Demon Slaying, Gaining 60 Years of Cultivation From the Start

Name: Gu Chen

Martial Arts: Pure Yang Vajra Body (Beginner), Tai Xu Transformation Dragon Chapter (Beginner), Refining Spirit Secret (Beginner), Mountain and Sea Fist Classic (Beginner), Eight Heavenly Dragons Technique (Beginner), Innate Pure Yang Sword Aura (Beginner), LingXu Nine Steps (Beginner), Heavenly Star Sword Scripture (Beginner)

Internal Energy: Great Sun Divine Illumination True Classic

Cultivation: One Thousand Years

Realm: Mid-stage Innate Realm

Action Point Value: 296

In the Spirit Realm, Gu Chen had obtained an insight into martial arts, which, combined with his own understanding of martial arts, had immediately advanced his Mountain and Sea Fist Classic to the Beginner level.

After emerging from the Spirit Realm, and with time to consolidate his learning, thanks to that insight into martial arts, Gu Chen had raised all his learned skills, except for the Pure Yang Vajra Body and Tai Xu Transformation Dragon Chapter, from a preliminary understanding to Beginner level!

This underscored the importance of martial arts enlightenment for a warrior, helping Gu Chen save several hundred action points.

After completing the mission in East Province, Gu Chen exchanged the merits he had received from the Jing Tian Department for soul crystals, and his cultivation had reached one thousand years, breaking through to the mid-stage Innate Realm!

While the advancement of his cultivation and martial arts was certainly good news, at that moment, Gu Chen furrowed his brow.

"A two hundred year increase in cultivation actually cost a full four hundred action points?"

When a martial artist reaches the Innate Realm, the true Gangqi within their body transforms into Innate Qi, just as Gangqi transforms into true Gangqi. Gu Chen's cultivation was compressed, its quality improved, and its quantity reduced, from one thousand six hundred years to eight hundred years.

And just now, Gu Chen had used four hundred action points to raise his cultivation from eight hundred years to one thousand years.

"In the past, one action point equated to one year of cultivation, but after reaching the Innate level, it now takes two action points to improve cultivation by one year?"

Although it was just a change from one point to two, that was nevertheless a doubling.

However, after deeper reflection, Gu Chen came to terms with it.

After all, he had always been in the Post-Innate Realm, and the purity of his power naturally could not be compared with the Innate Qi of the Innate Realm.

The difference between Post-Innate and Innate was vast, not just in the current nine provinces, but also in ancient and even more ancient times.

And Innate Qi, which is a combination and refinement of a martial artist's true Gangqi and the Heavenly Earth Essence Qi, is many times purer and stronger than true Gangqi.

Seeing it this way, the increase in action point cost seemed reasonable.

Nevertheless, this meant that Gu Chen would need more action points for future breakthroughs.

But no matter how you look at it, the speed of his cultivation breakthroughs far surpassed that of other Innate Realm martial artists in the nine provinces.

"There are still two hundred ninety-six action points on my panel right now..."

This time, Gu Chen chose not to continue improving his cultivation but instead focused his mind, advancing his Pure Yang Vajra Body, an Earth-grade body-refining martial skill, from Beginner to Minor Accomplishment.

Physique had always been Gu Chen's strong suit, and since he had lacked sufficient action points, his Pure Yang Vajra Body had been at the Beginner level for quite some time. Now that he had enough action points, it was natural for Gu Chen to prioritize upgrading this martial skill.

Boom!

In that moment, as the action points dissipated, the Pure Yang Vajra Body stepped into the Minor Accomplishment stage, and a corresponding martial arts experience emerged in Gu Chen's mind, as if he had personally experienced day and night of tireless cultivation of the Pure Yang Vajra Body, absorbing the true solar fire to refine his body.

Simultaneously, Gu Chen's body shook, and a scorching power burned through his body, making his already indestructible treasured body even more powerful.

Fierce Fire Forging Golden Body!

Gu Chen was enveloped in brilliant flames, sitting within them while the fire raged fiercely and his flesh seemed increasingly flawless.

