https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-730-Death-Madness-and-Disappearance-in-the-Unlucky-Sea/12942725/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-732-The-Lost-Dog-and-Luo-Chen-s-Grudge/12942727/
Chapter 731: The Heaven-Earth Peak Star Gate, Tribulation Lightning Refines the Divine Soul
Chapter 731: The Heaven-Earth Peak Star Gate, Tribulation Lightning Refines the Divine Soul
As soon as Shen Wanding entered, he immediately felt extremely uncomfortable.
An overwhelming divine sense, unreserved and unrestrained, seemed to be constantly spying on him.
He pursed his lips, and with his left hand hidden in his sleeve, he formed a hand seal.
"Oh!"
A soft exclamation sounded, and Luo Chen, dressed in loose white clothing with his hair loose, emerged from his meditation room.
He smiled apologetically, "Sorry, I'm currently cultivating a technique that makes my divine soul overly active, and I can't suppress it for a short time."
While saying this, his gaze never left Shen Wanding.
Initially, Shen Wanding's cultivation base was clearly at the third layer of the Primordial Infant Stage, and his divine sense was on par with Luo Chen's, instantly perceiving and withdrawing.
But in that moment, he displayed a divine sense strength that was no less than Luo Chen's.
Subsequently, he used some unknown secret technique to perfectly conceal all traces of his aura, making it impossible to detect even when standing face-to-face.
Shen Wanding also revealed a look of surprise, astonished by Luo Chen's youthful appearance.
In the Immortal World, there were various secret techniques and pills that could preserve one's youth indefinitely. Appearance was never a reliable indicator of age.
There were even cases of seemingly young boys who were actually several hundred years old.
However, these individuals always carried an unmistakable air of 'oldness'. Their speech and actions often exuded an ancient aura, and they rarely displayed any youthful demeanor.
But in Luo Chen's fair-skinned, beardless face, Shen Wanding sensed a vibrant 'youthful energy'.
This meant that Luo Chen was genuinely young, and his specific cultivation age was definitely not over four to five hundred years.
Shen Wanding exclaimed in astonishment, "For a cultivator as young as you to possess such a powerful divine sense is truly a rare sight in the world!"
Luo Chen smiled slightly, "Elder Shen, you flatter me. With your abilities, your divine sense strength is no less impressive than mine. You are indeed worthy of being a Great Elder of the Heavenly Yuan Commerce Alliance in the Northern Sea!"
However, upon hearing this praise, Shen Wanding's face turned bitter.
"It seems that the position of Elder in your revered Commerce Alliance is nothing but a menial task for us."
Luo Chen was taken aback.
The Elders of the Heavenly Yuan Commerce Alliance, whether in Dong Huang or the Northern Sea, were highly respected figures wherever they went.
They commanded numerous cultivators, had extensive connections with outsiders, and possessed countless rare treasures and resources.
This was evident from Fu Chaosheng's effortless collection of a large number of cultivation resources for Luo Chen.
Even in the mortal realm, they would be considered governors overseeing a region.
And this is considered a menial task?
Seeing Luo Chen's astonishment, Shen Wanding shook his head and sighed, "You don't know the whole story, Elder. My Heavenly Yuan Dao Sect is vast and wealthy, producing countless geniuses. The truly powerful individuals are secluded within the sect. Only those of mediocre talent, ordinary backgrounds, and advanced age with no further prospects for advancement are sent to the Commerce Alliance to handle such lowly merchant affairs. It's understandable for those who don't know the details to respect us, but for someone like you who will eventually become a guest scholar of our Star Gate, this is unnecessary."
Luo Chen was even more surprised.
He knew that the Heavenly Yuan Dao Sect was powerful, overseeing the essence of a realm and looking down upon the four states and their mountains and seas.
But would Primordial Infant Cultivators really be 'sent' there?
Moreover...
"How does Elder Shen know that I will become a guest scholar of your esteemed sect? And what is this Star Gate?"
Shen Wanding smiled, "That's normal. Our Commerce Alliance Elders have the task of recommending powerful individuals from the four states to join the Heavenly Yuan Dao Sect. Within the sect, the Star Gate is where they go. I believe Elder Fu invited you here with the intention of having you join our sect!"
"Star Gate?"
Luo Chen repeated the name, his expression turning serious, "Please enlighten me, what is this Star Gate?"
Previously, Fu Chaosheng had only mentioned that after the task was completed, he would recommend Luo Chen to become a guest scholar of the Heavenly Yuan Dao Sect, but he hadn't mentioned this special Star Gate.
At that time, it was partly due to the urgency of the situation and partly because Fu Chaosheng had withheld some information.
Now it seemed that it was difficult to determine whether Shen Wanding and Fu Chaosheng were friends or foes, but if Luo Chen could obtain some intelligence from Shen Wanding, it would make things easier for him later on.
