Chapter 73

The Nimbus Martial Ancestor was built at the foot of a mountain, spanning over ten li. Zi Chen finally let out a sigh of relief when he saw the Nimbus Martial Ancestor from afar. He had been on tenterhooks the whole time, fearing that Chen Feng would suddenly attack him.

When they left, there were more than a hundred disciples. They were in high spirits, full of confidence and dreams. But when they returned, there were only a few dozen of them, each of them looking like frosted eggplants.

Nearly ninety percent of the disciples were injured or killed. Those who missed the trip to the Spiritual Herbal Garden looked at each other in dismay. They were glad that they missed the trip to the Spiritual Herbal Garden.

With such a high death rate, the disciples who survived all gained a lot.

After the spiritual herbs were turned in, they could be divided according to their contribution points. After returning, Chen Feng left with the Head Elder, and the disciples returned to their own places. After a few days, they would be able to receive their contribution points.

The Head Elder distributed the list of spiritual herbs. Naturally, there were people who took care of everything. They began to register and verify the contribution points.

Next, the Head Elder had to consider the matter of Zi Chen.

Zi Chen's potential was truly terrifying. In just a year, he had actually broken through from Stage Five to Stage Nine. Moreover, his battle strength was even stronger than Xu Yan's.

The Head Elder had to admit that he was a genius. He had already seen it during the selection, but he never thought that his potential would be so great, far surpassing Chen Feng's.

Unfortunately, such a genius was destined to not be nurtured, because he was on the opposite side of Chen Feng.

"Head Elder." Chen Feng walked in without anyone noticing.

"Why are you here?" The Head Elder was surprised.

"I'm just worried, so I want to ask Head Elder how to deal with Zi Chen." Chen Feng asked, looking at the Head Elder with hope.

The Head Elder hesitated. He hadn't decided yet.

"Head Elder went to the Martial Ancestor and hasn't returned yet. Everything here is decided by the Head Elder. Zi Chen colluded with outsiders, killed his fellow disciples, and stole their spiritual herbs. This is already an ironclad fact. According to the rules of the sect, this is a capital offense." Chen Feng said in a low voice.

The Head Elder frowned. This matter was not easy to handle. He didn't care about Zi Chen, but he cared about another person.

"What did Meng Yao say?"

"What else can she say? She's still on Zi Chen's side."

At the mention of Su Mengyao, Chen Feng's face was filled with anger. He said unwillingly, "But we have many witnesses. Zi Chen can't deny it at all. Besides, the Sect Leader isn't here. The Elders can act first and report later."

"Let me think about it. You can leave first." The Grand Elder waved his hand, still hesitating.

Chen Feng was very unwilling to give up. Before he walked out of the door, he turned back and said, "Third Grandpa, the family has been waiting for news from us. Zi Chen's talent is too high. If the Sect Master discovers him, there is a high possibility that he will be accepted as a disciple. Once he develops, he might threaten my position as the future Sect Master.

I've already reached a bottleneck, and Zi Chen's thousand-year-old spirit herb is just enough for me to break through. "

After saying those words, Chen Feng left.

As for the hesitant First Elder, his expression suddenly turned cold. After hearing what Chen Feng said, he finally made his decision.

After Zi Chen came back, he locked himself in his room and refused to see anyone.

In the sect, there were many people who wanted to harm him. Among them, Chen Feng was the biggest threat. Zi Chen had to be on guard. Therefore, he had to seize the time to improve his strength.

Opening the bag, there was a dazzling array of spirit herbs. They shone brilliantly, and a dense Spirit Qi rushed out. In front of Zi Chen, there were no less than twenty spirit herbs that were more than five hundred years old.

This was Zi Chen's harvest this time. He had gained the most from the trip to the Spiritual Herbal Garden. Just the spirit herbs he had swallowed far surpassed what the Martial Ancestor had obtained this time.

Zi Chen arranged the twenty spirit herbs one by one, then sat down cross-legged and swallowed them one by one.

The current him didn't need any battle skills. He only needed to improve his strength.

