Chapter 347: Leaving the Holy Land

Jian Chen left the first cavern, and visited the other seven caverns, each one contained its own Saint Tier Battle Skill. Without any exceptions, each battle skill was illustrated on paintings that required the cultivator to comprehend it by themselves with no instructions.

A Saint Tier Battle Skill was not like a Heaven Tier Battle Skill. Heaven Tier Battle Skills were written using words, and required only a strong amount of practice in order to grasp the fundamentals. They also required time to initialize. A Saint Tier Battle Skill was completely different. This required one’s own ability to understand. So if one was unable to comprehend the Saint Tier Battle Skill in their hand, it would be useless.

A Saint Tier Battle Skill was complicated and mysterious. A single Saint Tier Battle Skill could have hundreds of paintings, and each form depicted on them could hold many different mysteries. Some only had three paintings, but each one held mysteries that could shatter the heavens and annihilate the earth. When looking at the pictures, the people drawn within the paintings seemed almost as if they were alive. Each one carried a world-shaking power. If one didn’t have a certain base level of strength, they would not be able to endure this incorporeal presence.

Even Jian Chen had felt an indescribable amount of power coming from the paintings, causing him to spit out blood. Even just the grace of the paintings was enough to inflict damage on Jian Chen.

After such an event, Jian Chen had a stronger understanding of Saint Tier Battle Skills. He knew what realm he was currently in, and that this Saint Tier Battle Skill was beyond his level. If he were to never become a Saint Ruler nor grasp the profound mysteries of the world, then the time he had spent trying to understand the Saint Tier Battle Skills would all be for naught.

Leaving the third area, Jian Chen arrived at the fourth. The fourth area was simply a large study room with a table and chairs. Bookshelves could be seen everywhere with books filling up each shelf, bound with the animal leather of magical beasts. There was a strange energy that filled the area attempting to prevent the books from corroding with time.

These books were filled with insights from the previous generations of cultivators. While Jian Chen wouldn’t be able to benefit much from them now, he could still memorize them. Then, he would be able to think back to them when his own comprehension was better.

In the blink of an eye, Jian Chen had spent three months within the fourth area. Jian Chen had spent the entire time reading the insights from every single area possible within the realm of cultivation. While it was of no use to him now, they would come in handy later.

During the days within the fourth area, Jian Chen had also tried to establish his foundation even more. The experiences within the books he had read were many, and the amount of insights he could still gleam from them were plenty. Those under the Heaven Saint Master realm would absorb the vital energy of the world to increase both their Saint Weapon and personal strength, but there was a barrier from the Great Saint Master to Earth Saint Master realm. If one succeeded in crossing the barrier, then they would become like the dragon, but if they failed, they would degenerate to a cripple who couldn’t cultivate.

Cultivating as an Earth Saint Master was an extremely simple task with no complications. As long as one reached the Sixth Cycle Earth Saint Master level, one could make the breakthrough to become a Heaven Saint Master by the usage of the world’s vital energy. With a small step, they would become a Heaven Saint Master.

Heaven Saint Masters were able to fly through the air with the use of their inner Saint Force to levitate. With the world’s energy, they could fly through the air without much of a drain to themselves. So, if one wanted to be a Heaven Saint Master, it was necessary to have a grasp on the vital energy of the world.

The last part he grasped was the threshold to become a Saint Ruler. Although making the breakthrough to become a Saint Ruler wasn’t as perilous as becoming an Earth Saint Master, the chances of making the breakthrough were many times harder.

That was because if one wanted to make the breakthrough to become a Saint Ruler, they must have a fundamental grasp of the profound mysteries in the world. There were many secrets hidden within these profound mysteries and they were the reason why there were so few Saint Rulers among the Tian Yuan Continent. This layer of cultivation was far away from the level Jian Chen was currently at.

Leaving the fourth area, Jian Chen still had another month left in the holy land. During this final month, he had planned on going back to the first area to continue his cultivation for what would be equivalent to ten months of actual time.

Arriving at the first area, the Heavenly Enchantress was still sitting in her original spot without any signs of moving. Sitting ten meters away from her so as to not disturb her, Jian Chen sat down with two Class 5 Monster Cores. Although the energy within this area was quite rich, the energy within a Class 5 Monster Core was denser. Now that he was a Peak Third Cycle Earth Saint Master, he was only a small hop away from the Fourth Cycle.

