Long Chen beckoned for Sheng Tian to get on their flying boat. They turned into a streak of light into the distance and stopped above the district assigned to them. Long Chen dismissed all but Sheng Tian and told him to follow him.
They entered a lounge area in the flying boat which had a soundproof barrier surrounding it. They sat down at a table and Sheng Tian poured Long Chen a cup of tea before pouring one for himself.
It was silent and Sheng Tian decided to speak first.
"So, why did the sect master call me here? Surely not to drink tea"
Long Chen took a sip of his tea and let out a long, satisfied sigh. He looked at Sheng Tian.
"You know, you remind me of myself when I was younger"
He stayed silent and listened, not asking why he suddenly wanted to tell a story.
"I was talented, my cultivation speed was unrivaled within the same generation, and I was bold, confident, and sure of my ascension"
"But in the end, I was tied down by the duties of my sect, unwilling to let go of my morals to pursue my selfish desires"
He looked at Sheng Tian.
"So many geniuses who are more than capable of ascending are often tied down by their respective powers. I, along with majority of the old generation, were all peerless geniuses in our own right"
He took another sip of his tea and Sheng Tian immediately refilled his cup.
"Sigh, I don't wish for you to turn out the same. Your talent makes everyone else's pale in comparison and it would be such a shame for you to stay"
Sheng Tian now knew why Long Chen called him here. He didn't want Sheng Tian to become stagnant when he could reach heights he could only dream of.
"Don't worry, I don't have any intention of staying in the Mortal Realms"
Long Chen sighed in relief after hearing it personally.
"But I do plan to stay until both the Sacred Blood Sect and the Everlasting Temple are eradicated and the Sky Sword Sect placed as the new hegemon of this Mortal Realm"
Long Chen's eyes widened at his declaration. Then he burst into laughter.
"Such lofty goals! You should know what they are and yet still want to do so?"
He smiled "Of course"
Long Chen took a moment to examine Sheng Tian's cultivation base. He expressed great surprise when he noticed the levels of all three cultivation paths.
"Thirteenth level of body and soul! Even if you don't progress your essence base you can still ascend!"
As long as one reaches the peak of a single path, they can ascend to the next realm to continue their cultivation. Naturally, Sheng Tian wouldn't ascend until he reached the absolute peak in all three paths in order to maximize his strength.
"Don't get too confident however, I noticed that you were quite pale when you exited the secret realm. During what little time we have left, I want you to advance your essence cultivation as much as you can"
And with that, he left Sheng Tian alone. Sheng Tian sat for a while before he exited the room and stood on the deck of the ship.
"Attempting to advance will call upon a tribulation, and each level requires one tribulation. Such commotion naturally will be noticed and won't be secretive"
Wu Di popped out of his sea of consciousness.
"If you can find an area with dense qi, I can erect a formation that will conceal any undulations from you tribulations"
Sheng Tian pulled out a map of the surrounding area and looked for isolated areas free of people. There were two areas that fit what he was looking for.
Because he is currently in the central continent, the qi is more than enough to support him. He took out a message jade and flung it out in the direction Long Chen had gone and went to the control room of the flying boat.
"Are you sure he will allow you to borrow the flying boat?"
"Of course he will. I am trying to increase my cultivation base after all"
He was able to quickly make his way to the first area called the Desolate Battleground. This place was said to be the battleground of some major powers from ancient times and since then has left this area uninhabitable even with the abundant qi in the air. No living beings reside in a hundred mile radius and so this was the perfect spot to undergo a few tribulations.
Wu Di appeared and immediately got to work, taking out an ethereal brush and began writing inscriptions in the air with the aid of the surrounding qi which automatically rearranged themselves in a unique pattern. Hundreds of inscriptions runes floated up into the air to form a boundary that isolated them from the outside world.
"There, now no one will disturb you, or should I say you won't disturb no one?"
"Very funny"
Sheng Tian unleashed the limiter on his essence cultivation base.
Rumble!
The sky churned and the surrounding qi in the area rushed towards Sheng Tian in a frenzied manner. A hundred meter tall vortex appeared behind Sheng Tian who looked into the sky. Dark clouds hung low and encompassed a hundred miles.
Wu Di hurriedly entered his sea of consciousness "It's all on you now. I can't risk the Heaven's locating me right now"
Sheng Tian nodded and focused on the dark clouds. He called out the Primordial Chaos Tyrant Lightning as he wanted to strengthen it to catch up with the Primordial Chaos Dragon Flame.
"Roar!"
The Primordial Chaos Tyrant Lightning took the form of a hundred meter long dragon and directly rose to challenge the dark clouds. The Heaven's paid it no heed and seemed fixated on Sheng Tian, sending down a barrage of lightning that were as thick as his arm!
"Roar!"
As if it felt challenged, the Primordial Chaos Tyrant Lightning dived down and swallowed the lightning before it touched Sheng Tian. Sheng Tian also rose to the skies and began circulating his qi while the Primordial Chaos Tyrant Lightning defended him.
Before long he had already reached the threshold for a breakthrough.
He called the Primordial Chaos Tyrant Lightning to his side.
"Be careful. Things are about to get a bit tougher"