Chapter 381 - 361: Great Waves Sifting Sand

Chapter 381: Chapter 361: Great Waves Sifting Sand

"These... are all Nascent Soul Materials? Good, this is wonderful. Now I finally have a chance to reach the Nascent Soul Realm."

Jian Jinfeng was overjoyed.

She then accepted the materials, but she didn’t take them for free. Instead, she gave Zhang Chi her entire life’s savings, which she had hidden away.

After all, even though she was Zhang Chi’s master, he didn’t owe her anything.

Zhang Chi didn’t refuse.

Although his cultivation was high and he was countless times wealthier than before, his cultivation expenses had also grown.

Therefore, he sold cultivation materials at a discount to Jian Jinfeng and the others, rather than giving them away for free.

And for them, this was already a tremendous help.

He then discovered that Jian Jinfeng’s savings were surprisingly substantial, enough to completely cover the market price.

But on second thought, he wasn’t surprised.

After all, she had lived for so many years and had always been trying to achieve Nascent Soul Formation; it was impossible for her to have no savings.

It was just that she had Spirit Stones but had never been able to buy the necessary materials. Now, he had just happened to help her out.

In fact, it wasn’t just Jian Jinfeng. The Xiao Family father and son were in the same situation: they weren’t short on Spirit Stones, but they lacked High Tier materials.

This situation was a win-win for Zhang Chi.

He planned to upgrade his Eye of the Spirit Spring and Corpse Puppets, which required a massive amount of Spirit Stones.

After that, everyone chatted for a while longer before Jian Jinfeng hurried off to enter secluded cultivation.

It turned out she planned to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm before Zhang Chi ran into trouble.

That way, Zhang Chi’s side would be stronger when the time came.

The Xiao Family father and son actually had the same idea.

Zhang Chi understood this but didn’t pay it any mind. He didn’t need help from any cultivator, but he couldn’t refuse their good intentions, so he said nothing and didn’t stop them.

’In any case, it’s a good thing for these cultivators around me to break through sooner. And they’ve waited long enough for this breakthrough.’

At this moment, besides Jian Jinfeng, even Zhong Yu and the others went off to cultivate after chatting with Zhang Chi for a while.

Only Qin Susu remained by Zhang Chi’s side, leading him to a temporary Grotto Heaven that Sect Leader Xiao had arranged before entering seclusion.

This temporary Grotto Heaven was only Tier Three, but Zhang Chi didn’t care much. There were no High Tier Spiritual Veins beneath Golden Crow City to begin with.

After that, Qin Susu and Zhang Chi shared a passionate, desperate embrace, finally quenching the longing of three hundred years. Only then did she also begin her cultivation.

Zhang Chi, on the other hand, recalled his Flying Sword and began to take stock of his recent spoils.

Zhang Chi discovered that the True Demon Sect cultivator, despite only being in the Nascent Soul Early Stage, had been quite wealthy.

His Storage Bag contained all sorts of Cultivation Materials, many of which were not found in the Endless Desert Sea.

Furthermore, his Nascent Soul itself and his pair of claws were also valuable items.

But despite the decent haul, Zhang Chi remained calm.

After all, to him, the man was just a Low Tier Cultivator. No matter how rich he was, he wouldn’t have anything that could truly catch Zhang Chi’s eye.

Finally, Zhang Chi extracted the remnant soul from the Nascent Soul and immediately performed the Soul Searching Technique. Afterward, he fed the remnant soul to the Tier Four Demon Souls in his Beast Soul Banner.

’So that’s how it is. The True Demon Sect isn’t weak. It’s a shame they ran into me. They’re doomed to perish.’

After the Soul Search, Zhang Chi immediately learned more about the True Demon Sect’s situation.

Over the years, the True Demon Sect had grown stronger and stronger, like a rolling snowball.

Moreover, because its cultivators had turned into half-human, half-demon monsters, they were completely unaffected by the environmental suppression and were even thriving in it. As a result, not only had their Nascent Soul Level experts exceeded two hundred, but ten of them had even reached the Nascent Soul Middle Stage.

