Chapter 645 - 616: Avoiding the Spearhead, 1 Year Later

He had no desire to enter the Merak Sacred Land only to be relentlessly targeted. The Merak Saint Son’s aura was too overwhelming; it was only natural to avoid him for now.

Steering clear of his peak was the wisest choice.

...

「A year passed in the blink of an eye.」

In Yuanqing Courtyard, the aura around Yang Chan grew increasingly tranquil.

It had been a rare, exceptionally peaceful year. He spent nearly the entire year within the Cyan Yuan Sect, yet his strength increased daily, and his combat power had also risen considerably.

Right now, his aura was placid, not revealing a single trace of his powerful cultivation—an effect of the Meditation and Breath Holding Technique.

Although he hadn’t spent any Potential Points on the Meditation and Breath Holding Technique, he practiced it daily. This constant practice raised the cultivation technique to the level of Tier Five Outstanding and made his aura increasingly tranquil. As a result, his apparent Martial Arts Cultivation had advanced to the External Refining Iron Bone Realm. His progress was already quite rapid, especially considering he was only twenty years old—the prime of his youth. Among ordinary people, this was considered the very best of ages.

Compared to his lifespan of more than seven hundred—nearly eight hundred—years, this was nothing at all.

While his Martial Arts Cultivation hadn’t broken through, he was close to completing his Second Bone Marrow Cleansing, putting his progress right on schedule. The main reason for the lack of a breakthrough was that he hadn’t gained many more Potential Points this year. He occasionally tried refining other elixirs, but he couldn’t sustain it. The supply of Spirit Medicine was too limited, allowing for only short-term consumption, so the benefits weren’t as significant as he had hoped.

On the other hand, his Pharmacist profession was advancing quickly. His Tier Four Masterful level had reached 50%, passing the halfway mark. This was all without spending any Potential Points.

Attempting to refine other elixirs provided a greater boost to his Pharmacist profession’s progress. At this rate, he could become a Top Level Pharmacist in a year at most—a level of existence never before seen in the Cyan Yuan Sect. At that level, the elixirs he refined would even be effective for Blood Exchange Martial Saints.

This would place him among the highest ranks even in the entire Taiyu Divine Continent.

According to Princess Lan Yue, many Pharmacists from major powers wanted to break through the Top Level Pharmacist rank to become King-level Pharmacists, but no one had yet succeeded.

This was true even for those who found ancient texts and the records and insights within them.

To advance to King-level Pharmacist, one had to be able to refine Divine Pills. These pills were a tier above Spirit Pills and were consumed by cultivators above the Blood Exchange Martial Saint realm. They were the elixirs that countless Pharmacists dreamed of creating, but so far, none had ever succeeded.

These Divine Pills seemed to be like the realm above Blood Exchange Martial Saint—difficult to break through, as if some unseen restriction in the world was preventing it.

The Pharmacists from all the major powers had once joined forces, but even then, they failed.

That gathering of Pharmacists was much like the Pharmacist Alliance in the Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty, drawing people from all over. These were even more elite individuals, yet they still failed.

The Pharmacist Alliance of the Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty was only formed after that event, drawing inspiration from it.

During this time, Yang Chan had also successfully comprehended Sword Domain, a result of his Sword Master profession advancing to Tier Three Mastery. The moment his profession broke through, his mind was flooded with an immense amount of knowledge related to Tier Three Sword Masters. The most prominent concept was the Sword Domain, followed by various related swordsmanship techniques.

Now, as long as he held a long sword, he could manifest a Sword Domain around himself. It wasn’t large—only a five-meter radius—as its range was limited by his cultivation level. However, within his Sword Domain, Yang Chan was confident he could easily slay opponents like the Purple Mansion Saint Son.

He could slay them effortlessly, leaving them utterly helpless. As for experts at the Blood Exchange Martial Saint Level, Yang Chan wasn’t so sure. However, within his Sword Domain, he believed that even the world-shattering power of a Blood Exchange Martial Saint couldn’t harm him. Because he controlled the domain, no one could touch him unless they could first break it.

Furthermore, Yang Chan discovered that as his Martial Arts Cultivation improved, the range of his Sword Domain continuously expanded. The current five meters had gradually grown from an initial three meters.

If his Martial Arts Cultivation broke through to the Second Bone Marrow Cleansing, he believed the range of his Sword Domain would increase significantly.

