Chapter 345 - 190: Chu Shanhe Is Back! Completely Dumbfounded

Chapter 345: Chapter 190: Chu Shanhe Is Back! Completely Dumbfounded

Chu Shanhe smiled.

’I remember when I left, Chen Xuan was at the True Essence Sixth Layer, right?’

’After all this time, with his talent, he might even have reached the True Essence Ninth Layer.’

"I’m not in the True Essence realm anymore. I’ve broken through."

Chen Xuan replied.

"You broke through?"

Chu Shanhe raised an eyebrow, surprised. "Don’t tell me you’ve entered the Inner Realm?"

’That makes sense!’

’With this kid’s talent, it’s entirely possible!’

"Go on, then. What layer of the Inner Realm?"

Chu Shanhe smiled.

BOOM!

Without holding back, Chen Xuan unleashed his aura.

A scorching, terrifying wave of power erupted from his body, sweeping across the entire courtyard. The sky paled and the clouds roiled as if a world of flames had instantly enveloped the area.

"..."

Chu Shanhe’s face went slack. He was dazed and utterly bewildered.

A roar, like an explosion, went off in his mind.

’Good heavens...’

’Have I been overdoing it? Am I hallucinating?’

"What layer of the Inner Realm do you think I’m at?"

Chen Xuan asked.

...

An unknown amount of time passed.

Inside the spacious study.

Chu Shanhe sucked in a sharp breath. His mind was in turmoil, still unable to fully process what had happened. He paced back and forth, his gaze landing on Chen Xuan with renewed shock each time.

’He’s an Outer Saint! An Outer Saint!’

’Chen Xuan is an Outer Saint!!’

’And not just the Outer Saint First Layer!’

’The fucking Third Layer!’

’Is he even human?’

’Is he even human?’

Chu Shanhe had been feeling quite pleased with his own massive accomplishments, but compared to Chen Xuan, what did any of that matter now?

’The kid’s a fucking monster!’

’Could it be that while I was gone for half a month, more than a decade passed in the outside world?’

’Is Chen Xuan’s real age actually in his thirties, approaching forty?’

’But that’s impossible!’

’When I came out of Grotto Heaven City, everything looked the same. It didn’t look like over a decade had passed.’

"Alliance Leader, please stop pacing. You’re making my head spin."

Chen Xuan said helplessly from his chair, looking at Chu Shanhe. "Why don’t you tell me what happened to you first? How did you suddenly get so much younger? Did you regain your youth? What did you encounter in the depths of the darkness?"

Right now, his curiosity about Chu Shanhe was even greater than Chu Shanhe’s was about him.

"..."

Chu Shanhe took another deep breath, his expression flickering. He finally used his profound Cultivation to forcibly suppress his inner agitation and make himself appear as calm as possible.

"You kid... you’re a real freak of nature!"

He said again.

"That’s the eighth time."

Chen Xuan said helplessly.

"Alright, alright, I won’t say it again."

Chu Shanhe gave a wry smile, walked back to his seat, and sat down.

But even after sitting down, he couldn’t resist the urge to get up and pace some more.

In the end, however, his powerful self-control rooted him firmly to the spot, and he remained seated.

"What do you want to know? Ask away, one question at a time."

Chu Shanhe sighed.

Chen Xuan had already told him what he had been through.

Now, it was his turn to tell Chen Xuan his story.

"Your appearance... did you really regain your youth?"

Chen Xuan asked curiously.

"Yes. Because I broke through to the Dharma Aspect realm, I naturally regained my youth."

Chu Shanhe replied.

"Dharma Aspect?"

Chen Xuan looked startled. "The Dharma Aspect realm causes you to regain your youth? Does that mean you’ll never grow old again?"

"No. After regaining your youth, you will still age again. It’s not permanent. Unless you can break through to the next major realm, at which point you will regain your youth once more."

Chu Shanhe said.

"Is that how it is?"

Chen Xuan asked, puzzled, "Then what are the realms that come after?"

