Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation

Xiao Chen asked, “What are his odds of success?”

Bai Lixi replied with a sullen face, “It is hard to say. He had already reached peak Consummation half-step Martial Monarch a year ago. He is only short of opening his sea of consciousness. Once the sea of consciousness is formed, he would immediately become a Martial Monarch. Unfortunately, cultivating Mental Energy is extremely difficult. This bottleneck has trapped more than seventy percent of cultivators who reach this stage.”

Xiao Chen had always respected this senior bladesman, the Bloody Bladesman Sun Guangquan. He was like a teacher and a friend to Xiao Chen.

Although their acquaintance was short, Sun Guangquan had provided Xiao Chen with a lot of help and pointers. Xiao Chen could only wish him good luck and hope that Sun Guangquan would surmount this hurdle.

Four days later, after rushing at full speed, the two left the inner area of the Battlefield. The three outpost islets appeared before them.

Many cultivators were resting at the outpost islets before preparing to depart again.

Xiao Chen looked at the departing crowd and discovered many of them to be very strong. Furthermore, they were rather young as well. He felt it to be strange, so he asked, “Why does it seem like there are many new faces?”

Bai Lixi nodded and said, “Yeah, I found out about it two months ago. This time, the Divine Dragon Palace sent invitations to the other areas of the Boundless Sea.

“The noble clans from the Southern Boundless Sea, Northern Boundless Sea, and the Western Boundless Sea sent people over. Rumor has it that the Dragon King of the Divine Dragon Palace utilized favors from the old Dragon King to get these people here.”

Xiao Chen still felt suspicious. He said, “It is just a third grade Battlefield. Is the Divine Dragon Palace not powerful enough? All they have to do is to send some Martial Monarchs and annihilate the Demons.”

Bai Lixi laughed and said, “Brat, you are oversimplifying things.

“The Eastern Boundless Sea doesn’t have just one third grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade Battlefields. They need their Martial Monarchs to guard them; otherwise, there will be chaos. As for the sixth grade Battlefield, it is a place where all four regions of the Boundless Sea stand watch. It is of utmost importance, so the Divine Dragon Palace has to send people as well.

“Furthermore, the borders between the Black Dragon Group’s and the Divine Dragon Palace’s territories are not very peaceful and need Martial Monarchs to guard them. Considering all this, even if the Divine Dragon Palace was stronger, do you think they’d have the manpower to spare?”

However, Xiao Chen’s frown still did not relax. He kept feeling that this third grade Battlefield was different. However, he had limited knowledge and could not rebut Bai Lixi’s words.

This time, the two intended to have a proper rest, so they did not stop at the outpost islets. Instead, they quickly headed for the huge Divine Dragon Warship.

After another half a day, the city-sized Divine Dragon Warship appeared before the two of them. They could not help but speed up. They wanted to board the huge Divine Dragon Warship before night fell.

The huge warship had a very large area comparable to that of a city. The plaza that Xiao Chen was in previously was just the tip of the iceberg.

Under Bai Lixi’s lead, Xiao Chen moved past building after building. There were restaurants, inns, smithies, and all sorts of other shops. It was no different from a regular city.

Bai Lixi pointed at a beautiful wooden building. He smiled and said, “This is the Spring Pavilion. It is also the place with the best business here.”

Xiao Chen looked over and discovered that it was indeed bustling and business was booming.

This popularity was not hard to understand after thinking about it. Cultivators who spent a long time fighting and killing would need a place for relaxation and venting themselves. Affairs of passion were undoubtedly one of the best ways to vent.

After making seven or eight turns, Bai Lixi brought Xiao Chen to a vast palace. This place was even noisier and more crowded than the Spring Pavilion.

Bai Lixi said softly, “We have arrived. This place is the command center of this Battlefield. You can use your points here to exchange for all sorts of items. Let’s go in.”

The two followed the crowd in. There were not many extravagant decorations in the big palace; it looked very simple.

A glowing jade wall stood in the center of the hall. Many people were standing in front of the jade wall and discussing in hushed voices.

“The Southern Sea’s Four Heroes live up to their reputation. They already made it into the top twenty after being here for two months.”

“The Western Sea’s Seven Knights and the Northern Sea’s Four Young Masters are pretty strong as well. They also managed to get into the top twenty. In fact, these people are all in the top twenty spots.”

“These are the young experts of the Boundless Sea. They have participated in several Battlefields already and they all had exceptional results.”

“There are also experts from other places as well. There is Bai Zhan from the Great Jin Nation’s Evil Moon Pavilion. He is very powerful. He has ranked within the top three and never fallen below that.”

“Ha ha! You are also aware that he is from the Great Jin Nation. How can he not be strong? At such a young age, he is already a Small Perfection half-step Martial Monarch. His Raging Frost Flame Palm is very pure and fiery. It is very frightening.”

When Xiao Chen heard this, he could not be help but stunned. He asked Bai Lixi beside him, “What is that? Everyone seems to be very excited over it.”

Bai Lixi felt rather pleased when he replied, “That is the points ranking wall. The jade wall is a formation that is linked to our jade pendants. As long as you’ve accumulated some points, they will immediately be reflected on this wall.”

Xiao Chen fell into deep thought. No wonder the discussions were so intense. Since ancient times, only the top would be respected. In every place and situation, people would compete to see who was the best. He wondered what his rank was and whether he would be able to rank in the top twenty.