Light flames flowed through the spaces between his flesh, and even Gu Chen's hair seemed to dance with these flames, creating an extraordinary spectacle.

Moreover, at this moment, every one of Gu Chen's bones had taken on a jade-like quality, as if they were carved from jade, incredibly delicate to behold.

As for his organs, faint true solar fire burned within them, making them increasingly translucent and shining with a dazzling luster.

Particularly Gu Chen's heart, the most crucial organ in the human body and the source of life for a warrior, was now entwined with red light. With each beat, a continuous stream of blood flowed from Gu Chen's body. The sheer force of this blood alone seemed as though it could flatten a mountain peak.

The Pure Yang Vajra Body at Minor Accomplishment did not manifest many extraordinary phenomena, as all the power was contained within Gu Chen himself, housed within the muscles and flesh of his body.

Now that the advancement was complete, Gu Chen appeared as though he had achieved the legendary Buddhist Arhat's indestructible body, with a massive increase in the strength of his physique.

Sitting there, his body robust and his blood surging, he was resplendent with golden light, his hair sweeping with flames, a faint true solar fire shining all over. He seemed like a god within fire, possessing immense majesty.@@novelbin@@

Even more astonishingly, amid the shining of his bodily treasure was a hint of an immortal aura—this was truly astonishing!

Cultivating the body to such an extent was extremely rare throughout the nine provinces; at least, within the Innate Realm, there likely wasn't a single one who could match Gu Chen's physical toughness.

Even if Gu Chen died, his body could remain in the world for a long time before turning to bones.

In fact, Gu Chen had read in some unofficial histories that, in the distant ancient times, the bodies of gods and demons were incredibly strong and durable, capable of withstanding decay in the world for thousands of years, even after death.

Of course, the Gu Chen of now was far from being able to achieve that level, and moreover, unofficial histories were just that—histories. Even if a warrior reached the level of Heaven Man, after death, their body could not possibly last that many years.

That would not be human, but immortal.

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"Indeed, the enhancement of Earthly Martial Skills consumes a great deal of merit points, raising Pure Yang Vajra Body to minor achievement cost me a whopping one hundred and forty-eight merit points," Gu Chen murmured with a sigh.

Fortunately, there were still so many merit points left on the panel, so Gu Chen did not hesitate to elevate Tai Xu Transformation Dragon Section to minor achievement as well, just like the Pure Yang Vajra Body.

After all, this martial art was also extremely important to Gu Chen, as it directly enhanced his overall combat effectiveness.

Boom!

The scene of a fish leaping over the dragon gate appeared behind Gu Chen, amidst the shimmering light, the doorway let out torrents of light rain, the minor achievement realm of Tai Xu Transformation Dragon Section instantly increased Gu Chen's entire physical cultivation including his strength and speed by seventy percent!

Hum!

At this moment, Gu Chen's body released a dazzling brilliance, his aura terrifyingly strong, each and every movement brimming with earth-shattering power!

This sensation was certainly not the usual illusion!

Why is someone at the Innate Realm called a Grandmaster of Martial Arts?

It's simply because upon reaching this realm, martial artists penetrate all the acupoints and profound gates within their bodies, their minds resonate with the universe, and in a single thought, they can mobilize the Heavenly Earth Essence Qi against enemies, their destructive power incredibly astonishing.

Changing the terrain and shattering mountains and earth is not just talk.

Especially since Gu Chen possessed such formidable strength, and with Tai Xu Transformation Dragon Section increasing his combat power by seventy percent, even a Grandmaster of Martial Arts at the pinnacle of Innate Realm would not be his match!

Although he had not been in this realm for long, Gu Chen feared no one in the Innate Realm throughout all of Jiangzhou.

Even when facing top Grandmasters of Martial Arts who had just entered the Divine Realm, Gu Chen was undaunted.

After all, he cultivated the Refining Spirit Secret, which could refine the strength of his spirit, and with Refining Spirit Secret reaching introductory levels, although he had not yet condensed a divine sense, relying on the protection it provided for his mind, along with the Superior God Weapon Jade Necklace that the new Emperor Ji Yuan had given him, Gu Chen had the ability to retreat unscathed even if he could not defeat ordinary warriors of the Divine Realm.

