Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation
chapter-660

Rebirth

However, most people who attempted this could not endure that painful torture when they consumed the Quintessence Gathering Pill, thus failing in their breakthrough.

The better the Cultivation Technique, the more pain would be endured.

The more serious cases could result in death; the slightly less serious cases could have their cultivation crippled. Aside from a few geniuses, few managed to endure the entire process.

If Xiao Chen had not buried himself in cultivation and had taken some time out to listen to the lectures of the elders, instead, he would have heard the introduction to this in the first lecture.

However, Xiao Chen did not know all this. Even now, he thought that it was due to the Superior Grade Quintessence Gathering Pill.

Xiao Chen endured bitterly. However, he had an advantage over the others, which was his physical body. Few within the same generation had a physical body as strong as his. Those with physical bodies as strong as his would not spend time cultivating Quintessence and those with strong Quintessence would not bother tempering the body.

If Xiao Chen’s willpower exceeded the norms, he had a chance at succeeding.

Of course, all this hinged on whether Xiao Chen could endure the pain. Otherwise, if he admitted defeat in his heart, no matter how strong his physical body was, it would just be like a decoration.

Xiao Chen had to endure; otherwise, he would end up having wasted a lot of time. That would be such a pity. He experienced so much pain that his thoughts blurred. Only his instinct remained, enduring bitterly.

With the burning of the Quintessence Gathering Pill, the hundred-odd drops of Quintessence became smaller and fused with another one or two drops.

Every time a fusion happened, there would be a jolt of intense pain. Xiao Chen did not dare cry out aloud for fear of accidentally biting his tongue off.

Such a state continued for an unknown period of time. Just when Xiao Chen’s last shred of consciousness was about to wear out, the pain plaguing his body suddenly vanished.

Xiao Chen relaxed completely. Before he could breathe out in relief, he immediately fell unconscious. He entered a profound sleep, not thinking or dreaming of anything.

When he woke up, three days had passed. He stretched himself, and cracking sounds came from his body.

Xiao Chen stood up, feeling that he had become lighter but sturdier.

He clenched his right fist and circulated his Quintessence slightly. He immediately felt a strong force blast into the air.

The Quintessence exploded at the tip of his fist, sounding like a crack of thunder. The entire room started trembling intensely.

The amount of energy circulated was the same, but the might displayed had quintupled compared to the past.

This was the might of Quintessence refined by the Quintessence Gathering Pill. Ordinary people could only triple their might, but because Xiao Chen had refined his Quintessence once himself, the increase was even more.

Xiao Chen rejoiced. He said, “Could I have succeeded?”

He sank his consciousness down and saw thirty drops of Quintessence in his dantian. Their color was intense, and the drops even seemed half their previous size.

“Ha ha ha! It really succeeded!”

Xiao Chen was overjoyed. He immediately left the cultivation room and entered the courtyard. Then, he started to feel out the effects of this “rebirth.”

At this moment, Xiao Chen did not know that he had attained a height that few had achieved in the past thousand years. He thought that everyone that consumed a Superior Grade Quintessence Gathering Pill experienced such pain.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Fist winds whistled, and strands of Quintessence exploded on the tip of Xiao Chen’s fist. The surrounding air surged and compressed under the explosive force.

The ground seemed like it would sink. It shook left and right like an earthquake.

“Good! Good! Very good! If I meet those two fellows from the Rising Sky Pavilion again, I no longer need to act weak. I have a seventy percent chance of trouncing them in direct combat.”

Xiao Chen drew back his fist and stood upright. A bright light gleamed in his eyes, radiating strong confidence.

As for Gui Wu and his group, Xiao Chen no longer needed to worry about them. Even if six or seven people worked together, he would be able to defeat them, beating them up until they no longer dared to harass him.

Stopping his testing, Xiao Chen calmed himself and absorbed the remnant Quintessence in the courtyard. Then, he prepared to return to the Supreme Sky Sect.

As Xiao Chen sped towards the transportation formation in the city, he found the atmosphere on the streets somewhat strange. Occasionally, cultivators would rush out of the restaurants and inns around, all of them flying in the same direction.

In the Kunlun Realm, flying exhausted a lot of Quintessence. No one would fly except for something important.

After all, if they were just traveling, there would not be much difference in speed between moving on land or flying.

“Quick, let’s go! The genius of the ninth battle realm, Ren Hua, is challenging the top bladesman of the eighteen southern provinces, Feng Xingsheng.”

“The geniuses of the ten great battle realms have been gaining fame recently. They have been defeating many young experts who had been famous for a long time.”

“Of course, no one from a battle realm is mediocre. They have the bloodline of ancient giants. They are innately strong and possess great force, having a natural disposition for war. Furthermore, these geniuses are among the top ranks in their battle realm.”

“However, they have risen too fast. Feng Xingsheng is an expert second to the seven giants. He ranks in the top hundred of the Proud Son of Heaven Ranking, and the older generation is full of praise for his Saber Techniques.”

“Everything is possible in this great era. How can you still look at things with the old mindset?”

Xiao Chen heard the scattered information coming from around him as he stood in the air. He finally understood what the bustle was about.

