Chapter 49: The Fate-Changing Son-in-Law (Part 11)

Regarding the attempts by the ruler of the Great Yan Dynasty to woo him with his beauty,
Su Chen naturally refused with righteous indignation.
Perhaps in his first and second lives, beauty held some allure.
But with increasing experience,
these ordinary beauties no longer held any interest for Su Chen.
Beauty fades into dust.
He still preferred interesting souls.
After settling things with the Xia family,
Su Chen returned to the Xuan Yuan Holy Land with the Xia siblings.
Su Chen devoted himself to cultivation.
Time passed quickly, five years in the blink of an eye.
Su Chen's cultivation broke through to the seventh level of the Spirit Soul Realm, a rapid advancement.
However, he did not become arrogant.
Any disciple randomly selected from the Xuan Yuan Holy Land would be considered a genius in the outside world.
Among them, some of the ranked disciples even achieved the title of King before the age of twenty.
"The once-a-decade Dao Inquiry Conference is about to begin, one of the grandest events in the Eastern Wilderness, attracting countless prodigies every year."
"Disciple, why don't you go with your senior brother from the Holy Land to participate in the trials and see the vastness of the sky?"
The Prison Suppressor Emperor summoned Su Chen.
The Dao Inquiry Conference.
Many core disciples from the Holy Land participated.
Su Chen was also filled with longing.
He had never fought against the top geniuses of the Holy Land.
Heroes from all over the world.
He wanted to meet them too.
On the Holy Land's ships stood young men and women.
Su Chen curiously surveyed his surroundings.
Everyone exuded at least the aura of the Spirit Soul Realm.
Among them were some prodigies whose auras Su Chen couldn't fathom.
Far surpassing his past self.
This made Su Chen realize the Prison Suppressor Emperor's purpose.
The sky was indeed so vast.
He had been a disciple of the Xuan Yuan Holy Land for eight years, primarily cultivating under the tutelage of the Prison Suppressor Emperor.
Although he knew the Holy Land possessed many powerful prodigies,
he had never had the chance to meet them.
On the ship, Su Chen also saw a familiar face:
Li Xuanbing.
His most prized descendant from his previous life.
Li Xuanbing had become a disciple of a Nirvana Realm elder of the Xuan Yuan Holy Land, and Su Chen couldn't fathom the depth of his current cultivation.
However, he knew that Li Xuanbing was not far from breaking through to the Void Realm.
Li Xuanbing also saw Su Chen and nodded with a smile.
Su Chen followed the others to the City of Inquiry.
Countless prodigies had gathered here.
These prodigies came from the Twelve Holy Lands, various ancient clans, and the top forces below the Holy Lands.
Such a large number of prodigies gathered together created a dazzling spectacle, like a constellation of stars.
The Xuan Yuan Holy Land ranked only ninth among the Twelve Holy Lands.
The Eastern Wilderness ranks only fourth among the five regions.
The legendary true martial arts holy land...
The Central Continent...
is home to an imperial clan.
What a glorious era it must be!
The Dao Inquiry Tournament is a competition among the younger generation of martial artists in the Eastern Wilderness.
Where there is competition, there are grudges.
The Profound Origin Holy Land and the Azure Jade Holy Land are two sworn enemies.
The older and younger generations have a feud.
One is ninth, the other eighth; neither is willing to concede.
Su Chen didn't encounter any disciples from the Azure Jade Holy Land.
His opponent was a prodigy from the ancient Qin Clan of Tianshui.
Su Chen narrowly won.
His opponent was Zhong Muzhi, a disciple from the third-ranked Holy Land, the Hidden Sword Holy Land.
Su Chen was defeated.
This was the first time he had been defeated by someone of the same cultivation level.
"Thank you for your consideration."
The boy's long hair was as black as ink, casually standing up, and his eyes were like abysses, exuding a coldness that kept people at a distance.
The ancient longsword was sheathed, and then he left.
It seemed he had done something insignificant.
Su Chen was somewhat stunned.
Except for his first life.
