29: Strength surges

Lu Chen secretly estimated, feeling it should be enough.

He first selected the nine strongest out of the eighteen Penetrating Aperture Realm demon beast corpses to nurture the Silver Armor Dao Soldiers.

The remaining more than one hundred and fifty Spirit Transformation Realm demon beast corpses were all given to the fifteen Copper Armor Dao Soldiers. If this was still not enough for the Copper Armor Dao Soldiers to advance, it wouldn't be too late to continue feeding them Penetrating Aperture Realm demon beast corpses.

Time passed. The Spirit Transformation Realm demon beast corpses gradually decreased, and the strength of the fifteen Copper Armor Dao Soldiers steadily increased. Correspondingly, the power fed back made Lu Chen's Physical Body stronger as well.

After reaching the Spirit Transformation Realm, Lu Chen had clearly felt that the slight enhancement to his Qi cultivation spiritual power from the power fed back by the Dao Soldiers was almost negligible.

Instead, the overall enhancement of his Physical Body became increasingly obvious. It was estimated that once these fifteen Copper Armor Dao Soldiers all advanced and the remaining nine Penetrating Aperture Realm demon beasts also nurtured Silver Armor Dao Soldiers, his Physical Body strength would completely break through Spirit Transformation and enter the Penetrating Aperture level. His Qi and blood would surge like a rushing river.

His muscles, bones, flesh, and internal organs were already so powerful that they surpassed the limits of the human body. Steel bones and iron muscles were not enough to describe the strength of his Physical Body. If he unleashed his full power, even without having cultivated close-quarters combat techniques, once a Late Stage Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator got close to him, he could easily beat them to pieces.

"My Qi cultivation is still only at the Early Stage of the Spirit Transformation Realm, but my Physical Body strength, under the feedback of the Dao Soldiers, is about to break through Spirit Transformation and step into the Penetrating Aperture Realm!"

Lu Chen pondered, inexplicably thinking of the tower-like giant, Hou Liehu, from Doujian Peak, whom he had seen on Lingya Mountain before. That person was also a Body Refinement cultivator, and his strength was extremely striking. He alone could fight two Penetrating Aperture Realm beings as terrifying in physique as the Black-haired Zombies, which also carried corpse poison and corpse evil pollution.

And after getting close to him, the Penetrating Aperture Realm corpse raiser was as fragile as a rag doll, shattering with a single tear.

"Hmm, after entering the Inner Sect, I must practice more close-quarters combat techniques!" Lu Chen made up his mind.

Because his Physical Body was stronger, under the feedback of the Dao Soldiers, it was much stronger than his Qi cultivation strength. Moreover, he usually did not reveal his physical strength, only using it as a trump card, which could make his opponents suffer greatly at critical moments.

Time passed continuously, and in a blink of an eye, it was dark.

The season had already entered winter, and after nightfall, the cold wind howled. However, cultivators were long unafraid of cold or heat, especially those with powerful physical bodies like Lu Chen.

"It's coming!"

At a certain moment, Lu Chen felt something in his heart. From within the Nurturing Soldier Immortal Coffin, wave after wave of majestic feedback power surged out, quickly entering his limbs, bones, and internal organs, making his Physical Body rapidly become stronger and stronger.

As expected, after absorbing the nearly one hundred and fifty Spirit Transformation Realm demon beast corpses as nutrients, his fifteen Copper Armor Dao Soldiers completely advanced and transformed into Silver Armor Dao Soldiers.

At the same time, that mysterious feeling of being able to merge into the Dao Soldiers and comprehend the power they wielded reappeared.

Lu Chen was well prepared. He focused his mind and immersed himself in it, comprehending the heaviness of the Earth Element, the ferocity of the Fire Element, and the nourishment of all things by the Water Element.

His Earth Element True Intent was rapidly increasing!

After an unknown period, the newly nurtured Silver Armor Dao Soldiers also completely took shape, and Lu Chen's Physical Body also completely broke through the shackles of the Spirit Transformation Realm, stepping into the Penetrating Aperture Realm.

With his Physical Body reaching Penetrating Aperture, astonishing Qi and blood erupted from him, as if transforming into a massive, fiercely burning furnace, astonishingly hot. Every inch of his flesh and blood seemed to contain explosive power like that of a savage dragon.

Also making great strides simultaneously were his Earth Element True Intent, Fire Intent, and Water Elemental Intent.

...