When the Black Dragon in the Profound Yin Hanging Bead saw Yang Chan comprehend the Sword Domain, he circled around Yang Chan, trying to see if he possessed some special Sword Body.

Some Sword Dao Physiques could aid in breakthroughs in the Sword Dao. Those who had them were like prodigies in the Sword Dao, astonishingly brilliant.

However, after circling and observing Yang Chan for a long time, he couldn’t discern any special Sword Dao Physique.

In the end, he could only attribute it to Yang Chan’s extraordinary comprehension that he could reach this stage.

This also made the Black Dragon feel it was a pity. He believed that with Yang Chan’s talent, if he were in a complete Martial Arts Cultivation World and blessed by a Divine Vein, he could undoubtedly leverage his gift for the Sword Dao. He could break the "Human God" limit, advance to the Divine Acupoint realm, and become a truly extraordinary being, instead of being restricted by the Taiyu Divine Continent, where the absolute peak was merely Body Tempering Stage Perfection.

This was why the Black Dragon always urged Yang Chan to search for more news about a Cross-Realm Teleportation Array.

On this matter, the Black Dragon was much more insistent than Yang Chan.

But Yang Chan would just listen without taking any action, at most arranging for Han Bingyu to gather some information. As for going to search for it himself, that was out of the question.

Seeing this, the Black Dragon could do nothing about it. After all, between the two of them, Yang Chan was the one in charge.

If Yang Chan didn’t want to go, he could only watch helplessly.

Consequently, Yang Chan’s days remained peaceful, while the Black Dragon grew increasingly anxious. As the dragon’s nagging grew—mostly spouting nonsense—Yang Chan simply activated the restrictions on the Profound Yin Hanging Bead, preventing him from coming out. It was only after a while that the Black Dragon finally quieted down, not wanting to be placed in confinement by Yang Chan again.

In his current state, the Black Dragon couldn’t cultivate. Even if he absorbed some Taiyuan Qi, he couldn’t continue to improve because his Soul Body’s cultivation was restricted.

Unless he found a Pure-blooded Dragon Body, it was impossible to break this restriction.

The Pure-blooded Dragon Race had long since vanished from the Taiyu Divine Continent. The only possibility was within some large, undiscovered Secret Realm.

And in this past year, Yang Chan hadn’t heard of any new Secret Realms emerging.

The successive appearance of Taiyin Heaven and the Purple Void Secret Realm earlier was already extremely rare. Usually, several years, or even more than a decade, would pass before a large Secret Realm might appear. If one’s luck was bad, it could be even longer.

This was the normal state of affairs.

The previous appearance of two large Secret Realms in a row was what was abnormal.

His cultivation being restricted was also the reason the Black Dragon was so anxious.

The Black Dragon naturally didn’t want to be stuck at the Body Tempering Stage—at the Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster Realm, not even having reached the Blood Exchange Level.

Once the Black Dragon became less talkative, Yang Chan eased the restrictions on him.

During this same period, Yang Chan’s Taiyuan Soul Sword also advanced to Tier Three Mastery. Following his Sword Master profession’s breakthrough to Tier Three and his comprehension of the Sword Domain, his Taiyuan Soul Sword improved rapidly. It even consumed far fewer Potential Points than he had anticipated.

Yang Chan asked the Black Dragon about it, and he said that the two had a synergistic effect on each other’s improvement.

Previously, when Yang Chan had cultivated the Taiyuan Soul Sword, it was after his Sword Master profession had reached Tier Two and he comprehended Sword Momentum that he was able to quickly raise the Taiyuan Soul Sword to Tier Two. It was the same now.

After the Taiyuan Soul Sword reached Tier Three Mastery, Yang Chan could clearly feel his Soul Body Power strengthening and gradually solidifying. This effect was even better than absorbing Taiyuan Qi.

Besides the improvement to his Soul Body, the might of the Taiyuan Sword also increased. Not only did the Taiyuan Sword’s killing power increase, but it could also hide all of its killing intent. This meant that if Yang Chan wanted to kill someone, he could do so silently and without a trace.

Previously, the Taiyuan Sword was already difficult to detect, but prodigies like Princess Qianyue, whom he had encountered before, could still perceive the danger.

But as Yang Chan’s Taiyuan Soul Sword advanced to Tier Three Mastery, this sense of danger would also be concealed. Only after the sword was unleashed could it be perceived.

Basically, one could only sense the danger after being hit, and at that point, such a perception was naturally useless.

Among his peers, this technique was nothing short of a devastating ability!