Chapter 393: Acupoint Linkage

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

This day would be etched into the memories of all the sects surrounding the Immortal Cloud City, or one could say, within this entire region. To them, the previously quiet Shang Wu City had made a resounding entrance, shocking the world.

Compared to when several combined aperture tempering realm cultivators besieged Shang Wu City in the past, no one could quite fathom the true strength of Master Xi Lian at that time. But today, Master Xi Lian made it clear to everyone what true fear meant.

In the vicinity of the Immortal Cloud City, besides the Primordial Sword Sect, the Sunken Water Pavilion, and the Big Dipper Tower, there were actually quite a few smaller sects and family clans. Initially, all of them had aligned themselves with the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect. Later, due to pressure from the Divine Flame Sect, some had defected.

However, today, whether they had sided with the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect or joined the Divine Flame Sect, some had suffered. Anyone sent to Shang Wu City had returned as Ghastly puppets.

Many of them were body refining realm cultivators, seemingly not making a significant impact. However, the contamination of the Ghastly puppets was incredibly powerful. If not detected, it quickly spread. Even if aperture tempering realm cultivators eventually realized something was amiss, it was already too late.

Some brave aperture tempering realm cultivators chose to sever their own limbs and escape. But in the end, some couldn’t bring themselves to do it and were ultimately tainted by the Ghastly puppets, becoming their puppets.

Only those forces that hadn’t dispatched anyone to Shang Wu City truly escaped unscathed. After all, these Ghastly puppets primarily targeted their original factions.

This way, they could better infiltrate and assimilate into the new forces. As for the forces bold enough to send people to Shang Wu City, they were already quite powerful, which aligned perfectly with Master Xi Lian’s requirements. Sacrificing these forces in blood would provide even more power to Shang Wu City.

As for those smaller sects and factions, Master Xi Lian didn’t pay them much attention. In Master Xi Lian’s view, these minor forces would ultimately become his prey.

The only difference was whether they would be consumed early or later.

At the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect.

Tong Zhongqiu looked at Sun Jie with slightly narrowed eyes. It was difficult for aperture tempering realm cultivators to detect the Ghastly puppets, but in front of combined aperture tempering realm experts, these Ghastly puppets couldn’t hide.

Tong Zhongqiu narrowed his eyes as he looked at Sun Jie. It was difficult for cultivators at the aperture tempering realm to detect the presence of Ghastly puppets, but in the face of a cultivator at the combined aperture tempering realm, this kind of Ghastly puppet couldn’t hide.

“Don’t misunderstand. It’s just uncomfortable to be constantly watched like this, so I decided to send the ghastly puppet back,” Sun Jie’s voice sounded somewhat subdued.

He looked at Tong Zhongqiu and a faint smile appeared on his face. Without waiting for Tong Zhongqiu’s response, Sun Jie’s body trembled slightly, and a wisp of black smoke drifted out of his sea of consciousness, then turned into ashes.

The Ghastly puppet had actually self-destructed, just to leave behind a few words.

For factions with combined aperture tempering realm experts, the Ghastly puppets were indeed weaker. They might create some chaos, but it was impossible to annihilate a combined aperture tempering realm faction. It could even provoke these Nascent Realm forces to unite in this region.

For sects with cultivators at the combined aperture tempering realm sitting in command, Ghastly puppets were still somewhat weaker. They might cause some chaos, but completely annihilating a sect with combined aperture tempering realm cultivators was an impossible task. It might even enrage these sects with combined aperture tempering realm cultivators and lead to further cooperation among them in this region.

However, the necessary warning had been given, and Master Xi Lian still maintained a degree of control. He gave face to the sects with combined aperture tempering realm cultivators while preserving his own authority. At the same time, he reaped all the benefits from the other forces that didn’t have combined aperture tempering realm cultivators, strengthening himself.

He had secured both face and substance.

Tong Zhongqiu took a deep breath. At this moment, the area around Immortal Cloud City was probably in utter chaos. Even if Tong Zhongqiu were to take action, it was already too late.

The terrifying aspect of these Ghastly puppets lay precisely in this place. Without reaching a certain level of power, there was no capability to deal with them.

Yu Family Clan.

Yu Shoucheng watched his clan members fall, and with a light wave of his right hand, he sent them to the side.

Yu Shoucheng stood up and gazed in the direction of Shang Wu City. His eyes narrowed slightly, but in the end, he didn’t make any move.

For this region, Yu Family was just passing through. As travelers, they didn’t want to get involved in too many things. Although Yu Shoucheng felt somewhat displeased about his clan members being possessed by the Ghastly puppets, it was only a minor annoyance.

Master Xi Lian had enough strength to do such things, and in a one-on-one battle, Yu Shoucheng was indeed no match. Besides, his family members were unharmed.

Therefore, Yu Shoucheng had no reason to take any further action.

Master Xi Lian was indeed becoming increasingly powerful, but if needed, Yu Family could simply return to the Endless Sea through the mystic realm. It was a retreat plan, and when things became impossible, they could just leave.

At the Divine Flame Sect.

Jian Jinsheng watched as his disciples collapsed and the Ghastly puppets disintegrated. A cold light flashed in his eyes, and he suddenly reached out with his right hand. The black smoke that should have turned into ashes was forcibly pulled into his hand.

The Ghastly puppet struggled instinctively, but Jian Jinsheng lowered his head, and his gaze met the eyes of the Ghastly puppet.

“Hum!”

The ground beneath Jian Jinsheng trembled slightly, and ripples spread out. Through the eyes of the Ghastly puppet, Jian Jinsheng seemed to have crossed thousands of miles, seeing a patch of black mist. Under the black mist, a figure was seated.

The figure seemed to sense something, and its eyes suddenly opened, meeting Jian Jinsheng’s gaze.

