CHAPTER 77: WHEN FORTUNE FAVORS ME, NOBODY CAN HOLD ME DOWN

Lu Chen shouted while still holding Nantian Wan'er in his arms, "Dao Art, Stone Wall Formation!"

He thrust his right hand toward the ground and clenched it into a fist.

With a series of bangs, the ground beneath Wind Dragon shook violently and split apart. Eight stone pillars, each ten zhang tall, rose from the cracks, sealing off the dragon's path both ahead and behind.

Countless demonic beasts within the small world lifted their heads at the tremors. When they spotted Lu Chen and Wind Dragon squaring off, they quickly gathered to witness the clash.

Metal General studied Lu Chen's movements and muttered in disbelief. "He's grown stronger again... and in just a few days? That's far too fast."

Flame Demon studied the formation Lu Chen had activated. "He has indeed grown stronger. Looks like we made the right choice. But..."

Bai Ze picked up where the Flame Demon left off. "But he's carrying many restraints. Even the flow of his spirit qi has slowed to less than a tenth of what it was before."

His eyes remained fixed on Lu Chen, a faint light glinting within them. "I can't even tell who's behind this. Still... placing our hopes on him should be the right call."

Golden Dragon curled its claws, eyes locked on the stone pillars. "That might not be a bad thing. In the past, the geniuses who led their eras would deliberately seek terrains that suppressed their cultivation, to avoid advancing too quickly."

The red fox stepped forward, her eyes gleaming with crimson light. "As long as it was under control, whoever did this might have saved us the trouble of finding such a place ourselves."

"That's true..."

***

Within the Stone Wall Formation, Wind Dragon swung his head toward Lu Chen, letting out a furious roar before flinging him aside. Then, he wheeled around and shot upward, aiming for the skies.

Lu Chen touched down lightly with Nantian Wan'er still in his arms. Seeing the dragon about to break free, he quickly circulated the lightning energy within his body. "Trying to run? Not so fast! Dao Art, Thunderburst Curse!"

With a sharp shout, lightning power erupted from within him, surging into the sky and condensing into a mass of dark clouds that cut off the dragon's path.

As the dark cloud finished forming, Lu Chen pressed his index and middle fingers together before him, speeding up the flow of his spirit qi. "Wind Dragon, this ends now."

A burst of blue light flared.

The Innate Bagua Diagram beneath his feet started spreading outward at an alarming speed, enveloping the entire formation. At the same time, the Green Sovereign Divine Tree sprang up from its center, growing to full size in an instant.

Lu Chen swiftly formed a complete Dao Art hand seal. "Spirit Light Lock! Bind!"

A flash of blue light erupted.

Eight spirit qi chains, woven from pure light, lashed out and coiled around the stone pillars of the formation, firmly restraining Wind Dragon midair.

The dragon roared and thrashed against the bindings.

"It's not over yet."

Lu Chen seized the chance while the light chains held Wind Dragon firmly in place and slowly led Nantian Wan'er out of the formation.

He then aimed his right fist at the formation and tightened his grip. "Stone Formation, Merge!"

The eight stone pillars began to close in, merging into a circular stone wall.

Wind Dragon bellowed furiously, his figure occasionally bursting through the gaps in the stone wall.

Nantian Wan'er fixed her eyes on the formation. "Lu-gege, your spirit qi is almost drained."

"I know."

By now, Lu Chen was already tired. He raised his hand and slowly lowered his open palm. "Then let's end this with one last move."

"Thunderburst Curse, Lightning Descent! Command!"

The dark cloud overhead spread to cover the entire formation.

As thunder rumbled in the sky of the minor world, bolts of purple lightning crashed down one after the other. Lu Chen had deliberately directed them to avoid hitting the dragon.

After only a dozen purple lightning bolts, the last of Lu Chen's spirit qi was utterly drained.

Without spirit qi to support it, the Dao Art's glow faded away, leaving behind only a pit over ten zhang deep.

Seeing the battle end, the beast chieftains hurried over to help Lu Chen recover his spirit qi.

Wind Dragon, covered in black scorch marks, slowly crawled out of the pit. "Little Lu..."

Lu Chen couldn't help but sigh as he felt the power behind each Dao Art he unleashed. "The power's impressive, but it consumes too much spirit qi.

"Even with my Heavenly Pool, which rivals that of a cultivator having reached perfect mastery of the Qi Regulation Realm, and the backup reserves from the miniature world, I couldn't last more than three moves. I'll need to manage my energy more carefully."

He rose to his feet and restored the battlefield to its original state.

Looking at Wind Dragon covered in mud, he smiled. "So, Wind Dragon, how was it? Not bad, right?"

Wind Dragon admitted begrudgingly, "Hmph, I can't beat you. But that's only because I'm at the first level of the Qi Condensation Realm right now. If you've got the guts, go face my main body."

Water Lotus teased, "Heh, Wind Dragon, your shamelessness is something you were born with."

She smiled as she stepped forward and sprayed a ring of water to wash the dragon clean.

Wind Dragon retorted, "Hmph

, it's not for you to say whether I'm shameless or not."

He shook himself dry before shrinking down to hover above Lu Chen's head.

"You sure talk a lot. Let's have some fun," Water Lotus said as she released a soft blue glow, causing thousands of water droplets to surround the dragon.

Wind Dragon eyed them warily. "You... you're just bullying me."

