Cultivation: Start From Simplifying Martial Arts Techniques

One piece, two pieces, three pieces.

Chen Fei continuously refined the black stone and integrated it into the Qianyuan Sword.

As the hostility from the evils towards Chen Fei deepened, the number of phantoms around him increased. Eventually, Chen Fei didn’t even need to invoke spiritual resonance; the phantoms appeared automatically.

This level of hostility made Chen Fei somewhat uneasy, like a colossal creature looking down upon him, leaving him feeling on edge, unable to describe the sensation.

Chen Fei calmed his mind, understanding that the Fourth-Tier Evil was the source of the problem. Otherwise, he would have fled long ago.

The spiritual nature and material of the Qianyuan Sword were improving at an astonishing rate. However, Chen Fei noticed that the effectiveness of the black stone was decreasing, but it was still within an acceptable range.

As Chen Fei incorporated a black stone the size of an adult’s fist, the Qianyuan Sword reached its peak resonance.

While slaying the phantoms and drawing them into the Heart Refinement Formation, Chen Fei observed the changes in the Qianyuan Sword.

Fierce radiance flowed madly on the blade of the Qianyuan Sword. With each revolution, the spiritual resonance of the Qianyuan Sword increased until it reached a critical point.

“Clang!”

The resonance of the sword was like the melodious flow of a clear spring, not loud but continuous. The oncoming phantoms were forcefully repelled, countless indiscernible sword elements circulated around, creating an aura like a domain.

A smile appeared on Chen Fei’s face uncontrollably. The Qianyuan Sword had surprisingly advanced to the level of a middle-grade magical treasure with such ease.

Chen Fei reached out and grasped the hilt of the Qianyuan Sword, sensing the excitement emanating from it. With a slight tremor of the sword’s blade, a chilling intent permeated in all directions.

With Chen Fei’s current strength, combined with the Qianyuan Sword at this moment, he could now contend with mid-level Combined Aperture Tempering realm stage opponents for an extended period.

While defeating them might be a challenge, escaping unharmed was easily achievable.

Of course, in a true life-or-death situation, with all four forbidden techniques unleashed, what would happen remained unknown until it was experienced.

The radiance of the Qianyuan Sword flowed and gradually stabilized. Chen Fei continued to integrate a fist-sized piece of black stone into it.

The spiritual resonance of the Qianyuan Sword started to fluctuate violently again, albeit with smaller amplitude compared to before, and the enhancement of its material slowed down considerably.

After a moment, when the changes began to stabilize, Chen Fei carefully observed the Qianyuan Sword and indeed found that the effect of the black stone on the Qianyuan Sword had weakened significantly.

If, when it was a low-grade magical treasure, a piece of black stone like this could boost the transformation progress of the Qianyuan Sword by one percent, now that it’s a middle-grade magical treasure, a black stone of the same size has directly halved its effectiveness, if not more.

However, even with this halving effect, the black stone was still a gain for Chen Fei. He hadn’t lost anything.

But Chen Fei had originally wondered whether this black stone could repair the spiritual treasures inside the spatial grid. Now, it seemed like a far-fetched idea.

Upon serious consideration, a paradox became evident.

If spiritual treasures could be repaired using the black stone, then over the hundreds, or even thousands of years of suppression, these spiritual treasures would have likely started absorbing the strange energy to restore themselves.

It wouldn’t have led to the current situation where both sides were heavily damaged.

The reason the black stone could enhance the Qianyuan Sword was because the black stone was a fourth-order item, while the Qianyuan Sword was only at the level of a low-grade third-order, not just a few small steps apart, but a whole tier difference.

Though these thoughts raced through Chen Fei’s mind, his actions did not pause. He continued to slay as many phantoms as appeared, then refined them into black stone, and integrated them into the Qianyuan Sword.

Slay, refine, merge, enhance!

The black mist around Chen Fei’s body seemed to be condensing into substance, and the hostility felt like a natural disaster, sending shivers down one’s spine.

But Chen Fei continued to bear the burden, and apart from the increasing density of the phantoms around him, nothing else happened.

As for the corrosion of the black mist on his physical body, it had indeed intensified, but it was still a considerable distance away from causing harm to a Combined Aperture Tempering realm stage body. This Fourth-Tier Evil was causing damage way beyond the norm.

Other than the inherent fourth-order aspect, everything else had been weakened, falling short even compared to third-order strangeness.

As for the contamination of his mind, Chen Fei simply used his mental projection to counterattack, which naturally didn’t harm his original mental state in the slightest.

The Qianyuan Sword continued to surge towards the level of a top-grade magical treasure. Although the effect of the black stone was diminishing, the sheer quantity of black stones made up for it.

In cases where the quality was lacking, quantity compensated for everything.

If he were to attain a top-grade magical treasure, Chen Fei’s combat strength would increase significantly, giving him the confidence to face mid-level Combined Aperture Tempering realm stage opponents or the prodigies of top factions.

Unless the opponent also wielded a top-grade magical treasure, in which case it would be a different story.

The Qianyuan Sword trembled violently. This extremely rapid enhancement was a significant test for the spiritual resonance of the Qianyuan Sword. Especially since the spiritual essence absorbed previously had been depleted by the time it reached the middle-grade magical treasure level.

