Chapter 138: Mastering the New Realm

Chapter 138: Chapter 138: Mastering the New Realm

The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Hui Ke standing to the side, staring at him in surprise.

"You’ve been awake for a while?" Chu Fan asked.

"I’ve been awake for half a year. I’ve even broken through to the Divine Separation Realm."

Chu Fan cried out in shock, "Holy shit! Weren’t you at the Nascent Soul Realm Peak just like me before we fell into the coma? You were out for three years and you just skipped a whole Great Realm, breaking through two bottlenecks?"

Before Hui Ke could even answer, Chu Fan shot up from the ground. "You said you’ve been awake for half a year? Doesn’t that mean we’ve been here for three and a half years?! Holy shit! Yun Xi... after all this time, I hope she hasn’t done anything foolish waiting for me."

Just as Hui Ke was about to speak, he was interrupted again.

This time, however, the interruption didn’t come from Chu Fan. The sky had suddenly filled with dark, roiling clouds, plunging the world into twilight. Then, countless bolts of lightning flooded the sky.

The sound was deafening. Before either of them could react, an invisible force bound them in place.

"The presence of two Martial Artists at the Divine Separation Realm has exceeded this space’s tolerance. You will now be expelled from this world."

A soft, feminine voice—one that could not be defied—rang in their ears.

Then, their vision went black.

When Chu Fan could see again, he found himself at the bottom of the Ancient Pool. He was alone.

’The realm must have sent us back to where we came from,’ Chu Fan guessed. ’That’s why I’m the only one in the Ancient Pool.’

But something felt off to Chu Fan. According to Yan Jiuxuan, one could only stay in the Secret Realm for three years at most before being expelled.

’So why were Hui Ke and I able to stay for three and a half?’

’Never mind. It doesn’t matter right now. The important thing is to get back to Peach Blossom Valley.’

He shot toward the surface. Now that he was in the Divine Separation Realm, reaching the top took but a moment.

The splash he made as he broke the surface startled Yun Xi, who had been keeping vigil by the pool’s edge for countless days.

Yun Xi rubbed her eyes. The moment she confirmed it was truly Chu Fan, tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Chu Fan... you... you’re finally back! Waaaah..."

More than two years of pent-up emotion erupted in that single moment. Yun Xi hugged Chu Fan with all her might, as if trying to merge him into her very being.

After a long while, Yun Xi’s sobs subsided. She pushed Chu Fan back just a little, her hands gripping his waist as she looked him up and down, checking for any injuries.

"I made you worry," Chu Fan said.

As Yun Xi was looking him over, Chu Fan was doing the same. But as he looked closer, he saw more than just her breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm Tier Four. He saw a tribulation upon her.

What this tribulation was, Chu Fan couldn’t tell. Nor did he understand why he was able to see it at all.

All he knew was that it was a matter of life and death.

"Yun Xi, how long was I in there?"

"Two years, four months, and twenty-six days. Today is the first day of the tenth month," Yun Xi said.

"Did anything happen to you during the two-plus years I was gone?" Chu Fan asked.

Yun Xi gave him a general account of her past two years, but the more Chu Fan listened, the more puzzled he became. ’What exactly is this tribulation?’

’And why can I see it?’

’Maybe I was in that coma for too long, and now I’m just seeing things?’

Chu Fan could only try to reassure himself with that thought, but he still buried the doubt deep in his heart, unable to dismiss it completely.

’I’ve been on Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain for nearly two and a half years now. With the Spiritual Qi Revival underway, I wonder what the outside world is like... and how Jing’an and the other seven are doing?’

’It’s time to leave.’

’Now that I’m in the Divine Separation Realm, and the other eight are too... nine of us at the Divine Separation Realm can accomplish a great deal.’

’It’s time to avenge my master and senior brother.’

After sharing a long, tender moment with Yun Xi by the Ancient Pool, they waited until their emotions had settled before leaving for Peach Blossom Valley.

