Chapter 422: Sword Qi Lasts a Thousand Years

Li Chenfeng didn't stop flying. Instead, a chasm seemed to suddenly appear between him and Li Fan, a gap he couldn't cross. Though they were only a short distance apart, it felt like they were miles away. No matter how furious Li Chenfeng became, or how rapidly his two pairs of wings flapped behind him, he remained trapped within this invisible cage.

The Two Energies Micro-Dust Array!

Although Li Fan had only set up a simplified version, it was more than enough to trap Li Chenfeng, who possessed a Qi Cultivation realm cultivation and relied entirely on his powerful physique, enhanced by his combination with the exotic beast.

"The Binding Insect has failed," Li Fan mused, looking at the grimacing Li Chenfeng with an expression of intense interest.

Taking a step forward, Li Fan instantly appeared inside the array, right behind Li Chenfeng. Before Li Chenfeng could react, Li Fan activated the Great Five Elements Annihilation Sword in his hand and sliced off a large section of armor-like keratin from one half of Li Chenfeng's body.

Li Chenfeng let out a wail of pain and rage, about to retaliate, but Li Fan had already exited the Two Energies Micro-Dust Array, causing his attack to hit nothing but air.

Ignoring Li Chenfeng's frustrated roars, Li Fan brought the keratin he had cut off Li Chenfeng's body closer and examined it carefully. It was still warm to the touch, retaining the warmth of a living organism, yet its texture was remarkably hard.

Li Fan controlled the spiritual energy within him, forming a water blade that shot towards it.

"Clink!"

After a crisp sound, the water blade was deflected directly. The keratin, however, only bore a faint, shallow mark that quickly vanished as the flesh at its edges regenerated.

"An attack equivalent to that of a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator couldn't even break its defense," Li Fan noted, somewhat surprised. "Its vitality is still very strong, and it seems to possess its own distinct consciousness. Given enough nutrients and time, it might even grow into another complete body."

Having never encountered anything similar, Li Fan's gaze towards Li Chenfeng and the others had completely changed. "A minor world capable of controlling a hundred thousand World-Splitting Whales truly isn't as simple as it seems. Now, let me see the extent of your empire's development."

Li Fan's divine sense suddenly enveloped Li Chenfeng and the other two.

Cloud-Water Illusory Dream Art, activate!

Li Chenfeng, who had still been struggling, instantly quieted down. The exotic beast's keratin layer on his body slowly receded, and he reverted to his original appearance as a harmless, handsome young man. His eyes were tightly shut, and the expression on his face continuously changed. In contrast, Master Zhuji and the man surnamed Xiao were already deeply immersed in pleasant illusions, unable to extricate themselves.

Time slowly passed.

Three days later, Li Chenfeng finally dropped his mental defenses and, like the others, revealed a contented smile. Li Fan slowly opened his eyes.

"This is..." A hint of confusion flashed in his mind.

The minor world where Li Chenfeng originated was a peculiar realm of endless ocean. There were no islands in this ocean. Instead, immense Sky-Propping Turtles, carrying human settlements on their backs, continuously roamed the seas. In the sky, the colossal corpse of a three-headed divine bird floated, nearly occupying a third of the firmament.

The three-headed divine bird had been dead for unknown millennia, yet its corpse remained incorruptible. Originally, various strange exotic beasts gathered on it, feeding on the divine bird's corpse.

Many years ago, a peerless genius emerged from a tribe living on one of the Sky-Propping Turtles. He mastered the ability to control exotic beasts and selflessly taught it to other human tribes. Under his leadership, humanity successfully defeated the exotic beasts that had taken over the three-headed divine bird's corpse. From then on, a unified human empire was established on the divine bird's corpse.

After thousands of years of development, the empire's exploitation and utilization of exotic beasts had reached its peak. Exotic beasts had permeated every aspect of imperial human life. People could conveniently travel across the world by riding the newly bred hybrid exotic beasts called Broad-backed Pengs. They could also tame exotic beasts to hunt creatures in the ocean, the sky, and even those beyond their minor world, in the void.

