Chapter 1078: Breakthrough Obstructed
The disturbances in Hellfire City subsided very quickly. However, ever since the battle from that night ended, the descendant of the Bi family never appeared again.
A small, wooden hut stood alone on the tallest mountain of a mountain range over ten thousand kilometers away from the City of God. Even though it was buffeted by the cold wind all year round, it seemed to be deeply rooted to the ground. It stood there securely, without even swaying a little.
The layout of the hut was extremely simple, simple to the point where it was hard to believe that it was inhabited. Other than a wooden bed, a table, and a chair, there was nothing else. Everyone inside, however, was spotlessly clean.
On the bed lay a middle-aged beauty in a dark-green dress. She was elegant and her face radiated with a certain righteousness. She possessed a striking appearance, and even though she was already middle-aged, she possessed supreme beauty. A single glance would be enough to discern that she was an enchanting woman in the past.
Beside the bed sat a white-robed, middle-aged man. His face was filled with sorrow and pain, and he seemed rather haggard. He gently held the woman’s white hand.
“Caiyun, you’ve slept for one whole year. I know that you only sealed yourself off from your aching heart and that you don’t want to wake up ever again…
“Caiyun, it’s me who can’t make it up to you. It’s me who has no right to see you. The one who should have suffered punishment like this should have been me, not you. Caiyun, why are you so silly…
“Caiyun, can you hear me? Don’t be so stubborn. Don’t be like this, alright? Wake up. Do you know that I feel horrible when I see you like this? Such agony…”
Hao Wu sat beside Zaar Caiyun, gently murmuring to himself as he held her hand. His face revealed the pain he felt.
Ever since he had brought Zaar Caiyun away from the City of God, she had always remained unconscious.
“Caiyun, maybe Mu’er can wake you up. Do I have to go find Mu’er?” Hao Wu murmured as bitterness filled him. He knew extremely well that Mu’er really hated both him and Zaar Caiyun. It would be virtually impossible to get her to awaken Zaar Caiyun with her zither music.
And if he really did try something like that, it would probably deepen the Heavenly Enchantress’ hatred for him.
“What should I do? Just what should I do? Caiyun, when are you going to wake up…”
In the blink of an eye, another two years passed. It had been three whole years since Jian Chen had arrived in Mercenary City. Jian Chen sat like a sculpture in the room Xiao Ling forged from energy deep below Mercenary City. He did not move at all, not even energy rippled from his body.
In the silent and ice-cold room, the space there seemed to pulse like a beating heart. A profound aura filled the surroundings, possessing the indescribable truths of the world.
Jian Chen sat there just like that, borrowing the mysteries of the world invoked by Xiao Ling to comprehend the truths of the world, as well as the laws of the world. After three years of hard work, the rate he improved at could not be described with words. He advanced from the Seventh Heavenly Layer to the Ninth Heavenly Layer in terms of comprehension during those three years and had stagnated at the Ninth Heavenly Layer for a whole year. He was at the peak right now, only an inch away from reaching the comprehension of a Saint King.
Bi Hai and Huang Tianba remained at the Seventh and Sixth Heavenly Layers respectively from two years ago. Their talents were nowhere near as great as Jian Chen’s, so even with Xiao Ling’s assistance, they failed to advance one minor cultivation level a year. However, the speed at which they comprehended the secrets meant it would require another three years before they could break through once more.
The reason why they had broken through together in just one year before was because they had stagnated at that level for several years already. They had already reached the peak, which was why they could make a breakthrough so soon.
The two of them were still ravished with joy even though they had just made one break through in three years, as they would have to waste at least several decades or even over a hundred years to break through when they comprehended the mysteries by themselves. With Xiao Ling’s assistance, the time required had been reduced several times over, perhaps even more than ten times over.
In three years, Huang Luan’s strength increased quickly as well. She reached the Fourth Heavenly Layer of Saint Ruler, while only Chang Wuji and Yang Ling remained as Heaven Saint Masters.
Chang Wuji’s talent was ordinary. He had consumed heavenly resources before, but he was virtually at the end of his thousand-year life. He seemed to have run out of momentum, so even with the assistance of the three beast furs, he failed to comprehend the mysteries of the world completely. He remained at the peak of Heaven Saint Master.
On the other hand, Yang Ling had not broken through, but he still had a lot of time ahead of him. As a result, breaking through was only a matter of time for him.
Suddenly, the mysteries of the world that filled Jian Chen’s room began to pulse violently. The space around Jian Chen also seemed to react, trembling. The room began to distort. Jian Chen’s figure also became blurrier and blurrier, until he disappeared in the distorting space.
The sunny sky above Mercenary City immediately began to darken. A thick layer of clouds rapidly appeared, enveloping the entire city. The clouds shrouded the sunlight, obscuring the sky. They rapidly expanded, covering a radius of a hundred thousand kilometers. They threw Mercenary City into darkness in that instance.
