Chapter 198: Who Is Outside the Array?

Chapter 198: Chapter 198: Who Is Outside the Array?

Time passed.

Nearly a month had gone by since Jiang Xu entered seclusion.

In the room next to Jiang Xu’s Seclusion Chamber, Zong Ziqi was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

’What’s going on with Brother Jiang? It’s been almost a month with no news at all. Did he run into trouble during his breakthrough?’

He wanted to go over and check, but after some hesitation, he stopped himself.

’What if this is the critical moment of Brother Jiang’s breakthrough? If I barge in recklessly, I might just make things worse.’

’Normally, when a Cultivator undergoes Foundation Establishment, you see the results in about half a month. Whether they succeed or fail, it’s usually over by then. It’s almost unheard of for it to take a whole month!’

During this time, Zong Ziqi, with the powerful self-healing ability of a Foundation Establishment Realm Body Cultivator, had mostly recovered from his remaining injuries.

He was in no mood to continue recuperating. Unable to sit still in his own cultivation chamber, he paced back and forth, sighing repeatedly.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Zong Ziqi frowned.

He had noticed that the Array outside their "grotto" seemed to have been triggered.

’Someone’s here?’

Since Zong Ziqi wasn’t the one controlling the Array and lacked Divine Sense for Investigation, he had no idea who was triggering it outside.

’Could it be... those three Demon Cultivators?’

Zong Ziqi’s expression turned grim.

He was already injured. Even if he pushed himself to the limit, he could only use the Thunderbolt Breathing Technique in its complete form three or four more times.

If he went beyond that limit, then even if Jiang Xu exhausted all his power to heal him again, it would be useless. He could only watch Zong Ziqi die.

He prayed silently.

’Please don’t let it be those three Demon Cultivators. I hope it’s just a wild animal that accidentally triggered it.’

But in this world, things rarely go as planned.

As Zong Ziqi felt the Array continuously sending out alerts, the rock in his heart sank deeper and deeper.

The Array Jiang Xu had set up included an Illusion Array for Stealth. Normally, even if an animal triggered the alarm, it would be led away by the Illusion Array.

With alarms going off at this frequency, someone was definitely probing the Array—or even starting to break it.

Now, Zong Ziqi was caught in a dilemma.

If it really was the three Demon Cultivators outside, once they broke the Array, he and Jiang Xu would be dead for sure if they stayed here. There was no other possibility.

Right now, Zong Ziqi could either break into the Seclusion Chamber and drag Jiang Xu out so they could escape together.

But if he did that, it was highly likely Jiang Xu’s attempt to break through his bottleneck would be a failure.

It was common knowledge that the first attempt to break through a Great Realm was always the smoothest. Each subsequent attempt would be harder than the last.

Jiang Xu’s Spirit Root aptitude wasn’t high. If he failed this first breakthrough, his path on the Immortal Dao would likely be ruined.

Ruining someone’s path to cultivation was like killing their parents. Although Zong Ziqi would be doing it to save Jiang Xu’s life, he would still be cutting off Jiang Xu’s future on the Immortal Dao.

The second option was to wait, praying that it wasn’t those three villains outside, but just some unknown small fry.

With Zong Ziqi’s combat strength at the Foundation Establishment Realm, even with his injuries, dealing with a few Qi Cultivation underlings would be no problem at all.

Zong Ziqi had also considered going out to check, but he was hesitant.

Influenced by Jiang Xu’s teachings, he had become much more cautious.

He was afraid the enemy was trying to lure him out.

What if it really was those three? He was afraid that the moment he stepped outside, they would tear apart the Array Jiang Xu had set up and attack him directly. By then, it would be impossible to get back to Jiang Xu.

Honestly, Zong Ziqi was more inclined to fight those three to the death once more.

After all, Zong Ziqi was a Sword Cultivator at heart. With a clear Sword Heart, he would advance even knowing it meant certain death. He couldn’t bring himself to flee without a fight.

But his life had been saved by Jiang Xu, and he was keeping it to repay that debt. He couldn’t just throw it away.

Zong Ziqi was torn, but the increasingly frequent alarms left him no more time to think.

’To hell with it!’

Seeing that the situation was getting worse, Zong Ziqi finally clenched his jaw. Just as he was about to make a move, he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

"Brother Zong, no need to be nervous."

"!!!"

The moment he was tapped, Zong Ziqi’s entire body tensed up. The Profound Dragon Sword appeared in his hand in an instant. Just as he was about to turn and strike, he heard the voice.

It was Jiang Xu!

’He’s finally out of seclusion?!’

Zong Ziqi was both shocked and overjoyed, and he quickly turned around.

The moment he turned, he saw Jiang Xu’s slightly dazed expression. His just-settled heart skipped a beat.

’This look... did he succeed in his breakthrough or not?’

’If he succeeded, shouldn’t he be overjoyed?’

’If he failed, then how did Jiang Xu appear just now without me sensing a thing?’

’Even if an enemy appeared, the look on Jiang Xu’s face shouldn’t be dazed, it should be questioning!’

’Could it be... that something unexpected happened during his breakthrough?’

Jiang Xu didn’t offer much of an explanation. He still wore that dazed expression, but his actions were methodical.

"The ones above are not those villainous Demon Cultivators, but they’re not easy characters to deal with either. It’s best not to start a conflict. We should leave first."

With that, Jiang Xu grabbed Zong Ziqi’s shoulder, and they left the temporary cave residence.

On the way, Zong Ziqi was a little curious.

"Brother Jiang, did you succeed in your breakthrough this time?"

"Of course I succeeded. I’m in the Foundation Establishment Stage now," Jiang Xu answered truthfully.

"But you don’t look happy at all. Did something happen? And why did it take you almost a month to come out?"

Hearing this, Jiang Xu’s steps faltered for a moment as he recalled the moment he had awoken in the Seclusion Chamber.

...

"HISS—!"

Jiang Xu clutched his head, feeling a splitting headache. It took him a while to recover his senses.

As the headache gradually subsided, Jiang Xu began to sense the changes within himself.

Jiang Xu felt that his condition was more perfect than ever before. The Magical Power in his Dantian had completely converted into a liquid state, and the total amount of Magical Power he could hold was more than two or three times what it had been before.

He guided a sliver of Magical Power out of his body to observe it carefully.

He discovered that not only had the capacity changed, but the quality and intensity of his Magical Power had also made a leap, at least more than double that of the Qi Cultivation Stage.

In other words, a Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator using the same amount of Magical Power could produce several times the might of a Qi Cultivation Realm Cultivator.

What’s more, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator also possessed Divine Sense to channel the Power of Heaven and Earth, allowing them to boost their might even further.