As dawn broke, Lu Chen was already standing in the small courtyard: "Twenty-five Silver Armor Dao Soldiers, Physical Body broken into Penetrating Aperture, Earth Element True Intent has entered the Peak of the third layer, Fire Intent has entered the third layer, Water Elemental Intent has entered the second layer. My current strength..."

It was already very strong, very strong!

However, his Qi cultivation strength was still in the Early Stage of Spirit Transformation. But if any Early Stage Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator dared to fight him, without needing Dao Soldiers or his Physical Body, a casual Fireball Spell from him could turn any Early Stage Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator into ash.

The third layer of Fire Intent was already a level that only Profound Law Realm cultivators could reach, far beyond what Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators could withstand.

Although his strength surged, Lu Chen still did not go out. He began cultivating the "Water Element Spell", while also consuming the three Purple Spirit Pills and supplementing with mid-grade spiritual stones to increase his strength.

In a blink of an eye, nearly twenty more days passed.

The three Purple Spirit Pills were used up, and Lu Chen's Qi cultivation strength also took a small step forward, already close to entering the Peak of the early Spirit Transformation stage. He estimated that after taking two more Purple Spirit Pills, he could directly enter the mid-stage of the Spirit Transformation Realm.

The Water Element Spell was also cultivated successfully. Among the four True Intents Lu Chen had comprehended, the Sword Intent was still the most lagging, remaining at the first layer.

This was mainly because ever since he cultivated the Sword Control Technique, he had not gone to comprehend it further. The Earth Element True Intent, Fire Intent, and Water Elemental Intent, on the other hand, had the assistance of the Dao Soldiers, thus leaving the Sword Intent far behind.

However, it didn't matter. After entering the Inner Sect, he could go to the Sect's True Intent Spirit Stele for comprehending True Intent cultivation. He should be able to quickly raise his Sword Intent.

"Today, I shall enter the Inner Sect." Lu Chen adjusted his state to Peak condition and strode out of the courtyard gate.

Within the Dongming Sect, entering the Inner Sect from the Outer Sect did not mean that reaching the Spirit Transformation Realm was enough. This was also why there were many Spirit Transformation Realm Disciples in the Outer Sect.

The root cause was that to enter the Inner Sect, one needed to pass the Sect's assessment.

The assessment would start from multiple aspects, including how long it took from entering the Sect to stepping into the Spirit Transformation Realm, to determine if potential had been exhausted.

It also assessed whether the Foundation was stable and whether Spells were cultivated properly. If one only had the Realm but their Spell cultivation was a mess, that wouldn't work either.

If one comprehended True Intent in advance, they would receive significant bonus points, because once True Intent was comprehended, it meant entering the Penetrating Aperture Realm was a certainty.

Finally, it depended on which Peak within the Inner Sect you wished to cultivate on. To enter Doujian Peak or the Law Enforcement Hall on Mingjing Peak, battle power would be assessed.

To enter Feilai Peak, various practical abilities would be assessed. To enter Wudao Peak, comprehension and understanding of Spells and Cultivation Techniques would be assessed. To enter Danxia Peak, Alchemy skill would be assessed. To enter Zhubing Peak, Artifact Refining skill would be assessed.

As for the Sect Leader's lineage, they would not select Disciples from the Outer Sect. Only the most outstanding Disciples from the Inner Sect would have a chance.

Lu Chen exited the small courtyard, passed through the Outer Sect, and arrived at the Inner Sect Assessment Hall.

It was very early, but quite a few Outer Sect Disciples had already gathered in the great hall. Some were older, even appearing middle-aged.

The Spirit Transformation Realm lifespan is one hundred and eighty. Appearing middle-aged meant they were likely at least seventy or eighty years old, or even ninety or a hundred, which was not surprising.

Of course, there were also Disciples like Lu Chen who still looked like youths. This didn't necessarily mean they were truly young. Some Cultivation Techniques could preserve youth, and Youth Preserving Pills could also keep one's appearance unchanged.

Following the guidance, Lu Chen went directly to the leftmost side of the great hall. Before the desk sat a middle-aged deacon with a goatee, sitting upright and appearing quite stern.

His calm eyes swept over Lu Chen. After confirming he was a Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator, he spoke indifferently: "Bring your identity jade token."

He took Lu Chen's identity jade token, glanced at it, and was about to speak when he suddenly lowered his head and looked closely again, as if disbelieving. He examined it carefully for a long time, turning it over and over, then suddenly looked up in surprise: "Are you a new Disciple who entered this year?"