Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation

Unfortunately, Xiao Chen had already advanced to Martial Monarch. All these Medial Grade Spirit Stones were useful only as money; they would not be of any help to his cultivation.

When Martial Monarchs cultivated, only Superior Grade Spirit Stones could help them cultivate quickly. The effects of Medial Grade Spirit Stones were minuscule.

Everyone knew this. However, the number of Martial Monarchs who could afford to use Superior Grade Spirit Stones in the Tianwu Continent were few.

The reason being, there were too few Superior Grade Spirit Stones in the Sky Dome Realm. Most Martial Monarchs could only use Superior Grade Spirit Stones occasionally and generally cultivated with Medial Grade Spirit Stones.

The same applied to the gray-robed and blue-robed old men. Otherwise, they would have used the Superior Grade Spirit Stones in their rings long ago.

As Old Feng had said, the Tianwu Continent could not afford to raise so many geniuses. Xiao Chen now had a deeper appreciation of this.

At the same time, Xiao Chen understood that in order to maintain his previous pace of cultivation, he had to go to the Kunlun Realm. Staying in the Sky Dome Realm would only waste his talent.

Collecting his thoughts, Xiao Chen shifted his attention to the Netherworld Flower in his Universe Ring. This was his greatest gain here.

When the Lunar True Flame swallowed up the matured Netherworld Flame Seed, its Origin Flame would no doubt strengthen.

The block of lava and ground took up half the space in his Universe Ring. Xiao Chen could see the core of the Netherworld Flower withering at an extremely gradual pace.

“In one year’s time, if I cannot find an Immortal Spirit Ring, this Netherworld Flower will wither completely,” Xiao Chen muttered and withdrew his gaze.

Ao Jiao smiled gently and said, Don’t worry. Although Immortal Spirit Rings are precious, unless you are looking for a peak Immortal Spirit Ring, you definitely can afford one.

Xiao Chen smiled and stopped thinking about this. He looked around and found a suitable spot before starting to cultivate.

A vast difference existed between Essence and Quintessence. The latter was at least a hundredfold stronger. This was Xiao Chen’s first contact with such an intense power; he would have to cultivate quietly for some time before he could gain perfect control over it.

Otherwise, when he fought, Quintessence would leak out without him being able to control it. He also would not know how strong his attacks would be.

There were also certain Martial Techniques that could exhibit their true might only after he advanced to Martial Monarch, like the Azure Dragon Cloud Soaring Art, Dragon Subduing Slash, and the Battle Sage Origins’ Strength Character Formula.

Xiao Chen had to spend some time comprehending them before he could use them smoothly.

The sun rose and set. The days went by slowly as Xiao Chen cultivated alone on this uninhabited island.

Soon, he gained some familiarity with the control of Quintessence. He could now use the might of the Small Perfection Azure Dragon Cloud Soaring Art perfectly.

A dragon roar came from Xiao Chen’s body. He stepped onto the Azure Dragon and moved about in the air as fast as lightning. A certain Dragon’s Might spread out, significantly increasing his aura.

Xiao Chen could already use the Dragon Subduing Slash’s first move—Return of the Azure Dragon—as he pleased. Now, as he fueled it with Quintessence, its might was several times greater than before.

The side effects on Xiao Chen’s physical body had eased significantly and would not appear again. The situation in the past where he ended up half-dead after he had beaten up his opponent would not recur.

With Quintessence fueling the peak Superior Grade Earth Ranked Four Season Saber Technique, the various mysterious phenomena of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter that Xiao Chen materialized all improved by a level.

The most impressive was the Battle Sage Origins’ Strength Character Formula. When Xiao Chen used it, it could increase the might of any of his Martial Techniques thirty-three times.

However, the amount of Quintessence required to sustain the Strength Character Formula was daunting. His ninety-nine drops of Quintessence were insufficient. After executing it once, it drained all of Xiao Chen’s Quintessence; it even overdrew from his body.

Furthermore, that was the result when Xiao Chen used it on an ordinary Martial Technique. If he used it on the Dragon Subduing Slash, it would probably even drain his blood.

