Chapter 395: Chapter 108: Breakthrough to Mid Nascent Soul, Han Jihai’s Whereabouts

"It’s been about three days, hasn’t it?" Zhou Tieshan said somewhat uncertainly.

Hearing this, Lin Chen furrowed his brows even tighter.

He vaguely felt something was wrong, but couldn’t pinpoint what.

Lin Chen looked up at the sky; there was still some time before dawn.

And less than a quarter of an hour before Lin Chen’s next time travel.

"Junior Brother, I’m a bit tired. You should head back to your quarters first..."

"Take to heart the guidance I’ve given you this time."

Zhou Tieshan nodded obediently and quickly took his leave.

After the junior brother left, Lin Chen set up a restriction.

He then took out the resources and soil he had prepared in advance, ready to return to Blue Star.

"Three, two, one..."

...

Great Xia, Martial Arts Palace.

After handing over the supplies to Wang Lishan, Lin Chen said:

"Uncle Wang, don’t disturb me for the next few days, I’m preparing for a breakthrough."

Wang Lishan was delighted to hear this, "Are you reaching the mid-Nascent Soul period?"

Lin Chen nodded, saying softly:

"It’s been five years since I reached the Nascent Soul stage, it’s about time to break through."

After giving some instructions, Lin Chen entered the cultivation room.

With a slight movement in his heart, Lin Chen set up a restriction.

He maximized the output of the Spirit Gathering Array and took out one hundred thousand middle-grade Spirit Stones.

"Right..."

Lin Chen suddenly thought of something and took out a Thousand-Year Spiritual Peach and nearly twenty thousand drops of Spirit Liquid.

Over the years, Lin Chen had consumed over half of the three thousand Spiritual Peaches, but kept several hundred as a contingency.

He didn’t waste the pits of the eaten peaches either, handing them to the Spirit Plant Department to try and cultivate in the soil.

In a few years, more than three thousand Demon Peach trees had been planted.

Most of them had taken root and sprouted small seedlings.

But to reach the standard of a Thousand-Year Peach Demon would take a long time.

After all, a Peach Demon is not like Spiritual Medicine; it’s difficult to hasten its maturity.

Even if a group of Golden Core Cultivators tended to them day and night, providing Spiritual Energy,

it would still take a long time for these Demon Peach trees to develop spiritual intelligence and grow into Peach Demons.

As for the twenty thousand drops of Spirit Liquid,

most of them Lin Chen gained from auctions over the years.

And a few thousand drops were nurtured from the Profound Celestial Treasure Gourd.

Over the years, Lin Chen discovered some clues.

The Spirit Liquid purchased at the auction contained ordinary Spiritual Energy and power.

But after being nurtured by the Treasure Gourd, the Spirit Liquid contained much more abundant Spiritual Energy.

After years of nurturing, the effect of this Spirit Liquid had improved by nearly fifty percent.

Although it was far from the rumored Spirit Realm Jade Dew,

one drop of Spirit Liquid now contained Spiritual Energy equivalent to one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones.

With these twenty thousand drops of Spirit Liquid, Lin Chen would have no trouble breaking through to the mid-Nascent Soul period.

"Yes, besides that..."

A ray of light flashed across Lin Chen’s palm, and a jade box appeared in his hand.

Opening the jade box, it contained a Spiritual Peach.

This Spiritual Peach was plumper than the other Thousand-Year Spiritual Peaches and contained more abundant Spiritual Energy.

"The Spiritual Peach from the Peach Demon Elder’s head... I’ll save this for a critical moment; it’s not needed for the mid-Nascent Soul breakthrough."

Lin Chen shook his head and stored the Spiritual Peach away again in no time.

"I only need the Dragon Spirit Pill to break through to the mid-Nascent Soul stage."

Lin Chen took out a bottle of Dragon Spirit Pills and swallowed one from it.

With the Dragon Spirit Pill in his stomach, Lin Chen felt the Spiritual Energy within his body stabilize.

