5: Chapter 5, Gathering Spirit to the Ninth Level, Obtaining the Title "Mortal Butcher"

Tianxuan Sect.

Dan Xuanzi stood high above in the main hall, looking down at the crowd below.

"Sect Master, ever since Chu Chen left the Tianxuan Sect, he has disappeared without a trace."

"The disciples sent to monitor him have also been assassinated. I suspect that an expert from another sect took action and carried Chu Chen away."

Dan Xuanzi's expression turned grave as he slowly said, "Let us leave the matter of Chu Chen aside for now. As for who killed our sect's disciples, I will naturally investigate it clearly."

"Three months from now is the Five Sects Discourse. You must select the talented disciples under your banners to welcome the Five Sects Discourse in three months."

"Yes, Sect Master!" everyone responded in unison.

Meanwhile, Chu Chen had already sacrificed seven villages. Once he sacrificed three more, the system mission would be complete.

Glancing at the map in his hand and checking the direction of the remaining three villages, Chu Chen quickly headed toward the nearest one.

These villages were all carefully selected by him for being in relatively remote areas, making it difficult to be detected after committing the crime.

By evening, Chu Chen returned to the cave abode he had excavated.

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the mission. Reward issued: one top-grade spirit gathering pill.]

Looking at the pill in his hand that was emitting a white glow, Chu Chen swallowed it without hesitation.

A ripple of energy emanated from within Chu Chen's body; he had unexpectedly reached the sixth layer of the Spirit Gathering Realm.

Afterward, he took out the source energy fed back from the ten thousand soul banner; this was the reward Chu Chen received for sacrificing ten villages.

He immediately began refining it!

Two and a half days later, a loud noise erupted throughout the entire mountain range, and Chu Chen's cave abode collapsed directly.

"Swish!"

Amidst the collapsed boulders, a black light burst forth, and a powerful force sent the rocks flying, kicking up a cloud of dust.

When the dust settled, Chu Chen's figure was revealed.

Feeling the power within his body, a wicked smile curled the corners of Chu Chen's mouth.

Eighth layer of the Spirit Gathering Realm. Among the disciples of various sects, this was already the strength of an inner disciple, and even among the top tier.

Apart from the personal disciples of the major sects who had reached the Spirit Condensation Realm, Chu Chen was invincible within the Spirit Gathering Realm.

After all, for him, this Spirit Gathering Realm was merely a re-cultivation, and his previous insights were still solidly there.

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for showing initial fame, attracting the attention of cultivation sects. Obtained title: Mortal Butcher. Reward: two top-grade spirit gathering pills.]

There's a reward for this too?

It seems the news of me wantonly massacring villages has reached the ears of the cultivation sects.

I just don't know which cultivation sect will come to apprehend me.

[Ding! System mission issued. The host's reputation only has influence among mortals. As a qualified demonic cultivator, the next step is to sacrifice the people of an entire city. Reward: one top-grade ning shen pill, three top-grade spirit gathering pills.]

Chu Chen discovered that it seemed the greater his reputation, the more system rewards he would receive.

Since that was the case, he would expose a little bit more.

The next day, Chu Chen arrived in White Jade City. This White Jade City was one of the main cities under the jurisdiction of the Tianxuan Sect.

Chu Chen prepared to lock his target onto this White Jade City. Since a greater reputation meant more rewards, Chu Chen decided to simply do something big.

However, since White Jade City was one of the important cities under the jurisdiction of the Tianxuan Sect, there was naturally a cultivator of the Spirit Condensation Realm stationed there.

Chu Chen had once been the head disciple of the Tianxuan Sect, so he naturally understood these things. Moreover, he also knew that the Spirit Condensation Realm cultivator stationed in White Jade City would return to the Tianxuan Sect once every three months.

Chu Chen prepared to seize this gap to sacrifice the entire White Jade City. As long as there was no Spirit Condensation Realm cultivator, he would be invincible within the Spirit Gathering Realm.

