Chapter 53: Chapter 51: Martial Arts Ninth Stage

Inside the cave.

Jiang Chen sat cross-legged in the Five Hearts Facing Heaven posture, holding the Demon Core of the Iron Armor Earth Dragon. He was fully focused on circulating the Profound Yellow Undying Technique.

As his mastery of this Divine Technique deepened, Jiang Chen discovered that the Profound Yellow Undying Technique could not only absorb any form of energy to rapidly raise his cultivation realm, but more importantly, after every breakthrough, the Profound Yellow True Qi in his Dantian would provide a nourishing feedback.

This nourishing feedback from the Profound Yellow True Qi would completely integrate into his body, making it increasingly powerful and resilient.

Although his cultivation was only at the Eighth Stage of Martial Arts, his physical strength was comparable to a Martial Artist at the Peak of the Ninth Stage of Martial Arts. If he could advance his cultivation to the Ninth Stage of Martial Arts, his physical strength would likely be on par with the True Martial Realm!

"Heaven and Earth are dark and yellow, the universe a vast wilderness... Profound Yellow rises and falls, the Ten Thousand Realms are lost, with my body I shall forge the Ten Thousand Spirits..." The esoteric yet profoundly mystical incantations repeated endlessly in Jiang Chen’s mind as he followed their instructions, cultivating with complete concentration.

There were eight clusters of True Qi clouds in his Dantian.

Each cluster resembled a starry vortex, emitting a hazy gray light as immensely powerful Profound Yellow True Qi circulated within.

The eight clusters of True Qi complemented and orbited each other as if they were a single entity.

As Jiang Chen circulated the Profound Yellow Undying Technique to devour the Iron Armor Earth Dragon’s Demon Core, the light from the eight clusters of True Qi grew more intense, illuminating his entire Dantian.

The Iron Armor Earth Dragon was truly a powerful Demon Beast, comparable to a Martial Artist at the Ninth Stage of Martial Arts. The energy contained within its Demon Core was immense.

It took half a day for Jiang Chen to completely devour the energy within the Demon Core in his hand. It turned into a dull, gray stone. With a slight tremor of his body, a series of cracks appeared on the stone’s surface, spreading across the entire Demon Core before it instantly crumbled into dust.

OMM...

Jiang Chen’s body shuddered, and the eight clusters of True Qi in his Dantian began to rotate rapidly.

Wisps of Profound Yellow True Qi continuously converged toward the center.

They intertwined, twisted, and slowly formed a vortex of True Qi!

「Not long after.」

A ninth cluster of True Qi appeared in his Dantian. Like a blazing sun, it was surrounded by the other eight clusters, which revered it like stars orbiting the moon.

Nine clusters of True Qi—this meant Jiang Chen had officially stepped into the Ninth Stage of Martial Arts.

BUZZ!

Nine yellow rings of light now encircled the God-slaying Sword, symbolizing its grade: Yellow Tier Ninth Grade!

SWISH—

He snapped his eyes open, and two beams of almost tangible light shot out, piercing straight ahead like sharp blades that could tear the very air apart.

A powerful fluctuation of True Qi erupted from within Jiang Chen, launching him high into the air.

He thrust his hands forward, and light condensed in his palms to form a hand of True Qi. With a WHOOSH that tore through the air, the True Qi hand flew more than ten meters and slammed into the cave wall. Like a knife through tofu, it passed straight through the solid rock, leaving a palm-shaped imprint behind!

The imprint was a full ten meters deep!

Its power was incredibly condensed, and its destructive force was astonishing.

’If that palm strike had hit a person, even a True Martial Realm Powerhouse would have had their organs pulverized!’

"With my current strength, I can defeat a True Martial Realm First Stage master even without using my God-Devouring Talent. It’s just a shame that the Aurora Sword Technique severely limits my combat power. If only I had a higher-level Martial Arts Sword Technique..." Amidst his excitement, Jiang Chen shook his head with a wry smile and sighed.

Ever since discovering the flaws in his swordsmanship, Jiang Chen’s desire for a more advanced Sword Technique had grown even stronger.

Now that his cultivation had entered the Ninth Stage of Martial Arts and his Martial Soul, the God-slaying Sword, had advanced to Yellow Tier Ninth Grade, he was just one step away from it becoming a Profound Tier Martial Soul. Jiang Chen’s strength had progressed by leaps and bounds.

But if he wanted to unleash his full combat potential, he had to find a higher-level Martial Arts Sword Technique as soon as possible.