Furthermore, the empire had developed technology to integrate the power of exotic beasts with humans. This was the Beast God Armor worn by Li Chenfeng.

However, despite achieving so much, a shadow constantly loomed over the empire, causing the imperial humans to live in constant unease. This was because the three-headed divine bird, which they revered as a god, had not died a natural death. In fact, it had more than three heads during its lifetime. What was called the "three-headed divine bird" should have been a nine-headed bird. This terrifying entity, unimaginable to the imperial people, had actually had six of its heads brutally severed by someone. Its corpse was then discarded here.

The imperial people were not entirely ignorant of the perpetrator. They knew it was an existence called an Immortal. Among their tribes, legends still persisted about the Immortals who had exiled their ancestors to this place. The imperial people harbored both fear and yearning for Immortals. This was because even though the empire was highly developed, it had always been unable to solve the problem of human lifespan. In the empire, living for a hundred years was considered extremely long-lived. Therefore, the empire greatly coveted the rumored Immortal arts, which were said to grant both immense power and extended lifespans.

After numerous attempts that cost many lives, the empire's pioneers finally breached the seal of the Grand Immortal Severance Array and reached the Xuanhuang Realm. Unfortunately, the information they gathered left them greatly disappointed. To cultivate Immortal arts, spiritual energy was essential. The world where the empire was located had no spiritual energy whatsoever. Furthermore, there was a restriction: different cultivation methods could not be practiced simultaneously. For the imperial people, who found it incredibly difficult even to acquire a single Immortal cultivation technique, achieving Immortal cultivation and longevity seemed like an unattainable dream.

However, the resilient imperial people did not give up. Instead, they continuously sent people to infiltrate the Xuanhuang Realm, seeking more information. Concurrently, they formed think tanks to research potential methods for achieving Immortal cultivation. Thus, through the efforts of generations, a plan so outlandish it seemed like a fantasy was proposed.

The first issue was that of spiritual energy. The solution to this problem came purely by chance. In the empire's holy land, at the location of the divine bird's head, at the severed points of the six heads, traces of the sword strike that had slain the divine bird still remained. This sword strike was unbelievably powerful. For thousands of years, the sword qi continued incessantly, suppressing the vengeful spirit of the nine-headed bird. All exotic beasts would sense it and instinctively avoid the sword qi.

One time, an imperial citizen, defying regulations, secretly brought his domesticated exotic beast while visiting the sword marks. Unexpectedly, this act agitated the sword qi. The citizen remained unharmed, but the exotic beast was instantly annihilated by the sword qi. While the imperial guard arrested the citizen, they unexpectedly discovered that the exotic beast, which should have been utterly obliterated by the sword qi, had left behind a glowing crystal core.

Before their contact with the Xuanhuang Realm, the imperial people might not have understood what this crystal core truly was. However, their former practitioners of Dao arts were astonished to discover that the energy within this crystal core could actually substitute for spiritual energy, allowing them to cultivate.

Subsequent imperial research revealed that only a very small number of exotic beast species possessed such crystal cores within their bodies. Fortunately, one species among them, known as the Flying Orb Beasts, reproduced rapidly and was easy to domesticate. After the first large-scale cultivation, the empire harvested hundreds of thousands of crystal cores. Among these, a mutated, essence version was also discovered. A Dao Thief at the initial stage of Qi Cultivation successfully broke through to the perfected Qi Cultivation realm with the help of these crystal cores. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of Immortal cultivation, they could not advance further. Nevertheless, this gave the empire a glimmer of hope for achieving Immortal cultivation and longevity.

The next issues to solve were the various mediums required for cultivation using the methods of the Heavenly Venerables, and the problem of different Immortal arts being incompatible for simultaneous practice.