The Azure Sky rained down a bleak drizzle, and the Spiritual Energy was gradually becoming more diluted. Although it did not decrease drastically all at once, the cultivators could all sense it.
Everyone knew what this meant, but no one said it.
Chen Xia would still occasionally stroll slowly on the Sword Pattern Path. He had walked this path that had already existed for hundreds of years, yet he was not bored of it, still walking steadily and unhurriedly.
By the roadside were some peculiar plants and vegetation, most of which had been planted by previous disciples.
Now that those disciples had left, the plants remained, decorating the surroundings decently well. It was just unknown how much longer they could continue staying.
Big Yellow Dog would pluck the flowers occasionally when he passed by, pinning one on his ear. Then when he started walking, he would begin mincing and acting coy, also not knowing what he was pretending for.
It was probably to show off.
Chen Xia sat in the pavilion he usually did, propping his cheek with one hand as he took out a thick book from his storage magic treasure to read.
This book recorded foundational Five Elemental Mystic Arts and mystic abilities, nothing too impressive, just some of the most basic mystic arts, but there were plenty of them.
Not only were there some simple single Five Element mystic abilities, there were also combinations like Water and Fire Dual Mystic Arts, and extended mystic arts like Ice Mystic Arts and Lava Mystic Arts.
However, the might of these mystic arts was not high. Chen Xia was looking through this book just to get a basic understanding, so he could create his own Five Element mystic arts in the future.
Chen Xia was also striving to become stronger. Having reached the Inverse Sea Realm, it was not possible to breakthrough the cultivation realm just by closing up in seclusion. Time accumulation and comprehension of the cultivation realm were still required.
The main reasons those in the Inverse Sea Realm went into secluded cultivation were to deduce mystic abilities or open up their divine sense sea.
Chen Xia's mystic arts were still not skilled, naturally he was not yet at the point of needing to deduce them. Opening his divine sense sea was also not feasible.
Strictly speaking, he did not even have a divine sense sea, only a Sword Sea.
Fortunately, aside from his cultivation realm, Chen Xia could also allocate stat points. Currently he was not obsessed with Fortune stat, but was instead adding points into Strength again.
The Azure Sky Sword Sea might not be able to last much longer. When the time came, he definitely could not rely solely on his Fortune stat to escape, right?
His Fortune stat was already sufficient for now. Adding little did not increase it much, and adding too much required far too much time. It was also uncontrollable and unstable.
What Chen Xia was thinking was raising his Strength stat to the Inverse Sea Realm. That way, with both his cultivation base and Strength at the Inverse Sea Realm, his overall abilities would be more reliable than just depending on Fortune, right?
Yeah, it should be, right?
Chen Xia propped his cheek, feeling a little uncertain. After all, Fortune as a stat never cared about making sense. Its only downside was being unstable.
So Chen Xia had also grown more prudent. The points he had were still unallocated, kept in reserve to see when something happened with the Azure Sky Sword Sea.
If something occurred in another two thousand years, he would certainly directly invest everything into Strength to obtain Inverse Sea Realm Strength.
If there was more time, four to five thousand years, then he would allocate it all into Fortune and build the ultimate crit-focused build!
Would high enough Fortune lead to pain when landing critical hits on people?
It probably would.
Aside from cultivation base and stat allocation, Chen Xia still had the True Dragon Qi as his trump card. It was clearly insufficient currently and needed raising again.
The Faith Power from Little Paradise could continuously cultivate the True Dragon Qi. It had currently reached forty percent. To increase it faster, Chen Xia needed to rely on the top quality mystic pill he was preparing to refine.
The True Dragon Bones he had collected were about sufficient, though they were not from a single dragon. He did not actually know how many dragons they were from, but it did not matter if they could be pieced together.
Additionally, materials like Azure Dragon Beard Grass and White Poria Root Wood that required massive amounts of spirit stones were also needed in large quantities.
