CHAPTER 30: CHAPTER 30 EVERYTHING IS UNDER CONTROL [SEEKING COLLECTION AND RECOMMENDATION VOTE]_1

「Half a year later.」

Sha Chen’s body had swelled from a height of about thirteen feet to an enormous one thousand zhang. If the Palace and Formation he constructed hadn’t been vast enough, they probably wouldn’t have been able to contain his massive form. Fortunately, the Flowing Sand River was boundless, and Sha Chen once again expanded his Formation and Palace. As a result, he felt much more comfortable in his dwelling.

His body had ballooned due to indigestion from forcibly digesting a large amount of Immortal Rice. Yet, a tremendous amount of Divine Power had still accumulated inside him, and at this moment, Sha Chen’s cultivation finally broke through to the high stage of Golden Immortal.

"Host’s cultivation breakthrough to Golden Immortal high stage detected. You have the following choices:"

"Option one: Immediately emerge from the water as a demon, claim a mountain as king, live freely, and receive the reward Formation [Nine-Curve Yellow River Array]. The Nine-Curve Yellow River Array is an offensive Formation developed by San Xiao with the aid of the Primeval Chaos Gold Funnel."

"Option two: Continue your retreat in the hopes of making further advances and receive the reward of one drop of [Ghoul Essence Blood]. [Ghoul Essence Blood]: The Essence Blood of the Gluttonous Beast; Refining it grants the Gluttonous’s swallowing Divine Power."

When Sha Chen saw the Gluttonous essence blood, he leapt up excitedly.

This is fantastic! I’ve been troubled by my body’s inability to withstand the Immortal Rice, leading to indigestion. Letting the Immortal Rice sit around could also result in the loss of Divine Power. If I have this Gluttonous essence blood, I can speed up the absorption of the Immortal Rice’s Divine Power!

Without hesitation, Sha Chen chose to continue his retreat and then obtained the Gluttonous essence blood.

A drop of brilliant, golden Essence Blood appeared. Sha Chen refined it without hesitation, causing a radical transformation in his body as it merged with this drop of Essence Blood.

「Half a month later.」

Sha Chen’s body had grown even more massive. Although he could shrink it, he knew that the larger his body, the more effectively he could utilize the Gluttonous’s swallowing power. He had now mastered the Gluttonous’s swallowing Divine Power and had digested all the accumulated Immortal Rice within him. His Mana was as deep as the abyss.

Then, Sha Chen turned towards the mountainous piles of Immortal Rice in the Palace and, with a faint smile, cooked them all at once. After cooking, he directly used his new swallowing Divine Power to devour all the Immortal Rice.

However, since Sha Chen had only refined a single drop of Gluttonous essence blood, his swallowing ability was limited. Fortunately, not much Immortal Rice remained. It was still enough for him to swallow and refine, requiring only half a month to completely digest.

「Half a month later.」

Sha Chen had finally digested everything. There was no Immortal Rice left in storage; only the upcoming season’s unripe Immortal Rice Plants remained in the fields. And thanks to the Immortal Rice, Sha Chen had increased his cultivation power by several hundred thousand years. However, most of it had been absorbed by his physical body. His current form seemed bulky and bloated, but in reality, it was incredibly powerful. In terms of defensive ability and strength, it was especially formidable.

This too was a result of the Gluttonous essence blood—when he swallowed something, half of the Divine Power went to enhance his physical body, and the other half to boost his cultivation. This meant that Sha Chen’s cultivation progress lagged somewhat, but his physical body kept getting stronger, and his combat power continued to rise.

Sha Chen was very satisfied with this situation. He was cautious by nature, preferring to enhance his abilities all around to ensure he had no weak points.

Immortals with profound cultivation had one major shortcoming: their physical bodies were weak. If they exchanged blows using Magical Tools or Divine Powers, it would be fine if they managed to counter each other’s attacks. However, if they were hit, they would be either dead or severely injured.

If I could strengthen my body to the point where it’s impervious to blades and spears, comparable to Magical Tools, wouldn’t that prevent such situations?

In battle, if I strike others with my Magical Tool, they die; if others hit me with theirs, I remain unscathed.

Just thinking about it gives me an explosive sense of security!

Therefore, he was willing to fall behind in his cultivation progress to boost his physical strength, aiming to have them advance side by side.

However, the only imperfection was that the Gluttonous essence blood was too scarce, causing his physical body to strengthen at a slow pace. Moreover, the defensive and strength aspects inherited from the Gluttonous were not top-tier. Sha Chen longed for more Gluttonous essence blood, or any other Essence Blood that could enhance his physical body.