Shen Wanding carefully observed Luo Chen, who carried himself with a calm and unassuming demeanor, neither arrogant nor humble. Despite being at the first layer of the Primordial Infant Stage, his divine sense strength was no less than Shen Wanding's, making him a truly rare individual.
After a brief moment of thought, Shen Wanding smiled and said,
"The Star Gate is a special place within our sect, located at the Heaven-Earth Peak."
"Within, there are a total of nineteen elders. Twelve of these elders are from the twelve great families, two are from the thirty-six world-renowned families, and the remaining five are recommended by guest scholars like you."
"However, the Star Gate is primarily composed of these external powerhouses. The minimum requirement for recruitment is the Primordial Infant Stage. Once accepted, they are divided into three levels: ordinary guest scholars, Heavenly Yuan Venerables, and Heaven-Earth Peak Elders."
"Do you know Dan Sheng Chu Yan?"
Luo Chen was taken aback and subconsciously nodded.
This person's reputation was thunderous, and he had heard of him even during the Foundation Establishment Stage.
Rumors said that he was from the Dong Huang Sacred Land, Mingyuan Sect, but for some unknown reason, he left for the Central State and joined the Heavenly Yuan Dao Sect.
According to rumors, he was the only person in the world capable of refining fifth-stage pills at the Primordial Infant Stage. Why would Elder Shen mention him now?
"He is one of the nineteen elders of the Heaven-Earth Peak Star Gate and has been an elder for five hundred years!"
Luo Chen's heart trembled, and he asked in confusion, "What benefits does the Heaven-Earth Peak Star Gate offer to attract so many powerful cultivators from the mountains and seas?"
"Benefits?" Shen Wanding laughed, "There are too many to count."
Then, he explained in detail.
External Primordial Infant Realmen couldn't directly join the Heavenly Yuan Dao Sect, and this taboo was similar to other sects.
Therefore, the Star Gate was specifically established to accommodate external powerhouses.
Once accepted, ordinary guest scholars could directly enjoy the benefits of a fourth-stage spirit vein without spending any spirit stones.
If one becomes a Guest Scholar and makes special contributions to the Dao Sect or advances to the late Nascent Soul stage, they can even become a Heavenly Yuan Attendant.
At this point, some of the resources within the Heavenly Yuan Dao Sect will be made available to the attendants.
As for the five elders of the Heaven-Earth Peak, they are even qualified to participate in some of the major decisions of the Heavenly Yuan Dao Sect.
In addition, there are two other benefits that outsiders are unaware of.
One is that after joining the Star Gate for five hundred years, they can recommend their descendants and disciples to join the Heavenly Yuan Dao Sect, officially becoming a part of the sect.
The other benefit involves the secret of ascension!
On this last point, Shen Wanding did not elaborate, but even the brief mention was enough for Luo Chen to digest.
With so many benefits as a Star Gate elder, it's no wonder that powerful cultivators from all over the world flock to it.
"Now that the Northern Sea is in chaos and demonic beasts are thriving, many Northern Sea powerhouses have lost their foothold. This time, I have also recommended several Northern Sea True Immortals to join the Star Gate. If you have the time, I can organize a gathering to introduce you to them and exchange cultivation insights. It's always detrimental to our generation to be closed off and not interact with others." Shen Wanding stroked his beard and smiled.
Luo Chen took a sip of tea and politely declined.
"Thank you for your kind offer, Elder Shen. As you can see, I am currently in a situation where my secret technique is not yet complete, and my divine soul is active and scattered, so it's not suitable for me to interact with others. I apologize."
"That's true!"
Shen Wanding looked at Luo Chen, feeling the omnipresent divine sense, and had a prickling sensation on his skin.
He knew that Luo Chen didn't do it on purpose, but it did make fellow cultivators of the same stage dislike him, making him unsuitable for interaction.
"In that case, never mind."
Then, he changed the topic, "No wonder you're so interested in puppetry. With such powerful divine sense, you are indeed suitable for cultivating puppetry. As it happens, I have an ancient puppetry technique that may be of help to you."
Luo Chen hesitated, "I wonder how much it's worth?"
Shen Wanding burst into laughter, "What's there to discuss about money? Today, we've had a wonderful chat, so consider this a gift for visiting you!"
Seeing Luo Chen still hesitant, he spoke with confidence, "It's just a copy, and it's of no use to me. You don't need to decline, my friend."
Luo Chen had no choice but to accept the jade slip with the puppetry technique imprinted on it.
After chatting a bit more about the customs of Central State, Luo Chen personally escorted Shen Wanding out of the cave mansion.
