NOVEL NEXT Chapter 434: Closing the Net
Jiang Chen pulled a pile of loot from his storage artifact.
Inside was a mountain of spirit stones and spirit jades, heaps of rare natural treasures, all sorts of spiritual plants and pills, along with a mix of immortal tools and dao treasures.
Spirit jades… just what Lu Yi needs most. Once he gets enough of these, his growth will skyrocket. Stopping him from getting stronger will be almost impossible, Jiang Chen thought as he sifted through the spiritual plants.
The four Nirvana Peering realm experts he'd taken them from weren't all equally rich—some had deep pockets, others not so much. None of them could compare to the likes of Zhong Yushan or Wu Jiaxun, though.
Even so, he'd scored big: one spiritual plant at the Nirvana Cleansing rank, more than sixty at the Nirvana Peering rank, and tens of thousands at the Transcendence rank.
A haul like this will push my cultivation forward in a big way. A faint smile tugged at Jiang Chen's lips as he began absorbing the plants one by one.
To keep Lu Yi from catching on, Jiang Chen ate the plants in secret. Using the Immortal Martial Mustard Seed and his spatial techniques, he sent them straight into his stomach without leaving a trace.
Before long, every last plant was gone.
His cultivation rose another notch. He didn't break through to the middle stage of the Nirvana Cleansing realm, but his Immortal Origin Power had grown much stronger.
The Burning World Red Lotus also drank in the energy, blooming three new petals. With them, the Burning World Raging Flames burned hotter than ever.
And this was only the start of what he'd gained.
Next, I'll make use of the pure cultivation base from these four Nirvana Peering realm cultivators. Altogether, it should be about the same as one cultivator at the middle stage of the Nirvana Peering realm, Jiang Chen thought.
He activated the Death Calamity Dark Star Moon Dao Embryo, drawing the pure cultivation base out of Gui Donghua and the others. The amount matched his guess.
This time, it's for me.
The moment he absorbed it, a surge of power flooded his body, pushing his cultivation another step forward. But even the full strength of a Middle-stage Nirvana Peering realm cultivator wasn't enough to push him into the next realm.
The gap between the Nirvana Cleansing realm and the Nirvana Peering realm was just too huge. By his estimate, he'd have to take down dozens more Nirvana Peering realm experts—or even more at the Transcendence realm—before he could break through.
Jiang Chen then used the Wordless Heavenly Jade to drain every drop of qi and blood power from Gui Donghua and the others. Added to what he'd kept from his last round of practice, it was enough to start training another Nirvana Cleansing–level cultivation method.
Perfect. Time to work on the Azure Hollow Illusion Divine Chart, he thought, a satisfied smile tugging at his lips.
This was the ultimate technique of the Azure Hollow Heavenly Fox Clan, almost at the Void Tribulation rank. At its peak, it could let the user touch the Dao of Illusion itself.
Jiang Chen had already won some of Lu Yi's trust, giving him the chance to watch the man closely. But that same trust made certain moves riskier—if he wasn't careful, he'd give himself away.
The Azure Hollow Illusion Divine Chart was the perfect way around that problem.
Wordless Heavenly Jade. With that thought, Jiang Chen set the jade into motion and began running through every detail of the technique in his mind.
In a flash, he'd gone through the entire cultivation method from start to finish.
Boom!
The Wordless Heavenly Jade turned the vast qi and blood power into a strange, refined energy that poured into his body and soul.
In an instant, the profound teachings of the Dao of Illusion flooded his Sea of Consciousness, fusing straight into his soul. The imprint was so deep it was impossible to forget, and his understanding was complete from the start.
A wave of powerful magic followed, strengthening his body and letting him not only grasp the secret art in theory, but wield it in practice—almost at perfection.
The Wordless Heavenly Jade really is unmatched, Jiang Chen thought, thrilled at the complexity and depth of the new technique.
He had just mastered an entirely new law of the Great Dao—the Illusion Dao. That made sixteen complete laws of the Great Dao under his belt, and with the fragment of the Dao of Space, the count rose to seventeen.
That made more than a third of the forty-nine Great Dao laws a Peak-stage Nirvana Cleansing cultivator could master.
On top of that, gaining the Dao of Illusion had given his combat strength a clear boost.
A quick glance at his personal panel showed his true fighting power had climbed to the middle stage of the Nirvana Cleansing realm—firmly placing him among the top experts on the Prosperous Stone Immortal Star.
And if he unleashed his trump cards, like his dragon-human hybrid form, he could push his strength even higher.
With this much power, I'm a lot safer now, Jiang Chen thought, a surge of satisfaction running through him.
Just then, his divine sense brushed against five Nirvana Peering realm auras.
Hm? He raised an eyebrow and instantly opened the Villain Eye to scan the area.
Five information panels appeared in front of him at once.
A closer look showed all five were supporting characters from the Purple Crest Immortal Sect.
The strongest was Bian Zhilin, a Peak-stage Nirvana Peering realm expert.
Right now, he and his group were in a city popular with traveling cultivators. Before Lu Yi learned his aura-concealing secret art, they'd been tracking both him and Jiang Chen without trouble.
That was enough for Bian Zhilin to guess their next move and set up the perfect spot for an ambush.
In the city, Bian Zhilin and the other four weighed their options.
"Lu Yi and Jiang Chen are working together."
"From what we've seen, Jiang Chen's strength is at least half-step Nirvana Cleansing realm—maybe he's already crossed the line."
"Gui Donghua and the others are proof of what we're dealing with. Word is, Jiang Chen took them out in one move. They never even had the chance to fight back."
"If the five of us went up against him now, it'd probably end the same way."
"The smart move is to wait—let reinforcements arrive first."
"Power like his burns through Immortal Origin fast. He's still only Nirvana Peering realm. If we have enough people, we can grind him down."
With that, they agreed to hold back and wait for more allies.
Just then, one of the five suddenly stiffened. "Elder Bian, Lu Yi's gone—we've lost him!"
"What? Jiang Chen must be helping him! Find another way—no matter what, we can't lose him!" Bian Zhilin's face darkened as he turned to the Nirvana Peering realm cultivator who specialized in tracking.
"On it!" The man wiped a bead of cold sweat from his forehead and threw himself into the search. After running through every technique he knew, he finally managed to lock onto Lu Yi's position.
Just then, a message arrived for Bian Zhilin. Another squad of Nirvana Peering realm cultivators had reached a different city, ready to join in and cut off Jiang Chen and Lu Yi from both sides.
This new squad also had five members.
"Ten Nirvana Peering realm experts. That's more than enough to wear Jiang Chen down. As for Lu Yi, he's nothing—just a piece of trash who can barely push himself to Nirvana Peering realm for a short time."
With the decision made, Bian Zhilin moved to launch the siege.
The two squads quickly linked up, forming a ten-man team with Bian Zhilin as the temporary leader.
On the Prosperous Stone Immortal Star, without a Nirvana Cleansing realm powerhouse present, a group like this was almost unstoppable.
Their confidence soared.
What they didn't know was that Jiang Chen's divine sense was already sweeping over them. They'd badly underestimated just how far his detection could reach.