Chapter 46: The Destined Son-in-Law (8) |
The Hundred Nations Trial.
This was not Su Chen's first time participating. In his previous life, he had entered the secret realm during the trial and discovered several treasures that had not yet fully matured. He had hidden them carefully, planning to retrieve them in a future life if the opportunity arose.
Five hundred years had passed in the blink of an eye. Su Chen had no idea how many of those treasures still remained.
"Five centuries of frost and snow have erased even the marks I left behind. Nothing survives."
Guided by memory, he ventured deeper, only to find the secret realm had changed beyond recognition. The markers he once placed were gone, rendered useless. Disappointment settled over him. He had no choice but to search for new opportunities. Fortunately, his luck held.
Before long, he encountered a powerful demon beast, dispatched it with ease, and claimed a thousand-year Earth Yellow Essence. He continued wandering the realm, gathering several more fortuitous encounters along the way.
Suddenly, a deafening boom echoed through the heavens and earth. An ancient stele materialized.
Su Chen looked up, curiosity stirring in his chest. In this life, how many inheritance runes would he be able to comprehend? What level of legacy awaited him?
The many young prodigies within the secret realm surged toward the Xuanyuan Ancient Stele, vying fiercely for the dao platforms. When they caught sight of Su Chen, however, recognition dawned. This was the genius personally favored by an elder of the Profound Origin Sacred Land. No one dared provoke him.
As the Dao platform flared with light, Su Chen's consciousness merged into it.
Golden, radiant runes poured down like rain across the void. Those mysterious, obscure symbols appeared utterly transparent in his eyes—clear as lines etched in the palm of his hand.
One day… two days… three days…
More and more prodigies awakened from their comprehension. The light surrounding Su Chen grew increasingly brilliant.
The crowd marveled inwardly. "Truly worthy of being the genius noticed by a sacred land elder."
They were all eager to see just how many runes he would ultimately grasp. Gradually, everyone else withdrew.
One month later, a towering pillar of light shot skyward.
"Five hundred and thirty-one runes… is this my limit?"
Su Chen absorbed the inheritance that flooded into his mind. It belonged to a Void Refining Realm powerhouse. The Void Refining Realm lay above the Profound Connection Realm. Those who reached it were honored as Sovereigns. Even within the Profound Origin Sacred Land, a Void Refining Realm cultivator ranked among the absolute elite.
The legacy Su Chen received was merely a low-grade Sovereign-level martial technique. Yet even the weakest Sovereign-grade technique remained Sovereign-grade.
Outside the secret realm, the result caused an uproar.
Lin Wu still remembered the most outstanding prodigy from several hundred years earlier—Lang Chaotian—who had possessed the potential to become a Sovereign. He had comprehended only four hundred and eighty runes. After entering the Profound Origin Sacred Land, he had advanced to the peak of Profound Connection Realm and now stood on the very cusp of breaking through to Void Refining.
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And now, Su Chen had grasped over five hundred and thirty runes. His comprehension was beyond reproach.
As Lin Wu had predicted, Su Chen secured the top spot and entered the Profound Origin Sacred Land.
The Eastern Wasteland contained twelve major sacred land-level orthodoxies. The Profound Origin Sacred Land ranked ninth. Ninth place. Yet even in the ninth, it stood proud above the countless beings of the world.
The sacred land was vast—merely the tip of the iceberg dwarfed the territory of the Heavenly Origin Dynasty. Rare and exotic beasts roamed freely. Mountain ranges rose and fell endlessly, bathed in swirling mists of dawn light.
Under Lin Wu's guidance, Su Chen formally became the disciple of a powerhouse named Prison-Suppressing Sovereign. Prison-Suppressing Sovereign was an old man with a goatee, his demeanor listless and weary.
Yet Su Chen could sense it clearly. He was strong… extraordinarily strong…
"Disciple Mu Chen pays respects to Master."
Su Chen bowed deeply and respectfully toward the goateed old man.
The old man's eyes flashed with piercing sharpness as he regarded Su Chen. "This old man originally had no intention of taking on disciples. But that boy Lin Wu insisted you were different from the rest, said you might bring me a surprise.
"Therefore, I have accepted you as my disciple and will impart every last bit of my inheritance without reservation. Do not disappoint me."
"Disciple will exert every effort and will not fail Master's expectations," Su Chen replied with a solemn nod.
Master and disciple took up residence on Prison-Suppressing Peak.
Prison-Suppressing Peak was vast. It housed numerous servants. Aside from Su Chen, however, there were no other disciples on the peak. He was the sole inheritor.
This came as a genuine surprise to Su Chen. His good brother truly lived up to his word. Being the only disciple meant Su Chen could enjoy the full resources of the entire lineage. No competition whatsoever. It was an enormous stroke of fortune.
The next day, Su Chen began cultivating under the Prison-Suppressing Sovereign's guidance. The emperor taught him without holding anything back. The technique he practiced was called the Prison-Suppressing Scripture—a high-grade Sovereign-level method.
Through their lessons, Su Chen also learned that Prison-Suppressing Sovereign was a peak ninth-layer Void Refining Realm powerhouse. The revelation filled Su Chen with even greater excitement. With such a formidable figure as his backer, his path of cultivation would be smooth and boundless.
Three years passed in the blink of an eye.
Throughout that time, Su Chen remained on Prison-Suppressing Peak, immersed in cultivation. With the personal instruction of such a powerful master, Su Chen gained far deeper insight into the realms of cultivation. His cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds. In three short years, he broke through to the third layer ofthe Spirit Soul Realm. The Spirit Soul he formed was of superior quality. It could easily defeat three versions of his previous self without any strain.
Over those three years, Su Chen also came to understand more about the past of this goateed old man. He learned that Prison-Suppressing Sovereign harbored a mortal enemy. The reason the old man had refrained from taking disciples for so many years was entirely because of that foe.
Revenge consumed the Prison-Suppressing Sovereign's every waking moment. He had no heart to accept students. Now, however, his lifespan was nearing its end. He had still failed to break through to the Nirvana Realm. With no hope of avenging himself, he finally decided to take on a disciple. Fortunately, Prison-Suppressing Sovereign was an old friend of Lin Wu's master.
In this life, Lin Wu regarded Su Chen as the successor of his long-lost companion. That was how Su Chen had ended up apprenticed to a peak Void Refining Realm powerhouse—and as the sole disciple, no less.
During those three years, Prison-Suppressing Sovereign grew increasingly pleased with Su Chen's comprehension. Perhaps in the future, this young man would break through to the Void Refining Realm and inherit the legacy he wished to pass on. Prison-Suppressing Peak would not fade into obscurity within the Profound Origin Sacred Land's history.
"Master, this disciple hails from the Great Yan Dynasty. It has already been four years since I left my homeland. I wish to return and see how things stand. I humbly request Master's permission."
Having achieved success, it was only natural to return home in glory. Now that he had firmly established himself in the Profound Origin Sacred Land, Su Chen could not help but think of Uncle Xia, as well as the Xia siblings. He wondered how they were faring. And also, his sworn brother—Fang Bubai, the one suspected of possessing tremendous destiny.
Prison-Suppressing Sovereign nodded. "Since it is a matter of returning home, it is only right. Let Qiu and Kun accompany you back to the Great Yan Dynasty."
Qiu and Kun were both followers of Prison-Suppressing Sovereign, as well as servants of Prison-Suppressing Peak. They were also two Profound Connection Realm powerhouses. In the outside world, they were existences who could be crowned as kings.
And so, Su Chen set out on the road back to the Great Yan Dynasty.