480: Chapter 480: Consuming Immortal Energy Without Leveling Up, Su Chen Questions His Life!

The Immortal Passing Pool exploded.

Not in a physical sense.

Rather, the Laws of the Immortal Dao, stored within the pool for countless millennia, were pouring frantically into the lucky few inside under the unprecedentedly luxurious condition of having the entire pool to themselves.

The milky-white pool water surged and boiled, and countless golden Law runes rose from the bottom, weaving into a dense net of light in mid-air.

Outside the floating island, the stars across the sky were trembling.

The first to "explode" was Jian Buping.

He sat cross-legged in the center of the pool, and the starfall sword resting on his knees suddenly let out a sword hum so clear it was bone-chilling.

The sound did not seem like metal vibrating, but more like a prehistoric Dragon that had been locked away for a thousand years finally breaking free from its shackles.

"Clang—!"

A pillar of Sword Intent that connected heaven and earth shot up from the crown of his head.

It was as thick as a city pillar.

As white as frost and snow.

It directly tore a rift straight across the sky through the nebula overhead!

His cultivation began to climb.

Pseudo-Emperor Third Heaven.

Pseudo-Emperor Fourth Heaven.

Every time his aura rose a level, the pool water around him was pushed back by the Sword Intent, forming a vacuum Sword Domain.

Finally, his cultivation settled firmly at the Peak of Pseudo-Emperor Fifth Heaven.

He opened his eyes.

His pupils no longer held human emotion; instead, they were replaced by crisscrossing Sword Qi so sharp they could seemingly slice through one's vision.

He looked down at his hands, slowly clenching and then releasing his fists.

He didn't speak.

But the curve of his lips already said everything.

The commotion on Monk Monk Jiese's side was even greater.

This Buddha Son of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Holy Land already had a deep foundation, and a Vajra Manifestation manifested directly behind him.

That manifestation, which was originally skinny and withered like a refugee, began to expand frantically under the drenching of massive amounts of Immortal Qi.

Bones grew.

Muscles formed.

Buddhist light ignited.

In just a few breaths, the original bean-sprout manifestation had transformed into a solemn, Wrathful Heavenly King radiating pure golden Buddhist light!

Monk Jiese's cultivation soared all the way, finally stopping firmly at Pseudo-Emperor Fifth Heaven.

He opened his eyes and rubbed his bald head, which was so bright under the Buddhist light it could be used as a mirror.

"amitabha."

His tone was solemn and holy.

"This Poor Monk feels like I could squash the me from ten minutes ago into a meat patty with a single palm strike."

After speaking, he looked down at his two knotted, thick arms and nodded with satisfaction.

"Excellent, excellent. The Buddha truly has not abandoned This Poor Monk."

Hua Nongying's Breakthrough was the most startling.

As the Sect Master of the Hehuan Sect, she had Cultivated the "Sentimental Dao of Self" for eight hundred years, and her foundation far exceeded those of the same rank.

However, the Hehuan Sect's Cultivation Technique had extremely harsh requirements for a Breakthrough to Great Emperor—it required resonance with the world's emotions to break the Realm.

Such a condition, on the Ascension Ancient Road, was basically a death sentence.

Yet, the Immortal Qi of the Immortal Passing Pool was unreasonable.

In an utterly domineering manner, it directly helped Hua Nongying skip that harsh threshold.

Pink mist swirled around her, and her skirt fluttered without wind.

Her immortal body completely underwent Awakening under the soaking of the pool water.

A surge of Imperial Might that suppressed the ages slowly woke up from deep within her body.

Great Emperor First Heaven.

It didn't stop.

Great Emperor Second Heaven!

It stabilized.

She slowly opened her eyes.

In those fox-like eyes that used to only throw flirtatious glances, there was now something that made people dare not look directly at her.

It wasn't charm, nor was it flirtatiousness.

It was majesty.

It was the Imperial Might of an emperor looking down upon all living beings from on high.

