https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-233-Frost-Fog-Lock-Breaking-the-Storage-Ring/13549538/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-235-Silent-Calamity-Forbidden-Land-First-Encounter-with-Suli/13549540/
Chapter 234: Escaping the Storm to Obtain Malevolent Qi · Encountering a Strange Serpent While Crossing the Ashen Sea
Chapter 234: Escaping the Storm to Obtain Malevolent Qi · Encountering a Strange Serpent While Crossing the Ashen Sea
After organizing his Storage Ring, Xiao Chen continued refining true mana on the island using the Supplement Yuan Pill.
Two more days passed before the mist blocking their path finally dissipated, revealing a vast expanse of azure sea.
However, no sooner had one obstacle cleared than another arose.
They had traveled less than 150,000 kilometers when the clear sky ahead began darkening, swallowed by endless storm clouds.
"Could I really be this unlucky? Just setting out and already running into a thunderstorm?"
Xiao Chen gazed ahead. For thousands of miles, the deeper they ventured, the denser the gloom became.
In truth, thunderstorms were not inherently dangerous for cultivators. Normally, abnormal weather patterns could be avoided in advance. Unless deliberately seeking danger, few would recklessly plunge into a storm.
What truly concerned Xiao Chen was the possibility of the thunderstorm agitating high-level sea beasts nearby. Without a safe foothold, being surrounded by swarms of Golden Core sea creatures—or worse, encountering a Golden Core predator—would be extremely perilous.
"Going back to wait on the island isn’t wise. I’ll just detour around it."
Xiao Chen had no intention of returning. First, thunderstorms could last unpredictable durations and even shift locations, making the nearby islet no guarantee of safety. Second, his escape speed far exceeded ordinary Golden Core cultivators. A detour would still be faster than idling away time.
He shifted direction, skimming the edge of the storm clouds toward the southeast.
"Boom!"
A colossal lightning bolt streaked across the sky, its oppressive force palpable even from ten thousand miles away.
The Eastern Territory classified thunderstorms into three tiers—minor, moderate, and major—based on danger level. From the sheer scale, this was undoubtedly a top-tier major storm.
Before such celestial wrath, even Golden Core cultivators could only marvel from a distance. Only legendary Nascent Soul cultivators might dare approach and traverse its core.
"Huh? What’s that?"
Xiao Chen suddenly spotted a massive shadow leaping from the sea amidst the violet-white lightning. Before it could fully emerge, a thunderbeam smashed it back into the depths.
Countless theories raced through his mind. Could it be a Nascent Soul-grade yao beast? At this distance, it must have been over ten thousand zhang long! Such a colossal creature was rare—could it be the mythical Kunpeng?
"Boom! Boom!"
More thunderbeams rained down, their electric brilliance blinding. At this range, the chaos beyond tens of thousands of miles remained obscured. To uncover the truth, he would need to approach.
Yet as the saying goes—curiosity kills the cat.
Xiao Chen promptly retracted his gaze, accelerating in the opposite direction. He’d investigate that mystery another day.
Several days passed. The thunderbeams vanished, replaced by heavy rain. Eventually, the skies cleared, spotless and cloudless for ten thousand miles.
It was the sixteenth day of the eighth month. A full moon hung like a jade plate, bathing the world in silver light.
"Hiss~ Where did I end up?"
Following the moonlight, Xiao Chen spotted ethereal mist at the horizon where sea and sky met.
Approaching cautiously, he realized it wasn’t mist but vast clusters of purplish-blue algae swaying on the waves. The endless expanse stretched at least a thousand miles. Faint glimmers twinkled from their tips like fallen stars, luring swarms of tiny fish to dart and chase.
Xiao Chen elevated his Flying Sword higher above the sea, just in case. Unlike those naive fish, he knew well—beauty in the cultivation world often masked danger, whether in objects or people.
After advancing another thousand miles, a six-zhang-tall willow tree emerged from the sea. Its countless branches sprawled across the water, entwined with dense algae. Submerged sections fused seamlessly into the depths.
"A willow tree growing on the sea?"
Xiao Chen paused, puzzled. This location seemed odd.
"Whoosh!"
As he observed, water erupted below. A Golden Core Late Stage sea beast, half its body ensnared by roots, thrashed its tail desperately.
It was futile. Soon, the purplish algae engulfed it entirely, reducing it to nutrients.
"Amazing! This must be a Fourth Stage Spirit Herb!"
Xiao Chen appraised the tree. If he could uproot and sell it, a specimen this size might fetch eight to ten million spirit stones.
But in a sense, this willow was half a Golden Core itself. The sea beast it had just consumed wasn’t weak, yet stood no chance.
