Chapter 212 - 208 Eating Essence?

In the side room.

Chen Xuan sat cross-legged on the ground, waiting for his mind to calm.

He called out the system.

[Cultivation Technique: Nine Elements Dao Skill (Immortal Grade) (Fourth Layer (59,000/800,000))]

[Skill Points: 606,000]

Still short by over a hundred thousand skill points. By the current rate, it’ll take about a dozen days.

Chen Xuan nodded in satisfaction.

This pace is acceptable.

Also, he’s not as eager to achieve a Realm Breakthrough as before.

Although this period has been a bit reckless, it has helped him figure out a lot.

War dead, whether ordinary people or high-level Martial Artists, he can do nothing about, nor does he dare to!

The threats of two Emperors are no joke.

As for the Demon Race...

Even reaching the Eight Layers of Purity, or even the Ninth Layer, what difference does it make?

Look at how many great talents from ancient times barely managed to block the Demon Race with their lives!

And he doesn’t believe the two Emperors will truly do nothing about this.

So—

Let it be. Even if they can’t defeat the Demon Race later, at least he’ll have enjoyed life. That’s not a loss.

He then put away the system, closed his eyes, and began cultivating the Nine Elements Dao Skill.

Indeed, the Immortal Grade Technique is exceptional.

Every cultivation session brings new insights.

...

The next day, Chen Xuan finally arrived at Guhe Commandery.

"You’re really carefree, aren’t you!"

Ye Yilan’s eyes were full of envy. He couldn’t do the same and had to stay here. Once the Dark Guards issue an order, he must set off immediately.

Sometimes he truly regretted it. Back then, to join the Dark Guard and for those resources, he made such a Blood Oath. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be in this dreary state now.

But Xuan Er didn’t care at all. For him, it’s just a change of place to cultivate.

Chen Xuan left. He couldn’t go!

If war broke out and Ye Yilan had to go to the battlefield, someone had to watch over him.

"Father-in-law, can’t you just break that Blood Oath? If you can, I’ll find Xia Lingyu!"

Chen Xuan had asked him this many times, but he always brushed it off.

"Sigh!"

He helplessly sighed. Though this rascal had such thoughts, it warmed his heart.

But—

After hesitating for a moment,

he no longer hid it. "It’s impossible to break. It was made under the witness of Your Majesty, using the National Spirit and the blood of all Dark Guards. Unless Great Xia falls, it’s impossible!"

If not, how could Great Xia invest so much in training these Dark Guards?

There’s no such thing as a free lunch; to get the resources, one must pay the price.

It’s that simple!

Of course, there’s another way, which is to be stronger than Your Majesty, but that’s...

impossible!

So he didn’t mention it, not wanting Chen Xuan to take risks. He knew this rascal was loyal and righteous.

Besides, he’s already doing well.

Other than unable to leave here, everything else is no different from being at Youlan Mansion.

That’s enough!

No need to risk for this matter.

If anything happens, he really wouldn’t know how to explain to Jin Cen.

"I see..."

Then there’s no solution! How could he possibly destroy Great Xia?

"Alright, you shouldn’t worry about him. Back then, countless talented Martial Artists wanted to join the Dark Guard. Being chosen was a huge blessing! And without those resources, he wouldn’t have reached his current level in cultivation!"

This time, Ye Yilan didn’t refute him but nodded instead, "Xuan Er is right, I was indeed blessed!"

But the next moment, his tone changed, "And you? When your Sect was destroyed, not only did you escape, but you were also pardoned by Your Majesty. Wasn’t that because the ancestors’ graves of your Divine Movement Sect collectively exploded?"

"Get lost!"

"Am I wrong?"

...

Chen Xuan watched the two arguing and felt exhausted.

Combined, they were over a hundred years old, but their temperaments were like children.

He sighed and shook his head.

But he didn’t care and instead slowly sat down, picking up some unknown pastry from the table, eating while leisurely watching the show.

"Alright, this kid is laughing at us!"

Saying this, he glanced at Chen Xuan. This kid... unbelievable.

Seeing the elders quarrel, he didn’t even offer a word of moderation, instead enjoying the scene, naughty kid!

"Indeed, you little brat, can’t you say something to mediate? Is this how you act as a younger generation?"

Ye Yilan immediately turned his focus on scolding him.

Chen Xuan was instantly stunned, and the pastry in his hand lost its taste. It was truly baffling.

"It’s none of my business, you two old guys act like children, what can I do!"

A true undeserved disaster.

"Hmph!"

"Hmph!"

The two snorted coldly at the same time.

"Alright, can’t stay here any longer, I’m leaving. I’ll go find that old woman and chat, ask when the war will start?"

"You’ve been idle all day, not even asking!"

"If a war breaks out, can you two still be this relaxed?"

"Especially you, my dear father-in-law, you are a Dark Guard, you’ll inevitably fight on the battlefield, aren’t you worried?"

"Exhausting, everything has to be my concern!"

...

Chen Xuan got more and more into it as he spoke, but Ye Yilan’s face grew uglier, about to explode.

In an instant,

Chen Xuan took a step and vanished.

"You brat!"

