136: Chapter 136 The End of Qinghua Mountain

However, none of them knew that at this very moment, in Qinghua Mountain, a miracle capable of shaking the entire Huangzhou was quietly being born.

Inside the void space on the seventh floor of the prison suppressing pagoda.

Chen Zhiwen sat cross-legged, his aura as deep as the sea, and majestic energy circulated within his body like a galaxy, ceaseless and endless. His Physical Body, having been baptized by the starlight energy transformed from those three phantoms, felt as if every inch of flesh and every bone had been tempered a thousand times, containing explosive power.

In his perception, his body seemed to have turned into a small world; his Qi and blood surged like a river, his bones were harder than divine iron, and his internal organs shimmered with a faint precious light.

This was an unprecedented feeling of power, an absolute strength purely brought about by his Physical Body, capable of shaking mountains and tearing the sky apart.

"This is the Realm of a Great Grandmaster in Body Refining..." Chen Zhiwen slowly clenched his fist, feeling the power between his fingers and palms capable of crushing the Void Realm, his heart filled with deep emotion.

Since the end of the Ancient Era, the path of Body Refining had gradually declined, its Cultivation Technique incomplete, and its Legacy severed.

To this day, in the entire Huangzhou, there was no lack of Great Grandmaster in Qi Refining and Soul Refining, but on the path of Body Refining, being able to reach the Peak Grandmaster was already rare, and the Realm of Great Grandmaster had become an unattainable legend.

And today, he, Chen Zhiwen, had broken this legend!

He had become the first Great Grandmaster in Body Refining in Huangzhou since the Ancient Era!

This achievement, if spread, would be enough to shake the entire continent.

More importantly, with the Breakthrough in his Body Refining Realm, as well as his comprehension of the ultimate path of Hegemonic Destruction, Chen Zhiwen felt that he had a brand-new understanding of the "Dao" and the essence of power.

This understanding was like a key, unlocking a shackle that had long existed in his heart.

The Bottleneck that had been restraining his Qi Refining cultivation suddenly loosened at this moment!

"Now is the time!" A sharp light flashed in Chen Zhiwen's eyes.

With a thought, the Sacred Ancient Imperial Art began to circulate crazily within his spiritual sea. The golden Spiritual Qi, which had already been majestic to the extreme, now seemed to have found a vent, beginning to surge, compress, and sublimate in an even more violent manner!

His spiritual sea was expanding, his Meridians were widening, and the golden core within his Dantian was rotating at an unprecedented speed, emitting a dazzling light.

Boom!

With a muffled sound that seemed to originate from the depths of his Soul, Chen Zhiwen's body shook violently. An aura of Qi Refining, several times stronger than before, erupted from within him, instantly filling the entire void space.

Qi Refining Realm, Middle-stage Great Grandmaster!

Everything fell into place, without any obstruction!

Chen Zhiwen exhaled a long breath of turbid air. This turbid air did not dissipate in the void but turned into a sharp, sword-shaped Qi energy that flew dozens of zhang away before slowly fading.

He felt the golden Spiritual Qi within his body, which was more condensed and majestic than ever before, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

Both Body Refining and Qi Refining had broken through, bringing him a geometric increase in strength.

"And there is still Soul Refining..." He sank his mind into his Sea of Consciousness.

Inside the Sea of Consciousness, the Clone of the Undying Dark Emperor clan sat cross-legged, surrounded by the profound runes of the Soul Tempering Undying Scripture. His Soul Power was extremely solid, and he was only one step away from the Great Grandmaster Realm. Chen Zhiwen had a premonition that as long as he had some time to settle, with the insights from this double Breakthrough, a Breakthrough in the Soul Refining Realm would be just around the corner.

By then, practicing all three paths and entering the Great Grandmaster Realm in all of them, what a terrifying level his combat power would reach!

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Chen Zhiwen slowly stood up. He had passed the trial of the seventh floor; it was time to experience the challenge of the eighth floor.

With a thought, ripples spread through the void in front of him, and a staircase leading to the upper floor emerged.

Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Zhiwen stepped out, and his figure instantly vanished from the seventh floor.

...

The eighth floor of the prison suppressing pagoda.

Similar to the seventh floor, this was still an endless void, but the pressure permeating the space was more than ten times stronger than on the seventh floor. Even if an ordinary Early Stage Great Grandmaster came here, just resisting this pressure would likely consume a great deal of mental energy.

Chen Zhiwen's figure had just appeared, and before he could steady himself, three figures slowly condensed in the void a thousand zhang away.

These three figures were still the same as before, wielding the Void-Splitting Divine Fist, Indestructible Golden Body Shock, and Mountain-Opening Divine Elbow. But unlike the seventh floor, the aura they emitted had reached the level of a Middle-stage Great Grandmaster in Body Refining!

