Chapter 142 - 97: Vast Sword Intent, Black Lotus Sect’s Secret Gathering

Chapter 142: Chapter 97: Vast Sword Intent, Black Lotus Sect’s Secret Gathering

Real World, Luocheng First High School Cultivation Chamber.

"This Dungeon run has truly yielded a bountiful harvest..." Lu Chen murmured as he looked at his game panel. He realized that the rewards from this trip to the ’Anti-Cauldron Warriors’ Dungeon were even richer than what he had gained during the three-school joint examination.

Not to mention the ’Heavenly Dao Fragment’ and ’Human Mountain Technique’ that the Little Golden Dragon dropped at the very end. Lu Chen gained a full twenty thousand Experience Points from that alone. And that was just from the final Little Golden Dragon. Factoring in the Experience Points from killing the Black Iron Tripod People and Bronze Tripod People earlier, his total haul from this Bearers of the Tripod Dungeon was nearly thirty thousand points. This was more than enough Experience Points for him to directly upgrade his ’Divine Techniques: Body Casting into Soldiers’ to the Breaking Realm level, with plenty left over.

Since he now knew about the existence of the Immortal Fiends, Lu Chen intended to accelerate his Cultivation speed as much as possible.

[You have consumed 14,000 Experience Points. Body Casting into Soldiers (Furnace Type) has been upgraded to ’Broken Mirror’...]

[Body Casting into Soldiers (Furnace Type): Broken Mirror (Cannot be upgraded)]

[Effect: Can absorb gold to temper the body, forming a Refined Steel Body, and transform the body into a weapon (Soldier Body Type: Furnace)]

[Special Effect: Furnace - Increases Elixir absorption effects by 100%. Can devour attacks that do not exceed the user’s Cultivation limit and refine half of the absorbed attack into personal Spiritual Power and Qi and Blood...]

[Special Effect: Refine - Can summon a Divine Skill Pill Furnace to suppress and refine enemies]

...

Unlike the Hundred Battles Body, which could only store incoming attacks, the effect of the Realm-Breaking Level Body Casting into Soldiers was much more tyrannical. It could directly refine a portion of enemy attacks into his own Spiritual Power and Qi and Blood. In a way, this equated to a fifty percent damage reduction. Factoring in the partial damage reduction of the Hundred Refinements Body, Lu Chen estimated that ordinary Techniques hitting him would only retain about thirty to forty percent of their original power. That wasn’t even considering that Body Casting into Soldiers was inherently a Body Forging Divine Techniques, which would massively boost his physical attributes and further enhance his defense.

With his Physique—his final weakness—now shored up, Lu Chen felt he had almost no shortcomings in the short term. He only needed to raise the Divine Power Level of his Earth Attribute Divine Techniques and Water Attribute Divine Techniques. Once he gathered all the Five Elements Special Divine Techniques, it would trigger a qualitative change in his Spiritual Root, allowing him to attempt the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment. Unknowingly, he was getting closer and closer to the Foundation Establishment Stage...

He didn’t even need to go out of his way to find Earth Attribute Divine Techniques. He had conveniently obtained one after killing the Little Golden Dragon’s Split Soul: the [Human Mountain Technique]. The effect of the Human Mountain Technique was simple and brutal—it allowed Lu Chen to transform into a Mountain Man upon casting. In this state, both his defense and strength would receive a colossal boost. Although his movements would become sluggish and he wouldn’t be able to use Sword Skills, he could still execute Fist Techniques. Lu Chen hypothesized that once he leveled the Human Mountain Technique up to the Broken Mirror and paired it with his Mountain-Shaking Fist Intent, its power might significantly surpass his Dragon Transformation Sword Intent. It would become another trump card for him, second only to his ’Outer Path One Sword’.

Aside from the Experience Points and the Special Divine Techniques, his other major harvest from this Dungeon run was the ’Soul Crystal Fragments’.

[Soul Crystal Fragment (Green): 12]

[Talent Divine Techniques: Outer Path Incarnation - First Realm 21/30]

...

