Chapter 1828: Pursuit and Escape
Outside the Saint Tower stood a stone monument engraved with the names of everyone currently inside. Beside each name was a record of how long they had remained within.
Sitting firmly at the absolute top of the ranking was still that very same Fang Han. He had already remained inside the Saint Tower for 43 years. The person ranking second had only lasted 24 years, leaving a massive, yawning gap between them. Further down the list, the disparity became much less pronounced, with durations of 23, 21, 18, and 15 years scattered throughout.
Fang Chen's name was positioned deep down the rankings, with a time of ten years trailing behind it. Such a result was by no means spectacular. Occasionally, clansmen walking past would halt their steps before the stone monument for a brief moment to strike up a discussion. However, the focal point of their conversations was almost exclusively centered on Fang Han. Only a select few individuals would specifically scan the monument to seek out Fang Chen's name and check exactly how many years he had logged inside the tower.
After all, his true origins were highly unusual. It could only be definitively confirmed that his bloodline purity was exceptionally high, yet his actual strength set worlds apart from the thirteen Limit Breaking ancestors. He was even inferior to a fair number of the younger Fang Clan members.
"Old Ancestor Fang Chen has been inside for ten years this time, which is over four years longer than his previous run. Perhaps he has already achieved a breakthrough within," a clansman whose cultivation sat at the fifth transformation remarked with a face full of emotion.
"Once my current realm stabilizes and nears completion, I will fork over the required fee and head inside to see if I can force a breakthrough as well," another person muttered, quietly clenching his fists.
Right at that moment, Fang Ding and several of his peers of the same rank strolled over at a leisurely pace. They simply happened to be passing through the vicinity and decided to drop by specifically to take a look. Seeing them approach, the Fang Clan members gathering near the stone monument hurriedly cupped their hands and bowed in salute.
"Fang Ding, Ancestor Chen has likely broken through. For him to endure for ten years is a testament that his strength isn't weak at all," said one of the ninth-transformation immortals who had been among the very first to arrive back when Fang Chen was testing his bloodline purity.
"If he managed to break through, that would naturally be fantastic."
Fang Ding cast a glance toward the characters inscribed upon the monument.
Fang Chen, Ten Years.
A decade-long duration dictated that, under normal circumstances, a breakthrough should have already occurred. Otherwise, staying within the exact same realm for so long would require slaying an astronomical number of exotic beasts. A person's inner energy wouldn't even have a chance to recover before they were overwhelmed by the beasts and consequently eliminated by the Saint Tower.
Fang Ding asked casually, "Right, is there any news regarding the Primal Beginning Origin Milk yet?"
"I've made inquiries all over. In the entire Nether Ruins, no one has ever even heard of this Primal Beginning Origin Milk."
"That's not surprising. I've never heard of it either. But this is a task Ancestor Chen specifically ordered me to handle. If I botch it, it won't be easy to give an account," muttered Fang Ding, his brows furrowing slightly.
The other man's eyes flashed with a subtle smile. "However..."
"However, what!?" Fang Ding's expression shifted, and he barked out a laugh. "Just spit it out! Stop playing riddles with me unless you're looking for a beating!"
"What's the rush? I managed to get a lead saying that one of the Flame Race's slave armies, a group that calls themselves the Demonic Beasts, might have this item in their possession."
Fang Ding's face grew serious. "Oh? The Demonic Beasts? They are the slave soldiers of the Flame Race. Trying to buy this from their hands won't be that simple."
He couldn't help but murmur in curiosity, "Why would the spiritual herb Ancestor Chen is looking for be in the hands of the Demonic Beasts?"
"I looked into it. The cultivation methods of the Demonic Beasts are completely different from ours. Their ancestors never came into contact with the Saint Canon, so they developed their own independent system. It's just that their ceiling is far too low. They don't have a single Limit Breaking expert among them."
The man burst into laughter, his eyes filled with mockery. "The Primal Beginning Origin Milk is apparently a specific spiritual herb the Demonic Beasts need to ingest during their cultivation. This is mainly because they didn't rely on the Foundation Building to cultivate in the past. Their cultivation process naturally leaves many flaws and defects, which require these kinds of herbs to patch up."
He paused for a brief moment before continuing, "Now that they've become the slave soldiers of the Flame Race, they've also had rudimentary exposure to the Foundation Establishment Fist. Except for a tiny minority of them, they don't have much use for the Primal Beginning Origin Milk anymore. Therefore, purchasing it shouldn't be too difficult. We just need to offer them enough benefits."
