Chapter 606 - 172: Vajra Demon Subduing’s First Limit Break, Enemies on a Narrow Path in the Flame Fire Forbidden Land

Golden shards of dawn spilled across the flagstones of the Martial Arts Arena. Beside the Body Tempering Pool, Chu Fan sat cross-legged in meditation. His upper body was bare, his muscles so defined they seemed carved from some miraculous stone. As he pushed the Vajra Subduing Demon Skill to its limit, the very air around him hummed and vibrated, while golden-red Gang Qi flared intermittently across his body. ’The young master really is a cultivation fanatic...’ Not far away, Mo Yunzi, clad in a practical black outfit, finished her practice and sheathed her saber. She had just been practicing the Star Thunder Saber with Cyan Snake and the others and was glistening with sweat. As she wiped the sweat from her brow, her gaze was drawn to Chu Fan, and she sighed in admiration. Chu Fan was the most incredible Ascetic she had ever seen. Twenty-two days had flown by since Demon Suppression Guard Shi Hao arrived in Qing Province. During those twenty-two days, aside from a single trip to the Demon Suppression Bureau on the day he met Shi Hao, Chu Fan had practically taken root in this small Martial Arts Arena. He never set foot outside. When Mo Yunzi, Cyan Snake, and the others got tired of training, they would go to a restaurant in the city to enjoy a good meal and relax. But Chu Fan was different. He was like a tireless puppet, completely immersed in the pleasure of growing stronger and oblivious to the passage of time. When Shi Hao visited the Seven Stars Gang and saw him like this, he had teased that Chu Fan was becoming more and more like a bell-ringing, sutra-chanting "Ascetic Monk." He even strongly urged him to visit the pleasure districts and listen to some music, calling it "Refining the Heart in the Red Dust." The moment the words left his mouth, he was met with death glares from Li Qingxue and Cyan Snake, gazes sharp enough to carve a man to pieces. The Demon Suppression Guard had been so frightened that he hadn’t been shameless enough to set foot in the Seven Stars Gang’s headquarters since. Seeing the golden-red light around Chu Fan gradually recede, Mo Yunzi put away her Long Saber and deftly began to heat water on a small red clay stove to the side. She brewed a pot of tea, brought it to the stone table, and said softly, "Young Master, the path of a warrior requires a balance of tension and release. You’ve trained at such high intensity all night. Even a body of iron needs to be oiled. Please, rest for a moment." "Mm." Chu Fan slowly opened his eyes. A golden gleam flashed in their depths for an instant before they returned to their usual calm. He exhaled a turbid breath, and the air shot from his lips like an arrow, traveling over three feet before striking the ground and kicking up a small swirl of dust. As he stood and stretched his slightly stiff muscles, a series of pops, like beans crackling in a hot pan, emanated from his body. Afterward, he walked to the stone table and sat on the stone stool beside it. ’I really am exhausted...’ If it were merely physical exhaustion, with his current constitution, he could recover after a brief period of meditation. The true source of his exhaustion, which had depleted his very Divine Soul, was the Great Dream Reincarnation Technique he had cultivated last night. This was a secret art of the Moon Worship Sect, a Supreme Technique for refining one’s Divine Sense. Cultivating this technique required one to enter a dream, step into the treacherous and unpredictable Chaotic Soul Realm, and then plunge into the Dream River that flowed between the corporeal and ethereal. Flowing downstream with the current was a relatively easy and pleasant experience. However, Chu Fan had previously sensed some great, heart-stopping terror lurking downstream, so he no longer dared to travel that way. He had chosen the most difficult path: to go Against the Flow. The Dream River’s currents were turbulent, and every step he took forward was met with the force of a tidal wave crashing against the shore. While the strengthening effect on his Divine Sense was several times greater than going downstream, the pain and exhaustion also multiplied. After just one night of such cultivation, Chu Fan’s Sea of Consciousness was nearly depleted, feeling as if it were being pricked by countless tiny needles. He was exhausted to his very core. He had never experienced this kind of soul-deep weariness, not even when cultivating the incomparably tyrannical Demon Dragon Celestial Spirit Scripture. Chu Fan rubbed his brow, an unconcealable trace of fatigue flashing in his eyes. Just then, a peculiar fragrance drifted to his nose. On the stone table, steam rose in silky, wispy threads from the spout of a purple clay teapot. The steam did not rise straight up like that from an ordinary fire. Instead, it swirled and coiled in mid-air, eventually forming the hazy shape of a crane, its wings slightly spread. Though it was silent, one could almost perceive a clear, inaudible cry flowing with an esoteric charm. Mo Yunzi lifted the pot and, with a graceful turn of her wrist, poured the golden amber liquid into a snow-white Jade Cup. The tea was perfectly clear and translucent, without a trace of impurity. Yet within the liquid, starlight seemed to twinkle, and minuscule Runes of Spiritual Light flickered in and out of existence as they rose and fell. It was truly a miraculous sight. The steam rising from the cup carried a cool, remote fragrance. It was subtle, neither thick nor overpowering, but it instantly permeated his entire body. Chu Fan took a single, light sniff and felt a cool, refreshing sensation rush from his nostrils straight to the crown of his head. It was like a sudden downpour in a parched desert. With that single breath, the bone-deep fatigue and grogginess that had accumulated from days of arduous cultivation—a weariness that clung to him like a festering sore—was mostly washed away. "Good tea." Chu Fan raised the Jade Cup and took a small sip. When the tea first touched his tongue, it was faintly bitter, like the biting chill of meltwater from an early spring snow. But the coldness vanished in an instant, and in its place, a gentle yet vast Spiritual Mechanism unfurled from his core. This Spiritual Mechanism was not as fierce or domineering as that of an Elixir. Instead, it was like a mother’s gentle hand, softly caressing each of his meridians and every one of his parched acupoints. Nourished by this Spiritual Mechanism, the aching strain in his Divine Sense from the night’s arduous training was gently erased, like a spring breeze transforming into a soft rain. Within his Sea of Consciousness, his once-flagging Divine Sense Power began a slow recovery, growing tougher and more crystalline than before. The Spirit Tea from Baili Bing of Medicine King Valley was truly something else. A single cup could wash away drowsiness and grant the heart a crystal clarity. As Chu Fan sipped his tea, his attention turned to the attribute panel deep within his consciousness. [Technique: Spirit Turtle Hibernation Technique (Great Success) Progress: (867/2000) (Trait: None)] [Technique: Light and Shadow Escape Technique (Perfection) Progress: (1866/2500) (Trait: None)] [Technique: Vajra Subduing Demon Skill (Perfection) Progress: (2955/3000) (Trait: None)] A sharp glint flashed in Chu Fan’s eyes as he studied the panel. After many days of arduous cultivation, his Vajra Subduing Demon Skill had finally reached a critical point, on the verge of Breaking its Limit. He did not act rashly, instead continuing to scan the two techniques above it and nodding in satisfaction.