Two Realms: I Will Become the Immortal Emperor

If he were to Activate it with all his strength, the Celestial Secret Umbrella could expand to a massive twelve zhang, but with his current reserves of True Essence, he could only maintain it for a mere three minutes.

He spent a while longer familiarizing himself with how to use the Celestial Secret Umbrella.

Finally, he put it away, lit three stalks of Concentration Incense, and sat cross-legged on the Lotus Platform in his Cave Mansion. He opened his Micro Crystal Brain and began his Cultivation.

「The next few days.」

Chen Che fell back into his old routine. His days were spent in his Cave Mansion on Cultivation, Alchemy, and God Casting, as well as teaching Alchemy to Zhao Deyou. In his spare time, he studied ahead for the second semester of his sophomore year and reviewed materials from past provincial competitions.

And just as he had predicted, after a long and fruitless search, the Loose Cultivators in the mountains began to leave one after another.

Soon, only a scattered few remained.

...

...

「On this day, the sky was clear.」

The once-raucous mountain forest had gradually returned to its usual tranquility.

SCREEE~

A piercing eagle’s cry suddenly echoed from the sky.

”After all this time, has that Demon Beast finally shown itself?”

Several Loose Cultivators were huddled in a ruined temple. The wind howled through its walls, the roof was gone, and even the Divine Statue had vanished. They were warming themselves by a bonfire when the eagle’s cry rang out. Overjoyed, they scrambled out of the temple, their eyes scanning the sky in the direction of the sound.

But when they saw the black shadow streak across the sky, the excitement in their eyes faded.

”It’s black, and chest-high... It doesn’t match the Painting.”

”It’s been so long. I bet that Demon Beast left the mountains ages ago.”

”Forget it, just forget it. We’ve combed through these mountains. That Demon Beast probably escaped long ago. Why would it still be waiting around for us?”

...

’Today, I will reach the Seventh Layer!’

Chen Che sat cross-legged upon the Lotus Platform and swallowed the last Clear Moon Lotus Seed.

As the seed entered his stomach, it immediately transformed into a raging torrent, like a Flood Dragon, surging and weaving through his meridians.

’Here it comes!’

Chen Che had tensed his mind and prepared himself the moment the torrent appeared.

Though born of nature, this kind of Celestial and Earthly Treasure had not been refined, so its Spiritual Qi was often incredibly violent.

With the previous two seeds, Chen Che had waited for the Spiritual Qi to rampage through his body until its power weakened before he began to absorb it.

It was a safer method, but also a wasteful one.

BOOM!

The instant the Energy-Introducing Technique latched onto the torrent, Chen Che felt as if he were wrestling a Flood Dragon.

The Energy-Introducing Technique, which he had circulated countless times before, now felt impossibly sluggish, like a rusted bearing that refused to turn.

But Chen Che didn’t stop. Instead, he pushed it to circulate even faster. He fought to guide the torrent, slowly pulling it into his meridians and forcing it to follow the path of the Energy-Introducing Technique. He ran the cycle again and again until the torrent was finally refined into True Essence.

BOOM!

Just as a Grand Circulation completed, an unstoppable aura erupted from him, transforming into a visible shockwave that rolled outward.

The gale lasted for several dozen breaths before finally subsiding.

’I finally did it!’

Chen Che slowly opened his eyes and looked at the Micro Crystal Brain:

[Name: Chen Che]

[Realm: Qi Refining Seventh Layer (0.24%)]

[Qi and Blood: Qi Refining Seventh Layer (39.7%)]

[Divine Sense: Foundation Establishment Third Layer (73.3%)]

[Warning: True Essence reserves are 103.2% higher than Cultivators of the Same Tier.]

’Finally! I’ve reached the Qi Refining Seventh Layer before school starts! I wonder what kind of results I can achieve in the provincial competition with my current strength?’

Chen Che felt a growing sense of anticipation.

Only by advancing from the provincial competition could he face off against the true prodigies.

Prodigies like... Ye Zhihan.