Ling Tian Sword God

A black, cold aura permeated the spacious room. It spread out, cooling the area to an icy chill, as if frost were setting in, and a cold fog hung in the air.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Ling Chen’s body was like a bottomless pit, continuously absorbing the True Qi from the Elder of Myriad Beasts. As this True Qi entered him, his skin began to turn a shade of black. Sweat continuously appeared on his face, trickling down his cheeks like a stream.

The True Qi of the Elder of Myriad Beasts contained an extremely sinister Baleful Qi. This Baleful Qi was exceedingly stubborn and caused Ling Chen considerable trouble.

This was not the first time Ling Chen had absorbed others’ power for his own use, but the Elder of Myriad Beasts, with his formidable strength, was the first of this caliber. Normally, the absorption of this kind of True Qi would take a certain amount of time. However, he didn’t have that much time now. With the Elder of Myriad Beasts’ cultivation, the opportunity for a breakthrough was fleeting. Waiting for the next one was uncertain; who knew when it might come.

Luckily, Ling Chen had extensive experience. Although absorbing the Elder of Myriad Beasts’ True Qi still brought bouts of fiery pain, it was not unbearable. More importantly, it didn’t seem to cause any physical trauma.

Vast amounts of sinister True Qi continuously poured in. After refinement, it transformed into pure True Qi, flowing into Ling Chen’s Dantian and meridians, surging and filling him with a sense of abundant power.

Ling Chen’s mind was utterly focused, for with the continuous influx of True Qi energy, he could feel the subtle signs of the breakthrough opportunity, which had appeared earlier, beginning to emerge once more…

BOOM! BOOM!

More and more True Qi gathered within his meridians, roaring like a low flood. Each time the True Qi surged through his meridians, Ling Chen’s very soul would tremble—a sensation that was utterly captivating.

The sinister energy pervading the room, intensified by the strengthening suction force erupting from Ling Chen’s body, began to howl. It transformed into tangible streams of True Qi, striking Ling Chen’s body before invading through his pores and breath, being completely absorbed.

During this fierce absorption, as the sinister energy darted through his pores and skin, the stinging experience made Ling Chen feel as if he had been thrown into an Ice Cave.

WHIZ! WHIZ!

Under Ling Chen’s almost whale-like devouring, the sinister energy filling the room grew increasingly faint. Conversely, his own aura became more profound with this devouring.

HISS!

When the final wisp of sinister energy drilled into Ling Chen’s nostrils, his slightly trembling body abruptly froze, becoming as rigid as a sculpture, utterly motionless!

The room suddenly fell into a strange silence. Faintly, the subtle sound of a torrent rushing could be heard, and tracing it to its source, one would find it emanating from within Ling Chen’s body.

And as Ling Chen remained solidified like an old monk who had passed away in meditation, a potent aura began to slowly awaken within him, like a great lion stirring from its slumber.

「Half an hour later」

Ling Chen opened his eyes.

The aura around him abruptly erupted, and the furnishings in the room floated up.

An extremely potent fluctuation of power suddenly swept out from Ling Chen’s body.

Half-step Sky Apex Realm!

A glint of brilliance shone in Ling Chen’s eyes. His strength had now reached the peak of a Ninth Layer Great Master, and his True Qi cultivation had reached the limit for a Great Master. However, he was still somewhat short of triggering the spiritual infusion from Heaven and Earth.

Moreover, Ling Chen didn’t want to break through to the Sky Apex Realm just like that. Given the Cultivation Technique he practiced, if he broke through so rashly, an unstable foundation would have extremely detrimental consequences for his future cultivation.

Generally, peerless geniuses often need to spend a period of time accumulating and settling at the bottleneck before breaking through to the Sky Apex Realm. The more they accumulate during this period, the greater the benefits for their future growth.

Once his cultivation stabilized, Ling Chen’s eyes shifted slightly, and he stood up. It’s time to return to the main headquarters.

He was returning from the Hundred Thousand Mountains this time and should have brought the Deer Reviving Grass to Xu Ruoyan immediately. Unexpectedly, such an incident on the road had delayed him considerably.

Fortunately, there were still two months left of the half-year period set by Doctor Immortal. That was why Ling Chen could remain so calm and composed.

After informing Jiang Yunting, Ling Chen embarked on his journey back to Green Cloud Mountain.

Now that Sky Void Palace’s mountain gate had been breached, it was practically the same as being annihilated. Most of the Sky Void Palace disciples had already relocated to the Cyan Robe Association’s territory, and Xu Ruoyan had long since been brought to Green Cloud Mountain.

Ling Chen rode the Qingfeng Jue to the vicinity of Green Cloud Mountain. Looking down, he saw that the entire periphery of Green Cloud Mountain now had many more checkpoints, manned layer by layer by experts from the Cyan Robe Association to prevent suspicious individuals from infiltrating.

It seemed the recent turmoil in the Martial World had led the Cyan Robe Association to become extremely vigilant.

During his absence, Liu Feiyue had managed the Cyan Robe Association even more meticulously and efficiently.

This greatly reassured Ling Chen, allowing him to confidently entrust all of the Cyan Robe Association’s affairs to Liu Feiyue.

”Senior Brother, look! A Flying Monster has broken in!” a Cyan Robe Association Disciple suddenly cried out in alarm.

”Don’t panic. That’s a Qingfeng Jue, our Cyan Robe Association’s unique Flying Monster. Who is that on its back?” another disciple said calmly. He stared at the slowly approaching figure, a look of shock appearing in his eyes. ”That’s Association Leader Ling Chen! The Association Leader has returned!”

”What? The Association Leader has returned!”

In an instant, the news spread from one to ten, ten to a hundred. Everyone in the Cyan Robe Association knew of Ling Chen’s return.

Few people knew about Ling Chen’s trip to the Hundred Thousand Mountains. Liu Feiyue had told everyone that Ling Chen was away traveling. With the current turbulent times, Ling Chen’s travels undoubtedly made many disciples unable to understand and somewhat anxious. But his return now undoubtedly gave them a pillar of support again.

”You’re finally back.”

Upon receiving the news, Liu Feiyue had also arrived at the square in advance. Seeing Ling Chen descend from mid-air, she shook her head, a relieved smile appearing on her lovely face.

”Senior Sister, there have been many matters recently. You’ve worked hard.”

Ling Chen noticed Liu Feiyue looked considerably thinner; it seemed she had been under a lot of stress during this period.

Liu Feiyue’s pretty face turned grave. ”If you hadn’t returned, I’m afraid Shentu Yan would have made his move against us. The situation in the Martial World would surely have deteriorated further.”

Shentu Yan was currently targeting one Martial Sect after another. With Ling Chen absent, the Cyan Robe Association could only adopt a defensive stance. If they only defended, they would undoubtedly lose the initiative step by step.

”We’ll talk about these things later.” Ling Chen nodded, then asked, ”Yan’er, is she alright?”

Although the half-year deadline was still some time away, that was merely Doctor Immortal’s estimate. It was hard to say if any complications might arise.

”Don’t worry, she’s fine.” Liu Feiyue shook her head. ”You managed to get the Deer Reviving Grass, right?”

”Yes.”

”Then come with me.”

Liu Feiyue turned and walked towards the rear hall of Green Cloud Mountain. Ling Chen let out a breath of relief and quickly followed.