However, after consuming all the Immortal Rice, Sha Chen once again experienced the distressing feeling of lacking cultivation resources.

His physical body was strengthening, and his Mana was increasing. Sha Chen felt increasingly secure. He even expanded the area of the Flowing Sand River once more, as well as the range of the Formation. The Flowing Sand River now seemed like a boundless sea.

「Heavenly Court.」

Ever since his last attempt at persuasion failed, Great White Planet had been making arrangements to find Zhu Bajie, but the latter was nowhere to be found. Finally, after a month, he discovered Tianpeng’s whereabouts, approached him, and attempted to tempt and enlighten Tianpeng. However, Tianpeng ignored him completely, giving Great White Planet the same feeling he experienced when dealing with Sha Chen. Even using the memory of Cultivation Methods and Divine Powers as bait failed, so he decided to give Tianpeng a taste of hardship.

「Two or three months later.」

Once Great White Planet finished setting his plans, he found that Tianpeng had actually made significant progress in his cultivation and recovered most of his past life’s powers. He was stunned.

「That day.」

Great White Planet watched in shock as the demons he had secretly guided were cleanly slaughtered by Tianpeng, causing him to doubt his very existence.

When did he recover so much power? How did he retrieve the lost Cultivation Methods and Divine Powers?

While he was still puzzled, the Jade Emperor summoned him.

The Jade Emperor said, "My Close Subject Li, I am already aware of the matter regarding Tianpeng. What have you all done?"

Great White Planet hastily replied, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger, everything is under control."

The Jade Emperor slammed the table and rose, saying, "Under control? First, there was that stubborn Juanlian, and now there’s Tianpeng. How exactly are you in control?"

"Do you realize that both Tianpeng and Sun Wukong are specifically wanted by Buddhism by name? If we fail to deliver them, where would you have me put my face?"

Great White Planet wiped his sweat and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured. Tianpeng has rapidly recovered his cultivation by obtaining Cultivation Methods and Divine Powers from somewhere. But he is naturally lazy, afraid of death, and lecherous. There are plenty of ways to lead him astray."

The Jade Emperor huffed, nodded, and then continued, "How about Juanlian? Didn’t you go look for him last time? What was the result?"

Great White Planet had been avoiding this subject and didn’t expect the Jade Emperor to bring it up. Embarrassed, he said, "Your Majesty, the persuasion failed last time. Juanlian is very determined and refuses to emerge from the water."

The Jade Emperor, breathing unsteadily from anger, said, "Didn’t you tell him that joining Buddhism offers boundless prospects? That all his past crimes would be forgiven?"

Great White Planet replied, "I did."

The Jade Emperor was silent for a long time before waving his hand and saying, "Withdraw. There’s still plenty of time. The stronger he grows, the more his desires will inflate. After enduring the agony of Thousand Swords Piercing The Heart for so long, resentment will arise in his heart. Sooner or later, he will fall."

Great White Planet, wanting to say more but hesitating, ultimately retreated.

If it were before, he would share the same thoughts as the Jade Emperor, but now, he no longer felt confident. Sha Chen’s determination was astonishing. Even the high-level Thousand Swords Piercing The Heart couldn’t make him bow his head. It seemed that all he could hope for was Sha Chen’s breakthrough, which would then inflate his desires!

Last time he fought the spider demon, his cultivation was at the early stage of Golden Immortal. Only a few years have passed since then. His cultivation certainly hasn’t advanced. Alas, without robbing or stealing, it’s too difficult for him to break through. This path is long and arduous.

It was already miraculous for Sha Chen to have reached the initial stage of Golden Immortal. In just a few years, he was certain to have made no further progress.

If I expect Sha Chen to advance further in his cultivation and for his desires to inflate, I need to give him a boost, especially since he lacks cultivation resources in the Flowing Sand River.

With this in mind, Great White Planet arranged to send some Immortal Elixirs and Divine Grass to Sha Chen, under the pretense of a gracious gift from the Jade Emperor.

Sha Chen inexplicably received this ’gracious gift,’ but to his current self, these items were trivial and dispensable.

Great White Planet was still hoping that Sha Chen would feel grateful to the Heavenly Court, then eagerly improve his cultivation, allowing his desires to grow, and subsequently face reality.

However, he had not expected that Sha Chen wouldn’t care at all about the trivial gifts they sent; they weren’t even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth.