Chapter 713 - 714: Third-Layer Martial Emperor

Inside the Storage Ring was a massive, dense pile of what looked to be about a million Middle Grade Profound Stones. On top of that, there were also several hundred Upper Grade Profound Stones, each one emitting a rich stream of Heaven and Earth Profound Qi.

There were also many Spirit Medicines and materials, a fair number of them being Tier Eight Spirit Medicines.

As for Pills, Profound Soldiers, and other such items, there were some, but Ye Xuan had no interest in them whatsoever.

What excited him most were the several hundred Upper Grade Profound Stones. The Heaven and Earth Profound Qi they contained was on a completely different level from that of Middle Grade Profound Stones. If used properly, these hundreds of Upper Grade Profound Stones were more than enough to raise his cultivation level.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Ye Xuan took out all several hundred Upper Grade Profound Stones. Using the Mola Yuan Iron Array Disc, he began to set up an Array within the cave.

He embedded the Upper Grade Profound Stones one by one into the Array’s key nodes. In addition to the Upper Grade stones, he also poured massive quantities of Middle Grade Profound Stones into every corner of the Array.

Once all that was done, Ye Xuan began refining Pills right there in the cave.

On this expedition, ever since the gravel lands, Ye Xuan had acquired a good number of Spirit Medicines. This was especially true in the hazy region, where the Little Purple Mink, acting on its own, had gathered many Spirit Medicines that Ye Xuan would never have even dreamed of finding before.

One by one, the Spirit Medicines were rapidly refined into Pills by Ye Xuan, and into each of these Pills, he incorporated a small portion of a Golden Jade Fragrant Fruit.

To conserve the Golden Jade Fragrant Fruits, Ye Xuan calculated the amount needed for each batch of Pills with extreme precision, making sure not to waste even a single sliver.

Even so, after two days, Ye Xuan had already used up four of the five Golden Jade Fragrant Fruits in his Alchemy.

He decided not to use the last Golden Jade Fragrant Fruit for now, saving it for a rainy day.

With all his preparations complete, Ye Xuan finally began to cultivate.

Thanks to the Golden Jade Fragrant Fruit, he didn’t have to worry about pill toxins or side effects. He grabbed a handful of the Pills, stuffed them into his mouth, and sat cross-legged within the Array. Circulating the Nine Profound Prideful World Art, he began to cultivate wholeheartedly.

WHOOSH!

The various energies contained within the Pills rapidly assimilated into Ye Xuan’s body, beginning to widen his Profound Veins, strengthen his Profound Qi, and temper his physical form.

It wasn’t just the Pills. The massive number of Middle and Upper Grade Profound Stones in the Array also began to melt away, the Heaven and Earth Profound Qi within them flooding into Ye Xuan’s body in a crazed, unrestrained torrent.

Ye Xuan knew his difficult journey was finally paying off.

And so, Ye Xuan continuously refined his Profound Qi, raising his cultivation level.

His cultivation, which had just entered the Tier Seven Second Layer, quickly stabilized. It then began to rise at a visible rate. Only when all several hundred of his Upper Grade Profound Stones were depleted did his cultivation progress finally halt.

At this moment, Ye Xuan’s cultivation had reached the Peak of Tier Seven Second Layer, just a single step away from the Tier Seven Third Layer.

And all this had happened in just a few days of cultivation.

Ye Xuan stood up, a hint of joy on his face.

On the surface, it seemed his cultivation hadn’t improved much. He had merely gone from the early stage of the Tier Seven Second Layer to the Peak of Tier Seven Second Layer, without even breaking through to the next layer.

But only Ye Xuan knew how much his strength had truly increased. It was an absolutely massive leap forward.

Furthermore, Ye Xuan could feel that he was now at the Peak of the Tier Seven Second Layer. If he wished, he could concoct a few breakthrough-pills and cross into the Tier Seven Third Layer within a matter of days.

And he even had the necessary Spirit Medicines to refine such pills.

But he chose not to.

First of all, his Profound Sense was only at the Peak of Seventh Grade. A Pill capable of helping a Tier Seven Second Layer Martial King break through to the Tier Seven Third Layer would undoubtedly be an Eighth Grade Pill.

Although he had successfully refined the Eighth Grade Emperor’s Heart Pill before, that was only with the help of Elder Yao and the others. He wasn’t certain he could succeed on his own.

But that was only a secondary reason. More importantly, based on the calculations of the Vast Light Grand Thousand Mirror and his own intuition, the time he had taken to go from the Tier Seven Second Layer to the Peak of the Second Layer was simply too short. If he were to break through to the Third Layer now, it would inevitably lead to an unstable foundation.

The Golden Jade Fragrant Fruit could eliminate all toxins and side effects from Pills, but the problem of an unstable foundation was not something Pills could solve.

After all, he had only just broken through to the Tier Seven Second Layer before this expedition began. Only a few days had passed, yet he had already reached the Peak of the Tier Seven Second Layer.

Moreover, he was cultivating the incredibly difficult Nine Profound Prideful World Art. The amount of Profound required for each level was at least ten, even a hundred times that of an ordinary Martial Artist. A cultivation speed like this was nothing short of heaven-defying.

So, Ye Xuan knew very well that he absolutely could not attempt to break through to the Tier Seven Third Layer until he had thoroughly consolidated his cultivation at the Peak of the Tier Seven Second Layer. He was willing to spend more time on this, no matter the cost.

No one was more eager to break through than Ye Xuan himself. He desperately wanted to recover his cultivation from his past life as quickly as possible, and then surpass it.

