382: Chapter 376 did not answer this pointless question.

Chen Zhiwen turned his head and glared at her with annoyance.

He did not answer this boring question.

Instead, with a wave of his large sleeve, several Formation Flags flew out from his cuff, landing steadily around the courtyard.

As a few hand seals were cast, a miniature soundproof and defensive Restriction instantly formed, completely isolating the entire courtyard from the outside world.

"You listen to me carefully."

Chen Zhiwen turned around, his expression becoming unprecedentedly serious.

He stared into Huang Xia's eyes, his tone extremely solemn, as if he were entrusting her with a matter of life and death.

"In this world of Cultivators, you cannot easily trust anyone except yourself."

Chen Zhiwen warned, enunciating every word.

His brows were tightly locked, and his mind was filled with tragic scenes of countless Cultivators slaughtering each other for resources; he did not want this seedling with an exceptional Ice Spiritual Root to perish prematurely because she trusted others too easily.

Huang Xia was startled by his stern tone.

She put away her previous playful demeanor.

Although she was still somewhat puzzled in her heart as to why she couldn't even trust the beautiful older sister who gave her a gift, she still nodded obediently.

"Senior Brother's words, Xiaer will remember them."

Huang Xia gripped the bracelet tightly and answered in a low voice.

Looking at Chen Zhiwen's cold, stern face, a strange sense of security suddenly welled up in her heart.

Chen Zhiwen looked at her obedient appearance and sighed slightly in his heart.

He knew well the treachery and cruelty of the world of Cultivators.

People's hearts are hard to read; in the face of longevity and profit, so-called kinship and friendship are fragile and vulnerable.

This girl is like a blank sheet of paper right now.

She possesses Aptitude that would make people go crazy, yet she has no ability to protect herself.

He must first firmly shelter her under his own wings.

When her Cultivate base is successful and her mind is mature, he would then let her go out to experience the wind and rain and gain experience.

Otherwise, she would sooner or later be swallowed by this man-eating world of Cultivators until not even her bones were left.

"You make do in this courtyard for one night for now."

Chen Zhiwen looked around at the environment.

He took out a large piece of wood emitting rich Spiritual Qi from his storage ring; it was the precious second-grade spiritual wood—Green Spirit Golden Silk Nanmu.

"I will build you a temporary cabin right now."

Chen Zhiwen said, pointing his fingers like a sword.

Streaks of sharp Sword Qi shot out from his fingertips.

The incomparably hard second-grade spiritual wood was quickly cut and joined like tofu under his Sword Qi.

Amidst the flying wood shavings, a fresh herbal Spiritual Qi permeated the air.

In less than half an hour, an exquisite and simple spiritual wood cabin rose from the ground in the center of the courtyard.

The cabin emitted a faint, subtle fragrance.

Inside, Chen Zhiwen had even casually carved a few small Gathering Qi Arrays and Concentration Arrays.

Huang Xia stood to the side, watching in stunned silence.

She had not expected that her Senior Brother, who was always cold and strict, would actually do such menial labor for her himself.

"From now on, you will Cultivate here."

Chen Zhiwen brushed the wood shavings off his hands and turned to say to Huang Xia.

He pointed to the cabin, then to the gate of the courtyard.

"During breaks from Cultivating, if you feel stuffy, you are allowed to go out into the courtyard to get some fresh air."

Chen Zhiwen relaxed the Restrictions.

He knew that blindly going into closed-door training was not beneficial for a young person's development of Heart-Nature, and occasional relaxation was also necessary.

Huang Xia was overjoyed upon hearing this.

She cheered and rushed straight into the spiritual-wood cabin that was emitting Spiritual Qi.

The previous restraint and the slight resentment from being forcibly brought here instantly vanished at this moment.

She touched the smooth wooden walls, her heart filled with anticipation for the future.

After settling Huang Xia down, Chen Zhiwen turned and left.

He returned to his secret residence located deep in the back mountain.

This was the most heavily guarded place in the entire Fu Ge Mountain.

Chen Zhiwen sat cross-legged on a prayer mat and took a deep breath.

He flipped one hand, and an ice-blue flame suddenly rose in his palm.

This was his Natal Spiritual Fire—Ice Spirit Crystal Flame.

As the flame flickered, it emitted an extremely strange and extreme chill.

And in the center of that ice-blue flame, a thumb-sized, pitch-black Spiritual Root seed was quietly suspended.

This Spiritual Root seed was something he had obtained from a mysterious Ox Demon when he was traveling outside.

This was no ordinary seed.

It was a communication token left behind by that Ox Demon.

According to that Ox Demon, as long as this Spiritual Root seed was within a range of ten thousand miles, it would immediately sprout and give a warning at the slightest sign of trouble.

The Ox Demon even boasted that even if the Wan Family broke out into a great war in the future and didn't take it to participate, it could still transmit enemy intelligence secretly through this Spiritual Root seed without anyone knowing.

Such strange methods made Chen Zhiwen always wary.

