Chapter 302: Secret Art of Laws, Immortality, and Time Reversal (I)

The once lush valley had turned into a wasteland, with ten to twenty-meter craters scattered everywhere, and massive rifts crisscrossing the ground.

A colossal Eight-Tailed Celestial Fox, standing over ten meters tall and extending over fifty meters with its tails, loomed overhead. Transcendent energy converged around it, and its aura enveloped the entire area.

Compared to Lin Xiong’s True Martial Phantom when he had just broken through, Qingqiu Minghui’s True Martial Phantom, at the late stage of the Seventh Heavenly Realm, was even more imposing. Its formidable presence was nearly equivalent to a real level 7 late-stage colossal beast.

Qingqiu Minghui stood quietly before the phantom beast, his body emanating a dazzling white light. The surrounding transcendent energy swirled around him, resonating with the colossal beast. With each breath he took, it seemed as though the very heavens and earth trembled.

The phantom beast's presence also merged seamlessly with his own aura, making every movement appear as if the two late-stage Seventh Heavenly Realm beings were acting in unison.

This demonstrated the mighty power humans could attain at higher cultivation levels, far surpassing that of ordinary level 7 colossal beasts. As a king's descendant, Qingqiu Minghui’s strength was even greater than others of the same level. A normal Seventh Heavenly Realm's True Martial Phantom wouldn’t be this powerful.

Qingqiu Minghui slowly said, “I apologize, Brother Chu. I lost control for a moment.”

During their intense battle, the seals he had casually placed had shattered, and he had inadvertently slashed with the power of a late-stage Seventh Heavenly Realm cultivator.

In the center of a crater dozens of meters in diameter, Chen Chu, standing at two and a half meters tall and surrounded by an explosive aura, held a massive halberd, exuding a domineering presence that suppressed the heavens and earth.

He responded in a deep voice. “No need to apologize, Brother Qingqiu. It’s normal to lose control in the heat of battle.”

Whether it was truly losing control or trying to push him to his limits, only Qingqiu Minghui knew for sure.

As he spoke, the burning vitality around Chen Chu slowly extinguished. His robust frame seemed to deflate slightly, and his armor automatically adjusted with a series of clicks. Meanwhile, his halberd also returned to its normal length of 3.8 meters under the golden light.

Regardless, this encounter with Qingqiu Minghui had allowed him to gain some experience in battling advanced cultivators, especially in their control over transcendent energy.

With every movement, their will stirred the transcendent energy, unleashing attacks up to ten times more powerful than those of the Sixth Heavenly Realm. They also possessed seemingly endless endurance, as each strike consumed very little of their true power; most of the strength came from the amplified transcendent energy.

Moreover, Chen Chu now had a more precise understanding of his own strength. Cultivators at the middle stage of the Seventh Heavenly Realm could be easily fought against, but upon entering the Divine Might Dragon Elephant state and fully unleashing his power, he could contend with those at the late stage.

However, contending with, defeating, and killing an opponent were three different concepts. He still wasn’t strong enough.

Qingqiu Minghui withdrew his True Martial Phantom and his aura. His battle armor retracted, and he reverted to his appearance as an incredibly handsome and refined young man.

Looking at Chen Chu’s domineering aura, Qingqiu Minghui started to praise him. "I didn't expect Brother Chu's strength to exceed my expectations. I lost this battle."

As a king's descendant, Qingqiu Minghui had actually been suppressed by Chen Chu when both had been exerting their full strength at the same level. Thus, in the end, when the seal broke, he couldn't help but unleash an attack of his true realm. Therefore, in summary, he lost.

"However, this reassures me about leaving Miss Yan’s safety in your hands."

As a fellow king's descendant and out of respect for Heavenly King Xuanwu, Qingqiu Minghui felt an innate fondness for Yan Ruoyi and harbored some anger about the situation. Although reason told him that the Federation cooperating with Yan Ruoyi would achieve an ideal outcome for everyone, he was still somewhat enraged.

After all, he was also a king's descendant and could empathize deeply. This was one of the reasons he had wanted to gauge her bodyguard’s strength.

Chen Chu, at the middle stage of the Sixth Heavenly Realm, was neither an Innate Awakener nor a king's descendant, and it seemed he hadn’t even cultivated any secret scriptures. Yet, his combat strength could counter those at the middle stage of the Seventh Heavenly Realm.

Even when transforming into his superpowered state, he could only suppress but not injure Chen Chu with a late-stage strike, even though it was just a casual attack. This level of ability was, in some respects, more terrifying than that of kings' descendants or Innate Awakeners.

And then there was Li Daoyi, Yan Ruoyi’s other bodyguard. There was no need to test him; he was an Innate Awakener, already on par with kings.

Qing Minghui’s anger gradually dissipated. It was astonishing that the Federation had sent out such extraordinary prodigies. In this situation, if either of them were to be lost, it would be akin to losing half a king.

Chen Chu’s magnificent battle armor split apart and was stored in his Sumeru Bracelet. As they spoke, the two walked closer together. Qingqiu Minghui turned his hand and handed a black, iron-like piece to Chen Chu. "Brother Chu, this contains my family's secret art for space-time summoning."

Chen Chu smiled as he accepted the secret disk. He had nearly exhausted all of his trump cards in the fight just for this secret art.

“This is a secret disk tempered with the scales of the Yunhai Colossal Beast. It can carry top-level secret arts. Over the years, I’ve used it to learn, and it still has about three uses left to comprehend it.”

“There are usage limits?” Chen Chu’s eyes narrowed.

Qingqiu Minghui nodded. “Of course. Top-level secret arts, unlike ordinary or high-level ones, involve laws. Regular items cannot bear them. When we study and comprehend them, we consume the soul and will imprinted on them. Therefore, a top-level secret art typically allows for about ten uses before it dissipates.”

Chen Chu slowly said, “...I didn't expect it to be a top-level secret art involving laws. I was too presumptuous.”

Three chances—was that few? Not at all. In fact, Chen Chu felt he had hit the jackpot. Giving away such a secret art, which involved actual laws, just for a single fight? Truly, this was the generosity of a royal family member.

“Brother Chu, don’t worry about it. The pursuit of power and the desire to become stronger is what drives us cultivators to improve. If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to resist either.”

As they spoke, the two of them walked ten meters with each step, quickly leaving the ruined valley.

Watching them ascend the hill, Li Daoyi felt a surge of excitement and said, “Brother Chu, when can we spar as well?”

He wanted to test whether Chen Chu’s domineering power or his thunderbolt power was stronger.

“What’s the point of us fighting? If you’re itching for a fight, you can take on those two king soul avatars when they show up.” There was no benefit in fighting Li Daoyi, and Chen Chu had no interest in wasting his time. He was very busy, extremely busy.

He needed to construct the spatial teleportation runes, develop his own top-level secret scripture, and find time to study the Qingqiu family's summoning secret art. He had a lot on his plate, and each task was crucial for him.

Immediately, Li Daoyi changed his tune. “Come on, brother, when those two guys appear, how about we each take one?”

“Sorry, my task is to detect enemies and protect Miss Yan at close range. Fighting isn’t my responsibility, it’s yours.”

“Brother Chu, don’t you feel guilty saying that? We’re brothers who have faced dangers together!”

“Uh... we’ve never actually handled guns, have we?”