Lu Chen interrupted Wind Dragon, "Alright, Wind Dragon. Let the others get back to their cultivation."

With that, he put an end to their bickering. The dragon coiled itself above his head as he dismissed the low-ranked beasts nearby.

He also granted the beast chieftains partial access rights. "I'll be counting on you to maintain order in this small world."

"Understood. Please rest assured, my king," they replied with a bow before returning to their regions to train.

Wind Dragon circled lazily above Lu Chen's head, swishing its tail. "Little Lu, what do we do now?"

"There's still some time. I'm going to digest my insights first."

After watching the beasts leave, Lu Chen sat cross-legged beneath the Green Sovereign Divine Tree, ready to consolidate his earlier cultivation gains.

Starting with Feng Tiancheng's memories, and adding the two centuries spent in the illusion realm, on top of the skills he had gained in the secret realm, he had amassed a vast trove of knowledge.

All that knowledge filled his mind like a vast yet disorganized library; each time he needed something, he had to search through it all. It was far too troublesome.

He closed his eyes beneath the Innate Green Sovereign Divine Tree and replayed the battles of the past two hundred years one by one.

His mind drifted through the sea of memories as he carefully sought the key points, practicing each Dao Art insight step by step with his hands.

But after just ten minutes, he snapped awake, unable to settle back into meditation no matter how he tried. With a sigh, he looked toward the Fire Phoenix.

"I've had too many insights. The last set isn't even fully absorbed yet, and now I've got new ones. When will I ever truly master the fundamentals?"

"Lu-gege, isn't it a good thing to have many insights? Others can't gain them even if they want to," Nantian Wan'er said softly.

Lu Chen gave her a bitter smile. "Insights that aren't fully absorbed aren't truly mine. Right now, they're all being suppressed."

"Lu-gege, I think it's a good thing that your cultivation is suppressed."

Nantian Wan'er looked at Lu Chen with a playful smile. "With those abilities suppressed, you can take this time to absorb your insights and strengthen your foundation.

"I also heard from Grandpa that the aristocratic clans in the past would find ways to suppress cultivators if they advanced too quickly in their cultivation. Maybe that senior was thinking the same."

"That may be true, but he has suppressed too much of it. I'm left with barely a tenth of my combat power," Lu Chen gave a helpless smile. "Looks like too many insights aren't always a good thing."

Wind Dragon fixed his gaze on Lu Chen, his eyes rolling craftily. "Little Lu, I think there's another way you could try."

Lu Chen lifted his head quickly. "Hm

? What is it? Tell me."

"Didn't you say you've had plenty of insights?"

The first thing that came to mind when Lu Chen saw Wind Dragon's expression was that he was up to no good. "Yes, and? Why do I feel like you're up to something?"

He doubted anything worthwhile would come out of Wind Dragon's mouth.

Wind Dragon floated above Lu Chen's head, a strange smile curling on his lips. "Then why bother worrying about suppression or absorbing insights? As long as you gain them fast enough, the suppression won't be able to keep up."

"Wind Dragon... you..."

Lu Chen channeled his spirit qi and unleashed the light chains once again. This time, Wind Dragon dodged them with ease.

Wind Dragon darted about in the sky. "Hahaha, you said it yourself, didn't you?"

"Like hell I did! What kind of rotten idea is that? Do you think I'm still that clueless kid from a few days ago?"

"It's fast, isn't it?"

Lu Chen glared at him and shouted, "It's a fast way to die! What if that lunatic comes back one day and suppresses me again?"

Wind Dragon laughed as he continued to dodge Lu Chen's relentless attacks. "Haha, I still think it's worth a try. If you're fast enough, even he won't be able to suppress you."

Lu Chen chased after him fiercely. "Don't let me catch you! This time, I won't let you off!"

***

Half an hour later, Lu Chen had Wind Dragon pinned to the ground and finally took a breather.

At the same time, he began scanning the miniature world. Through the mist, he caught sight of a towering mountain. It was where Feng Tiancheng had been headed.

"I wonder how much longer Grandpa Feng will take to come out. I still have so many things to tell him."

Lu Chen stared at the hazy peak and tried sending a telepathic message. After waiting for over ten minutes without a response, he let out a long sigh. "Ahh... Looks like there's still no news of him. I'll leave for now."

He brought Nantian Wan'er to the herb field, intending to gather some herbs.

Bai Ze had extensive knowledge of herb plants, so the area was now under his care, at least temporarily. He had already sorted all the herbs into categories and neatly arranged them on the shelves.

Lu Chen walked up to the racks and flipped through the record book Bai Ze had left behind.

Seeing his actions, Nantian Wan'er asked, "Lu-gege, are you looking for herbs?"

Lu Chen turned to explain, "Uncle Jun's injuries don't seem fully healed. I want to pick out some highly nourishing herbs to give him tonight as a gift."

"Highly nourishing herbs?" Her eyes lit up, and she stepped to the shelves. "Let me help you look."

***

Ten minutes later, Lu Chen was holding more than ten kinds of herbs in his arms.

"Ten-thousand-year Spirit Ginseng, thousand-year Heaven-Union Grass, and all these other spirit plants... this should be enough."

He took out a spatial pouch and stored all the herbs inside. "That's enough, Wan'er. Let's go."

With everything prepared, Lu Chen led Nantian Wan'er out of the miniature world. It was time to attend the celebratory banquet that had been prepared for him.