Chu Chen first looked for an inn to stay in.

White Jade City was close to the Tianxuan Sect, so to get a high-quality room, one needed a spirit stone.

As for spirit stones, back when he was crippled, everything on his body except his clothes had been taken away by Dan Xuanzi.

However, this could not stump him. Since he was already a demonic cultivator, killing people to seize treasures was normal. He quietly and silently obliterated a second-layer Spirit Gathering Realm cultivator and seized everything on him.

Seven spirit stones and one low-grade spirit sword; for a second-layer Spirit Gathering Realm cultivator, this could already be considered quite good.

Chu Chen immediately rented a high-quality room and took out the top-grade spirit gathering pill, preparing to charge into the ninth layer of the Spirit Gathering Realm in one go.

After swallowing the top-grade spirit gathering pill, he arrived at the ninth layer of the Spirit Gathering Realm without any surprises, becoming invincible in the Spirit Gathering Realm in the true sense.

Afterward, Chu Chen began to study the Divine Firmament Demon Finger. It took him a full five days to master the basics of the Divine Firmament Demon Finger.

This Divine Firmament Demon Finger was an extremely powerful cultivation technique, divided into five layers in total: Mountain Shattering Finger, Earth Finger, Firmament Finger, Living Being Finger, and Chaos Finger.

As the names implied, the first finger shattered mountains, the second finger shattered the earth, the third finger annihilated the firmament, the fourth finger destroyed all living beings, and the fifth finger reorganized chaos.

Each finger was stronger than the last. Currently, Chu Chen had only just comprehended the Mountain Shattering Finger, but this had already become one of his trump cards; if used by surprise, perhaps even an expert of the Spirit Condensation Realm might be killed by him.

The next day, Chu Chen went to a brothel to listen to music. Of course, he certainly wasn't here to dally with flowers or willows; coming here was naturally to find wealthy people.

Generally, those who came here to play were either rich or noble, or had some wealth on them.

Moreover, this was the place those playboys liked to come to the most.

Since Chu Chen planned to stay here for a long time, he naturally had to prepare enough spirit stones. If he didn't have enough on him, he could only rob them.

Soon, Chu Chen locked onto a target: a young man wearing a yellow robe with the cultivation of the third layer of the Spirit Gathering Realm, with two black-robed guards standing on his left and right.

They looked to be around the fifth or sixth layer of the Spirit Gathering Realm. His luck was good; just after arriving, he had encountered a wealthy fat fish.

After three rounds of drinks, several beautiful women came to the side of the yellow-robed youth. These women were already top-tier among mortals, the kind that made one feel very desirous at first glance.

The yellow-robed youth whispered a few words to the black-robed guards beside him and then took two of the women up to a guest room on the second floor.

After the yellow-robed youth went upstairs, the two black-clad guards immediately took action, driving everyone else out. Even the women inside all returned to their own rooms.

After all, when the young master was doing things, he didn't like to hear any sound that would affect his mood.

Afterward, the two stood downstairs, observing the surrounding environment from left and right.

Seeing this, Chu Chen gave a wicked smile. "Quite vigilant, but unfortunately, it's your bad luck to have met me today."

Chu Chen restrained his aura to the lowest level and walked toward the second floor.

Now that everyone had been driven away, it was even better; it would be convenient for him to act.

However, just as he was about to approach the stairs, he was stopped by the two black-clad guards.

"The second floor has been booked by our young master today. No idlers are allowed up."

The black-clad guards looked at Chu Chen vigilantly; their intuition told them that the person in front of them was not a good person.

Chu Chen grinned, and he took out the ten thousand soul banner from his bosom.

"It's fine, you are exactly who I'm looking for."

As the words fell, several living souls surged out from the ten thousand soul banner. Before the two could react, they were devoured by the living souls, leaving only a pile of white bones on the ground.

Chu Chen looked toward the second floor, his eyes playful, and walked up the stairs step by step.