Terran Guardian - Chapter 3536

Chapter 3514 A Crucial Step

“Boom—”

Above the fifteen prefectures, once the site of the former Yellow Springs Forbidden Zone and now where the power of heavenly punishment still lingers, another terrifying heavenly tribulation condensed.

The powerful aura instantly attracted the attention of many powerful figures.

“A tribulation of war!”

“Could it be that another innate imperial weapon has been born!?”

Everyone stared at the descending tribulation power, their expressions filled with horror.

An innate imperial weapon!

Such a treasure is extremely rare.

Not long ago, an innate imperial weapon appeared in the Divine Heaven Domain, and now a second one is about to appear?

In comparison,

the Heavenly Forging Palace was even more shocked.

“An innate imperial weapon, could that person be about to reach the eighth rank in just a few hundred thousand years!”

Hundred Refinement Peak was shocked, looking at the condensed heavenly tribulation with disbelief on his face.

Others might not know the origin of this tribulation of war, but Hundred Refinement Peak was absolutely certain that this tribulation of war originated from the Profound Heaven Dao Sect.

The reason was simple.

Currently, in the entire Divine Heaven Domain, there could only be one person qualified to forge an innate imperial weapon, and that was Shen Changqing.

Looking at the many top seventh-tier grandmasters of the Heavenly Forging Palace, none of them possessed the qualifications to forge such a supreme treasure.

No—

to be precise,

the Heavenly Forging Palace should only have half.

That was Bai Lianchuan.

But he had already gone into seclusion and hadn’t truly emerged yet.

Moreover,

if Bai Lianchuan were forging a Primordial Emperor Weapon, such a huge commotion wouldn’t have gone unnoticed by the higher-ups of the Heavenly Forging Palace.

Therefore,

there was only one possibility:

the person who forged the weapon was definitely not from the Heavenly Forging Palace.

And if not from the Heavenly Forging Palace, then there was only one possibility: it was from the Xuan Tian Dao Sect.

Not only was Bai Lianchuan shocked, but all the other higher-ups of the Heavenly Forging Palace who knew Shen Changqing’s background were also deeply alarmed.

However, soon ,

as the tribulation descended, the divine weapon trembled and groaned, causing many powerful figures in the Heavenly Forging Palace to frown slightly.

“No, this supreme treasure is likely to fail its tribulation!”

Bai Lianxuan said in a deep voice.

With his keen eyesight, he could see that this supreme treasure was already at its last gasp.

Sure enough.

Not long after Bai Lianxuan finished speaking, another heavenly tribulation descended, and the previously intact treasure developed a crack.

After several more heavenly tribulations, the cracks multiplied, quickly covering the entire treasure.

When yet another heavenly tribulation descended, the treasure shattered violently.

Fragments scattered in all directions, and the tribulation vanished along with them.

It failed!

Seeing the tribulation dissipate, many cultivators fell silent.

Witnessing such a treasure fail to overcome the tribulation was a great pity for many.

At the Heavenly Forging Palace,

Bai Lianfeng shook his head: “It’s a pity that it couldn’t overcome the tribulation, otherwise the Divine Heaven Domain would have produced its first eighth-tier Grandmaster!”

“Although this tribulation failed, that person has already taken a crucial step. With further refinement, reaching the eighth tier shouldn’t be a problem.

It’s just a pity that such a being is not a cultivator of our Heavenly Forging Palace, otherwise our Heavenly Forging Palace would surely have prospered!”

Bai Lianxuan sighed.

Regardless of Shen Changqing’s actual strength, his almost heaven-defying talent in weapon forging alone is enough to lead the Heavenly Forging Palace to great prosperity.

Upon hearing this,

the high-ranking members of the Heavenly Forging Palace, including Bai Lianfeng, remained silent.

They understood that Bai Lianxuan’s words were true. The fact

that he had attracted a military calamity meant that he had taken another step forward from the end of the seventh rank, truly having one foot in the eighth rank.

Truly breaking through to the eighth rank

was only a matter of time.

For most seventh-rank grandmasters, the real difficulty lay in taking that half-step.

After all, being able to step into the eighth rank meant that they had already comprehended the path of the eighth rank; what they lacked was simply time to accumulate experience.

Many seventh-rank grandmasters spent their entire lives without ever truly finding the path to the eighth rank, let alone taking that half-step.

This half-step difference was worlds apart.

People like Bai Lianfeng had broken through to the peak of the seventh rank for many years, but had never been able to break through to the eighth rank.

The reason for this

lay precisely in this.

Some things, once understood, are simply understood

. If you can’t even grasp them, no amount of time spent accumulating knowledge will help. Simply put,

if you can’t truly understand the eighth-order path and take that half-step, even billions of years of accumulation won’t allow you to break through to the eighth order.

Time spent accumulating knowledge is meaningless for cultivators at this level.

Enlightenment!

It often depends on the right opportunity, not time.

Only by truly taking that half-step can you consider the possibility of time accumulation and sedimentation. After all,

if you can’t even find the path, then so-called seclusion and sedimentation are futile.

…

On the other side.

Shen Changqing stood with his hands behind his back in the void, watching the dissipating tribulation of the weapon, his expression calm.

“It’s still a failure!”

From the moment that treasure underwent tribulation, he already knew the outcome.

The flaws he hadn’t discovered during the weapon’s forging were exposed before the tribulation.

However,

Shen Changqing wasn’t discouraged.

This failure truly showed him the path ahead.

His many shortcomings and what he lacked were now no longer obstructed by any fog.

Shen Changqing was confident that, given more time, he could forge a true Innate Emperor Weapon and advance to the eighth-tier Grandmaster level.

