Chapter 624: Ascension

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

In Chen Fei’s mind flashed several types of cultivation methods, but none of them met Chen Fei’s requirements.

The cultivation of Combined Apertures was already an extremely difficult task. The first six levels before reaching the Combined Aperture Tempering realm were all about preparing to condense the Three Flowers.

For Chen Fei to have his clone possess a power similar to a top-grade Combined Apertures would certainly be an extremely daunting task. Or rather, it was a wildly fanciful idea.

“Forcing the condensation of the Three Flowers is currently impossible for the clone, but perhaps it’s worth trying to condense just one flower!”

Chen Fei’s main body’s Combined Apertures were even more refined than a top-grade Combined Apertures, which made the projected Combined Apertures extremely solid.

If the projected Combined Apertures could withstand the condensation of one flower, then the clone’s strength would greatly increase, reaching the mid-stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, which should pose no problem at all.

With the strength of the mid-stage Combined Aperture Tempering realm, normally sheltering the Primordial Sword Sect wouldn’t be a big issue.

Moreover, with the clone reaching the mid-stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, under the Conjoined Body Technique, the damage the clone could share would also increase, killing two birds with one stone.

“First cultivate to the Great Completion stage, and then give it a try.” After some thought, Chen Fei began to earnestly read the Three Flower Technique.

For others, cultivating such a high-difficulty technique just to try out an idea would undoubtedly be a highly uneconomical endeavor.

Human energy is limited, and with so many ideas, it’s better to first comprehend the main cultivation technique to maximize returns.

But for Chen Fei, having the interface and comprehending techniques, though time-consuming, was undoubtedly worth it compared to the potential rewards.

An hour later, information about the Three Flower Technique appeared on the interface.

“Fuse!”

“Technique discovered. Would you like to spend sixty medium-grade elemental stones to simplify the Three Flowers Shadow Art?”

“Simplification of the Three Flowers Shadow Art in progress… Simplification successful… Three Flowers Shadow Art -► Shadow Escape Technique!”

For Chen Fei at this point, the cost of elemental stones was truly negligible, and he hardly felt it.

Thinking back to the past, enduring many risks for just one or two silver coins, life’s experiences were truly mysterious.

After spending some more time, Chen Fei also simplified the Conjoined Body Technique and the Diffracted Heavenly Eye Technique, integrating the Diffracted Heavenly Eye Technique into his eyes while simplifying the Conjoined Body Technique separately.

“Simplification of the Conjoined Body Technique in progress… Simplification successful… Conjoined Body Technique —> Clubbing Technique!”

“Clubbing technique?”

Chen Fei looked up at the tree in the courtyard, made a gesture with his right hand, and a branch flew towards him, hitting him directly.

A sense of enlightenment appeared in Chen Fei’s mind, precisely related to the Conjoined Body Technique.

This simplification method is quite straightforward!

Chen Fei turned his head to look outside the courtyard. A large tree on the mountain peak instantly disintegrated, turning into hundreds of wooden sticks flying towards the courtyard, then hitting Chen Fei.

In an instant, dozens of insights appeared in Chen Fei’s mind.

Chen Fei waved his right hand, causing the wooden sticks to become thinner, allowing more sticks to hit him simultaneously. The insights appearing in Chen Fei’s sea of consciousness increased.

Chen Fei began to jump around, while also activating the techniques within his body. Insights regarding the Profound Heavenly Sword and Teleportation also emerged.

He couldn’t practice the Soul Breaking Technique and Heavenly Eyes anymore. At this moment, with so many insights crowding his mind, they almost dragged down his entire consciousness.

If Chen Fei were to add another technique’s insight, it would undoubtedly affect the cultivation of all techniques, resulting in more harm than good.

Teleportation and Conjoined Body Technique were vital for survival, while the Profound Heavenly Sword was the main cultivation technique. These three naturally needed to be prioritized. As for the others, they could only be arranged after one of these three techniques reached perfection.

A pile of wooden sticks surrounded Chen Fei, who continued to jump around, creating an extremely eerie scene.

