Da Xuan Martial Saint

"If Elder Chen plans to assimilate his gains, then it is only right for me to act as Elder Chen's protector for a while,"

After Fang Yuan had thought it through, he quickly made up his mind.

He had almost gathered all the Xunmu Spirit Liquid he needed; joining up with other forces within the Xunmu Cave Heaven posed equally great risks. It might be better to continue following Chen Mu all the way. After all, the forces gathering in that area would be embroiled in a big battle with the Spirit People Race, so he and Chen Mu would not face any further threats or disturbances, ensuring a peaceful passage through the coming month.

"That's fine."

Chen Mu nodded slightly to Fang Yuan.

He was also calculating the time. Advancing the Qiankun Martial Body from Perfection to Extreme Tempering was a bigger change than the previous smaller steps, likely taking not a short amount of time, perhaps around a month. To avoid missing the Void Tide and the chance to leave the Xunmu Cave Heaven, it was better to start sooner rather than later.

Although being trapped in the Xunmu Cave Heaven wasn't a dead end for him, as once he had tempered his Martial Body to its limits, no one in the Xunmu Cave Heaven could harm him, even if the entire Spirit People Race came at him, he would not fear. Being trapped for a hundred years until the next Void Tide when the Cave Heaven opens wouldn't be an issue; after all, his lifespan far exceeded that of ordinary people.

But the problem was that his lifespan was long, while the others were not.

Xu Hongyu, Chen Yue...

Those close to him, even if they could enter the Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster Realm in the future, would approach the limits of their lifespans after a long hundred years, and if they could not reach the Marrow Cleansing Realm, by the time he came out, everything would have changed.

Therefore, the option of being stuck in the Xunmu Cave Heaven for a hundred years was not on the table for him.

Having made his decision, Chen Mu didn't hesitate any longer, quickly disengaging and retreating towards the outskirts of the Xunmu Cave Heaven, and Fang Yuan followed suit, withdrawing together with Chen Mu.

...

Meanwhile.

Elsewhere.

On a sprawling and towering branch of Xunmu, in an area roughly twenty or thirty miles in radius, buildings were everywhere.

This was a large settlement, also one of the largest settlements in the entire Xunmu Cave Heaven, aside from the core area. The blue radiance blocked out the sun and filled the sky, dazzling like a giant umbrella covering the entire settlement.

Outside the Xunmu Grand Formation, dozens of Grandmasters were assembled into groups, mustering at various locations. Their converging auras intertwined, forming an oppressive, suffocating atmosphere that made the Power of Heaven and Earth nearby seem stagnant.

Among them,

Yan Hong, Jiang Han, Hong Shida, and many other prominent figures were all present, along with many other Grandmasters.

On the other side, within the majestic Xunmu Grand Formation, hundreds of elite Spirit Humans were gathered. Among them, seven or eight had reached the level of Grandmaster. And at the very rear of everyone, stood two figures, an old and a young pair: Ling Huan and Ling Ji, both distinguished Spirit Ancestors.

At that moment, Ling Huan had his eyes closed, seemingly sensing something. After a while, he suddenly opened his eyes, confusion flickering in his eyes that had seen many years.

"Strange."

"Ancestor, what is it?"

Noticing Ling Huan's unusual demeanor, Ling Ji immediately looked over and asked.

Ling Huan pondered and said, "That person has actually retreated, and at such a time..."

Being at the Celestial Human Level, he could meld his body and mind with Xunmu. Although there was a limit to the power of Xunmu he could control and wield, his range of perception was extremely vast, able to sense events nearly a thousand miles away, including what was happening in the direction where Chen Mu was.

He sensed that after Chen Mu had plundered another settlement, he did not choose to push deeper but unexpectedly withdrew. This was undoubtedly a peculiar situation.

Because the other Grandmaster teams had nearly all gathered together, forcing him to also be stationed here to respond, while Chen Mu in the Xunmu Cave Heaven could act unimpeded due to him being restrained. There was no need for Chen Mu to withdraw.

Even more,

He had been worried that Chen Mu might launch a sudden attack on the core area, so he always kept part of his attention on Chen Mu's movements, ready to have Ling Ji return to the core area to activate the core Ancestral Formation to block Chen Mu, to prevent any problems in the core area.

Yet, not only did Chen Mu not take the opportunity to strike at the core area, but he also chose this moment to suddenly withdraw, allowing them to focus all their energy on dealing with the many Grandmasters gathered at the front. This was undeniably odd.

