Chapter 117: Speaking from the Heart

"Stage 3 passed. Reward: A foundation-building technique of the Profound Immortal Clan."

A force of space enveloped Xu Chen. When he regained his senses, he found himself sitting in a classroom.

"I..."

The classroom now held fifty people, many of whom he had seen outside the palace gates. The old man appeared once again at the front of the room.

"Today, I will teach you the utility of the Five Elements, which is the most critical foundation for the Great Dao."

"Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth are..."

*We are only at the Blood Qi stage, and he is teaching us this already? Teacher, you are way ahead of the curriculum!*

For the next two hours, it was like listening to a celestial script. When the exam came, Xu Chen could not answer a single question. He looked at the others; some wore expressions of distress, while others scribbled furiously.

When the exam ended, Xu Chen appeared back outside the Inheritance Palace.

"It seems I don't have the aptitude for this," Xu Chen muttered, scratching his head.

Outside the palace, the area was crowded with those who had been eliminated and various alien races from the Holy Spirit Heavenly Court. The two sides stood in clear opposition, glaring at each other with hostility. Xu Chen searched the human camp but could not find his two reliable support partners.

"I wonder how those two senior brothers are doing inside. Which stage have they reached?"

Inside the Inheritance Palace, both were indeed locked in a battle of wits and strength at the third stage.

Waiting outside with nothing to do, Xu Chen took out the foundation technique rewarded by the palace. "Let me see what is so special about this."

As soon as the unique jade slip touched his brow, an unfathomably profound scripture appeared in his mind. Xu Chen could barely recognize the meaning of a few of the characters.

"How am I supposed to learn this?" Xu Chen helplessly put the Profound Immortal Clan's foundation technique away.

This scene was observed by a sharp-looking man in the distance, who approached Xu Chen with a face full of smiles.

"Fellow Daoist, I will buy that jade slip you just held for 50 million spirit coins." The man exuded the polished air of a veteran merchant.

"You're overthinking it," Xu Chen chuckled. Though he was short on spirit coins, he was not a fool.

"Fellow Daoist, I know you intend to trade this for human contribution points, but a blood-qi foundation technique from another race can at most be exchanged for items in the Yellow-grade treasury. You can buy those items with spirit coins anyway. 50 million spirit coins is definitely a bargain for a blood-qi foundation technique."

The man's words were infectious, and his expression appeared sincere. Xu Chen believed the man was telling the truth.

"I appreciate you saying so much, but I'm not selling," Xu Chen replied politely.

Hearing this, the man let out a sigh of resignation. "You are very direct, Fellow Daoist. You saved me a lot of wasted time."

"What kind of courage led you to come here to do this sort of business?" Xu Chen asked, looking at the man with curiosity.

"Business is one aspect, but mostly I wanted to come and make connections with the prodigies from the various major continents of the human race for future deals. Human Emperor Continent, Merchant Path, Qian Tuntian," the man said, bowing slightly.

"So it is the 'Imperial Lord' himself; no wonder your name is so arrogant. Thunder Continent, Daxi Sect, Xu Chen," Xu Chen replied with a smile and a bow.

"Since we have exchanged names, we are fated. Are you really not going to sell me that jade slip?" Qian Tuntian asked again.

"Not selling. Why are you so persistent, Fellow Daoist Qian?"

"I have been here for over a month and haven't closed a single deal. I am quite distressed."

Just as they were speaking, a group of humans was teleported out of the palace.

"Fellow Daoist Qian, go quickly," Xu Chen said, pointing at the newcomers.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, may we meet again by fate." Qian Tuntian hurried off toward his new targets.

Suddenly, the Desolate Ancient Battlefield began to heat up.

The overcast clouds in the sky turned crimson, and the entire sky grew brighter. Before long, as if a critical point had been reached, fireballs began to rain down from the sky. Wherever a fireball landed, it scorched the earth. Soon, apart from the Inheritance Palace and the surrounding protected zone, everything else turned into a sea of fire.

Just as Xu Chen was feeling fortunate, the protective barrier around the palace vanished, and the fireballs from the sky began crashing toward the crowd.

"Damn it!"

Xu Chen quickly ramped his protective force to the maximum, shattering the fireballs that plummeted toward him. The fireballs were like ordinary flames, but the energy within them allowed them to burn indefinitely.

"This environment is truly harsh."

Xu Chen looked at the Inheritance Palace; it was safe inside, but those who had been teleported out could not re-enter.

Just as the fireballs continued their barrage, another group of humans and alien races from the Holy Spirit Heavenly Court were teleported out, among them Li Chengfu and Zong Changshou.

The two were bewildered as they emerged to see the scene outside. Xu Chen immediately went over, shielded them with his force, and pulled them away from the crowd.

"What's going on?" Li Chengfu asked, dazed.

"Fireballs are falling from the sky. Is the Illusionary Dragon Horse alright?" Xu Chen asked first.

"It's fine. It knows how to hide in situations like this, and the baggage on its sides is made of fireproof material."

"Then let's go find the Dragon Horse."

Just as the three decided to return, the sky's fire-red clouds began to fade, eventually turning blue. The rain of fire stopped, but before long, an ice rain began to fall. Heat and cold took turns assaulting the land.

