Chapter 157 - 155: Innate Dao Body, Primordial Demon Body
The Great Brightness Sect had been in decline for a long time, and it didn’t have many disciples in its younger generation. Outstanding ones like Chen Yuan were even rarer.
Most importantly, Chen Yuan was not only exceptionally strong but also acted with prudence, knowing when to advance and when to retreat. This left Bei Tianya incredibly satisfied.
He even felt it was a pity. Chen Yuan had already received the inheritance of the Celestial Fire Hall; otherwise, it would have been wonderful to take him in as a disciple to inherit the legacy of the Cyan Wood Hall.
Bei Tianya coughed and said, "Previously, we certainly wouldn’t have wanted you on the rankings. My Ming Sect prefers to keep a low profile.
"But this time, in order to save someone, we have already revealed the might of our Ming Sect in public. The difference between being on the list or not isn’t that great anymore.
"Even if you don’t make it onto the Hidden Dragon Rankings, your appearance as the successor of the Celestial Fire Hall will circulate throughout the Jianghu.
"So, since our Ming Sect has already shown itself, we might as well do so openly and confidently. There’s no need to hide in the shadows and become a laughingstock.
"Besides, with a young prodigy of our Ming Sect appearing in the world, wouldn’t it make us look weak if he couldn’t even get on the Hidden Dragon Rankings?"
Chen Yuan nodded. "Then I’ll leave everything to your judgment, Mr. Bei."
Chen Yuan wasn’t afraid that someone would connect the dots if the names Chen Jiutian and Chen Yuan appeared on the Hidden Dragon Rankings at the same time.
The surname Chen wasn’t exactly uncommon, and it wouldn’t be the first time a surname was repeated on the Hidden Dragon Rankings.
Lu Qingchen and Lu Chuanshan of the Divine Feather Sect shared the same surname, after all. It was perfectly normal.
"Alright then. I’ll inform the Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower to add you to the Hidden Dragon Rankings shortly."
At this point, Mr. Bei suddenly chuckled. "For one person to occupy two spots on the Hidden Dragon Rankings is truly a rare sight in the current Jianghu. By the way, are you planning to refine the Divine Pill right here?"
Chen Yuan nodded. "To avoid any unexpected complications, it’s best to refine it as soon as possible."
"Then take this. It’s an Array Plate refined by the Thousand Mechanisms Hall. You can set it up for early warnings when you go into seclusion."
Mr. Bei already saw Chen Yuan as a rising star of the Great Brightness Sect.
And since Chen Yuan was so sensible and knew when to advance or retreat, he felt an even greater need to look after him.
"Thank you, Mr. Bei."
"No need to be so polite. There aren’t many young prodigies like you in the sect anymore.
"They’re waiting for me to deliver medicine to the Dubhe Hall, so I won’t say more. I’ll call for you when it’s time for the next sect gathering."
After settling these matters, Bei Tianya hurriedly departed.
Chen Yuan took out the Array Plate Bei Tianya had given him, infusing it with his Inner Strength to activate it.
In an instant, a hazy, faint light enveloped the room, but its power had already spread out a hundred zhang in all directions.
This item involved both Array Dao and Artifact Refining, making it a priceless treasure.
After everything was set up, Chen Yuan finally took out the Divine Pill.
The Divine Pill was like cast gilt, its luster brilliant, yet it emitted no medicinal fragrance. At a glance, it looked like a small golden sphere.
But this Divine Pill could be called the Strongest Divine Pill refined by the Medicine King Valley in the last century.
The Healing Divine Pill in Bei Tianya’s possession had only used a small portion of the medicinal liquid from the Top Grade Spiritual Medicine; the one in his hand contained the majority.
Furthermore, the flame that refined it was the Liaoyuan Celestial Fire, which contained a trace of the Power of Fire Origin. It was enough to draw out the ultimate power of the Shennong Cauldron, which was how this Strongest Divine Pill could be created.
However, Chen Yuan wasn’t sure what its effects were exactly. He could only try to refine it slowly.