Each of the four Corpse Dragons had yielded three Soul Crystal Fragments (Green), granting him a sudden windfall of twelve green-tier fragments. This gave him exactly enough to upgrade his Talent Divine Techniques.

Without any hesitation, Lu Chen consumed all the Soul Crystal Fragments. Before long, he felt his body undergo a transformation, and he immediately checked his Talent Divine Techniques panel.

[Talent Divine Techniques: Outer Path Incarnation]

[Grade: Second Realm]

[Effect: Upon use, summons two Outer Path Incarnations. The Outer Path Incarnations possess 50% of the main body’s Cultivation and Physique, 100% of its Skill Levels, and take 300% damage]

Although the Second Realm of Outer Path Incarnation simply increased the number of summons from one to two, this upgrade was by no means insignificant. This was because Lu Chen could use his Outer Path Incarnations to execute the ’Outer Path One Sword: Immortal Slaying Sword’. No one knew better than him just how terrifying the power of that strike was. Below the Golden Core stage, very few could withstand this practically unavoidable sword strike, because it didn’t slash at the enemy’s physical body—it slashed their soul.

Even though Lu Chen still couldn’t quite understand the underlying mechanics of this technique, that terrifying strike—which completely ignored space and distance—was undoubtedly his strongest trump card at the moment. It was so powerful that even a Fortune Golden Dragon like the Little Golden Dragon, who had lived for tens of thousands of years, would pale in shock upon seeing him use it.

Having fully sorted through his spoils, Lu Chen began planning his next steps. It had been nearly three months since he first obtained True Cultivation. The first Dungeon he activated had been right after the school semester started. Therefore, in just over ten days, he would be able to re-enter the ’Ancient Cultivator’s Tomb’ Dungeon.

Thinking back carefully, his initial exploration of the Ancient Cultivator’s Tomb had not been entirely comprehensive. He still had no idea how to use the ’Mysterious Tomb Key’ that Ye Chenglin had dropped. He figured there had to be some hidden Dungeon within the Ancient Cultivator’s Tomb. Perhaps his Cultivation had been too low at the time, failing to meet the requirements to unlock it, which was why he couldn’t find a way to use the Mysterious Tomb Key.

And the Ancient Cultivator’s Tomb wasn’t the only Dungeon whose potential remained untapped. There were also parts of the Ancient Cultivator’s Sword Tomb that Lu Chen had been unable to explore. The most glaring of these was the area beyond the third floor of the Sword Pavilion. Back then, the Sword Pavilion had been cleaved in two by the Outer Pathist Ancient Immortal, causing everything above the third floor to collapse behind the Sword Pavilion. Hindered by the eerie Black Fog, Lu Chen had been forced to stop at the third floor, unable to venture any further. Furthermore, when he defeated Fang Heng, he had received a special reward... the Unknown Sword Intent.

[Unknown Sword Intent]

[Effect: Upon use, initiates a special Sword Intent enlightenment session. It is recommended to use this only after one of your Swordsmanship Skills reaches ’Entering the Dao’ to avoid interfering with your own Sword Dao.]

He thought, "Because I hadn’t yet mastered a Dao Entry Level Sword Skill, I set this aside for the time being. Then, between being busy with exams and running subsequent Dungeons, I gradually forgot it existed. Now is just about the right time to use it."

Lu Chen controlled his in-game character and directly consumed the Sword Intent Fragment. In the next second, he felt himself slip into a profound state of enlightenment. A Sword Technique known as ’Vast Sword Qi’ began flashing incessantly before his eyes...

...

Meanwhile, outside a dilapidated factory in Luocheng.

Shen Feiyang stared at the ruined factory in front of him, an indescribable exhaustion radiating from his dark-circled eyes.

He grumbled inwardly, "I knew there was no future in following this Black Lotus Sect. Every meeting is shrouded in secrecy and held in the middle of nowhere. Not only that, but the meeting times are always at ungodly hours of the night. You guys might not need sleep, but I do!"