Braving the ice rain, the three found the Illusionary Dragon Horse in a hollow under a withered tree. Zong Changshou looked up at the ice rain and calculated the time. "The weather is about to change again."

As he spoke, the ice rain ceased, and gale-force winds began to howl across the land. Braving the winds, Zong Changshou took out a map to examine it.

"I know of a cave nearby."

"Then let's go."

The three and the horse moved through the gale, their force fields perfectly blocking the wind—a skill they had already mastered.

Upon entering a cave in a small mountain, they found four aliens hiding from the natural disaster. Xu Chen's web-like force instantly shattered the hearts of the four aliens, and Li Chengfu tossed their bodies out.

A fire had already been lit inside the cave. Xu Chen observed the surroundings, then used his force to pull down a large boulder to seal the cave entrance. He created a concealed ventilation shaft elsewhere, turning the cave into a self-contained sanctuary.

Li Chengfu took out a glowing pearl, and the cave became as bright as day.

"What stage did you reach?" Xu Chen asked curiously.

"I reached the fifth stage. I had to face a fierce beast far stronger than me, so I had no choice but to give up," Zong Changshou sighed.

"I also reached the fifth stage. I had to face a projection of myself with two 'dragon powers' more than me. How could I win?" Li Chengfu added, feeling helpless.

"And what score did you get for the fourth stage?" Xu Chen couldn't help but ask.

"Grade B," said Zong Changshou.

"Grade C," said Li Chengfu.

"You two are truly learned," Xu Chen remarked with a sigh.

"When I was young, my teachers in the family taught me some scriptures regarding the theory of the Five Elements."

"Same here. I couldn't understand the lectures, so I just copied them down to get through."

Listening to their answers, Xu Chen once again felt the benefits of being born into a great clan. Looking through the hidden vent, he saw the gales outside growing stronger.

"It looks like we'll have to hide for a while," Zong Changshou judged.

"After the fireballs ended, I kept track of the time. The ice rain lasted for one hour. The gales will likely last an hour as well, and there are probably more disasters to come." Zong Changshou took out a small notebook to record the information about these natural disasters.

"I'll take this time to practice."

Xu Chen struck the cave wall with his palm, using his force to carve out a separate meditation room.

"Go ahead, Junior Brother. We will stand guard for you," Li Chengfu said.

"Thank you." Xu Chen nodded slightly and walked into the newly created room.

*I wonder if I can split a bit of my consciousness and leave it in my physical body, so if there's an emergency outside, my consciousness can return in time.*

Xu Chen tried to split his intent, attempting to channel a portion into the Saint White Space, but he failed several times.

"Forget it. I'll just enter the Saint White Space and see if I've mastered 'Nine Serenities Pale Moon'."

He focused, and his consciousness entered the Saint White Space. There, floating above a dilapidated golden gate, were the four radiant words: *Nine Serenities Pale Moon*.

"Mastered. Not bad." Xu Chen was delighted.

Just as he was about to push the gate open to challenge it, his brow twitched, and an inexplicable sense of danger struck him. His consciousness immediately returned to his body, and he released his web-like force.

He discovered that outside the cave, the air was biting cold, and heavy snow was falling; the world had turned into a vast expanse of white. A hundred paces away from the cave, a squad of aliens was examining the corpses Li Chengfu had thrown out.

"What a nuisance."

Xu Chen rose, drew his Ink Shadow blade from his back, moved the boulder, left the cave, and charged at the alien squad. Before long, another pile of alien corpses lay on the snow. Their blood formed a crimson painting against the white landscape.

Seeing the conspicuous red on the snow, Xu Chen struck the ground with his palm, blasting a deep pit. He buried the aliens inside and tidied up the battlefield.

"Junior Brother, just focus on the fighting. Leave the menial work to me." Li Chengfu had just reacted, but Xu Chen had already finished dealing with the aliens outside.

"It's nothing."

After finishing, Xu Chen returned to his small meditation room and re-entered the Saint White Space.

Looking at the somewhat dilapidated golden gate, Xu Chen thought that once he conquered the *Nine Serenities Pale Moon* avatar, he could digest the insights and immediately go to challenge the avatar of the *Saintly Sun Precious Form*. If he could pass that, he would at least attain the strength of nine dragons. Then, after practicing an even higher-level blood-qi foundation technique, he would be capable of conquering even more.

At the thought of this, Xu Chen felt a surge of burning ambition.

He pushed open the golden gate. Before him lay a vast nether sea, and upon the sea, a pale moon hung. His avatar stood on a small island in the middle of the nether sea.

As soon as Xu Chen entered, the avatar, which had been standing with its back to him, turned around and revealed a brilliantly sunny smile. This smile seemed entirely out of place in such an environment.

"You've come. I've been waiting for you for a long time."

"Before we fight, would you like to sit and chat?" the avatar invited warmly.

Xu Chen took a step into the air, crossing the hundred paces of the nether sea to reach the island.

"Sure."

"This scenery has a certain artistic quality; it wouldn't hurt to look at it a while longer," Xu Chen nodded.

At the avatar's invitation, Xu Chen walked to the edge of the island to gaze at the pale moon over the sea. The boundless nether sea made him feel somewhat intoxicated.

Just then, the avatar drove a hand directly into Xu Chen’s back, grabbed his heart, and tore it out.