Chapter 345 - 316: Atop Primordial City, the Primordial Sect

Chapter 345: Chapter 316: Atop Primordial City, the Primordial Sect

Gazing at the giant black stone statue before him, Chen Che sat cross-legged.

Thousand Eyes was dead, but this object was still dangerous. After all, his foe had been a Golden Core Sixth Layer True Master. If he hadn’t been injured in the Black Tortoise Calm Sea and then taken a direct hit from a Celestial Tribulation, even if Chen Che had used all his trump cards, he might have only had a fifty percent chance of winning.

And this Divine Statue was a Magical Artifact that Thousand Eyes had sacrificially refined for nearly nine hundred years, making it far more terrifying than the great Buddha statue from before.

Therefore, this time, Chen Che had made ample preparations.

BOOM!

The moment his Divine Sense touched the statue, the Power of Faith hidden within it was violently awakened. It instantly transformed into a raging tidal wave, enveloping Chen Che.

WHOOSH—

In an instant, Chen Che felt as if he were back in the long-destroyed Thousand-Eyed Hall. The surroundings were grim and terrifying. Before him was Thousand Eyes, the very man who had already fallen. He sat coiled beneath the Black Stone Divine Statue.

As the Power of Faith churned within the statue, ’Thousand Eyes’ slowly raised his head.

"Since you see my true self, why do you not kneel?"

Then, he abruptly raised his right hand and swiped at Chen Che.

"I’ve already slain your true self. How dare a mere remnant of your consciousness act so insolently now!"

Faced with such terrifying might, Chen Che was not the least bit flustered. Instead, he just snorted coldly. ’This is a remnant of consciousness Thousand Eyes left behind during his Cultivation. It’s the same principle as the seal on a Storage Ring, only much more powerful.’

"Condense!"

He instantly focused his Divine Sense to its limit, directly forming a Flying Sword.

"Break!"

With a sharp cry, the Divine Sense Flying Sword shot out, trailing a swath of silvery light.

SLASH!

He had thought it was just a remnant of consciousness that he could easily slice through. But when the Flying Sword struck the giant palm of Thousand Eyes, it only left a gash. At the same time, countless densely packed faces squirmed out from the wound.

ROAR!

The consciousness of Thousand Eyes roared, and the innumerable faces quickly intertwined and converged. In the blink of an eye, the wound had already healed.

’What is that?’

Slightly stunned, Chen Che recognized them. Those faces were the very foundation of this Divine Statue: the Power of Faith.

Meanwhile, Thousand Eyes clenched its fist around the Flying Sword. Countless faces poured from its palm, crawling up the blade as if trying to devour it.

Apparently, after more than nine hundred years of Sacrificial Refinement, Thousand Eyes had managed to unify the complex and chaotic faith within the Divine Statue, condensing its Power of Faith to the extreme. If he had another hundred years to completely grind away the consciousness of these believers and merge them all, this Divine Statue might have been promoted to a Tier Four artifact.

Seeing this, Chen Che’s eyes narrowed, and a thought flashed through his mind.

The Divine Sense Flying Sword trembled silently, then swiftly transformed into an image of Chen Che himself. It also sat cross-legged before the consciousness of Thousand Eyes and struck out with a palm. ’Since a clever trick won’t work, I’ll just have to slowly grind away its consciousness.’

...

For a period of time after that, Chen Che would spend any free moment he had grinding away the residual consciousness in the Divine Statue.

Although he rarely interfered in Jinyun Valley’s affairs anymore, the Sect grew more prosperous by the day, with everything flourishing.

Yunzhou had three major Golden Core Influences, but the Ye Clan and the Meng Clan were family-based and thus relatively closed off. Only Jinyun Valley was a Sect, open to all talents. The Primordial Sect was more powerful, but its hierarchy was already set in stone.

As a newly promoted Golden Core Influence, Jinyun Valley naturally offered more opportunities.

