Chapter 234: Deception
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Ling Hanjun died because of a sharp shout from Lu Zhichun. Even though Lu Zhichun was not targeting Ling Hanjun, Ling Hanjun still couldn’t escape.
In the face of Ling Hanjun’s cultivation at the Bone Tempering realm, there was no difference from an ordinary person. It was just a matter of being slightly bigger or smaller ants, easily killed with a casual wave of the hand.
“Senior, what do you think of my strength and cultivation?”
Chen Fei glanced at Ling Hanjun, then turned to Lu Zhichun, a slight smile on his face.
“Why, do you want to demonstrate a breakthrough in front of me?”
Lu Zhichun burst into laughter upon hearing Chen Fei’s words. Chen Fei’s strength was undoubtedly good, and he could even be said to be excellent. Lu Zhichun had encountered many Visceral Tempering realm martial artists, but very few could be compared to Chen Fei.
However, not everyone could withstand a strike from an Aperture Tempering realm expert without dying.
Chen Fei not only survived but wasn’t even seriously injured. At most, his internal organs were shaken, and he suffered some minor injuries. Even the contamination of his mental energy was resisted by him. Looking at the trend, he could probably hold on for a very long time.
It could be said that Chen Fei was already very close to reaching the Aperture Tempering realm. Just by opening his meridians, he might not need much time to solidify his cultivation and become a true Aperture Tempering realm expert.
But getting closer to the Aperture Tempering realm was still not the same as having broken through. If Chen Fei thought that he could break through in the heat of battle with this kind of situation, then Lu Zhichun might as well show him what an Aperture Tempering realm martial artist was capable of.
“Senior, it’s just a jest. I only asked that question to inform you that with my level of cultivation, shouldn’t my sect provide me with a protector to avoid unexpected situations?”
Chen Fei looked into Lu Zhichun’s eyes, a confident and proud look on his face.
Upon hearing Chen Fei’s words, Lu Zhichun was slightly taken aback. Indeed, with such a level of cultivation, it was not something that ordinary wandering martial artists could achieve.
Only the top sects could possibly nurture such disciples. And if such disciples went out to gain experience, they would undoubtedly be accompanied by protectors to prevent any accidents.
“I am Shen Tucang, the current second-generation disciple of the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect. I came here with my sect elder. By the time, my sect elder should be arriving soon.”
Chen Fei stood up and respectfully bowed to Lu Zhichun. When he mentioned the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect, he subtly raised his head.
As the dominant sect in a radius of thousands of miles, the reputation of the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect was known to all. Lu Zhichun, being an Aperture Tempering realm expert, naturally understood the kind of powerhouses the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect possessed.
As a wandering martial artist, Lu Zhichun, even with his profound cultivation, dared not openly confront the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect. If he provoked the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect, they would undoubtedly send a peak Aperture Tempering realm expert to deal with him.
From what Lu Zhichun knew, in the past decade or so, the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect had dispatched Aperture Tempering realm late-stage experts on five separate occasions to forcefully eliminate wandering martial artists who dared to offend them.
This was a strategy to deter others, and its effectiveness was remarkable. It made many wandering martial artists and even some sects think twice before crossing paths with the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect.
Lu Zhichun furrowed his brows. This remote and impoverished place wouldn’t usually attract the attention of the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect. However, recently, the strange occurrences in Pingyin County had gained significant attention among high-level martial artists, attracting many Aperture Tempering realm wandering martial artists.
Exorcising demons and eliminating evil for the sake of the people was an impossible task.
The evil in Pingyin County had been growing rapidly, far exceeding the usual rate of development. Some suspected it might possess a precious treasure.
The news was first discovered by a wandering martial artist who had come here, and he had initially faced difficulties dealing with it, almost getting himself killed.
This wandering martial artist, feeling resentful, began to gather more people, and the news gradually spread.
Lu Zhichun had been drawn to this place by the news, and before he even reached Pingyin County, he noticed the unusual mist on Mount Guanzhou, followed by the scene that had just occurred.
“You claim to be a disciple of the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect. Do you have any proof?” Lu Zhichun furrowed his brows.
“Do you recognize this, senior?”
Chen Fei smiled as he took out a Receival Bead from his pocket and displayed it in his palm for Lu Zhichun to see.
Lu Zhichun looked at the Receival Bead, his frown deepening. He naturally recognized the Receival Bead, which was made from the core of the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect’s spirit tree. Most disciples of the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect possessed one.
“A single Receival Bead doesn’t prove much…”
Before Lu Zhichun could finish his sentence, he saw Chen Fei take out a second Receival Bead and place it in his palm. Finding one Receival Bead was a rare stroke of luck, but the chances of finding two were extremely low.
“Senior, the misunderstanding at the cave entrance earlier, let’s just forget about it and part ways, shall we?” Chen Fei put away the Receival Beads and extended his hand in a gesture of goodwill.
“Misunderstanding, hahaha, indeed, it’s all just a misunderstanding!”
Lu Zhichun looked at Chen Fei, suddenly bursting into laughter. “Since you’ve obtained the opportunity here, it means you have some connection with this place. I won’t take away what rightfully belongs to you.”
With that, Lu Zhichun’s figure flickered and disappeared on the spot, leaving behind Ling Hanjun’s corpse, telling the story of what had just happened.
