Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation

Chapter 765: Advancing to Half-Sage

Under these circumstances, Xiao Chen still felt quite optimistic about his future.

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Half a month later, a leisurely group of people arrived at the desert outside the Star Grave Palace. They wore black robes and emanated baleful auras. Their cultivations were deep and strong.

These people were actually all loose cultivators. Furthermore, none of them were weaker than Wu Yuankai. They numbered at least thirty.

Faced with that combined strength, any one of the Tianwu Domain’s seven giants, aside from An Junxi, would have to flee.

Surprisingly, the Silver Moon Spirit Fox Race’s Xuan Yu led this group. At this moment, he had a sullen expression on his face. His pretty face looked terrifying, lacking his usual gentle temperament.

“Xiu!”

A figure flew down from the sky; this was Xuan Yu’s second uncle. After exiting the Star Grave Palace, he had stood guard outside and never left.

Xuan Yu looked at the vast grave palace and asked sullenly, “Second Uncle, it has been half a month, did that white-robed brat really not come out?”

“It is absolutely true. I have been standing guard here for all this time. I did not see him around any of the exits. The girl that went in with him already left, but I did not see him come out.”

Xuan Yu could not help his surprise. The Heavenly Roc Race had already moved out all the treasures in the Star Grave Palace. The painting pieces had all been taken. The place should be utterly empty.

What else could there be inside? Could Xiao Chen be trying to take away the grave palace? This was the grave palace of a Sovereign Martial Emperor. Unless a Martial Emperor came, erasing the mark of the Heavenly Roc King would be impossible.

“Never mind, he will have to come out sooner or later. I don’t believe that he can hide in there forever.”

Xuan Yu’s eyes filled with heavy, murderous intent. He hated that he could not kill Xiao Chen and tear him to pieces right away.

After leaving the grave palace, Xiao Bai had grown even colder towards him. In the past, she would still speak to him politely. Now, she completely ignored him.

Xiao Bai practiced a profound art, plus the Spirit Fox King favored her. She had many suitors. However, Xuan Yu believed that he had the best chance due to his proximity to her. In his heart, she would be his sooner or later.

However, once Xuan Yu ran into Xiao Chen, he suffered all sorts of setbacks. The severe difference from his expectations damaged his pride.

After coming out of the Star Grave Palace, Xuan Yu no longer repressed his thoughts of killing Xiao Chen. He discussed this matter with his second uncle and immediately obtained his approval.

Spending a lot of money, Xuan Yu hired most of the half-Sage experts near Hunluo Province, tempting them with the news that Xiao Chen had more than sixty painting pieces.

His second uncle glanced to the back at the mass of loose cultivators with overwhelming baleful auras and red Heavenly Sage Laws. He said sullenly, “Xuan Yu, with so many people, we should have no problem killing him. However, if that person steels himself to flee, he will still have a chance.”

Xuan Yu’s lips curled up in a cold smile. “I already informed Father. He agreed to send an elder over. At that time, if this group of people cannot kill that brat, that elder will make a move personally.”

Their clan had some power in the Silver Moon Spirit Fox Race; the clan elders were all at least Inferior Grade Martial Sages. Before a Martial Sage, Xiao Chen would be helpless, no matter how strong he was.

This bit of news stunned Xuan Yu’s second uncle. He immediately smiled and said, “It looks like Clan Head is a wise person. As long as you can truly obtain Xiao Bai, you will be on your way to becoming the next Spirit Fox King. This expenditure is definitely worth it.”

“Second Uncle, shouldn’t we just directly kill our way inside? Isn’t waiting like this a little passive?”

“We should never do that. The grave palace is too large. After entering, this group of people would spread out, which would give that brat a chance to mount a counterattack.”

Xuan Yu nodded and said, “I never thought about this point. In that case, we will stand guard here and wait for him to come out!”

“It would be best if the elder does not make a move. At that time, if anything happens, we can push the blame onto the group of loose cultivators. That way, the Supreme Sky Sect will not seek trouble for us.”

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Another half month passed. Xiao Chen slowly opened his eyes as he left his state of cultivation.

After cultivating bitterly for a month, he had exhausted his stock of Spirit Gathering Pearls. Finally, he was back at peak late-stage Superior Grade Martial Monarch, only a step shy of half-Sage.

The most important thing was that Xiao Chen had settled his mind. From the moment he left the Supreme Sky Sect, he had never relaxed.

First, he had fought the Spirit Beasts in the Savage Beast Forest. Then he had gone on to have a battle of wit and might with the two old men of Azure Peak City. After that, he had incurred the wrath of the Magnificent Fiend Hall for some mysterious reason.

After arriving at the Star Grave Palace, he had fought nonstop. He had also met with a scheming woman, so his mind had maintained a state of high alert at all times.

Although this small stone hall trapped Xiao Chen within, no one could enter, either. This hall could be considered a safe place. He could let down his guard and focus on assimilating his precious three months of experiences, not needing to think of anything else.

This might be a no man’s land without any exit. However, if one thought about it in another way, this place might end up being a haven.

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Four days later, Xiao Chen had organized all the comprehensions and experiences he had gained in the past few months.

Although his cultivation did not improve, he now had a more profound look in his eyes, and his foundation was much more stable.

Xiao Chen waved his hand, and a piece of the Great Roc Spreading Wings Painting appeared in his hand. He muttered softly, “It is time to absorb the painting pieces to advance to half-Sage.”

