Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation

According to rumor, the headquarters of the Spirit Palace was situated in the Nine Layers of Purgatory. It was said that a vast formation there could instantly capture the spirits wandering after death.

Of course, these were just rumors. The Nine Layers of Purgatory was a forbidden land of the Kunlun Realm. Buried more than five thousand kilometers underground, it was the setting of all sorts of horrifying scenes, in addition to the extreme Yin underworld river.

Even Martial Emperors did not dare to run amok in there. Until now, it hosted several unsolved mysteries.

As the two spoke, an attractive bright star appeared in Xiao Chen’s vision. He became mesmerized with one glance.

Compared to the dim and dark stars around, this star was extremely eye-catching. However, it was too far away, so he could not see it clearly.

All the same, this star evoked a pounding from the depths of one’s heart, a mysterious attraction.

“Is this Human Monarch Star, the assembly point of the Martial God Palace? I wonder, which ancient senior had the power to modify such a huge star?”

Earlier, Xiao Chen had noticed this star in the star map in the jade pendant on his chest. Now that he saw it personally, he immediately recognized it.

“It was the Dragon’s Gate’s Azure Emperor. He refined it single-handedly fifty thousand years ago. He turned a dead star into its current appearance, brimming with lifeforce.”

As Elder Bai spoke of the Dragon’s Gate’s Azure Emperor, his eyes gave off a natural expression of respect.

Many sects could create bases and assembly points on stars. However, they could only do it to a limited portion of a star. They could not alter the entire star.

Compared to this Human Monarch Star, there was a huge difference.

Of course, Human Monarch Star was much smaller than the Kunlun Continent. However, the ancient star had been transformed into one that supported life.

Any part of such a star was suitable for human habitation. Even if ordinary people came, they would be able to survive.

Xiao Chen looked astounded. He had thought that the ones responsible for altering the star were people from the Ancient Era, but it was the Azure Emperor.

“You must be shocked, right? During the Ancient Era, the Kunlun Continent was replete with resources. The Immortal Epoch had ended not long before that. There were all sorts of Immortal cities and Immortal Remnants. Furthermore, the various races frequently waged war. Very few people would think of going to the starry heavens to establish bases.”

Elder Bai continued, “The exploration of the starry heavens happened after the war of the Emperors in the Savage Battlefield. This matter is actually deeply related to the Deep Abyss Demonic World.”

“What is the connection?” Xiao Chen asked curiously, his interest piqued.

“After the war of the Emperors, the Kunlun Realm declined. A great age of cultivation never appeared again.

“The Demonic World’s ambition to control the Kunlun Realm waxed strong. They opened up a way through the infinite starry heavens. After laboring for ten thousand years, they killed their way down from there.

“When the invasion from the Demonic World happened, they could only come by opening a spatial tear between the two realms.

“However, a spatial tear can only remain open for a short time. Furthermore, there will be spatial storms. It is not easy to open a spatial tear, and they cannot send many Demons. Although a Demonic Calamity is terrifying, it is not an extinction-level event.

“As long as a Martial Emperor stands guard, the safety of the Kunlun Realm is assured. In the big picture, nothing much can happen.

“However, during that one time, a vast army of Demons tore through the barrier of the sky and descended from the starry heavens. Eighteen Demon Monarchs personally arrived and shocked the various races of the Kunlun Realm.

“Although the Kunlun Realm fought an arduous battle and eventually obtained victory, several ancient races perished in the war.

“After this war, the various races of the Kunlun Realm realized the importance of the starry heavens.

“In the distant depths of the starry heavens, there is a vast Astral Battlefield. On the opposite side of the battlefield is the base of the Demon Races, which the Kunlun Realm could not truly get rid off.

“Sometimes, the Demonic World holds the upper hand and travels through the Astral Battlefield, pushing back the various races of the Kunlun Realm. There was once a time when they even managed to push the Kunlun Realm’s cultivators to the barrier of the sky.

“Sometimes, the Kunlun Realm holds the upper hand, dominating the Astral Battlefield and nearly exterminating all the Demon Races.

“Now, the situation is a deadlock. Great astral wars have not happened for ten thousand years already. The Astral Battlefield has now turned into an ideal experiential training ground for the senior-generation experts of both sides.

“One would have to advance to Martial Sage to qualify for entry.”q

The Astral Battlefield is the hardest experiential training ground of this universe. One is not qualified to enter until advancing to Martial Sage.

When Xiao Chen heard about all these, his hot-bloodedness surged. However, he only thought about it for a short while. To him, this was something too far away.

In space’s vacuum environment, if one wanted to move about in the starry heavens without air around them, one would have to circulate their Quintessence continuously at every moment, exhausting great amounts of it.

An ordinary Inferior Grade Martial Sage could not remain in the starry heavens for long. They would last one month, at most, before they had to find somewhere to recover. Otherwise, they would end up as a desiccated corpse and disappear into the depths of the universe forever.

Within this darkness, there was no differentiation into day and night, so one could not be sure of how much time had passed.

Xiao Chen returned to the deck. After what felt like about one day, the Supreme Sky Sect’s King Grade warship stopped at a star about one thousand and five hundred kilometers in diameter.

For this star to have a diameter of only about one thousand and five hundred kilometers, it was quite small. At the very least, with Xiao Chen’s speed, he could easily circumnavigate it if he did not run into any trouble.