Dissatisfied as he was, Shen Feiyang ultimately chose to walk inside. After all, while his public identity was that of a Black Lotus Sect cultist, he was secretly an undercover agent for the Mountain and Sea Bureau. However, Shen Feiyang knew that if he was going to play a part, he had to go all out. If he didn’t want the others to discover his identity as a double agent, he had to act more like a devoted Black Lotus Sect cultist than anyone else. Only then could he survive the next three years and wait for the day he could safely retire.

Thinking of this, Shen Feiyang silently cheered himself on. "Three years, just three years. After three years, my record will be completely wiped clean! Before then, I need to earn the trust of the Black Lotus Sect’s higher-ups. After all, even though I was brought in by a guy claiming to be the Vice Sect Leader of the Black Lotus Sect, I don’t know what he looks like, nor do I know his name. God knows if his identity as Vice Sect Leader is real or fake. Still, considering he made me a Missionary right after I joined, it’s probably true... Sigh, if only I had seen his face back then. That way, I could have just turned around and reported it to Lord Yu. I might not have even needed to go undercover—I could have become a full-time agent right away. What a pity, an absolute pity."

Missionary, Main/Deputy Altar Master, Protector, Holy Son/Holy Daughter, Vice Sect Leader, Sect Leader. This was the hierarchy of power within the Black Lotus Sect.

Although positions in the Black Lotus Sect weren’t necessarily tied to Cultivation, if one wanted to become an Apostle or higher, they generally needed to meet one of two conditions. First, their Cultivation had to reach a certain level, such as the Foundation Establishment Stage, which would automatically qualify them as a Missionary Apostle. Alternatively, they had to make outstanding contributions to the Black Lotus Sect—like donating vast sums of wealth or helping the sect accomplish something monumental. The fact that Shen Feiyang was able to become a Missionary while only at the Qi Cultivation Stage was clear evidence that strings had been pulled.

He wondered, "I really don’t know why that Vice Sect Leader trusts me so much. Didn’t he consider that I might betray him after being forced into the sect?"

Recalling that mysterious entity who called himself the Vice Sect Leader, Shen Feiyang felt a wave of confusion. He thought, "Back then, no matter how you look at me, I didn’t seem like the type to join an Evil Cult. Could it be that he wasn’t inviting me, but rather the Female Ghost inside my body?"

The more Shen Feiyang pondered it, the more convinced he became that this was the reason. He had been completely unremarkable before; it was only after that Female Ghost entered his body that he became somewhat special. At this thought, he couldn’t help but sigh. Other guys lived off women, but him? He was living off a Female Ghost. Yet, while other guys who lived off women at least got a decent meal, what about him? Forget about a meal—he hadn’t even seen a single grain of rice!

He resolved, "No way. Once I complete my undercover mission and retreat from the Black Lotus Sect in one piece, I definitely have to get the Mountain and Sea Bureau to extract this Female Ghost from my body. Otherwise, my sex life is..."

SLAP!

Before Shen Feiyang could finish his thought, his right hand violently slapped him across the face. Only then did he remember that the Female Ghost could hear his inner thoughts!

He frantically begged in his mind, "Stop, stop, My Lady, please stop hitting me, I was wrong!"

After a moment of his frantic mental pleading, the mysterious Female Ghost finally let him off. Shen Feiyang clutched his right cheek, humiliating tears slipping from his eyes.

He lamented inwardly, "This is so frustrating, absolutely frustrating! Whatever, let me just see what these Black Lotus Sect villains want. Calling a Missionary like me to a meeting in the dead of night means they definitely have some big move planned. And if I report this matter to Lord Yu, it should count as a merit, right?"

With this in mind, Shen Feiyang immediately pulled a special mask from his Storage Pouch and placed it on his face before striding directly into the abandoned factory.

"My chance to earn some merit... has arrived!" he thought.

...

PS: Asking for monthly tickets as usual!