This was a bottle of top-grade Dragon Spirit Pills, not perfect in quality, but good enough.

In recent years, the Great Xia Country had planted a lot of Dragon Spirit Flowers.

Lin Chen opened the furnace for alchemy, with the assistance of experts from the Alchemy Department.

A total of nearly a thousand Dragon Spirit Pills were produced.

But only a little over ten were of top-grade quality, all secured by Lin Chen.

"Everything is ready; now for the mid-Nascent Soul breakthrough!"

Lin Chen sat cross-legged, operating the Evergreen Technique in a regular pattern.

As he continued to breathe and circulate the Heavens, three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Tens of thousands of Spirit Stones turned to powder, converting into pure True Essence Magical Power entering Lin Chen’s Dantian.

At the same time, the Nascent Soul within Lin Chen’s Dantian became increasingly solid.

"Just a little more..."

Lin Chen opened his eyes and ingested another Dragon Spirit Pill.

While using the Dragon Spirit Pill to stabilize his power, Lin Chen consumed a thousand drops of Spirit Liquid.

BOOM!

An overwhelming surge of power entered Lin Chen’s body; he breathed and circulated the Heavens, transforming it into his own cultivation.

Thus, another four days passed.

At dusk on the seventh day of his return to Blue Star, the mysterious power surrounding Lin Chen gradually stabilized and became introverted...

At last, in a certain instant, Lin Chen opened his eyes, a smile on his face.

"Mid-Nascent Soul stage, breakthrough successful!"

Lin Chen sensed his own strength for a moment.

True Essence had increased by over thirty percent, and his Divine Sense had nearly doubled, reaching over two hundred and twenty miles.

A typical mid-Nascent Soul stage would only have a Divine Sense of a hundred miles.

Yet Lin Chen’s Celestial Derivation Technique granted him a Divine Sense comparable to the late Nascent Soul stage.

In addition, the greatest improvement was in his understanding of the Heaven and Earth Intent Realm.

With nature as his guide, Lin Chen felt a little closer to the idea.

Lin Chen looked down at the Qi and Blood Value on his wristwatch.

550,050!

"Half a year ago, I broke through to the High-Level Martial King, along with my current mid-Nascent Soul stage power... I’m not weak compared to the late Nascent Soul stage!"

"I could even possibly slay a late Nascent Soul stage!"

Immediately, a sense of security surged in Lin Chen’s heart.

After breaking through to the mid-Nascent Soul stage, within the entire Qing State, few could pose a life-threatening risk to him anymore.

Over the past few years, Lin Chen had never ceased his underground safe house plan.

Deep down, a thousand miles underground, there were thousands of safe houses Lin Chen had developed, enough to ensure his safety.

He glanced at the countdown on his arm, less than 12 hours remained until he returned to the Cultivation Realm.

"Hmm, the time required for breakthrough is getting more and more... It took me a full seven days to reach the Nascent Soul Mid-period."

Lin Chen shook his head.

For the next breakthrough, Lin Chen might have to cross the realms again.

After the successful breakthrough, Lin Chen made final preparations for his next crossing to the Cultivation Realm.

...

Qing State, five thousand miles north of Wenda City.

Medicine Mountain.

After bidding farewell to his mentor, Lin Chen returned to Wenda City and began contemplating the current situation in Qing State.

He marked the map with circles and dots.

The entire Qing State was divided into five regions: East, South, West, North, and Central.

Among them, the Central Domain was undoubtedly the absolute core of Qing State.

Stretching over a hundred thousand miles east and west, with more than sixty thousand miles from north to south.

From Human Path City to Wenda City, it was the core ruling region of the Wenda Sect.

"Alas, under the current situation in Qing State, the Eastern Domain and Northern Domain have gradually been devoured by the Nether Realm..."

"Only the Central Domain, where Wenda City is located, remains a haven of peace. We must seize the opportunity to cultivate."

Lin Chen drew a few strokes on the map, enclosing the territory of the Nether Realm.

Upon closer inspection, Lin Chen frowned tightly.

