144: Chapter 144 Cultivation Improvement

The Disciples of the Qingyun Sect looked at the battlefield where Jiang Yan was in shock. Only now did they realize, after the various Elders had warned them not to go near, exactly how terrifying Junior Brother Jiang was!

Li Yi squinted his eyes, assessing Jiang Yan's condition. After perceiving that there were no issues, he immediately shouted, "Everyone, return to the Sect at once!"

The Peak Masters understood that this Revered Master and Disciple duo intended to clear the battlefield. They hurriedly instructed the Disciples of each peak to quickly return within the Sect's Great Formation.

Immediately after, they saw Li Yi using Jiang Yan as the center, taking out countless Talismans and beginning to hurl them toward the periphery of the battlefield.

"Revered Master, what is Junior Martial Uncle Li Yi doing?" one Disciple asked in confusion.

Yu Qian shook his head. How could he know that much? He was also just fighting according to Li Yi's commands.

He hadn't even slain many Disciples of the Three Great Sects who had been under the Possession of the Sea Race; he had only been focused on defending his own area.

Meanwhile, Jiang Wanli, missing an arm and a leg, slumped on the vitrified ground, the muscles on his face twitching uncontrollably. He looked at the figure standing with a sword in the distance and felt a bone-chilling fear for the first time.

"Madman... he's a complete and utter madman!" he muttered to himself, only to find his voice trembling.

Jiang Yan leaned on his long sword and slowly turned around, drenched in blood yet his gaze was as bright as a torch.

The surviving experts under the Possession of the Sea Race retreated three steps in unison. The aura emanating from this human was actually more terrifying than that of Deep-sea monsters like themselves.

"It's not over yet!" Jiang Yan suddenly grinned, revealing blood-stained teeth.

He flicked the tip of his sword, and suddenly, dense Talisman inscriptions lit up in mid-air and around the entire perimeter of the battlefield.

Jiang Wanli and the other experts only then discovered that, at some point, the entire battlefield had once again been covered in dense Talismans.

"Li Yi!" an Elder of Red Refining Mountain looked toward the sky in shock.

At this moment, they finally understood how ridiculous their so-called attack on the Qingyun Sect truly was!

After Li Yi finished his voice transmission to Jiang Yan, he had already returned to the Sect's Great Formation.

"Art!" Jiang Yan held high his Spirit Treasure long sword as all the Talismans lit up simultaneously. "Is an explosion without end!"

A second wave of spiritual energy storm erupted with a bang, and a tide of energy even more violent than before swept across the field.

In this destructive tide, Jiang Yan's laughter was exceptionally piercing, as if mocking all the Deep-sea evils that dared to lay hands on the Human Race... The Mountain Protection Formation of the Qingyun Sect shook violently under the energy impact, yet it remained standing.

In front of the great Formation, Li Yi's white hair flew in the wild wind, his eyes reflecting the world-destroying light of the explosion in the distance.

"Stinky brat... this time, your art will probably be a sensational success!"

Everything below Red Heavens Son's waist was gone, and the Disciples of his Fire Cloud Sect were almost entirely dead or wounded.

Until this moment, he finally understood that the Qingyun Sect had been leading them into a trap from the start. That Mountain Protection Formation wasn't meant for defense at all, but to precisely direct the explosion's aftershocks toward them, the invaders!

"Hahaha... lost!" Red Heavens Son laughed maniacally, falling into a frenzy. "If the Nascent Soul Realm does not appear, who can contend! Li Yi, I hate you... I curse you to die a miserable death!"

In Red Heavens Son's view, all of this had been planned by Li Yi.

He was very unwilling. Over fifty years ago, he hadn't beaten Li Yi. He thought that after being assimilated by the Sea Race, he could defeat Li Yi, but the result... was a crushing defeat!

In the center of the battlefield, Jiang Yan's figure gradually emerged from the dust and smoke.

"Old Bi Deng, you're wrong! My Revered Master doesn't even deign to fight you. In his eyes, you're just a bunch of ants. Tomorrow, he's going to beat up those Nascent Soul Realm Grand Elders of yours!"

"You... who are you?" Red Heavens Son's faint blue eyes stared fixedly at Jiang Yan.

"I am Li Yi's Disciple, an Outer Sect Disciple in the Qingyun Sect!" Jiang Yan introduced himself with a smile.

"Hahaha... I don't believe it! You must be lying to me... Hahaha... It's all..."

Red Heavens Son's maniacal laughter stopped abruptly. His body began to disintegrate uncontrollably as the forcibly fused Sea Race flesh and blood started to backlash against the host.

The black meridians wriggling under his skin twisted like living things, tearing his entire being into fragments.

Jiang Yan walked slowly, dragging his blood-stained Spirit Treasure long sword, leaving bloody footprints on the vitrified ground with every step.

He looked down at the wriggling remains on the ground and sneered, "Transcendence? Based on these deep-sea scraps?"

