Chapter 1419 - Calm Before the Storm

Seventh-stage half-immortals weren’t just any cultivators.

Forces with seventh-stage half-immortals overseeing them were considered top-tier among the numerous forces in the entire Immortal Conferral Ancient Realm, well above mid-tier forces like the Hua Alliance or even the Apex Mystic Alliance.

In the ancient realm, half-immortals were not rare, but those at the seventh stage? That was a different story. To advance from the sixth stage to the seventh stage, one had to convert sixty to seventy percent of their law power. It sounded simple on paper; in reality, it was brutal.

The realm itself was never meant to exist. Back in the ancient days, there was no such thing as “half-immortal.”

It only appeared after a cataclysmic war shattered the laws of heaven and earth, weakening the Heavenly Dao. With the laws fragmented and the Dao barely holding up, even forming an immortal platform became ten times harder than before.

War after war only made things worse. Laws broke down further, the Dao weakened, and cultivation slowed to a crawl. That also resulted in the present status quo, where becoming an Immortal Emperor was near-impossible; aiming to become a Sage seemed laughable

So, immortals improvised. They began converting true primeval into law power at the peak of the Void Immortal realm, sharpening their grasp of the laws in hopes of boosting their odds when it came time to cast their immortal platform. That “in-between” state became the half-immortal realm.

However, half-immortals still hadn’t formed their immortal platforms, so their flesh, body, soul, and bloodline hadn’t endured the baptism of the immortal tribulation, which meant no true metamorphosis of their life essence. Without that, their physiques simply couldn’t handle full law power. In short, they were stuck in transition—powerful, but never quite complete.

For most cultivators, the sixth-stage half-immortal realm was the ceiling. If they went beyond it, their physiques couldn’t handle the surge of law power, leading to death by explosion.

However, many prodigies, those with stronger physiques and bloodlines, could break through this shackle and surpass the sixth-stage half-immortal realm. That’s why the jump from sixth to seventh stage wasn’t just another step; it was a turning point, a real qualitative leap.

And that was why when the Hua Alliance, Apex Mystic Alliance, and Gai Huang issued a bounty on Chen Fan, the martial artists above the sixth-stage half-immortal realm didn’t make a move. They didn’t lack immortal stones and ordinary treasures. What they needed were treasures that could improve their physique and bloodline, but no such treasures were offered.

Thus, only those below the seventh stage hunted down Chen Fan. They needed the immortal stones to strengthen themselves, as they still hadn’t reached the bottleneck for the half-immortal realm.

Few sixth-stage half-immortals took part in the hunt, as they had reached the bottleneck. To progress further, they needed treasures that could improve their physique or bloodline.

Things were different now, however, with rumors about Chen Fan spreading. Mere treasures that strengthened one’s physique or bloodline couldn’t even come close to an “Immortal Emperor’s legacy.”

If they obtained an Immortal Emperor’s legacy, they would leave the Immortal Conferral Ancient Realm immediately, comprehend it, and advance into the Immortal Platform realm. With that legacy, they could become an Immortal Emperor even with an ordinary-grade immortal platform.

For such figures, staying clear of eighth or ninth-stage half-immortals—the true leaders of top-tier forces—meant near-invincibility.

But now, seventh-stage experts were dropping under Chen Fan’s hands. At first, it was sneak attacks and ambushes; later, even the strong ones fell in straight-up fights. Witnesses said newbies who’d barely stepped into the seventh stage couldn’t last a moment before being crushed. Chen Fan’s ruthlessness was obvious.

This news kept the world speechless for a while. Those eager to band together and hunt him down suddenly lost their voices.

Although an Immortal Emperor’s legacy was precious, it was only useful if you survived to use it. And no one even knew for sure if Chen Fan really had it.

For a while, the entire ancient realm held its breath. Nobody chased him; the air was thick with hesitation.

Chen Fan, however, knew that this was only the calm before the storm.

His sudden surge in strength scared everyone; in their eyes, it confirmed the impossible: he had an Immortal Emperor’s legacy. Otherwise, how could he have improved so fast?

That was proof enough to know that this was the calm before the storm. The real trouble was coming. Sooner or later, the top-tier eighth and ninth-stage half-immortals would act; when they did, the storm would hit hard.

These figures were basically the leaders of the top forces. They’d stumbled onto extraordinary opportunities to break past the half-immortal ceiling and claim the eighth and ninth stages. Even their comprehension of the laws was already sufficient. Most stayed in the ancient realm not because they had to, but because they were hunting divine objects to refine their immortal platforms.

Otherwise, they could cast their immortal platform at any time and leave the Immortal Conferral Ancient Realm.

But now, if they could obtain the made-up Immortal Emperor’s legacy, which Chen Fan supposedly possessed, they would similarly have a very high chance of reaching the Immortal Emperor realm in the future. Far easier than chasing after rare divine objects, it promised a real shot at the Immortal Emperor realm. Rumors claimed he truly possessed it, and greed spread like wildfire.

“How troublesome,” Chen Fan muttered atop a mountain, uneasy despite the silence. The entire realm had turned its gaze on him.

He was well aware of his current situation. He had seemingly deterred the crowd with his ruthless methods, but the fact was that he had only suppressed those with relatively weaker cultivation.

To the top half-immortals, he was nothing short of a walking Immortal Emperor treasure.

“Given my current strength, I can still handle seventh-stage half-immortals, but I’m no match for eighth or ninth-stage half-immortals.

Haaa

.”

Chen Fan had a rough idea of his strength. With his peak late-stage Void Immortal level cultivation, he could bring forth strength that was on par with an eighth-stage half-immortal, but only barely.

The rarer, higher-tier experts were few, but they weren’t imaginary. And sooner or later, they would notice him.