Journey to the West: Signing in for 500 Years-Chapter 399 - 393: Physical Body Minor Achievement [Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets]_1
Sha Chen took out the Shilong Zhenyuan and directly refined it on the spot. His physical body was also steadily improving.
「One month later.」
Sha Chen’s physical body had finally reached the next level, stepping directly into the Small Achievement Realm of the Primeval Chaos Law Body. Originally, he was not far from the Small Achievement Realm of the Primeval Chaos Law Body, just half a step away. Now, with the Shilong Zhenyuan, he directly crossed that step. Moreover, there was a surplus. Right after reaching the Small Achievement Realm of the Primeval Chaos Law Body, Sha Chen’s physical body took another step further, firmly establishing itself in this realm.
Within his body, the Divine Power was inexhaustibly vast. The thirty-six major acupoints within his body also contained infinite elemental power, with vast and profound Divine Powers of Primeval Chaos. The power of heavenly fire and heavenly thunder, as well as divine wind, divine water, and the force of raging sand, were all greatly enhanced. Sha Chen had mastered and refined these five elemental powers very early on. He was already close to achieving Great Accomplishment with them, especially the powers of heavenly fire and divine water, which he had possessed for quite some time. Now, they were directly enhanced. The powers of heavenly fire and divine water achieved Great Accomplishment, while the other elemental powers also became much stronger.
As for the power of space, it also progressed from the entry level, taking a step forward, and stepped into the Small Achievement Realm, advancing side by side with his physical body. Originally, Sha Chen had thought achieving a small accomplishment in the power of space would not be so simple, but his own research revealed that as the physical body strengthened, elemental powers also grew stronger. Now that he had advanced his physical body, his elemental powers naturally also became stronger. The power of space naturally strengthened in tandem, but becoming even stronger from this point was no longer so easy. This was because the power of space is the most mysterious and unpredictable. It could advance alongside the physical body, but once it reached the Small Achievement Realm, it was considered to have reached its current limit. To achieve Great Accomplishment, he would need to cultivate the Primeval Chaos Law Body to Great Perfection; otherwise, it would be in vain.
With the Primeval Chaos Law Body at Great Perfection, his strength would be immense, capable of contending with Quasi-Sage Peak cultivators using his physical body alone. The strength of the twelve Ancestral Witches was fundamentally at the Great Perfection of the Primeval Chaos Law Body. Even some Ancestral Witches who were not as strong had only achieved Great Accomplishment in the Primeval Chaos Law Body. However, with their physical bodies and elemental powers, contending with Quasi-Sage Peak cultivators was not a problem. Peak Ancestral Witches like Di Jiang could even contend with Sub-Sages. Even if they could not defeat Saints, they could still hold their own and flee.
Sha Chen hoped that one day, he would push his physical body to the Great Perfection of Primeval Chaos and, at the same time, achieve Great Accomplishment and even Great Perfection in the power of space. Then, with such a physical body, he would not need to fear even Saints. The vast world would be his to roam freely. However, that was still too far off. He would have to work even harder and would need greater opportunities to achieve it.
After his physical body broke through to the Small Accomplishment of Primeval Chaos, Sha Chen’s muscles became even more defined, each one looking as if cast from molten steel. The Dragon Girl was engrossed in her enlightenment; otherwise, she would have drooled at the sight.
Sha Chen’s breakthrough in his physical body did not mark the end of his seclusion. On the contrary, he became even more diligent and hardworking. That was just the kind of person he was. He knew that cultivation was hard-won, and the more powerful he became, the more he was aware that there was always someone stronger, which drove him to work even harder.
Sha Chen took out some Elixirs to consolidate his physical body and then began to cultivate his Mana. Now, both his Primordial Spirit and physical body were at the standard of the Small Accomplishment of Primeval Chaos, while his Mana was still at the Initial Quasi-Sage Level. However, he was positioned at the peak of the Initial Quasi-Sage Level. With the right opportunity and enough accumulation, he too could cross over in one step.
It’s time to push my Mana cultivation as well, Sha Chen felt. After all, I’ve been at this realm for quite a long time now—over ten years!
If anyone else dared to say this, they would undoubtedly be ridiculed to death. For others, breaking through a minor realm at the Quasi-Saint Realm in hundreds of thousands of years was already considered monstrous. His thought of breaking through in just over ten years was simply terrifying by comparison. Sha Chen was aware that if he solely relied on arduous cultivation, it would not be easy to break through a minor Quasi-Sage realm, even in tens or hundreds of thousands of years. Even with resources, it would require a significant amount of time; a few thousand or even ten thousand years would be considered fast. Luckily, Sha Chen had talent, potential, and enough resources to advance his Mana cultivation, which wasn’t so difficult. He just had to be prepared to work even harder.
「Sha Chen’s seclusion lasted another ten years.」
The Jinghe Dragon King had consolidated his Daluo Golden Immortal cultivation and had taken a step further, but breaking through to the Mid-level Da Luo was not so easy. It was clear that he had not handed over all the resources of the Dragon Palace to Sha Chen. He had kept some for himself and then sneakily used them during his cultivation. Sha Chen didn’t expose him. Ao Lie and the Dragon Girl were also cunning, likewise not handing over all their resources to Sha Chen. This allowed Sha Chen to breathe a sigh of relief, however. At least I don’t have to take out the resources that have gone into my own pocket and share them, he thought. They can just consume what’s theirs.
In ten years, their own resources had been nearly depleted—something they couldn’t have imagined in their normal lives. In their usual cultivation, they would never refine resources so unrestrainedly. Now, watching Sha Chen’s voracious cultivation—directly refining and devouring all resources—they followed suit. Naturally, their expenditure was huge. Resources that would normally be enough for thousands or even tens of thousands of years of cultivation were exhausted in just ten years, which was also quite astonishing.