Chen Xia had Zhang DaoMing help keep an eye out. If they appeared, buy them no matter the price. If really necessary, they could open a line of credit with the auction house.
With Chen Xia's current standing at the auction house, opening a credit line of a few ten thousand spirit stones was no issue at all.
Zhang DaoMing also nodded, but asked another sentence, "Will you pay it back?"
"Of course not," Chen Xia shook his head. "I'll help them refine pills to make up for it."
Zhang DaoMing nodded. "That works too. A few ten thousand spirit stones is about the same as your appearance fees for refining pills a couple times."
"Alas, so difficult," Chen Xia let out a rare sigh, seeming a bit vexed.
"Short on money?" Zhang DaoMing asked knowingly.
Chen Xia listlessly nodded, then looked at him pleadingly. "How about you generously provide some more funds?"
"You're asking for my life. The coffin expenses have been settled, I can't generously provide any funds." Zhang DaoMing continuously shook his head, raising his brows as he curiously asked another thing.
"Did Pan Dadao give you any money?"
"He did, but I didn't take it. He's keeping it to buy a coffin. It would be impolite to accept it." Chen Xia lightly laughed.
"I see." Zhang DaoMing nodded. "Pan Dadao is also getting on in years. He can truly be considered an ill-fated person. Mountain Moving Realm cultivation, but initially taken as an alchemist slave by a formal elder."
"Later when that formal elder died, Pan Dadao got lucky, and also worked hard himself, so other elders put in some good words for him. Thus with Mountain Moving Realm abilities he became a junior elder."
"After becoming a junior elder, Pan Dadao perhaps developed some habits of arrogance towards the meek and fear of the aggressive. But he didn't actually oppress the meek much, just had other disciples greet him. Maybe this was his way of finding the dignity he had lost."
"Those who struggled their way up from the bottom probably understand this." Zhang DaoMing sighed, then shook his head.
"Anyway, enough of this. I'm just getting old and sentimental, babbling on about nothing. Too naggy."
"You're definitely old now," Chen Xia nodded. He saw the white hair on Zhang DaoMing's head.
"Hehe," Zhang DaoMing lightly laughed. "Everyone has this day. You'll experience it too."
"Yeah, maybe," Chen Xia's reply was not absolute, a bit drifting.
"Aging, sickness, and death are the norms of time. Even great emperors cannot avoid it. I don't want to go against the natural order either. But really, why do people live so long?"
Zhang DaoMing narrowed his clouded eyes, mind wandering as he reminisced nostalgically.
"Only now do I feel that life's sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and spiciness can all be experienced within a few hundred years. If continuing to live after that, most would just be repetition. Yet I cannot bear to die, so I can only keep living on till now."
"I'm over five thousand three hundred years old now. Looking forward I cannot see the road, looking back I cannot see my destination."
"I'm always thinking I've lived enough, yet I'm unwilling to go die. I guess this is how it is when one grows old, not knowing whether it's disillusionment with this world, or disillusionment with oneself."
Zhang DaoMing let out a self-mocking laugh, wrinkles on his face pulling taut.
"Maybe both."
"A good death is not as good as stubbornly living on. Don't think too much about this. You still have to keep living if you can," Chen Xia shook his head and advised.
But Zhang DaoMing was a bit puzzled, brows furrowing as he softly asked, "Is it really not as good?"
"Then let me give you another perspective," Chen Xia started explaining rationally.
"Think about it this way. If you die, who knows if your inheritance might not end up in my hands. What if I suddenly get the idea to cremate you? Then you wouldn't even have a grave left behind, right?"
"Hehe," Zhang DaoMing lightly laughed. "The inheritance going to you is fine too. Having no grave is also no issue. In another thousand years, probably no one will come pay respects anyway."
Chen Xia was briefly stunned, then slowly shook his head after a while. "You really don't care anymore."
"It's still alright," Zhang DaoMing nodded, the setting sun behind him emanating dim rays of light.
His voice was very soft, his figure very short.
Like he might disappear at any time.
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
