Chapter 107: A Brother's Opportunity, Entering

"You must be from the Black Armor Clan."

"A minor clan that barely ranks in the mid-tier of the Holy Spirit Heavenly Court."

The force of the spiderweb, imbued with the weight of stars, pressed down upon the Black Armor clansman like a thousand mountains. Unable to move, the clansman’s face was filled with terror. Seeing Xu Chen approaching with a saber in hand, he could not help but recoil.

In that moment, the Black Armor clansman saw a flash of blade light, and then the world spun as he lost consciousness.

"So much for a simulated alien."

Xu Chen sheathed his Ink Shadow Saber behind his back.

"He died just like that, despite having the blood-energy of eight dragons?" Li Chengfu walked over, nudging the corpse with his foot, unable to hide his astonishment.

"All blood-energy and no substance."

"A pity there's no reward for the kill."

Xu Chen, however, did not dwell on it. The three of them had spent ten days honing their skills in the primordial battlefield before finally emerging.

"There's a large market in the center of the valley. Let's go take a look; you might find something you need," Zong Changshou suggested.

"I'll pay," Li Chengfu offered with heroic, self-conscious flair.

The three left the Human Dao Realm. Xu Chen had just regained his focus in his room when a knock sounded at the door. Opening it, he was met with an unexpected figure.

"Beici!" Xu Chen was visibly excited to see his good friend.

Li Chengfu and Zong Changshou, on their way out, spotted Jiang Beici.

"You two talk. Chengfu and I won't disturb you," Zong Changshou said tactfully, dragging Li Chengfu away.

Inside the living room of Xu Chen’s quarters, the two friends studied each other with curious eyes.

"Do I need to call you Your Highness now?" Xu Chen laughed.

"If you dare, I’ll haul you off to be my treasure-attendant," Jiang Beici joked back.

"Brother, truthfully, I underestimated you before." Jiang Beici looked Xu Chen up and down; from the aura of his blood-energy alone, he could discern much. "Why didn't you tell me when you reached the Unity of Form and Will stage in your Star Body Refining Technique?"

"While you're still young, I’ll go get you a foundational blood-energy technique. With a deeper foundation, your chances of defying destiny later will be much higher."

Jiang Beici immediately sent a strand of his divine sense through a sect secret treasure into the Human Dao Realm, beginning to select a suitable blood-energy foundation technique for Xu Chen.

"I only just reached that stage, and besides, top-tier foundation techniques aren't easy to come by," Xu Chen declined.

"Enough nonsense. Take it if I give it to you. What type of blood-energy foundation technique do you want?"

"I don't want to take my friend's things; I'd rather repay you a thousand or ten thousand times over in the future," Jiang Beici said while searching through the Human Dao Realm.

"If you're going to find one for me, could you look for one that counters the Saintly Yang Treasure Physique?" Xu Chen scratched his head, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Jiang Beici paused at these words. "I know about the Saintly Yang Treasure Physique, and I know you've already mastered the basics of it. But why would you want a technique to counter it?"

"Just help me see if there’s one that reaches the Unity of Form and Will stage, preferably around the 7-dragon blood-energy level." Xu Chen had originally intended to earn human contribution points to exchange for it himself, but since his good friend insisted on helping, he would make sure to repay him tenfold in the future.

"That's a sudden request. I can't find it right away; let me ask around."

In a restaurant at the Dao Inquiry Valley market, Xu Chen and Jiang Beici drank and talked.

"Do those two friends you're teaming up with have a pact to help you reincarnate if you fall in there?" Jiang Beici asked after draining his glass.

"They promised from the start. For a job this dangerous, you have to have a safety net."

"Are you entering a place similar to the primordial battlefield?"

"No, I'm here for training, and there happened to be a mission, so I took it."

"I regret breaking through the Blood-Energy Realm so early; otherwise, we could have fought side by side," Jiang Beici lamented.

"There will be plenty of opportunities in the future." With his "cheat" in hand, Xu Chen was confident he could catch up to his friend in cultivation.

"True. Your foundation is solid. At the very least, before the Immortal Dao, you should be able to break through with some effort," Jiang Beici nodded. "By the way, I wrote to you a while back. I've taken that family under my protection, and their eldest daughter, Su Yueyao, is already your woman, whether you want her or not."

Upon hearing this, Xu Chen protested. "My father hasn't pressured me to find a dao companion, yet you're already arranging women for me?"

"A man lives between heaven and earth; what kind of thing is it to have a brother pick a woman for you?"

"Whether you want her is your business, but Su Yueyao is yours. When you reach the threshold of the Immortal Dao and can't take that final step, you'll understand how good I've been to you."

