Cultivation: Immunity to Negative Effects

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Zhang Chi released Corpse Puppet No.1 and sparred with it, using Sword Control. Amidst the flashing Sword Light, the Corpse Puppet was blasted back repeatedly.

Shocking sword gashes appeared all over its body, and this was with Zhang Chi holding back.

Of course, these wounds were not fatal. With the Corpse Puppet’s powerful regenerative abilities, it would soon recover on its own.

"Not bad!"

Zhang Chi nodded in satisfaction.

After that, he rested for a while before getting busy again.

In the following days, he successfully refined six more Star Swords. Including Furnace Carbon, he now had a total of seven, just enough to meet the minimum requirement for setting up the Star Sword Array.

The latter six Flying Swords were also made from high-quality materials, but they contained no Demon Flame Crystals and emitted no scorching aura. They were entirely silver-white, shimmering with starlight—more orthodox Star Swords.

However, he had completely used up the piece of Star Divine Iron to refine them, and that was even with him using it sparingly.

The faint Sword Intent within the Star Divine Iron, however, had been preserved and imbued into all seven Flying Swords.

Zhang Chi speculated that this was because the Star Divine Iron Token had likely been carried by a top expert from the Star Sword Sect for a very long time, allowing it to become saturated with a Sword Intent that would not dissipate.

It had little to do with the shape of the Star Divine Iron itself. Moreover, this Sword Intent undoubtedly gave the Flying Swords a significant boost in Mighty Power.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

At this moment, Zhang Chi pushed his hand toward the sky. In an instant, the seven Magical Treasure Flying Swords—one black and six white, all shimmering with brilliant Sword Light—flew out and formed a profound Sword Array in the air.

Then, a torrent of sharp Sword Light rained down, instantly annihilating all the grass, trees, and rocks within the Sword Array’s range.

During the process, rays of starlight even pierced through space, drawn down from the infinite distance to empower the Flying Swords and the Sword Array, making their Mighty Power even stronger.

With another wave of his hand, Zhang Chi instantly dispelled the Sword Array, and the Flying Swords flew to his side like swimming fish, circling him endlessly.

Zhang Chi then tried activating the Flying Swords and the Sword Array with his other two types of Magical Power, confirming that the Sword Array was indeed at its strongest when powered by Sword Essence.

After testing it for a good while, Zhang Chi finally retracted all the Flying Swords into his body, letting them float in his Dantian and circle slowly around his Golden Core, to be nurtured by his Magical Power.

Of course, Zhang Chi could also refine a Sword Array Sword Map, which would work in tandem with the Flying Swords to create an even more effective formation.

However, he currently lacked the necessary materials and technique, so he hadn’t started refining the Array Map yet.

In the days that followed, Zhang Chi continued his Cultivation in Seclusion while gathering various Tier Three Artifact Refining Materials. He soon managed to refine a suit of Low Grade Magical Treasure Full Body Armor for Corpse Puppet No.1.

At the same time, Zhang Chi replaced all the Magical Artifacts on his person with Magical Treasures. Although they were all Low Grade and of ordinary quality, they were still Magical Treasure Level, providing extremely powerful defense.

Any other Cultivator would find this impossible. First, their financial resources wouldn’t allow for it. Second, even if they had mastered a Tier Three Refining Technique, they wouldn’t be able to gather enough materials for the refining.

Zhang Chi was only able to do it thanks to his special status and steady income. Many Golden Core Cultivators within the Sect were willing to trade with him, providing him with all sorts of Tier Three Artifact Refining Materials.

Zhang Chi himself also had some materials left over from the Demon Beasts he had killed, which now came in handy.

Furthermore, the Sect had a good number of Tier Three Materials available for exchange with Contribution Points or Spirit Stones. While most were common, they would be considered rare items in the outside world.

Zhang Chi also successfully refined the Demon Snake Spine into a long, black whip. When used in close combat, paired with his powerful physique, its Mighty Power was clearly greater than before.