At that point, the group of ninth-transformation immortals grew quite curious. "Did you ever ask Ancestor Chen what he plans to use this herb for?"
It didn't even cross their minds that Fang Chen's path of cultivation could be different from theirs. Thus, they immediately ruled out the possibility that he was using it to break through, assuming it had some other purpose.
"I wouldn't dare ask blindly. Ancestor Chen is highly likely to be a Third Generation Ancestor. His current drop in cultivation and loss of memory were probably caused by a bitter, devastating battle in the past. If I start poking around with reckless questions, he might think I lack respect for him. If he steps back into the Limit Breaking Realm one day, won't I be dead?"
Fang Ding chuckled. "Stop asking so many questions and just get the item. How long will it take?"
"That's hard to say for sure."
"Try to hurry up. Get it before the day of the Saint Canon longevity celebration, and I'll owe you a personal favor."
"Alright, that's a promise! I'll put some real back into it then!"
Chatting idly, the group turned and walked away, their voices gradually fading into the distance.
***
The Saint Tower.
Another pack of exotic beasts was reduced to charred ash by Fang Chen's Azure Lightning, disintegrating into nothingness. However, the moment the slaughter was finished, the immortal essence within Fang Chen hit rock bottom and began to replenish itself at a breakneck speed.
That was his tenth year inside the Saint Tower.
Starting from the seventh year, the scaling of the exotic beasts' strength had visibly accelerated. By the tenth year, any single beast possessed the capability to match and slay an ordinary core disciple of the Enlightenment God Palace in a one-on-one duel.
In the outside world, facing a pack of twenty to thirty such beasts wouldn't cause Fang Chen much stress. But here, his immortal essence was being heavily depleted every single breath. Even he was progressively feeling the strain when clearing a single wave. As it meant his immortal essence would bottom out completely.
The current beasts were probably still a tier below the likes of Li Shanzi and Ji Sheng. Though, if two of them tag-teamed, they could definitely take down Li Shanzi.
In a few more years, the beasts will likely reach their level. Given a few more years, they will scale up to the level of Third Senior Brother or Fifth Senior Brother. At that stage, it will be equivalent to me simultaneously fighting dozens of Third Senior Brothers or Fifth Senior Brothers who share the exact same cultivation realm as me.
What if they reach Senior Sister's level?
A look of anticipation surfaced in Fang Chen's eyes. He truly wanted to see what kind of spectacle it would be if he had to face dozens of Xie Aman clones whose cultivation levels were perfectly matched to his own. More than that, he wanted to know if the Saint Tower would ultimately deploy sixth-transformation exotic beasts against him once that peak was breached.
Perhaps the Saint Tower functioned under a strict set of underlying laws. If it unleashed sixth-transformation beasts after that point, it would serve as concrete proof of what the absolute ceiling for a human cultivator at the fifth transformation was during the Nether Ruins era.
With these thoughts in mind, Fang Chen sensed that the immortal essence within his body had finished replenishing, and he resumed his journey.
***
The eleventh year.
The exotic beasts had scaled to the point where a single one could comfortably slay Li Shanzi or Ji Sheng in a direct confrontation. Under normal circumstances, a divine ability user would have a massive probability of triggering the mystical properties of their nine traverse bones by this stage, breaking through their bottleneck to ascend to the sixth transformation realm. Otherwise, the only remaining outcome would be elimination, getting thrown out of the Saint Tower unceremoniously.
By the twelfth year, the sharp spike in the beasts' strength began to plateau slightly. Then the thirteenth year came, and the fourteenth, fifteenth year.
Fang Chen hurtled through the air, his immortal essence burning up rapidly as a massive horde of exotic beasts relentlessly pursued him from behind. The strength of these beasts, even on an individual one-on-one basis, was likely not a fraction weaker than Xie Aman during her corresponding cultivation era.
By that point, the destructive force of his Azure Lightning yielded negligible results when crashing into these creatures.
Seizing a split-second window, Fang Chen raised his hand and executed a decisive sword move.
The Sixth Sword of the Eight Desolation Supreme Sword Scripture!
A beast took the strike head-on and instantly perished. However, that single sword strike concurrently caused Fang Chen's internal reserves of immortal essence to plummet drastically.
If I keep fleeing like this, I'm bound to lose...
Fang Chen's figure suddenly came to a stop. Halting his escape, he turned around to face the encroaching tide of ferocious beasts. Within his grayish-white eyes, a brilliant, kaleidoscopic luster seemed to flash and vanish in an instant.