Chen Wentian was vaguely aware of the interesting things happening within the Forest of Swords but he was focused on more important matters. The days passed as he cultivated alone within the desolate plains of the Northern Wasteland. He had hidden underground with the help of Little Carrot who was guarding the surrounding area.
This was the perfect place to attempt a breakthrough. There were few living things from many kilometers. If he did manage to reach the Spirit King Realm, the spiritual energies discharged at that moment wouldn't draw any immediate attention.
His cultivation partner, the water demon named Qin Shui'er, was somewhere on the other side of the subcontinent. She had no idea that he was relying on her. It was a strange situation, two people striving for the same goal, using different methods but bound by strange fate.
Qin Shui'er did not rush things. She would eat a victim once or twice a day depending on their stage of spiritual strengthening. Right after, she would take as much as she needed to stabilize her spiritual sea. Each cultivation session lasted many hours but this suited him just fine as he also needed to do the same.
His soul realm was growing and so was his spiritual sea. With the Anatta Soul Nirvana Art, these two were equivalent and the same. With each immortal soul he refined, his soul realm would greatly expand. Although he couldn't figure out the exact limit of his soul realm, he felt that it had already expanded by seven or eight times in size compared to when he had first become a Spirt Lord. He was certain that he was approaching an invisible boundary even though the progress he gained from each soul remained roughly undiminished.
He was confident that he would be able to break through but he couldn't say the same for the sexy little demoness. Cultivation within the immortal domain was more straightforward compared to the challenge of breaking one's mortal shackles but it wasn't without its own challenges. For humans, the limit of one's path of cultivation depended greatly on their cultivation art. Spirit beasts and demons were similar. One's bloodline and innate talent could not overcome a bad cultivation art and this was a universal rule.
Observing through Chen Mo, Chen Wentian had a vague sense that Qin Shui'er's progress wasn't as smooth as his. Compared to him, she had much longer periods of contemplation and even longer periods of difficult cultivation. Her dedication and concentration were commendable. She worked tirelessly without a single moment of rest. Her spiritual aura was rapidly improving but it also carried a tinge of fragility.
He suspected that she might be missing something in her cultivation art. He remembered that he had the same feeling before when they had fought. Shuimu were powerful and reaching the Spirit King Realm wasn't a surprise. He wondered if she would be able to pull it off, not that he really cared.
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Aside from these two freaks trying to break through, the Immortal Association also remained busy. Everblade City remained as the headquarters of the incident but many immortals had left the city and gone westward.
The reason was that they had received some critical intel from Immortal Scarlet Sea Hai Dan, king of the western regions. Her Seven Seas Sacred Palace had detected anomalies off the coast. There was something strange going on within the Gulf of Giant Tortoises.
All of the Spirit Kinds were convinced that something fishy was going on. There was a high chance that the shuimu and its ancient shade friend were hiding in the ocean. It beat trying to hide in a lake or a river and eventually getting cornered. Within an ocean of untold depths and vastness beyond measure, it would be easy to escape even if they were discovered.
However, finding the demons was still a difficult matter. Exploring the ocean wasn't easy, even for immortals, even Spirit Kings.
Water and earth were the two most common natural environments beyond the ordinary world that existed on the surface. Humans were only adapted to live on the surface. Cultivators that could dig through the earth were uncommon. Those that had that power did not use it carelessly. The underground world was one that was filled with dangers and few dared to delve too deeply.
The underwater world was slightly more accessible due to such things as water-breathing pills and swimming equipment. Even still, one who did not cultivate water-based secret arts would feel suppression from the environment. Their spiritual sense would be dampened. Their combat ability would be diminished and decrease even more the deeper they went.
Some cultivation arts couldn't even function at all, with flame arts being the most glaring example. Another one was the First Light of Zhulong which behaved poorly in water, resulting in the immortals from the Eastern Light Clan being left behind and replaced with more suitable people.
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While all of this was going on, another storm was brewing inside the Forest of Swords.
It was now the second week. Chen Wentian's disciples had made varying progress. Wu Qianyu was still alone but she had gathered five sword truths. She was still in good spirits. She had no intention of grouping with the others even as she strayed deeper into the forest.
As for the rest, they were still struggling. Aside from Lin Qingcheng and Su Yue, Xu Lanyi and Su Xue had managed to find each other but that was it. Zhou Ziyun, Li Yuechan, and Song Wushuang were still alone. Among them, Li Yuechan was of the most concern since she did not a proper Spirit Lord item.
Facing them were the competitors from other sects. By now, many had formed into large groups. Some of them already numbered over ten.
They either roamed around like wolf packs or claimed territory for themselves like tigers. They bullied others and kicked out smaller groups. Their intention was to take over all the sword truths they could get a hold of. They would deal with distributing them to their members at the end. The two largest factions among these were the Tower of Swords and the alliance of the four great sword sects. There was almost no one that could stand up to them because of their overwhelming strength. But instead of going after sword truths, they had set their sights on the disciples of Ten Thousand Flower Valley.
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