Chapter 298 - To the Death

Xiao Chen ignored the cat and continued to channel the True Qi in his body. At this moment, two waves of True Qi were clashing in his body. One of them was pure immortal Qi from the Mystic Cyan Cultivation Method he had cultivated over a long period of time, while the other was formed naturally from the 12 Spiritual Meridians in his body. The latter was slightly dark purple in color and looked extremely mysterious. With the assistance of the Mystic Diabolic Enchantment, it expanded a few times.

Very quickly, the purple Qi suppressed the white one. Xiao Chen’s face was enveloped in black energy, and his pupils had turned slightly red.

Zhiluan was greatly shocked. “Stop, kid! Stop!”

Suddenly, two sharp rays of energy shot out from Xiao Chen’s eyes. “My heart was connected to all life, but how did you people treat me? You destroyed my Nascent Soul! You imprisoned me in the Ghostly Hall that was completely devoid of any light!”

He thought about past events that happened a few millennia ago. He was wrongly framed as a people of the Devil’s Practice, and his Nascent Soul was destroyed.

“What is Heaven? What is Tao? What is life?”

The vengefulness in Xiao Chen’s heart was amplified, and he channeled his powers suddenly, causing an immense ball of energy to radiate from his body. The greenery nearby was instantly turned into ash, and even the water in pools of the surrounding area churned into waves about three meters high.

Zhiluan was sent flying backward by the sudden surge of energy, and rolled on the ground a few times before getting up. He gazed at Xiao Chen, who was already undergoing Qi Deviation, and said loudly, “Kid! Have you forgotten that Xian’er is still waiting for us to return!”

“Xian’er…” Finally, Xiao Chen regained a little of his senses.

Zhiluan took the opportunity to chant incantations, sending a few white radiances flying toward the back of Xiao’s head. Xiao Chen straightened himself up and coughed out a mouthful of blood, before collapsing on his side.

Zhiluan flew over at great speed to break his fall. Xiao Chen got up only after a while, all the black qi gone from his face. His pupils had reverted to their original color, and he was muttering, “What happened just now…”

Zhiluan grunted. “You nearly underwent complete Qi Deviation!”

“Qi…Qi Deviation…” Xiao Chen rubbed his temples, still feeling a little dizzy.

“Kid, let me ask you, have you slayed the Deity of Three Corpses?” Zhiluan asked sternly and seriously, as it walked up to him.

“Deity of Three Corpses…” Xiao Chen muttered, before shaking his head.

The “Deity of Three Corpses” were the three things that all practitioners had to rid themselves of, before they could become a saint. They were similar in nature to the three vices of Greed, Anger and Foolishness that the Buddhists needed to get rid of. However, he had failed to do so in his previous life. How could he possibly manage to do that in this current life?

“Wha…ttt!” Zhiluan was so shocked that it leapt up as it exclaimed. “You didn’t get rid of the Three Corpses! How could you possibly attain immortality? You’ll definitely undergo Qi Deviation someday. How do you think those old Nascent Soul beasts entered the realm so easily? All of them rid themselves of the Three Corpses!”

Xiao Chen frowned. “I’m not even in Grand Completion Realm, so why should I rid myself of the Three Corpses? Furthermore, not all of the Nascent Soul beasts did that. Do you think Wan Gufeng has gotten rid of the Three Corpses, in his mind?”

“Who’s Wan Gufeng?”

“Oh, I forgot that I met him before I met you. He’s a fake practitioner of the Orthodox Path.”

Zhiluan shook its hand and replied seriously, “No matter what he did, you should still get rid of the Three Corpses, to prevent yourself from having to deal with Qi Deviation again. If I hadn’t…humph!”

Xiao Chen replied, “Would it be as easy as you claim? Forget it, I’ll try to break into the Nascent Soul Realm again, in a few days’ time. I’ll stop trying if I really can’t do it.” He was more concerned that it would be extremely hard to break into the realm, once he left this land of abundant Spiritual Qi.

He had his master to assist him in the past, but who else could he look for now? Even though he was acquainted with Zi Mo, it was still better to have his own master. Suddenly, he missed his master from the Three Pure Sect, Bai Ying. It would be great if Bai Ying was around now; he would surely know what to do.

He sighed, unwilling to discuss further. “Right, how’s the Area of Chaos?” he asked.

Zhiluan opened its paws and retrieved a divine berry from the sack on its back. It took a bite of the fruit, replying vaguely, “Anyway…we’ll…be…unable to leave…”

“What?”

“I said, the Area of Chaos is still not open, and we can’t leave yet.”

Xiao Chen frowned, believing that the Leopard Cat Spirit must have wanted to stay in this domain, for a few more days. He decided that he should go and see for himself tomorrow. If the Cat Spirit was lying to him, he did not know how long more it would take, before the portal opened again.

