Chapter 115: The Top Expert of the Tianzi Battalion

Chu Feng calmed his emotions and stopped overthinking. He understood that his cultivation was not yet advanced enough; knowing too much could disrupt his mindset and harm his progress.

The Grand Elder said, “Regardless, you can now cultivate the Path of Humanity, which is a good thing. Walking this path brings many benefits. Cultivating both the Way of Martial Arts and the Path of Humanity simultaneously might not dramatically boost your combat power, but they complement each other. The Way of Martial Arts can compensate for the physical shortcomings of the Path of Humanity.

Meanwhile, the Path of Humanity can provide solid strength to the Way of Martial Arts. In other words, once you embark on the Path of Humanity, your body will possess vast spiritual energy, which nourishes your physical form and replenishes its strength, freeing you from reliance on restorative pills.

Additionally, there will be no restrictions on using spiritual artifacts. The synergy of the Path of Humanity and the Way of Martial Arts will allow you to unleash your ultimate combat potential, leaving no weaknesses.

Since both you and Yu Yang share the fire attribute, when you return to the Tianzi Camp, you can exchange for the Divine Fire Manual. It is the most powerful technique in the fire element path, and Yu Yang once practiced this method.

When you reach the Heavenly Spirit Warrior level in the Path of Humanity, you can come to the Heavenly Treasure Hall to receive the Burning Heaven Art. This is one of our tribe’s secret techniques, perfectly suited to refine the Divine Fire Manual. Consider this a reward for your performance in the Sacred Trial.”

Chu Feng’s heart stirred with excitement, but he also felt some confusion and asked, “The Divine Fire Manual is a spiritual technique. Can I cultivate it without spiritual transformation?”

The Grand Elder sighed. “Actually, all existing secret techniques were originally human path arts, not passed down from deities. The spiritual arts granted by the gods mainly involve summoning spiritual avatars. You could say the spiritual avatar is a gift from the gods, allowing us humans to continue cultivating through it.”

“I see,” Chu Feng sighed, feeling enlightened.

He was truly thrilled to cultivate the Path of Humanity. From the Chronicle of the Human Sovereign, he sensed that the original Path of Humanity was superior to the current spiritual path and certainly not weaker than the Way of Martial Arts.

Chu Feng’s intuition was also supported by another perspective. Humans were forbidden from cultivating due to the Heavenly Punishment, but thanks to the spiritual avatar, they could practice the spiritual path. If there were no real difference between the human and spiritual paths, then the Heavenly Punishment should not matter.

He believed that since Senior Yu Yang was still striving to break the Heavenly Punishment, he must have discovered something.

Where Yu Yang was now, or where that place was, Chu Feng did not know, nor did the Five Elders.

Now that Chu Feng could cultivate without the spiritual avatar, Yu Yang told him to summon it only after becoming a Sacred Spirit Warrior. This seemingly redundant instruction puzzled both Chu Feng and the Five Elders.

All this had been arranged by Yu Yang over eighteen years ago. Even the Five Elders could hardly imagine what heights Yu Yang had reached on the cultivation path.

Afterward, the Five Elders took Chu Feng back to the Sanctuary.

The fact that Chu Feng could cultivate without spiritual transformation overturned the entire understanding of the human race. Once it spread, it would cause a tremendous upheaval.

Therefore, the Five Elders advised Chu Feng not to reveal his spiritual cultivation in daily life, as his strength combining martial and heavenly paths would far surpass pure spiritual cultivation.

Chu Feng left the Sanctuary with a complex heart. Cultivating three paths simultaneously was rare even in later eras. In ancient times, based on current information, only the Human Sovereign Mu Tianren had achieved this.

He understood he was embarking on a completely unique journey. As Yu Yang said, this path might be shrouded in darkness and fraught with difficulties because it involved the forbidden.

“Uncle Yu Yang, I will not let you down,” Chu Feng vowed silently, recalling how he had addressed Yu Yang in childhood. A warm feeling welled up inside him; the legendary figure was not a stranger to him after all.

Back at Tianzi Camp, Chu Feng immediately went to the scripture library to exchange for the Divine Fire Manual. It truly was the top technique of the fire element. The manual was divided into three volumes: the first for Earth Spirit Warriors, the second for Heavenly Spirit Warriors, and the third for Sacred Spirit Warriors.

This subdivision was designed to help newcomers at Tianzi Camp exchange more easily. Each volume cost five hundred points, so the complete set required fifteen hundred points—a sum new students could hardly afford.

However, Chu Feng, having served as Hall Master for a year, had no trouble affording the entire manual and exchanged for it outright.

Now that Long Yue had entered seclusion to cultivate, Chu Feng did not disturb her. During the half-month wait for the Gold Hall Master to refine his medicine, Chu Feng practiced the Divine Fire Manual in the meditation chamber.

Perhaps because his heavenly and martial cultivations were already advanced, his body was far superior to ordinary cultivators. Cultivating the Path of Humanity was no obstacle.

