126. A Tremendous Gain

"Hum..."

Immediately, Chen Fengyun unleashed the Six-Syllable Mantra. He had sensed an evil aura emanating from Wilson the Dark Blood assassin—one that did not seem to stem from any martial technique, but rather from the energy of an ancient, malevolent entity. Thus, he chose the Buddhist mantra to counter him.

"Ah..."

True enough, even from dozens of meters away, the moment Chen Fengyun’s voice rang out, a vast aura descended. A sphere of golden light struck the blood-cloud form of Wilson, causing him to shriek as the cloud was steadily incinerated by the light.

"Snap..."

Unable to endure any longer, Wilson was forced to revert to his human form. As the energy of the mantra dissipated, Chen Fengyun closed in instantly. His flying sword swerved around him and severed Wilson’s arms in a single stroke.

Chen Fengyun kicked Wilson to the ground. Feeling the evil presence within him stirring, Chen felt his Cultivation System vibrate slightly, signaling that this malevolent energy could be absorbed.

"Absorb," Chen thought. A mysterious force instantly paralyzed the assassin. A drop of black blood then seeped out from Wilson’s body, radiating an archaic and desolate aura. It was clearly not his own blood, but rather something originating from an ancient entity.

"Roar..."

As the drop of blood was absorbed by the Cultivation System, a distant, ancient roar echoed in Chen Fengyun’s ears—as if from the very origin of that blood—before the anomaly vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

"What manner of creature did this blood belong to? It converted into three attribute points. This entity must be incredibly powerful," Chen thought, secretly astonished.

***

"Ah..."

In the distance, a thunderous crash erupted, followed by the incessant screams of Ivan Davsky from Russia. His battle against the Earth Dragon was a foregone conclusion; the dragon was not killing him outright, but rather toying with him. Given the Earth Dragon’s strength, even in his prime, the Russian would have been no match, let alone now that he was severely wounded. The harrowing nature of his screams caused Takeda Kurao, the Japanese martial artist who had already lost an arm, to turn pale with terror.

Though this sequence took time to describe, it all unfolded in mere seconds. Chen Fengyun had engaged five foreign grandmasters single-handedly, killing the Thai master Gulayemo and the assassin Wilson, while mortally wounding the Japanese Takeda and the Russian Ivan. Only the Korean, Lee Lin-hee, remained, his fate unknown.

With the Earth Dragon present, the Russian stood no chance of survival. Now, only Takeda remained—a man from the nation Chen detested most.

"Damn it, you cannot kill me!" Takeda, missing an arm and his long blade, retained only thirty percent of his strength. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead as he retreated, muttering in fear.

"Hmph, a Japanese dog daring to run wild in China? Even if Master Chen shows mercy, I, Wan Jianlin, will not let you leave today." Wan Jianlin of the Northern Sect stepped forward, cutting off Takeda’s escape route. For the people of the Northeast, who still bore the scars of the Japanese invasion decades ago, hatred for such invaders ran deep.

"Then he is yours," Chen said, nodding to Wan. He recognized that Takeda was severely weakened and understood that Wan hoped to use this kill as a catalyst to break through to the grandmaster realm himself.

"My thanks to Master Chen," Wan replied with a bow, acknowledging that Chen understood his intent. He then charged at Takeda with his blade.

"Uncle Feng, go see if that Korean, Lee Lin-hee, is dead," Chen commanded. Feng Tianbao immediately took a few men to investigate.

Before long, Ivan was killed and devoured by the Earth Dragon, and Lee Lin-hee was confirmed dead. Wan Jianlin fought a desperate battle against Takeda, eventually killing him at the cost of his own injuries. Though the battle was grueling, it proved a profound experience for Wan; once healed, he would surely break through to the grandmaster rank.

***

Grateful for the opportunity, Wan Jianlin and the Northern Sect presented all of Takeda’s belongings to Chen Fengyun. Including the spoils from the other masters, Chen now had ten new items. Most were useless, but after absorbing energy from a few, he gained eight attribute points, which he then distributed to the members of the Southern Sect.

The Southern Sect had also recovered their own items; after Chen inspected them, he gained another eleven points. He did not ask the Northern Sect or the other Chinese masters to turn over their findings.

Even so, his remaining attribute points totaled ninety-two, including the twenty-one gained from killing zombies in the hall. He had become remarkably wealthy.

Among the items, Chen found three cultivation jade slips. Two were common Qi-Refining techniques incompatible with his *Heaven and Earth Universe Art*. However, one manual, the *Nine Heavens Wind and Cloud Art*, was a peak Yellow-grade technique that could be fused with his own. He chose to merge them.

The fusion cost twenty points, resulting in the peak Yellow-grade *Universe Wind and Cloud Art*, which would allow him to cultivate all the way to the completion of the Foundation Establishment stage.

Next, Chen spent thirty points—the most he had ever expended at once—to elevate his spiritual power to the late Yellow-grade. It pained him to spend so much, but upon reaching this level, he found his divine sense had expanded significantly, allowing him to scan in a straight line for twenty kilometers and cover an area of fifteen square kilometers.

Thinking ninety-two points would last a long time, he had already spent over half. He decided to be more cautious, though prioritizing his cultivation remained paramount.

Chen spent another twenty points to advance from the tenth layer of Qi Refining to the first layer of Foundation Establishment. A massive influx of heaven and earth spiritual energy poured down, baptizing his body and transforming his sea of Qi into a dantian capable of containing far greater power.