pjbooks Chapter 130 confirms one thing
Chapter 130 confirms one thing
In the fourth week, the Spirit Gathering Array of Qingyun Academy completed its first upgrade.
Jiang Chen completely integrated the Burning Heaven Immortal Emperor's Burning Silence Flame seed from the Primordial Sword into the core of the formation. The two heavenly flames intertwined at the formation's eye, forming a golden-red vortex. With each rotation of the vortex, the concentration of artificial spiritual energy increased by one percentage point. When the vortex's rotation speed stabilized at 3,600 revolutions per minute, the concentration of artificial spiritual energy within the Spirit Gathering Array's coverage area reached 10% of the lowest-level spiritual vein in the cultivation world.
For Wang Kai, this means that his Chaotic Spiritual Root can finally begin to show its true potential.
The moment he broke through to the fifth level of Qi Refining, the white true essence core deep within his dantian suddenly expanded more than tenfold, devouring, fusing, and condensing all the surrounding five-colored spiritual energy into a pure white light devoid of any attributes. The white light slowly rotated within his dantian, emitting an extremely ancient and pure aura—the first true awakening of his Chaos Spiritual Root after 30,000 years of slumber.
The moment the breakthrough occurred, a very thin crack appeared in the golden light shield above Qingyun Academy. The crack stretched from the top of the light shield all the way to the eastern defense node, and was no more than a finger's width, yet it caused the black ice flowers that were falling outside the light shield to stop at the same time.
It was negated by the burgeoning chaotic power within Wang Kai's dantian, from the very essence of existence.
The ice flowers hung motionless in mid-air. They no longer fell, no longer corroded, no longer released any remnants of chaotic power. They simply remained there, like a painting paused on time.
Three breaths later, the ice flower shattered.
Jiang Chen stood on the second floor of the factory, watching the shattering ice flowers outside the window, his hand gripping the coffee cup tightening slightly. He sensed it. The frequency of the fluctuations released by Wang Kai's Chaotic Spiritual Root at the moment of its awakening was completely consistent with the frequency of the Demon Ancestor's Chaotic Power.
It's not similar, it's consistent.
"Brother Chen." Wang Kai's voice came from downstairs, with a hoarseness he himself didn't realize, "I think... I've broken through."
Jiang Chen put down his coffee cup and went downstairs. He stood in front of Wang Kai, looking at the boy who was soaked in sweat, pale-faced, but with frighteningly bright eyes, and at the ball of white light slowly rotating in his palm.
"Qi Refinement Level 5. The first layer of the Chaotic Spiritual Root seal has been broken." Jiang Chen raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers joined together, and touched Wang Kai's brow. A wisp of true essence entered Wang Kai's body, traveled along the meridians, and finally stopped on the surface of the white light core deep in his dantian.
The moment the true essence touched the light core, the white light suddenly intensified, illuminating the entire control room as bright as day.
"From today onwards, your cultivation speed will be three times faster than before. The Chaos Spiritual Root will automatically extract the energy you need from the artificial spiritual energy of the Spirit Gathering Array. You don't need to deliberately circulate your cultivation technique or deliberately absorb spiritual energy. You only need to do one thing."
Jiang Chen withdrew his finger and looked at Wang Kai's eyes, which were almost transparent in the white light.
"Guard your faith in the Way."
Week 5.
Outside Qingyun Academy, the density of the ice flower storm reached its highest level since Kahn declared war. Twelve cities were attacked simultaneously, from Scandinavia in the Northern Hemisphere to Sydney in Australia in the Southern Hemisphere, from the capital of the Dragon Kingdom in the Eastern Hemisphere to Los Angeles in the Western Hemisphere. Black ice flowers covered the entire continent, pushing human civilization to the brink of destruction once again.
But humanity did not fall.
In the past month, the Global Awakened Defense Line has transformed from a "temporarily assembled motley crew" into a "highly coordinated defense network." Each time an Ice Flower Storm descends, the defense network automatically activates within the warning time, precisely deploying manpower, resources, and spiritual energy to where they are most needed. If someone falls in the Ice Flower Storm, someone else takes their place; if a city is breached, neighboring cities send reinforcements within hours; if an Awakened sacrifices themselves, their name is engraved on the black monument in the lobby of the Dragon Kingdom's Awakened Headquarters, next to a line of smaller text—"Humanity will not forget."