At this moment, Gu Chen had the strength to traverse Jiangzhou unimpeded.

That's why, in his conversation with the Tower Supervisor that day, Gu Chen was confident he could unify Jiangzhou—it stemmed from his absolute confidence in his own strength.

What's a great calamity for others, for him, it was an opportunity to quickly enhance his strength.

As long as his strength increased rapidly, Gu Chen believed he could turn the tide, protect Da Xia, protect his family.

"What I need to do next is to traverse the world and subjugate the top forces of Jiangzhou," Gu Chen said to himself.

Though his strength was immense, fearless against ninety percent of the martial artists in the whole of Jiangzhou, accomplishing this feat was still immensely difficult.

Just as the Tower Supervisor had said, the Six Union God Sect had the same idea, and before their high-ranking members emerged from seclusion, they wanted to ally with the jianghu forces to prepare for overthrowing Da Xia.

Therefore, Gu Chen shared the same goal as the Six Union God Sect, and during this period, collisions with the Sect were inevitable.

"The Tower Supervisor told me to start with Dragon Tiger Mountain's Daoist Sect, but the Daoist Sect is far away in Jiangzhou, quite distant. Rather than that, it would be better to start with the native powers of Shen Zhou."

Gu Chen considered this and then left seclusion. He found Qin Wu and shared his thoughts.

After learning of Gu Chen's idea, Qin Wu also greatly agreed, stating that if Gu Chen needed anything, he could find him anytime.

"Now that you have reached the Innate Realm, it's not suitable for you to remain an Earth level Commander anymore, although the requirements for a Da Xia Protector are extremely strict. For now, you should stay in the position of a Heavenly level Commander for a while to accumulate some experience," Qin Wu said.

Gu Chen nodded. Titles were no longer that important to him at the moment; all he needed were merit points.

Being a Heavenly level Commander or Protector, to Gu Chen, was simply a difference in title.

Seeing Gu Chen's attitude, Qin Wu knew that he didn't care, but Qin Wu didn't say much more. Given Gu Chen's age, he naturally wouldn't understand what it meant to be a Protector.

Every additional Protector in Da Xia signified a growth in Da Xia's strength. After announcing it to the world, the people of Da Xia would be inspired, thereby boosting the morale of the entire nation. Enjoy exclusive content from My Virtual Library Empire

A Protector was not just a symbol of status and strength, but for Da Xia, it was more a symbol of responsibility!

Only those who could protect a region were qualified to become a Protector—it required not just strength, but also the right temperament.

Without adequate responsibility, one could not become a Protector.

Take Yan Qing of Yan State for example, when the barbarian armies came, he would rather die than take a single step back.

A Grandmaster of Martial Arts of the Innate Realm, especially a powerful one like a Protector, could be revered as a distinguished guest in any force in the jianghu even if they left Da Xia.

But Yan Qing still chose to use his death to deter the barbarians, a testament to his resolve.

If we look back at older dynasties, a Protector of Da Xia was akin to a feudal lord with the authority to govern a territory, helping Da Xia protect its regions, wielding great power.

Afterward, Gu Chen took his leave and left the Jing Tian Department, returning to Gu Mansion.

After having a meal with his second uncle's family, Gu Chen soon left Tiandu, heading for one of the Seven Sects and Eight Factions, the Canghai Sect.

The Canghai Sect, ever since their Innate Realm old sect master passed away, lacked another Innate, with only a few Martial Arts Masters including the sect master holding the sect together.

The Canghai Sect was located within the territory of Qiongtian Mansion in Shen Zhou, built around the Canghai, with legends saying their founder also broke through to the Innate Realm beside the Canghai, hence establishing the sect there.

Of course, the Canghai is actually just a lake, not a real sea, but it covered an area nearly a thousand miles in diameter.

"Da Xia's Jing Tian Department's Gu Chen has come to pay respects to the mountain!"

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