Unrivaled Martial Emperor

Chapter 587 – Qingxu

The ten days brought about significant changes in the situation on Hidden Dragon Island. Many geniuses fell, while new ones rose to prominence.

Take Xiao Zhen, for example. Shortly after Ye Cangxuan and Yin Jiu died, he stumbled upon the cultivation ground of a Hidden Dragon Island senior and inherited their legacy. His cultivation improved by leaps and bounds, reaching the seven-revolution Golden Core realm.

He was not alone in benefiting from the island’s opportunities. Many others also made significant progress, but the island still only had a handful of seven-revolution Golden Core realm experts.

Xiao Zhen’s rapid rise, from five-revolution to the seven-revolution, made him a notable figure.

Although Xiao Zhen’s meteoric rise to fame was striking, nearly everyone on the island experienced breakthroughs.

Some made remarkable advances, leaping from the seventh-level Core Formation realm to the two- or three-revolution Golden Core realm.

Such progress would be unthinkable in the outside world without years, if not decades, of effort.

On Hidden Dragon Island, however, such breakthroughs were achievable.

Although the island was not as big as the Hong Domain, cultivation resources were abundant here. Not many lands of treasures like this could be found in the Hong Domain.

After three thousand years, natural treasures of heaven and earth could be seen everywhere. Just those were enough for these heavenly geniuses to cultivate to a very high level without having to worry about cultivation resources.

Finally, the crowd felt like their trip to the Hidden Dragon Island hadn’t been in vain.

Cultivating here for a hundred days was as good as cultivating for several years outside. However, the risk factor was equally high.

To date, countless geniuses had been eliminated. Out of the original group of over a thousand, only a few hundred remained.

Elimination here meant death—there were no other means.

However, no one felt that there was any problem with this.

The world was simply this cruel. The weak fall prey to the strong.

The survivors, now mostly Nine Revolutions of the Golden Core realm experts, benefited from the island’s exceptional cultivation efficiency, but the mortality rate was steep. Reports of people going mad were common.

Aside from the fighting between people, conflicts with the island’s demonic beasts were escalating.

The island was a treasure trove, and the demonic beasts, with their strong territorial instincts, fiercely guarded their domain.

As human martial artists tried to claim these treasures, how could the demonic beasts be willing to let it happen? Would they agree to it?

Suffice to say, conflict was inevitable.

The beasts, developed over three thousand years of growth and reproduction, were formidable. In some of the island’s deeper regions, their roars alone could instill fear in even five or six-revolution Golden Core realm experts.

As the crowd slowly headed deeper into the Hidden Dragon Island to explore, clashing with these powerful demonic beast communities became inevitable. Numerous tragic battles erupted, and both human and demonic beasts suffered heavy losses.

Still, many people were happy about it.

After all, the death of others meant more benefits for them. Many people gained extremely huge benefits that propelled them to the top ranks of experts.

This boost in power led many to believe they were invincible, convinced that only others would fall, not them.

This self-deception fueled their relentless pursuit of exploration, despite the high mortality rate.

During this process, many people obtained huge benefits, which further encouraged others to head toward the center of the island. The news of Li Yao’s incredible advancement to the Divine Nascent realm spread like wildfire, igniting a fervor across the island.

Ten days ago, Li Yao had been a peak eight-revolution Golden Core realm expert. Now, he went ahead of everyone else, reaching a level countless people could only dream of.

This accomplishment sparked intense envy among top figures like Xuanyuan Po, Gongsun Zhong, and Wuyazi, who were eager not to fall behind Li Yao.

As a result, human forces streamed towards the island’s depths in waves, hoping to get lucky like Li Yao. They all wanted their own heavenly opportunities and achieve a similar breakthrough.

Chen Fan, Xiao Zhen, and some others who had chosen not to align with the major forces had chosen an oasis as their resting spot.

Having just returned from a successful sweep of a demonic beast territory, where he had refined about a dozen drops of true dragon blood, Chen Fan encountered Xiao Zhen.

Xiao Zhen immediately said, “You’re back, Chen Fan. Something big happened on the island.”

Puzzled, Chen Fan asked, “What big event happened?”

“Li Yao is now a Divine Nascent realm expert!” Xiao Zhen broke the explosive news.

“Li Yao advanced to the Divine Nascent realm?!” Chen Fan was also very shocked.

It had not been more than ten days since he last saw Li Yao, but the latter had already advanced to the Divine Nascent realm. It was simply unimaginable.

Xiao Zhen proceeded to give Chen Fan a rough summary of what had happened.

“Li Yao discovered an Alchemy Room ruin and found a Yin Yang Divine Soul Pill, which was nearly intact. He used it to advance to the Divine Nascent realm... His luck is extraordinary,” muttered Chen Fan.

Xiao Zhen nodded and said, “I know, right? I thought I was fortunate to have found the legacy of a senior from the Hidden Dragon Island, but Li Yao’s stroke of luck with that pill surpasses anything. Tsk, tsk.

“Now, the others like Xuanyuan Po and Gongsun Zhong are driven by Li Yao. They mobilized their respective forces and headed toward that ‘ghost mountain’ at the center of the island. Rumor has it that the core palace of the Hidden Dragon Island is located there. Despite the heavy damage it sustained, there might still be valuable treasures.”

Chen Fan replied, “I keep getting the feeling that that mountain is somewhat strange. It gives off an ominous feeling. But I don’t want to get involved with that right now. I’m going into secluded cultivation.”

He had killed countless demonic beasts in the past few days, refining over a hundred drops of a true dragon’s blood.

Although the true dragon blood wasn’t very pure, it should be enough to push his Myriad Elephants Divine Art to the fifteenth layer of complete mastery.

......

Center of the Hidden Dragon Island, the ghost mountain:

Yin qi filled the space, ghostly clouds covered the sky.

Once upon a time, this place was the core of the Hidden Dragon Island and the most prosperous location. All sorts of palaces and pavilions had been built here, covered in a glorious splendor.

But now, this place was enveloped by boundless death qi. It seemed countless souls, ones unwilling to reincarnate, were wandering around here.

At the base of the ghost mountain, a figure in Daoist robes appeared—Qingxu, the youth Daoist.

Qingxu looked at the ghost mountain filled with ghost qi. A meaningful smile appeared on his face that sent shivers down people’s spines.

“I spent thirteen years undercover in the Daoist temple and mastered the Departed Spirits Summoning Technique. Hehe, for the holy cult, today, I shall end the Hong Domain’s younger generation.” Qingxu smiled eerily, then strode toward the top of the ghost mountain.