Extreme Spirit Chaos Technique

In the Outer Realm, Xuan Yin stared intently at the tenth floor of the Tower of Calamity, his voice heavy. "It seems Mu Chen has run into trouble. Thirty seconds have passed on the tenth floor, and there’s still no sign of him clearing it."

Wu Changqing nodded. "It would seem so. We have no way of knowing what’s happening from the Outer Realm, but I think I’ve figured out the key to a ’perfect clear’."

Di Cang rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Anyone can see that now. It’s time. Clear the Tower of Calamity as fast as possible, and you have a chance at a perfect clear. What we know for sure is that clearing a floor in fifteen seconds guarantees a ’perfect clear’ rating. But we don’t know where the exact cutoff is."

"Indeed. And even if we knew it was fifteen seconds, do you really think anyone besides that little freak in there could actually do it?" Wu Kui said with a smug look on his face.

"Would it kill you to be less blunt? Would it? Would it?!" Di Cang, Xuan Yin, and Wu Changqing shouted in unison.

...

On the tenth floor, smoke still filled the air, but under the coverage of his Spiritual Power, Mu Chen quickly located the wounded Guardian Illusion. The image was instantly transmitted to him. In his mind’s eye, a Guardian Illusion with only half its torso remaining was panting for breath. Its left arm and left leg had been completely blown off, and the Primordial Power radiating from its body had grown chaotic.

Since the Guardian Illusion was a copy of Mu Chen, it already lacked a right arm. Now, having lost its left arm and left leg, it was safe to say it had no combat ability left. In this state, it had only one final method of attack.

With another command from his mind, the Shattered Star Lock Chain shot back to his side, coiling around him in rings of Absolute Defense. His Purple Sky Demon Pupils activated, and the surrounding smoke began to thin, revealing the scene before him. The Guardian Illusion was still panting heavily, but its eyes were exceptionally bright. He didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but Mu Chen felt he could see a faint sense of relief in its eyes.

That look put Mu Chen on high alert. And just as he expected, after panting for a few more seconds, the Guardian Illusion suddenly threw its head back, opened its mouth, and let out a silent roar. An instant later, a powerful shockwave erupted with the Guardian Illusion at its center, blowing away all the surrounding smoke. In that moment, Mu Chen was abruptly reminded of the Mercenary Corps Leader, Morin, from the day he subdued the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit.

Back then, knowing he was no match for the Iron Armor Steel Fang, Morin had decisively chosen to self-destruct. The memory of that terrifying power still sent a shiver of fear through Mu Chen.

’I have to stop it!’

He thrust one hand out, shouted, and splayed his fingers, locking onto the Guardian Illusion before abruptly clenching his fist. With a KCHUNK, the space around the Guardian Illusion seemed to stutter. A sheet of ice-blue crystal rapidly formed, and in a mere instant, the Guardian Illusion’s body was frozen solid.

"Broken Star! Shred it!"

WHOOSH!

Master and weapon were of one mind. The moment Mu Chen shouted the first word, the Shattered Star Lock Chain had already transformed into a crimson serpent of fire and shot out like a bolt of lightning. This was the lock chain’s blazing state. When extreme cold met scorching heat, the balance of the surrounding Ice and Fire Attribute Elemental Power would be shattered, resulting in a violent explosion—an explosion that was nothing to fear compared to the self-destruction of a Martial King.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG...

The Shattered Star Lock Chain carved a long groove into the ground. Like a giant, crimson python, it instantly pierced through the frozen Guardian Illusion. But that was only the beginning. After passing through, the lock chain whipped around and pierced it again from behind. It struck again and again until the entire massive block of Profound Ice was tightly bound, and only then did the Shattered Star Lock Chain stop.

HUMMM...

With a low hum, the red glow on the Shattered Star Lock Chain intensified. The once-calm Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi in the area instantly began to roil. Following this, subtle ripples expanded through space as the Ice Attribute and Fire Attribute Primordial Qi began to simultaneously merge and repel one another. This extreme paradox completely shattered the delicate balance between the two elements.

A ball of intense light gathered where the Shattered Star Lock Chain was coiled. A massive explosion erupted, and the smoke that had just settled once again blanketed the entire challenge area. In the aftermath of the blast, a profound silence fell.

Just then, a cold, emotionless voice broke the silence, informing Mu Chen of the outcome.

"Mu Chen. Tenth floor. Challenge successful. Rating: Perfect Clear. Clear time: forty-eight seconds."

"Cumulative perfect clears: ten. Bonus reward: advance to the First-Ring Martial Artist Realm."

At the same time, a golden Guardian Illusion streaked toward Mu Chen from the distance. With a soft thud, it plunged into his chest and dissolved into countless points of golden light. The reward was delivered in the same way as before, but the result was completely different.

The instant these points of light entered his body, the nine rapidly spinning Dantians within him suddenly ground to a halt. This was no small change. Mu Chen felt as if all the strength had drained from his body, and he quickly lowered himself to the ground, lying on his side to circulate the Extreme Spirit Chaos Technique.

But as he tried, he found the Primordial Power in his body felt as if it had been infused with molten lead; it was completely immobile.

’What’s going on?’