Bai Lixi continued, “This is a small encouragement by the Divine Dragon Palace to boost morale. The people in the top twenty can obtain a corresponding reward. Furthermore, the reward seems to be something precious.”

Xiao Chen felt it was strange. He said, “There is something wrong with the rules. Aren’t they afraid of people cheating? If half-step Martial Monarchs killed Demons in the periphery, their points would increase explosively.”

Bai Lixi laughed and countered, “That is correct but do you think that is likely to happen? Do you think that people would purposely kill low-ranked Demons in the periphery for the sake of the ranking?”

Xiao Chen shook his head to indicate that he did not think so. The main reason he came here was so that he could temper his killing Qi, to comprehend his Saber Techniques further while treading the line of life or death, to raise his cultivation. How could it be possible for him to waste time for some reward?

“I understand now. The rules more seem very casual but in reality, no one would waste their time like that, working just to get into the ranking. Speaking of which, what is your rank? And did you see my rank?” Xiao Chen asked after he understood how it worked.

The pleased expression of Bai Lixi’s face became more obvious. He chuckled and said, “I am not very talented, ranking only tenth. I am also the only cultivator from the four nations to rank in the top ten. As for your rank…he he, I went to look for it two months ago. You seem to be below five hundred.”

Two months ago, Xiao Chen happened to be with Wu Quan and the others. At that time, he was focused on investigating the Demons and did not kill many. So it was not surprising that he ranked very low.

Seeing Xiao Chen remain silent, Bai Lixi patted his shoulders and said, “Don’t be sad. You are roaming around by yourself. It is hard for you to compare yourself to me. It is pretty good that you managed to get a rank of five hundred odd. Now, there are countless people pouring into the Battlefield, a minimum of five to six thousand. At least you are better than most of them.

“Come, I’ll bring you to go exchange your points. Tonight, I will take you to the Spring Pavilion. My treat!”

Xiao Chen smiled and did not say anything. Then, he followed after Bai Lixi.

Within the big palace, there was a small palace. The words “Exchange Room” were written on the signboard. That was the place to exchange points for Spirit Stones, Spirit Weapons, Secret Treasures, and all sorts of Medicinal Pills.

The doors were tightly shut because only one person could enter at a time. There was a long queue for it. No one had special privileges; everyone had to wait patiently.

Xiao Chen had always been very patient. While he waited, he looked around and took the measure of the cultivators moving about. Hence, he was not bored.

However, Bai Lixi did not have a lot of patience. He looked at the points on his jade pendant and hated that he could not immediately rush forward.

Seeing Bai Lixi being so impatient, Xiao Chen felt curious. So, he asked, “Old Bai, how many points do you have? Why are you so excited?”

Bai Lixi grinned widely and said, “Not many, just slightly more than three thousand. This is my third time making an exchange already.”

The moment Bai Lixi spoke, the surrounding people shot envious looks at him. Having three thousand points to himself was a lot. Furthermore, this was his third exchange.

There were some people who recognized Bai Lixi. They discussed him in soft voices, which pleased him greatly.

Before this, Xiao Chen could not be bothered to check how many points he had. After hearing what Bai Lixi said, he took out his jade pendant. He only saw that the back of his jade pendant was densely filled with black dots.

A rough count gave Xiao Chen at least ten thousand points.

After some time, it was Bai Lixi’s turn to make his exchange. He smiled at Xiao Chen and said, “I will go in first. After I come out, I will wait for you. He he! Tonight, I will bring you out for a good time.”

Bai Lixi had already been here twice before, so he was familiar with the exchange process. Not long later, Xiao Chen saw Bai Lixi come out excitedly with a wide grin on his face.

“One point can be exchanged for ten Medial Grade Spirit Stones. Ten points can be exchanged for one Superior Grade Spirit Stone. This person has three thousand points. No wonder he is grinning so widely.”

“Ha ha, with three thousand points, that is not all the benefit he will obtain. The more points one exchanges in one go, the better the item they can get.”

When the people behind saw Bai Lixi’s smile, they were envious. These people were unable to obtain three thousand points even after a few months.

As for Bai Lixi, after making two exchanges before, he was still able to get three thousand points. This was indeed an incredible feat. There was no way they could not be envious.

Xiao Chen pushed the door open in anticipation. Then, he entered the Exchange Room.

The room inside was not large but it was very orderly. Rare treasures in neat rows filled up shelves on all four walls.

There were high-ranked Spirit Weapons, Earth Ranked Cultivation Techniques and Martial Techniques, all sorts of natural treasures, Spirit Cores, and miraculous medicines. There were also all sorts of rare ores found only at the bottom of the sea: Frost Iron, Demonic Crystal Stone, Purple Silver, Gold Essence, Brilliant White Steel, Tide Jade, and Deep Sea Blood Fiend Stones.

A long jade table was placed in the center of the room. Four old men in purple robes embroidered with golden dragons sat behind the table. Their blood and Qi were flourishing, and their auras were strong. When Xiao Chen checked them out, he found that they were Great Perfection half-step Martial Monarchs.

As for the fifth old man, who sat in the middle, with white eyebrows and a genial look on his face, his purple robes had four ferocious azure flood dragons on it. He was even stronger than the others—a peak Consummation half-step Martial Monarch.