He had a sound rest that night, and headed northwest to the Chaos Valley the next morning. He realized that the crack was indeed much greater, and the spirit energy flowing out of it was much more intense. However, he was still unable to enter it.

“Look, did I lie to you?”

Xiao Chen nodded. “Keep observing the crack. I’ll head back to prepare myself to achieve breakthrough again,” he said.

Zhiluan was shocked to hear that. “Don’t act rashly again, kid. What if you kill me by accident the next time you undergo Qi Deviation?”

Xiao Chen shook his head. “I won’t,” he replied. The last time, he was impatient and did not stop himself, even when the Mystic Diabolic Enchantment was activated. He would not make the same mistake again.

Seven more days passed. During this time, Xiao Chen tried to break into the Nascent Soul Realm daily. He had absorbed a sufficient amount of Spiritual Qi to do so, but each time he was close to doing that, the Mystic Diabolic Enchantment would be activated, and disrupt his thoughts, as if it was trying to draw him to the dark side.

As such, he had to stop himself every time. If he had allowed himself to use the enchantment to achieve breakthrough, he would have long attained Nascent Soul Realm power. However, he was unwilling to do so, as it would have drawn him into the dark side.

Each time, Zhiluan would hide himself far away and observe Xiao Chen in fear. He was afraid that Xiao would turn to the dark side and use him as an elixir. The cat would wake up in fear during the night, even after hearing a gentle breeze. Undeniably, it was close to breaking down from having to remain beside someone teethering on the brink of both the light and dark sides, even though it was an Immortal.

He walked up carefully to Xiao Chen when he saw that he had failed yet again. “Kid…why don’t you give up. You still have a long way to go, why are you so intent on…” it said softly.

Xiao Chen pinched his fingers together. “A long way to go…I’ve already lost a few millennia. How much time do you think I’ve left?”

Qianyu Nishang had already become the Immortal King of a certain land, while he was still stuck at the fringes of the Nascent Soul Realm. What else did he have to say? Was he still supposed to call her “Junior Sister” like before?

Furthermore, he had killed the junior of the Nascent Soul being, Wan Gufeng. He knew Wan would not let the matter rest. He had not acted because Xiao was still in the Taoist League of the Five Continents, and had the backing of Zi Mo and the others. Was he going to have to hide behind someone else for the rest of his life, though?

Xiao Chen felt his emotions were in turmoil. Zhiluan tried to console him, “Alright, alright. Don’t put on such a long face. The Immortal’s Sword Assembly is about to begin, why don’t we see if we can get out from this place today?”

Xiao Chen sighed and nodded. Man and cat went northwest again to the valley. The crack was much larger today, and an endless stream of Spiritual Qi kept surging out from it.

“It’s about right. Can we leave now?”

Xiao Chen looked back toward the valley of flowers, replying, “Let’s wait for another three more days.”

They returned back again. It was going to be his last attempt to achieve breakthrough. If he failed, he would have to leave without any complaints. They had to, as the Portal of Chaos could shut down anytime, and he did not know when it would reopen again.

This time, Xiao Chen went to the waterfall above the pool. He observed the waterfall, which was dozens of meters high. Water splattered against the nearby cliff with booming sounds, and it was an immensely powerful waterfall.

After consideration, Xiao Chen launched himself from the tip of his toes, and flew into the waterfall. He could feel the immense pressure crashing onto his head, and it gave him difficulty in breathing.

He had not expected that he would be using a waterfall hundreds of meters long, to help him reach the Nascent Soul Realm; in the past, he did so, after being burnt by hellfire. After he readied himself, Xiao Chen sat down, cross legged. He was prepared to go ahead with his final plan. If he failed this time, he would rid himself of all his cultivation powers! He would start all over again!

Time ticked on by. Xiao Chen shut his eyes lightly and wiped his mind clean of all thoughts. He changed the Xuanqing mind cultivation method repeatedly, from Qi Refining to Foundation Building, then Core Forming Realm. He refined his energy into Qi, and then into spiritual energy. As he did so, he remembered his master’s words, “Take flight with the goodness in Nature, and the six Qis…forget yourself and observe everything with your heart. You’ll then be connected to Nature.”

Xiao Chen had slowly entered a state of complete mindfulness. Immortals and demons were illusory and unable to affect him!

Zhiluan observed quietly from afar. Soon, six hours passed, and night fell, but Xiao Chen was still motionless.

The night passed, but still Xiao Chen did not emerge from the waterfall. Zhiluan stood guard outside the entire night, and did not dare shut its eyes, for fear that Xiao would undergo Qi Deviation again.

Soon, three days had passed. Zhiluan was already completely fatigued. Just as it was about to fall asleep, a wisp of think smoke appeared above the pool, and a layer of white mist enveloped the area near the waterfall.