Chapter 97

"Cough, cough!"

Li Chen retreated and knelt on the ground, coughing up streaks of blood, his eyes filled with shock as he looked ahead.

Two figures were there, one sitting cross-legged, the other lying on its back, leaning against the rock wall.

What was shocking was that the figure lying on its back was clearly a skeleton, with a rusty iron sword piercing its chest.

The figure sitting cross-legged was surrounded by blue ice crystals, emitting a dense and chilling aura. His white hair was so familiar—it was none other than the top elite disciple of the Xuan Yun Sect, the White-Haired Yama—Ye Guyun.

Li Chen trusted his eyes and knew he wouldn't be mistaken.

Ye Guyun was the kind of person you would remember after just one glance, someone you could never forget in your entire life.

The aura that made it difficult for Li Chen to move, the one that made every step a struggle, was emanating from these two figures.

"Is this the power of the top disciple?"

Li Chen couldn't help but clench his fists.

Ye Guyun's strength didn't discourage him; instead, it ignited his fighting spirit. One day, he would catch up and even surpass him.

Buzz!

Suddenly, the still-sitting Ye Guyun's body trembled. With a crackling sound, the ice crystals shattered and shot out, and a shocking sharp aura soared into the sky.

It was Ye Guyun's sword momentum!

A sword momentum that had reached the Perfect Realm!

In martial cultivation, there are five levels of martial techniques, and the elusive 'momentum' also has five levels.

Like martial techniques, when cultivated to the Initial Insight Realm, one's strength increases by 10%, to the Minor Success Realm by 20%, to the Major Success Realm by 50%, and to the Perfect Realm by 90%.

If one reaches the Transcendent Realm, it means the martial technique has been cultivated to a divine level, surpassing the original, increasing one's strength by 120%.

And this 'momentum' is the same, but its effects are even more astonishing, doubling or even tripling. After all, momentum is too elusive and hard to grasp, while martial techniques are often passed down from predecessors, making them easier to follow.

Given Ye Guyun's cultivation and insight, at just 21 years old, his sword momentum had reached the Perfect Realm, only one step away from the Transcendent Realm.

His own cultivation must have reached an astonishing level, making it as easy for him to challenge higher ranks as eating and drinking.

This was the gap between a genius and an ordinary person!

Pop, pop, pop!

At the moment this shocking sword momentum appeared, a thunderous sound suddenly came from within Ye Guyun's body, a clear sign of a breakthrough.

Clang, clang, clang!

The iron sword on the skeleton, responding to the changes in Ye Guyun's aura, trembled continuously. Rust fell off, and it emitted a terrifying cold light, the sharp sword qi no longer concealed.

Under Li Chen's shocked gaze, Ye Guyun's body slowly rose, like a sword being drawn from its sheath, gradually accelerating and shooting into the sky.

The iron sword, now half-rusted, followed Ye Guyun, piercing straight into the clouds above.

Boom!

The overwhelming pressure was fully displayed at this moment, even the drifting gray mist was completely dispelled.

Looking up, the sky was clear and sunny. The momentum left behind by Ye Guyun as he flew away kept the clouds from gathering for a long time. It took a full cup of tea before the mist covered the cliff bottom again.

"I can definitely do it!"

Li Chen's eyes were filled with the image of Ye Guyun breaking through and flying away, his gaze firm and resolute.

Whistling!

The eerie howl suddenly sounded, making Li Chen shiver. Even with his greatly improved cultivation, he almost couldn't withstand the诱导 of this strange howl.

Fortunately, the overwhelming pressure had dissipated, so he didn't have to divide his attention to resist it, otherwise, he might have faced the danger of losing control again.

Thinking about the skeleton inside, Li Chen took a deep breath and bravely stepped forward.

Although he couldn't see, he had estimated the distance with a quick glance, so it wasn't too difficult to find.

After taking seventeen steps, he finally saw the skeleton that had been there for who knows how many years.

The tattered clothes were already in shreds, revealing the silver-white bones inside, indicating that the skeleton's owner was a Body Cultivation Warrior in life.

Moreover, his cultivation was above the Fourth Rank Body Cultivation.

For Body Cultivation Warriors, like Li Chen, who was at the Second Rank Body Cultivation, their bones were definitely jade-white. If they reached the Fourth Rank Body Cultivation, they would be silver-white, and the legendary Seventh Rank Body Cultivation would be golden-jade.

Of course, some Body Cultivation techniques might be unique, resulting in different colors, but 99% of the time, this was the case.

"No wonder it had such a strong aura. A Fourth Rank Body Cultivation is equivalent to a Dan Xuan Realm Master. In the entire Xuan Yun Sect, there is only the Sect Master Chu Yunkong."

"Who could have killed such a powerful person here?"

"Could it be the old ancestor of the Xuan Yun Sect?"

The legend of the Xuan Yun Sect flashed through Li Chen's mind.

When the old ancestor of the Xuan Yun Sect founded the sect, he fought a strong enemy for the Xuan Yun Peak, resulting in one death and one severe injury.

The one who died was naturally the strong enemy; otherwise, how could the Xuan Yun Sect exist?

As for the name of the strong enemy, few people mentioned it, and over time, no one remembered it.

The old ancestor of the Xuan Yun Sect died of his injuries not long after founding the sect, and the Xuan Yun Sect has been declining ever since.

From the four peak Dan Xuan Realm masters of the past, there is now only Chu Yunkong, a Dan Xuan Realm Master.

"But why was it left here, untouched?"

Li Chen didn't believe that no one knew about this place. The gray mist here, though strange, couldn't stop a Solid Foundation Realm Warrior, let alone Sect Master Chu Yunkong.

After thinking for a while, he couldn't figure it out and shook his head, his gaze returning to the skeleton.

The skeleton had large joints, and both hands were shattered. What should have been glove-like treasures were scattered around the hands.

It was clear that this Body Cultivation Warrior used hand techniques in battle.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have used his hands to block the sword in the final moments, ultimately failing and dying.

"Hmm, this is—"

Li Chen raised an eyebrow, reached out, and lifted the cloth from the left chest of the skeleton, revealing a rib that glowed with a more intense silver-white light than the others.

Although it was only slightly more intense, Li Chen's keen eyes immediately noticed that this rib, about an inch long, was different from the others, even showing a fine crack.

That was the heart area!

It was also the position where the iron sword had pierced!

But strangely, the rib above it was broken, with a smooth and flat cut, while this rib, or this section of the rib, had only a slight scratch.

Snap!

After some thought, he reached out, grabbed the rib, and pulled it out with surprising ease.

It was cold and heavy, weighing over a hundred pounds, but this weight was nothing to Li Chen.

What made him feel strange was that when he held the rib, it gave him a familiar feeling.

He was certain he had never been here before, nor had he ever touched anything like this.

Li Chen, completely focused on the silver-white rib, didn't notice that the gray mist at the bottom of the cliff suddenly surged when he picked up the rib.

Along with it, the ghostly howls, which should have grown louder, strangely disappeared.

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