For others, it would take months to refine these spirit herbs, but for Zi Chen, it only took a few days.

During this period of time, Zi Chen didn't eat or drink. He refined day and night. The speed of his strength increasing was extremely slow, but the speed of his body's transformation was extremely fast.

Streams of silver energy entered his body, cleansing his meridians and causing his body to become stronger and tougher.

Like sand being washed away by waves, Zi Chen's body was washed away by the silver energy every day, washing away the impurities within. Every day was a small transformation.

Zi Chen didn't need to learn any battle skills. He wholeheartedly focused on improving his strength. He didn't want to waste a single second. In just two days, Zi Chen had refined all twenty five hundred years old spirit herbs. If this speed were to spread, it would be shocking.

During this period of time, he had gone all out, squeezing out all of his potential. Fortunately, his heart was also very strong. It was like a bottomless pit, devouring all the spirit herbs' energy and rapidly feeding back even more pure energy. Zi Chen's body rumbled all day long, like sand being washed away by waves, over and over again, the impurities in his body were removed.

Zi Chen's body was moving towards a pure Xiantian body.

When he had swallowed the snake gall to break through to the middle ninth level, he was also moving towards the late ninth level. After refining all the energy, Zi Chen's strength had already reached the peak of the ninth level. He was only one step away from the tenth level.

Two days later, there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Zi Chen opened his eyes. He was very dissatisfied that his cultivation was disturbed.

"It's me." A low voice sounded.

It was Miao Kong.

Zi Chen opened the door, and Miao Kong flashed in.

"The things you wanted, I've already prepared them for you. It really wasn't easy."

Miao Kong walked towards the wooden table as soon as he came in, and then took out a porcelain bottle from his bulging bosom.

"How many did you get?" Seeing those porcelain bottles, Zi Chen's eyes lit up.

When he had returned that day, he had asked Miao Kong to exchange some True Qi Dans for him. After all, he had a conflict with Luo Men. Although he had a lot of contribution points, it was inevitable that Luo Men would find trouble with him. Zi Chen didn't care about contribution points, but he cared about time.

Now, he didn't have much time left.

"When I went to exchange, Luo Men actually didn't let me. Thanks to Senior Sister Su Mengyao's help, she found some friends and exchanged them for these. She told me to tell you to use them first. After a few days, there will be more True Qi Dans for you." One by one, the porcelain bottles were placed on the table by Miao Kong.

Zi Chen's eyes swept over, and he had already determined the quantity. There were a total of twenty bottles.

Each bottle had ten True Qi Dans, so twenty bottles added up to two hundred True Qi Dans.

This was a huge number. One must know that a year ago, Zi Chen couldn't even take out a single True Qi Dan. For a five hundred year old spirit herb, Zhao Can had sold him out.

But only a year had passed, and Zi Chen had obtained two hundred True Qi Dans. The number of five hundred year old spirit herbs he had swallowed had already exceeded fifty.

"Thank you." Zi Chen gratefully said. After swallowing all the spirit herbs, what he needed the most now was True Qi Dans.

Two hundred True Qi Dans were enough for him to refine for several days.

Before leaving, Miao Kong patted Zi Chen's shoulder. "When a cultivator cultivates, they must follow the rules. Haste makes waste. The speed at which you refine spirit medicines is very fast, but if you refine too many, be careful not to suffer a backlash." Before leaving, Miao Kong patted Zi Chen on the shoulder.

Zi Chen nodded, indicating that he understood.

"You have to be careful. Recently, the sect has spread the news that Chen Feng wants to deal with you."

Miao Kong finally left.

"Chen Feng, you have repeatedly caused trouble for me. One day, I will make you regret it." Inside the room, Zi Chen's eyes instantly turned cold.

At the bedside, twenty bottles of True Qi Dans were lined up in a row. Zi Chen sat cross-legged, and calmed his mind. He directly opened a bottle of True Qi Dans, and as if he was eating candy, he instantly swallowed the ten True Qi Dans.

