Chapter 147: Carrying One's Own Aura

Before him stood a radiant magic array, inscribed with ancient patterns. Around it were sixty-four grooves, each holding a glowing white crystal.

This was the core of the confinement array, used for keeping spiritual entities captive.

"Those bastards!"

Dragon Ao's angry voice rang in Qin Chuan's ears. Clearly, these dragon soul crystals were closely connected to Dragon Ao.

Qin Chuan could not help asking out of curiosity, "What is going on here?"

"Master, these are my clan's dragon soul crystals, equivalent to spiritual cores in the spirit realm."

"They were once my subjects, but now, upon meeting again, they have become the energy source for this array."

"I know not since when, but the dragon soul crystals became an indispensable item for the array, and our dragon realm suffered a devastating catastrophe."

"Though I fought valiantly and fiercely resisted, I could not ultimately change our destiny."

Dragon Ao explained succinctly, his tone tinged with anger and helplessness.

People from the higher realms had once given Dragon Ao a chance to submit and pay regular tributes of dragon soul crystals. But given Dragon Ao's personality, accepting such a humiliating arrangement was simply impossible.

Qin Chuan was somewhat moved as well, and said calmly, "To fight against men is full of joy, to fight against the earth is full of joy, to fight against heaven is full of joy."

Though spoken in a plain tone, these words harbored immense self-confidence, setting Dragon Ao's blood boiling with excitement.

"Master, swallow these dragon soul crystals! Rather than letting those bastards benefit from them, you might as well use them to enhance your own strength."

"Strength is forever the greatest backing one can have!"

The dragon soul crystals before him were high-end goods; otherwise, they would not have attracted such a scramble from the higher realm inhabitants.

Categorized by level, they were probably around Level 40, just right for imprisoning the spiritual entities of this region.

If classified by realms, the Dragon Realm was at the very least a medium-level realm.

Qin Chuan was not one to hesitate, and immediately said, "Very well."

"Ding! Successfully devoured dragon soul crystal. Gained 20 billion experience points."

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for advancing to Level 35. You have received new skill points."

......

During the devouring process, the dragon markings kept flashing, clearly absorbing a massive amount of dragon aura as well.

At this moment, the vague phantom of a five-clawed golden dragon appeared behind Qin Chuan.

A moment later, the entire magic array dimmed, and the spiritual entities in this region miraculously discovered they had gained their freedom.

"Oh heavens, the confinement array has vanished! I... I am free!"

"Heaven has mercy on us, we are free! Everyone, scatter quickly!"

......

And so, the spiritual entities throughout the entire region began to scatter in all directions, embarking on their new lives.

Qin Chuan searched the branch altar once more, discovering a batch of cultivation resources and gaining ten billion experience points.

At this point, Qin Chuan activated the third stage of his enhanced skill: Damage Amplification.

Damage Amplification: Every attack now carries 5% freezing damage, no longer restricted to a completely frozen state.

This was wonderful news for Qin Chuan, as the power of his basic attacks would grow increasingly formidable from now on.

Evolution Points: 19.86 billion / 26.62 billion
Experience Points: 439.85 billion / 1.7 trillion

Qin Chuan studied the treasure map and continued to venture deeper into the territory controlled by the Black Wind Cliff.

His target this time was another branch altar, but the territory controlled by this particular branch held a pleasant surprise.

For on the map, Qin Chuan saw a very clear marker: a Tier-5 medicinal garden.

Ever since he had devoured the medicinal garden in the Wind Spirit Valley last time, he had not patronized such a place in a long time.

At this moment, Qin Chuan felt somewhat elated, wondering what kind of surprise awaited him here.

An hour later, Qin Chuan caught sight of a vast ocean of green. The air was exceptionally fresh, and the fragrance of herbs drifted all around.

The Black Wind Cliff's outer sect branch altar was nestled right in the middle of this green ocean, resembling a paradise isolated from the mortal world.

"The people of Black Wind Cliff certainly know how to enjoy themselves."

Faced with such breathtaking scenery, Qin Chuan could not help offering a word of praise.

Right now, the medicinal garden was a scene of bustling activity, with numerous outer sect disciples busy gathering herbs.

A Level 40 elder urged anxiously, "Move your hands and feet faster! The upcoming battle ahead requires a massive supply of materials; we must prepare more."

"Yes!"

Suddenly, a miserable scream echoed from outside the garden. A man in black, wielding a red spirit weapon, strode in, a faint smile hanging at the corners of his mouth.

Yet, that smile, in the eyes of the Black Wind Cliff members, made their scalps tingle with numbness.

Just looking at the red spirit weapon sent shivers through their hearts. There were truly very few people in the entire spirit realm who possessed a red spirit weapon.

