King of Creation
Chapter 160 - 158 Late-stage Spirit Summoning, Breakthrough! (Second Update)

Chapter 160: Chapter 158 Late-stage Spirit Summoning, Breakthrough! (Second Update)

Without a doubt, when Ye Zhen was to choose a martial skill, he would certainly pick a sword technique.

Because of the Sword Heart Enlightenment, a divine power of the Sword Vein, Ye Zhen’s speed of learning sword techniques would be astonishing like never before. Moreover, due to Sword Heart Enlightenment, a sword technique of the same grade would be three times stronger when executed by Ye Zhen’s hand.

Not choosing a sword technique would mean Ye Zhen had gone mad!

Eventually, Ye Zhen chose a Lower-grade Earth Level sword technique — the Flowing Cloud Sword Technique.

It was said that the Flowing Cloud Sword Technique was created by a predecessor who sat on a mountain summit to watch the clouds in the sky and was suddenly inspired. The technique was light and ethereal, with unpredictable changes.

Among the thirteen sword technique manuals in the fifth floor of the Scripture Storage Tower, the power of the Flowing Cloud Sword Technique was only considered average.

But it was precisely the sword technique that Ye Zhen needed most at the moment.

Bluntly put, among the thirteen sword technique manuals in the fifth floor of the Scripture Storage Tower, no matter how powerful they were, they could not surpass the might of the Wind Cloud Sword Technique that Ye Zhen currently practiced.

Moreover, there was still a great potential for the power of the Wind Cloud Sword Technique to grow.

If Ye Zhen could comprehend the Wind Cloud Artistic Conception of the Wind Cloud Sword Technique, then its power could rise to a new level, and it might even match the power of an Upper-grade Earth Level sword technique.

However, the Wind Cloud Artistic Conception was too difficult to grasp. Ye Zhen had tried to understand it during his spare time but had not found any clues.

Ye Zhen felt that having only comprehended the Winter Plum Intent of the Human-Level top grade Winter Plum Swordsmanship, attempting to grasp the Mid-grade Earth Level Wind Cloud Artistic Conception was too big of a leap.

When he saw the Flowing Cloud Sword Technique, it struck a chord in Ye Zhen’s heart.

If he practiced the Flowing Cloud Sword Technique and then comprehended its Flowing Cloud Realm, would it make understanding the Wind Cloud Artistic Conception easier?

Could the Flowing Cloud Realm help in grasping the Wind Cloud Artistic Conception?

That was the reason why Ye Zhen chose to cultivate the Flowing Cloud Sword Technique, a technique whose power wasn’t particularly astonishing.

He did not choose any secret manuals for Protective Spirit Force.

With Ye Zhen’s current strong Divine Soul Power, evolving the Hundred Stacked True Qi into the Hundred Stacked Spiritual Qi was not a problem at all.

Moreover, Ye Zhen had checked, and the defensive power of the Lower-grade Earth Level Protective Gang Qi wasn’t much different from his Hundred Stacked True Qi, so there was no immediate need to switch.

As for footwork techniques, Ye Zhen had his personally comprehended Chasing Star Step, and for body skills, there was the Gale Wind Shadow Technique awarded by Elder Bao from the Black Water Dao Grounds. With these, Ye Zhen had all the cultivation technique manuals he needed.

Still, Ye Zhen was shocked by the price tag of 120,000 Sect Contribution Points for the Gale Wind Shadow Technique.

When converted into silver, that was 1.2 million taels of silver. Elder Bao had indeed given Ye Zhen a very generous gift.

"Heh, Ye Zhen, this isn’t your style at all! In the past, you would choose the most difficult manuals to cultivate, but today, the power of both manuals you’ve chosen isn’t that great," remarked the elder steward who had become familiar with Ye Zhen after many visits to the Scripture Pavilion.

"Old Steward, the most difficult isn’t necessarily the most suitable for oneself."

"Right, you are correct!"

The old steward’s eyes lit up, and he gave Ye Zhen a thumbs-up, "The Five Transition Nourishing Yuan Technique costs 120,000 Sect Contribution Points, and the Flowing Cloud Sword Technique, 110,000 Sect Contribution Points. That’s a total of 230,000 Sect Contribution Points."

"That much?" Upon hearing the total, Ye Zhen slightly furrowed his brows.