A lower-realm genius was going to challenge a local expert. Furthermore, they both had significant backgrounds. Thus, this fight attracted a lot of attention.

“After being in the Tianwu Domain for this long, I still have not seen a true fight between the experts of the younger generation. It would be good to take a look.”

At the last minute, Xiao Chen changed his mind about returning immediately. He wanted to join in on the excitement. He could definitely learn something from an exchange between two experts of the same generation, broadening his horizons.

Ren Hua versus Feng Xingsheng, who was second to the seven giants of the Proud Son of Heaven Ranking. One was the top genius of the ninth battle realm, and the other was the top bladesman of the eighteen southern provinces.

The furor over these two’s battle far surpassed Xiao Chen’s expectations. Nearly all the Martial Monarchs and above in Sky Mound City went over.

There were even many Martial Kings traveling on land, rushing over. The stream of rubberneckers seemed unending.

The battle would take place at the nearby Nine Sword Peaks. The land there was vast with very few inhabitants. There were no Spirit Beasts or natural treasures to be found there, either; it was pretty much a desolate mountain.

By arranging for the battle to be held here, nothing would happen no matter how great the commotion was.

Xiao Chen followed the crowd, flying to the location of the battle. Soon, nine mountain peaks appeared on the flat plains, like nine swords sticking out of the ground, pointing at the sky.

That place was Nine Sword Peaks. The nine mountain peaks looked like treasured swords, hence its name. Xiao Chen asked around and found out that this Nine Sword Peaks was also a holy ground for duels.

Experts of the younger generation would frequently arrange to hold duels in this place. This was because the environment and geography there was unique. In the past, a battle that took place sliced several kilometers off the tall peaks.

However, the nine mountain peaks still stood more than two kilometers tall. It was easy to imagine how majestic the Nine Sword Peaks had previously been.

Four or five people already stood on one of the peaks of the Nine Sword Peaks, each of them tall and stout, exuding a ferocious aura akin to that of a wild beast.

The auras of these people merged and surged towards the vast sky, causing the white clouds to churn. Even before the fight began, they already gave the impression that a great battle was brewing.

“Aside from the few in closed-door cultivation, the geniuses of the ten great battle realms are all here. They really have great camaraderie.”

“I heard long ago that the battle realm people are the most united. From what we can see today, this rumor appears to be true.”

“Indeed, this is why no one seeks trouble with the people from the battle realms for no reason. They were already madmen in the first place. Now, those madmen have banded together, so they’re even scarier.”

“Ha ha! Even those who are stronger than they are would get a headache from dealing with them.

A group of local cultivators beside Xiao Chen discussed in soft voices. They seemed very relaxed as they spoke.

“Xiu!”

Loud and clear sonic booms came from the distance, echoing everywhere. A sharp aura arrived like the strong wind.

The crowd quickly turned their heads to look. They only saw a person flying over from the west. This person had a slim figure with a narrow face, making him look quite stern.

This person held a saber in his left hand, and he wore simple and clean long blue robes. Expressionless, he quickly flew over and landed on a mountain peak.

As this person looked around, his gaze was like a sharp and solid saber light. With one glance, the faint fog around the mountain peak slowly disappeared on both sides.

“Feng Xingsheng is here!”

More than a thousand Martial Monarchs in the surrounding sky watched eagerly. Even more cultivators filled the land below the mountain peak. The atmosphere was extremely lively.

Within the crowd, Xiao Chen raised his eyebrows and thought to himself, What a strong saber intent! The top bladesman of the eighteen southern provinces truly lives up to his title.

At this moment, Feng Xingsheng raised his eyebrows when he looked at the battle realm people, who were separated from him by three mountain peaks. His lips curled up, and an expression of pride appeared on his stern face. He said indifferently, “Ren Hua, you brought so many people here. Do you intend to have a group battle?”

The moment Feng Xingsheng finished speaking, the other geniuses of the battle realms scattered, leaving only the stout Ren Hua.

“Ha ha ha! Feng Xingsheng, you overrate yourself. Do I even need my brothers to work together to deal with you?”

Ren Hua released his aura as he laughed loudly. Boundless tyranny and arrogance saturated his laughter as his voice reverberated in the mountain peaks, lingering for a long time.

Finally and unexpectedly, that voice turned into a howling gust of wind, blowing around the nine mountain peaks. As the wind cried out, the clouds parted, and Feng Xingsheng’s robes fluttered about loudly.

“Pa! Pa! Pa!” Suddenly, explosions came from the wind. Everyone looked carefully and found that Feng Xingsheng’s clothes gave off intense energy fluctuations as they flapped. Each time his robes flapped, there was an explosion.

The constant explosions made the air tremble and buzz. Countless rocks on the mountain peaks tumbled down like a vast army marching.

“What a powerful move!”

As the crowd looked at Ren Hua, they felt astonished. Just a few words from him released such might. How dense exactly was his Quintessence?

Furthermore, under these surging sound waves, Feng Xingsheng simply stood there calmly. His strength was probably unfathomable.

Xiao Chen was somewhat surprised as he watched this simple exchange between the two. This Ren Hua was only a late-stage Medial Grade Martial Monarch, but his flexibility and the strength of his Quintessence far surpassed Xiao Chen’s by severalfold.