Chapter 523 - 46: Plotting
Shen Changchuan was unaware of the events unfolding outside.
He had already returned to Dawan Village.
Thanks to his master’s Flying Ship, which could traverse space, a journey that would have taken at least two months on even the fastest vessel was cut down to a mere few days.
This saved Shen Changchuan a considerable amount of time.
After dropping Shen Changchuan off, his master didn’t linger. He simply instructed him to cultivate diligently before departing.
Perhaps he had been away from the Nanyue Territory for quite some time and needed to return to hold the line, preventing the Demonic Alliance from launching a counterattack.
Or perhaps he had other urgent matters to attend to.
He didn’t give Shen Changchuan the details.
In any case,
Master Wandering Dragon had already departed.
Upon returning to Dawan Village, Shen Changchuan went to see his grandfather, mother, and other relatives.
After confirming that nothing unexpected had happened while he was away,
he breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately,
his worst fears hadn’t come to pass.
No one had dared to cause trouble nearby while he was gone.
Everything was peaceful.
However, it wasn’t hard to understand why.
After all, his master had made an appearance and issued a warning before leaving.
Faced with a being at the Divine Travel Peak Realm,
it was unlikely anyone would dare show disrespect.
Furthermore,
his master had set up an Array around Dawan Village before his previous departure,
and it was doubtful anyone had the ability to break through an Array laid by an expert of the Divine Travel Peak Realm.
’But why have those people suddenly gone quiet?’
’They were sent here on orders. Surely they wouldn’t give up so easily?’
’And why didn’t the Top Level forces from the Outer Realm send their powerful experts into the Tian Nan Domain? Instead, they sent their sects’ prodigies. The whole thing seems strange...’
Although it was a good thing Dawan Village hadn’t been attacked,
Shen Changchuan couldn’t help but worry.
He worried they were secretly hatching a plot against him...
’Whatever. I’m done worrying about them.’
The underground network in Dawan Village hadn’t turned up any leads. With so little information, it was impossible to deduce anything.
Shen Changchuan could only shake his head and put it all out of his mind.
’Without concrete intelligence, I’m just borrowing trouble.’
’Whatever their plot, I’ll handle whatever they throw at me.’
Shen Changchuan let out a long breath.
A confident glint appeared in his eyes.
’I’ve broken through to the Soul Emergence Eighth Layer now. With my current strength, I’m fully confident I can face those prodigies from the Outer Realm and win!’
’Even if they bring some unexpectedly overwhelming power to bear, I still have the trump card my master gave me. It won’t be a major problem.’
’The most important thing right now is to increase my own strength as much as possible!’
’The Xiangshan Sect Gate Ruins, the Enlightenment Blessed Land, Spatial Slash...’
Shen Changchuan reined in his many thoughts.
He established a rough plan for his next steps.
However,
Shen Changchuan wasn’t in a hurry to leave Dawan Village for the entrance shown on the map Shen Chong had given him.
He knew without a doubt
that there were certainly numerous spies near Dawan Village,
all hoping to pry the secrets of the old Xiangshan Sect Gate Ruins from him.
Countless eyes were watching him from the shadows.
Shen Changchuan was no fool.
He wasn’t about to go running off right after returning, especially when he was under the most scrutiny.
The last thing he wanted was to attract a swarm of competitors when he entered the Xiangshan Sect Gate Ruins.
’I need to find a way to slip past their notice...’
For a moment,
Shen Changchuan fell into deep thought.
But this sort of thing was easier said than done.
For the moment, Shen Changchuan couldn’t think of a brilliant plan to deceive them all.
Fortunately, he wasn’t in a rush.
Besides, he hadn’t even fully digested the gains from his breakthrough in the Spirit Transformation Pool.
It was just that the rush of subsequent events—including entering the Immortal Sect Scripture Pavilion to gather Body Refining Techniques and other pressing tasks—had forced him to temporarily shift his focus elsewhere.
Now was the perfect time to make up for that, to fully absorb all the insights he had gained from his breakthrough during his Cultivation in the Spirit Transformation Pool.
Moreover,
although the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu had already been refined and integrated by him,
Shen Changchuan had yet to properly test it, so he still didn’t know the full extent of its capabilities.
Having made his decision,
Shen Changchuan settled down.
He settled into secluded Cultivation within Dawan Village.
....
「Time flew by, and a month passed in the blink of an eye.」
During this month, Shen Changchuan spent most of his time digesting and absorbing the various insights from his time in the Spirit Transformation Pool.
In the process,
Shen Changchuan’s gains were considerable.
Especially with an ample supply of Cultivation Resources like Spirit Stones, his Cultivation Realm improved steadily, marking a small step forward.
This small improvement wasn’t huge—it was merely a single small step forward. He was still quite a ways from the Eighth Layer Middle Stage.
Still, it was something to be happy about.
Improving one’s Cultivation Realm was not something that could be accomplished overnight. It was a gradual accumulation, like single drops of water gathering to form a river, that allowed one to eventually reach the summit step by step.
That was how a stable Cultivation Realm was built.
After fully digesting his gains from the Spirit Transformation Pool and completely mastering the power of the Eighth Layer Realm,
Shen Changchuan turned his attention to the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu he had refined and integrated.
After spending several days experimenting, making one adjustment after another,
he finally had a general grasp of the state of the integrated Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu.
When using the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu in its Overclocking State, his Cultivation Realm could instantly rise to the Eighth Layer Peak, causing his power to skyrocket.
However,
this state could only be maintained for about an hour in intense combat. Pushing it further would cause significant damage to his body and could even leave behind internal injuries that would be difficult to heal.
In addition,
because this explosive increase in strength was a result of the Overclocking effect, his control over his Magical Power would be diminished to a certain extent. He would no longer be able to wield it with the same perfect, effortless command as before.
But there was good news as well.
The good news was that even in that state, he could use Perfection Tier Two Skills, and cast them instantaneously.
This was likely because he had already refined and integrated the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu.
The Gu Insect had fused with his spine, becoming one,
so even in the Overclocking State, he could still instantaneously cast Perfection Tier Two Skills.
This was something,
his former self had been unable to do.
Before the Refinement and integration,
his Magical Power Realm would soar, but the rampaging Magical Power was difficult to control. Back then, he could only fight his enemies by crudely venting his Magical Power; he was completely unable to cast Perfection Tier Two Skills.
Compared to that,
the benefits of having refined and integrated it were self-evident.