On top of Xiaoqiong Mountain, Luo Chen held the jade slip, his smile unchanged on the outside, but his heart felt heavy.
He thought of his journey to Central State as a mere interlude, fulfilling his promise to Fu Chaosheng.
Now it seemed that the place he had to go to was a colossal entity, and even a mere glimpse of it was enough to make one feel breathless.
Star Gate, Heaven-Earth Peak...
At the foot of Xiaoqiong Mountain, Shen Wanding's smile remained, his lips curling upwards.
"This trip was indeed worthwhile."
"This Wilderness Loose Cultivator has great potential. To have reached this level at such a young age, he will surely grow even faster after joining the Heaven-Earth Peak in the future."
"But that's in the future. For now, being at the early Nascent Soul stage and unable to control his divine sense at will, his combat power is average. In the five-hundred-year grand competition in the Mirage Dragon Cavern, he won't pose a threat to Liu Yuan."
"I merely gave him a copy of a puppetry technique that's useless to me, which will distract him from improving his strength for a while. It will also make him grateful to me, and when he achieves some success in the future, he can assist my Shen family from the outside."
"Speaking of which, that Fu Chaosheng has a good eye for talent, to have discovered such a genius!"
...
The news of Shen Wanding's visit to Luo Chen couldn't be kept secret.
Soon, the high-level cultivators in Divine Essence City learned that a Nascent Soul stage loose cultivator had arrived in the city.
They were eager to visit, but most of them were turned away.
No one complained, as the explanation given by Xiaoqiong Mountain was that the Wilderness Loose Cultivator had just formed his Nascent Soul and needed time to seclude himself to consolidate his cultivation.
The high-level cultivators understood this, as it was already challenging for a loose cultivator to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. Now that he had temporarily obtained a fourth-stage spirit vein, it was only natural for him to seize the time to solidify his cultivation.
But the truth was far from this!
In his cave mansion, Luo Chen consumed one Great Soul Pill every month.
Just three months later, his uncontrollable divine sense became completely manageable.
For him, this represented significant progress in his cultivation of the Soul Splitting Technique.
[Soul Splitting Technique Proficiency: 1/100]
Luo Chen looked at the newly added attribute on his status panel, feeling a sense of relief.
At this moment, within his sea of consciousness, two soul shadows, one main and one secondary, stood silently.
In terms of size, the secondary soul was far inferior to the main soul. However, its foundation was no less than that of an ordinary primary soul of a first-layer Nascent Soul cultivator.
"In just three months, I've grown so much. This Great Soul Pill is truly miraculous!"
Even the calm Luo Chen couldn't help but feel his emotions stir, feeling quite excited.
Even without the complete Soul Splitting Technique, he managed to compensate for this deficiency through pill cultivation.
The Great Soul Pill produced twelve pills per batch, and a successful batch would be enough for a year's supply.
A bottle containing a million soul essences was enough for a thousand pill refinements.
Everything was developing in a positive direction.
The only concern Luo Chen had was that the new secondary soul, while strong in quantity, was somewhat weak in quality.
This seemed contradictory, but there was an internal logic to it.
It was strong in quantity but weak in quality.
This secondary soul hadn't experienced the tempering of time like his main soul, not to mention the trials of advancing through the Nascent Soul tribulation lightning or the transformation of the Yin soul into a Yang spirit.
Therefore, while the secondary soul appeared to be at the Nascent Soul level, it might not be effective in attacking enemies.
"It seems that Han Zhan's defeat at my hands was understandable."
Luo Chen spoke to himself.
It was clear that even Han Zhan, who cultivated the complete Soul Splitting Technique, hadn't solved this problem.
He appeared to have nine secondary souls, but they were bloated and of varying quality, which led to his defeat by Luo Chen's Dragon Slaying Technique, which struck them down one by one.
And this problem was now also present in Luo Chen's case.
If it was just about quantity, that was certainly not what Luo Chen desired.
However, Luo Chen already had a preliminary idea to address this issue.
It was his innate spirit treasure!
A small gray cauldron hovered above Luo Chen's head, shimmering with silver-white arcs of electricity.
Thin strands of silver-white electricity occasionally sparked on its surface.
Luo Chen's eyes held a hint of fear, but also a glimmer of anticipation.
"If I use tribulation lightning power to temper my divine soul, can I refine and strengthen its essence by removing the impurities?"
"Furthermore, not only can I split my soul, but even my main soul, if possible, can be tempered in this way?"
Yin souls are most afraid of the power of yang.
And tribulation lightning is undoubtedly the most yang and powerful force in the world!
If the split soul can withstand the power of tribulation lightning, its strength would be unimaginable.
Luo Chen cautiously released his split soul and simultaneously instructed the Primordial Cauldron to emit a strand of silver-white electricity.
A crackling sound filled the air.