“However—”

“Right now, the materials are a significant problem for forging the weapon!”

Shen Changqing smiled wryly.

He had exhausted all the tenth-tier materials he had accumulated from four previous forging attempts.

If he wanted to forge an Innate Emperor Weapon for the fifth time, he would need to gather enough materials.

There was no other way.

Tenth-tier materials are rare.

Even with Shen Changqing’s abundant resources, he couldn’t sustain this indefinitely.

Then,

his figure vanished.

When he reappeared, he was already in Nanming Immortal City.

Now, with the Xuan Tian Dao Sect’s reputation soaring, Nanming Immortal City’s status has also risen accordingly. Coupled with the large number of cultivators from outside the Divine Heaven Domain, this immortal city is becoming increasingly prosperous and thriving.

It’s a world apart from when the Nanming Immortal Lord was in charge.

Shen Changqing glanced at the merchant guild before him and stepped inside.

…

Inside the Immortal Guest Pavilion.

Shen Changqing sat there, Fu Tian’s expression respectful.

“Greetings, Your Excellency!”

“I’ve come here because I have something I need you to do,”

Shen Changqing said slowly.

The Zhutian Merchant Guild has grown and expanded over the years, but with the turmoil in Shenfeng Prefecture and the impact on many immortal domains, the Zhutian Merchant Guild has also been significantly affected.

Therefore,

Shen Changqing had Fu Tian move the Zhutian Merchant Guild’s headquarters directly to Nanming Immortal City.

After all, with the Xuantian Dao Sect as its backer, Nanming Immortal City naturally doesn’t need to worry about unrest.

Furthermore, while it’s true that

Shentian Domain

is a mid-tier immortal domain, the presence of the Xuantian Dao Sect has resulted in a large number of cultivators and powerful figures, making it incomparable to other mid-tier immortal domains.

Given the current turmoil, many cultivators fear being affected and naturally seek refuge in other immortal domains.

Normally, mid-tier immortal domains wouldn’t attract such attention.

However, Shentian Domain is different.

With the Xuantian Dao Sect in charge, its safety is even higher than many top-tier immortal domains.

The reason is simple:

Shentian Domain is a mid-tier immortal domain with limited resources, destined not to attract many powerful figures.

Furthermore, the strength of the Xuantian Dao Sect is sufficient to suppress many forces.

Therefore,

how could Shentian Domain be unstable?

As a result

, the number of outside cultivators to Shentian Domain has gradually increased, indirectly boosting the entire domain’s economy, which is beneficial to the development of the merchant guild.

Of course…

A large number of cultivators also means a lot of conflicts and disputes.

But as the saying goes,

with the Xuan Tian Dao Sect around, the Divine Heaven Domain won’t experience any major upheavals.

As for other minor squabbles, they are harmless and unlikely to truly affect the overall structure of the Immortal Domain.

Furthermore,

while the Divine Heaven Domain is currently only a mid-level Immortal Domain, its advancement to a higher level is inevitable once the next Heavenly Dao Battlefield opens.

Therefore,

it’s more advantageous than disadvantageous for the All-Heavens Merchant Guild to establish its base in the Divine Heaven Domain.

However, Shen Changqing hasn’t interfered too much in the affairs of the All-Heavens Merchant Guild.

This is his first visit since the All-Heavens Merchant Guild moved to Nanming Immortal City.

“I will obey Your Excellency’s orders!”

Fu Tian’s expression remained consistently respectful.

Shen Changqing said, “From today onwards, the All-Heavens Merchant Guild will devote all its efforts to collecting tenth-grade immortal ores, or other materials that can be forged into innate imperial weapons. We’ll

take as many as you have, and the price is negotiable.”

Although most semi-saint-level treasures involve top-grade immortal stones, some immortal ores are different.

After all, although the latter had also reached the semi-saint level, it was not as important as other rare and precious materials, or even supreme treasures.

Therefore,

even high-grade immortal stones could be acquired, at most requiring a higher price.

However, Shen Changqing still had hundreds of millions of high-grade immortal stones, so he didn’t need to worry about these issues.

Over the years, he had used up quite a few immortal stones.

But when Gu Mingfeng attained enlightenment, slaying dozens of Immortal Emperors, and occasionally intervening to suppress the remaining invading enemies, Shen Changqing accumulated a considerable foundation.

As a result

, over the years,

Shen Changqing’s immortal stones had not decreased but increased, now exceeding 500 million.

With 500 million high-grade immortal stones,

he believed that acquiring some tenth-tier materials would be more than enough.

Even if the latter were extremely valuable, it wouldn’t be a big problem.

Fu Tian naturally accepted the order.

“Furthermore—”

“Place this item with the All-Heavens Merchant Guild as well. You can decide how to handle it as you see fit.”

As Shen Changqing spoke, he flipped his hand, and several fragments of a celestial sword appeared out of thin air. The terrifying killing intent lingered, enveloping the entire Immortal Weapon Pavilion.

Even Fu Tian, who had reached the Immortal Emperor realm, felt a chill run down his spine and his hair stand on end when this killing intent appeared, as if a great terror was approaching.

“These are fragments of a Primordial Emperor Weapon!”

Fu Tian exclaimed in shock, recognizing the origin of these celestial sword fragments.

Shen Changqing shook his head: “They’re not true fragments of a Primordial Emperor Weapon, at most a half-step Primordial Emperor Weapon. However, this item has undergone the tribulations of a Primordial Emperor Weapon, and these fragments are far superior to ordinary Immortal Emperor artifacts.

They are useless to me now, so you can handle them!” (End of Chapter)