Chapter 4: Seclusion

Chen Fan’s ranking in the Illusory Realm surged by more than two hundred places, and the amount of Yuan Points he earned far exceeded previous times—nearly ten thousand points!

Meanwhile, the Yuan Point settlements from his recent days had also been finalized.

During the recent mission to exterminate the beasts, Chen Fan had slain numerous monsters. Although no one witnessed his kills amidst the chaos, he had previously defeated many sixth-tier beasts and even assisted Lin Tian in killing a seventh-tier beast.

Additionally, in Yandu City, by capturing a spy from the Endless Gate and handing over Chen Feiteng’s corpse, he accumulated nearly fifty thousand Yuan Points in total!

“With so many Yuan Points, I can exchange for another Earth-level pill...” Chen Fan squinted slightly.

He raised an eyebrow. At his current rank, completing a single mission would require five or even eight attempts to earn this many Yuan Points! Given his strength, he could accept some missions above the seventh tier, but those were extremely difficult tasks.

After all, those who have reached the Grandmaster level all have formidable trump cards. What seemed simple often entailed immense risk; a few missions could mean several battles against Grandmaster-level opponents.

Even at Grandmaster strength, earning tens of thousands of Yuan Points wasn’t easy!

“With this many Yuan Points, I could exchange for another Bluefield Jade Refining Pill. That would allow me to directly reach full mastery of the fifth tier,” he thought.

But the moment this idea crossed his mind, Chen Fan shook his head.

“My plan is to complete Bone Refinement first, then break through to the sixth tier using the White Jade Crimson Sun Pill. Taking two Earth-level pills consecutively now isn’t just a waste of medicinal power; if the residual energies of the two pills conflict, they could hinder my breakthrough. That would be troublesome.”

He wasn’t in a rush; a few months of cultivation in seclusion would be enough to complete the Bone Refinement.

After some hesitation, he decided not to exchange for another Bluefield Jade Refining Pill.

He comforted himself, “Relying solely on pills for cultivation won’t do. I’ll break through Bone Refinement through my own efforts.”

Without buying Earth-level pills, these Yuan Points would suffice for his cultivation expenses over the next few years and easily cover applications to enter secret realms or ruins.

...

Afterward, Chen Fan dove headlong into the Illusory Palace. By now, he could enter the Earth-level chambers within the palace!

These rooms were prepared for disciples of the Radiant Sun Tower and offered much better effects than the ordinary Xuanzhao rooms. Naturally, the price was significantly higher.

Having comprehended the Realm of Thunder, even Earth-level Illusory Thunder Arrays held little significance for him; soaking in them daily wouldn’t improve his cultivation efficiency much, though they did aid the training of his Ninefold Thunder Blade technique.

His focus had shifted to grasping other elemental realms. Both his Ice and Fire martial arts had reached near-completion.

Because his martial arts slots were always occupied, he hadn’t had a chance to cultivate other attribute-based techniques that were easier to comprehend.

The Earth-level Illusory arrays of Ice and Fire had remarkable effects on Chen Fan!

Previously, the fusion of his two elemental realms still had some distance to go, but after entering the Earth-level Illusory arrays, he began improving almost daily.

Most importantly, the effects were continuous. If Chen Fan could immerse himself in them for twelve hours a day, he was confident he could fathom two major realms within a year.

Of course, the pressure from the Earth-level Illusory arrays was far beyond what his small frame could endure long-term; he couldn’t stay in them indefinitely.

With his strength and the body conditioning from his third-stage Star Body Refining Technique, his constitution was much stronger than most sixth-tier warriors, but still far weaker than seventh-tier Grandmasters.

This limited his speed in comprehending the Ice and Fire realms.

Once his body could no longer withstand the Illusory Palace’s ravages, he immediately retreated to the training chamber for intense cultivation.

In the past, he had some leisure time—attending lectures daily and eating at the martial academy’s canteen to adjust his mood.

But now, he had no such luxury. He locked himself away, shuttling between the Illusory Palace and the training chamber, skipping meals and instead taking fasting pills.

At the same time, he leveraged the pressure from the Illusory arrays to rapidly consume pills and absorb Yuan Stones, significantly accelerating his cultivation speed!

He was close to mastering the fourth form of the Star Body Refining Technique. Although his innate talent hadn’t become extraordinarily exceptional, he could genuinely feel the changes within himself compared to before!

Previously, his solo cultivation was utterly meaningless—less than one percent or even one-thousandth as effective as cultivation during idle time in the arrays.

Now, with sufficient resources, a special environment, and his gradually improving constitution, his solo cultivation progress finally reached about one-tenth the efficiency of idle cultivation.

This was a tremendous improvement!

Of course, a major factor was the increased allocation of personal resources.

At this moment, he was about 20% away from completing Bone Refinement.

At his current cultivation efficiency, he was confident he could break through Bone Refinement within three months.

Then, he would consume the Earth-level Barrier-Breaking Pill, the White Jade Crimson Sun Pill his master had given him, to break through to the sixth tier.

At the sixth tier, refining the body was no longer necessary; he only needed to establish a Qi and blood circulation system, then slowly increase his true essence capacity. Upon reaching the sixth tier’s limit, he could leverage his realms to sway the heavens and earth.

