The woman looked at him with a beaming smile, scanning Chen Zhou from head to toe. Her expression shifted to slight surprise.
"Not bad. You've broken through to the seventh-stage Symbiosis stage already?"
"It seems you've been working quite hard at your cultivation."
"How much time has passed in the outside world? A century, perhaps?"
"To go from the second transformation to the first symbiosis contract in such a short time... you truly are a heaven-sent genius."
From her perspective, the jump from the second transformation of the sixth-stage eerification stage to the seventh-stage Symbiosis stage required more than just an accumulation of power. It required a transformation of the state of mind and a careful tempering of death qi.
A normal person—even the geniuses of her era—would have needed several centuries of painstaking effort to cross that threshold.
Chen Zhou accepted her praise with equanimity.
He cupped his hands with a humble tone. "A heaven-sent genius? You are too kind, senior. But it actually hasn't been that long."
"In the outside world, about two or three months have passed."
Between the time it took for his sacrifice cooldowns to reset and for him to conquer both the Northern and Southern Regions, including some preliminary preparations, less than three months had passed in total.
The smile froze on the woman's face. Her mouth fell open, and her dignified composure vanished instantly.
Even the young man in the distance, who had been calmly closing his eyes, and the middle-aged man, who had been focused intently on his broken jar, both turned their heads sharply toward Chen Zhou as if struck by lightning.
"Two... two or three months?"
"Two or three months!"
The woman was so shocked she was momentarily speechless.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two sounds of rushing air rang out.
The young man and the middle-aged man could no longer sit still. Both instantly abandoned their fishing rods and flew over, flanking Chen Zhou alongside the woman in court dress, surrounding him in a triangle.
These three old monsters, who had lived for countless tens of thousands of years, peered at Chen Zhou as if he were a rare treasure, their divine senses scanning him frantically.
"Are you saying that in just over two months, you broke through from the second transformation of eerification to the first symbiosis contract?"
Absurdity was written all over the middle-aged man's face. "Even back when My Lord..."
He stopped mid-sentence, seemingly feeling that his words were sacrilegious, and forced himself to swallow the rest. However, he could not hide the profound shock in his eyes.
The group took turns inspecting Chen Zhou. He did not bother to hide his power, calmly releasing a portion of his aura to let them perceive it.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
The young man retracted his divine sense, so amazed that he even forgot to flick his whisk.
"His mind is as firm as a rock, and his sea of consciousness is as clear as the bright moon. There isn't the slightest trace of erosion from death qi."
"This doesn't look like an unstable breakthrough born of haste or deviant paths. Rather, it seems like a natural result of a thousand temperings."
The woman in court dress regained her composure and took a deep breath, sighing in admiration.
"Believe it or not, this junior's foundation is exceptionally solid. The death qi in his body is frighteningly pure—even purer than what you two old fogies possess."
"Without a thousand years of bitter cultivation, it would be absolutely impossible to reach this level."
The three of them looked at each other, their worldviews thoroughly shaken.
To finish a path that took others centuries in just two months—and to walk it more steadily than anyone else? Was he even human?
Finally, the middle-aged man tried to rationalize it with a forced explanation, attempting to convince himself.
"It must be a sudden breakthrough after a long accumulation. His foundation was already solid; he likely practiced bitterly for a millennium beforehand."
"Additionally, this boy possesses the Guardian Auspicious God Destiny and towering fortune. Perhaps he encountered some incredible opportunity in the outside world."
"True. As long as the foundation is firm and the mind is steady, such a miracle is possible with the right encounters."
"Besides, we don't know what the outside world is like now. Perhaps the Heavenly Dao has changed, making cultivation easier?"
Bantering back and forth, the three of them managed to find enough excuses to make Chen Zhou's ridiculous breakthrough speed seem plausible. After all, the facts were right in front of them; they had no choice but to believe.
Chen Zhou remained composed under their scrutiny, while also picking up some information from their conversation.
Although these three were evil spirits themselves and possessed reason, they still seemed to follow the logic of traditional cultivation. In their view, breakthroughs for evil spirits carried immense risk, involving the erosion of one's humanity by death qi.
They were more like Jian Huaishuang or Ksitigarbha of Great Vows—individuals who had obtained an evil spirit's body for various reasons. Chen Zhou, however, was a natural-born evil spirit, which put him far beyond their range of understanding.
After their initial amazement, the woman's gaze fell upon the pale bone ring on Chen Zhou's finger.
It was her former artifact, the Cloud-Hiding Silk.
"How have things been lately?" Her gaze softened, like a mother asking about her child. "Has my old friend been helpful to you?"
Chen Zhou smiled and raised his hand to show the bone ring. "Of course. The Cloud-Hiding Silk is very useful."
"It has helped me avoid many unnecessary troubles, protecting not only me but my believers as well."
The woman was overjoyed to hear this.
"That's good. That's good."
"The divine weapon that fought alongside me in life can still be of use after death, providing protection to those who follow... and even receiving such praise..."
She seemed deeply gratified, straightening her back with a look of immense pride.
"As expected of my treasure. Even if it is slightly damaged, it remains the best."
After a few moments of small talk, the conversation finally returned to official business.
The woman's expression turned slightly more serious as she looked at Chen Zhou.
"You've come this time to accept the divine path inheritance, haven't you?"
"According to the rules here, every time you break through to a major realm, you gain a new opportunity to angle."
"Now that you have stepped into the seventh-stage, you are indeed qualified to angle once more."
She paused, her gaze sweeping toward the deep ponds in the distance, showing a hint of hesitation.
"In the past, I would have suggested you try the sixth-stage Wanchuan pond again."
"After all, the ferocious entities in the seventh-stage Wanchuan pond are at the fifth symbiosis contract level. If they far exceed your current strength and you cannot handle them, you'll not only waste an opportunity but might even lose your life."
"But someone like you..."
The woman gave a wry smile as she looked at the monster who had reached the seventh-stage in just two months.
"When you were only at the second transformation, you managed to hook a beast at the first symbiosis contract. Now that you are actually in the seventh-stage, I don't feel qualified to give you advice."
"Decide for yourself. I trust you are not a reckless person."
Chen Zhou nodded in agreement.
"Don't worry, senior. I know what I'm doing."
He had come this time specifically for the toughest targets in the seventh-stage.
With Faith Conferment in hand, the support of the Guardian Auspicious God Destiny, and a massive amount of Golden Light of Merit as his trump card, Chen Zhou felt he had a high chance of skipping four minor levels to challenge a five-contract monster.
Furthermore, while the monsters in the Wanchuan pond were fierce, they lacked intelligence and didn't have any annoying revival mechanisms like Ksitigarbha of Great Vows. They were merely physically powerful.
Under the defense-ignoring burn of his Hatred Fire, such a beast was nothing more than a target with a long health bar. If he added poison and utilized his skeleton sea tactics, he could grind it down to death.
Chen Zhou walked directly to the Abyssal Underworld Pool where he had angled before.
The place was as deathly still as ever, the water pitch-black as ink, capable of swallowing even light itself.
Rate on N.U.