The Sect Leader of the True Demon Sect, who was the former Sect Leader of the Ten Thousand Laws Sect, had even become a Nascent Soul Late Stage expert.

However, these True Demon Cultivators had a weakness: within the range of the Demonic Qi, their combat power was extremely strong, making them nearly invincible against those of the same tier. Outside of it, however, they were significantly weakened.

This was why the Great Abyss Cultivators had managed to cling to survival until now. Otherwise, they would have been wiped out countless times over.

After all, the gap in High Tier combat power between the two sides was too great.

Even though the Great Abyss Cultivators had produced a few Nascent Soul Middle Stage experts over the years, thanks to the resources from the Grotto Heavens, they were few and far between. There were no Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivators among them at all.

Once he finished taking inventory, Zhang Chi settled into the Grotto Heaven.

「Later that day.」

Junior Sister Wen, Junior Sister Tian, and Cultivator Wen made a special visit to express their gratitude.

The two women, Wen and Tian, not only thanked Zhang Chi for having his Spirit Beast intervene on their behalf on the road, but also for his help during the exploration of Supplementing Heaven True Monarch’s Medicinal Garden years ago.

It turned out that while Junior Sister Wen had forgotten those events at the time, she remembered everything after breaking through to the Golden Core Realm.

Furthermore, Zhang Chi had caused a huge sensation when he left the Great Abyss, so many of his secrets had been exposed.

Therefore, Junior Sister Wen and Junior Sister Tian had long since deduced that Zhang Chi was the mysterious cultivator who had killed the villain from the Cyan Cloud Sect back then.

Of course, the Cyan Cloud Sect had also long known that their Senior Brother Ning had been killed by Zhang Chi.

It was the same for Cultivator Wen. He was now aware that Zhang Chi had actually set him up back then.

But he didn’t dare to hold even the slightest grudge against Zhang Chi.

After all, Zhang Chi was now a Nascent Soul senior.

This time, besides expressing his thanks, Cultivator Wen also kowtowed and confessed his faults, terrified that Zhang Chi might act against him because of their past conflict.

However, seeing his sincere repentance, Zhang Chi decided not to hold it against him.

After all, they were just competing for opportunities, each using their own methods. There were no other personal grudges.

Besides, the man was too weak now to even be worthy of his notice.

Seeing this, Cultivator Wen couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief and was even filled with gratitude toward Zhang Chi.

After exchanging a few words with Cultivator Wen, Zhang Chi learned that most of the top prodigies from the Ten Great Sects who had participated in the exploration back then had reached the Golden Core Realm.

But now, only Cultivator Wen and he were still alive. The other cultivators had all fallen in the repeated great wars.

Cultivator Wen had survived until now by being cautious enough, having the help of his puppets, and being lucky.

This made Zhang Chi sigh with some emotion. Immortal Cultivation was like sifting sand in a great wave; the further one went, the more difficult it became.

However, this did not affect his Dao heart. Instead, it made him even more confident and resolute.

Besides Junior Sister Wen and the other two, many other Golden Core Cultivators came to pay their respects to Zhang Chi, including some high-ranking members of the Profound Yin Sect.

But Zhang Chi couldn’t be bothered with them and turned them all away at the door.

Meanwhile, the news that Zhang Chi had reached the Nascent Soul Realm and returned to Great Abyss Golden Crow City with a Tier Four Spirit Beast quickly spread throughout the former Golden Sun Sect’s territory and even the entire Great Abyss.

Countless cultivators were discussing the matter, and some of the legends about Zhang Chi were being brought up once again.

However, the reason for such a huge impact wasn’t that Zhang Chi had become a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

In truth, one more or one less Nascent Soul True Monarch could no longer affect the situation in the Great Abyss.

What truly drew attention to Zhang Chi was the fact that he had left the Great Abyss and now successfully returned.

This meant that Zhang Chi very likely knew of a passage to leave.

Furthermore, Zhang Chi possessed a Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure that he could activate even back then. This was another point that cultivators couldn’t ignore.

