Demon Slaying, Gaining 60 Years of Cultivation From the Start

The dazzling sphere of light hovered in front of Gu Chen, who reached out to catch it. In that instant, all of the light converged into nothingness.

Only then did Gu Chen clearly see that what he held was actually a jade slip.

"What's contained within this?" Gu Chen lifted his head and asked, hoping that the grand voice from the Tower of Divine Communication that had spoken earlier would answer him.

However, after a while passed, the place remained silent with no voice appearing; the Tower of Divine Communication did not respond to his question.

Seeing this, Gu Chen felt somewhat helpless and began to fiddle with the jade slip in his hand, as this was his first encounter with such a rare object.

At the same time, Gu Chen pondered what could possibly exist within the jade slip and how to unlock it.

"Jade slip..."

As Gu Chen mused, a flash of inspiration struck his mind. He had seen a record in an ancient tome that in ancient times, martial arts and techniques were not recorded in books, but were instead inscribed within jade slips by mysterious methods, especially the more profound techniques.

"Could it be that this contains a martial art or an internal skill manual?" Gu Chen's eyes shone with excitement, and his heart began to stir.

After all, this was an ancient heritage, incomparable to the martial arts of the Nine States today.

Thus, with an excited heart, Gu Chen tried to extend a part of his consciousness like tendrils to touch the jade slip before him.

The ancient books stated that jade slips generally had restrictions to prevent the leakage and theft of their sect's martial arts by other warriors.

Therefore, Gu Chen was quite cautious, but he also knew that this jade slip was a reward for passing the trial, so it should not have any restrictions.

Whoosh!

The moment Gu Chen's consciousness touched the jade slip, he immediately felt a myriad of light burst forth before his eyes; following that, four large characters flickered in front of him.

Pure Yang True Body!

"Could this actually be a method to help cultivators refine a true body?!"

A hint of astonishment flashed through Gu Chen's eyes, and a torrent of information simultaneously surged into his mind.

Luckily, having cultivated to this point, Gu Chen had also upgraded his martial skills through the system panel in this manner, so although it was his first encounter, there was no discomfort; on the contrary, he felt quite at home.

After a short period, the light on the jade slip dispersed, and the transmission of the teachings came to an end.

Gu Chen closed his eyes and carefully comprehended the martial art named "Pure Yang True Body" within his mind.

In fact, during his initial encounter with the Buddhist Son Ananda, Gu Chen had witnessed the power of a true body. However, such true body cultivation techniques were only possessed by the Great Yuan, and their methods were passed down from the Dragon Elephant Sect of the Great Snow Mountain.

The Dragon Elephant Sect of the Great Snow Mountain, in turn, received its teachings from one of the six great holy lands, the Sumeru Buddhist Sect.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

In the ancient times, martial arts thrived and prospered, and there was an abundance of extraordinary and miraculous methods. True bodies, too, were a legacy from ancient times.

Because the Vajra Indestructible Body was exceedingly difficult to cultivate, even in ancient times, it might take decades to produce a single person capable of it. However, one's physical body is extremely important for a martial artist, affecting their future. As a result, someone developed the true body techniques to assist martial artists in forging their bodies.

Among these, some powerful true bodies, such as the Dragon Elephant True Body practiced by Ananda, could rival the Vajra Indestructible Body if cultivated to its full extent.

Furthermore, in ancient times, there were many peerless geniuses who not only perfected the Vajra Indestructible Body but also mastered a specific true body technique. When combined, their physical prowess would become horrifyingly formidable.

The Pure Yang True Body that Gu Chen had acquired was considered within the top three true body methods of the ancient Pure Yang Martial Sect.

In ancient times, only those Pure Yang Martial Sect disciples who had passed the mightiest challenges with "A higher" evaluations were granted the Pure Yang True Body.

Now, Gu Chen's physique was already on par with a martial arts grandmaster of the Departure Realm who had undergone one or two blood replacement processes. If he were able to condense the Pure Yang True Body on top of that, the strength of his physical body would see a tremendous enhancement.

Moreover, if he later merged it with the Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique through the panel, Gu Chen believed it was highly likely that he could deduce an Earthly Martial Skill!

With this thought, Gu Chen felt a surge of elation.

...

What Gu Chen did not realize was that at the moment he acquired the Pure Yang True Body, the world outside had already exploded into commotion.

"Quick, look, what's that?"

"Why is the Tower of Divine Communication glowing?"

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"Look, there are characters appearing in the sky!"

At that moment in the outside world, the imposing Tower of Divine Communication, which seemed to reach the heavens, suddenly burst into ten thousand strands of golden light, which then coalesced together to form the characters "A higher" in the firmament.

"A higher, what does that mean?"

"Why did the characters 'A higher' appear?"

The watching martial artists outside were filled with confusion, not understanding the implication.

Wang Jiuzhi stood at a distance, watching the Tower of Divine Communication shake and the ten thousand strands of golden light forming the characters "A higher"; a hint of astonishment momentarily flashed in his eyes.

He naturally knew why the Tower of Heaven was presenting such a phenomenon; during the ancient ages, this tower was the trial tower of the Pure Yang Martial Sect. Whenever a startling genius emerged, the Tower of Heaven would manifest such a spectacle.

It was also a reminder to the higher-ups of the Pure Yang Martial Sect that within the sect, another astonishing talent had emerged, lest they miss out.

And only when all assessment levels of the first few challenges were rated as "A higher," would the Tower of Heaven display such an anomaly.

"Gu Chen, could it be you?" Wang Jiuzhi stared at the golden "A higher" characters in the sky, and couldn't help but think of Gu Chen.