However, the spine still emanated Demonic Qi, so it could only be used as a secret weapon. Because this Demonic Qi possessed great destructive power, Zhang Chi didn’t bother to intentionally remove it.

As for the Demon Snake Spine’s inherent ability to enhance Low Tier Demon Beasts, it had long since become useless to Zhang Chi.

After all, his Three-headed Spirit Beast was already Tier Three. That was precisely why he had used the spine as an Artifact Refining Material.

By the time he finished refining all the Magical Treasures, half a year had passed, and his Core Formation celebration was held as scheduled.

The celebration was packed with guests. Zhang Chi merely made an appearance and received a mountain of gifts.

Among these gifts were various Spirit Pills, Spirit Wines, and even Tier Three Spirit Medicines and Artifact Refining Materials.

These gifts netted Zhang Chi a huge profit, and the Sect didn’t take any portion of it.

The celebration ended a few days later. During that time, no one gave Zhang Chi any trouble or challenged him.

As the guests departed, Zhang Chi’s name spread further throughout all of Yuan South.

Countless Cultivators were extremely curious; it felt as if Zhang Chi had suddenly appeared out of thin air.

The Cyan Cloud Sect also sent people this time, but neither Yu Wan nor the Cyan Cloud Sect’s Supreme Elder were among them, so no one recognized Zhang Chi.

They were even more clueless that Zhang Chi had once joined the Cyan Cloud Sect, nor did they know about his connection to the death of that Foundation Establishment Peak Senior Brother Ning.

Besides, the man was already dead. Even if his death might be related to Zhang Chi, they weren’t going to dig into it.

Zhang Chi, for his part, didn’t specifically target the Cultivators from the Cyan Cloud Sect. He couldn’t kill them, and doing so wouldn’t affect the Cyan Cloud Sect anyway; it would only alert his enemies unnecessarily.

And so, another half a year passed. Just as the buzz around Zhang Chi began to fade, the attention of countless Cultivators was captured by another event.

As the Demon Tide continued to strengthen, a defensive line in Yuan Bei was finally breached by a massive number of Demonized Beasts and Demons.

Afterward, the pressure on Yuan South decreased significantly, to the point where hardly any Demon Beasts or Demons could be seen.

But those Demons and Demon Beasts hadn’t vanished; they had all headed toward Yuan Bei.

As a result, Yuan Bei was immediately plunged into chaos.

’It wasn’t the Spirit Control Sect’s defensive line that was broken. That’s a relief!’

Upon receiving the news, Zhang Chi was somewhat surprised, but he also felt that it had been inevitable.

’Huh? Why can’t I divine the situation over there anymore?’

Later, Zhang Chi used his Turtle Shell Divination Skill to try and divine Lan Xuan’s situation, but he came up with nothing.

Surprised, Zhang Chi immediately understood: the Demon Tide was too powerful, shrouding the fates of all living beings in Yuan Bei.

But he didn’t need a divination to know that most of the Cultivators over there would not meet a good end.

Another six months went by. He received a letter from Lan Xuan detailing the situation in Yuan Bei. Her news was far more specific than what Zhang Chi had managed to find out, and the situation was even more dire.

Zhang Chi replied, telling her to be extremely careful and suggesting that it would be best for her to sneak across to Yuan South.

But his letter was like a stone dropped into the ocean; he received no reply.

Zhang Chi asked the people at the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower, who told him that Yuan Bei was in chaos. They had already withdrawn their personnel and didn’t know whether his letter had been delivered.

Zhang Chi could only use their Spirit Contract and Blood Curse to confirm one thing: Lan Xuan was still alive.

Another half a year passed. The Cangwu Sect Cultivators who had gone to support Yuan Bei finally returned to the Sect, but more than half of them had already perished.

The pro-cooperation faction’s plan was declared a total failure. Or rather, the pro-cooperation faction had long since ceased to exist.

The reinforcements sent by the major Sects had all suffered heavy losses, causing the entire pro-cooperation faction to change its stance. The threat of Demon Beasts and Demons on the Southern Demon Abyss was gone, but the number of Cultivators stationed there to guard it had increased.