Fortunately, on this mountain peak, there was only Chen Fei’s courtyard. If anyone else had approached, Chen Fei would have noticed, so there was no need to worry about being seen by others.

While Chen Fei immersed himself in cultivation, the matter of the Blood Sun Sect being annihilated had caused a stir of discussion but had gradually subsided because another event had captured everyone’s attention.

First, it was the Sea Monster. After invading the sea area where the Sea Dominion City was located, the surrounding three adjacent sea areas had also been invaded and taken over by the Sea Monster.

Among these three sea areas, the first to flee had been the forces of various sects and the people within cities associated with these sects.

As for cities with less direct connections, the people there had only been able to fend for themselves.

Although the Thousand Feathers Alliance had also participated in the relocation efforts later, the number of people in the three sea areas had been so vast that it had been impossible to relocate them all in a short period.

Therefore, many people had still been stranded and unable to leave.

According to reports from some scouts, those stranded individuals hadn’t been entirely killed off by the Sea Monsters.

Some of those with cultivation were devoured by the Sea Monsters, significantly enhancing their own strength in the eyes of the Sea Monsters.

However, those without cultivation or only possessing basic martial arts skills had survived.

But survival wasn’t necessarily a good thing for them; they were regarded as slaves and thoroughly kept by the Sea Monsters. Whether they lived or died depended entirely on the mood of the Sea Monsters.

After occupying the four sea areas, the Sea Monsters’ actions had slowed down slightly, but they were far from satisfied. They had merely paused for a moment, taking a breather.

Some advance teams of Sea Monsters had already begun probing the surrounding sea areas, waiting for the right moment to start the next phase of invasion.

In the eyes of the Sea Monsters, whether human or sea territory, they were all resources they needed.

Essentially, the way the Sea Monsters viewed humans and sea territories was quite similar to how humans viewed them. It’s just that originally, humans were in control of those sea territories, but now they belonged to the Sea Monsters.

The people from neighboring sea areas naturally underwent large-scale migrations. Those with means tried to head towards the regions within the Thousand Feathers Alliance. Those with limited resources could only settle in nearby sea areas for the time being.

This was an external threat faced by the Thousand Feathers Alliance, and every once in a while, new information about the Sea Monsters would spread within the alliance.

Meanwhile, within the Thousand Feathers Alliance, Min Yanlu’s senior disciple, Shen Yanhe, attempted to break through to the Mountain Sea Realm but ended up failing.

On that day, above the main headquarters of the Thousand Feathers Alliance, the vitality of heaven and earth boiled, with weather phenomena far exceeding the limits that the Combined Aperture Tempering realm could stir up.

Several decades ago, when Xu Xizhang broke through to the Mountain Sea Realm, the vitality of heaven and earth surged like this, radiating for dozens of miles.

However, Xu Xizhang successfully broke through back then, achieving a Mountain Sea Realm that surpassed the aspirations of countless people.

But after persevering for just fifteen minutes, Shen Yanhe’s efforts came to naught. His body couldn’t withstand the sudden surge of power, and he fell unconscious from severe injuries.

The stirred-up vitality of heaven and earth oscillated for a moment before gradually dissipating.

There were too many witnesses that day, and news of Shen Yanhe’s failure spread throughout the entire Thousand Feathers Alliance, leaving many people lamenting in regret.

If Shen Yanhe had succeeded in his breakthrough, the number of Mountain Sea Realm experts within the Thousand Feathers Alliance would have reached four. Even though the newly broken-through Mountain Sea Realm experts might have been slightly weaker initially, they were still Mountain Sea Realm experts.

With Min Yanlu and a few others united, they would have been capable of repelling the three major Monster Kings among the Sea Monsters, restoring the Thousand Feathers Alliance to its former order.

Unfortunately, fate didn’t align with Shen Yanhe’s wishes, and his failure cast a shadow over other peak Combined Apertures cultivators who were preparing to attempt breakthroughs.

As Min Yanlu’s senior disciple, Shen Yanhe had been meticulously taught by Min Yanlu himself. His conditions were undoubtedly superior to many peak Combined Apertures cultivators from top-tier forces.

