Chapter 488 - 11: First Signs

Chapter 488: Chapter 11: First Signs

Time flew, and in the blink of an eye, three months had passed.

During these three months, the Tian Nan Domain’s Immortal Cultivation Realm was anything but peaceful.

Because during this period, prodigies from major Outer Realm forces continuously poured into the local territory, causing no small amount of turmoil.

Most of these prodigies did not travel alone; they brought groups of followers with them.

These followers had varying levels of strength and character, yet they all took pride in following a prodigy, looking down on everyone and treating others as if they were worthless.

Their actions were arrogant and domineering.

Against this backdrop, conflicts and disputes naturally erupted frequently.

Even the rare prodigy who traveled alone caused their fair share of battles and conflicts. It could only be said that there were fewer such incidents in comparison, not that they were nonexistent.

This was not surprising, really.

The reason these prodigies from the Outer Realm entered the Tian Nan Domain was mostly because the major powers behind them had dispatched them to find information on the Xiangshan Sect Ruins. They hoped to reclaim the legacy lost three hundred years ago due to the Xiangshan Sect’s betrayal.

As people from the Outer Realm, these prodigies were completely unfamiliar with this place.

The fastest method was to seek help from the local forces.

If they had connections and a way in, it was quite simple.

They could directly use their connections to contact the leaders of local forces and have them contribute manpower to the investigation.

If they had no connections, it was naturally much more troublesome.

First, they had to send a formal visiting card, exchange pleasantries with the leader of the local force, then explain their origins and request assistance.

This was the way to ask for help without having any connections.

However, the local small cultivation forces might agree to help out to curry some favor, seeing as the prodigies came from major Outer Realm powers.

But it was also possible they would refuse outright, not wanting to get involved in murky waters.

Even if they did agree, they would most likely not mobilize all their resources to help wholeheartedly.

And there would be no small amount of back-and-forth haggling involved.

As prodigies from top-tier Outer Realm powers, they were naturally proud.

They were accustomed to being the center of attention, with everyone catering to them.

How could they possibly choose such a subservient approach, one that didn’t even guarantee success?

Thus, most of the prodigies who had no connections in the Tian Nan Domain’s Immortal Cultivation Realm chose a more direct method: they would attack one of the sizable local forces.

Then, with their superior strength, they would force the local Immortal Cultivation Forces to serve them temporarily and gather any information on the market about the Xiangshan Sect Ruins.

Some, to save themselves the trouble, even went as far as capturing local Soul Emergence Realm Cultivators and forcing them to work.

As a result, conflicts and battles broke out one after another.

It threw the Tian Nan Domain’s Immortal Cultivation Realm into a state of chaos.

At the same time, because most forces had already dispatched their elites and main combatants to fight in the Nanyue Territory, the Tian Nan Domain was temporarily unable to effectively deal with the arrogant actions of these visitors from the Outer Realm.

The outside world was in turmoil.

But none of it had much to do with Shen Changchuan.

After seeing his master off with Lu Haoxuan, he entered a new round of seclusion.

He ultimately decided to postpone the matter of refining the Void Escape Gu for a while.

This was because Shen Changchuan felt he wasn’t fully prepared.

The time wasn’t right yet. Mainly, he didn’t have that feeling of confidence that he would succeed.

’I should polish my skills as much as possible first.’

After all, there was only one Flying Heaven-Splitting Spirit Ant King. If he failed, he would have to use an ordinary Flying Heaven-Splitting Spirit Ant to refine the Void Escape Gu.

Besides, he had received the Purple Mist Spirit-B Elixirs from his master, which were perfect for Cultivation and raising his Cultivation Realm.

When his Cultivation Realm increased, his Divine Sense would also improve significantly.

This would also somewhat increase the success rate of refining the Void Escape Gu.

And so, for the first two months, Shen Changchuan basically focused all his time and energy on Refining Elixirs and improving his Cultivation.

And the results were excellent.

In a short period, relying on the effects of that bottle of Purple Mist Spirit-B Elixirs, Shen Changchuan successfully raised his Cultivation Realm to the Soul Emergence Seventh Layer Late Stage.

He had achieved another breakthrough in his Realm within just two short months.

Shen Changchuan was naturally overjoyed.

But at the same time, a trace of worry also arose in his heart.

Because he had discovered something: the higher the Cultivation Realm, the more difficult it seemed to be to advance!

Shen Changchuan could feel that the Spiritual Power contained within that bottle of Purple Mist Spirit-B Elixirs was almost enough to rapidly raise a Cultivator from the Soul Emergence Fifth Layer Early Stage to the Soul Emergence Sixth Layer Late Stage!

But when used on himself, it had only been enough to raise his Cultivation from the Seventh Layer Middle Stage to the Seventh Layer Late Stage!

The difference was simply too great!

"The higher the Cultivation Realm, the harder it is to advance."

"This isn’t just because the Realm is more profound and the difficulty of Cultivation increases, but also because higher Realms require the Refinement of far more Magical Power to advance!"

"What’s more, bottlenecks appear during the Cultivation process. Just as I have now advanced to the Soul Emergence Seventh Layer Late Stage, I face a bottleneck at the Soul Emergence Eighth Layer ahead, and I have no clue how to break through it. It will require time to slowly grind it down."

"Considering all this, thinking I could advance to the Soul Emergence Ninth Layer in nine years... perhaps I was too arrogant..."

These were Shen Changchuan’s thoughts at the time.

However, despite his worries, Shen Changchuan did not stop his preparations for refining the Void Escape Gu.

Because he knew very well that this time, the Immortal Sect’s centennial grand competition was not just a contest between the peerless geniuses of a small place like the Tian Nan Domain.

Its contestants would come from the entire Southern Great Domain’s Thirty-Six Small Domains, as well as other great domains on the same level as the Southern Great Domain!

The participants this time would include peerless prodigies from the outer great domains, cultivated by giants no less powerful than the Yuqing Immortal Sect!

Each and every one of those qualified to compete for the victor’s seat in the Immortal Sect’s grand competition nine years from now could be called a once-in-a-millennium peerless Demon!

With Shen Changchuan’s current strength, there was still a considerable gap between him and existences of that level!

Even if he managed to advance to the Soul Emergence Ninth Layer, without other powerful methods, he would ultimately be fated to be nothing more than background decoration—a mere stepping stone for others!

Therefore, no matter what, the Void Escape Gu had to be refined.

And so, after he had finished absorbing the Purple Mist Spirit-B Elixirs, Shen Changchuan began to shift his focus to the refinement of the Void Escape Gu.

Another month passed.

As Shen Changchuan practiced and polished his skills again and again, continuously accumulating Cultivation Experience in Gu Techniques, and delved deeper into understanding the Void Escape Gu’s Refining Technique from the Minghuan Gu Scripture, and then further deepened his understanding by studying the Void Escape Gu he had obtained after killing Ghost Shadow Pan Yunfei—one that had already lost its spiritual nature...

Finally, Shen Changchuan was now eighty to ninety percent confident that he could successfully refine the Void Escape Gu!

The time had come!