247: Chapter 247 Heading to Central China

After several hours of Dual Cultivation, Dongfang Qingcheng went from her original Middle Stage of Void Refinement to the Early Body Integration Stage, and Wen Ruyu went from her original Late Soul Transformation Stage to the Late Void Refinement Stage; the gap between the two had become very small.

For the next three days, Xiao Yuchen stayed with the three of them. Once he had recovered his Yang Qi, Xiao Yuchen bade farewell to the three and headed toward Piaomiao Palace.

Before this, Sect Master Hua Yuxi had already spoken with Palace Master Mu Wanqing, asking her to prepare in advance.

On the way, Xiao Yuchen found a small island and took out a Supreme Creation Pill to consume. Soon, the sky turned dark again, and lightning continuously gathered within the clouds.

Although the Lightning Tribulation was becoming increasingly terrifying, Xiao Yuchen was very expectant. After this Lightning Tribulation, his Arc Seed should be able to reach max level.

The facts proved him right; the Lightning Tribulation of the Dongxu Stage was still nothing to the current Xiao Yuchen. After hard-tanking over twenty bolts of lightning, Xiao Yuchen took out the lightning locking tower.

When the Lightning Tribulation ended and the five-colored auspicious clouds descended, Xiao Yuchen successfully broke through to the Early Dongxu Stage.

"Ding! Congratulations to the Host for successfully breaking through to the Early Dongxu Stage. Rewards: one Gold Spirit Stone, the third form of the Thunder Control Technique: Three Thousand Thunders (can be cultivated once the Arc Seed reaches max level), and three Supreme great dao pills. They have been placed in the System Inventory; please check, Host."

Hearing the System's voice, Xiao Yuchen nodded with satisfaction. As expected, the rewards for breaking through across stages were the best.

Xiao Yuchen was not in a rush to claim the rewards; instead, he first absorbed the heavenly lightning inside the lightning locking tower. Once these heavenly lightning bolts were absorbed, his Arc Seed would reach max level, at which point he could learn the third form of the Thunder Control Technique, and the power of the Thunder Control Technique would also be greatly enhanced.

Things went much as Xiao Yuchen had anticipated. After absorbing most of the heavenly lightning in the lightning locking tower, Xiao Yuchen's Arc Seed finally reached max level. Xiao Yuchen's strength also increased, though he was still some distance away from the Middle Stage of the Dongxu Stage.

With the Arc Seed at max level, Xiao Yuchen claimed the third form of the Thunder Control Technique from the System Inventory. Having the foundation of the first two forms, Xiao Yuchen quickly mastered the third form, Three Thousand Thunders.

Like the Fire Control Technique, the Thunder Control Technique also had three forms. The first form, Thunder Dragon Annihilation, could only release a few bolts of lightning at most; the second form, Heart Demon Lightning, attacked from within; while the third form, Three Thousand Thunders, was an area-of-effect attack.

The exact number of lightning bolts one could unleash depended on the caster's own Spiritual Qi. The current Xiao Yuchen could not yet achieve the full effect of Three Thousand Thunders, but releasing several hundred bolts of lightning at once was still effortless.

This was already very impressive. Even when undergoing Lightning Tribulation, lightning bolts increased gradually, and the Nine-Fold Lightning Tribulation could not possibly produce hundreds of lightning bolts at once. Yet, Xiao Yuchen's Three Thousand Thunders could achieve this, which was Heaven-Defying enough.

Furthermore, Xiao Yuchen's Arc Seed had reached max level, and he possessed the strongest Chaos Qi within him, which greatly enhanced the power of Three Thousand Thunders. If several hundred bolts of Dongxu Stage heavenly lightning were to fall simultaneously, it could likely annihilate a powerhouse at the Middle Stage of Mahayana.

The only pity was that the System did not gift any Holy Fire this time, but it did not matter; he had found the Green Lotus Demonic Fire himself, so he could consider it a huge gain.

After learning the Thunder Control Technique, Xiao Yuchen refined the Gold Spirit Stone and awakened the Gold Spiritual Root, forming a gold seed within his Dantian, which was then swallowed by the Nascent Soul behind it.

The Gold Spiritual Root was similar to the Earth Spiritual Root and counted as an auxiliary Spiritual Root. It could likewise enhance physical fitness while simultaneously increasing attack power and causing the hands to undergo metallization.

Of course, this was only level one. As the Rank increased, more parts would undergo metallization until, in the end, everything was metallized, just like wearing armor.

