It was as bustling as ever at the pass located at the foot of Seven Horn Mountain. Xiao Chen followed the crowd and slowly made his way up the mountain, but he did not have to pay the entry fee to enter the mountain unlike the crowd around him. The guards at the pass recognized him and solemnly kept their silence. The situation had changed, and now that Xiao Chen was no longer recognized as the trash of old, naturally, no one would mock him anymore or even dare to.
After traveling for half a day and making it through the pass, the sight of the vast mountain range of Seven Horn Mountain opened up to his view, scenic and breathtaking. The cultivators who came to Seven Horn Mountain typically came for the sake of picking medicinal herbs or hunting Spirit Beasts. Everyone had their own agenda, thus the crowd quickly dispersed as they went to do their own thing.
Continuing to travel forward, there was no longer anyone traveling on the same path as Xiao Chen. Recalling the route he had taken in the past, Xiao Chen quickly found the place that was saturated with Spiritual Energy.
Compared to the previous time he had been here, Xiao Chen’s senses were much stronger now. Before he drew near to the area, he could already feel that it had been occupied by a Spirit Beast.
Xiao Chen felt slightly disappointed in his heart, as he originally thought that he could meet Cousin Yulan. That way he would be able to avoid a battle.
“Bang! Bang!”
A two meter tall Spirit Beast resembling a black bear trotted out heavily and slowly appeared in front of Xiao Chen’s eyes. Its red eyes were glaring at him, and in the very next moment it rushed at him while roaring furiously.
Bloodmoon Demonic Bear. It had the strength of a rank 2 Spirit Beast, which was equivalent to a human Superior Grade Martial Disciple. This was the new tyrant of the area!
It was obvious from its actions that it recognized Xiao Chen as someone not to be trifled with and only wanted to scare him away. If it could drive him away, it could therefore avoid engaging in a risky battle.
It was a pity that Xiao Chen needed this area. It seemed that things would not go the way the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear wanted.
“Chi!”
Drawing Lunar Shadow, the energy in the Spirit Weapon rapidly connected with the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit inside Xiao Chen. He moved as fast as lightning and pushed himself off the ground, rushing towards the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear. The Purple Thunder Divine Incantation quickly circulated as arcs of electricity jumped around on the saber, and the mist in the forest acted like a conductor for electricity, buzzing continuously.
In the vicinity around Xiao Chen, electrical flashes were being emitted incessantly in a wide radius. The flashes nearly made him look like a tesla coil, which in turn also made him look incomparably mighty and powerful.
The Bloodmoon Demonic Bear, which had been capable of occupying this area all things considered, naturally did not shy away from a fight. It roared explosively as its blood-red pupils gave off a bloodthirsty gleam. It stomped ferociously at the ground, leaping rapidly towards Xiao Chen. Its huge body was actually able to move at such a speed.
“Bang! Cha!”
As they both flew towards each other, they clashed violently with each other in midair. The violent collision created a fierce shockwave. After the surrounding trees in the forest were hit by the shockwaves, they were shaken violently, causing their leaves to fall and scatter everywhere like snow in winter.
The front limbs of the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear firmly grasped onto Xiao Chen’s Lunar Shadow. Relying on the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit in his body, Xiao Chen was able to break even with the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear that was equivalent to a Superior Grade Martial Disciple.
It was a pity to him as the Lunar Shadow Saber would be able to display more of the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit’s strength if it were of a higher grade. The power of that strike would definitely be able to behead this Spirit Beast easily.
However, against the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear which could only use brute force, Xiao Chen still had the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation. In the time to took for a spark to fly off a flint, the electrical energy on Lunar Shadow traveled via the front limbs of the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear and invaded its body. The Bloodmoon Demonic Bear convulsed and fell down with a loud crash shortly after.
Xiao Chen quickly slashed three times in the air. With the power of the Azure Dragon, instead of falling to the ground, he rose even higher. He then somersaulted in midair and landed gently on a thick tree branch.