"What, you’re financially strapped? No problem, Quasi-True Disciples have the same rights as True Disciples, afforded the privilege of borrowing up to 100,000 Sect Contribution Points."

It couldn’t be denied that the higher one’s cultivation and status were, the more privileges they had.

With the status of Quasi-True Inheritor, a million taels of silver were readily available on demand.

Such treatment would be foolish not to utilize.

Although Ye Zhen did have several thousand Low Grade Spirit Crystals at hand, and could easily afford the amount by taking out a couple of hundred, Low Grade Spirit Crystals were too precious to spend lightly.

In the Qiyun Sect, if you used Low Grade Spirit Crystals to exchange for Sect Contribution Points, one Low Grade Spirit Crystal was valued at a thousand taels of gold or ten thousand taels of silver, which was equivalent to a thousand Sect Contribution Points.

But if you wanted to use Sect Contribution Points to exchange for Low Grade Spirit Crystals, you would need 1,200 Sect Contribution Points for one, and each disciple was limited to exchanging for only ten per month!

Low Grade Spirit Crystals were truly valuable currency.

Some time ago, Ye Zhen had obtained roughly 70,000 taels of gold and more than 200,000 silver notes from Luv Congfei’s Storage Bracelet. Including these along with borrowing 100,000 from the sect, Ye Zhen was able to comfortably get the manuals.

....

In the depths of the back mountain of the Qiyun Sect, on the ground, two Three-eyed Thunder Leopards the size of elephants patrolled side by side through the mountain forest. Wherever the Thunder Leopards went, all other beasts gave way.

Suddenly, a Jade Horned Rhinoceros, which was also a Lower-grade Earth Level demon beast, burst out from the bushes and charged at the Three-eyed Thunder Leopards.

With thundering hoofbeats, the ground started to crack and shake, and clumps of earthy yellow light rose from the ground, covering the body of the Jade Horned Rhinoceros like a layer of armor, exuding an extraordinary aura!

Just in that instant, the two Three-eyed Thunder Leopards sprang into action.

With an illusion flashing by and thunder light violently bursting, the charging Jade Horned Rhinoceros suddenly fell to the ground, convulsing all over, as the leopard shadows flashed past, tearing a large gash in its abdomen with their claws.

"Got a target!"

Seeing this scene, Ye Zhen, who was soaring in the sky, suddenly felt a surge of joy. With a whoosh, he descended towards the ground like a gale.

The moment Ye Zhen touched the ground, his undisguised essence blood fluctuations made the two Three-eyed Thunder Leopards sense the most delicious food.

"Roar!"

With two beastly roars and their forelimbs bent, the two Three-eyed Thunder Leopards pounced toward Ye Zhen like twin bolts of lightning. Simultaneously, the three eyes on their foreheads snapped open, shooting two bolts of electric light at Ye Zhen.

The Sky Crystal Sword was unsheathed, and an eight-zhang-long Sword Gang swept across, directly sending the two Three-eyed Thunder Leopards flying back.

After two consecutive bursts of Spiritual Power shattered the electric lights, Ye Zhen stepped forward and shot up into the sky. At that moment, his Sky Crystal Sword traced a wonderful trajectory, like clouds and mist through the air.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Nine white Sword Qi bolts rained down from the high sky like lightning. Perhaps sensing danger, the two Three-eyed Thunder Leopards issued uneasy roars, swiftly trying to dodge.

"Cloud Formless, Flowing Cloud Nine Flashes, no escape!"

The nine white Sword Qi bolts in the sky, as though they had gained eyes, suddenly transformed from straight lines into curves, behaving like sentient beings, they pierced directly through the heads of the two Lower-grade Earth Level Demon Beasts.

"Instant kill? This Flowing Cloud Sword Technique, when unleashed by me, is indeed extraordinary; its killing move can actually instantly slay Lower-grade Earth Level Demon Beasts."

This was already the fifth time Ye Zhen had come out to test his sword.

After nearly a month of rigorous practice, in addition to hard work on improving his Cultivation, Ye Zhen’s Flowing Cloud Sword Technique had also been mastered in the shortest possible time.

However, the Flowing Cloud Sword Technique was quite challenging to practice, especially its killing move, Flowing Cloud Nine Flashes. Even with Ye Zhen’s Sword Heart Enlightenment and his extraordinary understanding of Sword Techniques, it still took him nearly ten days to master it.