He dared not be the slightest bit careless.

From the first day he obtained this Spiritual Root seed, he had been using his most domineering Ice Spirit Crystal Flame to suppress it tightly, isolating all its Spiritual Qi connections with the outside world.

Chen Zhiwen stared at the pitch-black Spiritual Root seed, his eyes flickering uncertainly.

It wasn't that he hadn't thought about sending someone to investigate the background of that Ox Demon, but in the end, he held back.

The world of Cultivators is full of hidden talents, and that Ox Demon's methods were strange; it was clearly not an easy adversary.

If he rashly sent people to investigate, not only might they fail to find anything, but it would also alert the enemy and bring about unnecessary, monstrous trouble.

"Forget it, let's put this matter aside for now."

Chen Zhiwen muttered to himself.

He suddenly clenched his five fingers, taking the Spiritual Root seed and the ice flame back into his body.

He planned to wait until the war subsided and the situation stabilized in the future.

Then he would change his appearance, take on a new identity, and personally go and secretly investigate the true background of this Ox Demon.

Right now, what he lacked the most was time.

The great war was imminent, and the situation was hanging by a thread.

He had no time to be distracted by Cultivating those complex secret techniques.

The defense of the entire Ten Thousand Swords Sect island required him, the Grand Elder, to personally coordinate and preside over it.

The inspection of the Mountain Protection Array nodes, the allocation of supplies, and the appeasement of various forces all rested on his shoulders alone.

In addition, he had to constantly split his Divine Sense to closely monitor any abnormal movements in the territories of the Deng and Pu clans.

Any slight sign of trouble could determine the future life or death of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect.

And in this tense preparation for war, Chen Zhiwen's heart was always preoccupied with one person.

That was Chen Xiangwen, who was executing a secret mission outside.

The two had once made a vow.

Regardless of whether the mission succeeded or not, Chen Xiangwen had to return to the Sect within twenty days.

Calculating the time, there was very little time left until the agreed deadline.

"Xiangwen, you must not encounter any mishaps."

Chen Zhiwen sighed deeply.

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the pitch-black night sky, a rare trace of worry flashing in his eyes.

After a long time, Chen Zhiwen withdrew his gaze and forcibly suppressed the distracting thoughts in his heart.

He returned to the prayer mat and sat down.

With a wave of his sleeve, a lotus flower emitting a strange halo appeared before him.

This was the precious treasure for auxiliary Cultivating that he had obtained at a huge cost—the bitter parasol heavenly lotus.

The lotus had nine petals.

Each petal flowed with profound runes and emitted a refreshing, bitter fragrance.

Chen Zhiwen took a deep breath of this fragrance and felt his spiritual platform instantly become clear.

He quickly formed hand seals with both hands and slowly closed his eyes.

The vast True Essence within his body began to surge and flow along his Meridians.

"Nine Transformations Flame Spirit Technique!"

Chen Zhiwen shouted in his heart.

He immediately began to operate this domineering and peerless main Cultivation Technique.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

The Spiritual Qi in the secret chamber gradually calmed down.

Chen Zhiwen slowly gathered the surging True Essence in his body.

He ended his internal observation and slowly opened his eyes.

A trace of undisguisable satisfaction flashed in his deep eyes.

He exhaled a long breath of turbid air.

That turbid air turned into a white arrow of air in mid-air, lingering for a long time.

The heavy aftereffects brought by the Spirit-Seizing Secret Technique had now completely disappeared.

The exhaustion and soreness that had originally penetrated into his bones had all dissipated.

Replacing them was unprecedented, abundant physical strength.

He felt comfortable all over, and his limbs and bones were filled with explosive power.

All of this was thanks to the strange lotus platform beneath him.

Chen Zhiwen lowered his head, looking with burning eyes at the bitter parasol heavenly lotus that was emitting a faint light.

Using this strange treasure for breathing exercises, the effect was simply shocking.

He had just carefully estimated it.

His speed of absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi had actually increased by more than double out of thin air.

This was an extremely terrifying concept.

One must know that his own Aptitude was not top-tier.

In the harsh criteria of the world of Cultivators, he was merely a Medium Grade Spiritual Root.

If he Cultivated step-by-step, it would already be a stroke of great fortune to form a Golden Core in this lifetime.

But now, with the support of the bitter parasol heavenly lotus, the situation was completely different.

His current Cultivating speed had faintly surpassed the limit of a High Grade Spiritual Root.

Although it had not yet fully reached the Heaven-Defying level of the legendary Earth-grade Spiritual Root that seizes the fortune of heaven and earth, it was definitely an extremely Heaven-Defying level between High Grade and Earth-grade.

This huge improvement, as if reborn, caused a surge of ecstasy in Chen Zhiwen's heart.

He clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

With this Cultivating speed, his future path of the Dao would become incomparably broad.

Before breaking through to the Spirit Transformation Realm, the path of Cultivating is long and difficult.

Between every major Realm, there are countless small Bottlenecks.