Loose Cultivators, who were once treated as worthless, were now fighting tooth and nail to get in.

However, Jinyun Valley had long since tightened its requirements for recruiting Tributors, preferring quality over quantity. Thus, these Loose Cultivators had no choice but to turn to the various affiliated families, which indirectly increased the strength of those families.

Beyond that, Chen Xi was also worth mentioning.

Although she was in Jinyun Valley, she still controlled Hunzhou and Shuzhou from afar.

Chen Che had thought she would use this opportunity to conquer Hunzhou in one fell swoop, but she unexpectedly chose to give up on it. Without the backing of Cultivators, and with the help of Mortal Grandmasters, the Shuzhou army suffered defeat after defeat, reclaiming thirty percent of their lost territory in just seven days.

Meanwhile, the matter of the Imperial Mausoleum being turned to ruins also affected the Royal Family.

The current Emperor was forced to issue an imperial edict of self-blame before hanging himself at the city gate. For a time, the nation was beset by internal and external troubles. Beacons of rebellion were lit everywhere, and countless regions rose up. The entirety of Shuzhou fell into chaos, splintering into dozens of small nations.

And yet, Chen Xi’s Cultivation not only didn’t regress, but it actually advanced.

"Those are all Thousand Eyes’s believers. They’re of no use to me."

After a brief inquiry, Chen Che understood. She planned to abandon Thousand Eyes’s model of building a great unified dynasty, opting instead for a ’Peach Blossom Spring’ approach. This meant she was going to directly abandon Thousand Eyes’s followers.

’She’s planning to raise mortals in a secluded haven.’

Chen Che immediately understood her strategy.

In addition, from now on, all newborns in the Great Chen Royal Family had to be tested for a Spiritual Root. Those with a Spiritual Root could begin Cultivation directly, while those without would remain in the Mortal World. Clearly, she also had the intention of establishing a cultivator family.

"In the past, my clan had no choice. Starting from our founding ancestor, we were afflicted by a blood curse planted by Thousand Eyes. Anyone with the blood of the Chen Clan could not sense Spiritual Qi. Not only were we unable to practice Cultivation, but upon death, we would immediately turn into Ghost Gods and be summoned into the Imperial Mausoleum."

"The curse existed because of Thousand Eyes. Now that he has perished, the blood curse is naturally gone, and my clan can finally cultivate."

After explaining, Chen Xi added, "Valley Master Chen, I was wondering if my clan’s disciples could practice their Cultivation within Jinyun Valley?"

Evidently, she hadn’t chosen to distance herself from Jinyun Valley and sever ties just because Thousand Eyes was dead. In fact, she was preparing to strengthen their connection, even seeming to want to become a dependant. Under the current circumstances, this was clearly not a bad thing.

So, after a moment’s thought, Chen Che agreed.

...

Chen Xi moved quickly, sending over the first batch of her clanspeople within just a few days. This was mainly because the Chen Clan was the Royal Race, with a huge population in the Mortal World, so it wasn’t surprising they could find some members with Spiritual Roots.

However, this group of clanspeople had been pampered in the Mortal World, accustomed to a life of luxury and wealth. Some had even developed lawless personalities.

Suddenly thrown into the Cultivator World, they hadn’t had time to accept their change in status and brought their profligate, arrogant attitudes from the Mortal World with them, leading to several conflicts with Jinyun Valley disciples.

Chen Che went to take a look and saw Chen Xi, furious at their failure to live up to expectations, kill several of the troublemaking clansmen on the spot. At the same time, she sent those unwilling to cultivate back to the Mortal World. Seeing this, the remaining clansmen instantly became much more obedient.

"They’re a lost cause!"

Chen Xi was trembling with rage.

They had risked their lives to overthrow Thousand Eyes and had painstakingly won this chance for the younger generation to cultivate. Yet these people didn’t cherish the opportunity at all. Instead, they were bickering out of jealousy and competing with one another.