With Red Heavens Son's death, Jiang Yan raised his sword: "I'll send you on your final journey, Sword Rain Art!"

In the next moment, the long sword in his hand suddenly transformed into thousands of points of light, each point precisely piercing the forehead of every expert under the Possession of the Sea Race.

Seeing that the great battle was beginning to wind down, Li Yi's voice suddenly resounded through the clouds: "Disciples of the Qingyun Sect, hear my command! Close the net!"

The Great Formation of the Cosmic Stars surrounding the sky above the Qingyun Sect lit up with green light, weaving into a giant net that covered the heavens.

Those lucky surviving experts under the Possession of the Sea Race discovered in terror that the spiritual energy in their bodies was flowing uncontrollably toward that giant net.

Following the direction guided by the Formation, the group of Qingyun Sect Disciples quickly arrived before the remaining Sea Race-possessed individuals and decisively struck at those non-human monsters.

"Revered Master was right." Jiang Yan spat out a mouthful of bloody foam and glanced at his fellow Disciples cleaning up the battlefield, then used the tip of his sword to pick up Red Heavens Son's last intact eyeball. "You lot don't even have the qualification to be pawns."

"You brat, the man is already dead, and you still want to crush his spirit again?" Li Yi came to Jiang Yan's side and laughed.

"Hehe, just some venting." Jiang Yan crushed the eyeball underfoot and put away his long sword. "Revered Master, when do we set out?"

Li Yi looked up at the sky. "We set out tomorrow, which happens to be the time agreed upon with the other Sects."

"Will they really go?" Jiang Yan asked.

To be honest, he felt those Sects might not dare to go; after all, they would be facing the Three Great Sects.

"They will come." Li Yi smiled mysteriously. "It's just that they'll only send a few people as a formality."

Hearing Li Yi say this, Jiang Yan understood instantly; it was quite similar to his own thoughts.

"Your Physique has become stronger again?" Li Yi asked curiously.

"Yes." Jiang Yan nodded sheepishly. "I had a Breakthrough during the battle; I'm now at the Middle Stage of the Divine Bravery Realm."

Li Yi nodded, half-understanding. He could feel that based on physical strength alone, the current Jiang Yan could definitely exchange blows with a Nascent Soul Realm expert.

As for the outcome, that remained to be seen. After all, he had never seen a clash between a Physical Body and Spells, but this did give him a new line of thought.

As the two talked, the various Elders also reported the harvest from the battlefield to him one after another.

"Alright, go back and rest. There's another hard battle waiting for you tomorrow night," Li Yi said.

"Understood. Then this Disciple shall take his leave." Jiang Yan cupped his fists, and a streak of light instantly disappeared from the battlefield.

Watching Jiang Yan's disappearing back, Li Yi smiled. He felt that before long, this Disciple might even surpass him, his Revered Master.

"The waves ahead are truly fierce; I wonder if I, the wave behind, can hold my ground."

Returning to his small courtyard, Jiang Yan casually washed his body and then locked himself in his room.

Looking at his stored lifespan of over a million years, he rubbed his hands happily and decisively began to increase his cultivation.

As he dumped in amounts ranging from tens of thousands to finally two hundred thousand years of lifespan, his Qi also became incredibly thick and powerful, and even the entire courtyard began to vibrate.

*Boom! Boom! Boom...!*

One air explosion after another sounded, and Jiang Yan instantly jumped from the Third Level of Core Formation directly to the Great Perfection of Core Formation.

"Refreshing!"

Looking at the remaining four hundred thousand plus years of lifespan, his expression instantly slumped again.

'Damn it, I finally reached the Great Perfection of Core Formation, but I'm only left with this much lifespan...'

'As expected, the higher you go, the harder it is to increase cultivation.'

'From the third level of the Core Formation Realm to Great Perfection, it consumed a total of 1.1 million years of lifespan. Based on the calculations after the Breakthrough, a single Nascent Soul advancement will require at least a base of 100,000 years of lifespan... How many living beings will I have to kill...'

At this moment, he was both happy and pained. Happy that his strength had increased, but pained that his lifespan couldn't withstand such consumption.

'Do I really have to rely on Heaven Rewards the Diligent to Cultivate?'

Jiang Yan hurriedly shook his head. He felt he could still try a bit harder; after all, although this talent was good, if he became a bitter ascetic, the foundation he had saved up wouldn't be enough to burn.

He had asked Li Yi; an average Nascent Soul Realm expert consumes between 10,000 and 50,000 Spirit Stones per year on average for cultivation.

And if one Cultivates at this speed, it takes over twenty years to raise a minor stage.

If there are Formations to assist and sufficient resources, consuming 1.5 million Spirit Stones over two years can lead to a Breakthrough in a minor stage.

If supplemented with Medicinal Pills, one could Breakthrough a minor stage in a year at the fastest, but the number of Spirit Stones consumed would be several times the normal amount... 'Wealth, Law, Companions, and Land... Cultivating immortality really burns through money!'