Dreams and Secrets, Breaking Through the Trials [3k]
Translator: CinderTL
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That night, the minibus drove up the mountainside, arriving at a vast and imposing mountain gate.
[Giant Elephant Sect]
The three words, inscribed in gold on a black background, hung in the center of the gray gate pillars.
Behind it lay a grand hall of bricks and tiles, with bronze cauldrons burning incense, and intricately carved beams and painted rafters, showcasing the grandeur of a major sect.
Even though it was already night, some tourists could still be seen wandering nearby.
Under the illumination of lanterns and streetlights, staff members of the Giant Elephant Sect appeared, guiding passersby at the entrance.
Everything was orderly; if it weren't for the prior knowledge of an impending battle, one would hardly suspect that a fierce conflict was about to unfold here.
Nevertheless, the lights in the buildings on the mountainside were clearly visible, and the surrounding hotels and inns were fully booked, far exceeding usual occupancy.
"Here, these are everyone's room cards. Be sure not to lose them!"
Chen Feng, following the tour group, settled in a courtyard near the Giant Elephant Sect.
He requested a single room, took the room card, and closed the door behind him.
"That guy is so strange."
Someone whispered, "It's so late, yet he's still wearing a sunshade mask. It's creepy."
"Don't worry, my cousin is nearby; he's a martial arts expert."
The young man from earlier patted his chest, and the others felt a bit more at ease.
Du Mengqi didn't dare to comment, only glancing at the tightly shut door of Chen Feng's room.
In her years as a tour guide, she had seen many people, but for some reason, she felt this person was somewhat unusual.
Shaking her head, she didn't dwell on it and quickly reassured everyone to settle in.
"Tomorrow, we'll wake up at six in the morning; we should have a chance to see the sunrise."
"Everyone, get some rest. I'll post the itinerary in the WeChat group shortly. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me."
Walking to the bedside, Chen Feng took out his phone and privately messaged the tour guide, Du Mengqi, indicating that he was used to waking up late and wouldn't be going to see the sunrise.
Then, he expanded his perception, confirming that there were no hidden cameras in the room.
Removing his sunshade mask and cap, he washed up and finally lay down on the bed.
"Tomorrow morning at ten."
The Grandmaster Battle between Flying Dragon Sect and the Giant Elephant Sect.
A thought flashed through Chen Feng's mind; he had considered finding that Zhang Tai privately to enter the first scene.
But after some thought, he ultimately changed his plan.
After all, only one of him or the Azure Armor could appear at the same time.
Suppressing his distractions, Chen Feng lay flat on the bed, looking at the panel.
[Extreme Martial Arts Points: 2]
[Limit-Breaking Points: 1]
[Steel Bone LV3: 3/100]
It had been two days since the Pine Crane Sect group had set out.
After two nights of dream realm journeys, he had indeed gained something.
His gaze shifted down to the skills section.
[Myriad Temperings: Thousand Refinements (30%) +]
"Still quite a bit to go."
With the battle imminent, Chen Feng hoped to increase his strength as much as possible.
The Crimson Tiger Force and Extreme Martial Fist were difficult to break through, but the Myriad Temperings had a slightly better chance.
As for the Crane Origin Skill.
After some deliberation, Chen Feng chose to give it up.
The reason was simple; it conflicted somewhat with his use of talent.
Azure Armor, Steel Bones, and Heart of Glory either consumed physical strength or mental energy, which was already part of his vitality.
If he were to use the Crane Origin Skill, the duration of his talent would surely be drastically shortened, making it not worth the cost.
Suddenly, his thoughts became clear, and he closed his eyes.
Buzz!
His consciousness sank, shrouded in mist.
Tall buildings lined both sides, and the Extreme Martial Arts Hall appeared a few hundred meters ahead.
Without any delay, Chen Feng shouldered his black backpack and stepped straight out.
The distance closed rapidly, but.
Looking up at the sky, Chen Feng paused, his expression slightly darkening.
Caw!!!
A sharp cry rang out; it was the enormous eagle that had suddenly discovered his presence yesterday and was now hunting him down nearby.
Just as he had left the dream, they had not encountered each other immediately.