The True Qi Dans melted in his mouth, turning into a cool and refreshing feeling that flowed into his stomach. Then, a powerful and pure energy gushed out and rushed into Zi Chen's body.

The peak of the ninth level of True Qi Dans had not broken through. Zi Chen was somewhat anxious. After waiting for several bottles of True Qi Dans to be refined, he still had not broken through. Instead, his body had become even stronger.

His blood and Qi was extremely vigorous. Once it erupted, it was like a peak of the tenth level vicious beast, surging violently. However, it still had not reached the limit that Zi Chen could understand.

The peak of the tenth level of True Qi Dans was still not perfect. Every time he cultivated, his body would undergo a transformation, and it was transforming every day.

On the third day, Zi Chen had already refined five bottles of True Qi Dans. There were still fifteen bottles that he had not refined.

Time was of the essence. Zi Chen did not want to waste a single second. He opened his eyes, picked up the True Qi Dans, and prepared to refine them again. But suddenly, footsteps sounded from outside.

With his strength becoming stronger, Zi Chen's perception naturally became stronger. Even if it was very light footsteps, Zi Chen could still perceive them. Then, there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Zi Chen asked in a cold voice.

From the sound of the footsteps, he could already tell that it was two people. Therefore, it could not be Miao Kong. Although the footsteps were very light, there was a kind of heavy feeling. There was no sense of lightness. Obviously, it was not Su Mengyao or Lin Xue.

"Zi Chen, you are suspected of killing a fellow disciple. The Punishment Hall invites you in." A cold voice sounded from outside the door.

"Punishment Hall?"

Zi Chen's complexion changed. He did not think that the other side would act so quickly. It had only been three days, and they already wanted to make a move on him.

Punishment Hall was in charge of the punishment of the Nimbus Martial Ancestor. They had always acted impartially and had never practiced favoritism. In the past, they had even beheaded several core disciples who had committed serious crimes. It was said that the Hall Master of Punishment Hall was a stubborn old man. He abhorred evil as if it was his own personal enemy. He hated heartless people the most.

"Do you want to come out by yourself, or do you want us to invite you in?" A cold voice sounded from outside the door again.

"I'll go out." Zi Chen put the Zhen Qi Dan under the blanket, and then walked towards the door with an indifferent face.

As the door opened, Zi Chen saw the two middle-aged men outside the door. His pupils instantly shrank. They were wearing red clothes. Although they were not angry, they were imposing. Although their aura was restrained, there was still a chilling aura coming from them.

"Red Clothed Elder, Xiantian stage."

Zi Chen was shocked. He never thought that the Punishment Hall would actually send out two Xiantian stage elders. Obviously, they had already heard of the speculation about Zi Chen's strength. They were afraid that they would not be able to bring back a tenth stage Zhen Qi stage Zi Chen, so they directly sent out two elders.

"Let's go."

The two looked cold and serious, like executioners of the mortal world.

"I can't find the way. I hope that the two elders can lead the way."

Zi Chen said awkwardly. Although Zi Chen had been in the inner sect for a year, he had never been to the Nimbus Martial Ancestor. Therefore, he had only heard of the Punishment Hall, but did not know where it was.

"Hmph!" The two snorted coldly. Then, one in front and one behind, they sandwiched Zi Chen in the middle and walked towards the Punishment Hall.

Along the way, they met many cultivators.

"Look, that's Zi Chen."

"Why is Zi Chen with two elders? And they are even elders of the Punishment Hall?"

The Punishment Hall elders had a chilling aura around them. It was very easy to recognize them.

"You don't even know this? You're so stupid. The sect has already been abuzz with the news that Zi Chen colluded with others in the Spiritual Herbal Garden and killed many disciples of the Nimbus Martial Ancestor. Even the ten inner disciples were killed."

"What? So vicious? He killed the ten disciples of the Inner Sect? Is Zi Chen that strong?"

"Of course, he is very strong. It is said that he even killed a Xiantian stage beast and obtained a thousand-year-old Spiritual Herb. However, he selfishly kept it and caused the sect to lose the bet."

"Sigh, that's too selfish."