Chapter 356 353- Yang Su’s Hunger For Power
Several thousand kilometers away from the Celestial Academy, there was a small mortal village that had a rather large volcano situated just outside of it.
This volcano was worshiped by the villagers as their god.
Inside the volcano, there were youths that were dressed in inconspicuous clothes while excavating the Divine Fire Spirit Stones.
Among these youths were Li Minhua, Li Bai, and Li Anu. Even now they were excavating the Divine Fire Spirit Stones on Li Shen’s order.
As for the mention of him being dead, they didn’t believe it.
This was a similar trend among the people Li Shen interacted with. For some reason, they had blind faith that he was somewhere out there and hadn’t actually died.
It was really strange, and it was hard for these people to express this weird feeling. They just know that there was something about Li Shen that would make them go.
'Ah, this person is really capable!'
Li Shen always seemed to have a solution for everything and was never confused on how to go about implementing that solution. This subconscious feeling that he was really resourceful made it so these three who had known him since they were kids, along with his close friends and family, think he had some way to survive this disaster.
He would soon reappear and until then, Li Minhua, Li Bai, and Li Anu would continue to carry out his orders without question.
Li Anu, who was somewhat of a lean youth with a decent appearance, suddenly stopped excavating the wall with his weapon and instead looked in a certain direction.
In that direction was a steep rocky incline, and on the top of that incline was the figure of a youth. The youth’s figure was quite indistinguishable though as the space around him was distorting into a hazy mess.
“Anu, why did you stop?”
Li Bai, who was a taller more handsome-looking youth and was like the leader of the three, stopped his movements and asked.
Li Minhua who looked like a meek but intelligent youth stopped his attacks as well.
“I’m worried about elder brother Su, he’s been cultivating for a week straight without any breaks. Has something happened to his cultivation?”
Li Anu asked, but Li Minhua suddenly responded.
“That’s because the Chosen Tournament is in a few days. The first fleet of the Mercenary Association is heading out today so I suppose elder brother Su is doing some last-minute training.”
Hearing that, Li Anu remembered their elder brother was indeed a Chosen.
"Oh, I forgot since his name had hardly come up when Chosens are talked about."
“I admire elder brother Su for that! He doesn’t seek fame like those Top Chosens scrambling to gain a higher position on the rankings, but I believe elder brother Su isn’t lacking compared to the top five Chosen geniuses.”
Li Bai said that with conviction and in response, Li Minhua and Li Bai nodded in agreement.
How could they not agree after watching Yang Su go through that terrifying lightning tribulation and become an early Core Formation Realm cultivator?
It would shock everyone across the Maple Continent and even the nearby Star Bound Continent, that there was still a genius that could rival the top five on the Chosen Rankings that was still unheard of.
At this point in time, all the hidden dragons and crouching tigers had shown themselves to the public. No longer were the existence of Chosens being kept a secret.
As Li Minhua, Li Bai, and Li Anu were talking among themselves, their bodies suddenly shivered and their eyes landed on the rocky incline where Yang Su was.
A terrifying aura suddenly enveloped the area and gave not just them, but everyone inside the mountain the feeling of being suffocated.
But luckily, that terrifying aura disappeared just as fast as it appeared.
“Looks like elder brother Su has awakened from his meditation.”
Li Anu mumbled as he stared at the rocky incline with fear, but excitement and anticipation, as well as the others.
They wanted to see Yang Su battle. How would he compare to the current Top Chosens? Not just Yang Su but what about the rest of their Gang Leaders' friends? Weren’t they also monsters?
On the rocky incline, Yang Su suddenly opened his eyes to reveal his deep crimson-colored pupils. The void in front of him actually trembled a bit due to his gaze.
The power one wields at the Core Formation Realm was far apart from the power of the Foundation Realm. An early-stage Core Formation Realm cultivator could use powerful Divine Abilities and Daoist Magic spells to slaughter a wave of peak-stage Foundation Realm cultivators.
And even without those, they could still overbearingly slap more than a few peak-stage Foundation Realm cultivators to death.
But the powers they wielded were very distinct as well as their Qi Fluctuations. If one looked at Yang Su based on power alone, one might think he was at that level. But if someone with more experience sensed the Qi Fluctuations around him, they would instantly be able to tell he was still at the 9th stage of the Foundation Realm.
The lightning tribulation Li Anu and the others thought occurred because Yang Su was entering the Core Formation Realm, was actually for his Spatial Qi Sea fully forming into a Divine Platform.