He sheathed the saber and focused his attention on the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear currently continuously convulsing on the ground. With just a thought, one of the clouds beside the Azure Dragon became significantly thinner as a huge amount of Essence flowed to Xiao Chen’s left hand.
With a flick of his finger, he sent a stream of purple flames towards the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear like an arrow-shaped flaming projectile. This move alone had exhausted a large amount of Xiao Chen’s Essence in an instant. It streaked through the air and struck the body of the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear.
“Pu!”
A deep red glow appeared on the body of the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear. After a while, the entire body of the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear was lit on fire, turning it into a purple flaming bear. Within the fire, the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear roared painfully.
When Xiao Chen saw this scene from his vantage atop the tree branch, he actually shook his head in dissatisfaction. Although the Purple Thunder True Fire was tyrannical, when it encountered a cultivator or Spirit Beast of a higher grade and they had some resistances against it, it would be very difficult to break through the protective screen of Essence to injure their body.
Once the Purple Thunder True Fire exhausted all the energy supplied to it, it would naturally be extinguished. After that, it would no longer be a threat to anyone.
Just as it was now. Although the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear looked like it was in a terrible situation, it actually did not suffer any major damage. What was being burnt was actually the Essence on the surface of its body. It was not actually hurting its body. Or else it would have already turned into a pile of ashes.
However, it was an unpleasant situation for the bear at the moment. Not only did it have to exhaust a large amount of Essence to suppress the strange purple fire, the temperature of the fire was also unbearable.
The purple flames burned for a whole minute before being extinguished. At this moment, the fur of the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear was entirely burnt black. There was black smoke coming out from its nose and mouth, and it now seemed like a piece of black charcoal, which made it look less intimidating than it did before.
Xiao Chen, who was waiting for the right moment, leaped down from the tree, brandishing his saber to chop down at it. The Bloodmoon Demonic Bear roared angrily and smashed its paw towards Xiao Chen. There was a huge recoiling force coming from the blade of the saber. Xiao Chen took a gentle step back, avoiding being directly hit by that forceful blow in their brief exchange.
The Bloodmoon Demonic Bear seemed to be in a frenzy as it sent paw smashes after paw smashes at him. The amount of force behind each paw smash seemed to have increased by half as opposed to earlier. Xiao Chen clearly understood that the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear would not be able to maintain such a state for long. Once this streak of attacks made in reckless abandon ended, he would be able to slaughter it like cattle at his whim.
Xiao Chen brandished his sword and continued to parry each incursion, not clashing head-on with it. After a while, the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear started to show traces of fatigue. Xiao Chen had a strange smile on his face as he made the same hand motions as he did before when condensing the Purple Thunder True Fire, as though he was going to shoot it out again.
The Bloodmoon Demonic Bear seemed to have an aghast expression. It stood firmly on the ground with its four limbs and retreated a few steps. A protective screen of deep red Essence completely covered the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear without leaving any gaps.
Looks like this beast was truly afraid of the Purple Thunder True Fire. Xiao Chen flung his empty hand around, smiling in his heart, this deep red Essence shield should be the defensive technique that the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear used earlier.
Seeing Xiao Chen’s mocking gaze, the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear was now thoroughly infuriated. Its eyes began to change to a demonic appearance as it stomped the ground repeatedly in ire unmatched, producing a lot of loud, angry noises.
Paper tiger, Xiao Chen looked at it with disdain, You are not worth playing with anymore.
Die! Divine Thunder Break!
As Xiao Chen shouted, his body gave off a resplendent electrical light. Superior Grade Yellow Ranked Martial Technique—Thunder Break. Lightning tore through the air, and like a sharp arrow piercing through a wooden board, the red protective screen of the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear now had a massive hole.
Purple Thunder True Fire! Shoot!
The white cloud beside the Azure Dragon in his body turned transparent, indicating that he had used up one of the three clouds, which also meant Xiao Chen had exhausted one-third of his Essence.