He swallowed the Golden Core, and in an instant, a golden divine radiance enveloped his entire body.
Under the glow of that golden divine radiance, all the meridians and acupoints in Chen Yuan’s body began to shine with a faint light that penetrated through his skin and flesh. It was an extraordinary sight.
As the potent medicinal power entered him, the Inner Strength in Chen Yuan’s body began to circulate at a dizzying speed, almost uncontrollably, while his Qi Blood surged like a raging tsunami.
If he hadn’t cultivated the Inner Vision God Observation Method and the Blood Spirit Scripture, which allowed him to barely maintain control of his body, anyone else would have long since been overwhelmed by such dense medicinal power.
As the Golden Core circulated in his stomach, Chen Yuan’s Inner Strength True Qi began to undergo a qualitative change at a visible rate, gradually liquefying into True Essence!
The transformation of True Qi into True Essence was the very essence of the Condensing Truth Realm.
But this process was different for most Martial Artists.
Some Martial Artists lacked sufficient reserves of Inner Strength True Qi. They were considered to have stepped into the Condensing Truth Realm as soon as their True Qi began to liquefy, but their True Essence was actually very thin, like a dried-up stream.
Others, however, had abundant Inner Strength True Qi, and the True Essence they converted was vast and mighty, like a great river.
Basically, all the young prodigies who could make it onto the Hidden Dragon Rankings pursued the latter. They would only choose to step into the Condensing Truth Realm after accumulating their Inner Strength True Qi to its absolute limit.
Otherwise, with thin True Qi and an unstable foundation, even if you entered the Condensing Truth Realm, your explosive power would still be inferior to others.
But at this moment, the True Essence Chen Yuan was converting was no longer a great river. It was like the surging waves of a boundless ocean, churning wildly through the meridians and acupoints in his body.
This was only possible for Chen Yuan. If it were any other Martial Artist with a weaker physical body, they would likely have been torn apart and killed by their own True Essence.
Converting True Qi to True Essence was a slow, grinding process. This realm breakthrough was also the slowest; some Martial Artists even needed more than ten days to complete the conversion.
But Chen Yuan’s speed was extremely fast. In just about a day and a night, his body was already filled with a True Essence Power as vast as an ocean.
The True Essence flowed with the thickness of molten lead and mercury. If Chen Yuan were to ignite it with the Celestial Fire Secret Manual right now, the power coursing through him would be practically indistinguishable from lava.
But it wasn’t over yet.
Helping Chen Yuan step into the Condensing Truth Realm had not even used up a tenth of the Strongest Divine Pill’s medicinal power.
It was only at this moment that Chen Yuan understood the true effect of this Strongest Divine Pill.
Its effect was simple: an extreme and pure enhancement of a Martial Artist’s physical constitution and strength. It was an all-encompassing improvement, a transformation so powerful it was like being reborn.
Internally, it enhanced his True Qi and True Essence, filled his Reincarnation Sea, and expanded his meridians.
Externally, it strengthened his Qi Blood, fortified his physical body to the point where he could withstand fire and water, and made him immune to all poisons.
Moreover, even Chen Yuan’s five senses were greatly enhanced by the Divine Pill.
He recalled that his five senses had only been enhanced once before, when he fused with the Seven Kills Stele.
Chen Yuan even suspected that his Primordial Spirit had been nourished by the Strongest Divine Pill, but since he wasn’t in the Divine Platform Realm yet, he couldn’t perceive it.
It could be said that this was an utterly perfect elixir, with no flaws or side effects.
It was just that its medicinal power was too immense. Only someone with Chen Yuan’s formidable physique and profound foundation of power could refine it. Anyone else would have been too weak to handle the nourishment.
Ten days passed like this. Chen Yuan used the power of the elixir to completely stabilize his realm. With a little more adaptation, he would be able to step into the Condensing Truth Realm Middle Stage.
At this point, only half of the medicinal power had been digested. It took Chen Yuan more than twenty additional days to completely integrate the remaining power into his body.
When he opened his eyes, a dazzling golden glint shone within them before receding a moment later.