Ye Yilan was furious! But it was no use, the person had already left, leaving him with an expression as if he had eaten something unpleasant.

"Hehe..."

Xuan Er chuckled lightly, and the two started bickering again.

Of course, Chen Xuan couldn’t see any of this.

He flew towards the military camp of Great Xia.

"Occasionally flying feels pretty good!" Enjoying the sensation of the wind on his face, the only annoying thing was his hair flailing wildly in the air, with a strand or two occasionally hitting his face, causing him some discomfort.

Very soon, he reached the outskirts of the military camp.

With a slight sense, he detected Xia Lingyu’s presence.

"Over at the altar!"

The next moment, he landed ten meters away from the altar.

His sudden appearance immediately put the surrounding Dark Guards on alert.

"Hehe!"

Chen Xuan believed he had put on a very amicable smile, "Don’t be nervous, I mean no harm. Oh, isn’t this Commander Han?"

Han Yu’s pupils dilated sharply the moment he saw him, vividly recalling the events of that day.

As a Five Layers of Purity martial artist, he hadn’t been able to resist at all.

If it hadn’t been for His Highness arriving in time, that would have been a major loss.

"Commander Han...?"

Chen Xuan called again, touching his face and talking to himself, "No dirt! Right, I need to see Xia Lingyu, could you kindly inform him for me?"

"Wait a moment!"

Han Yu replied coldly, knowing he wouldn’t be here without reason.

A wave of Spiritual Power hit the altar, and immediately a door faintly appeared. He then walked into the door, disappearing from Chen Xuan’s view along with it.

"This array is quite interesting!"

Chen Xuan became intrigued, as this array completely isolated the altar from the outside.

Han Yu had just casually sent a wave of Spiritual Power, but it functioned like a key needing to be inserted at a specific spot in the array for the door to appear.

The next moment, a blue light flashed in his eyes as he used Telepathy.

Immediately, the entire structure of the grand array and its runes appeared before his eyes.

"Hiss..."

Chen Xuan couldn’t help but marvel at how complicated the array was.

Without counting the array’s core, merely the interlocking runes numbered at least tens of thousands.

And the materials used to set up the array amounted to thousands of types.

"Tsk tsk, this is quite extravagant!"

Putting away his Telepathy, Chen Xuan couldn’t help smacking his lips. This array was only for external defense; one could only imagine how complex the one absorbing Essence inside was.

A moment later, Han Yu reappeared.

"The Princess has asked you to go in!"

"Me? Go in?" This really surprised him. Such an important array, yet Xia Lingyu actually allowed an outsider like him to enter.

’Is this old woman up to something bad?’

Chen Xuan hesitated.

"Of course, the Princess said if you’re too afraid, you can wait here, but she doesn’t know when she’ll be out!"

Xia Lingyu had already anticipated his reaction, which is why she had deliberately instructed Han Yu to say that.

However—

Chen Xuan smiled, the old woman really knew how to use low-level provocations.

But he couldn’t deny that it piqued his curiosity.

"Open the door!"

Afraid to enter? What a joke! If Zhou Zheng had said that, he might not have gone in, but Xia Lingyu? Not qualified enough.

Seeing Chen Xuan so straightforward, Han Yu was somewhat surprised. Leaving aside other matters, this kind of courage wasn’t something any ordinary person had.

Like before, he sent out a wave of Spiritual Power, but not to the previous position.

Yet the door shadow still appeared in the same location.

"Interesting, this is indeed interesting!"

Chen Xuan complimented and then stepped into the shadow of the door.

In an instant, the scene before his eyes changed drastically.

This feeling was akin to entering a purple space when he was evolving.

Before him,

nine white jade-like stone pillars over ten meters long, arranged in a circle over ten meters wide. On each one was carved a mythical creature, vividly lifelike as if alive.

And above them hovered a golden dragon.

"Is this the National Spirit of Great Xia?"

Chen Xuan muttered to himself. This was his first time seeing the National Spirit of Great Xia, the previous time had only been a shadow.

"┗|｀O′|┛嗷~~"

The golden dragon, sensing a strange aura, let out a dragon’s roar. Its head turned towards Chen Xuan, its body writhing, emitting a terrifying aura.

"Quiet down!"

Not far off, Xia Lingyu commanded, and instantly the golden dragon settled down, its dragon eyes showing a hint of grievance.

"Hehe!"

Seeing this scene, Chen Xuan inexplicably laughed.

The mighty National Spirit seemed quite intimidated by Xia Lingyu.

But in the next moment, Chen Xuan was stunned.

To be precise, he was attracted by the silver light clusters beneath the golden dragon.

"Are these the Essence of the fallen soldiers?"

Chen Xuan looked at Xia Lingyu and asked.

"Yes, they are!"

She didn’t intend to hide anything, "These Essences are meant to accelerate the growth of Great Xia’s National Spirit!"

"But it’s rather useless, its refining speed is too slow!"

"┗|｀O′|┛嗷~~"

The golden dragon seemed somewhat displeased, letting out another dragon’s roar.

"Did I say anything wrong? After all this time, how much have you refined? You’re useless! Even eating requires someone else’s help!"