The original allure hadn't disappeared; instead, once wrapped in this Imperial Might, it turned into an even more lethal temperament—

It made you want to kneel, yet made you reluctant to look away.

Yue Qinghan wasn't idling either.

This candidate for the Yaochi Saintess had rarely put away that recording spirit stone and was seriously sitting in meditation.

Immortal Qi formed a massive vortex around her, frantically pulling the Law runes from the Immortal Passing Pool into her body.

Her cultivation rose all the way from the Peak of the Saint King Realm—

Pseudo-Emperor First Heaven.

Pseudo-Emperor Second Heaven.

Pseudo-Emperor Third Heaven!

The first thing she did upon opening her eyes wasn't to feel the surging power within her.

Instead, she instinctively fished out that recording spirit stone from her storage ring and aimed it at her reflection in the pool water—

"Click."

She took a picture.

Looking at the result, she frowned slightly.

"The lighting isn't great... I'll have to edit the photo later."

Although the talent of Qian Duoduo, Hua Yingxue, and Mei Xinnu couldn't compare to those Prodigies mentioned before, under this "exclusive VIP treatment of the entire Immortal Domain," they also forcibly blasted through their Bottlenecks.

The three of them stepped into the Pseudo-Emperor rank together.

The moment Qian Duoduo broke through, the expression on his fat face was extremely vivid.

First was wild joy.

Then came heartache.

Finally, it settled into an extremely conflicted expression.

"Boss... we spent over four hundred million Spirit Stones to get the dragon horns and armor, then used one dragon horn to bribe the Golden Toad for this private session..."

He counted on his fingers.

"Which means... the cost of this private session is about one hundred million Top-Grade Spirit Stones."

"Seven of us broke through in total."

"The average cost of Breakthrough per person is about 14.28 million..."

The more he calculated, the worse his face looked.

Everyone was immersed in the wild joy after their Breakthrough.

Feeling that overwhelming power within their bodies.

Everyone—

Except for one.

Su Chen leaned against the pool wall.

Motionless.

His expression went from initial anticipation to confusion, then to oddness, and finally settled on a daze of doubting his life.

He looked inside his Dantian.

That vast Spirit Sea had indeed undergone changes.

The pool water became clearer.

The quality of his spiritual power became more condensed.

He could even feel his Physical Body undergoing a complete transformation; every bone was being reforged, every Meridian was widening, and even his Divine Soul was rising at a terrifying speed.

He was certain that if he threw a punch now, he could beat the newly ascended Great Emperor Second Heaven Hua Nongying until she doubted her life.

But.

The bar representing his cultivation Realm in his Dantian—Great Saint First Heaven.

It didn't budge.

It didn't even quiver.

[...]

Su Chen was silent for three seconds.

[What the hell?]

[Did I see it wrong?]

He looked carefully again.

Great Saint First Heaven.

That's right.

It was Great Saint First Heaven.

As steady as a rock, as firm as a dragon bell, as solid as an old dog.

[I'm dumbfounded.]

[How much Immortal Qi did this Immortal Passing Pool pour into my body? At least ten times the amount of all those people combined, right?]

[Every single one of them has ascended like chickens and dogs to heaven.]

[And I'm still squatting in the same spot?]

[Is this reasonable?]

[Is this scientific?]

[Is this the Immortal Dao?!]

Su Chen's internal monologue had already started using exclamation marks.

This showed he was truly anxious.

[System!]

[Get out here!]

[Explain this!]

[Why is everyone else breaking through?]

[While I'm like a Pi Xiu, only taking in and never letting out?]

[Where is my cultivation?]

[Where is my Realm?]

[Did you block my upgrade channel and give it to someone else?!]

The System gave no response.

Not even a notification sound.

It was as quiet as if it were dead.

Su Chen ground his teeth.

[Fine.]

[Very well.]

[You're not coming out, are you.]

[Fine.]

[Once I find your after-sales customer service portal, I'm definitely going to file a complaint against you!]