Without waiting for Ye Zhen’s command, the Cloud Winged Tiger Cub scampered over. With its tiger mouth wide open, it held onto one of the Demon Beast corpses and began to feast. While eating, it also cast a pleading glance at Ye Zhen.

Seeing this, Ye Zhen immediately burst into laughter. "Alright, alright, next time, I’ll let you take action, and I won’t interfere, okay?"

The cub’s favorite thing was to hunt and kill Demon Beasts with its own paws and then enjoy the blood food.

After a while, the cub offered a bloodstained paw to hand over a Demon Core, to Ye Zhen’s delight.

"After killing fifteen or sixteen Lower-grade Earth Level Demon Beasts, I’ve finally obtained a Lower-grade Earth Level Demon Core?"

Amidst his surprise, Ye Zhen’s form shot into the sky, heading straight back to Fairy Peak.

Getting another Lower-grade Earth Level Demon Core three days before the Sect grand competition was not only luck but also the reward for Ye Zhen’s continual Demon Beast hunting.

Back in the Cultivation Quiet Room at Fairy Peak, Ye Zhen immediately sat cross-legged and placed the newly obtained Lower-grade Earth Level Demon Core on the Danzhong Acupoint at his chest. With an exhale of Spiritual Power and activation of the Mirage Dragon Pearl, the vast energy contained within the Demon Core surged into Ye Zhen’s body like a tidal wave.

Half an hour later, the Demon Core at his chest turned into powder and dispersed, but the breakthrough Ye Zhen had been anticipating didn’t show any sign.

Over the past month, Ye Zhen had not only been rigorously practicing Sword Techniques but also diligently advancing his Cultivation.

The six Lower-grade Earth Level Demon Cores obtained from the Black Water Legacy Mansion had been refined by Ye Zhen using the Mirage Dragon Pearl long ago, and his Cultivation had grown significantly.

Add to that the relentless cultivation with Spirit Crystals every day, and Ye Zhen had felt his Cultivation was about to break through days ago. Yet, even after refining a Lower-grade Earth Level Demon Core today, the breakthrough hadn’t come. However, Ye Zhen felt it—he was just one step away, just that little bit short!

With Divine Sense activated, the one real and three phantom Innate Bloodlines instantly appeared on Ye Zhen’s back. With a thought, the surrounding Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi immediately condensed into four substantial pillars of Primordial Energy, gathering around the bloodlines manifesting behind Ye Zhen.

Such was the advantage of Cultivating on Fairy Peak.

On Fairy Peak, there was a Spirit Vein of decent quality. The density of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi near a Spirit Vein was several times higher than ordinary places, leading to twice the results with half the effort in Cultivation.

But it didn’t stop there. A flash of light from the Storage Bracelet brought several Low Grade Spirit Crystals into his hand. The Spiritual Power within the Spirit Crystals surged into his body like a tide.

Just one more step, Ye Zhen felt that he was only a step away from the breakthrough!

While the four pillars of Primordial Energy continuously flowed, Ye Zhen in his hand switched one depleted Low Grade Spirit Crystal for another.

After an undetermined amount of time, a loud bang echoed within Ye Zhen’s body, and Spirit Light burst out from all around him. For the first time, the quantity of Spiritual Power in his Dantian exceeded eighty percent, and an unprecedented sense of lightness spread throughout his body. Even the four phantom Innate Bloodlines on his back seemed to grow slightly more solid.

"Late-stage Spirit Summoning, my Cultivation has finally broken through to Late-stage Spirit Summoning!"

Opening his eyes, Ye Zhen clenched his fists with excitement.

With his Cultivation reaching Late-stage Spirit Summoning before the Sect grand competition, Ye Zhen’s confidence in his upcoming battle against Qu Zhanqian increased. His Wind Cloud Sword Technique would no longer drain his Cultivation after just two or three uses as before.

"If only my Five Transition Nourishing Yuan Technique could make one more advancement and further expand my Dantian, then even the consumption of using the Wind Cloud Sword Technique would sustain me through a battle!"

Ye Zhen had indeed worked hard on his Five Transition Nourishing Yuan Technique this past month, especially on the Daoist School’s method to expand the Dantian, which he had practiced daily. However, he had only advanced to the Third Xuan Transition.

"Strike while the iron is hot, today I’ll persevere and complete the Fourth Xuan Transition!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)