The sudden change in weather caused everyone in Mercenary City to stop what they were doing. At that moment, everyone raised their heads it the sky. All of them were filled with surprise and were curious, so they began discussing the changes all over the city.
No one knew what was happening. The speed at which the clouds had gathered was unbelievable. It did not seem like a storm at all.
Just as everyone discussed the sudden change in the clouds, a vast pressure suddenly appeared and pressed viciously down from space. It engulfed all of Mercenary City, and coupled with the pressure was the profound, incomprehensible mysteries of the world.
Immediately, everyone felt like a boulder was pressing against their chests, making it difficult for them to breathe. Some weaker people even felt like they were suffocating.
“These are the mysteries of the world. Someone’s broken through to Saint Ruler…”
“No, I’ve personally witnessed the birth of a Saint Ruler before. The pressure was never this great, and the mysteries of the world that descended were not as strong. Has someone become a Saint King?”
“The birth of a Saint Ruler is accompanied with five-colored rainbow clouds. If it’s a Saint King, there will be seven-colored rainbow clouds. Let’s just wait to see the color of the clouds to know if it’s a Saint Ruler or a Saint King…”
“Look, everyone, colors have appeared. The rainbow clouds have appeared…”
Experts were plentiful in Mercenary City, so a few experienced ones could see through the odd phenomenon of the clouds with a single glance. They immediately called out as envy filled their eyes.
Afterward, a dazzling multicolored light pierced through the darkness. It appeared in the thick layer of clouds and quickly became magnificent. It reached seven colors in total very soon, dyeing all the clouds. It was enchanting.
“It’s seven-colored! The clouds are seven-colored! A Saint Ruler’s broken through to Saint King…”
“Who has broken through? Is it an elder of Mercenary City? Looks like Mercenary City has gained another expert from today on…”
The crowd fell into a hubbub. Everyone was extremely excited. To personally witness the birth of a Saint King was something they could only experience through luck. There were just too few Saint Kings on the Tian Yuan Continent, and it would be difficult for a Saint King to appear even with several billions of people.
The appearance of the seven-colored rainbow clouds alerted all the high-ranking members of Mercenary City. With Tian Jian as their leader, a group appeared in the air as they stared at the clouds in the sky in amazement.
“Grand elder, just who has broken through in our Mercenary City? Why do I sense nothing in regard to this? Is it because the person who broke through isn’t in the city but elsewhere and Mercenary City just happens to lie in the radius of the rainbow clouds?” An elder politely asked from behind Tian Jian.
Tian Jian stared unblinkingly at the clouds in the sky as interest filled his face. He said, “The clouds are centered around Mercenary City. The person who has broken through is indeed in this city, but he has hidden himself very well. Even I cannot sense where he is.”
At this moment, an odd phenomenon suddenly appeared. The pressure that filled the surroundings rapidly weakened and in just a few seconds, it completely disappeared, as if it was never present. The rainbow clouds also began to dull, turning into nothing in a few seconds as well. A deep-blue sky reappeared.
Tian Jian furrowed his brows slightly when he saw this change. Shock filled his eyes, and he called out, “What’s happened? Why have the clouds disappeared?”
“When someone breaks through to Saint King, the clouds will remain for seven whole days. B- b- but why have the clouds dispersed so quickly right after they had formed? This has never happened before! This is unheard of! There is no record of this whatsoever!” An elder beside Tian Jian cried out in astonishment.
Tian Jian pondered the occurrence as he stared at the sky. After a while, he seemed to understand something, and he sighed. He said in pity, “That person’s failed his breakthrough.”
“Failed? How is that possible? Once the rainbow clouds appear, they are destined to succeed! How can failure appear? This truly is unheard of…”
All the elders of Mercenary City were utterly confused by how the rainbow clouds had completely disappeared after appearing for less than twenty seconds. They all doubted what they saw. A few knowledgeable people also reached a similar conclusion with their deductions, and they all sighed in pity. At that moment, many people felt sympathetic for the person who had failed his breakthrough.
It would truly be a great blow to the person breaking through since that person was just about to become an expert that no one would dare to anger on the continent, yet that person failed in the final moments.
Jian Chen snapped open his eyes deep under Mercenary City. He angrily stood up and yelled at the sword spirits in his sea of consciousness, “Zi Ying, Qing Zuo, why have you come and made trouble? I almost would have become a Saint King, but I failed with what you did! Why are you stopping me from reaching Saint King?”
Everything was extremely successful as Jian Chen made his breakthrough. Just as he was about to reach Saint King, he had never thought that the sword spirits would suddenly interfere at this crucial moment, denying Jian Chen of his chance to reach Saint King.