He absorbed the dense spiritual energy voraciously, with no concern for physical strain. Within half a month, his Path of Humanity cultivation reached the late stage of the fourth rank Earth Spirit Warrior.

Chu Feng believed that at this pace, reaching the ninth rank Earth Spirit Warrior in a few months would be entirely feasible.

Yet he had to pause because it was time to visit the Gold Hall Master for the breakthrough to the second extreme stage.

The medicine method was exactly the same as before: a black cauldron filled with golden liquid, a white jade box containing ten golden pills.

Four hourglasses controlled the timing of the medicine usage.

This time, the process was far more intense and lasted longer—three full months.

Though Chu Feng’s body rivaled top-grade spiritual artifacts, it was torn repeatedly, the pain far surpassing the previous ordeal.

Still, he maintained a clear mind throughout and never lost consciousness.

After breaking through the second extreme stage, Chu Feng’s martial cultivation rivaled the mid-stage first rank Heavenly Spirit Warrior. His body was comparable to a lower-grade celestial spiritual artifact, and his spirit and willpower had expanded to perceive five hundred zhang externally.

Under the Gold Hall Master’s testing in the courtyard, Chu Feng’s combined heavenly and martial strength matched that of an early-stage fourth rank Heavenly Spirit Warrior.

At the Heavenly Spirit Warrior level, even the gap between early and late stages was huge, not to mention the vast difference between ranks. Chu Feng’s combat power was undeniably terrifying.

According to the Gold Hall Master, although Yu Yang cultivated rapidly in his day, he never achieved such terrifying strength, since he only walked the heavenly path after becoming a Sacred Spirit Warrior.

Chu Feng bid farewell to the Gold Hall Master and left the Spirit Medicine Hall with the prescription for his next breakthrough.

He then went to the Spirit Artifact Hall to exchange for a communication bead. Now that he had Path of Humanity cultivation and spiritual energy, he could use the bead to transmit messages.

By this time, Long Yue had been out of seclusion for three days. When she saw Chu Feng, her eyes brightened with surprise.

“Brother Feng, you’ve gotten even stronger!” she exclaimed.

Upon learning that Chu Feng possessed Path of Humanity cultivation without spiritual transformation, Long Yue widened her eyes.

“I’ve just successfully broken through the second extreme stage,” Chu Feng said casually, though he knew the breakthrough was anything but easy.

“Looks like you’re now the top expert in Tianzi Camp,” Long Yue said, linking her arm with his.

The two walked by the lakeside, talking at length. Finally, Long Yue mentioned Gulin City. Though it no longer existed, she still wanted to visit with Chu Feng, as it held their childhood memories.

Chu Feng nodded. He too wished to return and see the place.

Mentioning Gulin City naturally brought thoughts of Xu Lan and Xu Yan to Chu Feng’s mind. He had been diligent in cultivation over the past year or two and hadn’t seen them for a long time.

“Xu Yan must have grown from a little girl into a young lady by now,” Chu Feng thought.

He told Long Yue that after settling the matters of the Sacred Trial, they would visit Xu Lan.

With just over three months until the next Sacred Trial, Chu Feng and Long Yue would not miss this opportunity.

They spent points to obtain qualifications for the Sacred Trial and then left Tianzi Camp for Xu Lan’s residence.

Reuniting with Xu Lan stirred deep emotion in both of them.

“I never expected that in just a few years, Chu Feng, you’ve become renowned in the Spirit War Pavilion,” Xu Lan said with heartfelt admiration.

In the living room, Xu Lan warmly entertained them. Chu Feng introduced Long Yue but noticed Xu Lan appeared much older and somewhat haggard.

“Grandfather Xu, how have you been these past couple of years?” Chu Feng asked.

Xu Lan did not answer but sighed, a faint sadness casting a shadow on his face.

Chu Feng’s heart stirred; something unfortunate must have happened.

“Grandfather Xu, please call Xu Yan too. I haven’t seen her in a long time. She must be nearly eighteen now and surely a young lady,” Chu Feng said.

Upon hearing this, Xu Lan seemed to be pierced in his heart, his sorrow deepening and tears glistening in his eyes.

Seeing this, Chu Feng’s expression froze, and his heart jolted. He hurriedly asked, “Grandfather Xu, what happened to Xu Yan?”

Xu Lan’s grief was unmistakable. After a moment of silence, he finally said, “Yan’er has been missing for three months now. I’m afraid the worst has happened to her.”

“What’s the story?” Chu Feng asked, growing anxious.

It turned out that Xu Yan had gone alone to the Feiqiong Mountain region on a mission. According to the task, it should have been completed within three months.

After four months, she still hadn’t returned. Xu Lan grew worried and tried contacting her, but there was no response. He even went searching personally but found nothing.

Now, half a year had passed with no news. It seemed truly grim for Xu Yan.