Although it was very cool, he did not know how many years or months it would take to upgrade it.

Xiao Yuchen did not want to think about it too much. He put everything into his System Space and headed toward the direction of Piaomiao Palace once again.

This time was different from the last. When Xiao Yuchen arrived at the summit of Piaomiao Mountain, he discovered that the maze Formation had not been activated, and many Piaomiao Palace Disciples were waiting there, including Former Palace Master Miaomiao Xue.

Xiao Yuchen's help to them had been truly immense. Not only had the Disciples' cultivation improved significantly, but their Sword Technique had also undergone a qualitative transformation. Those female Core Disciples all regarded Xiao Yuchen as their idol and would always mention him when chatting in their leisure time.

Therefore, upon hearing that Xiao Yuchen was coming, these Core Disciples voluntarily requested to come out and welcome him. Even several people who planned to go into seclusion to Breakthrough suspended their Breakthrough plans, because once Xiao Yuchen left, it would not be easy to see him again.

Seeing so many people waiting here, Xiao Yuchen was also somewhat moved. People always said that those in the Cultivation World had no feelings, but that was because no one was willing to give true feelings.

"Palace Master Mu, we are all acquaintances now; why must you be so polite?" Xiao Yuchen laughed heartily. With Disciples present, he could not reveal Former Palace Master Miaomiao Xue's identity.

"It is only right. Elder Yuchen has done a kindness to my Piaomiao Palace, so you deserve this courtesy. Please come in; the Teleportation Array is already prepared," Former Palace Master Miaomiao Xue said with a smile.

"Alright, thank you for the trouble."

Following the crowd, Xiao Yuchen arrived at the Forbidden Ground behind Piaomiao Palace. This place was guarded by a high-level Formation, and without the Palace Master's token, no one else could activate the Formation.

"Palace Master Mu, this Teleportation Array is right inside Piaomiao Palace; won't it be unsafe? If people from the Central Divine Continent take the Teleportation Array here, wouldn't they be able to invade Piaomiao Palace directly?" Xiao Yuchen asked, puzzled.

"Hehe, it doesn't matter, because people from the Central Divine Continent would never come to a place like Xiyue Prefecture where the Spiritual Qi is sparse. If someone really came, it wouldn't matter where the Teleportation Array was; we wouldn't be able to stop them anyway. Moreover, the Xuantian Continent has its own rules: powerhouses from the first three prefectures cannot easily take action against people from the last two, especially not to destroy a Sect, so I am not worried about external enemies," Former Palace Master Miaomiao Xue explained.

"Oh, so that's how it is. It seems I was overthinking it. By the way, Palace Master Mu, has this Teleportation Array not been used for a long time? Will it be unsafe?"

As the saying goes, once bitten by a snake, one is terrified of a rope for ten years. Xiao Yuchen was truly afraid of encountering spatial turbulence again; he could not guarantee he would be that lucky again.

"Rest assured, it is absolutely safe. Although it is not usually used, daily maintenance is still required. To maintain this Teleportation Array, we have invested quite a few Spirit Stones into it. The key is that no one uses this Teleportation Array, so we cannot collect any money."

"Do you mean that since it's rare to encounter someone taking the Teleportation Array, you're going to fleece me?" Xiao Yuchen said with a smile.

"Elder Yuchen, you are truly joking. Even if I were to collect Spirit Stones from the Sect's Disciples, I could not collect Spirit Stones from you. We will never forget your kindness to Piaomiao Palace."

"Haha, then thank you. Please help me activate the Formation, Palace Master Mu."

Palace Master Mu Wanqing nodded and placed the Sect Master token into the Formation's eye. The grand Formation directly vanished, and what appeared before their eyes was a cave.

"Elder Yuchen, please go in yourself. I have prepared the Spirit Stones for taking the Teleportation Array for you; they are inside the cave. After you go in, I will close the Formation, but the Formation only allows exit and not entry, so it will have no effect on you."

"Thank you."

Xiao Yuchen clasped his hands toward the crowd and then entered the cave. The cave was not large; apart from a Teleportation Array in the middle, there was nothing else.

Xiao Yuchen saw the Spirit Stones placed to the side, but he did not take them. He did not want people to think he was someone who liked to take advantage of small gains, and furthermore, he was truly not short of Spirit Stones.

Xiao Yuchen took out Spirit Stones from his System Space to activate the Teleportation Array. A beam of white light enveloped Xiao Yuchen, and his figure directly vanished from the cave.