Chapter 257 - 31: Breakthrough to the Sea Condensation Realm, Fierce Tiger Sword

Chapter 257: Chapter 31: Breakthrough to the Sea Condensation Realm, Fierce Tiger Sword

In truth, if he went all out, he might have been able to defeat Xiao Zhanbai. But doing so would involve immense risk, and he could even end up injured.

This location was very close to Qingzhou Prefecture City, the heart of Celestial Sword Manor’s territory. Getting injured here would be truly dangerous.

Therefore, Chen Ye decided to take the safer route: break through to the Sea Condensation Realm, and then deal with Xiao Zhanbai.

The moment the Nascent Condensation Pill entered his stomach, it instantly transformed into an immense and pure warm current that surged into his Dantian.

His once-tranquil Inner Qi began to boil, coursing frantically through his meridians.

Chen Ye didn’t dare to be the slightest bit complacent. He sank his Heart Spirit into his Dantian, guiding the violent medicinal power through one Circulation after another.

Chen Ye was already on the verge of a breakthrough. Now, spurred on by the Nascent Condensation Pill’s power, signs of a breakthrough appeared after only a few moments.

BOOM!

It was as if some invisible barrier had been shattered. The vortex within his Dantian abruptly accelerated and compressed frantically until, with a final HUM, a chaotic Qi Sea was forged!

The transformation of Inner Qi into True Essence—this was Sea Condensation!

An aura several times more powerful than before leaked uncontrollably from his body, soaring into the sky and stirring the very air for hundreds of feet around.

"Hm?"

Searching frantically in another part of the forest, Xiao Zhanbai froze. She whirled around, her gaze fixed on the direction from which the aura had erupted.

’That’s... the aura of a breakthrough to the Sea Condensation Realm!’

’He’s actually breaking through right in the middle of things?’

The shock lasted only for a moment before it was replaced by boundless rage and killing intent.

"You’re courting death!"

Pushing off the ground, Xiao Zhanbai shot forward like an arrow released from its bow, streaking toward Chen Ye’s hiding place with lethal intent.

Behind the hill, atop an ancient tree, Chen Ye sat with his eyes tightly closed, oblivious to the killing intent from the outside world.

He was at the most critical moment of his breakthrough. His Dantian Qi Sea had just formed, and the True Essence within him rampaged like an unbridled stallion, requiring his formidable Power of the Divine Soul to tame and stabilize it.

The process was fraught with peril, but it would also allow his control over his power to reach an entirely new level.

Meanwhile, Xiao Zhanbai’s speed was at its absolute peak. In the space of a dozen breaths, she had already reached the hill.

Her eyes immediately locked onto the figure seated cross-legged on the ancient tree, and the still-climbing, not-yet-stable Sea Condensation Realm aura emanating from him.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Xiao Zhanbai thrust her sword forward while still in mid-air.

A supremely focused Sword Light shot straight for the spot between Chen Ye’s eyebrows.

’I’ll kill him in a single strike while his foundation is still unsteady!’

But just as the Sword Light was about to strike, the figure on the ancient tree snapped his eyes open.

Two sharp glints of light flashed and vanished.

At that exact moment, the True Essence in Chen Ye’s body completely stabilized. Immense power flooded every inch of his flesh and blood.

Then, Chen Ye moved.

No dodging, no blocking.

He simply drew his saber and, meeting the deadly Sword Light head-on, slashed.

CLANG!

The clang of metal on metal was deafening.

The Jingzhe Saber and the Sword Light collided violently, and the resulting shockwave snapped all the surrounding trees and flattened the grass.

Xiao Zhanbai felt an unprecedented force travel up from the tip of her sword. She was sent flying backward uncontrollably, tumbling awkwardly through the air several times before she managed to regain her balance.

After landing, she staggered back several more steps, each footfall leaving a deep imprint on the ground.

Only then did Xiao Zhanbai raise her head, her face a mask of horror as she stared at the young man who had leaped down from the tree to land smoothly before her.

Chen Ye’s face and figure were unchanged, but his entire presence had undergone a world-altering transformation.

If before he was a sharp blade hidden in its sheath, he was now an unsheathed, peerless, and deadly saber, its edge laid bare for all to see.

That potent, domineering fluctuation of True Essence—it was, without a doubt, the Sea Condensation Realm!

’He actually succeeded!’

"This... This is impossible!" Xiao Zhanbai muttered, her mind reeling in shock.

"Nothing is impossible." Chen Ye flexed his wrist, feeling the True Essence surging endlessly within him. A feeling of unprecedented power welled up from deep inside.

Then he looked at Xiao Zhanbai and smiled faintly. "Thank you for guarding me just now. As a token of my gratitude, I’ll be sure to give this my all."

"Arrogant!" Completely enraged by Chen Ye’s demeanor, Xiao Zhanbai forcibly suppressed her shock and snapped coldly.

"So what if you broke through to the Sea Condensation Realm by a fluke? I am a True Inheritor of Celestial Sword Manor! Killing you is still as easy as turning over my hand!"

As she spoke, an incomparably sharp Sword Intent erupted from her body and soared toward the heavens.

"Celestial Sword Technique—Streaming Light!"

Her figure flickered, and she seemed to transform into a streak of light. A dense web of Sword Light, airtight and inescapable, enveloped Chen Ye.

Each beam of Sword Light was as fast as lightning, striking from treacherous angles and sealing off all of Chen Ye’s escape routes.

This was an ultimate technique of Celestial Sword Manor, renowned for its speed, precision, and ruthlessness. An ordinary Sea Condensation Realm Cultivator wouldn’t last three breaths against this move before being sliced to ribbons.

Yet, facing this sky full of sword phantoms, Chen Ye simply stood his ground, perfectly calm.

His Asura’s Eye was already active. Thus, the Sword Light that seemed impossibly fast to others was, in his sight, clear in its trajectory and riddled with flaws.

"Too slow," Chen Ye said, the two words hanging in the air as his Jingzhe Saber moved.

There were no flashy techniques—just a simple, direct upward slash.

CLANG!

With unerring precision, the saber’s edge struck the very core of the myriad sword phantoms—the lynchpin upon which all the Sword Techniques’ variations hinged.

With a crisp crack, the swarm of sword phantoms instantly collapsed and vanished, like a popped bubble.