The Aurora Sword Technique was a Yellow-Tier Martial Skill. To fully utilize his power, he would need to find a Martial Arts Sword Technique of the Profound Tier or higher.

However, even the lowest-level Profound Tier First Grade Martial Skill was a treasure worth several million gold coins!

’Where would I get that kind of money?’

Just as Jiang Chen was worrying about this, the nine clusters of True Qi in his Dantian finished interconnecting, forming a single, whole entity.

The nine clusters of True Qi simultaneously erupted with surging energy, which rushed into his Martial Soul, the Godslaying Sword!

BOOM!

Under the impact of the Profound Yellow True Qi, the Godslaying Sword flared with brilliant light. The dragon pattern coiled around it came to life, fiercely raising its proud head and letting out a roar that was both resounding and deep, like the tolling of a great bell.

In that moment, Jiang Chen felt a massive amount of information flooding into his mind.

It felt as if his head was about to explode!

"An Advanced Profound Tier Sword Technique, Wind God Extreme, and an Earth-Tier Low-Level Martial Skill, the Eight Celestial Dragon Divine Fist? Holy crap! The Godslaying Sword can actually impart Cultivation and Martial Skills to me? HAHAHA! I’ve never even heard of a legendary Saint Tier Martial Soul being able to impart Martial Arts Techniques! It seems my guess was right. The Godslaying Sword is definitely a Martial Soul that surpasses the Saint Tier!"

Jiang Chen’s face filled with excitement and ecstasy. It was a blissful feeling, like being given a pillow just as you were about to fall asleep.

He had been in desperate need of a Martial Arts Sword Technique, and right after breaking through to the Ninth Stage of Martial Arts, the Godslaying Sword had given him these two skills.

However, given the precedent of it imparting the Profound Yellow Undying Technique, Jiang Chen wasn’t overly surprised. As he carefully studied the two new skills, the excitement and shock on his face grew even more intense. "As expected of the Martial Arts Sword Techniques imparted by the Godslaying Sword! They’re simply too exquisite!"

Wind God Extreme was a Sword Technique of the Advanced Profound Tier!

It had three techniques in total: Wind Fluctuation, Gale Break, and Divine Wind Extreme. Each technique possessed immense killing power. With Wind God Extreme, Jiang Chen could finally unleash the full power of his Wind Sword Intent.

As for the Eight Celestial Dragon Divine Fist, it was an Earth-Tier Martial Skill powerful enough to shake the entire Saint Martial Dynasty.

The Eight Celestial Dragon Divine Fist had four moves: the first, Fierce Tiger Shocks the Sky; the second, Flood Dragon Soaring to Heaven; the third, Azure Dragon Emerges from the Sea; and the fourth, Celestial Dragon World Destruction!

With these two Martial Arts Sword Techniques, Jiang Chen’s strength was boosted once again.

As long as he could master Wind Fluctuation and Fierce Tiger Shocks the Sky, Jiang Chen was confident he could even slay a True Martial Realm Second Stage powerhouse!

’I’ll practice Wind God Extreme first!’

Jiang Chen immediately began to comprehend Wind God Extreme. Because he had already comprehended Wind Sword Intent, he had a unique advantage in understanding it.

Wind Fluctuation!

The greatest difficulty in practicing this technique was sensing the fluctuations of the wind. But since Jiang Chen had already grasped Wind Sword Intent, he could easily perceive these fluctuations. Aided by the detailed descriptions in Wind God Extreme, he managed to cultivate Wind Fluctuation to the Minor Achievement Realm in just a day and a half.

Afterward, Jiang Chen began to study the Eight Celestial Dragon Divine Fist.

The first technique, Fierce Tiger Shocks the Sky, involved imbuing one’s fist with a Shaking Power, like the tremors produced by a python’s trembling body.

When this fist landed on an opponent, it delivered not only the impact of the blow but also an accompanying concussive force. This Shaking Power could bypass all external defenses and directly injure the opponent’s internal organs. If cultivated to a high enough level, a single punch could even shatter their organs completely.

After all, the Eight Celestial Dragon Divine Fist was an Earth-Tier Martial Skill, and its cultivation difficulty was more than ten times higher than that of Wind God Extreme.

Jiang Chen spent a full three days on it and had only just scratched the surface.

He had not been able to master the move completely!

’It seems blind training alone won’t allow me to truly master this move. I need to constantly fight!’

Jiang Chen took a deep breath. Just as he was about to leave the cave, a miserable cry suddenly came from outside. It was Little White...