That elder pointed at Qin Chuan and trembled as he asked, "You... What person are you? How dare you trespass into a restricted area of Black Wind Cliff? This... This is a capital offense!"

Qin Chuan's lips curved upward into a slight smile as he said calmly, "I'm here to farm some merit points and clean up the medicinal garden along the way."

"Ah!"

Qin Chuan once again transformed into a demonic entity, slaughtering while simultaneously devouring countless herbs.

The intoxicating thrill of devouring flooded Qin Chuan's spiritual core once more. He was growing increasingly fond of this sensation; it seemed that devouring was something one could easily become addicted to.

"Hmm, the speed of devouring seems to have increased quite a bit."

At this moment, the medicinal garden began to wither at a visible rate, while Qin Chuan continued his leisurely advance.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host, your evolution points are now full."

"Initiating mutated evolution."

"Ding! Evolution successful. Congratulations to the host for gaining 30 points of sharpness, 10 points of toughness, and 10 points of speed."

......

"Report! Reporting to the Elder, someone has broken in! It is a powerhouse wielding a red spirit weapon."

"What?! A red spirit weapon?! Quickly, go invite the branch altar master!"

"Form the array, everyone!"

Elder Qiu, who was in charge of daily affairs, began frantically deploying a grand array, putting up a posture of bracing for a formidable enemy.

Qin Chuan swept through all obstacles along the way, quickly reaching the entrance of the branch altar's main hall.

The members of the Black Wind Cliff watched as a remarkably young man in black slowly approached.

Though a faint smile lingered at the corners of his lips, his gaze was exceptionally sharp. Anyone swept by his glance felt an involuntary chill rise in their heart.

After opening his Heart Wheel, Qin Chuan naturally radiated a commanding aura and background music, which, combined with the countless killings he had committed, added an unspoken, terrifying murderous intent to his presence.

As the saying goes, to subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme skill of all.

Indeed, this was a realm of its own. At this moment, Qin Chuan had already embarked on an extraordinary path of kingship.

"Who goes there? Halt immediately, or suffer execution without exception!"

Elder Qiu shouted angrily, though his heart was already terrified to the core. If not for shouting, how else could he have bolstered his courage?

"This person has slaughtered his way all the way here, and Elder Zhong, who was in charge of herb gathering, didn't even manage to send out a single warning message. This shows just how terrifying he is."

"And he wields a red spirit weapon! I wonder what terrible luck we ran into today!"

By now, Elder Qiu had completely filtered out the crucial piece of information that Qin Chuan was only at Level 35. He had preemptively assumed that the man before him was bound to be an unmatched powerhouse.

Qin Chuan did not stop in his tracks; instead, he kept his eyes locked onto Elder Qiu, making goosebumps erupt all over the elder's body.

"Kill him! Blast him to pieces!"

Elder Qiu could no longer afford to think, and amidst his boundless panic, he directly issued the order to annihilate Qin Chuan.

The three hundred outer sect elite disciples before him were slightly higher in rank and employed the Hundred-Man Axe Array.

"Descent of the Holy Axe!"

The three hundred outer sect elites raised their spirit-iron axes high, green light erupting from their bodies to condense into three massive phantom images of spirit-iron axes.

This axe skill was clearly much more powerful than the Starlight Strike. With a thunderous crash, it cleaved down into the ground, splitting even the plaza into jagged pieces.

"Is he dead?!"

"No! He actually survived?!"

Just as the disciples were filled with doubt, a sudden, miserable shriek rang out.

Before anyone knew how it happened, an extra sword hole had appeared right between Elder Qiu's eyebrows, and he crashed heavily to the ground.

"Th-This is impossible!"

"How did Elder Qiu die?!"

The disciples reacted as if they had just seen a ghost. It was simply unbelievable, and they were so frightened that cold sweat poured from their entire bodies.

Just as the Descent of the Holy Axe was being unleashed, Qin Chuan had activated his Flow Strike.

Yet, because the massive axe phantom had completely overshadowed everything, no one had noticed that the Dragon-Patterned Cold Crystal Sword had pierced through the void and arrived instantly.

As for any sword arrays or axe arrays—while they might appear immensely powerful to others—they were entirely useless tricks in Qin Chuan's eyes.

Qin Chuan recalled the Dragon-Patterned Cold Crystal Sword. A trace of blood stained the tip of the blade, dripping slowly downward.

"Drip!"

That sound of falling blood sent violent shocks through the hearts of all the outer sect disciples, for every single one of them found themselves gazing into a pair of eyes filled with unmitigated killing intent.

And once again, Qin Chuan plunged into the state of slaughter...