And now, the time required for him to cross these small Perfection stages would be greatly shortened.

He even had the confidence to touch that Nascent Soul Dao that countless Cultivators dream of within a hundred years.

In Chen Zhiwen's mind, the figures of everyone in the Heavenly Sword Sect could not help but appear.

He went over the Aptitude of all the core Cultivators in the Sect in his mind.

If one excluded that Heaven-Defying girl Huang Xia, who possessed a mutated, exceptional Ice Spiritual Root, his own "Aptitude" in the Heavenly Sword Sect was now definitely firmly in second place.

Even that Body Cultivator Chen Dazhi, who was always known as a Cultivating madman and had excellent Aptitude, had to be firmly suppressed by him.

Thinking of this, a confident arc curled up at the corner of Chen Zhiwen's mouth.

However, he quickly calmed down.

There has never been a perfect treasure in the world of Cultivators.

Although this bitter parasol heavenly lotus was a rare fourth-grade treasure, its utility was not without limits.

According to ancient records, this item was only most effective for Cultivators in the Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core Realms.

Once a Cultivator breaks the core to form the Nascent Soul and enters the Nascent Soul Stage, its auxiliary effect would be greatly reduced.

And if one reached that legendary Soul Transformation Stage, this lotus platform would completely degenerate into an ordinary ornamental object, with no more boosting effect whatsoever.

Chen Zhiwen silently calculated his remaining Lifespan.

The Lifespan limit of a Golden Core Cultivator is five hundred years.

He was now in his prime; at most, he still had over four hundred years of Lifespan remaining.

Four hundred years of time is dozens of lifetimes of Reincarnation for a Mortal.

For him, this period was enough for him to plan many things.

Chen Zhiwen's state of mind became peaceful again.

He knew well that the path of Cultivating is like walking on thin ice, and the most taboo thing is greed.

He waved his large sleeve, and a stream of magical power rolled out.

The bitter parasol heavenly lotus emitting a strange halo instantly shrank, turning into a stream of light, and was steadily received by him into his personal storage ring.

After putting away the lotus platform, the light in the secret chamber dimmed.

Chen Zhiwen leaned against the stone wall, his brows slightly furrowed, lost in thought.

The origin of this precious treasure had always been a knot in his heart.

He carefully recalled all the details of obtaining this item.

This bitter parasol heavenly lotus was, in all likelihood, a treasure for protecting the Dao that Li Shuang's parents had specifically prepared for her.

Chen Zhiwen's thoughts drifted back to that extremely dangerous trip to the Feiye Island volcano.

During that expedition, he witnessed with his own eyes the strange changes that occurred in Li Shuang.

That ancient aura originating from the depths of her Bloodline absolutely could not be fake.

He dared to conclude that Li Shuang was definitely not a pure Human Race Cultivator.

Her body must be flowing with the Bloodline of some High Grade Sea Race, and she was deeply connected to the core forces of the Sea Race.

Chen Zhiwen recalled the series of arrangements he encountered at the bottom of the volcano.

That indestructible ancient Restriction.

The chain illusion array that could bewilder people's minds.

And this bitter parasol heavenly lotus that could change one's fate against the heavens.

These one-by-one, piece-by-piece efforts were simply terrifyingly large.

It was definitely not something that an ordinary Golden Core Cultivator or Nascent Soul Cultivator could have set up.

Li Shuang's parents were at least Old Ancestor figures at the Soul Transformation Stage!

Thinking of this, a layer of cold sweat couldn't help but seep out on Chen Zhiwen's back.

Soul Transformation Stage Old Ancestor.

That is a terrifying existence capable of covering the sky with one hand and overturning rivers and seas.

If such figures knew that he had taken their daughter's treasure, even if he ran to the ends of the earth, it would be a dead end.

A strong sense of wariness rose in Chen Zhiwen's heart.

He immediately made a secret decision in his heart.

In the future, he must never treat Li Shuang as casually as he treated ordinary Disciples; he must secretly and closely observe her every move.

As for this bitter parasol heavenly lotus.

Chen Zhiwen quickly found a very convincing reason for himself in his heart.

Li Shuang's current Cultivate base is truly too low.

If such a fourth-grade treasure were placed on her, it would simply be like a three-year-old child carrying a gold brick and flaunting it in the street.

Once exposed, it would definitely invite a fatal disaster, and even her soul would be extracted by those evil Cultivators to light a heavenly lamp.

An innocent man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime.

As her elder, keeping this treasure on her behalf was completely reasonable and legitimate, and it was also to preserve her life.

As for this massive Karma.

Chen Zhiwen thought with peace of mind.

At worst, in the future, when distributing the Sect's resources, he would take care of her a little more and ensure her Cultivating journey goes smoothly.

Having figured this out, the last trace of concern in Chen Zhiwen's heart vanished.

He stood up and brushed the dust off his robes.

Walking to the stone table in the secret chamber, he took out a yellow talisman paper, condensed True Essence at his fingertips, and quickly began to sketch on it.