Therefore, the intense fluctuations in spiritual resonance at this moment required the Qianyuan Sword to rely entirely on its own foundation to withstand.

If it could withstand it, the spiritual resonance and material would continue to ascend. If not, this advancement would come to a halt, and Chen Fei might have to switch to another magical treasure for improvement.

Low-grade magical treasures and middle-grade magical treasures were two completely different price ranges.

However, the Qianyuan Sword was exceptionally resilient, showing no signs of being unable to withstand it. Every time its spiritual resonance tore apart and it cleaned the impurities within its blade, the Qianyuan Sword withstood it all, allowing itself to continue its evolution.

The Heart Refinement Formation flickered with a faint light, and a piece of black stone within it gradually took shape. Suddenly, Chen Fei’s consciousness in his sea of knowledge trembled violently, causing him to instinctively look back.

Because he was standing at the edge of the black mist, turning around would allow him to see the distance clearly.

The sky was calm, with a serene azure expanse, but in Chen Fei’s eyes, or rather, through the Heavenly Eye, it seemed like something of great terror was approaching.

In the black and white world composed of countless lines, a thick and massive line abruptly inserted itself.

Purely on instinct, Chen Fei deactivated the Heart Refinement Formation at his feet and abandoned the black stone that had just started to take shape. In his sea of knowledge, his consciousness was on high alert.

Even though the black mist had almost enveloped Chen Fei moments ago, his consciousness had never trembled like this before.

Chen Fei took a step back, as if he had escaped from the darkness. He hadn’t even taken the next step when he suddenly saw a figure appear several miles away above the black mist.

The figure stood there, seemingly ordinary, but it was precisely this unremarkable appearance that was the most unusual.

The distance between Chen Fei and the figure was only a few miles, a distance that for ordinary people would result in seeing nothing more than a black dot. However, for someone in the Combined Aperture Tempering realm stage, it was effortless to see the person’s face clearly.

But as Chen Fei looked at this person now, everything was just a blur, not just their appearance but the entire figure was blurry in Chen Fei’s eyes.

Mountain Sea Realm?

A thought flashed through Chen Fei’s mind, and this thought quickly filled his consciousness.

Chen Fei had already seen peak Combined Aperture Tempering realm stage individuals, and there were more than a dozen of them. Their aura was overwhelming, enough to make other Combined Aperture Tempering realm stage individuals struggle for breath. However, Chen Fei could still perceive the gap between them.

In the end, the peak Combined Aperture Tempering realm stage was still within the realm of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm stage, and it was also within Chen Fei’s understanding. In the Three Lives Slicing Shadow Sword that Chen Fei currently practiced, there were records of some of the mysteries of this realm.

However, the Mountain Sea Realm was a complete mystery to Chen Fei. He didn’t know what powers the other person possessed, and he had no idea how to break through it. That was the reason Chen Fei had come here in the first place.

And at this moment, this person gave Chen Fei the feeling of being a blank slate.

Even though the person was there, Chen Fei couldn’t sense anything. His eyes could see, but what they saw was still a blurry mess.

The figure in the sky didn’t respond to Chen Fei’s attention at all. Chen Fei only saw the person’s hand move slightly, and suddenly, the elemental energy within a few miles in all directions surged violently.

More than a dozen figures were involuntarily thrown out of the black mist. They were the ones who had stayed here to study the Fourth-Tier Evil while being in the Combined Aperture Tempering realm stage.

Among these individuals, most were in the early Combined Aperture Tempering realm stage, but there were also a few who had reached the mid-Combined Aperture Tempering realm stage, and even one who was in the late Combined Aperture Tempering realm stage.

However, regardless of their stage, all of these people were thrown out of the black mist without any resistance, stumbling and falling several miles away.

Chen Fei also felt a tremendous force land on him. By the time he reacted, he had already fallen onto a nearby mound.

Powerless and unable to resist, once you feel the force, it’s already too late.

“Boom!”

A sound like the snapping of hardened steel echoed, making Chen Fei involuntarily squint his eyes. Then, the black mist that had covered an area of about one mile suddenly rose into the air.

The higher the leap, the smaller the range of the black mist. When it reached the figure, the black mist had already turned into a tiny black bead, held in the figure’s hand.

A faint and eerie scream seemed to echo in Chen Fei’s ears. His consciousness in his sea of knowledge trembled violently, and the roaring of the Dragon Elephant seemed to faintly resonate, resisting the scream.

But in the next moment, it was as if the scream that had directly resounded in his soul abruptly ceased. Chen Fei looked up at the sky and found that the figure had disappeared.

From the moment the figure appeared to when the Fourth-Tier Evil was forcibly lifted, it had taken less than a few breaths.

In the area where the black mist had originally been, there was now only a huge crater, the same place where the spiritual treasures had been discovered initially.

The dozen or so Combined Aperture Tempering realm stage individuals who had stayed here rushed towards the crater, but just as they reached halfway, the only late Combined Aperture Tempering realm stage individual among them issued a rebuke, causing the others to stop in their tracks.

There should be something good in the crater, but it was clear that the late Combined Aperture Tempering realm stage individual considered it his personal property.

“Mountain Sea Realm!”

Chen Fei stared at the spot in the sky where the figure had originally stood, his eyes flashing with a glint.

In the next moment, Chen Fei shot up into the sky, flying towards the passage to the Boundless Sea..