A human martial artist triggering a heavenly tribulation was simply impossible. Even if he experienced it firsthand, he would never have believed it was real.
The Tribulation-Burying Pen was a top-tier treasure, and also the first supreme treasure given to him by the tower spirit. Once his cultivation reached a certain level, he could wield the Tribulation-Burying Pen to use heaven and earth as a canvas, summoning a heavenly tribulation that would undoubtedly be able to cover the entire Eastern Wasteland.
The heavenly tribulation imprisoned the surrounding space, and Su Chen immediately felt a wave of weakness spreading through his body, especially in his soul. Without the slightest hesitation, Su Chen immediately took a Blood-Coil Ganoderma from his spatial ring and swallowed it.
Strike while the iron is hot.
Of course Su Chen would not let this opportunity slip away in vain. After all, he could not maintain the Tribulation-Burying Pen for very long, and he absolutely could not let the Twin-Headed Vajra Wolf escape.
Condensing the Divine-Demon Death Seal, the overbearing death seal directly struck fiercely toward the locked-on fierce beast.
It was completely dazed.
The Twin-Headed Vajra Wolf never expected that it, a dignified Level 7 Solid Core Realm fierce beast, would actually be suppressed by a mere Foundation Establishment Realm human martial artist. It was simply a supreme humiliation.
It was unacceptable.
The Twin-Headed Vajra Wolf knew very well that the current situation was extremely unfavorable to it; its life and death were already sealed. It was completely impossible to kill the human, and it might even have its beast core taken by the opponent.
Without even thinking, the Twin-Headed Vajra Wolf directly chose to detonate its primordial spirit.
Bang!
As the primordial spirit of the Twin-Headed Vajra Wolf burst apart, an overbearing and vast soul impact crashed fiercely into Su Chen.
Su Chen, who was completely dumbfounded, never expected that the Twin-Headed Vajra Wolf would choose to detonate its soul. Whether martial artists or fierce beasts, no one would ever choose such a course.
The moment the soul detonation of a Level 7 Solid Core Realm fierce beast sent its impact rippling toward Su Chen, a mouthful of fresh blood spurted from him, his entire body was stained red with blood, and he was sent flying backwards with tremendous force.
Hitting the ground hard, Su Chen endured the pain coursing through his body and vomited blood repeatedly. Not perishing could already be considered the greatest misfortune among misfortunes.
Looking around left and right, Su Chen immediately got up and slowly left. Instead of leaving the deep valley immediately, he found a secluded spot to first recover from his injuries.
Sitting cross-legged, he immediately swallowed a Blood-Coil Ganoderma and began circulating the Primordial Divine-Demon Technique and the Ancestral Phoenix Nirvana Technique within his body.
The Ancestral Phoenix Nirvana Technique was a top-tier martial art taught to him by Luo Tianfei. As he practiced the Ancestral Phoenix Nirvana Technique, Su Chen gradually discovered that it formed a nirvana cycle within his body, which was of great benefit to the recovery of injuries.
Strands of energy formed an endless cycle inside his body.
A full day and night passed.
Only then did Su Chen slowly open his eyes, lingering fear in his gaze. If not for the heavenly tribulation imprisonment drawn by the Tribulation-Burying Pen just now, he believed he would have already perished.
The more he thought about it, the more lingering fear he felt.
Originally, he had planned to use the Tribulation-Burying Pen and the Divine-Demon Death Seal to kill the Twin-Headed Vajra Wolf, then extract its beast core and devour its soul.
And the result?
He had almost been trapped and killed by the Twin-Headed Vajra Wolf.
His injuries had already recovered by ninety percent and were no longer a major issue. Counting the time, there were less than five days left until the end of the Dragon-Ascension Competition. He had to strive for points as quickly as possible and climb to the top ranks of the Dragon-Ascension Roll.
Without needing to ask, he understood the rules of the Dragon-Ascension Roll. The higher one's position on the Dragon-Ascension Roll, the more benefits one would receive. The most direct reward was points; within Eastern Wasteland Academy, points were currency and could be exchanged for anything one desired.