“The energy within the holy land is different from the outside world. The energy in here contains fragments of the profound mysteries of the world. Although they are miniscule, they should still provide a large amount of help to you.” Just as Jian Chen had taken out his Class 5 Monster Cores, the Heavenly Enchantress’ heavenly voice could be heard once more.

Pausing in shock, Jian Chen didn’t think that the holy land’s energy would contain the mysteries of the world. Cupping his hands to signify his thanks to the Heavenly Enchantress, he put the Class 5 Monster Cores back into his Space Belt and began to cultivate once more with the energy from the holy land.

Suddenly, the first area’s energy began to rush toward Jian Chen in a frantic craze while Jian Chen continued to accept all of it into his body like water into a whale. At the current pace, his absorption rate was no slower than the Heavenly Enchantress.

With the help of the Sword Spirits, Jian Chen was able to absorb both the world qi and the energy within the monster core at a rate several times faster than anyone else. Ever since he’d first awakened the Sword Spirits in Huang Village, they had stopped stealing energy from Jian Chen without his permission. Therefore, the energy was now entirely absorbed by Jian Chen alone.

The Heavenly Enchantress’ eyes flew open as she realized just how fast Jian Chen was absorbing the energy. After staring in shock for a few moments, she closed her eyes once more.

Half a moment later, Jian Chen’s face broke out into a smile in the middle of his cultivation. As expected, he’d discovered that the energy from the holy land was indeed different from that from outside. There were many things he didn’t understand mixed into it, like whatever was contained in the strange energy from Mercenary City. These were all impossible for him to comprehend. They seemed like rings of light that flashed in his head fleetingly, unable to be grasped. Such things were no longer strange to Jian Chen; these were precisely the profound mysteries of the world, the level that he could not yet touch.

This realization made Jian Chen happy. Spending the rest of his time in a deep cultivational meditation, he began to absorb some of the fragments of the profound mysteries of the world. Originally, he had planned to try and study the Illusionary Flash, but with this newfound discovery, he completely ignored that previous notion.

Quickly, Jian Chen had spent the last ten months of his time in the first area of the holy land. His strength had already reached the Fourth Cycle Earth Saint Master, and in those ten months, Jian Chen’s comprehension of the profound mysteries of the world had substantially increased. His mind was like a world of spirits and the profound mysteries were like a divine light that would occasionally shine. Sometimes, a strange thought would occur in his mind, but Jian Chen had never been able to fully grasp just what the thought meant. At times, his thoughts would be vague as he tried to comprehend them, but they were mysteries for a reason.

With the help of the fragments he had already, Jian Chen was able to establish a strong foundation of the profound mysteries. In his current state, even if he were to absorb any more of the fragments, he wouldn’t be able to understand the current fragments.

Today was the day that half a year had passed. The Eighth Elder appeared by Jian Chen’s side and spoke, “Jian Chen, it has been half a year. Follow me and I’ll guide you out.”

Sighing with some regret, Jian Chen had finally recognized the benefits of the holy land. The first area was capable of allowing him more time to understand the profound mysteries. Now that he had a good understanding of the benefits of this place, he was reluctant to leave.

“If only I could just stay here.” Jian Chen sighed at that thought. He knew that his wish was impossible, thus he could only follow the Eighth Elder and depart from the first area.

Seeing Jian Chen’s reluctant face, the Eighth Elder couldn’t help but laugh, “Jian Chen, are you unhappy to leave the holy lands? Haha, this place is truly a treasured area if even Saint Rulers are attracted to this place so badly. You needn’t worry, with you being this time’s King of Mercenaries, you’ll have an opportunity to enter the holy lands once more at the next Gathering of the Mercenaries after you become a Saint Ruler. Each time the holy land opens every fifty years, you may remain inside for five years.”

“One can stay in here for five years? Then why was it that I am only able to stay for half a year?” Jian Chen asked with confusion.

The Eighth Elder laughed, “Only a Saint Ruler is qualified to stay for five years. Even the number one ranking person in the Gathering of the Mercenaries is only qualified to stay for half a year; that is the rules of our Mercenary City.”

Jian Chen could find no faults in those words. The holy land was their territory after all. Anyone that wanted to enter the holy land had no right to dictate the rules as they personally saw fit.

Afterward, the Eighth Elder took Jian Chen to a Space Gate and left the holy land with him.