Because the sixth tier no longer required body refinement, only strengthening the circulation system, cultivation might even be easier than at the fifth tier.

The only hurdle was condensing the internal micro-circulation system.

Chen Fan was mentally prepared not to leave the martial academy until making a significant breakthrough.

He knew that at this moment, countless eyes were watching him.

...

One day, Chen Fan stood within the Earth-level Thunder Array of the Illusory Palace, holding his spirit sword, his upper body bare and bathed in the flashing lightning.

His well-built muscles glowed faintly red.

Despite mastering the Realm of Thunder, he still faced significant pressure within the array.

Clutching his sword tightly, he swung it forward in a swift horizontal slash.

The speed was so fast that the air rippled slightly.

Ssshh!

Where the blade passed, it attracted a multitude of lightning arcs, swirling and spreading.

“The Realm of Thunder can be used like this...” His eyes shone brightly.

He was applying sword techniques using a blade technique!

This blade technique was the first form of the Ninefold Thunder Blade!

It had only been a few days since he started cultivating the Thunder Blade, yet he had already mastered its first form!

This was one of the rare martial arts he had cultivated without relying on idle training.

He wasn’t surprised by this result.

“After all, it’s only the first form. With my talent and current progress in the Realm of Thunder, mastering just the first form of the Ninefold Thunder Blade is nothing,” Chen Fan thought calmly.

The first form only required basic entry into the Realm of Thunder.

Chen Fan’s Realm of Thunder was nearly perfected. Not only ordinary seventh-tier warriors, even eighth-tier warriors rarely had such a high level of realm comprehension. Training this technique with such a high realm level naturally accelerated the process!

If it took him months just to master the simplest first form, mastering all nine forms with increasing difficulty would take seventy or eighty years.

Ssshh!

The blade’s light was sharp, lightning crackled incessantly.

Yet Chen Fan shook his head.

The first form of the Ninefold Thunder Blade, in terms of ultimate explosive power and destructive force, was far weaker than the casually unleashed Thunder Killing Sword he wielded.

However, in pure application of the Realm of Thunder, it was far superior to his own use.

“If the power of my previous Thunder Realm sword slash was ten, then this first form of the Ninefold Thunder Blade would reach twelve!” he thought.

This was just the first form, with nearly a 20% increase in power. If he mastered all nine forms, the damage multiplier would be terrifying!

“Unfortunately, the Ninefold Thunder Blade is purely based on the Realm of Thunder. Incorporating the Realm of Slaughter into it would disrupt its essence and reduce its power,” he mused.

Martial arts at the realm level were not something Chen Fan could casually alter.

The Ninefold Thunder Blade was very different from the Three-Foot Sword.

Although the Three-Foot Sword helped enter the Realm of Slaughter, it was a low-level martial art, not a realm martial art, and didn’t involve realm application.

Therefore, Chen Fan could freely blend other realms into the Three-Foot Sword.

But realm martial arts were different.

They were techniques utilizing the application of realms. The Thunder Blade was a technique applying the Realm of Thunder, so mixing in other realms would result in a disjointed technique.

“My realm is still too low. The crude fusion of the Realms of Thunder and Slaughter allowed me to create the Thunder Killing Sword, so they can be combined, but I can’t directly fuse the Realm of Slaughter into the Ninefold Thunder Blade yet,” he concluded.

He shook his head.

It wasn’t that realm martial arts couldn’t incorporate other realms, but with his current strength, he couldn’t support blending other realms into realm martial arts.

The world was vast, and surely some realm martial arts combined multiple realms. However, the Realm of Slaughter was exceedingly rare, absent even in the martial academy, and combining it with the Realm of Thunder was unheard of.

...

While Chen Fan secluded himself in cultivation, a team of martial artists from Renchang Martial Academy arrived at Qingming Martial Academy, bringing numerous donated supplies to offer their condolences.

In fact, during this period, martial academies from several neighboring prefectures had sent resources and gifts.

After all, with lips gone, teeth grow cold—Qinghe Prefecture served as a natural defensive line for the others.

Though each had their own considerations, they all belonged to the Great Qian, so at least a basic cultural care existed.

Renchang Martial Academy, though often competing with Qingming Martial Academy, was clear-headed when it came to major matters.

Leading this delegation was the vice dean of Renchang Prefecture, Gu Juling.

One of his disciples, Han Cheng, was also part of the team.

A year had passed, and Han Cheng’s temperament had undergone tremendous change—no longer the immature and shy youth he once was, but full of vigor and vitality.

A scar now marked his profile.

Stepping into Qingming Martial Academy, his eyes were filled with curiosity.

“So this is the Qingming Martial Academy that produced Chen Fan? It doesn’t seem particularly special. I wonder how Chen Fan is doing now—whether he has grown stronger, or... encountered any accidents during the beast calamities...”

Renchang Prefecture was separated from Qinghe Prefecture by Guming Prefecture, thousands of miles away.

Having been preoccupied with many matters recently, Han Cheng naturally did not know Chen Fan’s current strength.