Yan Jiuxuan was also surprised when she first saw Chu Fan. She noted the change in his aura; although she couldn’t discern his Realm, it was clear he’d had a fortuitous encounter in the Secret Realm and his Cultivation had improved significantly.

’As expected of the one destined to receive the Divine Scroll,’ she thought.

After they exchanged greetings, Chu Fan said to Yan Jiuxuan, "King of Ten Thousand Beasts, thank you for looking after Yun Xi these past two-plus years. The Secret Realm expelled me the moment I broke through, so we may need to stay for another half a month or so. Once I’ve stabilized and gained control of my new Realm, we’ll be on our way."

Yan Jiuxuan waved a hand dismissively. "It’s no trouble. Stay as long as you like. You’re welcome to return anytime in the future. I consider Yun Xi a dear sister; the gates of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain will always be open to you. By the way, what Realm are you now?"

"Divine Separation Realm Tier One," Chu Fan said, holding nothing back.

"A great fortune indeed. Excellent," Yan Jiuxuan said with a nod and a smile.

Hearing Chu Fan’s new Realm, Yun Xi felt a mix of joy and dejection.

’I’ve tried so hard to catch up, but I’m still so far behind him.’ She was still a long way from the Soul Emergence Realm, while Chu Fan had already reached the Divine Separation Realm.

Chu Fan didn’t rush to stabilize his Realm. Instead, he spent the next three days with Yun Xi. He did nothing else, simply wandering with her through Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, eating their meals in the wild and sleeping under the stars at night.

On the fourth day, Chu Fan returned to the edge of the Ancient Pool. With Yun Xi standing guard, he sat cross-legged on the ground and began to inspect his new Realm and Cultivation.

He turned his senses inward with Introspection. There wasn’t much change within his Dantian; it was still half-full of True Qi Liquid. Floating above it was a brilliant, crystalline, and sacred lotus. Its twenty-eight petals glowed with a faint, almost imperceptible pink hue.

Seated upon the lotus seed pod was a miniature Primordial Spirit, an exact replica of Chu Fan’s current appearance.

His former Nascent Soul had resembled him as a child; this Primordial Spirit now mirrored his adult self.

The Primordial Spirit sat cross-legged on the seed pod, its eyes closed, in the exact same posture as Chu Fan’s physical body.

Beside the Primordial Spirit were twelve plump, shimmering golden Lotus Seeds.

’To this day, I still have no idea what these twelve Lotus Seeds are for.’ When he had first entered the Nascent Soul Realm, Chu Fan had wondered if reaching the Perfection stage meant that all twelve seeds would birth their own Nascent Soul.

’Apparently not. The twelve Lotus Seeds will neither birth a Nascent Soul nor a Primordial Spirit. As for what they’ll do in the future... I guess I’ll find out in the future!’

The Juntian Mirror above his Dantian remained unchanged. Its two outermost rings spun rapidly, the entire surface emitting a golden light that illuminated his Dantian.

Chu Fan then noticed that his Spiritual Power had also grown considerably, from Level 27 to Level 30. This was an unexpected windfall.

Next, Chu Fan attempted a Primordial Spirit Emergence, trying to separate his Primordial Spirit from his physical body.

After numerous tests, he came to a conclusion: at his current Realm, if his Primordial Spirit were to leave his body for an extended period, it could travel a maximum of one hundred zhang away.

For a brief Primordial Spirit Emergence, however, it could travel up to thirty li from his body—the same range as his spiritual sense.

In other words, the range of his Primordial Spirit Emergence was linked to his Spiritual Power.

With that, Chu Fan stood up and began to test the power of the Divine Separation Realm.

He took up his Juntian Sword, leapt into the air, and with all his might, executed a single technique from the Basic Thirteen Techniques: the Sword Splitting Technique.

The sword strike shot out like a rainbow piercing the sun. From dozens of zhang away, it carved a gash into the mountainside more than twenty zhang long, half a zhang wide, and half a zhang deep.

Everything in the path of the attack was utterly annihilated by the Sword Qi.