Whoosh!
With a wingspan of ten meters, a fierce wind swept through.
Its cold, vertical pupils radiated a chilling killing intent, and the massive black-feathered body was as intimidating as iron fortress.
In an instant, an Azure mark flashed on the back of his hand.
Azure Armor spread out like flowing water, gradually covering his neck.
Whoosh!!!
The eagle dove down, its massive claws tearing through the air like steel, howling continuously.
A chill surged, and instead of immediately summoning the Holy Shield Colossus, Chen Feng had the idea to try out Azure Armor.
TL/N: Shield Giant à Holy Shield Colossus. Changed cause it sounds cooler.
Buzz!
In an instant, the Azure shell spread again, while dark gold began to grow, enveloping his entire body.
TL/N: The dark gold here is due to his Steel Bone talent reaching level 3.
The glass-fiber red eyes shone brightly, and the Azure unicorn body was adorned with golden patterns, with dark golden spikes protruding from his elbows and shoulders.
Boom!!!
With golden armor covering his arms, he unleashed a powerful punch, striking the enormous eagle's claw.
The ground cracked with a series of loud cracks, and the asphalt road split apart continuously.
Amidst the ear-piercing screech, sparks erupted from the surface of the golden armor; even the Gold-grade eagle's claws could not damage it in the slightest.
Caw!!!
The furious screech of the eagle seemed to be enraged.
Its wings flapped, and a fierce wind whipped around.
Chen Feng's legs sank deep into the shattered ground, his senses sharp as he raised his arms to block.
Clang!!!
The sound of metal echoed; he was pushed back, sliding seven or eight meters.
The asphalt surface was gouged out, leaving two long marks, as the enormous eagle retracted its claws, its black wings suddenly separating from its body, hovering on either side.
With a focused gaze, Chen Feng slightly bent his knees and raised his left arm.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!
Like high-speed moving cannonballs, dark golden shields rapidly formed.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The crisp sounds continued, as the steel bone shield seemed to ignite, sending up bursts of sparks.
A strong impact erupted, and Chen Feng's arms tingled slightly as he continued to slide back, even seeing small dents appear on the surface of the steel bone shield.
"Truly a fourth-tier creature."
Feeling the opponent's strength once again, Chen Feng no longer held back.
Concentrating his thoughts, he activated Azure Armor.
With a sizzling sound!
On the tip of his spiraled golden-patterned Azure horn, a black light resembling lightning gathered, forming a black electric sphere.
As if sensing the crisis, the hovering eagle suddenly halted its attack.
All its black feathers were retracted, and it prepared to flap its wings and create distance.
But the next second.
Whoosh!!!
The black light erupted, shooting out from the tip of the forked horn.
As thick as an arm, it was like a true lightning strike, instantly crossing a distance of several meters and directly hitting the eagle.
"Caw!!"
A sharp cry echoed, tinged with pain and anger.
The eagle was visibly knocked back, crashing into a high-rise wall, with shards of glass raining down.
Puffs of gray smoke rose from its chest and abdomen, and a blood hole the size of an arm appeared in its otherwise Gold-grade flesh, charred and bleeding, revealing white bone.
Seeing this, Chen Feng, who was using this skill on a creature for the first time, also froze in place, his eyes narrowing.
This was the special skill gained after upgrading Azure Armor.
[Black Flash: Can consume stamina to gather black light at the horn, unleashing a powerful strike.]
The feedback was simple; after a certain amount of buildup, it unleashed a power comparable to a medium-sized missile.
Previously, the targets he had tried were ordinary buildings, so he hadn't felt the full impact.
But now.
Caw!!!
Suddenly, a fierce wind surged.
The injured, bleeding giant eagle flapped its wings, stirring up a cloud of dust and debris.
Seeing that the opponent wanted to create distance, Chen Feng snapped back to reality and no longer hesitated.
Whoosh!!!
A white light mixed with golden patterns solidified in front of him, and the next second transformed into a giant rock figure, bursting forth.
In the blink of an eye, the Holy Shield Colossus circled behind the eagle, its thick arms wrapping around it forcefully.
Like a constrictor snake coiling around its prey, or a stone pillar holding up the heavens.