In Wang Jiuzhi's view, among all those who had entered, only Gu Chen possessed the talent to cause such a tremor in the ancient tower.

Compared to Gu Chen, the others were ultimately lacking.

"Oh? Someone with an 'A higher' aptitude has appeared?"

At that moment, a robust voice sounded, followed by several proud figures appearing at the location.

Immense blood energy exuded a terrifying pressure, causing the hearts of the multitude of martial artists present to nearly stop, as if small rabbits in the forest seeing the king of beasts, they looked fearfully towards the not so distant figures—seven martial arts masters had appeared!

They were indeed the core elders from top forces like the Da Guangming Sect in Yan State, possessing high authority and ranking just below the sect leaders.

Their presence here was due to the emergence of the Pure Yang Martial Sect's trial tower, which had drawn nearly all the distinguished disciples of their sects. To guard against any mishaps that demon sects might cause, they had hurried over for protection.

If their people were wiped out by the demon sects, the loss would be substantial, tantamount to a fracture in their lineages.

From afar, Wang Jiuzhi noticed the appearance of the various martial arts masters from the Da Guangming Sect and his expression became solemn.

Among these seven people, four were at the level of being reborn, having not completely undergone the two major processes of blood exchange and marrow washing, while three were at the Hundred Orifices Stage.

The seven martial arts masters from the Da Guangming Sect, White Tiger Clan, and others naturally also sensed Wang Jiuzhi, but they did not pay him much heed. After all, with the disappearance of the Emperor of Da Xia, the world was in chaos, and the Jing Tian Department of Yan State had suffered heavy losses. Now, with only Wang Jiuzhi in charge, they no longer considered him a threat.

"Gentlemen, among our major sects, who do you think could have received the Tower of Heaven's 'A higher' rating?" chuckled a martial arts master from the Da Guangming Sect.

Clearly, they were well aware of what this signified through the records of their sects' archives.

"It is undoubtedly Shen Jie, the prodigy of our White Tiger Clan!" declared a martial arts master from the White Tiger Clan, a seven-foot-tall man with muscles like intertwined dragons, imposing in appearance.

Shen Jie was the most outstanding successor of the White Tiger Clan's generation, without a peer!

He possessed a complete Returning to True Stage cultivation and was even ranked sixth on the Leaderboard of Heroes by Diancang Pavilion.

The martial arts master from the Xuantian Sect, dressed in Taoist robes with floating sleeves, exuding an air of immortality, stroked his chin's beard and said, "Not necessarily. It could be Ning Tian from my sect."

Ning Tian, being equally outstanding as Shen Jie in this generation of the Xuantian Sect, was ranked fifth on the Leaderboard of Heroes with a Returning to True Stage complete cultivation.

"Hmph, in my view, it should be Ling Fei of the Feixue Sword Sect!" declared a martial arts master from the Feixue Sword Sect, speaking coldly, unwilling to be outdone.

The remaining martial arts masters, upon hearing this, chose not to speak, silently listening to their argument.

Even though they represented the top forces of Yan State's martial world, natural competition existed among them. The stronger their disciples, the more it proved their inheritance's strength.

Thus, even though the disciples of these clans had some relationships, conflicts occurred from time to time.

After all, in the vast martial world, everything was driven by benefits first.

At this time, the Da Guangming Sect's martial arts master laughed and said, "Gentlemen, don't you know that Gu Chen from Tiandu of the great Da Xia recently entered the tower too? Perhaps, the spectacle of the Tower of Heaven is triggered by him."

Upon hearing this, the martial arts masters glanced subtly in the direction of Wang Jiuzhi.

The White Tiger Clan's towering figure scoffed, "The trials of the Pure Yang Martial Sect aren't just a test of talent. They also assess one's character, spirit and will, comprehension, and combat prowess. Only if all aspects are rated 'A higher' will the Tower of Heaven shake."

The martial arts master from the Qiu family spoke with gloomy eyes, "Although Gu Chen's talent is not weak, given his young age, it's doubtful he'd receive an 'A higher' in spirit and will or character. Moreover, his comprehension may not necessarily be stronger than the disciples of our sects."

The martial arts masters nodded, agreeing with this sentiment.

For an ancient and massive force like the Pure Yang Martial Sect, testing disciples was never just about one aspect, but rather multiple methods to evaluate their characteristics thoroughly.

Whether it was talent, character, spirit and will, or comprehension and combat prowess, all must be of the highest caliber for the Tower of Heaven to shake and produce a spectacle, thus announcing it to the entire sect.

Bearing in mind Gu Chen's age, the masters considered other aspects aside, character and spirit, and will were undoubtedly his weaknesses.

After all, even the youngest martial prodigy among the sects was already thirty years old, nine years older than Gu Chen, guaranteeing superior character and will.

From a distance, Wang Jiuzhi clearly heard their discussion, frowning slightly. Although Gu Chen was part of the Jing Tian Department, Wang Jiuzhi also thought that what these masters said made sense.

Even the White Tiger Clan and Qiu family, bearing deep grudges against the Jing Tian Department, spoke frankly without malicious slights against Gu Chen.

As characters of the martial arts master level, they had the dignity to do so, mainly because in their eyes, despite Gu Chen's extraordinary talent, he would remain insignificant until he became a master.

"What remains unknown is what kind of reward the Tower of Heaven will provide for the 'A higher' aptitude emerging this time," the group of martial arts masters mused as they gazed at the towering structure, their hearts filled with eager anticipation for the ancient martial skills.

At that moment, Gu Chen, unaware of the stir his actions had caused outside, looked up at the firmament and asked aloud, "I wonder, does this place hold an ancient marvel, the Sun Flame Stone?"