It wasn't just Shen Wulong and Qing Mu entering the main hall in the central region at this moment.
Most of the higher-level cultivators were rushing in from different directions at this moment. Both the righteous faction and the demonic faction were eager to obtain the treasures and opportunities present in the main hall. Even the demonic beasts that entered the Grotto Heaven and who were already present in the Grotto Heaven were rushing in.
All through this, there was one faction that wasn't rushing in like the others.
The disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect stood in the distance and watched the main hall with a complicated gaze. Elite disciples could even see cultivators who were weaker than them rushing into the main hall.
Such a scene made them feel really sullen.
Chen Wangjie stood amidst the disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect and watched the commotion in the distance with a nonchalant gaze. If Duncan were to see him at present, he would be surprised by the changes Chen Wangjie had undergone.
This senior brother of Duncan, who took the secret mission to escort Duncan into the Grotto Heaven, looked completely different compared to when he entered. The Blood Blossom Fruit that was promised as a reward for his actions was delivered to him when the next batch of disciples entered the Grotto Heaven.
After consuming it and refining it, his dormant bloodline has been awakened a slight bit. But, this was the bloodline of an Ancient God Beast. How can this be compared to other bloodlines?
As a result, there was an aura of viciousness that now surrounds Chen Wangjie. This made his fat body emit a dangerous aura around him causing others to stay a few steps away from him at all times.
Also, his cultivation had skyrocketed in the past three months as well. The rich qi present in the Grotto Heaven was an ideal element for him to increase his cultivation. With the activation of his bloodline, Chen Wangjie's cultivation soared in a short period of time.
"Damn it, are we going to watch these clowns plunder the treasures without doing anything?" one of the elite disciples cursed.
"Our orders were clear. We are to never enter the main hall," the leader of the Heavenly Demon Sect disciples said frowning.
"Then, what about robbing the treasures from whoever comes out?" another elite disciple asked with a cruel glint in his eyes.
The moment he asked the question, everyone present quieted. They all stared at the leader with scorching gazes daring him to say something negative. The leader gulped inwardly and cursed the disciple who asked the question inside his mind.
While he maintained a fearless demeanor outside, inwardly he was sweating bullets. He knew that he could take out any one of these disciples if it was one on one. But, the Heavenly Demon Sect was not a righteous sect and its disciples weren't righteous cultivators either.
The moment things turned sour, they would all gang up on him and beat him up. Even he would be hard-pressed to remain alive under all their attacks. These evil little shits wouldn't even bat an eye when doing such a thing.
Not that he was any better.
"There were no instructions regarding it. So, I guess that would be fine. As long as we don't enter the main hall, the sect wouldn't make things difficult for us," the leader said pondering a bit.
"Heh, that's more like it," one of the elites grinned evilly. "I have been dissatisfied with those clowns from the righteous sects for a long time. This time I will teach them why they shouldn't come over to our territory."
"Not just them," another elite spat. "Some of the geniuses from the subordinate sects are also acting up. It is time we taught them how high the heavens are."
"That's right! When have we disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect been disrespected this much? It is a miracle if we don't go over and bully them. But, these little shits are acting up as if they are the strongest," another elite said angrily.
"We will teach them all a very good lesson," everyone nodded.
"In that case," the leader said while smiling cruelly, "surround the main hall from every side. Drive away or kill anyone who objects. We will teach these bumpkins a cruel lesson."
"Ha ha ha… leader, your idea is brilliant," the disciples laughed without feeling any shame or guilt.
"Come on, let's do it," everyone shouted in agreement.
"I think I might take a pass on that," Chen Wangjie said slowly causing everyone to turn towards him angrily.
"Chen Wangjie, what the hell are you doing? Don't act as if you haven't done such things before. Do you think you are special?" one of the elites asked angrily narrowing his eyes.
"Yes, I am special," Chan Wangjie said arrogantly not bothering to hide his pride. "But, I am withdrawing not because I am looking down on your actions. No, I have other missions to fulfill. I can't spend all my time here."
"What mission?" the leader asked narrowing his eyes.
"I have a mission from Vice-Sect Master. I escorted his recent direct disciple into the Grotto Heaven. I need to go check up on him. I don't want to incur his anger because I was stuck here waiting for a bunch of clowns to come out," Chen Wangjie said shrugging his shoulders.
"Is that true?" the leader asked not able to believe Chen Wangjie's words.
"It is true. I brought the reward for Chen Wangjie directly from the Vice-Sect Master," a disciple at the Golden Hall realm said nodding at the leader.
"Then, you can leave," the leader was mollified. "But, everyone else go form a perimeter around the main hall. Let's see how these morons walk out of our encirclement."
The rest of the disciples roared in approval and moved out in unison. Chen Wangjie watched them go with a derisive smile on his face.
"Idiots…" Chen Wangjie muttered and left the area as well…
*****
Duncan let out a muddled breath and opened his eyes in frustration. The soul art that the bastard Huo Feng gave him was very mysterious. Even after struggling for one whole day, Duncan was barely able to scratch the surface of it.
According to Duncan's understanding so far, <Spirit Transcendence > was one of a kind of soul art that is absolutely top-notch in terms of cultivating a cultivator's soul. It was neither an attack technique nor a defense technique in itself.
But, if one was able to reach the advanced level of <Spirit Transcendence>, then they can use it to both attack and defend. At the initial levels, this technique focused on strengthening the soul. The true might of the technique can only be shown at the advanced level.
Even though this wasn't what Duncan wanted exactly, even a layman like him can understand the brilliance of this technique. From reading between the lines, Duncan could even guess that this technique would be highly beneficial when breaking into the Nascent Soul realm.
But, that was far away for Duncan. What he needed currently was a technique that could act as his secret weapon. But, <Spirit Transcendence> only strengthened the soul at initial levels. This disappointed him a bit.
Furthermore, it wasn't as if he understood the entirety of the technique. He had barely grasped the surface and the technique's properties as of now. It was clear to Duncan that he would need to spend a lot of time trying to cultivate this technique.
If it was anywhere else, Duncan would have put this technique aside for some technique with immediate gains. But, as he was stuck in the Grotto Heaven with no way to cultivate further, he could only reluctantly concentrate on cultivating this technique.
To make things worse, Duncan couldn't entirely understand this technique at all. There were a lot of gaps in his understanding. Some parts of the technique were so obscure that Duncan felt like ripping his hair off.
"I think I better leave this technique for later," Duncan mumbled in a dissatisfied tone. "There are approximately three months left for me to give it a try. I can find some time for it later. Let me concentrate on my martial arts techniques for now. That way, at least I will be making some notable progress."
Duncan unceremoniously gave up cultivating the troublesome technique and switched his focus elsewhere. Right now, both his <Absolute Cut Sword Arts> and <Wind Chasing Steps> have reached a good progress level. But, Duncan felt that he could push his understanding of these two techniques further.
He had already barely grasped the concepts involved in the two techniques. Whether it be the cutting concept of the sword or the speed of the wind, he has some preliminary understandings and was even able to infuse them while performing his actions.
For most Spirit Sea realm cultivators this level of progress in their martial cultivation was enough. But, Duncan didn't feel so. He felt that there was still a lot of potential development he could induce within his cultivation realm.
"Right now I have a vague understanding of the cutting concept of sword and the speed of the wind. According to Shen Wulong, the next stage of martial cultivation is a domain. A domain is simply a combination of the same kinds of concept," Duncan muttered to himself.
"But, I don't have any understanding into any other concepts from either wind or sword. That makes it difficult for me to progress further to create a domain. But, what about combining concepts from different daos? Will there be some effect?" Duncan asked himself curiously.
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