The strange and tyrannical purple flame went through the hole in an instant, drilling a black hole into the body of the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear. This was the scene of the purple fire burning its body. The black hole quickly grew larger, eventually consuming its entire body,
The Bloodmoon Demonic Bear continuously let out loud cries of misery. It ran around non-stop in an attempt to put out the flame. However, regardless of what it did, it was to no avail.
After a while, only a complete set of bones comprising its skeletal frame and a pile of ashes were left on the ground.
If the people who came to hunt Spirit Beasts saw this, they would definitely be cursing and swearing. The Bloodmoon Demonic Bear could be said to be the most profitable Spirit Beast in the outskirts of Seven Horn Mountain. Its paw, gall bladder, skin, and heart all had a rather high market value. If they were fortunate enough and were able to obtain its Spirit Core, it would be like striking the jackpot. It was rare to find someone who would completely burn and eviscerate the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear to this degree.
Looking at the skeleton on the ground, Xiao Chen did not feel that it was a pity. He was not here to kill Spirit Beasts. If he needed money, he could just refine some pills. There was no need to waste time killing Spirit Beasts and collecting their parts and viscera.
Looking for a sturdy tree branch, Xiao Chen strung up the skeleton of the Bloodmoon Demonic Bear. This would serve as a warning to both cultivators or Spirit Beast coming to look for trouble.
After he tidied everything up, Xiao Chen took out a Fasting Pill and swallowed it. He circulated his energy to aid in the absorption of the medicinal contents before he took out the Essence Nurturing Pill and swallowed it as well.
Seating in a crossed-legged position, he began to circulate the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation. Sinking down into his consciousness, Xiao Chen could clearly feel the medicinal effect of the Essence Nurturing Pill. The Spiritual Energy that had been absorbed into his body was now thrice as dense. This would boost Xiao Chen’s cultivating speed significantly.
The Purple Thunder Divine Incantation was just a cultivating technique. It was different from the realms of martial cultivation. There was no bottleneck to breaking through to the next layer. Once they reached a certain level, they would naturally enter into the next layer. Furthermore, the first layer of the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation was just the foundation; even without the help of the Essence Nurturing Pill, he would be able to break through to the second layer within the next three or four months.
However, the time for the Promise of Ten Years was fast approaching, and the amount of time Xiao Chen had left was limited. If he wanted to defeat Zhang He by slowly improving, it would simply be foolish thinking.
There was an entire realm of difference, and some, between a Medial Grade Martial Master and an Inferior Grade Martial Disciple. There was naturally a great difference between a Martial Master and Martial Disciple. Once one became a Martial Master, one would be able to project their Essence into the atmosphere. The Essence stored in the body would be of much higher purity and quantity than what is available to a Martial Disciple.
The most important thing was the proficiency they had in controlling their Martial Spirit. After advancing to this realm, the Martial Spirit would be able to leave the body. They would be able to freely control their Martial Spirit, just as Xiao Yulan did—using her Martial Spirit to leave her body and successfully slay a Martial Grand Master.
Even if there was some trickery involved, when a Martial Disciple goes up against a Martial Grand Master, regardless of what said person does, they would never be able to kill a Martial Grand Master.
Within the next four months of time, regardless of how talented he was, he would not be able to breakthrough to Martial Master. Thus, for Xiao Chen to defeat Zhang He, he could only bank on the miraculous Purple Thunder Divine Incantation.
Once the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation advanced to the second layer, there would be a qualitative leap in his abilities. He would acquire the most foundational sense of an Immortal Cultivator—Spiritual Sense. With Spiritual Sense, he would be capable of performing the mystical spells written down in the Compendium of Cultivation, and last but not least, he would be able to draw talismans, forge equipment, and even lay down formations.
This was how Xiao Chen intended to surpass his realm as a Martial Disciple and defeat the Martial Master Zhang He!