Chapter 495

Chapter 495: The Sand Locust Attack

【Preheaven Five Element Technique · Experience +1】

Within the quiet room of the Seven Star Pavilion, Wang Chen abruptly opened his eyes.

Once again achieving the peak state of energy, spirit, and mind, he felt his magic power surge within him. His eyes radiated brilliance, and an invisible oppressive force enveloped the entire room.

In the next moment, Wang Chen reined in all his aura, showing no signs of abnormality.

He summoned his Cultivation Panel.

【Preheaven Five Element Technique (Third Level): 299/300】

After months of relentless practice, Wang Chen’s cultivation had finally reached the pinnacle of the third level of the Purple Palace.

He was just one step away from a breakthrough!

Though the difference between the fourth realm and the third level seemed to be only one realm, it actually marked the division between the initial and intermediate stages. Taking that step was a significant leap, representing a true advancement to a higher realm.

Now, Wang Chen only needed to consume 1 point of Heavenly Merit to cross this threshold.

But he chose to break through on his own.

Closing his eyes once more, Wang Chen entered a meditative state, seeking to grasp a trace of the elusive Dao rhythm.

As the core of the formations at the Sand Guard, the Seven Star Pavilion provided him with the best cultivation environment, especially after Kou Shihai allocated half of the spiritual energy to him, significantly accelerating Wang Chen’s cultivation speed.

Although he had the advantage of the Cultivation Panel, as his realm continued to rise, gaining experience points for his main technique became increasingly slower.

The importance of guidance on the path of cultivation became ever more apparent.

Wang Chen’s rotation at the Sand Guard was actually nearing its end, but Kou Shihai personally discussed it with Luo Han and extended his stay by three more months.

For Wang Chen, every second spent here was invaluable!

Just as he was fully pushing toward the intermediate level of the Purple Palace, a traveling merchant followed the bustling crowd and passed through the tall and broad eastern city gate, entering this grand city.

To the east of Daying City lay vast plains. The towering mountains on either side blocked wind and sand, also intercepting the mist from the south, creating a large expanse of fertile land.

Countless people lived outside the city, cultivating millions of acres of spirit fields, orchards, vegetable gardens, and woodlands.

As the largest city within a radius of thousands of miles, Daying City attracted many traveling merchants, loose cultivators, and disciples from various sects out on their training journeys.

This traveling merchant, with dark skin and a plain appearance, blended into the crowd, passing through the city gate’s formations without attracting anyone’s attention.

After entering the city, he first found a small inn to settle in.

The next morning, he began to wander through the streets and alleys, occasionally entering shops to inquire about prices and goods.

He continued this for several days.

Finally, this merchant arrived in front of the Sand Guard.

Although the Sand Guard was part of Daying City, it essentially acted as an outer city with entirely independent defensive facilities; ordinary people were strictly forbidden from entering.

The merchant did not dare challenge the authority of the battle cultivators guarding the gate; he merely watched from a distance the Seven Star Pavilion standing tall behind the city wall, his eyes shimmering with a strange light.

Inside the quiet room, Wang Chen’s heart jolted as he suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of threat.

He immediately halted his cultivation, extending his divine sense and activating Global Mode.

In an instant, countless dots appeared in his vision!

Wang Chen could only endure for a brief moment before he began to falter.

It wasn’t that his Spiritual Power was insufficient, but the expenditure of Virtue points was simply too excessive.

Global Mode was immensely powerful; once activated, it transformed Wang Chen into a human radar, exposing all the sinister and malevolent entities around him. The sole drawback was the necessity to consume Virtue points.

Furthermore, the more individuals it unveiled, the greater the consumption.

In the Seven Star Pavilion, the heart of the Sand Guard, numerous battle cultivators and Dao soldiers were stationed around him.

Including the servants and miscellaneous soldiers, the numbers swelled even further!

Consequently, instead of pinpointing the source of the threat, Wang Chen inadvertently depleted a couple thousand Virtue points.

He had no choice but to deactivate it.

At that moment, the sense of impending crisis that had been haunting him dissipated.

Could it have been an illusion?

Wang Chen shook his head, heightening his alertness.

There must be a reason behind the whispers; his intuition had never failed him, and he couldn’t discern what entity was observing him.

Recalling the pair of emotionless eyes he had glimpsed after the Fight to the Death, Wang Chen took a deep breath, expelling all distracting thoughts from his mind.

Being anxious was futile; the most crucial task at hand was to achieve a breakthrough and overcome the challenge.

With his mindset resolute, his will was as unyielding as stone!

Three days later.

Suddenly, the Seven Star Pavilion exhibited unusual activity, as vast amounts of spiritual energy continuously converged, forming a cloud of spiritual energy atop the pavilion!

Just as the nearby cultivators sensed something amiss, the misty spiritual energy abruptly flowed into the pavilion.

There were no further anomalies.

Mid-level cultivator from the Purple Palace!

Sitting cross-legged in the quiet room, Wang Chen smiled.

After seven days of relentless effort, he successfully broke through the third level of the Purple Palace and had now attained the mid-level of the Purple Palace.

His energy field and Sea of Consciousness had expanded, and his cultivation level had increased by at least thirty percent.

Most importantly, he had taken this step with great stability.

Unless unforeseen circumstances arose, he wouldn’t encounter any obstacles in his practice until reaching a higher level.

“Come in!”

After summoning a maid to assist him with bathing and changing clothes, Wang Chen began to strategize his next moves.

His rotation duty had long since expired; although Kou Shihai was quite willing to let him continue guarding the Seven Star Pavilion, as a celestial guardian, his foundation remained in the Xun Celestial Guardian’s pavilion.

Staying away for an extended period was not a wise decision!

After some contemplation, Wang Chen decided to discuss with Kou Shihai about handing over his duties and returning to the Xun Celestial Guardian’s pavilion in a few days.

Just then—

A powerful and majestic horn sound suddenly reached his ears.

The message conveyed by the horn stunned Wang Chen.

He waved his robe sleeve, and a water mirror materialized before him, clearly reflecting the scene outside.

The Seven Star Pavilion itself was a large magical artifact; besides its defensive and detection capabilities, it possessed various remarkable powers.

Wang Chen had a high level of authority over this magical artifact, so conjuring the mirror to view was nothing extraordinary.

However, the scene displayed in the water mirror made his expression extremely grave.

In the northwest direction of the Sand Guard, a yellow-brown “cloud” stretched for hundreds of miles, rapidly advancing towards the city walls, suddenly obscuring a large portion of the sky.

The outside world grew dark, as if the apocalypse had arrived!

Wang Chen pointed at the water mirror, magnifying the scene to see the truth of the "cloud" more clearly.

These “clouds” were actually composed of massive locusts, their fearsome features glaring, fanning their wings to reveal sharp mandibles, and their curved claws gleaming with a metallic sheen.

Although Wang Chen had never seen locusts this large, nearly the size of rabbits, he knew from their sheer numbers that the situation was dire.

And with the horn’s sound rising, the formation barrier of the Sand Guard slowly activated.

A great battle was about to erupt!