Looking around left and right, the huge deep valley remained completely silent, as if time had stopped.
There must still be other spiritual herbs in this deep valley. To simply give up like this was something he was truly unwilling to accept, yet Su Chen also understood that if he continued to stay here, he would definitely encounter danger. Just like what had happened moments ago—faced with the soul detonation of the Twin-Headed Vajra Wolf, the probability of him perishing was simply too high.
He was terrified of death; Su Chen considered himself to be very afraid of death, extremely afraid of death.
Taking a deep breath, Su Chen ultimately decided to stay here for the time being to see if he could find any other spiritual herbs.
However, before searching for spiritual herbs, Su Chen prepared to refine some pills first. He had already obtained the Three Thousand Dao of Alchemy and had comprehended it for so long; if he did not try his hand at it, goodness knows when he would truly be able to refine pills.
A palm-sized Universe Cauldron appeared in his hand and instantly expanded until it was more than two people tall. He took out the Blood-Coil Ganoderma and tossed it directly into the pill cauldron.
His hands formed hand seals, condensing a flame the thickness of a finger.
One hour later.
The pill refinement failed. Su Chen felt neither surprise nor a sense of loss, for as the saying goes, failure is the mother of success.
The flame derived solely from comprehending the Three Thousand Dao of Alchemy was definitely far from enough. If he could obtain a cultivation technique specifically dedicated to generating flames, that would be for the best.
As for different flames, acquiring them required luck. Although there were tens of thousands of different flames between heaven and earth, wanting for a martial artist to obtain even one of them was no easy feat; it relied entirely on luck. If your luck was bad, you might not even be able to obtain a different flame even if it were placed right in front of you.
Most importantly, the terrifying might of different flames meant that even if you encountered one, you might not necessarily be able to obtain it. To truly master a different flame was simply too difficult.
For an alchemist, different flames were of paramount importance. It could be said that alchemists of the same rank who possessed a different flame versus an ordinary flame were in completely different leagues, and the grade of the pills they refined would differ vastly.
Many alchemists spent their entire lives pursuing and searching for different flames, making the mastery of a different flame their ultimate goal.
Recalling the Universe Cauldron, Su Chen said helplessly, "I'll find a chance to buy a larger spatial ring."
Failure at pill refinement once meant nothing at all. Once the Dragon-Ascension Competition ended, he would go into Eastern Wasteland Academy to see if there was any flame-cultivation technique he could exchange for.
He did not leave the deep valley. Su Chen wanted to continue trying his luck to see if he could find other top-tier spiritual herbs.
Venturing deeper, the deepest part of the valley was shrouded in a thin layer of red mist, looking exceedingly bizarre.
*Could it be because of the unusual activity here that the deep valley is completely silent?*
Su Chen was merely guessing.
At this moment, the purple fox darted out from Su Chen's embrace and nodded toward the red mist ahead.
"You want to go in?"
The purple fox's injuries had already stabilized, but wanting to fully recover would probably take at least several months, or even several years. He could also vaguely guess that the purple fox's grade should be very high; otherwise, back in Sky-Bone City, the white fox would not have directly knelt to the purple fox.
"Then go ahead."
The purple fox shook its head, squeaking softly.
"You want me to go with you?"
Seeing the purple fox nod, Su Chen was quite helpless. There was no help for it; since the purple fox had already spoken up, he could hardly refuse.
Holding the purple fox, Su Chen walked directly toward the red mist ahead.
Shrouded by the red mist, Su Chen walked right in without the slightest obstruction. He immediately felt the aura of the red mist continuously invade his mind, fiercely eroding his soul.
Alarmed in his heart, Su Chen immediately circulated the Chaotic Swallowing Technique, and strands of swallowing power formed a protective swallowing barrier around his body to fend off the erosion of the red mist's aura.
Continuing to walk forward.
"A fierce beast carcass."
