Chapter 365: The Vast World
As for within the Martial Saint realm, Xiao Chen was undefeatable. Xiao Chen even had the confidence of defeating the core disciples from the Holy Land.
The harbor they occupied was somewhere between the source of the river and the ocean; there was still a distance to the mouth of the river. Furthermore, the merchant ship could not move at full speed while in the river. Hence, it moved slowly.
Xiao Cheng did not leave his room. Aside from eating, he spent all his time cultivating.
The world outside the Heavenly Saber Pavilion had very sparse Spiritual Energy. Xiao Chen had to use one Medial Grade Spirit Stone every day.
Xiao Chen did not lack Spirit Stones. He exchanged his thirty thousand odd contribution points for a thousand odd Medial Grade Spirit Stones. In addition to what he had obtained from selling the Demonic Cores, he now had more than nine thousand Spirit Stones.
As long as Xiao Chen could raise his cultivation speed, he did not feel any heartache over it.
Two months later, the purple Qi Whirlpool in Xiao Chen’s body suddenly spun very quickly. All of the Spiritual Energy contained in the Medial Grade Spirit Stone rapidly poured into his body.
“Ti da! Ti da!”
Drops of purple Essence liquid dripped continuously from the Qi whirlpool. Soon, it completely filled the Qi whirlpool.
All of the pores in Xiao Chen’s body, all his flesh, and bone, felt bloated. After a while, the Qi whirlpool exploded, and this dantian turned chaotic.
Strong winds blew from Xiao Chen. Air currents instantly filled the room, forming a miniature tornado.
A very comfortable feeling spread throughout Xiao Chen’s body. The Essence that circulated in his meridians became denser and purer.
Have I broken through?
With a thought from Xiao Chen, he sent his consciousness into his dantian. He saw that the size of the Qi whirlpool had at least doubled. The purple Essence liquid, which previously filled the Qi whirlpool, barely filled half of it.
Xiao Chen had successfully broken through. After four months, he finally advanced from peak Medial Grade Martial Saint to Superior Grade Martial Saint.
Xiao Chen revealed a faint smile. He circulated the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation. The purple Essence immediately flowed in a small cycle in his nine major meridians.
After that, the Essence completed a great cycle. Several dozen new minor meridians opened along the major meridians. One of these was the minor meridian Xiao Chen needed to cultivate the sixth layer of the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation.
The more minor meridians there were, the more Essence Xiao Chen would obtain from completing a great cycle. However, the time required to complete a great cycle would grow longer.
After one hour, the purple Essence finally completely a great cycle in all the minor meridians. The Essence in the nine major meridians gathered into a trickle and flowed into the purple Qi whirlpool.
Xiao Chen only stopped after he almost filled the Qi whirlpool. He only needed to complete another great cycle before he could fill it.
However, Xiao Chen did not continue circulating his Cultivation Technique. Two purple lights flashed in his eye, revealing his sharpness.
“Elder Brother Xiao Chen, you became stronger again,” Xiao Bai said happily as she stood by the side.
Xiao Chen waved his hand, and all of the remnant purple energy in the air was absorbed into his body. He got up and smiled faintly, “Yes. I guess you must feel stifled after not going out for a month.”
Xiao Bai said excitedly, “Great; I have yet to see what the Black Dragon River looks like.”
They descended the staircase and arrived at the deck, one after another. At this moment, the sun was just rising. The faint light resulted in a golden reflection on the surface of the water.
The sky had just brightened. Many cultivators on the deck walked along the sides of the ship. They were in groups of two or three as they chatted.
After not emerging for more than a month, when Xiao Chen felt the breeze from the river, he felt relaxed and refreshing, improving his spirit.
There were many merchant ships on the vast river. Aside from the one Xiao Chen occupied, there were several larger ships.
After traveling for half a day, a huge tributary appeared. A large number of the merchant ships steered into this tributary.
Xiao Chen had examined the map before and knew that this tributary led to the most chaotic place of the continent, the Ancient Desolate Land.
The Ancient Desolate Land was very large; it was about half the size of the Great Qin Nation. When including the deserted areas, it was the same size as the Great Qin Nation.
The center of the Ancient Desolate Land was where the Tianwu Dynasty’s capital had sat long ago. Once, it most bustling city on the continent.
Unfortunately, after the Tianwu Dynasty was destroyed, the Dragon Vein that occupied by the Tianwu Emperor split into nine.
It became an extremely dangerous place. Even though the Spiritual Energy in the Ancient Desolate Land was very dense, no nation would build their capital there.
Xiao Chen collected his thoughts. Since they had arrived here, they were not far from the sea. Soon, the merchant ship would leave the Tianwu Continent completely and arrive at sea.
“We are about to arrive at the Thunder Emperor Valley. After we pass the Thunder Emperor Valley, we will leave the Tianwu Continent,” a cultivator said suddenly.
Another cultivator sighed, “Since the Thunder Emperor, no peak expert has appeared from the Great Qin Nation. They have really declined since then. I wonder if in another thousand years, will anyone reach the same glory as the Thunder Emperor again.”
“No long ago, there was that bladesman that appeared in the Heavenly Saber Pavilion. Maybe he can achieve the same level of glory as the Thunder Emperor. He is the only person in the past hundred years to defeat so many noble clan geniuses in a short period.”