"Golden Core indeed", he sighed. If only he had reached the Golden Core realm, he could have claimed this Spirit Herb today. Without that power, he’d have to mark the location for future retrieval.
As he prepared to leave, a root suddenly pierced the surface, snapping upward hundreds of zhang toward him.
Xiao Chen had maintained a safe distance of three hundred zhang, but the root stretched far beyond the tree’s visible form, dozens of times longer.
"Bang!"
The Qiongtai Fire Lotus erupted, shattering twenty-four layers instantly. Scattered flames rained down, igniting the algae below. The sea blazed fiercely, a spectacular inferno.
Yet more roots surged through the flames, converging from all directions.
"True Yang Fire Dragon!"
Xiao Chen shouted. A colossal fire dragon materialized, intercepting the rising roots while he ascended rapidly.
The willow sensed its prey escaping. A massive branch lashed from the sea, piercing the sky with blinding speed. It far exceeded Golden Core limits, catching Xiao Chen in an instant, coiling around his fire lotus.
This single branch halted his movement entirely.
Unquestionably, this was no ordinary Golden Core willow—it had likely reached the Golden Core Late Stage.
But there was good news. The tree seemed mindless, treating this as routine predation.
For Xiao Chen, this was his chance to break free.
Physical traversal of the open sea was perilous. He’d rather preserve his Night’s Blade if possible.
He summoned the Wind-Thunder Pair Swords: "Razor Will to Pierce the Clouds!"
Thanks to recent tempering within the Life-Essence Core and the effects of the Heavenly Azure Sword-Cleansing Leaf, the swords’ power had surpassed their relic-era potency. They cleaved through the branch below, severing the half-entwined segment, which immediately slackened.
Yet in that brief span, the Qiongtai Fire Lotus shattered three more layers. Without his hundredfold resilience, he’d already be bound tight.
"Crackle!"
The willow refused to relent. The severed branch recoiled, then lunged upward—not to entangle again, but to spew a jet of yin demon qi directly at Xiao Chen.
The malevolent qi rendered his Qiongtai Fire Lotus and Ghost-Face Mystic Light Shield useless. The shields’ glow flickered like ghosts, offering no resistance as the qi pierced through.
"Hmm?"
Feeling the yin demon qi invade, Xiao Chen paused, then swiftly activated the Xuantian Consumption Secret Method to refine it.
"Hiss~ This sensation… Yin Wood Malevolence!"
As the secret technique flowed, he identified the qi’s nature instantly. His eyes gleamed as he stared at the tree below.
This was just the beginning!
Ordinary cultivators would never dare challenge a Golden Core tree spirit, but Xiao Chen had the Hex Protection. Though he couldn’t use Night’s Blade recklessly, this was the perfect moment.
With newfound confidence, he halted midair, not retreating but leaning closer to the branch.
"Hisss!"
The severed branch spewed another jet of yin demon qi. Normally, prey couldn’t absorb such qi, dying swiftly to its corruption. The tree would then reclaim its energy, suffering minimal loss.
But this time, it miscalculated.
Xiao Chen not only refined the qi instantly—he actively leaned closer, craving more.
"Not enough! More!"
The branch hesitated, almost humanly puzzled. This prey behaved… unusually.
According to its instincts, even Golden Core Perfect Completion sea beasts should have succumbed after two blasts.
But it had survived on instinct alone for millennia. After a brief pause, it resumed spraying yin demon qi, determined to overwhelm its strange prey.
"Not enough! Still not enough! This trickle is too slow!"
The Yin Wood Seal required vast quantities. Xiao Chen lunged forward, seizing the branch with both hands. Channeling the Xuantian Consumption Secret Method, he siphoned the malevolent qi directly from its source.
"Ahhh, that’s the way!"
The endless yin demon qi surged into his body, guided by the secret technique into his dantian, gradually forming the seal’s outline.
"Boom!"
The branch sensed the danger and resisted fiercely.
The method was simple yet effective—summoning more willow tendrils to soar into the air and bind Xiao Chen tightly into a dumpling-like bundle. Then, dozens of willow branches aimed at him simultaneously, unleashing dozens of times more yin demon qi in an instant.
From past experience, this move was highly effective, capable of threatening even a Golden Core-level sea creature that happened to wander by with a craving for tree flesh. It was the Willow Demon’s ultimate trump card.
“Haha! Let the malevolent qi come even fiercer!”
Xiao Chen, however, beamed with delight. The only thing he truly feared was if the willow’s stored yin demon qi ran out too quickly.
With such an abundant supply, within just a dozen breaths, a brand-new Yin Wood Seal solidified inside his dantian.