"Zhang Chi is actually alive? And he came back as a Nascent Soul? This is great, haha!"

"Exactly! Now we can finally settle the score with him from back then!"

"And the passage out of here, the Spirit Sword, and the Secret Technique to activate it—we’ll take them all!"

「At this moment, in a Cloud-top Celestial Palace」

Deep inside the former Golden Sun Sect’s mountain gate, the various Nascent Soul True Monarchs of the human side received the news and immediately gathered in twos and threes.

Many of them were quite agitated.

For instance, Yu Wan of the Cyan Cloud Sect, the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower Master, Celestial Star True Monarch, and the current Sect Leader of the Celestial Corpse Sect.

Even Yu Wan’s master, the Nascent Soul Elder, and the former Sect Leader of the Celestial Corpse Sect were present.

It turned out that after receiving the news, Yu Wan had immediately awakened her master from the Profound Ice God-Sealing Coffin.

The Celestial Corpse Sect had done the same.

After all, they all took Zhang Chi very seriously.

Awakening them upon Zhang Chi’s return was an instruction they had left before going into their slumber.

"Senior Brother Lu, what do you two think?"

At this moment, Lu Daoyi and the former Sect Leader of the Cangwu Sect were also present. When Yu Wan suddenly posed the question to them, the other Nascent Soul True Monarchs all turned to look.

"We have no particular opinion. Whatever everyone wants to do, we will support it," Lu Daoyi replied immediately with a smile.

The former Sect Leader of the Cangwu Sect said nothing but nodded repeatedly, clearly in agreement.

But in reality, both men were secretly clenching their fists, their hearts filled with incredibly complex emotions.

Clearly, they had never expected that Zhang Chi would one day actually return, and as a Nascent Soul cultivator no less.

If they had known this day would come, they certainly wouldn’t have abandoned Jian Jinfeng and the others back then.

Unfortunately, it was too late for regrets.

’Now that Zhang Chi is back, he will definitely hold a grudge against us. And we also want to obtain his Spirit Sword and Sword Control Secret Technique, as well as control of the passage to leave.’

Thus, the relationship between them was already irreconcilable.

They had no choice but to follow Celestial Star True Monarch and the others down this dark path to the very end.

’Fortunately, Zhang Chi is alone and weak. He’s said to be only in the Nascent Soul Early Stage. Even with a Spirit Beast and a Spiritual Treasure, he’s nothing to be afraid of.’

"A wise man submits to the circumstances. It is good that you think this way. Since you’re willing to cooperate, after we capture Zhang Chi, we can return the Spirit Sword to your Cangwu Sect. The prerequisite, however, is that you must compensate us handsomely."

Hearing this, Yu Wan nodded slightly and immediately continued, "That’s right. After all, that Heaven-Reaching Spirit Sword was obtained by Zhang Chi. Even if we get it back, it will be a spoil of war shared by all."

"As it should be!"

The Ten Thousand Treasures Tower Master and the Celestial Corpse Sect’s Nascent Soul cultivator immediately expressed their agreement. The other Nascent Soul cultivators also nodded slightly.

"No problem."

Lu Daoyi and the former Sect Leader of the Cangwu Sect clenched their fists even tighter, clearly dissatisfied with Yu Wan’s arrangement.

Unfortunately, she had the support of the majority of the Nascent Soul cultivators. The Cyan Cloud Sect had always maintained good relations with the Celestial Corpse Sect and the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower, and even the Star Sect and the Divine Sword Sect.

Therefore, they could only endure it.

In truth, they had previously planned to rush directly to Golden Crow City, kill Zhang Chi first, and obtain the Spiritual Treasure and his secrets for themselves.

But unfortunately, they were clearly not the only Nascent Soul True Monarchs with this idea, and everyone was keeping an eye on each other. So they had to give up the plan, which was why they all gathered here instead.

"Let’s talk about the Profound Yin Sect," Yu Wan continued. "If they try to stop us, what should we do?"