Chapter 339 - Emotional Attachment
"Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters, you guys shall stay in this Boundless Sea, from now on."
After coming back to his senses, Chen Chen said to Yu Huo and the rest.
Hearing this, Yu Huo was a bit hesitant, but Chen Chen's Second Senior Sister, Zhao Xiaoya, who was behind him, said, "We still have to return to the Eastern region of the demon race. After all, the Master is still there."
Chen Chen felt helpless because the reason that Yu Qiong had asked these gullible people to go to the Boundless Sea was already obvious enough.
If the purpose was really just to deliver a message to Chen Chen, sending Yu Huo alone would be enough.
Thinking of this, he said comfortingly, "Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters, frequent fights are breaking out in the Eastern region of the demon race's territory, which will disturb you guys from practicing alchemy whereas it's peaceful in the Boundless Sea. No outsiders will disturb you, so you can be at ease and refine more high-quality elixirs for the human race."
Yu Huo and the others were a little doubtful, but they felt that his words made sense too.
Chen Chen decided to strike while the iron was hot. With another round of lulling and convincing, they quickly agreed to stay in the Boundless Sea to refine elixirs.
...
After settling down with his Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters, Chen Chen sat alone in the Crystal Palace for a long time while recalling lots of past events in his mind.
In the beginning, his master Yu Qiong told him that he needed to have a flawless state of mind in order to reach the Void Refinement realm.
For that reason, Yu Qiong spent a lot of effort searching for various raw materials and refined the Beauty Elixir, which made up for the remaining flaws in her heart. She then successfully stepped into the Void Refinement realm.
...
"A flawless state of mind."
Chen Chen closed his eyes and murmured those words.
There was a time when he faced the Supreme Wang Qing Dao without any emotional fluctuations because there was no obsession in his heart at the time.
When he faced the Heavenly Fiend Tribulation, he had proudly shouted, "My heart is flawless, I have no fear," and finally stepped into the Essence Soul realm.
But now, is he still the same cheating cultivator who had a flawless state of mind?
If so, then why was he taking such a long time to enter the Void Refinement realm?
Chen Chen took a deep breath, slowly opened his eyes, removed the gloves on his right hand, and looked at the complex Adversity-Overcoming Seal on the palm of his right hand.
Recalling everything that had happened in the past year or so, Chen Chen smiled bitterly.
That was the seal that made him feel terrified. He had all sorts of scruples and couldn't bear to part with many people.
Perhaps, his state of mind became flawed the moment Yu Qiong put the glove on his hand.
A seal and a legend put a huge shackle on his heart.
It made him feel afraid of facing this world.
That...was the terrifying thing about the Adversity-Overcoming Seal.
Since ancient times, all the people who had the Adversity-Overcoming Seal were all hunted and killed by the other mortals in the world.
If there wasn't an Adversity-Overcoming Seal, they probably wouldn't be scared, but with the seal, their state of mind gradually began to change.
He had unknowingly spent hours thinking about it, and the sky had gradually darkened.
After coming back to his senses, Chen Chen looked at the Adversity-Overcoming Seal on his palm and smiled. At the same time, his heart skipped a beat and the glove beside him turned into ashes.
...
A moment later, Xia Xishuang came to Chen Chen with a melancholic expression and whispered, "Chen Chen, my Master wants to send some elite disciples below the Essence Soul realm to the Boundless Sea, what do you think?"
Looking at the dainty little woman in front of him, Chen Chen said with a helpless smile, "Xishuang, now that you're the wife of the Alliance Master of the merchant alliance, you can make such decisions on your own. You may make arrangements for them as you please, you don't need to ask for my permission."
Hearing this, Xia Xishuang's eyes suddenly turned red, and she laid in Chen Chen's arms while sobbing. "What are Master and the Clan Master doing this for? Do they not plan to live anymore?"
Chen Chen gently caressed Xia Xishuang's back comfortingly and said, "They're just taking safety precautions. Well, it's better to be safe than sorry. Besides, they're top elites, how can they possibly..."
At this point, he couldn't bring himself to continue lying.
Given the current situation of the human and demon races today, the Clan Master of the Haoran Sword Clan would very likely reach the peak of the Void Refinement realm in the near future.