After the abyssal rift in the western part of the Dragon Kingdom was sealed by the Primordial Sword Intent, the migration routes of low-level magical beasts were forced to change, bypassing densely populated areas and spreading northwestward from uninhabited zones. The pressure on the western border decreased dramatically, and the two thousand troops originally stationed at Liangzhou Fortress were transferred in batches to other war zones to fill the defensive gaps caused by the Ice Flower Storm. On the night the transfer order was issued, Zhao Tiecheng stood alone on the city wall of Liangzhou Fortress, looking out at the rift sealed by the Primordial Sword Intent outside the city.
The golden patterns at the edge of the fissure gleamed faintly in the moonlight, like an ancient rune etched into the earth. That rune had been operating there for a month, showing no signs of weakening.
"Report." Adjutant Chen Yan's voice came from behind him, filled with barely suppressed excitement. "Dean Jiang Chen just sent a message. The first batch of students from Qingyun Academy have completed their class assignments and basic training, and will begin their combat simulations in the Apostle Hall next week. He asked the General Headquarters whether it is necessary to transfer some students to support the Liangzhou defense line."
Zhao Tiecheng did not turn around. He stared at the golden sword intent and remained silent for a long time.
"No need. Tell Dean Jiang that Liangzhou can be defended. Tell him to leave the trainees for places that need them more." He paused, his voice hoarse but steady, "like the First Apostle Hall."
Week 6.
The Dragon Kingdom Academy of Sciences deciphered the third layer of the star map in the ruins of the East African Rift Valley.
The record was brief, only a few dozen words long, which, translated into human language, would roughly mean: "Antarctica, Ice Profound, where demons are suppressed. If we all perish, Ice Profound will be our last shield."
When Chen Beiyuan forwarded this message to Jiang Chen, Jiang Chen was in the dispatch room on the second floor of the factory, explaining the key points of Golden Core cultivation to Wang Kai and Shen Qingxue. His phone vibrated, he picked it up, glanced at the few lines of text on the screen, then put it down and picked up his now-cold cup of coffee.
Antarctica. Ice.
The last coordinate on the star map, the one he had scanned with his divine sense countless times without sensing any energy fluctuations.
"Old Chen." Jiang Chen dialed Chen Beiyuan's number. "I need to go to Antarctica in person to find the coordinates."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.
"Now?"
"Now, Wang Kai's Chaotic Spiritual Root has stabilized, Shen Qingxue's body cultivation has entered the Thunder Forging Tendon stage, the academy's Spirit Gathering Array is automatically maintained by the Primordial Sword Intent, and Sword Saint Ye can substitute for classes." Jiang Chen put down his coffee cup, stood up from his chair, walked to the window and looked at the academy covered by a golden light barrier outside. "The three-month period is already halfway over. I must obtain the Ice Profound Immortal Emperor's inheritance before keeping the appointment."
Chen Beiyuan remained silent. Then he spoke, his voice aged yet steady: "The General Administration will arrange a special plane to depart from Punta Arenas, the southernmost point of Chile, and fly to Antarctica."
Jiang Chen hung up the phone and turned to look at Wang Kai and Shen Qingxue. "The academy is in your hands now."
Wang Kai stood up from his chair, his back ramrod straight. "Brother Chen, take me there."
"You're not qualified yet." Jiang Chen looked into his eyes. "You need to discover the potential of the Chaos Spiritual Root yourself, not have me take you to the ruins to pick it up ready-made. Only when you can survive alone for a quarter of an hour on the first 30 floors of the Apostle Hall will you be qualified to go to Antarctica with me."
Wang Kai clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. But he didn't say anything more, just nodded, turned and walked out of the dispatch room, his steps faster than when he came in, his shoulders and back straighter than ever before.
Shen Qingxue stood there, looking at Jiang Chen, her icy blue eyes reflecting the golden light emanating from the window. "Beneath the Antarctic ice sheet may lie the remains of the Ice Profound Immortal Emperor. His Dao Fruit might be an ice-type immortal sword."
"Perhaps." Jiang Chen summoned the Primordial Sword from his palm, its golden light flashing briefly in the control room. "But the Heavenly Star Fire and the Burning Soul Fire are enough for me. I'm not going to Antarctica for the sword."
"Why is that?"
Jiang Chen put the Primordial Sword back into his palm, looked at the half-gold and half-red flame pattern on his right palm, and remained silent for a moment.
"To confirm one thing: what exactly did the hundred Immortal Emperors do when they joined forces to seal the Demon Ancestor thirty thousand years ago?"