. It had no vital points to speak of. Thus, it only had to attack without fear holding it back.
With his Astral Body, Ye Chen examined his surroundings over a thousand meters. There was no one nearby. Great Emperor Mingwu had been thorough in his planning, assigning Ye Chen a more secluded place.
Ye Chen unleashed his Astral Body and condensed the gold-armored soldier. The gold-armored soldier stood proudly in the air, wielding a saber and enveloped in purple flames.
Ye Chen stood there quietly. Each Form flashed across his mind – Crimson Clouds Searing Skies, Fury of Shattering Earth, Kunlun Sundering the Mountains, Heavenly King Rupturing the Sun, and Rage Against the Horizon. It was as if someone in his mind was drilling these techniques again and again. The five Forms had their differences yet there was a trace of connection between them. As he analyzed them one by one, Ye Chen had a flash of insight. Just like when he was fighting against Dongmen Yingyang, these martial art techniques slowly permeated his Astral Body.
Ye Chen closed his eyes lightly and imagined himself holding a saber. He assumed a bowed horse stance and began to move. The gold-armored soldier stood in thin air and the movements of its body were wondrously in sync with Ye Chen as it brandished the saber.
At the start, the gold-armored soldier was rather slow in moving the saber. As time passed, Ye Chen got the knack of it and his hands began to move faster. Each time he unleashed the technique, he would integrate the five Forms into his own movements.
Ye Chen cried out softly and pictured himself slashing down with the blade. Above his head, in mid-air, the gold-armored soldier brought down the saber. There was a boom as the blast of air from the strike razed a rockery to the ground.
Despite this huge commotion, Ye Chen did not notice it at all. He was immersed in a hypnotic state whereas the gold-armored soldier was fully mobilized by Ye Chen’s thoughts.
When Ye Chen had employed the techniques of Rage Against the Horizon, the purple flames of the gold-armored soldier blazed furiously. Its eyes were filled with fury and murderous intent. When it brandished its saber, it was overpowering beyond compare.
Boom! Boom boom boom!!!
There were loud explosions. The wind from the blade ravaged every place that it had passed through.
It was a good thing that this place was extremely secluded with no one peeping at Ye Chen. Otherwise, if someone had witnessed this scene, they would turn pale with shock.
After ten or twelve hours, the attacks wielded by the gold-armored soldier had achieved the grace and rhythm of Palms Puncturing the Cosmos. Nonetheless, it was different from the Palms Puncturing the Cosmos in that it was using an entirely new form of sword wielding, not an ordinary martial art technique.
The styles within the Palms Puncturing the Cosmos had unique defensive moves. On the other hand, the sword technique of the gold-armored soldier had discarded all forms of defensive styles. When it attacked, it was with fully offensive energy.
After Ye Chen slowly understood and mastered the secrets of Palms Puncturing the Cosmos, he would be able to create an entire new sword technique. He would name this sword technique Fiery Slash for now. If he could create an entire new form of sword technique, it would be a new type of Astral Body martial art technique!
The first Form of Fiery Slash would merge the techniques of Heavenly King Rupturing the Sun and Crimson Clouds Searing Skies. It had summoned the purple flames of the body and turned them into a blade. Ye Chen named this first Form as Fire Dragon Sun Salutation!
Ye Chen had only one set of martial art techniques, which was Palms Puncturing the Cosmos. If he could obtain more high-level martial art techniques to cultivate, he should be able to create a second or third Form or even more.
Ye Chen wondered how Little Tanuki’s cultivation was going. With his Astral Body, Ye Chen saw that Little Tanuki was in the room, closing her eyes in cultivation. Her body was sparkling like a piece of jade. She must have achieved something. A few days ago, Ye Chen had seen Little Tanuki spit out and swallowed the Illusory Pearl facing the moon. It might be a unique sort of cultivation method.
Among them, no one was more relaxed than Little Wingsy. He simply played around all day, slept when he got tired, and ate after he woke up. He seemed carefree and untroubled, when in fact the advancement of his strength had far surpassed Ye Chen and Little Tanuki.
Little Squido had nothing to do as well. The progress of its abilities was slightly slower than Little Wingsy but it was still very fast. It was mainly because it was consuming Soul-amassing Pills and Soul-consolidating Pills every day. Little Squido liked eating these two types of medicinal pills in particular. They had a much greater effect on Little Squido compared to the Purple-gold Divine Pills. Due to this, Ye Chen also spent some time refining and producing a large amount of Soul-amassing Pills and Soul-consolidating Pills.
Besides cultivating, Ye Chen also constantly studied the ancient alchemy methods. His understanding of alchemy had deepened day by day.
In the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed. The Exclusion Zone was about to open. This would be the pinnacle of confrontation between two nations!