"The territory of the Nether Realm has grown this large?"

"More than half of the Eastern Domain, and the southern part of the Northern Domain, are under the rule of the Nether Realm..."

"Only the Yanlai Realm..."

Lin Chen gazed at the small area in the southeast direction on the map.

The entire Yanlai Realm was semi-surrounded by the vast territory of the Nether Realm.

Once the Yanlai Realm is also captured by the Nether Realm, the entire Eastern Domain of Qing State would fall into their hands.

Moreover, the Nether Realm could take advantage of the situation to advance south and attack the Southern Domain of Qing State.

This was not alarmist talk.

Lin Chen was even astonished at how such a small Demon Sect could develop to such an extent in just a few decades.

"Perhaps this is what they call the greater trend..."

Lin Chen sighed deeply.

The Wenda Sect remained silent, while the Demon Sect grew more powerful, and now the situation was beyond control.

This was not the Demon Sect from a few years ago, which had only Blood Pupil Old Demon as their sole Nascent Soul Cultivator.

In just a few years, countless forces had openly or secretly sided with the Nether Realm.

Including the recently converted Guangyuan Commerce Association and Wenlu Academy.

From what Lin Chen knew, the Nether Realm had at least ten Nascent Soul Cultivators...

Lin Chen gently closed his eyes, recalling his second senior brother who had been dead for twenty years.

That night, upon receiving the news, he rushed to the sect.

His mentor, Han Jihai, smoked all night and did not sleep.

"Wait a minute..."

As he thought of this, Lin Chen suddenly widened his eyes.

He finally understood what was wrong with Han Jihai!

"This wasn’t about keeping us out of it... This was clearly about going back to Yanlai Realm alone!"

Lin Chen’s brows furrowed.

Twenty years ago, Han Jihai did the same thing, ultimately deciding to seek revenge on the Tribulation Cultivator for his second senior brother.

And this time, Han Jihai was still the same...

Thinking of this, Lin Chen did not hesitate.

Under the cover of night, he hurried to Medicine Mountain.

Lin Chen tunneled swiftly, his speed extremely fast.

At dawn the next day, Lin Chen climbed Medicine Mountain and met several of his senior brothers.

Scanning Medicine Mountain, Lin Chen did not see any sign of Han Jihai.

His heart sank immediately, and he asked,

"Why isn’t the mentor here?"

Zhou Tieshan raised his hand and said,

"The mentor said he had some gains in his cultivation recently and is secluded in his residence! We’re not to disturb him..."

Upon hearing this, Lin Chen’s frown deepened.

His Divine Sense swept over Han Jihai’s residence, only to be blocked by restrictions.

Lin Chen did not hesitate and directly pushed open the door to the residence.

"Senior Brother..."

Zhou Tieshan and the others looked confused from behind.

Lin Chen entered the residence, took a look around, and his expression turned grim.

Sure enough, Han Jihai was not in seclusion.

His senior brothers entered together, finding the empty residence and even discovering that the hidden chamber was empty of Han Jihai in seclusion.

Although worried, Lin Chen forced himself to remain calm.

"When did the mentor start his seclusion?"

Lin Chen asked.

Zhou Tieshan thought for a moment and said,

"About two days ago... After you left, Senior Brother, the mentor announced his seclusion."

"Since then, we haven’t seen the mentor. It’s strange, where could he have gone?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Chen’s expression became even grimmer.

This indicated that Han Jihai had been away from Medicine Mountain for at least a day.

With Han Jihai’s tunneling speed, he could be far from Medicine Mountain by now.

The distance from Medicine Mountain to Changchun Sect was nearly two hundred thousand miles, with countless possible routes.

In such a vast area, how was Lin Chen supposed to find him?

At this moment, Miko noticed Lin Chen’s worried face and asked,

"Junior Brother, why are you so worried?"

"The mentor is such an experienced person, could he really get lost?"

Lin Chen gave a wry smile and replied,

"It’s not that the mentor would get lost, but he..."

Lin Chen sighed deeply and shared his suspicions.