176: Breakthrough Martial Emperor

Lu Xingchen chuckled, "That's right. The moment I kill an enemy brings me immense pleasure."

To hide the System's existence, Lu Xingchen could only blacken his own name.

There was no other way; his actions couldn't be explained otherwise.

Hearing this, Yun Li frowned.

"It's normal for a Martial Dao Genius to have a few quirks. It's just that your quirk is a bit strange."

Lu Xingchen chuckled, "Miss Yun Li wouldn't discriminate against me, would she?"

Yun Li shook her head slightly, "That's your own business. As long as it doesn't affect others, it's fine. Even if you snatch all the kills, it has nothing to do with me."

Lu Xingchen grinned, "That's good then."

Yun Li took out the Blazing Lion's demon core and returned to Cangxuan Sect with Lu Xingchen.

He didn't ask much about the demon core's use.

Yun Li also had her own privacy.

After bidding farewell to Yun Li, Lu Xingchen went to the Heaven Burning Tower to hone his combat abilities against the guards and, incidentally, to farm experience points.

The guards on the eighteenth floor only had the strength of an Eight-Star Martial King, making them utterly vulnerable before the current Lu Xingchen.

He only used three moves to defeat the guard on the eighth floor, gaining 160,000 experience points.

Immediately, Lu Xingchen continued upwards, only feeling some pressure when he faced the guard on the twenty-first floor.

The guard on the twenty-first floor was a One-Star Martial Emperor, and his Martial Skill mastery was also extremely high.

However, Lu Xingchen's swordsmanship was inherited from Long Chen, profound and unfathomable, far surpassing that of the guard.

Relying on his advantage in swordsmanship, Lu Xingchen defeated the guard on the twenty-first floor, gaining 200,000 experience points.

Then came the twenty-second and twenty-third floors.

When Lu Xingchen defeated the guard on the twenty-third floor, a System notification sounded in his ear.

"Congratulations, Host: Lu Xingchen! Your Realm has advanced to One-Star Martial Emperor, granting you 50 Talent Points!"

A warm current surged through his body, and Lu Xingchen felt his strength increase severalfold.

He was delighted and immediately checked the System panel.

"Host: Lu Xingchen"

"Realm: One-Star Martial Emperor"

"Experience Points: 100,000 / 2,000,000"

"exchange points: 1,726,220"

"Talent: Eagle Eye (50), Strong Strike (50), Berserk (50), Blade Edge (50), Jade Shatter (50), Devour (50), Army Breaker (50), Blade Breaker (50)"

"Profession: Fifth-Rank Alchemist (908,000 / 1,000,000), Fifth-Grade Spirit Array Master (106,000 / 1,000,000)"

"Mount: Nether Dragon (Fifth-Tier)"

"Excellent, I've finally entered the ranks of Martial Emperor, and I'm one step closer to Yun Li!"

Immediately, Lu Xingchen struck while the iron was hot, defeating the guards on the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth floors, gaining 1.8 million experience points.

He was only 200,000 experience points away from breaking through to Two-Star Martial Emperor!

However, the guard on the twenty-sixth floor was simply too strong; Lu Xingchen used all his tricks but couldn't break through its defense.

But even so, he was very satisfied.

Although his Realm was only One-Star Martial Emperor, he could already defeat a Five-Star Martial Emperor, which was astonishing.

And he hadn't even used the "Heaven Swallowing Art."

But Lu Xingchen didn't get carried away.

Because while he had been Cultivating and progressing these days, Lin Yuan hadn't been idle either.

Lin Yuan had the title of a Cultivation maniac and was almost always in seclusion.

Although Lu Xingchen was confident that Lin Yuan's progress speed was definitely not as fast as his own, he wasn't entirely sure he could defeat Lin Yuan.

He still had to keep working hard!

In the following month, Lu Xingchen continued to Cultivate on the first floor of the Spirit Gathering Pagoda, while also studying "Word Spirit Introductory Tutorial" and "Analysis of Commonly Used Word Spirits" left by Jiang Taishen.

Every Disciple on the first floor of the Spirit Gathering Pagoda had a private room, so he wasn't afraid of others discovering his Word Spirit Cultivation.

With the System's help, Lu Xingchen absorbed all the knowledge into his mind the moment he touched the "Word Spirit Introductory Tutorial."

However, "understanding" and "being able to use" were two different concepts.

The power of Word Spirit was too profound, linked to Power of Law, and Lu Xingchen needed constant practice to increase his proficiency.

Thus, a month passed.

During this month, relying on idling in the Spirit Gathering Pagoda, his Cultivation broke through to Two-Star Martial Emperor.

More importantly, his Word Spirit Power had also achieved Minor Achievement, and he could already release some simple Word Spirits.

This greatly helped in improving his combat power.

Lu Xingchen was confident that even if he faced Lin Yuan's full power, he would be able to fight and wouldn't be as disheveled as before.

At the same time, Lu Xingchen's Alchemist profession experience points had also accumulated enough, and he successfully became a Sixth-Grade Alchemist.

It could be said that this month was a complete transformation for him, with his combat power greatly increasing.

After a month of Cultivation, he returned to his Immortal Cave, intending to rest well.

Just then, a message appeared on the Inner Sect Disciple's spirit tablet.

"All Inner Sect Disciples are requested to gather at the Discussion Plaza to learn about matters related to the Sect Grand Competition."

Seeing this message, Lu Xingchen was a bit puzzled.

The Cangxuan Sect had established a Earth Ranking and Heaven Ranking among its Disciples, making their strength rankings clear at a glance, so was there still a need for a Sect Grand Competition?

Although he was somewhat confused, Lu Xingchen didn't think much of it and immediately set off for the Discussion Plaza.

There, he met his long-unseen friends, Long Chen, Jiang E, and Li Fei.

The three of them hadn't wasted their time either; Long Chen's Realm had already advanced to Six-Star Martial King, and Jiang E and Li Fei were also Five-Star Martial Kings.

Even among Inner Sect Disciples, they were highly ranked.

Of course, compared to the cheat-enabled Lu Xingchen, they still seemed somewhat lacking.

Long Chen patted Lu Xingchen's shoulder and said with a smile, "Lu Xingchen, it's only been a few months since we last met, how did you get so much stronger again? I can even feel the pressure of a superior on you!"

Lu Xingchen chuckled, "I can't just stand still, can I? The three of you have also made great progress."

Long Chen said in a deep voice, "Honestly, what Realm have you reached now? I can't see through you anymore."

Lu Xingchen smiled slightly.

"Two-Star Martial Emperor."

He had no taboos with these three old friends, so he just told them.

Hearing this, Long Chen was greatly shocked.

"What? Two-Star Martial Emperor! You've actually broken through to the Martial Emperor Realm! Lu Xingchen, you're amazing!"

Lu Xingchen chuckled, "Just luck."

Long Chen said in a deep voice, "But on second thought, it's normal for something like this to happen to you. After all, you have the Talent of a God of War, capable of growing stronger in battle, so your Realm advancement speed is definitely faster than ours."

"I only feel admiration, not jealousy. Because for you to break through to the Martial Emperor Realm, you must have gone through many battles, which were very arduous and dangerous. This progress is well-deserved for you."