Looking at the enormous carcass before him, Su Chen's gaze suddenly tightened. A single carcass was able to deter the deep valley into such utter silence; it seemed this fierce beast must have been extremely powerful during its lifetime.
The purple fox darted out instantly, arriving directly upon the carcass, and began to devour it.
Shrugging helplessly, Su Chen did not stop it either. He believed the purple fox was certainly capable of handling the power devoured from the carcass, so there was no need for him to interfere.
Su Chen also sat cross-legged. He could sense that although the red mist's aura here would erode the soul, it might not necessarily be a bad thing for him. He possessed the Chaotic Swallowing Technique, which could devour the red mist's aura and convert it into his own strength for cultivation.
Now, he had successfully broken through to the Peak Foundation Establishment Realm, and was only a single step away from the Void Core Realm. He hoped to use the power here to make a breakthrough in one go and successfully reach the Void Core Realm.
Sitting cross-legged, the Chaotic Swallowing Technique circulating within his body began to erupt with strands of devouring energy, enveloping his entire body.
Devour!
He frantically devoured the red mist all around.
The purple fox, which was in the middle of devouring the carcass's power, saw that Su Chen was cultivating, and its two pretty eyes rolled around as if pondering something.
In the end, the purple fox chose to assist Su Chen. It gathered a stream of the power it had devoured from the carcass and sent it surging toward Su Chen.
"Thank you."
Feeling the purple fox's intent, Su Chen nodded at it to express his gratitude.
Advancing from the Foundation Establishment Realm to the Void Core Realm required condensing a core within the dantian of one's body. The power Su Chen devoured converged upon his dantian, where it shattered, reformed, shattered, and reformed in an endless loop.
After an unknown number of cycles, Su Chen let out a long whistle toward the sky, and the power within his dantian smoothly condensed into the shape of a pill, looking thoroughly illusory.
Void Core Realm!
Su Chen was pleasantly surprised. He too had not expected that simply entering Eastern Wasteland Academy to participate in the Dragon-Ascension Competition would result in a breakthrough to the Void Core Realm.
Now, he absolute had the confidence to sweep through anyone in the Void Core Realm; even when facing lower-level Solid Core Realm martial artists and fierce beasts, he had the strength to fight them.
With the purple fox's assistance, Su Chen ultimately stabilized at Level 2 Void Core Realm, which left him quite satisfied. After all, martial arts cultivation was inherently an act defying the heavens, and raising one's martial path cultivation was difficult at every step; even advancing a single sub-tier was fraught with countless hardships.
His cultivation speed was already exceptionally fast. As long as he maintained this pace, Su Chen had absolute confidence that within one to two years, he would possess the strength to defeat Su Hao.
The moment Su Chen successfully broke through to the Void Core Realm, the purple fox had also finished devouring. It looked quite satisfied.
When the purple fox returned to his embrace, Su Chen could clearly sense that it seemed somewhat different. Its injuries had healed considerably, and the fur on its body had become even more gorgeous.
Gently stroking the purple fox's fur, he casually patted its rump and said with a smile, "Feels pretty good."
"Squeak, squeak."
The purple fox registered its protest; if not for the fact that its injuries were still quite severe, it truly would have attacked him.
"Hahaha."
Su Chen laughed heartily, finding this purple fox truly adorable. He stopped teasing it, tossed the purple fox directly into his embrace, and turned to leave.
Outside the giant peak.
Xing Yingxue waited anxiously, completely devoid of any mood to cultivate. After all, what the situation was like inside remained unknown to her, and she did not dare to venture in rashly because she did not want to become a burden to Junior Brother Su.
Growing more and more worried, Xing Yingxue understood that she had definitely fallen in love with Junior Brother Su at first sight, yet she did not dare to speak of it, nor could she. She was afraid of being rejected by Junior Brother Su, to the point where they wouldn't even be able to remain friends.
At that very moment.
Seeing a figure dashing over, Xing Yingxue's expression instantly lit up with joy.