That pure pressure from the Physical Body was like three primordial divine mountains looming ahead, suffocating.

"Well come!"

Chen Zhiwen was not alarmed but delighted, his Battle Intent soaring to the sky. He was just worrying about having nowhere to unleash his surging strength, and these three "sparring partners" had delivered themselves to his door.

Without any unnecessary words, the battle broke out instantly!

"Hah!"

The three phantoms moved. Their figures pulled out three afterimages in the void, forming a triangular Formation, attacking Chen Zhiwen from three directions simultaneously. Their speed was several times faster than the phantoms on the seventh floor!

The phantom wielding the Void-Splitting Divine Fist took the lead, throwing a punch that caused the void ahead to emit unbearable "crackling" sounds, and visible spatial rifts spread out following his fist's momentum.

The phantom wielding the Mountain-Opening Divine Elbow charged from the flank, its elbow striking like a mountain, at a tricky angle, aiming straight for Chen Zhiwen's waist and ribs.

And the phantom wielding the Indestructible Golden Body Shock remained at the back, stomping its feet violently on the void. An invisible ripple of shockwaves, like ripples on water, spread silently, covering all the directions Chen Zhiwen could dodge, aiming to interfere with his movement and the circulation of his Qi and blood.

Attack, restraint, and support—the three cooperated seamlessly, as if they were three bodies controlled by one person, reaching the peak of tacit understanding.

Facing this thunderous combined attack, Chen Zhiwen's eyes narrowed, and instead of retreating, he advanced!

"Hegemonic Destruction!"

He let out a low shout, his internal Qi and blood and Spiritual Qi instantly fusing, pouring into the black gilded light sword in his hand.

On the sword blade, a deep black light circulated, and a terrifying Concept of severing all things and destroying life permeated the air.

"Slash!"

He did not choose to defeat them one by one but instead met attack with attack, sweeping out with a single sword strike!

A black sword light, condensed to the extreme, was like a bolt of black lightning, tearing through the void.

This sword strike not only contained his Middle-stage Great Grandmaster Qi Refining cultivation but also incorporated his newly acquired Body Refining power as a Great Grandmaster, as well as that supreme ultimate path intent!

Rumble!

The black sword light collided violently with the fist force of the Void-Splitting Divine Fist, erupting with a deafening roar.

Violent energy shockwaves swept out in all directions, shattering the shockwave ripples of the Indestructible Golden Body Shock into pieces.

Chen Zhiwen's figure swayed, and he was forced back three steps by the massive recoil force.

And those three phantoms were also knocked back, and a shallow white mark appeared on the fist of the phantom wielding the Void-Splitting Divine Fist.

After one strike, it was a draw!

"What a strong Physical Body!" Chen Zhiwen's heart skipped a beat.

This sword strike of his was enough to severely injure or even kill an ordinary Middle-stage Great Grandmaster, yet striking these phantoms only left a white mark! The physical strength of these phantoms was simply inconceivable.

Without waiting for him to think more, the three phantoms stabilized their figures and pounced again, their offensive even more violent than before.

Chen Zhiwen put away his contempt, his expression becoming incredibly focused. He treated this place as an excellent training ground, beginning to constantly hone his combat skills.

He would sometimes clash head-on with the sword Dao of Hegemonic Destruction, sometimes unleash the Jinghong World-Destroying Thunder Technique, with purple-gold lightning dancing wildly in the void, and sometimes imitate the Moves of the phantoms, meeting fist with fist and elbow with elbow, integrating his understanding of those three Body Refining Divine Abilities into actual combat.

The battle was staged crazily within the eighth-floor space.

One day, two days, three days...

While Chen Zhiwen was training tirelessly in the prison suppressing pagoda, the other Prodigies in Qinghua Mountain were also making their final sprints and consolidations in their respective Opportunity locations.

Feng Qingyang sat cross-legged before that broken sword, Sword Qi swirling around him. His newly formed Sword Domain had now become much more solid, and the Sword Intent contained within it had become increasingly pure.

His cultivation, under the washing of massive Sword Dao insights, had already stabilized at the Middle-stage Grandmaster, and it was still slowly and firmly improving.

Zheng Chen was constantly deducing within a screen of Formation light; before him, the Formation diagram of the Ten Thousand Phenomena Heaven Net Formation rotated slowly, countless runes appearing and disappearing, profoundly mysterious. His Soul Refining cultivation had also successfully consolidated at the Early Stage Grandmaster, and his control over Formations was far beyond what it had been before.

At the bottom of the deep pool, Ao Ming let out a high-pitched Dragon roar. On the surface of his body, the emerald green scales became even more crystalline, and faint golden lines even appeared on them.

