Chapter 1569: The Spiritking Enters Seclusion
While Shangguan Mu’er and Jian Chen entered tunnel to the Yinyang Saint Rock with the hopes of the four races on the Tian Yuan Continent, the Spiritking, who was the source of all their despair, currently stood on the top of the World Mountains. He stared at the tunnel, which constantly distorted.
The Spiritking possessed an extremely ordinary appearance. His hair was casually draped across his shoulders, and both his appearance and attire seemed extremely normal. He did not go to any great lengths to dress himself. If he were to be thrown into a crowd, no one would notice him. Perhaps the only impressionable feature about the Spiritking was the extraordinary determination and iron will present on his face.
However, beneath his ordinary appearance was supreme strength and a terrifying prestige that caused all Origin realm experts of the World of Forsaken Saints to tremble. Even Xiong Zhong and Ouyang Yangwen dared not to disobey him.
The Spiritking currently stood with his arms across. He nonchalantly stared at the tunnel before him as a light flickered through his deep, dark eyes from time to time. His gaze was ordinary at times and sharp at others, but when his eyes were sharp, they seemed like heavenly swords with pressing presences. Even Reciprocity experts at the same cultivation level as the Spiritking would feel extremely shocked.
A dark, metal sword hovered beside the Spiritking. The sword was forged from an unknown material, so its dark surface made it seem extremely simple and inconspicuous. It was nothing like shiny, treasured swords.
However, the sword was able to hover there by itself without the support of any power. Its tip pointed toward the ground as it remained there.
Ouyang Yangwen and the other protectors and elders stood behind the Spiritking. They all held their breath and stood silently, afraid to breathe too loudly. Both the Receival protectors and Returnance elders seemed to have lost all their prestige as Origin realm experts at that moment. They seemed like completely different people compared to the confidence and grandeur they exhibited on the Tian Yuan Continent.
A few people were now missing among the elders and protectors. They had died on the Tian Yuan Continent. Many of them were pale-faced and haggard as well, as if they were sick. Many of their robes still contained traces of blood, clearly still injured from the wounds they had received on the Tian Yuan Continent.
“I never thought that the Tian Yuan Continent would possess such a powerful divine hall. It really is a supreme treasure, no worse than our three supreme treasures. Even I cannot damage it at all. The Tian Yuan Continent really is complicated. We’ve actually underestimated their power time and time again. They’re actually able to produce so many Receival and Returnance experts while lacking origin energy, which really is surprising,” Ouyang Yangwen said slowly. His voice was heavy and deep. It did not seem to contain any signs of emotions at all.
The elders all stood silently behind him. They understood the Spiritking tone. They knew that he seemed calm right now, but he had actually been truly angered.
This was all because they had lost a Returnance expert during the battle.
Aside from the elder, they had even lost a few Receival experts.
The World of Forsaken Saints suffered heavy losses during their invasion of the Tian Yuan Continent. Although they still had seven elders and over twenty protectors, the losses this time really did take a heavy toll on the Tian Yuan Continent.
“Is that Jian Chen from the Tian Yuan Continent really this powerful? Where even two mid Returnance elders can’t handle him?” The Spiritking spoke once again. His voice was deep like before while his eyes remained fixed on the tunnel before him.
In the past, he had crossed through the tunnel with the Cloudstream sword and fought above the Tian Yuan Continent in outer space. Jian Chen had also revealed his abilities from the Way of the Sword then, but he was nowhere as powerful at that time.
Although a few decades had already passed since then, more than enough for prodigies to make great progress in cultivation, the Tian Yuan Continent lacked origin energy. In such an environment, no matter how talented a prodigy was, it would be extremely difficult to reach the Origin realm, let alone make any major breakthroughs.
“Spiritking, Jian Chen is indeed powerful. Elder Bai and I were unable to kill him together when he was heavily injured. We only managed to keep him suppressed. At the same time, his recovery rate is extremely shocking. No matter how heavily injured he is, he could recover in an extremely short amount of time.” An old man stepped forward and spoke.
A gleam of light flickered through Ouyang Yangwen’s eyes. After a moment of hesitation, he said with mixed feelings, “Spiritking, there’s one more thing that I must say.” Ouyang Yangwen also felt extremely unsettled when he decided to speak. He did not know how the Spiritking would react once he told him that.
“Speak.” The Spiritking’s voice was no different than before.
Ouyang Yangwen sucked in a deep breath and slowly said, “Jian Chen’s strength has surpassed mid Returnance, where even some late Returnance experts aren’t his opponent, but his true strength has not reached the Origin realm. Jian Chen is actually a Saint Emperor.”
Many protectors and elders immediately revealed drastically different expressions. Their faces were filled with disbelief.
“How is this possible? The difference between Sainthood and the Origin realm is an untraversable chasm. It’s no exaggeration to describe them as heaven and earth. Jian Chen may have comprehended the Way of the Sword and is able to make up for this gap, but he can’t be so impressive where he can fight late Returnance experts as a Saint Emperor. He’s only an inch away from being able to fend off Reciprocity experts,” a protector immediately cried out, having forgotten that the Spiritking was present.
Jian Chen comprehended the Way of the Sword, the power of laws, so fighting against Receival experts was not that surprising. However, they were unable to accept the fact that he was able to erupt with the battle prowess equivalent to late Returnance as a Saint Emperor.
Even the Spiritking did not possess such battle prowess in the past.
Ouyang Yangwen nervously looked at the Spiritking. He was arrogant and condensing on the Tian Yuan Continent, but before the Spiritking, he was riddled with fear.
Ouyang Yangwen was taken aback. The Spiritking remained very calm and composed, as if the unbelievable piece of news did not make the Spiritking waver at all.
“Jian Chen… Jian Chen…” The Spiritking murmured gently. Ever since he had fought against Jian Chen, the name became deeply engraved in his mind. This was not the first time he had muttered the name under his breath.
It was also at this moment that the Spiritking’s gaze became extremely deep. He stared at the distorting tunnel before him and sank into a long period of silence.
The protectors and elders of the foreign world all stood there silently. None of them dared to disturb the Spiritking’s train of thought.
After quite a while, the Spiritking slowly turned around. He made his way down the mountain and said, “I’m going into seclusion in an attempt to break through beyond the Origin realm. Do not disturb me during this period of time unless there’s something extremely important. The matters of the Sacred Spirit Hall will continue as usual and will be carried out by the seven elders. Ouyang Yangwe, you’ve remained at late Returnance for many years now, so break through to Reciprocity as soon as possible. Once I emerge from seclusion, I will take our people, the Spiritsages, and charge out of here.
All the elders and protectors immediately became shocked by what the Spiritking had said. This time, the Spiritking actually wanted to leave the Origin realm. Would that mean the legendary Godhood?
Godhood had always been a legend in the World of Forsaken Saints. No one had ever reached that level of cultivation throughout history because no one had ever managed to comprehend laws, and laws were the key to Godhood. People would remain stuck at the Origin realm for all of their eternity if they did not grasp any laws, making it impossible for them to reach Godhood.