NOVEL WEB Chapter 0345: The Second Segment
In the gloomy Demonic Qi space, a black shadow appeared in the distance, wielding a strangely shaped sword and walking through the void.
The emergence of this scene caused the demonic forces throughout the space to surge and boil, turning the sky dark and the earth dim.
A strong will of Demon Cultivation emanated from the shadow, making Brother Chen feel as insignificant as an ant, giving rise to a sense of awe.
At the same time, Brother Chen noticed something strange inside his storage bag.
Upon close inspection, he saw that the bone sword he had found beneath the Demon Bone Wilderness was trembling continuously and emitting Demonic Qi.
This scene took Brother Chen by surprise.
Since being placed in the storage bag, the bone sword had lain there as inert as an ordinary weapon, but now, it showed signs of anomaly.
Just at that moment, the shadow in the ancient ruins rapidly assaulted in Brother Chen's direction, arriving in front of him in an instant.
It was then that Brother Chen could see clearly—the strangely shaped sword in the hands of the shadow was exactly the bone sword he had obtained.
From this, it might be concluded that the shadow, barely visible before him, was very likely the skeleton he had encountered underground.
Suddenly, the shadow swung the bone sword in its hand—the sword was extremely odd, with nine sections of sword spikes on both sides, pulsating and undulating like breath, capable of extending and contracting.
Boom—
As the bone sword was waved, the Demonic Qi throughout heaven and earth revolved around it as its center. Just looking at it made one face immense pressure.
Under the shadow's presence, Brother Chen felt immobilized.
This was still just an illusion of the relic. Had Brother Chen truly faced this scene, he probably would have been annihilated in an instant by the remnants of the Ghost Bone Demon Venerable's sword strike.
All of a sudden, the shadow threw the bone sword in its hand forcefully downward, striking right into the center of the huge pit before Brother Chen.
Rumble—
At the same time, the ground shook and black bone spikes burst forth from the earth, extending dozens of meters in length.
In a flash, Brother Chen was surrounded by a dense thicket of black bone spikes, forming a "bone forest."
"Is this the special ability of that bone sword?"
Brother Chen thought to himself upon seeing this scene.
The bone sword was not only capable of changing shape, but it could also cause countless long and sharp spikes to grow instantly within a hundred meters.
Gradually, the bone spikes around Brother Chen turned into countless specks of dust and dissipated away.
The vision in the heavens and earth also completely vanished.
At this moment, looking at the ground pocked with craters, Brother Chen finally understood that this was the aftermath of the Ghost Bone Demon Venerable using the bone sword to cast that strike.
At the same time, the black bone sword in the storage bag became still once again.
At this moment, Brother Chen truly wanted to take the bone sword out and try it.
But the Red Flame King had warned him that with his current abilities, he could at most use the bone sword for a single move before his True Qi and True Yuan would be depleted, his vitality impaired, and there might even be unpredictable side effects.
Brother Chen thought about it, then let it go.
If his True Qi and True Yuan were exhausted and he was also injured, he would find it extremely difficult to remain here.
Brother Chen sat down cross-legged and carefully recalled the scene he had just witnessed.
After a whole day of meditation, Brother Chen finally opened his eyes.
"The 'Heavenly Demon Secret Pattern Record' has broken through the third layer, and in terms of attack and defense, it's comparable to the Guiyuan Realm, with a certain possibility of breaking into the top five. The only shortcoming is at the soul level."
Brother Chen's gaze darkened as he took out a "Magic Triangular Grass" from his storage bag.
The medicinal effect of this grass was extremely fierce, and given its age, those with a weaker heart or unstable mind who consumed it would find it hard to resist its magic illusion power, easily suffering mental damage and becoming insane.
Yet, opportunity comes with risk, and the potent effects of this precious material made the risk reasonable.
Without a second word, Brother Chen swallowed this precious material and took out the Moon Spirit Ore Mother from the Light Silver Crystal Space, holding it in his palm.
Inside Brother Chen, a domineering spiritual power blossomed, surging towards his spiritual power.