The energy of that ancient demon pill had been completely absorbed by him, and his Green Nether Flood Dragon Bloodline had taken a solid step towards the true Dragon Clan Bloodline.

...

In the blink of an eye, ten days passed quietly.

The eighth floor of the prison suppressing pagoda.

"Bang!"

Chen Zhiwen and the three phantoms clashed hard again, both sides being knocked back a hundred zhang.

At this moment, Chen Zhiwen's clothes were a bit disheveled, but his aura was more steady and restrained than ten days ago, his eyes as sharp as an eagle's.

And the three phantoms opposite him were still the same, seemingly tireless and never wearing out.

"Still no good." Chen Zhiwen shook his head.

After ten days of thousands of exchanges, he had figured out the attack patterns of these three phantoms. With his current strength, the three phantoms could no longer hurt him in the slightest.

But he was also unable to defeat them.

It was not that he was not strong enough, but that the cooperation of these three phantoms was simply too perfect, with absolutely no flaws. Moreover, their physical defense was simply too terrifying; unless he could unleash an attack far exceeding his current limit, he could not inflict fatal damage on them.

However, the gains from these ten days were huge.

His combat experience, in this high-intensity battle, had skyrocketed like a rocket. His control over his own strength, his application of the Hegemonic Destruction ultimate path, and his understanding of those three Body Refining Divine Abilities had all reached a brand-new height.

"With my current strength, even against a Late-stage Great Grandmaster, I have the power to fight, and even... defeat them!" Strong confidence flashed in Chen Zhiwen's eyes.

This trip to the prison suppressing pagoda had already yielded huge gains. The trial of the eighth floor could temporarily come to an end.

With a thought, he exited the prison suppressing pagoda.

...

Qinghua Mountain, inside a valley filled with dense Spiritual Qi.

Chen Zhiwen's figure appeared out of thin air. He took a deep breath, feeling the fresh air outside, feeling refreshed.

He spread his Divine Sense and quickly sensed several familiar auras.

With a movement of his body, he flew towards the direction where the auras gathered.

A moment later, by the pool under the waterfall, he saw Zheng Chen, Feng Qingyang, Ao Ming, Zhou Qi, and others.

At this time, their auras had all undergone earth-shaking changes.

Feng Qingyang was a Middle-stage Grandmaster, his Sword Intent sharp. Zheng Chen was an Early Stage Grandmaster, his Formation Dao aura increasingly profound. Ao Ming was a Middle-stage Grandmaster, his Demonic Qi soaring to the sky, with faint Dragon prestige permeating the air.

Even Zhou Qi, who had always been low-key, had now stepped into the Early Stage Grandmaster in both Qi Refining and Soul Refining, with a nascent Sword Domain surrounding him, his edge fully revealed.

Obviously, during this period, everyone's gains were substantial.

"Brother Chen!"

The others also discovered him and stood up to greet him, with joy on their faces.

However, when their gazes fell on Chen Zhiwen, their expressions froze, turning into deep shock and horror.

In their perception, Chen Zhiwen at this moment was like an ancient well bottomless, or like a vast and boundless starry sky, impossible to fathom his depth.

That faint pressure made these Prodigies, who had just broken through and were in high spirits, feel a palpitation in their hearts.

"Brother Chen, you... what is this..." Zheng Chen asked with wide eyes, stuttering slightly.

He had thought that obtaining the Legacy of the Ten Thousand Phenomena Heaven Net Formation and breaking through to Grandmaster was already a huge Opportunity, but compared to the Chen Zhiwen before him, it seemed like nothing.

Chen Zhiwen smiled slightly, his aura retracted, and that heart-palpitating feeling disappeared without a trace; he turned back into that gentle Fifth Prince.

"Just a fortunate Breakthrough," he said nonchalantly.

Hearing this, everyone's mouth corners twitched.

This is called "a little" Breakthrough? This is practically breaking through while sitting on a flying boat!

However, they also knew Chen Zhiwen's personality and did not ask further. Everyone exchanged greetings, shared their experiences and gains in Qinghua Mountain, and the atmosphere was very lively.

"Calculating the time, the day the Qinghua Mountain opens is almost over, and it is time for us to go out." Zheng Chen suggested.

Everyone nodded. This trip to Qinghua Mountain had given them satisfactory Opportunities, their strength had greatly increased, and it was time to return to welcome the coming changes in Huangzhou.

"Alright, then let us go out together." Chen Zhiwen smiled.

Everyone delayed no longer, accompanied each other, turned into several streams of light, and flew towards the direction outside Qinghua Mountain. They would step back onto the stage of Huangzhou with a brand-new posture.