This phenomenon left him completely flustered. As confusion gripped him, the Extreme Spirit Pearl in his mind suddenly stirred. His vision went black, and his consciousness was pulled into his Elixir Field World.

Compared to the first time he had been here, his current Elixir Field World had undergone a world-shaking transformation. The Dantian Vortex in the center had expanded to more than ten times its previous size. Its immense Adhesive Force felt as if it could latch onto a person’s soul and tear it to shreds. The hollow, profound center of the Dantian was darker than ever, but within this darkness, faint specks of starlight twinkled.

Surrounding the Dantian Vortex, eight enormous spheres and one brilliant, hexagonal pyramid emitted a faint glow. Their volume had increased countless times since they were first forged. They should have been rotating in an orderly fashion, driven by the Dantian Vortex, but the influx of Golden Elemental Power seemed to have allowed them to break free from its control, causing them to stagnate in their positions.

Mu Chen looked up. Nine golden ribbons of light acted like conveyor belts, transporting the golden points of light into his Dantians. His Dantians were like sponges, ceaselessly soaking up the Golden Elemental Power. After nearly five minutes, a series of cracking sounds, KAKA, came from all the Dantians. Mu Chen’s Purple Sky Demon Pupils had been active the entire time, so not even the slightest change to his Dantians could escape his notice.

"The Dantians are shrinking rapidly!" Mu Chen’s pupils contracted as he exclaimed in shock.

However, as he watched the Dantians—once like glass marbles—begin to condense, growing ever more brilliant and solid, the knot of worry in his chest finally loosened.

’Crystal Condensation!’

An obscure term surfaced in his mind. Crystal Condensation was the symbol of a Martial Artist breaking through to the Martial Spirit Realm. When a Martial Artist successfully advanced, their hollow, vessel-like Dantian would undergo a complete sublimation, transforming into a crystalline structure akin to a Demon Crystal. These crystals were far better suited for storing purer Primordial Power. In this world, quantity was not always king; quality often reigned supreme. The entire reserve of a Martial Master’s Primordial Power might not equal the potency of a single drop from a Martial Spirit. Such was the gap!

Another five minutes passed, and all nine of Mu Chen’s Dantians successfully completed Crystal Condensation. However, since his Ice Attribute Dantian was already crystalline, its appearance didn’t change at all, aside from becoming smaller.

The other eight Dantians, however, had changed dramatically. Originally spheres, the compression from advancing to the Martial Spirit Realm had reshaped them all into small, irregular crystals. The Fire Attribute Dantian was a red crystal, the Earth Attribute Dantian was a yellow one—each now bore the color representing its Attribute.

Just then, another surge of Golden Elemental Power rushed in from the outside world. The crystalline Dantians seemed to absorb it all effortlessly, at a speed that was simply staggering. But after they absorbed this Golden Elemental Power, something bizarre occurred. Two crystalline offshoots simultaneously sprouted from each of the irregular crystals—a pair of brilliant, dazzling spikes.

HUMMM...

Once the spikes had fully formed, a majestic hum emanated from the Dantian Vortex at the center of the Elixir Field World. Instantly, as if obeying a command, the nine Dantians began to rapidly rotate in sync with the vortex. And as they spun, Mu Chen’s consciousness was abruptly yanked back to the Outer Realm.

The moment he regained consciousness, Mu Chen felt his mind become unbelievably clear, as if a room left uncleaned for years had suddenly been scrubbed from top to bottom. It was an incredibly refreshing feeling, followed by a sense of vast emptiness. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

’Could it be...’

Mu Chen closed his eyes once more, his consciousness instantly surging into his Sea of Souls. A moment later, he burst out laughing. "Haha... my Spiritual Power broke through! Late Stage of the Kan Realm!"

With that, Mu Chen quickly released his Spiritual Power. He discovered that the range of his Spiritual Detection had not only increased to ten thousand meters, but its sensitivity had also multiplied. Now, even a Dark Attribute Martial Artist would find it difficult to launch a successful sneak attack on him.

"Hah!"

With a sharp cry, a vortex of energy erupted from his body—a Primordial Energy Vortex. This was a technique that normally only someone at the Martial King Level could perform, yet Mu Chen could now use it. ’This is my very own Defense Power,’ he thought. ’This is the power that can truly protect me at a fundamental level.’

He clenched his fists. Having long since mastered precise control of his Primordial Power, Mu Chen needed almost no time to adapt. The moment he circulated the Extreme Spirit Chaos Technique, his body began to levitate. By directing the expulsion of his Primordial Power, Mu Chen zipped around the challenge area, flying at high speed and pulling off all sorts of difficult aerial maneuvers with ease.

For a monster like him with nine Dantians, dedicating the Primordial Power of a single Dantian to flight was no problem at all. Although he could use Elemental Power Materialization to achieve a semblance of Walking on Air, it wasn’t the real thing and had significant drawbacks in combat. The most obvious weakness was its unsuitability for making multiple, rapid directional changes over short distances.

But now that he had reached the Martial Spirit Realm, those drawbacks were completely gone. Supplemented by Elemental Power Materialization, his Walking on Air would now absolutely dominate his peers. In terms of endurance and agility, he might even surpass a Martial King!