Their gazes clashed like two forces meeting head-on, and in the eyes of both, there seemed to be boundless power. The black mist around them rolled violently, as if thunder had erupted out of thin air, causing the black mist to disperse in all directions.

“Bang!”

The Ghastly puppet in Jian Jinsheng’s hand burst apart, and the distant eye contact came to an end.

The ashes of the Ghastly puppet scattered from Jian Jinsheng’s palm, and he looked towards the direction of Shang Wu City in silence, his eyes constantly flickering.

The world was in chaos due to the Ghastly puppets and Master Xi Lian’s countermeasures. In countless places within this kingdom, there were eerie cries and wails.

This dynasty, already in turmoil due to the rebellion, had become even more chaotic. It was the kind of disorder that was almost without order.

While there had been rebel forces before, some of the larger cities were surrounded by sects with significant power. These sects treated the cities around them as forbidden territory, and others were not allowed to interfere.

As a result, major cities rarely suffered from rebel incursions. Those who fled to the cities brought a sufficient and affordable labor force, making the cities even more prosperous.

But now, the larger the sect’s power, the more likely they were to send their disciples to Shang Wu City to quickly obtain information and make decisions as soon as possible.

This strategy wasn’t wrong in itself, after all, the timeliness of information was crucial for any faction. Moreover, those who went to Shang Wu City had observed from dozens of miles away.

With such a considerable distance, there shouldn’t have been any issues, but unfortunately, problems arose.

When the Ghastly puppets returned to their sects, those with better luck promptly discovered the problem and could still attempt to salvage the situation. Those with worse luck only realized the issue when it was too late, resulting in the tragedy of their sect’s extermination.

Once a sect was annihilated, if there was enough time, these Ghastly puppets would proceed to the nearest city for further blood sacrifices. They aimed to maximize their gains before other strong individuals arrived.

In the past, cities that had prospered under the protection of major factions were suddenly struck by catastrophic events, while smaller cities managed to escape unscathed.

This dramatic reversal left many people perplexed until their deaths, unable to understand what they had done wrong to face such a fate.

These individuals failed to comprehend that in this world of survival of the fittest, strength was power, and weakness was sometimes a mistake.

Chen Fei, understanding this principle, had devoted himself to rigorous training. From the moment he possessed the System Panel, he made time to improve his proficiency in various techniques.

His goal was to continually enhance his strength so that one day, he could control his destiny instead of being at the mercy of others.

In the vicinity of Immortal Cloud City, Big Dipper Tower was completely eradicated, and some smaller sects vanished without a trace. The Primordial Sword Sect and the Sunken Water Pavilion, on the other hand, were safe and sound.

After the incident, Qu Qingsheng shared a similar sentiment with Zhou Zixuan; that was, he felt fear. While he had anticipated a dire situation, he hadn’t expected Big Dipper Tower, a faction of its size, to be completely devoured.

Immortal Cloud Sword Sect was somewhat surprised that both the Primordial Sword Sect and the Sunken Water Pavilion remained unharmed, especially when compared to Big Dipper Tower, which suffered complete devastation.

Both the Primordial Sword Sect and the Sunken Water Pavilion consciously downplayed Chen Fei’s role and didn’t place him at the forefront. The Primordial Sword Sect did this to protect Chen Fei, while the Sunken Water Pavilion was grateful.

At the same time, the Sunken Water Pavilion understood that this wasn’t the right time for Chen Fei to gain fame.

For the Sunken Water Pavilion, which Chen Fei had helped out of a difficult situation, gratitude filled every member. Moreover, there was the relationship between Chen Fei and Chi Shuqing, placing both sides in a kind of alliance.

The outside world was in turmoil, and Chen Fei lacked the ability to resolve it. The methods of Master Xi Lian exceeded Chen Fei’s capacity to cope.

The gap between the mid-stage aperture tempering realm and combined aperture tempering realm was too great, and even an average combined aperture tempering relam cultivator wasn’t a match for Master Xi Lian. Chen Fei, at the mid-stage aperture tempering realm, naturally couldn’t deal with Master Xi Lian.

Chen Fei couldn’t afford to think about things that exceeded his capabilities; it was unrealistic. For Chen Fei, the most practical and fundamental approach was to improve his own strength.

Only by raising his cultivation realm did he have hope of solving various problems that might arise.

Take, for example, the crisis posed by the Ghastly puppets this time. Without The Star Gazing Art and the various techniques Chen Fei had cultivated, he wouldn’t have had the ability to resolve it. The final outcome might have been similar to Big Dipper Tower.

Therefore, if he didn’t want to face such powerlessness in the future, he needed to make every effort to enhance his own strength.

Chen Fei immersed himself entirely in his cultivation routine.

The proficiency of several techniques continued to increase, and he consumed a sufficient quantity of elixirs daily while continuously opening his acupuncture points. Chen Fei’s life entered a monotonous and flavorless state.

It was only when Chi Shuqing occasionally came over that life became somewhat more interesting.

In the span of ten days, Chen Fei had opened three more acupoints, bringing the total number of his acupoints to seventy-one.

With this number of acupoints, Chen Fei began to feel the connection between the seventy-one acupoints. This was due to the mastery of the three techniques that reached great completion level and Chen Fei’s cultivation having already reached the late-stage aperture tempering realm.

Compared to other cultivators who needed to open seventy-two acupoints to experience this connection, Chen Fei was undoubtedly ahead by quite a bit.

This interconnection between acupoints could even be clearly felt by Chi Shuqing when they practiced together.

Although Chi Shuqing had expected Chen Fei’s rapid increase in strength, this unusual interconnection between acupoints still surprised her.

The last time Chi Shuqing had heard of Chen Fei breaking through to the mid-stage aperture tempering realm was over half a year ago.

What had happened now?