With each collision of the medicinal effect, Brother Chen felt as if the entire world was shaking.
Thankfully, the quiet and peaceful power emanating from the Moon Spirit Ore Mother helped Brother Chen's senses return to normal in an instant.
However, as the medicinal effect continued to clash, his spiritual power gradually absorbed it, becoming more refined.
At the same time, Brother Chen's spiritual power birthed a unique demonic intent!
This demonic intent made Brother Chen's spiritual power even stronger, capable of withstanding mental attacks and even counterattacking the enemy who performed the spiritual attack.
In this way, under the effects of the Magic Triangular Grass and with the aid of the Moon Spirit Ore Mother, Brother Chen's spiritual power was elevated without any surprise or danger.
Two days later, the medicinal effects finally wore off.
Brother Chen's spiritual power had reached the level of the Innate Peak.
"I'll strive to advance another level," Brother Chen gritted his teeth and took out a second Magic Triangular Grass.
In the competition, there were quite a few skilled in soul attacks.
For instance, Situ Lin Yu, who was only at the Late Innate stage, but whose spiritual secret technique might affect even the average cultivators of the Guiyuan Realm.
There was also Yin Chengzhuang, who had a Half-step True Essence and the top genius with a Bloodline Pupil, whose Yin Flame Pupil attack could harm the souls of those in the ordinary Guiyuan Realm.
Brother Chen then consumed the second Magic Triangular Grass.
The first grass had been obtained by Brother Chen on the back of a treasure turtle; the second was given by Yuan Chen.
After consumption, Brother Chen continued his closed-door cultivation.
The effect of the same precious material decreases with continuous consumption.
This time, Brother Chen used a shorter period to exhaust the medicinal effect completely.
The moment he opened his eyes, Brother Chen's dark pupils seemed to burst forth with two deep black demonic lights, possessing an invisible force of demonic impact.
If it had been an average cultivator in the Innate stage, being glared at by Brother Chen like this, they would probably collapse on the spot.
"Now my spiritual power is nearly on par with the Guiyuan Realm level!"
Brother Chen felt a tremendous increase in his spiritual force, as if undergoing a transformation, his Spiritual Sense became stronger and could cover a range of nearly a hundred zhang.
Of course, the reason his spiritual power could improve so greatly in such a short time was not just due to the two Magic Triangular Grasses but also the effect of the Moon Spirit Ore Mother, combined with years of accumulated depth, which made Brother Chen's foundation incredibly strong and his spiritual power pure and refined.
Secondly, this ancient ruin also played a part.
The infinite demonic intent within the entire ancient ruin could refine a Demon Cultivator's spiritual power.
Glancing over, Brother Chen noticed that there were less than twenty pairs of black and white Tokens left.
"Not much time remains!"
Chen Yu devoted all the remaining time to cultivating the "Demon Scale Protetive Body."
In this ancient relic, he could sense the presence of high-level demonic powers, allowing Chen Yu's cultivation of this combat skill to progress at a rate far beyond the ordinary.
In less than half a day, Chen Yu almost completely grasped this combat skill.
"Truly worthy of an ancient relic left by the Sky Sea Realm," Chen Yu remarked.
Beside him, the last pair of black and white tokens were dissipating, and time was about to run out.
During the ten days in the ancient relic's space, Chen Yu's strength had increased dramatically.
First, the "Heavenly Demon Secret Pattern Record" had broken through to the third layer, and the combat skills that could be wielded with the second demonic pattern were thoroughly mastered.
Next, his spiritual power greatly intensified, reaching the level of the Guiyuan Realm.
Chen Yu's understanding of the demonic path and his application of power also received many inspirations.
Soon after, a spatial passage appeared behind Chen Yu, and he himself felt a strong repulsive force, urging him to leave this place.
After leaving the ancient relic, Chen Yu saw that everyone except for Yunhai Zhen was gathered in this valley, and every person's face was filled with excitement and joy.
But as soon as Chen Yu emerged, many people looked at him with eyes filled with jealousy and envy.
This was because the number of tokens determined the time one could stay in the ancient relic.
