Once his cultivation was fully stabilized, Elian finally emerged from his secluded training chamber.
As soon as he stepped out, he saw the siblings Xianyan and Xianling waiting for him. Xianyan, full of joy, exclaimed:
"Congratulations, Uncle Elian, congratulations!"
"Congratulations on breaking through to the Purple Mansion stage, Uncle Elian!"
Hearing their congratulations, Elian smiled. As the first Purple Mansion stage cultivator in the history of the Chen Immortal Clan, this was an event worth celebrating across the entire clan.
In high spirits, he rewarded each of them with a thousand family merit points and said, "Cultivate well, and you'll also reach this stage one day."
"We'll do our best!"
The siblings, greatly encouraged, clenched their fists with excitement.
The two were twelve years younger than Elian. They had reached the Fondation Estabilishment stage at the age of twenty-eight or twenty-nine and were now only fifty-one. Thanks to the clan's abundant resources in recent years, their cultivation had progressed rapidly.
Last year, they had exchanged for several Breaking Origin Pills, allowing them to break through to the fourth level of the Fondation Estabilishment stage. Their progress could be described as remarkably swift.
At their current pace, as long as the clan prepared a few Green Yuan Pills for them, they could likely reach the pinnacle of the Fondation Estabilishment stage before the age of one hundred and begin attempting the Purple Mansion stage.
At that point, with their ample lifespans, they would have at least four chances to break through, making their chances of success quite high.
In fact, the Chen Clan was now teeming with talent. Most of the clan's Fondation Estabilishment cultivators were relatively young.
Even the eldest among them, Chen Qinghao and Chen Qingwan, were still one or two years shy of their centennial.
These two elders of the Qing generation had grown up during the clan's most difficult sixty years. Understanding the value of cultivation resources, they were far more diligent in their efforts compared to the rest of the clan's Fondation Estabilishment cultivators.
Currently, they had both reached the peak of the fifth level of the Fondation Estabilishment stage. Within fifteen years, they were expected to break through to the seventh level. Before their lifespans were exhausted, they would have three opportunities to attempt the Purple Mansion stage.
As for the newer Fondation Estabilishment elders, none were older than seventy or eighty, giving them at least another century of life to cultivate.
This didn't even include longevity-increasing treasures like Spirit Apricots. Each person could use three such treasures in their lifetime, and Elian hoped they would use them as late as possible since the Spirit Apricot Tree's grade would continue to improve in the future.
With such a thriving family, anyone who saw them would marvel at their vitality and acknowledge their immense potential.
Suppressing his joy, Elian looked at the siblings and instructed them:
"I'm heading to Pingyang City to meet the patriarch."
"Until then, guard Linghu Isle well, and don't publicize my breakthrough yet."
The two nodded, and Xianling quickly replied, "Understood."
…
After leaving Linghu Isle, Elian flew on his sword toward Pingyang City.
Having broken through to the Purple Mansion stage, the six-thousand-mile journey took him only two hours.
Before long, he arrived at Pingyang City and met the patriarch.
"Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!"
The patriarch laughed heartily three times upon seeing him.
Clapping Elian's shoulder, the patriarch couldn't hide his excitement.
"You broke through to the Purple Mansion stage at such a young age. In the future, even the Golden Core stage might not be your limit."
"With a prodigy like you, our Chen Clan is destined for great prosperity."
After a long moment, the patriarch calmed himself and asked, "Now that you've broken through, do you think you can handle that mid-Purple Mansion Metal Earth demon Beast?"
"Don't worry, patriarch." Elian smiled faintly and took out the Grand Plough Celestial Sword.
"Take a look at this sword."
"This is…" The patriarch's eyes widened with joy.
"What a sword! With this in hand, you can definitely handle that Purple Mansion Demon Beast."
"You hold off the mid-Purple Mansion Demon Beast while I and the clan elders operate the two treasure ships to surround and kill the early Purple Mansion Demon Beast. I'm confident we can take the Metal Earth Vein."
Elian nodded and replied with a smile, "Time is of the essence. Let's act quickly."
Two days later, the Chen Clan gathered once again before the Metal Earth Vein.
Having assessed the strength of the Demon Beasts in the earth vein, the clan prepared to go all out.
Besides the patriarch and Elian, the clan mobilized ten Fondation Estabilishment elders, including Chen Qinghao, Chen Qingwan, and Xianling.
In this battle, the ten Fondation Estabilishment elders would operate two third-rank treasure ships to assist the patriarch in attacking the early Purple Mansion Demon Beast, while Elian would face the mid-Purple Mansion Demon Beast.
As for the Qi Refinement cultivators, the clan had decided not to involve them. Their cultivation was far too weak to withstand even the residual shockwaves of a battle between Purple Mansion cultivators.
Allowing them to participate would risk casualties, even with protective formations in place. Since the Fondation Estabilishment and Purple Mansion cultivators were sufficient for this task, there was no need to endanger them.
At the Metal Earth Vein, Elian explained the battle plan to the group and said:
"Let's begin."
At his command, the pre-arranged formations activated once more. Brilliant lights illuminated the sky as the earth vein was torn open.
"Make it quick," Elian said.
As the earth vein opened, Elian was the first to leap forward, sword light blazing, with the others following closely behind on the treasure ships.
Once inside, the group wasted no time, heading straight for the core of the earth vein.
Moments later, they arrived before the central mountain range.
Making no effort to conceal their movements, the group caused a commotion along the way. Naturally, the Metal Spirit Beasts detected their approach and emerged from the earth vein to confront them.
"Boom—"
The mid-Purple Mansion Demon Beast, upon seeing Elian in the lead, furiously unleashed a Metal Element Divine Thunder.
A deafening explosion echoed as golden lightning illuminated the void, striking toward Elian from dozens of miles away.
Elian's eyes flickered, and he raised his sword fingers to unleash his own Divine Thunder in response.
Also a Metal Element Divine Thunder, its power—amplified by Elian's post-Purple Mansion mana—was more than double what it had been before his breakthrough.
Lightning streaked across the sky, colliding with the Demon Beast's divine ability in a massive explosion.
"That strike…" The patriarch's eyes narrowed.
"Elian's combat strength is already comparable to a mid-Purple Mansion cultivator."
Before the thought could settle, Elian charged forward, crossing the distance of more than ten miles to engage the two Demon Beasts in battle.
The patriarch quickly regained his composure, rallying the others to join the fray and surround the early Purple Mansion Demon Beast.
Facing the patriarch's Purple Mansion-level combat strength and two treasure ships manned by ten Fondation Estabilishment elders, the Demon Beast had no chance to assist its mid-Purple Mansion companion.
...
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