The sound of donkey hooves clattered as Wang Chen left Datong County City.
The city gates had just opened, and a hint of the pale dawn sky appeared in the east.
He continued north along the official road.
After returning to Nan Shao City, Wang Chen planned to go into seclusion at the Star Observation Pavilion until he advanced to the ninth level of Qi Cultivation.
Then, he would consolidate his foundation until he reached the state of Great Perfection.
This process might take one or two years, or perhaps even three to five years; it was uncertain.
Although he had the cheat-like Immortal Cultivation panel, if his foundation was not stable, even forcefully breaking through and achieving a Breakthrough Mansion would lead to endless troubles, so he absolutely could not rush this process.
Wang Chen had learned this lesson well during the practice of the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Method!
Just as he was hastening on his way, a series of urgent hoofbeats suddenly sounded from behind.
Wang Chen couldn't help but look back and saw five or six riders quickly pursuing him.
The riders, with their heads wrapped in red scarves and burly figures, were led by a rough and burly man who shouted, "Believe in Maitreya, obtain peace!"
The other riders responded in unison, "Maitreya bless, peace under heaven!"
Are they sick, or what?
Wang Chen originally had no intention of paying them any attention, but unexpectedly, they approached quickly, and upon catching up, they called out, "Taoist priest, please halt, our Saintess requests your presence!"
Wang Chen truly hadn't anticipated these people were actually pursuing him, and immediately shook his head, saying, "Not available."
The rough and burly leader pulled on the reins, causing his steed to rear up, blocking Wang Chen's path.
He and several other riders surrounded Wang Chen and said menacingly, "Little Taoist priest, don't refuse the wine only to be forced to drink a penalty cup!"
On the surface, they appeared to be Maitreya Sect followers, but after a few words, they revealed their true colors as people from the Martial World.
Just a bunch of bandit talk!
Wang Chen's eyes flashed, "Scram!"
With the help of his Great Perfection level Spiritual Perception Technique, he could see a layer of bloody red mixed with black Blood Fiend Energy enveloping the bodies of these riders.
Not one of them was benevolent, and they had much blood on their hands.
There must be innocents among their victims.
The rough and burly man flew into a rage and suddenly leaped into the air, his right hand formed into an eagle claw, viciously aiming for Wang Chen's neck.
In an instant, he was upon Wang Chen!
Before the rough man's claw could reach Wang Chen's neck, a flash of sword light swiftly passed over his throat.
A head soared into the sky!
The flying sword light did not stop there; it continued like a dragon, swirling past the other riders, severing their heads with lightning speed.
In just a moment, six first-class martial artists were decapitated.
The Fire Crow Sword returned to its sheath, and Wang Chen patted the head of his big green donkey.
The animal sneezed and began to gallop forward, its speed matching that of fine horses.
In an instant, Wang Chen's figure disappeared at the end of the road.
He left behind the stench of blood, six corpses, and six bewildered horses.
Before the sun set, Wang Chen returned to Nan Shao City.
Since there were many watchers from the Guarding Heavenly Master's Mansion, to avoid trouble, he changed his appearance and used his Great Perfection level Stealth Breath Technique, making him undetectable even to Innate Martial Artists.
Back at the Heavenly Master's Mansion, Wang Chen summoned Wan, "When can you break through to Innate?"
Now, Wan had become his most capable assistant.
She managed all internal and external affairs, a beautiful woman who kept everything in perfect order, allowing Wang Chen to focus on cultivating and farming monsters.
Considering the importance of Wan, he wanted to help her climb a tier before he went into seclusion.
In response to Wang Chen's inquiry, Wan pursed her lips and replied, "Anytime!"
Over the past month, she had been preparing for her breakthrough to the Innate realm.
Breaking through to Innate was extremely difficult though; even with great confidence in herself and the Innate Pill bestowed by Wang Chen, she still did not have complete assurance.
"Then let's give it a try now."
Wang Chen decisively said, "Break through right here, I'll protect you as you do!"
He saw Wan's hesitation and indecisiveness and simply left her no room to choose.
Strengthened by his decisiveness, Wan set her resolve: "Thank you, Immortal Master!"
Two days later, when she left the Star Observation Pavilion, she had stepped into the Innate tier!
At the same time, Wang Chen maximized the power of the Array, then went into seclusion in the underground chamber for his advancement.
For a Qi Cultivation cultivator, the period between the eighth and ninth levels is an extremely important threshold.
Although this threshold is not very difficult to break through, it is related to the subsequent breakthroughs in opening up the Mansion, so there can be no carelessness, or else unpredictable problems might arise.
As Wang Chen began his seclusion, tens of thousands of miles away in the Heaven Cloud Mountain range, the skies suddenly changed!
Deep in the mountains, belonging to Guiyuan Gate, a Cultivator of the Purple Mansion looked up at the three Flying Warships in the sky, his eyes filled with a mix of shock and anger.
He glared and bellowed, "Cloud Sun Sect, what is your intent?"
The five Flying Warships bearing the Cloud Sun Sect's banners had appeared out of nowhere, with absolutely no warning.
This Superior of Guiyuan Gate responsible for guarding the mine had not received any notice from his sect.
Even though he had activated the Defensive Array, he had no confidence at all.
He felt that something disastrous was about to happen.
The Purple Mansion cultivator's premonition was entirely correct; as his words had just fallen, beams of destructive light descended from the sky, instantly shattering the Defensive Array.
They encompassed him along with over a hundred Guiyuan Gate disciples within the range of the strike!
When five Magical Treasure-level Flying Warships fired in unison, even a Golden Core True Person could not withstand it, their fates were sealed.
After clearing out the resistors, the hatches of two Flying Warships opened, and hundreds of Cloud Sun Sect disciples swarmed out.
They rushed into the mines like wolves, mining the Spirit Stone veins crazily in a destructive manner.
The extraction of Spirit Stone mines is a very technical process, normally requiring the gradual stripping of rock skin to extract large chunks of raw Spirit Stone, which are then cut, polished, and refined.
A complete set of procedures is very time-consuming.
The disciples of the Cloud Sun Sect, however, were like wild boars bursting into a rice field, blasting at the veins with Magic Artifacts, forcefully extracting the raw ore to stuff into their Storage Bags to take away.
Such a method of mining was greatly wasteful, although it was very fast.
And the same scene was unfolding at two other Spirit Stone Mines belonging to Guiyuan Gate as well as their other mineral deposits.
Not only that, but tens of Cloud Sun Flying Ships had completely surrounded Guiyuan's Outer Sect, issuing an ultimatum to their bitter rivals!
Suddenly, the Heaven Cloud Mountain range was engulfed in the smoke of war.
All the major Immortal Cultivation sects who received the news were stunned; no one had expected the Cloud Sun Sect to wage an undeclared war, and the number of Flying Warships deployed far exceeded everyone's understanding!
The human hunting incident that had caused an uproar had long since passed.
Everyone thought that with the mediation of the Upper Sect, Cloud Sun Sect and Guiyuan Gate had reconciled.
To everyone's surprise, the Cloud Sun Sect acted against the tide, striking against Guiyuan Gate with brazen force.
It was clear they did not regard the opinions of the two Upper Sects at all!
Five Peaks Mountain, Medicine King Valley, Green Cloud Sect, Heaven Sword Pavilion, and other sects in and around the Heaven Cloud Mountain range all adopted an attitude of watching the drama unfold.
They wanted to see what end would befall the Cloud Sun Sect, which claimed to be the foremost in Heaven Cloud!
The second update is here.