Chapter 440 - 416: Stunningly Celestial

Chapter 440: Chapter 416: Stunningly Celestial

"Don’t tell me his combat power is greater than ours?"

"Of course not. He must have caught it by surprise and shattered one of its hands. Then, he seized the opportunity to set up a Sword Array, which is how he managed to kill the Divinity Transformation Demon Beast."

"That’s right. He also used the Sword Containment Technique. He must have spent at least two or three centuries preparing that Secret Technique—perhaps even longer!"

"Indeed. And he was using a Spirit Treasure Flying Sword, whereas the Divinity Transformation Demon Beast had no treasure to use as a weapon."

"No wonder. In that case, his combat power is likely still inferior to a true Divinity Transformation Cultivator. Even so, he’s absolutely invincible below the Divinity Transformation realm."

"True. A combat genius of this caliber... if there are no issues with his background, we must recruit him into our ranks!"

"Agreed! Investigate this man’s background immediately."

The six Divinity Transformation Powerhouses continued their discussion, carefully analyzing what they had seen before they finally calmed down.

Then, they immediately began their investigation.

"We found him. The man’s name is Zhang Chi, and he’s registered as Nascent Soul Middle Stage. He arrived here forty years ago and also rented a Tier Three Cave Mansion in Xunyou Immortal City, presumably to wait for this exploration."

"Furthermore, he has two female cultivator companions named Qin Susu and Lan Xuan, both at the Nascent Soul Cultivation level. The two of them are currently inside the Demon Suppression Pagoda."

They received the results quickly.

"What should we do? Should we capture those two women first?" a Divinity Transformation Celestial Monarch asked.

"Absolutely not. If we do that, he’ll surely hold a grudge, even if he eventually joins us."

"I agree. Let’s wait and see what happens. In any case, it’s highly unlikely those two can clear the trial and enter the central region!"

"Besides, since Zhang Chi has entered the central region, they won’t wander off too far. With them here, he’ll definitely have something holding him back."

"Good, we’ll do that then!"

After another round of discussion, they finally made their decision and settled in to wait patiently.

Before that, however, they made a point to transmit this news back to their respective powers.

The reason was simple. This was by no means a small matter.

After all, the Soul Condensing Pill, the Calamity Relief Pill, and the Heaven-Stealing Pill were all priceless treasures. The Six Great Powers would never allow these three types of elixirs to fall into the hands of an outsider.

"What? Zhang Chi is a cultivator from the Endless Desert Sea and is currently wanted by the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty?"

"And he’s suspected of possessing the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion?"

"I knew it! A figure of his caliber couldn’t possibly be a nobody!"

But soon, the other Divinity Transformation Celestial Monarchs from the Six Great Powers sent messages over, providing them with more information.

Hearing this, they were even more astonished and began to take Zhang Chi and his companions far more seriously.

"Why don’t we just capture this Zhang Chi and hand him over to the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty?"

"Exactly! If we do that, the Third Prince of the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty will surely be grateful. Conversely, if we don’t, the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty might use this as a pretext to attack our Ancient Wilderness Snowfield!"

"Agreed. Even if we don’t hand him over to the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty, the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion on him must be left behind!"

"Don’t inform the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty just yet. Even if we do capture Zhang Chi and hand him over, we should wait until the exploration is over. Besides, we have to get our hands on the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion first."

"Furthermore, this matter must be planned meticulously. If we let him escape, the future trouble will be endless!"

In fact, this news soon caused some of the Divinity Transformation Celestial Monarchs to harbor malicious ideas.

"I disagree. Since this Zhang Chi was able to escape from the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty’s Third Prince, and even caused him to suffer a considerable loss, he is by no means an ordinary person. For him to dare appear here under his real name, he must be fully prepared. We should think this through carefully!"

"That makes sense!"

"That’s what I was thinking. We don’t need to curry favor with the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty. They have rapacious ambitions and will attack us sooner or later. That being the case, we might as well conceal this information and even cultivate Zhang Chi into a Divinity Transformation Cultivator. Then, if war breaks out in the future, we’ll have an extra pillar of support!"

However, some Divinity Transformation Celestial Monarchs held differing views.

"Enough arguing. Let’s just see how things play out!"

"Fine!"

In the end, the assembled Divinity Transformation Cultivators couldn’t reach a consensus and decided to table the matter for now.

—

"That was too hard!"

"Tell me about it!"

By now, half an hour had passed since Zhang Chi cleared the trial, and cultivators finally began to be teleported out of the Demon Suppression Pagoda one by one.

These cultivators all lamented how difficult the Demon Suppression Pagoda was, some even believing it impossible for anyone to reach the Ninth Layer. Little did they know, someone had already cleared the entire trial long ago.

—

’I originally planned to get through this trial quietly, but I never expected the rewards to be this good. I couldn’t help but go all out.’

’The Divinity Transformation Celestial Monarchs of the Six Great Powers must have figured out who I am by now.’

’Fortunately, once I become a Divinity Transformation Celestial Monarch, none of this will be a problem. So it doesn’t really matter if I’m exposed or not!’

Meanwhile, in the central region, Zhang Chi mulled over his thoughts as he flew onward at great speed.

In truth, from the moment he discovered how generous the rewards in the Demon Suppression Pagoda were, he hadn’t had much of a choice.

Unless he was willing to give up the rewards on the highest layer and the Vitality from the Divinity Transformation Demon Beast, he would have been targeted by the Divinity Transformation cultivators of the Six Great Powers anyway for being the first to clear the trial, even if he had hidden his identity.

