Jiang Chen stood in the courtyard, feeling the tremors gradually subside. Though he didn't understand the cause, he felt no fear.
After having gone through several life-and-death crises, Jiang Chen's mental fortitude had clearly reached a level where external disturbances could no longer shake him.
The Gold-Munching Mouse King emerged not long after.
"Chen Shao, I didn't find any disturbances underground. It probably isn't an earthquake within the mountain itself. Perhaps it's a fluctuation from the formation restrictions outside the Indestructible Spirit Mountain?"
The Gold-Munching Mouse King clearly understood how powerful the Indestructible Spirit Mountain was. He knew that many places within it harbored formidable ancient restrictions, so he hadn't dug around recklessly.
Jiang Chen pondered in the courtyard for a moment, realizing that if this was indeed a fluctuation from the formations outside the mountain, there was nothing he could do about it.
"Such matters aren't my concern. There's no need to worry about them. I'll focus on my cultivation. If the sky comes crashing down, the four great sects will be there to hold it up."
He entered his room, sat cross-legged, and resumed his cultivation.
Ever since his breakthrough to the fifth level of the Spirit Realm, Jiang Chen felt as though countless doors of inspiration had been thrown open. His comprehension of the martial path had entered a period of explosive growth.
What's more, all the suppression he had endured during this period—from the examiners, from the sects' top geniuses—had been transformed by Jiang Chen into additional motivation, a wellspring of drive that pushed him ever forward.
It had been over two months since he entered the Heavenly Spirit Zone, and his score had reached an astonishing 3,300 points.
This score had already pushed him into the top ten, with a gap of only three to four hundred points from the leader, Lei Gangyang.
At this rate, with the remaining twenty to thirty days of this assessment, Jiang Chen was confident he could surpass Lei Gangyang and claim the top spot on the Heavenly Spirit Zone's leaderboard!
"The path of martial arts is like sailing upstream—fail to advance, and you'll be swept back. At the speed I'm charging forward, Lei Gangyang and the others certainly won't just sit there waiting to be overtaken. There will definitely be counterattacks ahead. The biggest counterattack will be challenging me on the tournament stage!"
During his lone infiltration of the Supreme Summit, Jiang Chen had taken the opportunity to test Lei Gangyang's strength.
He had to admit that Lei Gangyang's cultivation at the seventh level of the Origin Realm was no empty reputation. Jiang Chen knew that defeating this man would be nearly impossible.
However, should they meet on the tournament stage, Jiang Chen possessed many trump cards, and forcing a draw—neither winning nor losing—was well within his reach.
"Lei Gangyang commands the other geniuses with an iron grip. It seems that even though Long Juxue possesses an Innate Body, she still hasn't surpassed him. Her cultivation level is at most on par with his. But even so, I must continue to push harder."
Though Jiang Chen took Lei Gangyang seriously, he did not regard him as a fated nemesis.
But Long Juxue was different.
Long Juxue, with her Innate Body and all of the Purple Sun Sect's fortune and resources concentrated in her, was the true existential threat.
If he couldn't slay her on the tournament stage, then before reaching the Origin Realm, eliminating this woman would be virtually impossible.
This wasn't Jiang Chen underestimating himself—it was simply that the entire Purple Sun Sect valued Long Juxue far too much.
Old Monster Zhuiyang was a tyrannical master. Given his temperament, anyone who tried to touch Long Juxue would be crushed without mercy.
So the tournament stage was Jiang Chen's only opportunity.
But killing Long Juxue on the tournament stage wouldn't be easy.
This woman held clear advantages over him. An Innate Body, limitless resources—these two things alone were beyond what Jiang Chen could currently match.
Were it not for the memories of his past life and the rewards he'd gained from his bold adventures, the gap between him and Long Juxue would have been far wider.
"Cultivation. I must cultivate even more frantically."
Jiang Chen urgently realized that to kill Long Juxue on the tournament stage, he had to make himself stronger and more certain of success.
For Jiang Chen now, what most urgently needed improvement wasn't his martial techniques, but his cultivation level.
Though he was currently at the fifth level of the Spirit Realm, this cultivation placed him at only a mid-tier level within the Heavenly Spirit Zone.
In the Heavenly Spirit Zone, there were probably four or five cultivators at the seventh level of the Spirit Realm like Lei Gangyang, and sixth-level cultivators would only continue to emerge as time went on.
Though Jiang Chen faced no pressure when challenging opponents above his level, the fifth level of the Spirit Realm against the seventh—a gap of two full levels—still placed him at a disadvantage.
Because the stronger these top geniuses grew in cultivation, the more trump cards they would undoubtedly possess. As the most outstanding figures of their sects, they couldn't possibly be without their own hidden aces.
So Jiang Chen's drive to cultivate burned with desperate urgency.
Against opponents of the same level, Jiang Chen could look down on them with absolute confidence and destroy them without effort. Even if they held many trump cards, he wouldn't bat an eye.
"That woman Long Juxue is already at the peak of the Earth Spirit stage—the sixth level of the Spirit Realm. If she breaks through the shackles of the Earth Spirit stage and enters the seventh level, becoming a Heavenly Spirit Realm powerhouse, killing her will become even more troublesome."
While Jiang Chen was pondering, a streak of light suddenly shot through the window—a transmission talisman.
"All warriors, assemble at the Heavenly Spirit Zone plaza!"