The warship stopped beside a black mountain range. The surrounding area was desolate, covered in black dirt.

When Xiao Chen walked on the star, he felt a very strong gravity, which somewhat overturned his previous understanding of the starry heavens.

It looked like he could not apply all his knowledge about space from his previous life to the starry heavens of this world.

Not far from the mountain range was a winding black river that looked pitch-black. Due to the extreme distance, he could not make out what was flowing in there.

Black Water Star. This river was the origin of this star’s name. On the opposite side of the river was a forest. Dense dark clouds drifted around endlessly above the forest, giving it a very mysterious cast.

“Do be careful. I’ll go and retrieve the Spirit Vein. The rest of you, split into two groups. Each group will have a Vice Palace Master leading you to kill Astral Beasts. Don’t separate from the group,” Elder Bai said with an extremely grave expression after gathering everyone together.

About a hundred people came, which resulted in fifty-odd people in each group. Both groups had a Vice Palace Master. Both the Vice Palace Masters were roughly equal in strength, so both groups were just as safe.

Xiao Chen and Cui Hao ended up in the same group. Since these two were stronger, they were assigned to the back of the group, to keep a strong rearguard.

“I really can’t tell that this is your first time in the starry heavens. You are not nervous at all.”

Along the way, the two started to get more familiar with each other, so Cui Hao revealed the doubt in his heart.

Xiao Chen did not really feel much. This was his nature; he could easily adjust to any environment. Even if he was nervous, he would not let it show on his face.

Changing the topic, Xiao Chen asked, “How strong are the Astral Beasts? With your strength, can you hunt Astral Beasts on your own?”

Cui Hao revealed a grave expression as he replied, “There are many types of Astral Beasts. They are all categorized into ranks, from Rank 1 to Rank 6. A Rank 1 Astral Beast is as strong as a half-Sage.

“A Rank 2 Astral Beast is about as strong as a newly advanced Martial Sage. A Rank 3 Astral Beast is as strong as a Medial Grade Martial Sage. A Rank 4 Astral Beast is as strong as a Superior Grade Martial Sage. A Rank 5 Astral Beast is about as strong as a grandmaster-level Martial Sage. Finally, a Rank 6 Astral Beast is as strong as a quasi-Emperor.

“As for myself, I can deal with a regular Rank 1 Astral Beast alone. However, if I run into a powerful one, I have to be careful. Otherwise, I will end up losing my life.”

Even the lowest-rank Astral Beast has the strength of a half-Sage? This is truly flabbergasting.

Xiao Chen asked, “There are only six ranks? Are there no Astral Beasts above Rank 6?”

Cui Hao smiled and replied, “Naturally, there are. However, Astral Beasts above Rank 6 are way too horrifying. They can swallow up a star in one bite. They are termed as Destroyers. We will not run into them in this region of the starry heavens. Instead, we would have to venture into the deeper areas before we can see one. Furthermore, only Martial Emperors can deal with them.”

As they chatted, Xiao Chen suddenly stopped. He fixed his gaze on a sharp black rock behind the group.

The black rock was only a meter high and had an irregular cylindrical shape. The bottom was the thickest, and the rock slowly tapered to a point. The tip of it was extremely sharp.

Cui Hao asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xiao Chen gestured for Cui Hao to step aside. Then, he walked over to the black rock, step by careful step. Finally, he extended his hand and grabbed the resilient rock.

“Rise!”

Using all his strength, Xiao Chen shouted and pulled the top part of the rock upwards. More than one thousand tons of force burst forth ferociously.

“Rumble…!”

Cracks appeared on the ground. Following that, the surrounding rocks shattered and flew into the air. The entire area trembled intensely.

“Everyone, move away!” the Vice Palace Master leading the group in front shouted.

The fifty-odd people reacted very quickly, all of them moving aside.

Cui Hao’s expression changed slightly. The thing that Xiao Chen lifted up was no rock but the huge tail of an Astral Beast.

This Astral Beast was three hundred meters long and looked like a huge crocodile. However, its skin was covered in sharp black rocks that were horrifyingly tough.

“Black Rock Crocodile, an ordinary Rank 2 Astral Beast. It is slightly weaker than an Inferior Grade Martial Sage. It is very good at hiding its aura and can move about freely underground.”

Someone who recognized this Astral Beast put on an expression of horror. If Xiao Chen had not pulled it out in advance, someone would definitely have gotten injured or even eaten by this Black Rock Crocodile.

Xiao Chen grabbed the twenty-odd-meter-long tail and leaped into the air, lifting up this huge creature as it struggled wildly.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

As the Black Rock Crocodile struggled, Xiao Chen swung it downwards, smashing it heavily on the hard ground. He did this repeatedly, causing the ground to rumble.

The rock skin of the Black Rock Crocodile fell off piece by piece. It tried to use its tail to fling Xiao Chen away several times but failed with every attempt.

Instead, Xiao Chen kept smashing it into the ground. As he burned his Vital Qi, he used one thousand and four hundred tons of force to play with this Rank 2 Astral Beast as he pleased.

The group was flabbergasted. Was this still a horrifying Rank 2 Astral Beast? How come Xiao Chen could treat it like a toy?

When the Vice Palace Master saw this, he was slightly stunned. According to what he knew, the Black Rock Crocodile was not only physically strong but was rather capable as well.