When Su Chen arrived before her, Xing Yingxue asked impatiently, "Junior Brother Su, are you alright?"
Shaking his head, Su Chen said with a smile, "I'm fine."
Su Chen did not think much of it, nor could he tell that Xing Yingxue had feelings for him.
"Junior Brother Su, a short while ago, I saw Senior Xiao Ming and Senior Shi Chen from Intermediate Class 1 come out from inside severely injured. Did you run into them?"
This was the reason why Xing Yingxue had been worried. After all, Xiao Ming and Shi Chen were from Intermediate Class 1 and held high positions on the Dragon-Ascension Roll; even within Eastern Wasteland Academy, they were very prominent figures. Seeing that even the two of them had been injured inside the valley, she was extremely worried for Junior Brother Su's safety.
What Xing Yingxue did not know was that the two of them had been heavily battered by Su Chen.
"Let's go."
Unwilling to dwell on matters concerning the two of them, to him, no matter who he encountered, they were merely stumbling blocks in his path. This time, coming to Eastern Wasteland Academy, aside from avoiding the Su Clan, his most important objective was to cultivate, hoping to catch up to Su Hao in the shortest possible time.
Su Hao's talent was peerless even within the Su Clan. Back then, he had even stripped away Su Chen's Emperor Bone and fused it into his own body; Su Hao's talent was believed to be second to none throughout the entire Eastern Wasteland.
Su Hao had already reached the Peak Solid Core Realm and was likely to break through to the Golden Core Realm at any moment. While he was breaking through, Su Hao would likewise advance, and the other's speed might not be much slower than his own.
Precisely because of this, he had to work even harder without a single moment of distraction, giving it his all.
Following his successful breakthrough to Level 2 Void Core Realm, Su Chen was already capable of achieving absolute invincibility among his peers; even if he encountered someone at the Peak Void Core Realm, he could still cut them down.
"Senior Sister Xing, since you have successfully awakened your mutated blood wheel, let's part ways here."
Part ways?
Xing Yingxue heaved a deep sigh in her heart. She had long since guessed that it would come to this, but she simply hadn't expected it to arrive so soon.
She could not refuse.
After all, she was a girl; could she possibly take the initiative to say, "I like you, I want to follow you"? She could not do it; her self-esteem told her she must not act like that. A girl who was too proactive would be looked down upon.
"Junior Brother Su, be careful. See you at the academy."
Xing Yingxue had already decided not to continue contending for the Dragon-Ascension Roll, nor did she wish to undergo experiential training; she prepared to return to the academy immediately. She had awakened the mutated blood wheel, the Veil-Covering Sky Lark, and with her enhanced talent, she believed her cultivation speed would greatly increase.
"Take care of yourself too."
Su Chen did not linger further, turning to depart swiftly.
Watching his figure gradually disappear, Xing Yingxue let out a profound sigh.
After leaving, Su Chen began continuously locking onto various students. The entire Eastern Wasteland Forest was divided into eastern and western halves.
This was the territory of the Dragon-Ascension Competition; under normal circumstances, students from the advanced classes and ace classes would not casually set foot here. With Su Chen's current strength, he could absolutely sweep through every single student in all the introductory classes and intermediate classes.
Sweeping through continuously, he frantically plundered points.
When the Dragon-Ascension Competition ended on the tenth day, Su Chen discovered that the identity token in his hand displayed a number: three thousand three hundred and thirty-three points.
Su Chen's madness had aroused the fear of every student in the introductory classes, including the intermediate classes, and they had given Su Chen a nickname: the Madman.
Madman Su Chen.
Looking at the identity token in his hand, Su Chen had no idea what rank he currently held on the Dragon-Ascension Roll, but he could be certain that he had definitely made it onto the roll.
One had to know that the introductory and intermediate classes of Eastern Wasteland Academy had over ten thousand students in total, and roughly seventy percent of those students had entered the forest to participate in the Dragon-Ascension Competition.
