Chapter 28: Inspiration

At this moment, Niu Dali was visibly dispirited, his upper body almost entirely wrapped in bandages. Witnessing this, Xu Chen immediately halted his cultivation.

“Brother Niu, are the foreign races in the Trial Realm that formidable?” Xu Chen’s gaze lingered on the blood seeping through the bandages bound around Niu Dali’s chest.

“They’re extremely formidable.”

Niu Dali moved slowly to the riverside, found a massive stone, and sat down with an expression of narrow escape lingering on his face.

“One of my teammates died. If not for the timely intervention of our sect’s prodigy, my injuries would have been even graver.”

“There were four of us in the team, all Nius, and over a dozen foreign races ambushed us. We didn’t even have time to crush our realm talismans.”

“When one of our companions died and the rest of us were injured, trapped in a desperate fight, our little ancestor appeared.”

A look of reminiscence crossed Niu Dali’s face.

“Little ancestor? Who is that?” Xu Chen asked curiously.

“That’s the disciple of our Supreme Elder. In the Trial Realm, he saved many of our fellow disciples, and everyone calls him the little ancestor.”

“So it was him,” Xu Chen recalled.

“The little ancestor’s strength is truly terrifying. With just one palm from a distance, he shook the ambushing foreign races to death.”

“Otherwise, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have made it back in one piece,” Niu Dali exhaled deeply.

“It’s best to focus on cultivating here in the sect.”

“That little ancestor is in the Blood and Qi Realm, yet with a palm from afar, he killed all the foreign races!” Xu Chen was somewhat stunned; at the same level, he could scarcely imagine such a scene.

“If I hadn’t witnessed it myself, I wouldn’t have believed it either.”

“The difference between a Niu and a person is truly vast.”

“Brother Niu, rest and recover here. We’ll continue our cultivation together when you’re well.”

“All right!”

The next morning, Xu Chen was practicing the Twelve-fold Wave Tempering Body Method on the grassy field.

Niu Dali sat by the river, watching Xu Chen train.

“My month in the Trial Realm was quite fruitful; after converting everything, I earned over ten thousand spirit coins,” Niu Dali said as he continued to heal, recounting his experiences in the Trial Realm.

“With such bountiful gains, will you continue once you’ve healed, Brother Niu?” Xu Chen asked, finishing a round of the Tempering Body Method.

“No,” Niu Dali replied, “my strength isn’t enough—luck won’t always be on my side.”

“In the Trial Realm, the stronger foreign races possess the strength of at least ten tigers. Facing them in groups is simply overwhelming.”

“I see.”

With that, Xu Chen’s desire to venture into the Trial Realm was completely extinguished.

On the front lines of the Vanguard Army, within the capital of the Bloodfury Clan.

Xu Qiangjia, with a Dragon Pattern Great Dao at his waist, was leading a squad of vanguard soldiers, escorting a hundred thousand Blood and Qi Realm Bloodfury Clan members into the Celestial Prison, before sending them back to the human race.

Ever since Xu Qiangjia had seen the contents of the Phantom Pearl his son had sent, there hadn’t been a day he wasn’t in high spirits.

“My son’s talent for cultivation may be lacking, but his gift for battle is second to none.”

“With force that shakes the heavens, even in the Blood and Qi Realm, the subtlety of his energy manipulation surpasses anything I could do at the same stage.”

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Xu Qiangjia couldn’t help but recall his son’s words about becoming a late bloomer.

“Damn it, with a son this outstanding, I can’t afford to lag behind.”

“What’s an immortal-grade pill to enhance aptitude? Work a few hundred years on the battlefield and I’ll earn enough military merit to exchange for it.”

A passionate fire blazed in Xu Qiangjia’s eyes as he swept his gaze over the batches of foreign races entering the Celestial Prison.

“Boss, what’s gotten into you? Why the sudden enthusiasm?” a vanguard soldier behind him sensed Xu Qiangjia’s fervor.

“Haha, it’s nothing. My son’s too outstanding—it’s got me all stirred up,” Xu Qiangjia replied cheerfully.

Just then, space suddenly split open not far from the line. From the fissure, a giant hand stretched out, grabbing toward the cluster of foreign races.

“Return my child!”

A voice filled with resentment echoed from the rift.

In an instant, silence blanketed heaven and earth.

A violent force tore open the fissure, dragging out a powerful foreign race expert hidden within.

“I’ve been watching you for a while—thought you’d never come out.”

“Come on, my retinue still lacks a foreign race guard skilled in the Way of Spatial Transcendence.”

A clear, cold voice rang out. Celestial script appeared in the sky, layering one upon another, binding the foreign expert.

At last, the foreign race vanished, and peace returned to the world.

The vanguard soldiers continued their work as before. They had seen such incidents far too many times.

In a training ground deep within a forest of the Great Creek Sect.

Xu Chen struck Niu Dali’s arm with a palm.

In that instant, Niu Dali felt a force like fine needles burrow into his muscles, and his entire arm went numb.

Next, Xu Chen delivered a full-powered palm to Niu Dali’s leg, sending him sprawling to the ground.

“Brother Xu, your strange force grows more formidable each day,” Niu Dali propped himself up, barely managing to stand.

“It’s just sparring. In a life and death struggle, with that palm, you’d have ample time to strike me fatally,” Xu Chen replied.

“Brother Xu, your strength has clearly increased. Judging by what I felt, you now possess the power of three tigers and three Nius,” Niu Dali estimated.

“It’s all thanks to resources,”

Xu Chen forced a wry smile. The three kinds of cultivation pills his father had sent from the front lines had all been consumed, resulting in only a four-Niu increase in power.

For someone with ordinary spiritual aptitude, that would have meant at least an increase of over one tiger’s strength.

“If your talent were a bit better, Brother Xu, combined with your battle acumen, you’d be considered a prodigy in our Great Creek Sect,” Niu Dali said with some regret.

“A prodigy? I’m still far from that.”

“Come, let’s continue our sparring.”

Night fell, and within the Sacred White Space.

This time, Xu Chen did not rush to open the doors for a challenge, but instead sat cross-legged, quietly regarding the two wooden doors.

“Three tigers and three Nius of strength. According to the standard that clone mentioned, I’m still short by four tigers and seven Nius.”

“Given the resources Father provided, if there are no further opportunities or resources, I’ll need at least nine more years of cultivation to surpass the Sacred Ape Six Forms clone.”

Xu Chen stroked his chin as he studied the two wooden doors, and a sudden idea flashed through his mind.

“Only my conscious avatar can enter this space, but if I could bring other things in…”

Xu Chen had tried before, but never conducted the most meticulous of experiments.

Returning to his physical body, he took a Blood Bone Pill from his storage pouch and gripped it tightly, then sent his consciousness into the Sacred White Space.

His avatar stared intently at his clenched fist before slowly opening it.

“Nothing.”

“Let’s try with something else.”

In the end, Xu Chen tested every item around him, but none could be brought into the Sacred White Space.

“Nothing from the real world can be brought in.”

Xu Chen’s gaze turned once more to the two wooden doors. A spark of inspiration seemed to flicker in his mind, as if he were on the verge of grasping something.

“No, there must be another way.”

That night, Xu Chen sat cross-legged in the Sacred White Space until dawn, sometimes grinning foolishly, sometimes wearing a look of anticipation.