Chapter 1003 - 309: Lifting the Seal

Celestial Demon He Yi glanced at Shen Chongming with a hint of meaning but said nothing more. He turned into a purple mist and drilled directly into Shen Chongxu’s body.

"Brother Ming." Looking at Shen Chongming, whose brows were tightly knit and face full of worry, Shen Chongxu consoled him in a deep voice: "What kind of great storms hasn’t our Shen Family seen before?"

"It’s just a Dao Slave, handle it calmly."

Putting aside his worries, Shen Chongming raised his head, looked at the calmness on his face, and suddenly smiled: "Practicing Demon Techniques has indeed made your state of mind quite open."

"From my observation, your cultivation has reached the Fetal Breathing Perfection. Do you know how to break through to the Golden Core Realm?"

At the mention of a breakthrough, Shen Chongxu frowned.

He waved his hand, setting up several layers of barriers within the quiet wooden house, ensuring that their conversation wouldn’t be heard by outsiders, then he began to speak: "Not to hide from my brother, Chongxu’s cultivation could have broken through to the Golden Core Realm years ago."

"However, the matter of the Golden Nature conspiracy is still unknown to Master and Elder Li, yet they have always been urging."

"I... have not yet come up with a suitable excuse."

Sighing, Shen Chongxu went to the desk, poured a cup of tea for himself and Shen Chongming.

"Nowadays, I am quite puzzled too."

"Not breaking through to the Golden Core means I don’t have enough strength to walk in the Cangmin Sea Region."

"Breaking through to the Golden Core, there is fear of attracting Heaven’s bestowed Golden Nature."

"By then, whether to accept the Golden Nature or not, it remains a dilemma..."

Shen Chongming nodded slightly.

He understood Shen Chongxu’s worries, after some contemplation, he spoke:

"How much do you know about that Golden-haired Monkey?"

He had heard his third uncle Shen Wen’an mention about Golden Core Flood Dragon Li Qing.

I roughly know that Li Qing was once a Dragon Species at the Myriad Dragons’ Nest of Return Sea Cliff.

However, later due to insufficient purity of the bloodline, he was expelled from the Myriad Dragons’ Nest, becoming a Loose Cultivator.

But the details of the Golden-haired Monkey remain a mystery, even Shen Wen’an did not elaborate.

Shen Chongxu pondered for a moment before speaking slowly.

"I don’t know much of the specific details."

"I only know that when Master was just an ordinary beast, he encountered Elder Li Qing."

"Later, Master was awakened and guided by Elder Li Qing, stepping onto the path of cultivation."

"After Elder Li Qing left, Master cultivated alone and met the third uncle at the Purple Mansion Realm, where he learned about Elder Li’s news."

"Master said that after meeting Elder Li, the heart knot was resolved, and in a sudden realization, he successfully broke through to the Nascent Soul True Monarch Realm."

"Now, his cultivation has reached the Nascent Soul True Monarch Late Stage."

After listening to Shen Chongxu’s narration, Shen Chongming’s expression became more serious.

This Golden-haired Monkey’s path of cultivation can be said to be full of oddities.

Combining the stories from Uncle Shen Wen’an and Shen Chongxu, Shen Chongming discovered that the Golden-haired Monkey was merely an unenlightened beast before Golden Core Flood Dragon Li Qing achieved the Golden Core.

In just over a hundred years, without guidance, it explored on its own, achieving the Purple Mansion Realm.

This already seemed quite incredible.

After all, Li Qing, when he taught it, was only at the Fetal Breathing Perfection.

How could a master at Fetal Breathing Perfection, who is not an Immortal and lacks means of great creation, allow an unenlightened beast to achieve Purple Mansion within a hundred years with just some shallow guidance?

What followed was even more bizarre.

The Golden-haired Monkey went from the Purple Mansion to now the Nascent Soul Late Stage, seemingly taking less than a hundred years.

Calculating carefully, from an unenlightened beast to the Nascent Soul Late Stage, it took less than two hundred years in total!

Such terrifying speed reminded Shen Chongming of an old acquaintance.

Great Prosperity True Monarch Xu Xiu!

Yet, the Golden-haired Monkey’s progress seems even more terrifying than Xu Xiu’s back then.

After all, back then, Xu Xiu had taken over a body with No Spiritual Root, being trapped in the Qi Cultivation realm for nearly a hundred years, until the body’s lifespan was almost exhausted, only narrowly breaking through to Fetal Breathing, leaving the Black Water Pool to the Southern Border.

He estimated that Great Prosperity True Monarch Xu Xiu could quickly recover to his peak cultivation of his previous life largely due to the means he left behind.

The Golden-haired Monkey, with such terrifying improvement speed, makes its true identity even more questionable.

This is not to say that Shen Chongming is judging with a mean heart.

Shen Chongxu was indeed saved by it back then, otherwise, he would probably have already been refined into a Blood Pill by the Dragon Species of the Myriad Dragons’ Nest.

Now, he is simply very cautious about beings like Great Prosperity True Monarch who have great secrets, fearing that the Golden-haired Monkey carries something the Shen Family cannot afford in terms of cause and effect.

After some thought, he looked at Shen Chongxu and said: "The matter of breakthrough should still be endured for now."

"At least for now, without finding Li’Er, I have no way to stop the Golden Nature from entering your body when you break through."

Currently, the Shen Family mainly relies on the Substitute Grassman refined by Shen Li through witchcraft to deceive the Golden Nature.

The Golden-haired Monkey might have a way, but until its details are clear, it is absolutely impossible to speak with it about the "Golden Nature conspiracy."

Even though he and his third uncle Shen Wen’an both only stripped the Golden Nature during the breakthrough to the Purple Mansion.

There are many elements of luck and coincidence in that.

For Shen Chongxu, if he can avoid merging the Golden Nature into his body during the breakthrough to the Golden Core, it would be for the best, avoiding troubles later on.

The two brothers chatted for a while and then left the wooden house together, heading to the previous thatched pavilion.

In the large pit in front of the pavilion, the old beggar still lay spread-eagle at the bottom of the pit. It seemed from when Shen Chongming and the others left until now, he had not moved at all, still muttering things like "I’m back" and "Where have you all gone."