Anything unusual is a sign of something amiss.

But...

Ling Huan glanced toward the exterior of the formation from afar, his brow slightly furrowed.

Although he had a feeling that Chen Mu was not up to any good, he truly could not spare the energy to deal with Chen Mu at the moment. Chen Mu's strength was not something he could handle alone; he would have to bring Ling Ji along. But if he and Ling Ji were to confront Chen Mu together, then the situation here would spiral out of control, and their forces would certainly not be able to withstand the assault of so many grandmasters.

After a brief contemplation, Ling Huan shook his head.

Since Chen Mu had retreated, regardless of any schemes, they should be set aside for the time being. It was best to focus all efforts on repelling the frontal assault.

With him overseeing the situation, even if Chen Mu had any plans to circumvent and strike at the core area, it would be impossible to escape his notice. He could always have Ling Ji return to defend at any moment. In such times, the best strategy was to remain unchanging, ready to respond to countless changes.

"Since he has withdrawn, let him be for now. We will deal with the situation here first," Ling Huan said slowly.

With Chen Mu possessing such a level of strength, it was difficult to pose a threat to him. Unless Chen Mu could be killed, it was meaningless, and it was better to concentrate on facing the direct offensive and inflict as much damage as possible on the grandmaster forces.

Upon hearing Ling Huan's words, Ling Ji also nodded and redirected his gaze back to the battlefield in front of them.

...

Elsewhere.

Chen Mu, accompanied by Fang Yuan, retreated all the way to an area close to the edge of the Xunmu Cave Heaven before stopping.

He did not know how far Ling Huan, a celestial human, could sense, but he was well aware that celestial humans had an extremely vast range of detection, so he needed to move as far away as possible to be safer.

Hum!

Chen Mu casually struck out and opened up an oblique passage on the surface of the wilderness, then continued to descend underground, stopping only when he reached nearly four hundred feet deep.

Fang Yuan, however, did not go down that deep. Four hundred feet was also somewhat pressurizing for him as a grandmaster, and knowing that Chen Mu was likely to enter seclusion for cultivation, it was not suitable to be too close, so he stayed at a depth of around two hundred feet.

Underground cave.

Chen Mu created a three-foot area in the cave and then sat cross-legged in the center, placing the Qiankun bottle next to him, thereafter summoning the system panel.

[Martial Body: Qiankun (Perfection)]

[Experience: 112 points]

"Finally, it has come to this step," he composed himself and exhaled slowly.

Throughout his martial arts journey, by virtue of his willpower and ability that exceeded ordinary people, he had tempered his Skin Toughening, Body Refinement, Tendon Changing, Bone Tempering, and even the Five Viscera and Six Viscera to the limits, the limits of what it means to be human. And now, he had finally reached the threshold of the ultimate limit of the Seventh Realm, the Marrow Cleansing Realm!

In today's world, just tempering Five Viscera and Six Viscera to the extreme is extraordinarily difficult.

Without the extreme tempering of Five Viscera and Six Viscera, it would be absolutely impossible to withstand the load of Marrow Cleansing Realm's extreme tempering. The extreme tempering of the first six realms is a prerequisite for the impact of the ultimate limit of the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

Although the Martial Arts continue to develop and progress, it is possible that for thousands or even tens of thousands of years in the future, there might not be another who meets the conditions for extreme Marrow Cleansing, let alone completing this step. This is too difficult, too hard.

In Chen Mu's view,

if the concentration of Heaven and Earth's Yuan Qi in the world today were to improve by thirty to fifty percent, and the abundance of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Items doubled, then it could become possible for someone to emerge who has tempered the Five Viscera and Six Viscera to the extreme.

On this basis, if Heaven and Earth's Yuan Qi and various resources doubled again, only then could someone possibly achieve Marrow Cleansing to the extreme.

He had once used the system panel to elevate his cultivation and briefly experienced the Unity of Heaven and Man realm, during which he sensed the Yuan Qi of this world, which was indeed slowly but subtly increasing. However, this increment was minuscule.

It is likely that even after tens of thousands of years, the strength might not increase by more than ten or twenty percent compared to the present.

Moreover, this sort of increment probably has a limit; perhaps it will never reach several times its current extent. In other words, if he were to temper his Marrow Cleansing to the extreme, he might not only be the first in this world of Da Xuan, but also the last of his kind.