Chapter Fifty-One: The Supreme Sun Divine Art

The tribe had been sealed off for a year, with a vast supply of primal stones provided to all the tribe’s warriors, allowing them to devote themselves wholly to cultivation.

Yi Tian and his Reincarnation Squad were also immersed in focused training. Through his relentless day-and-night deliberations, the Pure Yang Skill gradually advanced in rank; the apertures within his body were pierced one by one, each giving rise to a mysterious rune.

At last, after nine months, his Pure Yang Skill underwent a fundamental metamorphosis. The moment the ninth great rune was born, the runes immediately resonated with each other, weaving into an intricate divine pattern, brimming with searing heat, wildness, and a destructive aura. It was as if a miniature sun had been born within him, radiating boundless light and warmth.

In that instant of the Pure Yang Skill’s transformation, Yi Tian sensed the power of the rune within him, akin to the true sun itself. That hazy rune appearing in his body seemed the very embodiment of the sun, with threads of solar power coursing through his meridians—scorching, infinite, ceaselessly tempering his channels, apertures, bones, flesh, and organs.

He could distinctly feel how this force powerfully refined his physical form.

Once all the Pure Yang true energy in his dantian had been transformed into this most potent Yang energy, its volume dwindled to less than one percent of what it was before, becoming supremely condensed.

From this utmost Yang true energy, Yi Tian felt the primordial force of the sun itself, as if it were the incarnation of a law, granting him an insight into the entire world.

His understanding and mastery over fire, in particular, soared by leaps and bounds, reaching a state where he could wield it at will.

This skill, after months of exhaustive refinement and ultimate transformation, had transcended the level of earth-grade; its Yang power shared the same origin as the sun, drawing on the primal forces of heaven and earth itself. It had truly reached the rank of heaven-grade, becoming a legendary celestial art.

Since this was a method to cultivate the power of the sun, Yi Tian named this advanced art the Great Solar Celestial Skill.

The Great Solar Celestial Skill was filled with boundless mysteries; its circulation required the use of no fewer than three thousand six hundred and fifty apertures. The intricate path of the skill radiated a profound aura, forming a great sun that resonated with the sun in the heavens.

Whenever Yi Tian operated this Great Solar Celestial Skill, he instantly sensed the sunlight within several dozen yards around him. The sun within his body immediately absorbed all the surrounding light.

Su Yue’e, Xiaolong, and Xiaoting, who were cooking at the time, instantly noticed the sky growing dim and the temperature plummeting, leaving them startled and bewildered.

Yi Tian, deep in cultivation, remained unaware of the environmental anomalies.

He was sensing the changes within himself, as threads of solar force and the vital energy of heaven and earth poured into his body, refined into purest Yang true energy, gathering in his dantian.

Yet this utmost Yang true energy was so condensed that restoring his cultivation back to the seventh stage would take several months at least.

Whenever Yi Tian used primal stones to cultivate, the abundant energy was absorbed at an astonishing rate—he could consume a single stone in less than half an hour. His cultivation speed was almost the same as when he used a top-tier mortal skill before, but still more than thirty times faster than cultivating without primal stones.

It took Yi Tian three days and over eight thousand low-grade primal stones to restore his cultivation to the seventh stage.

Though he was only a seventh-stage warrior, by cultivating a celestial skill, his combat strength was now terrifying—over ten times greater than before.

With the Great Solar Celestial Skill, Yi Tian found it much easier to train his Vault of Heaven Sword Qi. The Yang true energy continually refined the sword qi, enabling it to grow ever more condensed, transforming from illusory to almost tangible, and the vast sword energy became increasingly fearsome.

However, with the Great Solar Celestial Skill, Yi Tian’s consumption of primal stones skyrocketed—dozens of times more than before.

In the blink of an eye, the year of seclusion came to an end.

On this day, the tribe’s year-long period of closed-door cultivation formally concluded.