The smile on Chen Fei’s face faded. Instead of dispelling the formation, he sat cross-legged and took out the black box from the spatial grid, carefully taking out the pieces of animal skin and examining each character one by one.
There was no specific order, and he didn’t attempt to piece them together. Chen Fei now simply wanted to read all the characters.
In less than a quarter of an hour, Chen Fei had finished reading all the characters on the animal skins.
There was no coherent message; the meanings of the words seemed disjointed and unrelated.
In just a brief quarter-hour, Chen Fei’s head felt a bit swollen from reading.
“Panel!”
Chen Fei mentally called out, and a transparent screen appeared in his mind. He quickly noticed a new change on the panel.
“New cultivation technique discovered. Spend three hundred thousand taels of silver to streamline ‘Dragon Suppressing Elephant (Chaotic)’?”
“As expected!”
Seeing the prompt on the panel, Chen Fei’s eyes lit up. Previously, in Pingyin County, he had obtained a fragmented Thunderous Sword Force, and the panel had been able to select useful content from it for him.
Back then, it was still somewhat within the realm of simplification.
Now, the Dragon Suppressing Elephant was so chaotic that it seemed to lack any logic. However, the total number of characters was just right. After Chen Fei finished reading it, the panel acknowledged it.
But in such a state of chaos, it was obviously not a simplification but a streamlining process to restore the Dragon Suppressing Elephant to its original form. Chen Fei speculated that perhaps his practice of the Dragon Suppressing Elephant’s Suppressing Body part had also provided a theoretical foundation for the panel.
This connection allowed streamlining to become possible.
The price, however, was quite hefty. And this was just streamlining; further simplification would require an additional fee.
Previously, in the Primordial Sword Sect, Chen Fei had managed to accumulate only a bit over three hundred thousand taels of silver by working hard to refine pills. Now, if he wanted to streamline it, he would be left with just over half.
Chen Fei didn’t immediately streamline the cultivation technique. He carefully placed the fragments of animal skin back into the box one by one and took out a piece of silk cloth, studying the backside of the fabric attentively.
Chen Fei’s purpose in examining the animal skins earlier was to confirm whether the panel could be of assistance. It was certain that Lu Zhichun wouldn’t leave. Chen Fei’s words might have deceived him momentarily, but there was no way he would simply let Chen Fei go.
If it were Chen Fei himself, faced with this situation, he would probably hide outside the cave first and see if any experts from the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect arrived.
The cautious ones would observe for an hour, while those bolder might re-enter the cave after half an hour if they didn’t encounter any Immortal Cloud Sword Sect experts.
Chen Fei’s deception of Lu Zhichun was to buy himself some time. Chen Fei pretended to deceive Lu Zhichun into leaving, with no intention of making Lu Zhichun disappear instantly. Instead, he aimed to buy himself some time and strategize for the situation at hand.
While reading the introduction to the Dragon-Elephant True Immortal earlier,
Chen Fei had noticed that there were detailed instructions on how to control the current formation on the back of the silk cloth.
Chen Fei had been in a hurry to leave earlier because the mist outside the cave had lingered for quite some time. If a powerful martial artist were to arrive, they would certainly notice something amiss.
However, Chen Fei’s plan to deceive Lu Zhichun and gain some time didn’t go as smoothly as he had hoped. He ended up encountering Lu Zhichun and was forced to take refuge in the formation. When Chen Fei had activated the formation earlier, it couldn’t even be considered proper operation; he had simply stimulated it using the strength of the Dragon Suppressing Elephant.
Now, Chen Fei’s main task was to figure out how to operate the formation more precisely. Without that, he wouldn’t have the strength to confront Lu Zhichun.
Chen Fei quickly read the content on the silk cloth, and the panel displayed a new change.
[Formation: Dragon Elephant Formation (Beginner 2/10000)]
“New formation discovered. Spend thirty thousand taels of silver to simplify the Dragon Elephant Formation?”
“Simplifying the Dragon Elephant Formation… Simplification successful… Dragon Elephant Formation -> Dragon Suppressing Elephant Suppressing Body Formation!”
Chen Fei let out a sigh of relief. This Dragon Elephant Formation was created by the Dragon-Elephant True Immortal based on the Dragon Suppressing Elephant’s cultivation technique, and its foundation was indeed the Dragon Suppressing Elephant’s technique.
Chen Fei had been concerned about the result of simplifying the formation, fearing it might become too complex. If he couldn’t quickly improve his proficiency, he was prepared to invest heavily in a second simplification.
Fortunately, this didn’t happen.
The Great Completion level Dragon Suppressing Elephant began to circulate rapidly within Chen Fei’s body and insights into the Dragon Elephant Formation started to appear intensively in his mind.
Chen Fei continuously adjusted how the Dragon Suppressing Elephant’s power circulated and finally found that simply allowing the Dragon Suppressing Elephant’s energy to flow from his feet to his head once would increase his proficiency.
Without hesitation, Chen Fei had the Dragon Suppressing Elephant’s energy flow directly up and down. Only at the Great Perfection level could one control it with such ease; otherwise, others practicing this technique might risk falling into a state of inner turmoil.
The proficiency of the Dragon Elephant Formation was rapidly increasing. Outside the cave, Lu Zhichun lay in hiding, completely concealing his aura. He resembled a withered tree, patiently waiting for the right moment..