In that scenario, even if they didn’t know he was Zhang Chi, he would still have been captured and investigated.

Besides, even if he had cleared the trial quietly, he would have drawn attention upon reaching Divinity Transformation regardless.

Furthermore, not even Divinity Transformation Powerhouses could enter this central region before the exploration concluded, so he wasn’t the least bit worried about anything bad happening.

As for Qin Susu and Lan Xuan, despite the Protective Measures he’d given them, they most likely wouldn’t be able to clear the trial.

After all, their cultivation was too low.

Therefore, it was very likely the Six Great Powers would move against them.

But the probability of that was minuscule. After all, the Six Great Powers weren’t fools.

He had even performed a divination much earlier and found the result to be highly auspicious, which was why he had proceeded with this plan.

Of course, he had initially considered using the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion to bring the two women in directly.

It was simply impossible, however.

If there were living beings inside the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion, he would be unable to draw it into his body.

And if he had used the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion openly, the six Divinity Transformation Cultivators would have noticed something was amiss before he even entered the Demon Suppression Pagoda.

—

’Good. Just as I thought, there’s a Tier Five Spiritual Vein here.’

The central region was vast. It was filled with a bloody mist, black qi, and powerful, lingering wills capable of corrupting the mind. Tier Four Demon Beasts were a common sight.

But Zhang Chi paid it no mind. He had no fear of Tier Four Demon Beasts, and with his Void Spirit Eyes and powerful Divine Thought, he could easily survey the situation from a great distance.

To him, the corrupting power here was negligible; it was all absorbed directly by the Jade Pendant.

Activating his Spiritual Eyes, a divine light flashed within them. Zhang Chi soon spotted three pillars of Spiritual Light soaring into the sky within the central region. These marked the locations of three Tier Five Low Grade Spiritual Veins.

After a moment of calculation, Zhang Chi immediately chose one and flew swiftly toward it.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM...

As soon as he arrived, he found over a hundred Nascent Soul Peak Cultivators using all manner of Magical Treasures and Divine Techniques in a fierce battle against a large pack of Tier Four Peak Demon Beasts.

These cultivators were all experts from the Six Great Powers. Their reason for laying siege to this area was simple: to kill these Demon Beasts and plunder any Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that might be hidden in their lairs.

These cultivators were powerful, but the Demon Beasts here were no pushovers. Individually, their combat power was a significant cut above the Same Tier beasts Zhang Chi had encountered in the Demon Suppression Pagoda.

Some of the Demon Beasts even possessed powerful treasures.

Some of these treasures had been nurtured from Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects the beasts had obtained, while others came from cultivators who had fallen during past explorations.

Another portion of the treasures came directly from this Ancient Wilderness Battlefield, left behind by the powerful Human and Demon experts from the great war of ages past.

This last category of treasures was the strongest and the most troublesome.

In fact, these treasures weren’t limited to Magical Treasures; some were even at the Spirit Treasure Level.

As a result, the two sides were currently locked in a stalemate.

SWOOSH!

But just then, a dazzling beam of Sword Light stretching thousands of yards suddenly appeared in the sky.

The Sword Light slashed down viciously, looking as if it would tear heaven and earth asunder.

The cultivators were all greatly alarmed and scrambled to get out of the way, only to realize the Sword Light was aimed at the Demon Beasts. They couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

ROAR!

But the Demon Beasts weren’t so lucky. In an instant, nearly half of them were engulfed and torn to shreds by the Sword Light, meeting a violent end.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

But it wasn’t over. More dazzling beams of Sword Light appeared in quick succession, instantly slaying the remaining Demon Beasts.

They had no chance to flee or fight for their lives.

The reason was simple: the beams of Sword Light were too swift, too fierce, and had appeared far too suddenly.

Only then did a tall, imposing, black-robed cultivator with eyes like lightning appear on the scene.

The cultivator was wreathed in Sword Light, his robes billowing around him like a deity. It was none other than Zhang Chi.

Clearly, Zhang Chi couldn’t be bothered to wait for the two sides to determine a victor. Besides, these Demon Beasts and their lairs were all potential spoils for him; there was no reason to pass them up.

As for the cultivators from the Six Great Powers, he paid them no mind whatsoever.

He was about to become a Divinity Transformation Powerhouse anyway.

Moreover, he was a Tier Five Array Master. Unless a Divinity Transformation Celestial Monarch appeared in person, he had no fear of these Nascent Soul Cultivators interrupting his breakthrough.

He was even confident that he could kill these Nascent Soul Cultivators with ease, but he simply chose not to.

For one, he was not a bloodthirsty person and wouldn’t go on a killing spree without cause.

For another, the central region of the Ancient Wilderness Battlefield was the territory of the Six Great Powers, and both the Demon Suppression Pagoda and its rewards belonged to them as well. As such, he had a decent impression of the Six Great Powers for providing these conveniences.

Therefore, as long as there was no conflict of interest, he wouldn’t needlessly antagonize the Six Great Powers.

"He’s... He’s just too powerful, isn’t he?"

"Who in the world is this fellow cultivator? I doubt even the strongest Nascent Soul among our Six Great Powers possesses that kind of combat power, do they?"

"Yes, he seems to be a Sword Cultivator, and the Flying Swords he’s commanding are all Pseudo-Spirit Treasures!"

"Just how powerful is his Divine Thought? I doubt even a Divinity Transformation Celestial Monarch could command so many Celestial Grade Magical Treasure Flying Swords at once, right? Could he actually be a Divinity Transformation Celestial Monarch in disguise?"