No wonder Ao Jiao had warned him back then never to execute the Strength Character Formula before advancing to Martial Monarch. The amount of Quintessence required was too horrifying. He could use it only as a last resort.

All the trump cards that Xiao Chen accumulated before advancing to Martial Monarch had improved by ten or even a hundredfold after he advanced to Martial Monarch.

Given his strength now, he could truly be called a King Grade True Dragon genius, unrivaled within the same cultivation realm, a king of the Martial Monarchs.

Xiao Chen would be able to kill an ordinary Martial Monarch easily. He would require some effort to do the same for Medial Grade Martial Monarchs. When fighting peak Medial Grade Martial Monarchs, he held a seventy percent chance of victory. Even when facing Superior Grade Martial Monarchs, he would be able to hold his own.

Of course, this referred to the Martial Monarchs in the Tianwu Continent. Xiao Chen was not familiar with the situation in the Kunlun Realm, so he could not comment on it.

Against the geniuses from the other three thousand great realms, the situation might be a little different. Their talent and resources might be on par or even better than his.

There were also the absolute geniuses of the Kunlun Realm. No one could tell what the situation would be like.

Xiao Chen felt no pride over his current strength. The road was still long; this was just the beginning.

On this particular day, Xiao Chen woke up from his cultivation and tossed aside the two exhausted Superior Grade Spirit Stones in his hands. He opened both his eyes. A purple flame blazed endlessly in his right eye, and his left eye flickered with white light, spreading an overwhelming cold Qi.

In the depths of Xiao Chen’s eyes were a purple light and a white light. They released a glow brighter than that of the stars.

During the past days, Xiao Chen had been thinking about how to execute that Taiji Yinyang Flame Diagram from the time he spent in the gate of desire.

At this moment, he finally gained some inspiration on how to do it, so he decided to give it a try.

“Xiu!”

He released the purple Origin Flame in his right eye first. For the sake of creating a balance, he only sent out half of the Purple Thunder True Fire’s Origin Flame.

After that, the Lunar True Flame’s Origin Flame flew out as well. It hovered about fifteen centimeters apart from the purple Origin Flame, the two floating side by side.

Even though Xiao Chen had only taken out half the Purple Thunder True Fire’s Origin Flame, it was still larger than the Lunar True Flame. However, the Lunar True Flame’s grade was higher than the Purple Thunder True Fire. If the Lunar True Flame’s Origin Flame reached the same size as the Purple Thunder True Fire’s Origin Flame, the Lunar True Flame’s might would definitely surpass that of the Purple Thunder True Fire.

The peak of Yin was the moon, and the peak of Yang was the sun. Only the Solar True Flame was a genuine match for the Lunar True Flame. While the Purple Thunder True Fire was an extreme Yang Flame, it was still weaker than the Solar True Flame by one level.

The Solar True Flame was far from achievable; it was not something Xiao Chen could think about for now.

Xiao Chen gazed at the two Origin Flames before him as he started to test the might of the two flames carefully. He had to ensure a perfect balance. When the Yin and the Yang interacted, neither could be stronger than the other. Otherwise, they would not be able to mix.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

The purple flame and white flame continuously crashed into the ground as Xiao Chen tirelessly investigated their power.

As Xiao Chen repeated this, he adjusted the purple Origin Flame. After testing them several thousand times, he finally obtained the perfect balance that he sought.

However, the sky had already become dark; night had fallen. There was no light in the sky; only two balls of light were visible in the dark night sky.

“Yin and Yang, move!”

Xiao Chen shouted and used his Spiritual Sense to control the two clumps of Origin Flame. They instantly started moving. One purple light and one white light orbited around each other like fishes chasing each other in a circle.

However, there seemed to be a formless S-shaped line between the two, separating them. Even if they chased each other for a thousand years, the two clumps of light would never catch the other.

Xiao Chen rejoiced. He had finally managed to find a trace of his experience in the gate of desire. He recalled the scenes of back then, using the memories to direct his next moves.

“Yinyang merge!”

Xiao Chen shouted again, and a ring instantly appeared, surrounding the two circling lights and encasing them tightly within.