For him to have seized three thousand three hundred and thirty-three points meant he had essentially captured nearly half of all the points.
With the conclusion of the Dragon-Ascension Competition, all students were required to leave the forest and return to the academy.
Inside Eastern Wasteland Academy.
In the massive plaza stood two towering stone tablets, left and right. Pitch-black from top to bottom, the tablets were covered from top to bottom in dense rows of names, classes, and awakened blood wheels.
The two stone tablets were precisely the two most important rolls of Eastern Wasteland Academy: the Dragon-Ascension Roll and the Hundred-Battle Roll.
The Dragon-Ascension Roll was contested by students of the introductory and intermediate classes.
The Hundred-Battle Roll was contested by students of the advanced and ace classes.
As for the royal ace classes, any student who managed to enter them enjoyed the same treatment as teachers, and even received the academy's full cultivation resources, having no need to contend for any rolls.
Every year, both rolls were re-ranked. After the Dragon-Ascension Competition and the Hundred-Battle Competition re-established the rankings, students wishing to vie for a higher position could directly challenge those already on the rolls.
Right now.
Countless students stood before the Dragon-Ascension Roll, pointing at the stone tablet and discussing animatedly.
As it turned out, at the very top position of the Dragon-Ascension Roll, written in red characters, were the two words: Su Chen, Sword Blood Wheel.
The name and blood wheel alone were nothing special; what mattered most was that after Sword Blood Wheel were written six characters: Introductory Class 22. This was what shocked everyone present.
After all, many people had not gone to the Eastern Wasteland Forest to participate in the so-called Dragon-Ascension Competition.
Under normal circumstances, the contention for the Dragon-Ascension Roll was entirely a matter for the intermediate class students, having nothing whatsoever to do with the introductory class students.
For a Foundation Establishment Realm student to snatch points from Void Core Realm students could be summed up in three words: impossible!
On the other hand, for a Void Core Realm student to snatch points from a Foundation Establishment Realm student was as easy as turning over one's hand. Because of this, very few students from the introductory classes managed to get onto the Dragon-Ascension Roll each year, and even if some did, they were exceedingly rare.
In this batch of introductory classes, only a person named Tang Hao had emerged as the number one individual of the introductory classes, managing to squeeze onto the Dragon-Ascension Roll at the one hundredth position—the very bottom.
From this, one could imagine just how difficult it was for an introductory class student to get onto the Dragon-Ascension Roll.
Yet right now, occupying the very first position on the Dragon-Ascension Roll was unexpectedly Su Chen from the introductory class, and moreover, from the class hailed by the academy as the worst introductory class.
As everyone knew, the worst introductory class had a total of nine students, every single one of whom possessed abysmal talent, and whose awakened blood wheels were trash blood wheels.
"Who on earth is this Su Chen? I'm fairly familiar with the nine members of the worst introductory class, and it seems none of them is named Su Chen."
"Maybe someone who just entered the academy."
"Yeah, that's possible. If this person were in the Void Core Realm, he would have been directly assigned to an intermediate class; how could he possibly have entered an introductory class? That means this person is merely in the Foundation Establishment Realm. He's seriously formidable—contending for the Dragon-Ascension Roll at the Foundation Establishment Realm and even ranking first can only be described as badass."
"Well, that's easy to figure out. Just ask the people from the introductory class."
"Shi Xiaoman, Fang Qing, and Ye Xuanyuan are over there. Let's go ask them."
The worst introductory class had a total of nine students—five males and four females. Among the four females were Shi Xiaoman, Fang Qing, Ye Xuanyuan, and Xing Yingxue.
The three girls had not participated in the Dragon-Ascension Competition; they were still worrying about Xing Yingxue, since among the nine members of the worst introductory class, only Xing Yingxue had gone to the Eastern Wasteland Forest to take part in the Dragon-Ascension Competition.
Looking at the Dragon-Ascension Roll before them, the name ranked first unexpectedly belonged to someone from the worst introductory class, leaving all three girls looking utterly astonished.