His memories from life after life often granted him absolute power, easily defeating geniuses of the same realm. This gave Su Chen a sense of loneliness, a feeling of being invincible among his peers.
"Your defeat to him is not unjust,"
"That young man possessed a special martial physique, far stronger than an ordinary spiritual physique. Although not as powerful as a divine or holy physique, it was still an extremely powerful constitution,"
Li Xuanbing comforted Su Chen.
After leaving the Tianyuan Dynasty and joining the Xuanyuan Holy Land, he too had experienced confusion.
There were too many geniuses in this world.
When these geniuses gathered together, he seemed extremely ordinary, unremarkable.
Su Chen quickly adjusted his mindset.
He only felt a sense of loss and melancholy.
Hundreds of years of accumulated martial arts experience were easily crushed by talent.
The Dao Inquiry Tournament continued.
Su Chen witnessed Jiang Cheng, a Sequence 13 disciple from the Xuan Yuan Holy Land, battling a woman from the Qing Yu Holy Land for three hundred rounds.
Even within the Tong Xuan Realm, their cultivation levels were considered strong.
True young kings.
In the end, both used their full strength, resulting in a draw and mutual injury.
The highest-ranking disciple from the Xuan Yuan Holy Land was Shen Wuxin, a Sequence 3 disciple.
Under thirty years old, with a Tong Xuan Level 9 cultivation, he became seventh in the Dao Inquiry Tournament.
Having witnessed the talents of these top geniuses, Su Chen's cultivation became even more arduous.
He began to engage with the Xuan Yuan Holy Land, earning contribution points.
Ten years later, he reached the Spirit Soul Level 9.
Only one step away from the Tong Xuan Realm.
That year, Su Chen turned 37.
His cultivation began to encounter a bottleneck.
Even with his previous experience of breaking through to the Tong Xuan Realm, breaking through again was extremely difficult.
Su Chen began his search for opportunities after leaving the Xuan Yuan Holy Land.
On his journey, he encountered Fang Bubai.
Su Chen couldn't quite gauge Fang Bubai's cultivation level.
He guessed it was at the Tongxuan realm.
"Brother Mu, your cultivation is about to enter the Tongxuan realm, isn't it?"
Fang Bubai immediately saw Su Chen's current state and said, "I know a place that might help Brother Mu comprehend the mysteries of the Tongxuan realm and successfully enter it."
Su Chen was surprised.
Fang Bubai would give him such a valuable resource.
Fang Bubai led Su Chen to a place of inheritance.
Here, some powerful figure had left behind an inheritance.
Su Chen began to comprehend it here.
Fang Bubai cultivated outside.
Five years later, Su Chen finally sensed the threshold of the Tongxuan realm and quickly crossed it.
"Finally, I've broken through to the Tongxuan realm!"
Su Chen was overjoyed.
A Transcendent Realm cultivator in their forties would be considered a genius even in the Holy Land.
Fang Bubai smiled upon seeing Su Chen's breakthrough and said, "Congratulations, Brother Mu, on successfully breaking through to the Transcendent Realm!"
Su Chen was melancholy; he was even more uncertain about Fang Bubai's cultivation level.
"Brother, what are your plans for the future?"
Su Chen asked.
Fang Bubai refused to join any faction, insisting on being a lone wolf.
"Brother Mu, to be honest, I need to travel to Zhongzhou!"
Fang Bubai's face lit up.
"After today's parting, I don't know when we'll meet again."
Su Chen smiled and cupped his hands, saying, "Then congratulations, Brother, on your illustrious name throughout Zhongzhou!"
Fang Bubai picked up a pot of wine and feasted with Su Chen. The next morning, he staggered away, embarking on his journey to Zhongzhou.
Su Chen watched Fang Bubai depart.
This parting today might add another legend to Zhongzhou.
Su Chen returned to the Xuan Yuan Holy Land.
Upon returning, Su Chen heard news:
Lin Wu had failed to break through to the Void Realm and was critically injured.
Su Chen went to visit him. Lin Wu, who had failed to break through to the Void Realm and had little time left, was overjoyed to see Su Chen.