A rough Taiji Diagram finally appeared. Xiao Chen smiled gently since the procedure had gone much more smoothly and easily than he had anticipated. His sea of consciousness surged as he poured in more Mental Energy.

“Boom!”

Yinyang, the four divisions, and the eight divinatory trigrams appeared around the ring. Two gentle tornadoes appeared around Xiao Chen, circling around and chasing each other, soaring high in the sky.

[TL note: Yinyang, the four divisions, and the eight divinatory trigrams, these are the fundamentals of Daoism. Yinyang gives birth to the four divisions, which acts on the eight trigrams.]

“Yinyang Burst!”

The Taiji Yinyang Flame Diagram finally took form. Xiao Chen shouted and pointed at the mountain in front. Then, the Taiji diagram quickly shot towards that mountain.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Explosions rang out from the top to the bottom of the mountain.

When the entire Taiji diagram pressed to the ground, it completely flattened the mountain. A vast cloud of dust flew up and quickly swirled off in all directions.

A look of joy flashed in Xiao Chen’s eyes. The might of the Taiji Yinyang Flame Diagram far surpassed his expectations.

However, the Taiji Yinyang Flame Diagram had not achieved the result that Xiao Chen had seen in the gate of desire, heavily injuring a Martial Sage and defeating her in one move. This Taiji Yinyang Flame Diagram clearly had much room for improvement.

One day, when the Lunar True Flame and Purple Thunder True Fire improved by another level, then it would not be impossible to instantly kill a peak Martial Monarch with it.

“Withdraw!”

Xiao Chen waved his hand and the Taiji Yinyang Flame Diagram pressed on the ground returned to Xiao Chen with a ‘xiu.’ The two Origin Flames—white and purple—swam about happily.

The Yinyang, four divisions, and eight trigrams appeared around the Taiji diagram. As the light moved, the Mental Energy in Xiao Chen’s sea of consciousness depleted rapidly.

Aside from exhausting the energy of the two flames, this Taiji Yinyang Flame Diagram unexpectedly drained Mental Energy. However, the expenditure was within the range of Xiao Chen’s tolerance.

Given his abundant Mental Energy, he would have no problems executing this move ten times in a day and would still have Mental Energy to spare.

Xiao Chen, why does your Taiji Yinyang Flame Diagram vaguely feel like an Immortal Spell? Ao Jiao asked suspiciously from within the Lunar Shadow Saber.

Xiao Chen raised his eyebrows and replied, “What do you mean?”

Ao Jiao explained, Not counting the Martial Techniques of people who cultivate the body, the basis of every Martial Technique is Essence and Quintessence. Only Immortal Spells have Mental Energy as their foundation. Of course, Immortal Cultivators refine their Mental Energy; they call it Magic Energy.

Xiao Chen was startled. Then, he recalled the few words Leng Yue said in the past about Immortal Spells. He asked, “Ao Jiao, are there people in the Kunlun Realm who cultivate Immortal Spells?”

There are. However, they are very few. Immortal Cultivation is a cultivation method from the previous epoch. After the destruction of the previous epoch, the laws of heaven and earth changed—which turned the world into a place that is no longer suitable for cultivating Immortal Spells.

The complete Immortal Cultivation inheritance is no longer extant. Right now, Martial Cultivation dominates the cultivation world. Furthermore, not just anyone can cultivate Immortal Spells. Immortal Cultivation is extremely profound and requires a predestined affinity.

Since Xiao Chen asked about this, Ao Jiao told him everything she knew. However, her knowledge was limited, so Xiao Chen did not manage to get much information from her.

Nevertheless, there are many remnants of Immortal Sects in the Kunlun Realm. You seem like someone with an affinity for Immortal Cultivation. It is possible that you would have some gains if you go there.

Xiao Chen smiled embarrassedly. Changing the topic, he stopped talking about this. “Ao Jiao, come out and help me test how strong the defense of this Taiji Yinyang Flame Diagram is.”

He was more interested in the Taiji Yinyang Flame Diagram’s defensive capabilities rather than its offensive might. Although his physical body was quite robust, he still lacked a powerful defensive Martial Technique.