"This time weapon refining — even though you couldn't last until the end, you must have gained something, right?" Chu Feng asked Li Yue'er.
Li Yue'er asked directly how much he had gained, rather than asking whether he had gained anything at all.
The reason she asked this way, Chu Feng guessed, was that Li Yue'er had already gained insight into the Martial Dao from this weapon refining session.
Since even she had gained insight into the Martial Dao, she firmly believed that Chu Feng must have gained something too — perhaps even more than her.
"I did gain something, but because I couldn't hold on in the later stages and ran out of Mental Power, the insights I gleaned grew fewer and fewer. So it wasn't ideal."
"What about you? Your gains should be pretty significant, right?" Li Yue'er asked.
"Actually, the most critical part of weapon refining is the final step. But because of physical exhaustion — in order to successfully refine a half-immortal weapon — I neglected the insight method in the Tianjun Weapon Refining Formula at the most crucial moment."
"But even so, I gained quite a lot. I think... I can attempt to break through to the True Immortal realm," Chu Feng said.
"When do you plan to start?" Li Yue'er asked.
"Weapon refining took a full three months. Regardless of what scheme the Soul Infant Sect is plotting, it should be nearing completion by now. Time is pressing — I must enter seclusion immediately," Chu Feng said.
"Now?" Li Yue'er was quite surprised. She had originally been worried about Chu Feng's condition.
But looking at his current state of mind, she felt her concern was somewhat unnecessary. Chu Feng's mental state right now was extremely good.
No matter how you looked at it, he didn't resemble someone whose body had been drained to the point of nearly killing himself.
He wasted no time getting started. But according to Li Yue'er's experience, when a Martial Ancestor broke through to the True Immortal realm, it would cause quite a commotion.
And the magnitude of that commotion varied depending on which Self-Retribution Mystic Art one cultivated.
When Li Yue'er had broken through before, the resulting disturbance had been extraordinary. And the Self-Retribution Mystic Art that Chu Feng cultivated was the Divine Retribution Mystic Art, so in her view, the spectacle he was about to create could be unprecedented.
To prevent the Soul Infant Sect from noticing and interfering with Chu Feng's breakthrough, Li Yue'er not only produced the same umbrella from last time — the one that could conceal the heavenly thunder — but also specially prepared several other treasures.
These treasures could not only significantly reduce the spectacle in the sky, but also help Chu Feng mitigate the ferocity of the Divine Thunder, giving him a bit more certainty in breaking through his cultivation.
While Chu Feng was attempting to enter seclusion, deep within an ancient forest somewhere in the Hundred Refinements Mortal Realm, a large group had gathered.
This group was none other than Ying Mingchao, Zi Xunyi, Zhao Hong, and the others.
Every single one of them was present, not a soul missing. Even Ying Mingchao, who had been gravely injured before, was in high spirits — the wounds from that day had long since healed.
But at this moment, all of them seemed to be waiting for something.
Rumble rumble rumble—
Suddenly, the earth began to tremble and the trees started shaking violently. But soon, as the tremors grew more intense, those towering ancient trees began toppling one after another.
Boom—
A tremendous roar erupted, and a figure shot out from beneath the ground, soaring into midair.
This person's aura was extraordinarily powerful — a Second-stage True Immortal.
And it was none other than Wang Qiang.
"Husband, you succeeded?"
Seeing Wang Qiang, Zhao Hong flew up into the sky in ecstatic joy, arriving at his side.
"Wi... wife, I... I've successfully broken through. And with my Heaven-Given Divine Body's power, that Soul Infant Sect Master's wretched life won't last much longer."
"Let's... let's go avenge my brother right now," Wang Qiang said.
It turned out that when Zhao Hong and the others had made their way back to Hero City, it was specifically to bring the still-slumbering Wang Qiang with them.