But it was precisely this desire to reach an even higher realm that forced him to suppress the impulse to break through to the Tier Seven Third Layer.

Fortunately, this mysterious land was filled with dangers and powerful enemies. Constant battle was the best way to consolidate one’s cultivation base.

HAH!

Standing up, Ye Xuan put away the Mola Yuan Iron Array Disc and finally left the cave where he had been in seclusion for several days.

This mysterious land was full of treasures and opportunities; naturally, Ye Xuan couldn’t afford to spend all his time just cultivating.

Xiaohai and Erhei were both thrilled to see Ye Xuan emerge.

Ye Xuan smiled faintly, sat directly on the back of the black toad, and continued onward.

Through these past few days of cultivation, Ye Xuan had come to understand just how precious this place was.

The only reason his cultivation had progressed so quickly was that he had consumed a massive amount of rare and exotic treasures. In the outside world, obtaining such items would have cost an unknowable amount of effort and money, but here in this mysterious land, he could find them from time to time.

However, over the next few days, Ye Xuan found that his good luck seemed to have run out. He was encountering treasures less and less frequently.

He didn’t know if the area had already been picked clean by other Martial Artists, or if his luck was simply starting to turn.

’This won’t do. I have to think of something.’

With that thought, Ye Xuan immediately pulled the Little Purple Mink out from its Spirit Pet Bag.

When it came to finding Spirit Medicine, he—a Tier Nine Emperor Level Spirit Alchemist in his past life—was far superior to any ordinary Martial Artist. But compared to the Little Purple Mink, Ye Xuan was a rank amateur.

The Little Purple Mink was of some unknown species, but it was born with an innate ability to sense treasures. Its skill at finding Spirit Medicine was several times greater than Ye Xuan’s, without a doubt.

The Little Purple Mink looked thoroughly displeased. It had spent the last few days sneaking and eating a great deal of Spirit Medicine, leaving it perpetually drowsy. It was utterly disgusted by Ye Xuan’s exploitative labor practices.

However, faced with Ye Xuan’s insistent demands, the Little Purple Mink had no choice but to start leading him on a search.

Sure enough, with the Little Purple Mink’s help, Ye Xuan found nearly ten decent Spirit Medicines on the very first day. He even found a crimson Fire Flame Spirit Fruit.

The Fire Flame Spirit Fruit was a Tier Eight Peak Spirit Medicine, its value not much lower than the Golden Jade Fragrant Fruit. For a Fire Element Martial Artist, consuming a Fire Flame Spirit Fruit could unconditionally raise the level of their internal Fire Element Profound.

Aside from Fire Element Martial Artists, the Fire Flame Spirit Fruit was also extremely useful to Alchemists and Soul Refiners, as it could help them condense an even more powerful natal Profound Fire.

However, Ye Xuan was neither a Fire Element Martial Artist, nor did he lack a powerful flame—he already possessed a Celestial Fire like the Endless Molten Flame. As such, the Fire Flame Spirit Fruit wasn’t particularly useful to him personally.

But if he brought it back for Elder Yao or Lu Li, it would definitely be enough to raise their cultivation by an entire level.

On the second day, the Little Purple Mink led Ye Xuan directly into a valley.

The moment he stepped inside, Ye Xuan sensed this valley was special. A quick glance revealed several stalks of Tier Seven Spirit Medicine.

Ye Xuan immediately began harvesting the Tier Seven Spirit Medicine, but just then, the Little Purple Mink darted into the depths of the valley with a SWOOSH.

"Little Purple Mink, slow down! Wait for me to finish gathering this Tier Seven Spirit Medicine!"

Ye Xuan called out, but the Little Purple Mink paid him no mind and vanished in a flash.

Ye Xuan shook his head, speechless. ’This little guy is getting way too mischievous. It doesn’t even listen to me, its master, anymore. Sooner or later, I’ll have to teach it a lesson.’

After carefully storing the Tier Seven Spirit Medicine, Ye Xuan had just straightened up when a sharp screech pierced the air. His heart seized, and in an instant, his body transformed into a streak of light and shot forward.

That cry had clearly come from the Little Purple Mink.

Moments later, Ye Xuan spotted the Little Purple Mink, and flames of rage erupted in his eyes.

Three powerful cultivators had the Little Purple Mink completely surrounded. Two of them were First Layer Martial Emperors at Tier Eight, while the third was a Third Layer Martial Emperor at Tier Eight. He had spiky brown hair, and his face was dark and grim.

The trio was relentlessly attacking the Little Purple Mink. The Tier Eight Third Layer Martial Emperor in particular was rippling with immense Profound, his terrifying Domain Realm locking down the surrounding space. His sharp eyes tracked the Little Purple Mink’s every move.

The two First Layer Martial Emperors were inside the Domain Realm, constantly trying to intercept and capture the Little Purple Mink.

"Heh heh, this little thing is pretty nimble. Must be some kind of rare variant. Let’s grab it and see what it is," one of the Martial Emperors said with a laugh as he attacked.

’Damn them.’

Furious, Ye Xuan didn’t waste a second, lunging at the three men.

KRAK!

He drew the Sword of Judgment without hesitation, a single slash cleaving through the hands of a First Layer Martial Emperor as they reached for the Little Purple Mink. Ye Xuan landed between his pet and the attacker.

"Who are you? How dare you interfere with us capturing a Spirit Pet?"

Ye Xuan’s surprise attack startled the trio, who immediately stopped and berated him coldly.