Chen Yu, being merely at the Innate Middle Stage, had, through some stroke of luck, ranked second in the first phase, just behind Yunhai Zhen, and had stayed in the ancient relic for such a long period.
Everyone waited for most of the day, and finally, Yunhai Zhen emerged from the ancient relic, exuding a powerful aura.
Zhou Yuning looked at Yunhai Zhen and felt an intangible suppression, diverting his gaze involuntarily.
"Alright, we can go now," the man in the Golden Cloud Robe said as he looked at Yunhai Zhen with satisfaction, then spoke.
Under his leadership, the group successfully left the palace, stepped on the Transmission Array, and were teleported inside Yunyang Academy.
When the group emerged from Yunyang Academy,
on a clearing in the Liuyun Mountain Range, a huge platform had been built at some point.
On the platform, there were four competition stages.
Students nearby the mountain range looked at Yunhai Zhen and the other ten with eyes full of covetousness.
These ten had spent time in the ancient relic and must have gained considerably, leaving the others a step behind; they definitely had an advantage in the upcoming tournament.
Lv Qiuling and Yin Chengzhuang in particular, glared at Chen Yu with a look full of bitterness and resentment.
They had had a chance to comprehend the ancient relic, but all of that had been taken away by Chen Yu.
"Kid, if I encounter you on the stage, I'll make your life worse than death," said Yin Chengzhuang with a twisted and dark expression, appearing somewhat ferocious and terrifying.
"Next, we begin the second phase of the Academy's big competition!" the man in the Golden Cloud Robe loudly declared.
All the students who had entered the second phase stood up.
If the first phase's reward was insight from the ancient relic, then the final reward given out in the second phase would surely be even more astonishing.
There were a total of one hundred and eight participants in the second phase.
These one hundred and eight would be evenly divided among the four competition stages, vying for victory, ranked by their number of wins.
In the end, the top three from each of the four challenge stages would be selected for the final battle of the tournament, determining the top twelve rankings.
Chen Yu was assigned to the fourth competition stage.
Near the fourth challenge stage, students gauged each other, observing their strengths.
Chen Yu noticed that among those assigned to the fourth challenge stage were quite a few acquaintances, including Yu Hong, Nie Xuan, and Shang Han from the No Demon Academy.
"Haha, Chen Yu, I really didn't expect you would be at the fourth challenge stage too," Lv Qiuling said with a cold laugh not far away.
"Brother Chen, you're really unlucky," said Yu Hong from the No Demon Academy, slightly shaking his head.
Originally, in the secret realm, it was only by teaming up with Jin Zhuo Peak that Chen Yu had forced Lv Qiuling into a corner and obtained the Token.
But now, in the second phase being one-on-one, Lv Qiuling was grouped with Chen Yu, and she would surely not let him off easily.
Of course, there was a clear rule in the second round forbidding killing, otherwise Lv Qiuling might actually kill Chen Yu.
"The first round, Duan Xinyue versus Tangshan!"
Near the fourth competition stage, a referee announced the contenders.
With the flash of a black light, Duan Xinyue appeared on the challenge stage, her bright and captivating eyes scanning the young man in purple robe standing below the stage.
"Tangshan, come on up quickly!" Duan Xinyue said with a smile, seemingly familiar with the young man in purple.
On usual occasions, faced with such a beauty, most men would rush up eagerly.
But this was a competition, and Tangshan hesitantly ascended to the competition stage.
"I concede...!"
As he got on the stage, Tangshan immediately started to speak, as if ready to admit defeat.
But the moment he climbed onto the stage, Duan Xinyue darted forward like a black star streaking across the sky, arriving in front of Tangshan.
With a light tap of her finger, a burst of black starlight exploded.
With a thunderous boom, Tangshan fell off the challenge stage, ending the match.
"Duan Xinyue wins," the referee announced routinely.
Near the fourth stage, many students looked at Duan Xinyue with a fearful expression.
The student just now was clearly about to concede, but before he could utter the words, Duan Xinyue had cut him off, blasting him directly off the challenge stage.