A Sovereign Martial Emperor, the Heavenly Roc King, had made the Great Roc Spreading Wings Painting by compressing all his comprehensions into this painting before he died. It contained the Emperor’s Might of one who stood at the top as well as strong Heavenly Laws.

Although the Great Roc Spreading Wings Painting in Xiao Chen’s hand was just a painting piece and not even the core painting piece, it was still worth cities—a treasure that would tempt even Martial Sages.

He grasped the painting piece and sat cross-legged. Then he started to comprehend the various mysteries contained in the painting piece.

As Xiao Chen’s consciousness slowly sank into the piece, he felt like he entered a vast and broad scene.

When he looked around, the scene changed rapidly; he could not see it all clearly. Sometimes it was a desert, sometimes a sea, perhaps the sky, or maybe starry space. All these were not clear.

Xiao Chen only felt a sense of vastness, an unlimited expanse. When he was encased in it, he was not even comparable to a drop of water in the sea, so insignificant that it was indescribable.

Amid the chaos, a voice arose. That voice seemed to be muttering to himself, yet it also sounded like someone lecturing his juniors about his comprehension and understandings of the martial way.

The information was varied and chaotic, separated into thousands of beams of lights in five different colors. They flew about before Xiao Chen’s eyes, tangled with each other, making it difficult to choose.

Xiao Chen, focus your mind. Just ignore the white lights; these are the minor matters of the Heavenly Roc King’s life. Ignore the black lights as well; those are the dark side of the Heavenly Roc King. You are not a loose cultivator. If you catch hold of those, your mind will end up in disarray.

Don’t touch the red lights, either. Those are the Heavenly Roc King’s resentment. You will not gain any benefit from them.

The purple lights are the Heavenly Roc King’s comprehension of some Martial Technique. You can grab them, but don’t do so blindly.

There are very few blue lights, but you should not miss out on them. They are the Heavenly Roc King’s cultivation. After obtaining them, you can directly increase your cultivation.

There are even fewer golden lights, but you cannot miss out on them all the more. They are the Heavenly Roc King’s Heavenly Laws. Obtaining them will allow you to comprehend some Heavenly Sage Laws directly.

You have only three chances to make a move. Then the painting piece will run out of energy and vanish from the world.

Just when Xiao Chen felt lost, not knowing what to do, Ao Jiao’s voice resounded in his mind, explaining what each of the different lights meant.

The thousands of beams of lights slowly became clearer. Xiao Chen’s expression also calmed down as he started to observe carefully.

Most of the lights were white, nearly ninety percent of them. Following that were black and red. The truly usable lights were few in number.

As for the golden light, Xiao Chen only managed to see a blurry image; he did not even dare to be sure about it.

“Sou!”

After observing for a long time, he finally made his move. He stretched his hand out and caught a purple beam of light. In that instant, he suddenly gained knowledge of Spear Techniques. He could not help feeling greatly disappointed.

Xiao Chen used Saber Techniques and close combat techniques. He could only use the Spear Techniques as a reference. Getting this equaled a wasted chance.

The second time he made a move, he wanted to catch a blue beam of light. In the end, he was too slow and grabbed a white beam of light.

Some trivial matters of the Heavenly Roc King’s life appeared in his mind; he had wasted another chance.

Xiao Chen had only one chance left. He completely focused himself and carefully watched the several thousand beams of light flying around chaotically. He no longer dared to make a move casually.

After watching for a long time, he quickly took action. However, he ended up just grabbing air, obtaining nothing.

As he opened his eyes, the painting piece in his hand turned into spots of light before slowly disappearing from the stone room. He had squandered the painting piece.

Xiao Chen could not help but feel it was a pity. He said, “There are too many beams of light moving around chaotically. It looks like the painting pieces do not live up to their reputation.”

Ao Jiao smiled. It had never been that incredible. Didn’t you see that girl? She did not care about the painting pieces. The true essence was all in the core painting piece. Even if you add the one hundred painting pieces together, they could not be as valuable as the core painting piece.

It looked like Xiao Chen suffered a great loss this time. He had worked so hard and crushed everything in his way, but in the end, that girl had taken the best part away.

However, it was fine. At least he still had thirty-odd painting pieces. He could familiarize himself with the process through practice. He was in a much better situation than those with four or five, even just one, painting pieces.

Following that, Xiao Chen continued absorbing painting pieces. With his first experience, he was much more prepared for his second attempt.

After using about ten painting pieces, he finally grabbed hold of two beams of blue light. “Ka ca!” It felt like a formless bottleneck within his body shattered.

With this bottleneck broken, the capacity of his body increased tenfold. Xiao Chen could vaguely see a dazzling door of light that seemed like it would open soon.

That was the Door of Sages. Once it opened, one could shed their mortal self and become a Martial Sage. After that, no matter where he went in the Kunlun Realm, he could become an overlord.

This door had stopped many demonic geniuses. To Xiao Chen, it was something that was still far away, so he did not dwell on it too much. Being able to see it was already good.

“I finally advanced to half-Sage!”

Xiao Chen opened his eyes and revealed an expression of joy. He had refined his Quintessence twice in each of the three grades in Martial Monarch.

His foundation was remarkably solid. If not for refining his Quintessence twice, he would have become a half-Sage long ago; he would not have needed to wait so long.

However, at this moment, Xiao Chen’s accumulations in cultivation made itself known. The benefits they brought surpassed those of ordinary cultivators. The moment he advanced to half-Sage, he could already see the vast Door of Sages. Since ancient times, not many geniuses managed to do this.