Yet, despite all this, Shen Yanhe still failed. What about the others?

While immersed in seclusion, Chen Fei also heard about Shen Yanhe’s failure.

As a disciple of Min Yanlu, Shen Yanhe’s martial foundation was beyond doubt. Whether in Combined Apertures or Three Flowers, he should have reached a certain pinnacle.

In such a situation, if he could still fail, then the problem must lie in the soul.

The Mountain Sea Realm involved the transformation of the soul. According to the Profound Heavenly Sword technique, during the moment of breaking through to the Mountain Sea Realm, a martial artist had an opportunity to control their own soul.

By harmonizing the soul with the vitality of heaven and earth, completing its sublimation, one could naturally withstand the sudden surge of power upon reaching the Mountain Sea Realm.

However, if one failed to seize that fleeting opportunity, then they would ultimately end up in failure.

The secret methods of the soul allowed Combined Aperture Tempering realm cultivators to sense and touch their souls in advance, which undoubtedly had significant benefits when attempting to break through.

However, this could also be seen as increasing the chances of breaking through to the Mountain Sea Realm, rather than guaranteeing a hundred percent success.

Moreover, the circumstances encountered by each person when breaking through realms are varied and cannot be generalized.

Ultimately, one can only know what will happen during the breakthrough when they actually attempt it.

Three months passed in the blink of an eye, and the Sea Monsters had already begun massive invasions into other sea areas.

The Soul Breaking Technique had advanced from the Proficient stage to the Perfection stage. At this point, Chen Fei had cultivated the incomplete Soul Breaking Technique to its peak. With the Soul Breaking Technique at the Perfection stage, Chen Fei could clearly sense his own soul.

The leap from mere touching to complete perception was significant. Chen Fei could even use his mind to slightly nourish his soul, strengthening it.

However, this strengthening was extremely subtle, so much so that Chen Fei couldn’t even sense any signs of growth.

Even when the Three Flowers converged at the peak of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, the soul would passively receive nourishment.

But like the Soul Breaking Technique, the effect was somewhat lackluster.

And according to Chen Fei’s estimation, once the soul reached a certain point of strengthening, further progress might become difficult because the spiritual level of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm was somewhat lacking.

In addition to the breakthrough in the Soul Breaking Technique, the Conjoined Body Technique, through Chen Fei’s relentless self-infliction, had also reached the Perfection stage. It surged forward in the Perfection stage, advancing towards the position of Great Completion.

In the Perfection stage, the Conjoined Body Technique’s ability to transfer damage had already reached the limit of Chen Fei’s clones.

If Chen Fei were heavily injured, the damage would be mitigated by the Conjoined Body Technique, turning severe injuries into minor ones. However, the clone would still be shattered. Breaking through to the Great Completion stage with the Conjoined Body Technique wouldn’t increase the amount of damage the clone could bear.

However, Chen Fei would continue to cultivate the Conjoined Body Technique. After all, the clone’s strength might eventually reach the mid or even late stages of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm.

Then there was the Profound Heavenly Sword technique. After three months of training, this top-notch technique had finally reached the Great Completion stage. Whether in terms of elemental power, speed, or the ability to enter the void, it had all reached a higher level.

As Chen Fei’s strength surged forward, a piece of news spread throughout the Thousand Feathers Alliance.

If any Combined Aperture Tempering realm cultivators were willing, they could go to the headquarters of the Thousand Feathers Alliance, where a part of the secret techniques would be opened for cultivation to all Combined Apertures cultivators.

Upon hearing this news, Chen Fei didn’t show much interest in other techniques.

Chen Fei was more interested in knowing if there were any secret techniques available that could quickly condense the Three Flowers without damaging the foundation.

Otherwise, without any special circumstances, Chen Fei feared it would be difficult to reach the peak of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm without a dozen or so years.

This speed was already quite fast, considering Chen Fei was barely sixty years old. At this age, being in the peak of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm made him almost a prodigy in terms of youthfulness.

However, in this turbulent period, Chen Fei was unwilling to wait for those dozen or so years.. He wanted to progress faster!