The eagle screeched in anger, and the surrounding high-rise glass shattered inch by inch, as gusts of wind overturned everything.
Yet even so, it could not break free.
Seizing this opportunity, Chen Feng did not delay and unleashed Black Flash once more.
Whoosh!!!
The black light, like high-voltage lightning, erupted and shot forth.
Pfft!!
Blood splattered, then was rapidly evaporated.
The struggling eagle's head was struck directly, a blood hole the size of an arm piercing through from front to back, blood gushing out.
In an instant, all struggles ceased, and the massive body of the eagle fell to the ground.
Boom!!
Dust scattered, and sensing the opponent's breath dissipate, Chen Feng exhaled, his body swaying slightly.
Black Flash consumed too much stamina; he could only use it three times at most.
Then, watching the eagle's body gradually fade, he dared not overexert his spirit and stamina.
Azure Armor and Steel Bone slowly retracted, and the Holy Shield Colossus merged back into his brow.
Step!
Finally, he stepped out.
He walked into the nearby martial arts hall.
The earlier commotion from the fight had been too loud; the masked men inside, controlled by the black soldier ants, tried to hide.
But unfortunately.
Boom!!!
With a muffled explosion, two masked men fell to the ground, their forms fading.
The surrounding swarm of black ants, similarly dead, left the martial arts hall in ruins.
Buzz!
Gray light clusters surged in.
[Perception LV3: 80/100]
"Still a bit short."
Shaking his head, Chen Feng looked at the two floating light clusters of light blue.
As usual, he raised his hand to absorb them, gently touching them.
As his will concentrated, a new scene appeared.
"Black disasters are frequent; the situation in the wilderness outside the city is dire."
"Yesterday at dawn, Heishui Town encountered an accident, forcibly pulled into the Abyssal Secret Realm, with six hundred and ninety-three people missing, their fates unknown."
"The law enforcement team is understaffed and is now seeking assistance from our Extreme Martial Arts Hall."
Inside the hall, the middle-aged coach Xu, whom he had seen last time demonstrating the Extreme Martial Fist, stood on the stage, his expression serious as he spoke gravely.
One by one, disciples dressed in gray-white martial arts uniforms stood below, their expressions varied but orderly, waiting for his command.
"This mission may involve considerable danger."
"Are there any disciples willing to leave the city with me to the wilderness?"
"I want to go!"
"So do I!"
"Coach Xu, count me in!"
A series of strong voices rang out, and the middle-aged man named Coach Xu nodded in satisfaction.
"Xu Dong, Zhou Qiang, Luo…"
One name after another was called, and the selected disciples, recalling their memories, clenched their fists, feeling a surge of excitement.
Days later, in a wild area.
Weeds grew thickly, green trees withered, and the corpses of mutated beasts piled up in groups around.
A dark mist hung heavily, revealing an ordinary tile-roofed town surrounded within.
Someone stepped forward, raising a hand to touch the mist before them.
But they found that the mist was like a layer of glass, blocking their palm, making it impossible to advance even a fraction.
"Don't try; Heishui Town has already been pulled into the Abyss."
"This mist is merely a facade; in reality, it is shrouded by the barrier of the Abyssal Secret Realm. It looks close, but we are no longer in the same space."
The crowd grew serious at these words, and a curious disciple asked, "Then how do we save them?"
"First, we need to find the key to the secret realm to open the entrance; only then can we enter."
The middle-aged man referred to as Coach Xu explained, then communicated with the law enforcement team, spending time to find the key.
It was a fist-sized black stone ball, engraved with some snake-like patterns, seemingly radiating a certain magical power.
"It seems this area should be the Serpent Spirit Secret Realm."
Coach Xu spoke seriously, then began to infuse power into the stone ball.
In the blink of an eye, the stone ball emitted a ghostly light, floating out and automatically drifting above the mist.
After a few seconds of this, with a hum, the mist swirled and rotated, revealing a portal two to three meters high.
"Disciples below the entry level need not go in; just wait for us here!"
"Xu Dong, Luo Peng, you stay here to take care of the younger disciples; the rest, follow me!"
Boom!!