"After the Outer Saint realm are the three great realms: Dharma Aspect, Grotto Heaven, and Creation!"

Chu Shanhe said.

"Grotto Heaven?"

Chen Xuan was skeptical.

"Yes, the very same Grotto Heavens you’ve seen before."

Chu Shanhe began to explain in detail. "You’ve already experienced the mysteries of the Outer Saint realm. It’s essentially about connecting your personal microcosm with the greater macrocosm of the outside world. The Dharma Aspect realm builds on this by infinitely concentrating your essence, qi, and spirit to cultivate a deity within your own inner world.

"When not in use, this deity resides within your inner world. But when you need it, you can summon it at any time. It can instantly grow thousands of meters tall, capable of plucking stars from the sky and overturning oceans. It’s as easy as flipping your palm!

"This realm is also known as the Dharma Aspect of Heaven and Earth!"

"Interesting."

Chen Xuan nodded, stroking his chin. "So what about the Grotto Heaven realm after that?"

"Grotto Heaven? Now that’s an exceptionally strange one."

Chu Shanhe’s expression grew serious. "At that realm, the inner world inside your body solidifies into a true space. People can live in it, you can store anything inside. The Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi is dense, the space is vast, and it’s no different from the real world."

A jolt went through Chen Xuan. "Don’t tell me that the Grotto Heavens we know of were actually left behind by these powerful experts?"

"Precisely!"

Chu Shanhe’s expression shifted. "So now you understand why I haven’t tried to reclaim the Grotto Heavens the Martial Alliance lost, don’t you? It’s because I have no idea if those terrifyingly powerful experts are dead or alive.

"I don’t want to live inside any Grotto Heaven, either. Living in a Grotto Heaven is like living in someone else’s personal world—in their dream. If its owner decides to ’refine’ you, you’ll be refined.

"That’s why, for all these years, I’ve been extremely wary of Grotto Heavens. If I can avoid entering one, I absolutely will! And I will never try to seize some supposedly ownerless Grotto Heaven!"

Chen Xuan’s mind was reeling.

’Grotto Heavens!’

’So that’s their origin?’

"Do the people who live in the Grotto Heavens know about this?"

Chen Xuan asked.

"Some know, some don’t."

Chu Shanhe replied, "And in many cases, the Grotto Heavens are inhabited by the descendants of the creator, so they don’t have to worry about waking up one day to be refined by their own ancestor. But some Grotto Heavens are not inhabited by the creator’s descendants. In the off chance that one of those Grotto Heaven masters is still alive, or awakens from their slumber, everyone inside would become their nourishment, refined in an instant..."

"..."

Chen Xuan looked shocked. "Where did all those Grotto Heaven experts go? Why would they leave their personal Grotto Heavens behind?"

"No one knows where they went. Perhaps they’re sleeping, or perhaps they’re dead. In any case, thousands, even tens of thousands of years ago, these Grotto Heavens were already empty. They were later discovered one by one by experts from the outside world, who then fought over them. But I’m not willing to take that gamble. I’d rather believe they’re still alive and just... fishing."

Chen Xuan took a deep breath, his mind reeling.

’That’s it!’

’It makes perfect sense!’

’Maybe those Grotto Heaven masters were all grievously injured countless years ago. They all fell into a slumber at the same time, leaving their Grotto Heavens open for anyone to discover.’

’Then, future generations come along.’

’’Ooh, an ownerless Grotto Heaven?’’

’’Awesome!’’

’So they move in, lock, stock, and barrel, and they propagate for thousands, even tens of thousands of years...’

’Then one day, the slumbering master of the Grotto Heaven wakes up.’

’And what do you think happens then?’

’’Heh, I wake up from a long nap, and there’s a buffet delivered right to my doorstep.’’

’’All those years of baiting the fishing spot weren’t for nothing!’’

’’Why bother with pills when a feast of people is so much more nourishing!’’

’’With a single grasp of a giant hand, they’re all refined in an instant.’’

...