Chapter 349 - Return to the Sixth River Stage

Long Chen was in possession of many things that were useless to him but were treasures to Wang Xing.

Wang Xing left happily after Long Chen made his promise. Wang Xing’s incident had not caused much delay, and Long Chen returned to the peak of the mountain once more.

If the three Heaven-tier Secret Scriptures are being guarded by Master, then he will give them to me once my cultivation has reached a certain level. However, the Three Demon Elders also hold great power, so I will still have to work hard for the scriptures. At the very least, I need to fight for the Demon Emperor Sword Technique on my own.

Long Chen sat at the peak of the mountain to cultivate while thinking over these matters.

As for Traceless Demon Shadow and the Demon Seed Planting Technique, I’ll mention them to Master when I have attained the Sixth River Stage. With the abilities brought to me by the dragon jade pendant, I might be able to cultivate them even though they’re Heaven-tier techniques. If I master those Heaven-tier techniques, then my combat abilities will get a huge boost.

Traceless Demon Shadow is definitely a formidable body combat technique, but Demon Seed Planting sounds even more peculiar. I can boost my Qi by two or even fourfold! Doesn’t that mean that after my Dragon Soul Transformation, I can boost my Qi up to gain an advantage over opponents on my level, or even opponents above my level?

If that was the case, then Long Chen truly had to get his hands on the Demon Seed Planting Technique. If he received a Heaven-tier body combat technique, divine technique, and attack combat technique, then he would not need anything else.

His heart burned with passion as he thought about this. Now he had a goal to work towards.

However, he had learned the concept of tranquility from Zhao Qingyun. No matter how brightly the fire in his heart burned, he slowly immersed his mind into cultivation. He connected to the power of the stars and strengthened the Heavenly Rivers within his body while increasing his Qi.

The days passed, and Long Chen experienced quick growth. He was fast approaching the Sixth River Stage. Since he had reached that level before, breaking through was much easier than the first time. Finally, after five days, he successfully condensed the sixth pair of Yin and Yang Heavenly Rivers and attained the Sixth River Stage once more!

The last time he was at the Sixth River Stage, Long Chen had used Blood Sacrifice to boost his strength to the Eighth River Stage, leading to a regression of two stages back to the Fourth River Stage. This time, he had reached it after using Blood Transmutation once and focused cultivation. This was the highest level he had ever achieved. Also, since he had achieved this breakthrough through honest cultivation, he was more stable and more powerful.

He stood up at the peak of Demon Emperor Mountain and suddenly felt light. The improvement in his cultivation made his senses much sharper.

Ling Xi flew out of his ear and fluttered in front of him. “Brother Chen, have you achieved a breakthrough again?”

“I’m at the Sixth River Stage now,” Long Chen said with a nod. “Although I didn’t use Blood Transmutation, my progress hasn’t been too slow. My foundation is much more stable with this method of cultivation!”

“That’s awesome!” Ling Xi praised with a wide smile.

She was happy that he was making progress towards his goals.

Perhaps one day he’ll actually be able to storm the Biyang Imperial Capital, and he’ll get the Nine Heavens Immortal Fruit. But if that happens, what will I do?

There was a small dilemma in her heart.

Long Chen did not know of this dilemma.

He did not stop cultivating even after attaining the Sixth River Stage, as he needed time to solidify his cultivation. After cultivating from morning to noon, he decided to return to the Heavenly Demon Palace. He had not returned for a while because he had been working towards his breakthrough, so it was time. It was also a chance for him to tell Zhao Qingyun and Dongfang Xuanxiao about the great news.

During this time, Zhao Qingyun had taken great care of Long Chen and basically gave him everything he wanted. That was why Long Chen genuinely recognized him as his master. In fact, Zhao Qingyun was likely Long Chen’s first master on his cultivation journey. So far, he had learned what freedom and tranquility truly meant from Zhao Qingyun, and their relationship had brought him many benefits.

Long Chen first returned to Dongfang Xuanxiao’s home. Dongfang Xuanxiao and Zhao Xuanming lived very peaceful lives, which was also what Long Chen longed for with his beloved. However, he was currently working hard towards his goals. Once he found a Nine Heavens Immortal Fruit, he would have the right to live like Dongfang Xuanxiao.

Dongfang Xuanxiao had expected Long Chen to attain the Sixth River Stage soon. He knew how extraordinary his stepson was, climbing his way up the ranks and even surpassing himself.

Long Chen then entered Zhao Qingyun’s pavilion and found Zhao Qingyun, who was cultivating.

“Master, I have reached the Sixth River Stage,” said Long Chen directly after he arrived in front of him.

“Not bad. That’s ten days faster than I expected. But it’s already been one month and five days. There’s less than two months left. Are you still confident you can reach the Eighth River Stage?”

“Of course I am. But Master, I would like to request a combat technique today.”