Yang Su had finally managed to officially enter the Foundation Realm, reaching the 9th stage from the Sea Expansion Realm in one go. It was a weird way to progress in the cultivation world, that could only be rivaled by Li Shen's own progress, which was strangely similar.
After calming down his aura after being interrupted, Yang Su flipped over his palm and took out a jade slip. There, he read a message from Fei Yin.
“Yang Su, it's time to leave for the Star Bound Continent.”
Yang Su put away the communication jade slip before he stood up. His gaze turned towards the top opening of the volcano and he took a step into the air, the space around his body distorting.
Yang Su’s figure then vanished from its position before reappearing floating above the volcano.
As he appeared, his figure suddenly wobbled in the air and he groaned as blood seeped from the corners of his lips.
While wiping the blood away, Yang Su commented dispiritedly.
“Looks like teleportation is far beyond my capabilities now. Maybe if I was in the Core Formation Realm my body would be more tolerant to the distortion in space when I teleport. For now, I can probably only teleport a couple of meters without a backlash. This is basically useless in travel, but maybe it could give me an edge in battle.”
Yang Su analyzed his current strength as he looked at his clenched fist. His power and cultivation had indeed increased, but this was far from enough.
He needed more.
Yang Su raised his head and a steely look of determination was seen in his eyes.
He had stayed cooped up cultivating for far too long. Only through bloody matches when he could hone his battle instincts that his strength would really increase. Yang Su was planning to use this Chosen Tournament to refine the scattered strength he had gathered up until now into a sharp sword.
That, as well as searching for his missing Master.
Yang Su looked at his home from where he was and briefly thought about seeing his parents before he go, but he discarded the idea. His mother and father would only worry for him. As long as he sent them a letter saying he was alive and well it was fine to not see them.
Yang Su changed into a set of black robes and wore his veil hat to hide his appearance. The long mane of bright red hair that had grown out during his seclusion had been cut short.
Then, Yang Su got ready to fly off towards the Celestial Academy to meet up with the others, however, his body suddenly froze.
Within his dantian, his Fire Divine Platform suddenly began to tremble uncontrollably. It then began to release its Fire Qi towards his other Divine Platforms, as if it wanted to drive out the other elements and become the sole element inside Yang Su’s dantian.
At the same time, something weird happened.
“Release me, why are you keeping me trapped here? I can give you the power you hunger for and so much more.”
A soft, tempting whisper drifted into Yang Su’s ears.
While frowning, Yang Su looked down at the volcano where it was coming from. The volcano itself was even trembling slightly.
“Damn it, not now, just shut up.”
Yang Su said annoyed before he circulated his cultivation method, the one Li Shen had created for him to cultivate the six elements.
This happened a few times while he was in seclusion here, so Yang Su knew how to deal with the situation.
As he circulated his cultivation method, inside his dantian, the Water Divine Platform and Ice Divine Platform suddenly rose up and fought against the Fire Divine Platform’s attempts to spread.
However, they were actually at a slight disadvantage.
“The two of them being opposing elements were able to suppress it before. Did it grow stronger again?”
At first, the Water Divine Platform made from the Qi containing those water laws Li Shen extracted from those chains seal, was all it needed to stop his Fire Divine Platform from acting weird. But after a couple of months, he needed to use his Ice Divine Platform. Now once again his Fire Divine Platform needed another element to suppress it.
Yang Su felt a sense of worry and urgency rose in his heart. What would happen when his other elements couldn't suppress his fire element?
He had completely stopped cultivating his Fire Qi, but it was still growing stronger on its own.
Yang Su frowned and he didn’t hesitate to circulate his cultivation method harder. His Lightning Divine Platform suddenly made a move. Its terrifying lightning energy swept out and instantly crushed any momentum the Fire Divine Platform had.
Strangely, if one senses were sharp, one would be able to tell that Yang Su’s Lightning Divine Platform held a hint of a Heavenly Calamity aura.
“Master must have predicted this since he gave me this cultivation method that can suppress my Fire Element. He should be able to fix this, I’ll just tell him when I eventually find him.”
After Yang Su made up his mind, he then ignored the strange voice coming from the seal in the volcano and began flying towards the Celestial Academy.
The only reason he stayed here despite the weirdness of the place, was because there were surprisingly strong Spatial Laws inside the volcano.
If not for that, Yang Su wouldn’t have so much as dared to come near this creepy place.
As if sensing that Yang Su had left, the slight trembling the volcano was experiencing calmed down, and whatever power that was inside calling towards him had gone back to sleep.
**
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