"As you'd say, why don't you hurry up and call me 'Godfather'?"

"Godfather your grandmother's leg!" Xu Chen curled his lip. If anyone was going to call the other that, it would be him.

"Just like that 'True Fragrance' story you told me when we were kids."

After the meal, the waiter cleared the dishes, and the two sipped tea.

"Tell me, you started off saying you were mid-tier in the Human Emperor Avenue Palace, then said you had a stroke of luck and reached the upper-mid tier, and now you're 'Your Highness.' Your progress is too explosive. Any experience to share?" Xu Chen asked with a smile.

"The luck part is a long story. As for being called 'Your Highness,' I stumbled upon the inheritance of a Great Luo in the Human Heroic Shrine. That’s how I earned the title. But it's both an honor and a burden." Jiang Beici sipped his spiritual tea. "Xu Chen, you’re my best friend, but the path of the strong is destined to be lonely. Sometimes I wonder, if our aptitudes were similar,修行 together and messing around would be a good choice."

Looking at Jiang Beici’s deep gaze, Xu Chen felt the heavy pressure his friend was under. "What's with all the 'ifs'? If you make it, you cover me. If I make it, I cover you. If neither of us makes it, we just get bullied together. I can feel the pressure on you."

Xu Chen patted Jiang Beici’s shoulder. "You carry it for now, and when I rise, I'll cover you."

"Then I'll wait for that day." Jiang Beici laughed.

After the meal, they chatted a while longer before parting ways.

Four days later, a massive portal appeared in the center of Dao Inquiry Valley. A colorful dragon-horse, ten feet tall and twenty-five feet long, carried a mountain of luggage behind Xu Chen and his companions as they prepared to enter.

All three were nervous; they had prepared for so long, and it was finally time for the real thing.

"Junior Brother, leave a strand of your divine soul on this soul jade," Li Chengfu said, handing a cyan jade to Xu Chen. "Divine soul fragments in the jade dissipate over time; if too much is lost, your memories upon reincarnation won't be clear. That’s why I waited until the last day."

"I understand." Xu Chen took the jade and probed it with his consciousness; he felt a sharp sting as the jade automatically harvested a sliver of his soul. "Done."

Li Chengfu and Zong Changshou also left their own soul fragments on their respective jades. After labeling them, Li Chengfu placed them into a space box. A courier crane landed, and Li Chengfu handed the box over. Xu Chen noticed many others doing the same, the sky filled with cranes waiting to collect packages.

Just as they were about to enter the portal, a streak of light flew toward them. "Wait!"

The light vanished, and light particles converged to form Jiang Beici. "Take this. To get this blood-energy foundation technique, I drained my own savings." He pressed a dark blue jade slip into Xu Chen’s hand. "I have matters to attend to. Goodbye!"

Jiang Beici dissolved into light. Zong Changshou looked at the blue jade slip, wanting to say something but remaining silent.

"Let's go." The three led their dragon-horse through the portal.

Sea breezes blew as waves crashed against the shore. They arrived on an island. Not far out at sea, a massive gate formed of chaotic clouds hovered, suppressed by three terrifying auras.

"Entering the chaotic gate leads to the Primordial Battlefield of All Saints," a voice spoke from the void—an elder whose aura was impossible to perceive. "You will stay for one year. The gate will send you to a random location, and after a year, you must return to this exact spot to exit. If you miss the time, you will be stranded in the battlefield—a certain death."

"The Great Dao inheritance is the most important, followed by supreme treasures. If you find the remains of the ancient powerhouses, find a way to bring them back. As for the rest, I assume you know what to do."

A staircase made of spiritual energy extended from the gate to the island. The Blood-Energy Realm cultivators, having waited long enough, rushed up the stairs toward the chaos. Xu Chen and his companions followed at a steady pace, looking at the massive crowd of over a million people.

"A year is more than enough for what we brought," Li Chengfu said, staring at the gate. He couldn't help but want to shout, "It's time to prove ourselves!"

The three held hands, Li Chengfu grasping the dragon-horse’s mane, and stepped into the chaotic gate.

The world shifted, and space surged like a tide. In a frozen wasteland with ice mountains ten thousand feet high, the three and the horse appeared at the base of one. Ten thousand feet above, an aurora stretched like a ribbon for tens of thousands of miles, bathing the ice in brilliant colors.

They immediately circulated their blood-energy to protect themselves. Xu Chen simultaneously expanded his spiderweb force, covering a radius of several hundred feet. He looked around and nodded to his companions.

"No immediate danger."