"Though you weren't able to hold on until the very end of this weapon refining, you must have gained something from it, right?" Chu Feng asked Li Yue'er.
Li Yue'er asked him directly how much he had gained, rather than asking whether he had gained anything at all.
The reason she asked that way, Chu Feng surmised, was that Li Yue'er had already gained insight into the Martial Dao from this weapon refining session.
Since even she had gained such insight, she firmly believed that Chu Feng must have gained something as well — perhaps even more than she had.
"I did gain something, but toward the end I couldn't hold on any longer. My Mental Power was depleted, and the insights I gained grew fewer and fewer, so the result wasn't ideal."
"What about you? You must have gained quite a bit, right?" Li Yue'er asked.
"Actually, in weapon refining, the most crucial part is the final step. But because I was running low on physical strength and was focused on successfully forging the half-finished immortal weapon, I ended up overlooking the comprehension techniques within the Tianjun Weapon Refining method at the most critical moment."
"Still, even so, I gained quite a bit. I think... I can attempt to break through to the True Immortal realm now," Chu Feng said.
"When do you plan to start?" Li Yue'er asked.
"We've been refining weapons for a full three months. Regardless of what scheme the Soul Infant Sect is plotting, it must be close to completion. Time is short — I need to go into seclusion immediately," Chu Feng said.
"Now?" Li Yue'er was quite surprised. She had originally been worried about Chu Feng's physical condition.
But looking at Chu Feng's current mental state, she felt that her concerns were somewhat unnecessary. His condition was remarkably good.
No matter how she looked at it, he didn't resemble someone whose body had been nearly drained to the point of death at all.
Without hesitation, Chu Feng prepared to act. But based on Li Yue'er's experience, when a Martial Ancestor broke through to the True Immortal realm, it was bound to cause quite a stir.
The extent of that disturbance varied depending on the Self-punishment Mystic Art one practiced.
When Li Yue'er had broken through previously, the damage it caused had been extraordinary. And the Self-punishment Mystic Art Chu Feng practiced was the Divine Punishment Mystic Art — so in her eyes, the commotion his breakthrough would create might be unprecedented.
To avoid attracting the Soul Infant Sect's attention and disrupting Chu Feng's breakthrough, Li Yue'er not only brought out the umbrella that could conceal heavenly lightning from last time, but also prepared several other treasures.
These treasures would not only greatly reduce the disturbance in the skies above, but also... help Chu Feng mitigate the ferocity of the Divine Thunder, giving him a better chance at a successful breakthrough.
While Chu Feng was entering seclusion, deep within an ancient jungle somewhere in the Hundred Refinements Mortal Realm, a large group had gathered.
The group was none other than Ying Mingchao, Zi Xunyi, Zhao Hong, and the rest of their companions.
Every single one of them was present, without exception. Even Ying Mingchao, who had been gravely injured before, was now brimming with vitality — the wounds he had sustained that day had long since healed.
But at this moment, all of them seemed to be waiting for something.
Rumble — rumble — rumble —
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble and the trees started shaking violently. But before long, as the tremors grew ever stronger, the towering ancient trees began to topple one after another.
BOOM —
A deafening explosion rang out, and a figure shot up from beneath the earth, soaring into the air above.
This person's aura was incredibly powerful — a second-rate True Immortal.
And he was none other than Wang Qiang.
"Husband, you succeeded?"
Upon seeing Wang Qiang, Zhao Hong shot into the air in ecstatic joy and arrived at his side.
"W-Wife, I... I've successfully broken through, and with the power of my Heaven-given Divine Body, that dog the Soul Infant Sect Master won't have long to live."
"Let's g-go... let's go avenge my brother right now," Wang Qiang said.
It turned out that when Zhao Hong and the others had made a point of returning to Hero City that day, it was actually to bring the still-slumbering Wang Qiang with them.
Not long after they had taken Wang Qiang away, he broke free from the formation and successfully merged with the power of his Heaven-given Divine Body.
With the Heaven-given Divine Power in his grasp, Wang Qiang's cultivation soared directly to the first-rate True Immortal realm — at the peak, no less.
Ever since that battle, there had been no word from Chu Feng whatsoever. Whether he was alive or dead remained unknown, and everyone was deeply worried about him.
Especially after learning that the Soul Infant Sect Master was still alive and well, they all felt that the odds of Chu Feng having survived were growing slimmer by the day.