Chen Che didn’t meddle in the internal affairs of the Chen Clan. The transition from royal nobles to bottom-rung Cultivators would indeed take time. Besides, the Valley had its own rules. Anyone who violated them would simply be expelled from Jinyun Valley.

The disciples of Jinyun Valley were Chen Che’s greatest foundation in this realm; he would not allow a few bad apples to cause trouble among them.

Meng Qianxun and Meng Changtu were still recovering from their injuries.

As for the clan’s affairs, the two of them didn’t need to worry. With the Ye Race now in seclusion and Jinyun Valley as an ally, it was no exaggeration to say that the Meng Family could do as they pleased within the Yunzhou Realm.

However, the two still restrained their clansmen to avoid giving off the impression that they had become arrogant with success.

As for Xiao Chan, once he was fifty percent healed, he set off for Hunzhou. War had broken out again in the Mortal World, which was the best opportunity to collect Souls. He also needed these Souls to increase his strength and make it easier to face his Tribulation in the future.

In the Ghost Market, the Garlic-nosed Elder delivered the third batch of faith-related items.

Meanwhile, the Lu Family was also collecting them on a massive scale in the Mortal World, gathering far more than the Garlic-nosed Elder. This old Daoist was not only smart but also extremely cautious. When he learned that another power was also collecting these items, he immediately informed Jinyun Valley that he wouldn’t dare compete with them and that this would be his final batch, terrified of causing offense.

At the same time, the consciousness within the Thousand-Eyed Divine Statue was being worn down day by day, its power weakening with each passing day.

Just as he was about ten days away from resolving the matter, a summons from the Primordial Sect interrupted Chen Che’s plans. The letter told him to make a trip to the Primordial Sect. The messenger was only a Foundation Establishment Great Perfection cultivator, but his etiquette was quite thorough.

’They want me to report in?’

Chen Che knew about this custom. Once a Cultivator in the Sixteen States achieved Core Formation, they were expected to make a pilgrimage to the Primordial Sect to show their submission.

Meng Qianxun had also gone to the Primordial Sect immediately after his Core Formation for this very reason.

"Something’s not right..."

Meng Qianxun looked somewhat surprised.

The Primordial Sect did indeed have this rule, but the time limit was usually three years. It was rare for them to issue a personal summons for a Golden Core cultivator to present themselves after just one month. Meng Qianxun’s expression turned grave.

"An order from the Primordial Sect cannot be ignored. In my opinion, it probably isn’t a major issue. But when something is this out of the ordinary, there’s usually a catch. I’d better accompany you!"

Although the old man had also reported in not long ago and might not be much more familiar with the process than Chen Che, he at least understood the procedures. He could help Chen Che avoid unintentionally offending someone.

Furthermore, he wasn’t just going to lead Chen Che there. He had even prepared dozens of lavish gifts, including Spirit Stones, Materials, Magical Artifacts, and Pills.

"Why are we bringing all this?"

"One can never be too courteous. Besides the Sect’s Golden Core True Masters, there are also the Chiefs of the major Halls. We can’t miss a single one. We’re not expecting any favors in return, just hoping they won’t secretly trip us up."

Meng Qianxun explained patiently, "Before, we were at Foundation Establishment and beneath their notice; we had no way to even approach them. Now that we’ve made it, we naturally have to be more respectful."

Chen Che did a quick calculation. All told, it added up to nearly a million Spirit Stones. Fortunately, after conquering the four clans and the Thousand-Eyed Imperial Mausoleum, Jinyun Valley was quite wealthy. However, the Meng Family had also put up half of this sum.

After preparing for the better part of a month, the two finally set off.

However, the Major Cultivator who had delivered the letter showed no signs of impatience. On the contrary, he said there was no rush and that they could wait a few more days if they weren’t ready. Chen Che quietly asked and found out that Meng Qianxun had secretly slipped the man twenty thousand Spirit Stones.

Once their preparations were complete, the two boarded the other party’s Spiritual Boat and departed.