The scene shattered, everything dissipating.
Chen Feng's gaze was momentarily dazed before he gradually came to his senses.
Another Serpent Spirit Secret Realm.
It requires a key to open?
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look at the two marks on his palms.
One resembled a black snake, the other a crow.
Could it be that the so-called power of the evil god is a kind of key?
Feeling that something was off, Chen Feng recalled a crucial point from the memory scene.
The so-called abyss could forcibly pull parts of this world into another time and space.
This exceeded any power he had seen on Earth.
The only records related to it were those provided by Cao Tong regarding the evil god cult, which vaguely mentioned that there might be other unknown spaces on Earth.
"I wonder if this claim is true."
Shaking his head, uncertain of the answer.
Chen Feng forced himself to suppress unnecessary thoughts and soon stored away another portion of Extreme Martial Arts.
The remaining memory scene yielded little, and he ultimately walked through the martial arts hall, obtaining ten more fragments of the Limit Breaking Light Orbs.
In addition, he found a palm-sized incomplete iron book in a secret room.
[Heavenly Aura Overlord Body]
Still the first layer of the technique, just a bit more to complete it.
Chen Feng carefully backed up its contents, then used it as nourishment to support the growth of Steel Bone.
[Metal Essence +1!]
[Steel Bone LV3: 6/100]
A slight progress increase; Chen Feng shook his head, not surprised.
He knew.
Perhaps he needed to absorb more steel to bring about greater growth.
During the day.
When Chen Feng woke up, the other members of the tour group in the hotel had already left.
[Du Mengqi: Mr. Chen, we're going to see the sunrise. If you wake up later, you can message me, and I'll come to get you.]
[The Giant Elephant Sect is different from other attractions; you need a guide with a sightseeing certificate to move around and visit.]
[Also, that Mr. Zhang who is traveling with us has already communicated with his cousin, so we'll all have a chance to observe the martial arts competition.]
Glancing at the message on his phone, Chen Feng didn't rush to reply but instead looked at the panel before him.
[Extreme Martial Arts Points: 4]
[Limit Breaking Points: 11]
"Still a bit short."
These gains were not enough to elevate the Extreme Martial Fist to the Meteor level.
As for the Crimson Tiger Force, there was no next layer of technique, so the improvement would be minimal.
On the contrary, if he invested all into the Myriad Temperings, he should be able to break through to the Ten Thousand Refinements level.
"The Grandmaster Battle; every bit of strength counts."
No longer hesitating, Chen Feng made his decision.
Decompose, enhance!
In an instant.
Four portions of Extreme Martial Arts Points disappeared, and eleven portions of Limit Breaking Points were put into it.
The progress of Myriad Temperings surged, breaking through the bottleneck.
[Myriad Temperings: Ten Thousand Refinements (1%)]
"Hmm?"
His gaze sharpened, Chen Feng was surprised.
"Not yet complete?"
He had thought that Ten Thousand Refinements was the final level.
But like the Crimson Tiger Force, it was clear that Myriad Temperings also concealed some secrets.
Interesting. A thought flashed through his mind, recalling that the Myriad Temperings Sect was willing to pass on this core true skill to him.
Chen Feng felt he had guessed something.
Not delving deeper, he began to sense the changes within himself.
[Strength: 28.3→30.3]
[Agility: 25.2→27.2]
[Constitution: 34.0→36.0]
[Will: 31.4→33.4]
"An increase of 8 attribute points, no less than the Bronze Statue Technique."
Clenching his fist, Chen Feng could feel his strength increasing again; an ordinary punch was nearly five tons.
If he used the Explosive Fist while activating both the Giant Tiger Technique and Azure Armor forms.
He would receive a boost of full thirty-five tons!
In that instant, a surge of powerful confidence welled up within him.
Azure Armor, Steel Bones, Heart of Glory.
Chen Feng's eyes sparkled with confidence and cold light; he was no longer satisfied with merely repelling masters.
Then, without further delay.
He quickly washed up and put on his sunglasses and sunshade mask again.
He stepped out of the room and sent a message to Du Mengqi.
TL/N: Let's freakin' goooo!
(End of the Chapter)
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