“It’s not easy! A cultivator with a Wood Spirit Root finally possesses a Wood-attribute malevolent qi!”
This was already the fourth malevolent qi Xiao Chen had collected. From now on, his cultivation of Wood-element spells would double in speed.
Moreover, if he could locate Yang Wood Malevolence next, even without considering the enhancement of his cultivation manual’s power, the real priority was completing a pair. This would increase his Nascent Soul Formation success rate by half a tier—the ultimate goal.
Now that he had both Yin Wood Malevolence and Yin Water Qi, his chances of completing a full pair had doubled instantly.
Of course, the best outcome would be gathering both pairs and even collecting Metal Malevolence and Earth Malevolence.
After all, if he could collect all Yin-Yang Five Elements Malevolent Qi, it would further boost his Nascent Soul Formation success rate by another half-tier.
“Since it came from a sea willow, I’ll call you Sea Willow Malevolence from now on.”
Xiao Chen inspected the new Yin Wood Seal with his spiritual sense, then suddenly shouted, “Hey!”
He tensed all his muscles and strained to break free.
Unfortunately, the Yin Wood Seal didn’t enhance physical strength, so he naturally failed to escape.
…
Moments later, after fleeing a thousand li, Xiao Chen slowed his pace slightly. “Hiss… That hurt.”
His earlier struggle had failed, and the willow, losing patience, violently constricted him with its vines, nearly slicing his body into eighteen pieces.
Then, sensing the sudden disappearance of its painstakingly stored malevolent qi, the willow erupted in fury.
In an instant, thousands of water spouts erupted from the sea surface, each dozens of meters high. The briny mist surged skyward, tearing through the clouds. The massive crown of the tree trembled violently as nearly a hundred thousand glowing green willow branches and roots thrashed about. The sea surface within a hundred li churned wildly, like a boiling furnace.
Even from a thousand li away, Xiao Chen could still clearly see the agitated, colossal form behind him.
Waving goodbye, he called out, “Don’t miss me too much! I’ll come back to visit when the time is right!”
With that, he turned and left without hesitation.
Since Night’s Blade was on cooldown, he deliberately slowed his speed.
He activated the Ghostface Mystic Light Shield in advance, reignited the Qiongtai Fire Lotus, and fully mobilized his spiritual sense to monitor every direction within a sixty-four-li radius.
Originally limited by his innate talent, his spiritual sense had only reached sixty li.
But after receiving the starlight baptism a few days ago and successfully condensing the Star Core, his spiritual sense had been growing steadily in recent days. Especially at night, when bathed in starlight, the growth rate was significantly faster than during the day.
At this rate, in about two months when the Star Core’s effects were fully realized, his spiritual sense range would likely expand to seventy li.
For ordinary cultivators, spiritual sense range had practical uses.
For instance, early warnings of danger could determine whether one had time to react and evade.
Or remotely triggering pre-placed spells or talismans.
Or tracking enemies—using spiritual sense to locate foes who couldn’t counter-lock one’s position if their own spiritual sense range was insufficient.
In short, the broader the range, the better.
…
When the autumn winds swept through in September, Xiao Chen finally beheld the legendary Jin Hai spectacle.
To the east of Kunpeng Sea lay the Mercy Sea, with Jin Hai marking the boundary between them.
All year round, submarine magma continuously seeped out, dyeing the entire sea a golden amber.
The evaporated seawater formed crimson, rosy mists that lingered for years without dispersing.
Occasionally, tectonic shifts would trigger eruptions of hundreds or even thousands of molten lava columns, spreading the sulfurous, briny scent for dozens of li.
“Finally arrived. This journey was way too long.”
Xiao Chen exhaled half in relief.
After waiting for Night’s Blade to cool down, he resumed full-speed travel.
In the past half-month, aside from three brief heavy rains that barely slowed him, everything else went smoothly.
Even so, it still took a full month to cross the Kunpeng Sea.
“I must be the first cultivator in history to cross the Mercy Sea at Golden Core stage with just my physical body.”
Xiao Chen muttered a complaint. If conditions allowed, who would willingly endure such a grueling journey?
Damn Yin Corpse Sect! After forming his Nascent Soul, he’d return to settle the score.
Approaching Jin Hai, he clearly saw some areas were extremely shallow, only about four or five zhang deep.
Without the submarine magma, one could even artificially build an island here.
Unfortunately, the seabed was cracked like a turtle shell, with dark red liquid visibly flowing beneath.
“Huh? A spirit mine?”
Xiao Chen focused and spotted a Third Stage Cinnabar Stone, the size of a fist, floating on the water’s surface.