However, the gains were also tremendous. First, their cultivation levels increased rapidly. Ao Lie reached the peak of the Mid-level Da Luo, just half a step away from the high-level Da Luo. This half-step could be crossed at any moment. Ao Lie and the Dragon Girl were roughly equal; in fact, their talents were evenly matched, and their opportunities were similar. Originally, the Dragon Girl was more powerful, but since Ao Lie had started following Sha Chen earlier, he had managed to catch up. Now, the two of them progressed side by side, pushing each other and competing to become stronger.
Ten years later, on this particular day, Sha Chen wanted to continue his seclusion. He found the state of being in seclusion very comfortable. However, he couldn’t sit still anymore. It wasn’t that his mindset was weak, nor did he feel his composure crumble because he hadn’t yet stepped into the Intermediate Stage of Quasi-Saint. Rather, someone was calling from outside the Flowing Sand River.
People from the Heavenly Court had arrived outside the Flowing Sand River. And there was a considerable number of them: Wang Lingguan and the Eight Immortals, accompanied by Star Lord Luo Xuan and others. The person leading them was no longer Li Jing. It seemed that since Li Jing had shown goodwill towards Sha Chen, the Jade Emperor’s confidence in him was not as strong as before. This time, the leader was Emperor Zhenwu of the Four Imperials, a highly esteemed Heavenly Emperor. Emperor Zhenwu personally led various Immortals to assemble at the Flowing Sand River. He himself stood upon his Dragon Chariot, holding a divine sword, gazing down from above. His expression was calm, his eyes cold as he looked over the vast Flowing Sand River, his brow slightly furrowing.
Besides the various figures from the Heavenly Court, the Eighteen Arhats were also unexpectedly present, though of course, the Xianglong Arhat was absent. At this time, the Xianglong Arhat had descended to the mortal world, incarnating as a Monk named Ji Gong and gaining experience. As for the reincarnation of Jin Chanzi, he too had received Buddhism’s teachings and had started on his Journey to the West. However, this time, the direction of his journey had been changed; he would no longer pass by the Flowing Sand River. Consequently, taking a detour would mean needing at least a hundred years to reach Lingjiu Mountain. Whether the reincarnated Jin Chanzi, now in a mortal’s body, could reach Lingjiu Mountain before dying of old age was truly uncertain.
However, this also highlighted the intentions of Buddhism: they truly were not planning for Jin Chanzi to reach Lingjiu Mountain so easily. They were determined to ensure he perished on the way. Still, altering the path was not so simple. Fortunately, he was only a reincarnation, not yet in his tenth life, so slightly changing the direction of the journey was somewhat acceptable. In fact, Buddhism’s actions also aimed to test Sha Chen. They intended to nurture Jin Chanzi in this life and see if Sha Chen would be tempted.
Yet Sha Chen paid it no heed. The rebellious element he had imbued within Jin Chanzi wasn’t so easily swayed. After reaching adulthood, Jin Chanzi had already awakened his memories, though he had not revealed them. He was secretly cultivating and stealthily growing stronger. Even with the change in the direction of his journey, his resolve would not falter.
Sha Chen was not worried about this. Instead, he was concerned about the Immortals and Buddhists outside. Why have they come to the Flowing Sand River at this moment? He remembered that he hadn’t provoked the Immortals or Buddhists for a long time. Why would they come here?
While he was momentarily stunned, someone outside had already come to call. It was Mo Liqing of the Four Heavenly Kings. He originally held a high status among the celestial soldiers and generals, but within this group, he was merely an ordinary figure. He had been reduced to a low-ranking officer here.
Mo Liqing stepped forward and called out, "Great General for Folding the Curtain, Sha Chen of the Flowing Sand River, listen up! We are the celestial soldiers and generals of the Heavenly Court, commanded by His Majesty the Jade Emperor to capture the criminal Jinghe Dragon King and bring him back to the Heavenly Court for trial. Please open the gates of the Flowing Sand River Cave so we may apprehend the criminal."
They came for the Jinghe Dragon King?! Sha Chen frowned. So the Heavenly Court knows about this too?
The Jinghe Dragon King was also startled awake. Both Ao Lie and the Dragon Girl were shocked, immediately ceasing their cultivation. The three of them looked at each other, the Jinghe Dragon King trembling visibly. He looked at Sha Chen, exclaiming with fear, "River Lord, this king... this king has brought trouble upon you!"
Sha Chen waved his hand. "Don’t worry," he said. "It seems they saw you enter the Flowing Sand River territory and then disappear without a trace, so they suspect I’ve given you refuge."
The Jinghe Dragon King said, "I have caused trouble for the River Lord. If I had left early and handed over my authority, they would not have come here."
Sha Chen replied, "Enough. It was not wise for you to go out at that time." He shook his head again. "But I also didn’t expect the Jade Emperor to be so shameless," he said. "The matter of Wu Qu Xing has barely passed, and he has traced it here, already charging you with a crime."
Mo Liqing continued speaking outside. Indeed, the Jade Emperor had accused the Jinghe Dragon King of colluding with the Golden Winged Dapeng in the killing of Wu Qu Xing. However, there was no direct evidence, only suspicion. This time, the language used was to ’bring him back for cooperation in the investigation,’ not a direct and complete condemnation to execute the Jinghe Dragon King. Nevertheless, with the Jade Emperor having gone this far, if the Jinghe Dragon King truly went to the Heavenly Court, he would definitely be convicted immediately. The Jinghe Dragon King wouldn’t even have the chance to relinquish his authority.