This year of retreat had been a time of explosive advancement for the tribe’s warriors. With ample primal stones, the lower-ranked warriors broke through to the middle ranks one after another; the mid-ranked warriors each advanced by one or two minor stages, greatly increasing their strength.

As for high-ranked warriors, three hundred new ones emerged this year alone.

The number of high-ranked warriors who had reached the eighth stage rose to twenty-one. Previously, only the Grand Chief, Yi Ke, had reached the mid-eighth stage. Now, with more than twenty eighth-stage warriors, the tribe’s strength had multiplied over tenfold.

The old patriarch and the chief elders also made some breakthroughs. Already at the peak of the ninth stage, they were but a step away from entering the human grade, when true energy would convert to true essence.

However, the cultivation arts they had previously practiced were only of ordinary human-grade middle rank; their true energy was neither pure nor condensed. Decades of cultivation and refinement had still not enabled them to condense true essence.

In truth, more than ninety-nine percent of ninth-stage warriors were fated to stagnate here.

Recently, however, they had glimpsed hope of breaking through to the human grade.

They now possessed a vast supply of middle-grade primal stones to accelerate the refinement of their true energy. Moreover, the arts they cultivated had been improved by Yi Tian and elevated to lower earth-grade, making the refining process twenty or thirty times more efficient.

Even so, they estimated it would take at least another two or three years of seclusion to break through.

After a year of arduous training, Yi Tian reached the eighth stage.

Members of the Reincarnation Squad—Yi Feng, Yi Shan, Yi Li, Yi Kuang, and Yi Hong—also broke through to the eighth stage, some even reaching late or peak eighth stage, nearly matching the Grand Chief Yi Ke’s realm.

With the tribe’s strength surging, the patriarch and the chief elders decided that only a small portion of the warriors would take turns hunting in the mountains while the others, during their off-hunting periods, would devote themselves to further cultivation.

The patriarch and chief elders sensed an ever-looming crisis. Only by racing against time to grow stronger could they secure a sliver of hope for survival.

At the same time, they instructed the Grand Chief and the heads of the high-ranked warrior squads to covertly purchase all kinds of cultivation resources, spirit weapons, spirit tools, healing and power-boosting elixirs in Black Dragon City and Jingmu County.

The Yi clan owned a large-scale primal vein mine, extracting vast quantities of primal stones daily—enough for the entire tribe to use lavishly.

Their aim was to strengthen the tribe as much as possible, as quickly as possible.

If they did not, even by hiding their activities and refraining from ostentatious use of primal stones, their strength would not increase by much. And the longer they concealed the existence of the large-scale primal vein mine, the greater the risk it would eventually be discovered by other powers and leaked; by then, they would be at the mercy of others.

Of course, all this was conducted in secret.

Although there was a risk of being discovered by other forces, it was worth it.

Even if others noticed something amiss, they would never suspect that the Yi tribe had discovered a large-scale primal vein mine. At most, they would think the tribe had stumbled upon a treasure or a small vein, attracting only the covetous eyes of forces near Black Dragon City.

As long as they kept the true scale of the mine hidden, they would buy themselves precious time to grow.

Black Dragon City, having barely survived the beast tide a year ago, had gradually regained its former prosperity, and the population was slowly recovering.

The city’s major powers had also returned to strength.

The Wu clan, too, had suffered heavy losses—many guards, clan members, and elites had perished or been wounded, sapping their vitality.

Over the past year, the Wu clan had only just managed to recover some of its strength, and Wu Shigong had finally been able to extricate himself from the busy work of reconstruction.

In his spare moments, Wu Shigong found himself once more thinking of Yi Tian, the boy he hated to the core—and greatly feared. That someone so young could possess such ability meant that, if allowed to grow, the Wu clan would know no peace.

Thus, he began to send people to investigate the Yi tribe’s movements.

What he discovered left Wu Shigong deeply shocked and suspicious.