Long Chen and Zhao Qingyun had always been straightforward, never beating around the bush. In the beginning, Zhao Qingyun was speechless at his manner of speaking, but he slowly got used to it. None of his other disciples had made as many direct requests. And this was not even Long Chen’s first time.

Naturally, Long Chen was only this bold because he was much better than Zhao Qingyun’s other disciples. Zhao Qingyun’s strongest disciple was at the Sixth River Stage, and he was no match for Long Chen now.

“What do you want? Zhao Qingyun asked solemnly. Looking at how excited Long Chen seemed, it wouldn’t be a small request.

“Traceless Demon Shadow, or the Demon Seed Planting Technique. Hehe ...” Long Chen knew that these two items were very precious, so he was a little embarrassed to ask for them. So far, he had not even helped Zhao Qingyun in any way, plus barely anyone in the Heavenly Demon Palace even believed he was the infamous Long Chen. In fact, due to Long Chen, Zhao Qingyun’s trustworthiness had decreased greatly among the disciples.

Zhao Qingyun was speechless. He knew Long Chen had a big appetite, but he didn’t know it was this big. He was merely at the Sixth River Stage, and yet he still dared to demand a Heaven-tier combat technique?

It was understood that every three stages represented a huge leap. The Heavenly River Realm’s first three stages were the initial tier, while the next three stages were the intermediate tier. Long Chen was only at the intermediate Heavenly River Realm, yet he wanted to cross two large canyons to learn a Heaven-tier combat technique?[1]

“You can ask again when you have attained the Seventh River Stage. You’ll have a higher chance of cultivating it then. If you do it now, you’ll likely fail to cultivate it,” said Zhao Qingyun with furrowed brows. It was not because he did not want to give it to Long Chen, but rather he felt that Long Chen would be unable to master it. He felt that there was no need to rush, and that it would end up distracting him from his current cultivation.

“Master, I have extraordinary talent in combat techniques. I was already able to cultivate advanced Earth-tier combat techniques when I was at the Divine Core Realm. That is why I guarantee that I can cultivate it as well as a Seventh River Stage cultivator,” Long Chen said confidently, patting his chest.

“Are you sure? You cultivated advanced Earth-tier techniques when you were at the Divine Core Realm?” Zhao Qingyun asked in shock.

“A hundred percent.” Long Chen was referring to Divine Fire Clone, though he had magnified his accomplishments a little bit, as he had only mastered Divine Fire Clone after he attained the Heavenly River Realm. He was only dramatizing it to receive the Heaven-tier combat technique as soon as possible.

“Alright. I will let you try. If you can’t complete it, you must stop at once to prevent delaying advancing your cultivation level. You must understand that cultivation level is the most important thing,” said Zhao Qingyun with a nod.

“What are you planning to give me, Master?” Long Chen did not expect to get Zhao Qingyun’s agreement so easily and was excited. Zhao Qingyun was definitely a good master. Long Chen had made the right decision to stay at Demon Emperor Mountain instead of going to the Western Sea Kingdom after all.

He had always been a grateful person. Since Zhao Qingyun had given him such great benefits, he would repay Heavenly Demon Palace greatly when he became powerful.

“The Demon Seed Planting Technique is the reward for the disciple who ranks first at the Pyro Passageways training exercise. I don’t have the right to give it to you privately. After all, these techniques were passed down by the ancestors, and they set the rules. However, I do have the right to let you try out Traceless Demon Shadow. Among the younger disciples, only two have received it. They are both Eighth River Stage cultivators and very talented. I assume they have mastered it by now.”

“Thank you, Master.”

Traceless Demon Shadow would be more useful to Long Chen now than the Demon Seed Planting Technique. Now that he had received Zhao Qingyun’s permission, he was filled with gratitude. In the past, he had to rely on his own efforts to get anything. Now he received items so easily. He was not used to this at all, but it felt good.

“The secret scripture for Traceless Demon Shadow is stored in the Heavenly Demon Palace’s Martial Library. It’s heavily guarded. I’ll take you there now.”

Since he had agreed to Long Chen’s request, he did not waste any time and immediately led Long Chen to the Martial Library.

Both the Heavenly Demon Lord and Long Chen were considered mysterious people in the Heavenly Demon Palace who did not appear in public very frequently. Now that they both appeared in the public eye once again, it quickly attracted a lot of attention. Many people had not even seen this nepotism baby’s face before.

In a dark spot not far away, several teenagers watched intently and cursed, “That damn nepotism bastard! No wonder he was bold enough to scare us with that wolf!” They were the teenagers who had bullied Wang Xing.

1. Translator’s interpretation: The author describes a gap (a ‘canyon’) every 3 tiers, take this as an example:

1st 2nd 3rd River Stage (Initial) | 4th 5th 6th River Stage (Intermediate) | 7th 8th 9th River Stage (Advanced). Since Heaven-tier is for cultivators beyond the Heavenly River Realm, Long Chen, now at the 6th stage, is crossing two canyons ☜