Frequent cold-hot exchanges here created numerous whirlpools that constantly shifted positions. Some underlying spirit mines were churned up, occasionally flipping to the surface.
He immediately extended his hand from afar, using true mana to snatch the Cinnabar Stone.
“Good quality. Should fetch a few hundred Spirit Stones.”
To Xiao Chen now, a few hundred Spirit Stones were trivial.
But picking up money on the road was always a joy.
“Got a lucky start in the Mercy Sea! Good omen, good omen indeed!”
Xiao Chen happily pocketed the auspicious Cinnabar Stone. Judging by this, his upcoming days might be filled with continuous good fortune.
This further confirmed his decision to venture overseas was correct.
Whether due to psychological effect or the Mercy Sea’s unique nature, for the next three days, the weather was clear and sunny, with not a cloud in sight.
Meanwhile, Xiao Chen distinctly felt the morning spiritual energy tides growing stronger each day, lasting half a shichen longer.
While traveling each morning, he felt a pang of regret—what a perfect time to cultivate!
But no worries. Once he found a proper base, he could finally begin secluded cultivation.
Then he could cultivate however he liked, for as long as he wished.
However, good fortune didn’t last. On the fourth evening, a dense white mist appeared ahead, resembling the Yin Spirit Disaster he’d seen in the Inner Sea.
“It seems another new Relic has opened, but I’m probably too late this time.”
Xiao Chen was forced to detour while sighing in regret.
This time, not only was he a newcomer, but he also had no idea where to find people.
Naturally, he couldn’t participate in this new Relic.
Still, he only lamented briefly before regaining his spirit. “Missing out isn’t a big deal. There are countless forbidden realm Relics under heaven. No way I can visit them all.”
Opportunities were meant to be seized by fate. Without the right affinity, chasing after them was pointless.
Besides, his greatest opportunity was still Hextech Reinforcement. Everything else was just icing on the cake.
After veering around the suspicious Yin Spirit Disaster mist cluster for ten thousand li, Xiao Chen spotted a medium-sized island to the southeast, a thousand li away.
From afar, it stretched six hundred li long and three hundred li wide.
Merciful heavens! Throughout the entire Kunpeng Sea, he hadn’t seen such a massive island—not even one-tenth its size.
He had originally hoped to encounter a hidden sect lineage, but reality proved such odds were too low.
“Great! Finally found a decent-sized place.”
Xiao Chen immediately adjusted his course toward the island.
Such an island likely housed cultivators, meaning he could finally interact with other cultivators.
It had been nearly two months since he last saw a living person.
He could stop by to chat and gather some intelligence.
“Huh? Why can’t I see any houses?”
As he approached, Xiao Chen’s heart sank.
Looking around, the entire northwest side of the island had no buildings at all—no trace of artificial structures.
Most areas were barren, with only a few stubborn weeds growing in the corners.
“Well, looks like it’s not a suitable place to live.”
During his long journey, Xiao Chen had seen countless uninhabitable islands, many completely barren.
Still, he habitually landed to rest for the night.
“If there are weeds here, maybe there are wild fruits too.”
He instinctively expanded his spiritual sense, scanning the area within sixty-seven li.
“Hiss!”
As his spiritual sense spread, a sound like a venomous snake’s hiss suddenly echoed around him.
Then, more than a dozen black mists erupted from a rock crevice ten zhang away, instantly engulfing him.
A pungent sulfurous stench shot up his nose, accompanied by a “sizzling” sound.
The black mist corroded the feather shield automatically deployed by his Hundred-Feather Linked Silk Robe.
“What the hell is this?”
As his spiritual sense probed the rock crevice, Xiao Chen spotted a strange snake only seven chi long.
It was a “snake” only in name—its entire body lacked scales, revealing a fleshy red elongated torso. Its belly had twenty-seven pairs of hairy, centipede-like legs.
Especially revolting!
Its head had only one eye, but it was riddled with honeycomb-like holes. The front half of its body was coiled, ready to strike.
“Hiss!”
With another sound, the honeycomb holes spewed new black mist, joining the ongoing assault.
The feather shield outside the Hundred-Feather Linked Silk Robe began to waver.
“That’s odd. What kind of yao beast is this?”
Xiao Chen frowned. It seemed like a Golden Core yao beast, yet it felt bizarrely weak.
He countered with a palm strike, unleashing a fierce flame that incinerated the black mist—and the strange snake—into ashes.
“Huh? So weak?”
The black mist could threaten ordinary Golden Core cultivators, yet the creature itself was pathetically weak.
“This isn’t right. Something’s definitely off.”
(End of Chapter)
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