“There are many geniuses in this age. When things reach an extreme, they can only move in the opposite direction. The continent that had been silent for a thousand years will rise again in this vast world.”
“Just within the Great Qin Nation, the talent of those noble clan geniuses is not weak. There is still Leng Liusu who became a Martial King at seventeen, Chu Chaoyun who has not completely revealed his true strength, and a few military geniuses in the Imperial Capital who have spent their life killing in the battleground. This age is no inferior to that of a thousand years ago.”
“As for the experts from the other nations, there are many more. Just the ones I know who are no weaker than Xiao Chen number at least a hundred. Furthermore, this is not including those geniuses in the Great Jin Nation.”
“Naturally, we cannot include the geniuses of the Great Jin Nation. They are from a completely different world. How can we compare?”
“Maybe we can see some of these geniuses on Green Wind Island. According to rumor, some of the other nations also have the Devil Savanna’s treasure map.”
Someone on the ship shifted the conversation to the Thunder Emperor. Instantly, the entire deck became very lively. The cultivators with extensive experience started discussing the geniuses of every nation.
Xiao Chen felt interested and perked his ears up to listen, gaining knowledge from their words.
One thousand years ago, when the Thunder Emperor existed, geniuses filled every nation. There were many capable cultivators. Since the Tianwu Dynasty was destroyed, this was the first peak in the world of cultivators.
There were many dazzling genius cultivators and many more emerging. The Thunder Emperor rose to fame in such an environment.
The Thunder Emperor swept through all of the geniuses under the heavens before eventually becoming one of the people standing at the peak.
After the Thunder Emperor fell, that glorious period slowly declined. The world of cultivators went downhill. The number of peak cultivators decreased. The geniuses were no longer as dazzling as those in the past.
However, now, there seemed to be signs of growth again. It was like the seeds of a glorious era slowly sprouted.
Soon, the rising sun had reached its apex, and the sky became bright and intense. The silhouette of a grand ravine appeared in the distance.
Everyone respectfully fell silent. Reverence filled their gazes as they looked at the ravine in the distance.
The ravine was several thousand meters tall, climbing on either side of the Black Dragon River. They were like two swords piercing the sky; clouds shrouded their summits.
When the merchant ship arrived at the ravine, it slowed. After it entered the ravine, the sky immediately turned dark. All the cultivators on the deck became totally silent.
Only the sound of the waves could be heard on the quiet river. It even seemed like everyone stopped breathing.
What’s going on? Xiao Chen looked suspiciously at the two side of the ravine. With a quick glance, he was completely stunned.
There was a huge sculpture of a person on the vast towering ravine. The carving was very life-like. His expression was resolute. He wore tight robes and had a sword hanging at his waist as he gazed at the distant sea.
The sculpture was carved along the ravine. It was a thousand meters tall. It looked like it could soar into the sky and felt very grand.
When Xiao Chen thought about the name, Thunder Emperor Valley, he immediately guessed this sculpture’s identity.
“Rumble…!”
Suddenly, a continuous string of thunder crackled in the clear sky above. When Xiao Chen looked up, dark clouds had filled the sky. It sounded like a huge army marching.
The winds blew wildly, and occasionally, bolts of lightning would streak across the sky. A berserk will of thunder reverberated in the ravine.
This caused everything to feel a horrifying pressure. It was like the heavenly thunders would smite them, causing their souls to dissipate and die without a complete corpse.
Xiao Bai looked at the horrifying electricity in the sky and remembered the electric light that appeared when she had changed forms. She was scared pale and hugged Xiao Chen’s arms, refusing to let go.
“Elder Brother Xiao Chen, Xiao Bai is scared!”
When Xiao Chen felt Xiao Bai trembling, he gently placed his hand on Xiao Bai’s mouth. He said softly, “Don’t be afraid; don’t say anything.”
The was the will of thunder, the purest state of thunder. Even after a thousand years, it still inspired fear, making people too afraid to move.
No wonder all the cultivators on deck did not dare speak moment they entered the ravine. They were all afraid that they would accidentally offend this will of thunder and would receive punishment.
Xiao Chen looked into the sky and felt a strange familiarity with the boundless thunderclouds. The Lunar Shadow Saber hanging at his waist started to tremble relentlessly.
The Lunar Shadow Saber felt excited as if it would jump out at any moment. Xiao Chen held it down, preventing the others from witnessing the strange sight.
Ao Jiao, did you feel it as well? Xiao Chen wondered silently. He could feel an immeasurable distance between the Thunder Emperor and himself from this supreme will of thunder.
The will from a thousand years ago was unexpectedly still so strong. If Xiao Chen faced the Thunder Emperor at his peak, he did not know if he would even have the courage to stand straight.
The ravine was very dark. The merchant ship seemed to have traveled for a very long time in there. The moment it left the ravine, sunlight shone on everyone again.
Everyone present heaved a sigh of relief. Cold sweat filled their backs. When they look back at the dark ravine, they all felt a lingering fear.
Xiao Chen let go of Xiao Bai and said, “Xiao Bai, don’t be afraid anymore. We have passed it.”
Color restored to Xiao Bai’s face. She reluctantly left Xiao Chen’s embrace and said, “Xiao Bai’s fear vanished long ago. Elder Brother Xiao Chen’s embrace is the safest place.”