As the two made contact, Luo Chen felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and due to the connection between his split soul and main soul, his eyes rolled back unconsciously, and he immediately fell into a deep sleep.
After a good half-day, Luo Chen finally woke up, his pale face filled with lingering fear.
In the world, those who dare to use thunder to temper their bodies are already a rare sight.
To use tribulation lightning to temper one's soul, as Luo Chen was doing, was even more unprecedented.
It could be said that he was acting recklessly and fearlessly! But on Luo Chen's face, which was filled with lingering fear, there was also a hint of elation.
"It's possible!"
"It's completely feasible!"
"It's just that the power of the tribulation lightning was too great before. If it could be reduced by half, my split soul would be able to withstand it."
The Primordial Cauldron was his innate spirit treasure, and he had already gained some understanding of how to control the output of tribulation lightning power.
Next, he just needed to experiment and control the degree of it.
Even if he ruined this split soul due to improper operation, Luo Chen wouldn't mind.
After learning the Soul Splitting Technique and mastering the art of refining the Great Soul Pill, as long as the main soul remained, he could start over from scratch.
If he could figure out this method of soul refinement, he might surpass Han Zhan in the art of soul refinement and completely turn his weakness in soul techniques into a strength.
When his soul became powerful, he could also research and learn corresponding soul attack and defense methods!
"The future is bright!"
Luo Chen smiled and put the Primordial Cauldron away in his Purple Mansion.
One must eat a meal one bite at a time, and things must be done step by step. After the split soul was injured, Luo Chen needed to take the Great Soul Pill to replenish it.
...
On this day, Luo Chen was alone in his cave mansion.
Before him was still the chessboard made from the Demon King's leg bone, but it was clear that his attention wasn't on the shallow white endgame on the board. Instead, he was fully focused on the jade slip in his hand.
He had been studying the puppetry art given to him by Shen Wanding for some time.
Ancient puppetry art wasn't much different from the modern version, as it was always a niche school with limited variations.
With Han Zhan's occasional guidance over the past hundred years, Luo Chen had already gained a solid foundation in puppetry art.
As a result, he picked it up quickly.
He wasn't very interested in making puppets, and in his opinion, making puppets was similar to refining treasures, with the only difference being that the former involved more complex puppets instead of simple weapons like swords and spears.
What interested him was the aspect of "controlling puppets."
After a while, Luo Chen put down the jade slip, his face showing a thoughtful expression.
To excel in puppetry art, the most fundamental requirement was a powerful divine soul, and it was best to be able to multitask.
This was a well-known topic.
But there was indeed some truth to this statement, as controlling puppets required a powerful divine sense.
This was especially true for powerful puppets that contained spirits.
Puppet control had four levels.
Puppet control through suspended threads was considered unrefined, spiritual energy guidance was barely passable, divine perception line control was skilled, and soul seal deep planting brought about unpredictable changes! "This 'Cangli Puppetry Technique' records the complete method of puppet control, even including the method of planting soul seals."
"Shen Wanding truly gave me a great gift!"
After his contemplation, Luo Chen fell into deep thought again.
Could he control the White Tiger Puppet, which was comparable to the late Nascent Soul stage, by planting a soul seal?
Could this method really allow him to touch the sword spirit within the Blood Sword and refine it to recognize its master?
He had very little experience in this aspect.
Especially with powerful puppets like the White Tiger Puppet and the Blood Sword, they were not like his innate spirit treasure, the Primordial Cauldron, which he could control like an extension of his arm. Therefore, he had to be extremely careful, leaving no room for error.
Otherwise, if those two items went out of control, he would be in deep trouble.
Just as Luo Chen was deep in thought, his expression shifted slightly.
"Tianxuan, come in!"
Outside the cave mansion, Tianxuan entered in response to his call.
As soon as she entered, she shook her sleeve.
"Master, Black King has returned."
A coiled dragon lay on the ground, its body torn and scorched, with weak blue flames flickering on its wounds.
Luo Chen's eyebrows rose, "Black King, what happened to make you look so miserable?"
Black King grumbled, "I encountered an enemy. These injuries are nothing, but this fire needs your help to get rid of it."
Looking at the blue flames, Luo Chen felt a sense of familiarity.
Combined with Black King's mention of an "enemy," Luo Chen instantly recalled a certain person.
In the next moment, his gaze pierced through the cave mansion.
"Black King, you brought someone back!"
Black King was taken aback, "Master, how did you know I brought... No, that old fellow is here too!"
He turned around abruptly, his dragon tongue hissing, and his eyes gleamed with malice.
Luo Chen waved his hand and stood up.
"It's just an old friend visiting, no need to be so hostile. You stay here, and I'll go greet my old friend."
(End of Chapter)
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