Once he reached the peak of the Void Refinement realm, he was bound to be confronted with elite demons. Afterwards, regardless of whether he was successful or not, he would go through the Void Refinement realm ascension. The chances of him succeeding in Immortal Ascension were slim.
As for the Saintess of the Haoran Sword Clan, she had also reached the Void Refinement realm in the past six months...but in this war where even late-stage Void Refinement realm cultivators would fall, how could she be safe?
Xia Xishuang sobbed softly and did not say anything about going back to the battlefield of the two races or other things like that.
Now that she was pregnant, she wasn't purely living for herself, and if she said that she wanted to go to the battlefield, Chen Chen would very likely end up going with her too.
She felt guilty towards her master, but she also didn't want to make her Dao partner bear the burden.
A long time passed.
Xia Xishuang gradually regained her composure, and she also noticed the Adversity-Overcoming Seal on Chen Chen's palm.
"Chen Chen, what's this..."
"The glove is broken," Chen Chen answered with a smile and even opened his arms without restraint to show her the complete Adversity-Overcoming Seal.
Chen Chen felt as if he was running around naked when he did that, and he even...felt the pleasure of breaking the taboo.
Looking at the seal, Xia Xishuang felt heartache and said softly, "Chen Chen, I still have some refining materials that can shield you from being detected by divine senses. Why don't I weave you a glove myself?"
Hearing her words, Chen Chen waved his hand like he was flaunting the seal. "Do you think it's ugly?"
"No..." Xia Xishuang answered softly, for fear that she would agitate Chen Chen's heart.
She knew that Chen Chen had always been bothered by the seal.
"It's not ugly, don't wear the glove again in the future. If you think it's ugly, you can wear the glove."
Xia Xishuang was a little stunned to hear that, but she chuckled a moment later. Afterwards, she placed her hand in Chen Chen's and clutched the Adversity-Overcoming Seal on his palm tightly before interlocking fingers with him.
"Actually, I think... it looks pretty nice."
...
Looking at their hands, Chen Chen felt a warm and fuzzy feeling in his heart.
At this moment, he completely figured it out.
'Why should I care what the world thinks? What if those people want to kill him? It doesn't matter as long as the people I care about don't mind it.'
With that thought, he suddenly pulled Xia Xishuang up and flew out of the Crystal Palace.
"Chen Chen, where are we going?"
Xia Xishuang was a little stunned.
Chen Chen laughed and exclaimed, "We're going to go look at the Boundless Sea!"
As soon as he said that, the two of them flew out of Kongming Island.
The Boundless Sea was very peaceful in the afternoon, and the afterglow of the setting sun reflected a dazzling light on the surface of the sea.
Seeing this scene, the two of them temporarily put aside the matters that made them sad.
After flying slowly for 500 meters, Chen Chen exuded a powerful aura when the sun had completely set. The Boundless Sea below flowed to the sides, revealing the scene below the sea.
Seeing this, Chen Chen landed gently and wiped a certain piece of seemingly ordinary coral.
As a result, a dazzling ray of red light was emitted from the spot that he wiped.
"This Blood Coral is probably 100,000 years old!" Xia Xishuang was astonished.
Although she knew that Chen Chen's treasure-hunting skills were top-notch, she had never seen Chen Chen actually go looking for a valuable treasure in the past half a year.
This was the first time today.
"Chen Chen, why don't you let me do it?" Xia Xishuang hurriedly said when she looked into his eyes and understood what he meant.
Chen Chen looked at the Blood Coral and stretched out his hand, after which Xia Xishuang's expression immediately became tense.
A long time passed.
Chen Chen suddenly sighed and looked into the sky. He exclaimed loudly, "Damned Heaven! I'm choosing not to pick this Blood Coral today, not because I'm afraid of you, but because I want to protect the environment!"
After saying that, Chen Chen retracted his hand, and the seawater around him immediately flowed back into the sea while everything returned to normal.
Chen Chen pulled Xia Xishuang to Kongming Island and subconsciously smiled.
Today, he did not need to prove anything to the heavens, just like how he didn't need to explain to those cultivators who had malicious intentions toward him.
Thus, it seemed rather extra.
It was enough that he knew what he should do.
Seeing the heartfelt smile on Chen Chen's face, Xia Xishuang also smiled along.
However, her smile froze the next second because she felt Chen Chen's aura surging.. Although Chen Chen was still Chen Chen, his figure seemed to have become much taller and burlier.