Chen Yuan let out a long breath.
His current state could only be described as a complete metamorphosis.
Chen Yuan’s foundation had been profound before, no less than that of Martial Artists from top Noble Families, but it was merely ’no less’.
In reality, Chen Yuan had, after all, only started practicing the Martial Dao in his youth. He had relied entirely on his own talent and powerful cultivation techniques like the Seven Kills Stele, the Inner Vision God Observation Method, and the Blood Spirit Scripture to condition his body, which was how he managed to not lose out in terms of foundation to those from Noble Families.
Tracing it back to its roots, Chen Yuan had started on the Martial Dao a bit late. In the end, his foundation could not be considered perfect.
But now, this Strongest Divine Pill had finally and completely repaired the last trace of imperfection in Chen Yuan’s physical body.
His entire body was now transparent and flawless. In the Taoist School’s terms, it was the Innate Dao Body. In the Buddhist Sect’s terms, it was called the Pure Glass Body. The Demon Sects referred to it as the Primordial Demon Body.
This state was practically perfect. To put it simply, it was as if he had been cultivating since he was in the womb.
With such a perfect body, Chen Yuan’s future cultivation path was bound to be smooth sailing. Even the bottlenecks and thresholds would be far fewer.
Putting away the Array Plate, Chen Yuan walked out of the inn.
But just as he left the main hall, a waiter hurried after him.
"Please wait, Young Hero. Someone asked me to give you this letter."
Chen Yuan took the letter and saw that it had been sent by someone from Lu Chuanshan.
The Jianghai Alliance had many members, and its intelligence network was extremely well-informed.
After Lu Chuanshan left, he received news that Shangguan Yun had already gathered a group of Shangguan Family Martial Artists at the border of Ping and Ning Provinces to ambush and kill Chen Yuan.
He had even invited a Primordial Pill Realm Grandmaster from the Shangguan Family to act, vowing that he wouldn’t rest until Chen Yuan was dead.
Therefore, Lu Chuanshan advised Chen Yuan not to pass through Qing Province on his way back to Ning Province, but to take a detour through other places instead.
Chen Yuan rubbed his chin. ’Does that bastard Shangguan Yun hate me that much? He even brought a Primordial Pill Realm Grandmaster? Shangguan Yun is not the Shangguan Family’s genius, Shangguan Moyuan; his authority within the family is limited. Normally, someone of his status wouldn’t be able to command a Primordial Pill Realm Grandmaster. The one willing to follow Shangguan Yun to ambush me must be closely related to him, a member of his own lineage.’
If Chen Yuan hadn’t broken through to the Condensing Truth Realm and undergone such a complete transformation, he would have definitely followed Lu Chuanshan’s advice and taken a detour back to Ning Province.
But now... he decided to turn the tables and eliminate the trouble that was Shangguan Yun. Not as Chen Jiutian, however, but as Chen Yuan.
The identity of Chen Jiutian had already attracted enough hatred. It was time for him to attract some with another identity.
In the inn’s main hall, a copy of the Hidden Dragon Rankings was on display for traveling Jianghu People to view.
Chen Yuan took a look. Chen Yuan, successor of the Ming Sect’s Celestial Fire Hall, was ranked thirty-fifth on the Hidden Dragon Rankings.
The Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower had really given the Great Brightness Sect a lot of face, placing him directly at the thirty-fifth spot.
He had only killed two Condensing Truth Realm cultivators at the furnace opening ceremony, and those two were only slightly famous. Their reputation wasn’t even as great as Tong Yuantai, whom he had killed before.
Normally, a rank between fortieth and fiftieth would have been reasonable. Placing him at thirty-fifth was a clear sign of giving face to the Great Brightness Sect.
Putting down the Hidden Dragon Rankings, Chen Yuan left Ping Province without hesitation, heading straight for Qing Province.
This time, he wasn’t just going to deal with Shangguan Yun. There was a secret realm at the border of Qing and Ping Provinces that Chen Yuan also planned to take this opportunity to unearth ahead of schedule and seize its treasures.