Zhang Fan flew alone, soaring straight into the sky tens of thousands of meters high, weaving through the clouds. Occasionally, he would encounter passenger planes flying past. The passengers on board, upon seeing Zhang Fan, exclaimed that they had encountered an immortal.
However, Zhang Fan's speed was far greater than that of a passenger plane. In less than half an hour, he had returned to the East Sea.
Passing through a layer of thick fog, Zhang Fan landed directly on the island in the center of the lake.
To Zhang Fan's surprise, the island was exceptionally lively at this moment. Besides his father, Zhang Xing'an, and Ailebela, who had been in seclusion, his mother, Su Yun, was also on the island.
Since Lin Haotian's strength reached the Sacred Domain, he rarely returned to the Dark Organization. He lived on the island with his girlfriend.
After all, the spiritual energy on the island was far more abundant than outside, making it an excellent place for cultivation. With their strength having improved significantly, cultivating in the externally sparse spiritual energy was much more difficult.
"Haha, you little thing are finally back. Take this palm strike from your dad." Zhang Xing'an, who was practicing palm techniques on the beach, became exceptionally excited upon seeing Zhang Fan descend from the sky.
He immediately unleashed a palm strike.
"Heaven-Shattering Palm!"
The palm technique Zhang Xing'an employed was the Heaven-Shattering Palm from the Thirty-Six Forms of the War Emperor, created by Zhang Fan himself.
He stamped his foot, hovering in mid-air. As he executed the palm technique, a small amount of heaven and earth power gathered towards him on the island, forming an immense palm print.
The palm print covered the sky, carrying a heavy oppressive force, and struck towards Zhang Fan. It was clear that Zhang Xing'an had not held back at all with this strike.
However, Zhang Fan neither dodged nor blocked his father's palm strike, allowing the colossal palm print to descend.
The immense magical palm print, infused with a trace of heaven and earth power, forcefully slammed onto Zhang Fan. The sand around Zhang Fan was crushed, forming a massive palm print.
But Zhang Fan, standing in the center of the palm print, was completely unharmed. Instead, the recoil from the strike sent Zhang Xing'an, who was hovering in the air, retreating step by step.
"You little brat, you're really getting stronger. You can just stand there and take my beating without getting hurt."
After unleashing a full-force palm strike, even drawing upon a trace of heaven and earth power, Zhang Fan remained completely unscathed, while Zhang Xing'an himself was sent flying back.
This left Zhang Xing'an, who had broken through to a new realm and was full of confidence, very discouraged.
He was now at the mid-stage of the Sacred Domain, and had even cultivated divine sense. With such strength, he was still no match for Zhang Fan.
He didn't know that Zhang Fan's greatest asset was his physical body. After all, once his Myriad Domain Suppressing Divine Body reached minor completion, he could capture a Golden Core with one hand, and Zhang Fan was now only a step away from minor completion.
Zhang Fan patted the dust off his clothes and looked at his father, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.
With the help of the Sevenfold God-Breaking Pill, his father had not only entered the Sacred Domain in just a few months but had also reached the mid-stage. It seemed he had completely refined the Sevenfold God-Breaking Pill.
Of course, what surprised Zhang Fan the most was that his father had even cultivated the Spirit Refining Art to minor completion, transforming his mental energy into divine sense and being able to manipulate a trace of heaven and earth power.
He had expected that, even with his help, his father would need to reach at least the late-stage of the Sacred Domain before having a chance to cultivate the Spirit Refining Art to minor completion.
For ordinary martial artists, transforming mental energy into divine sense was something that could only be achieved after entering the Heaven-Human Realm.
It was already considered incredibly rare for someone at the late-stage of the Sacred Domain to cultivate divine sense.
Thinking of this, Zhang Fan couldn't help but recall the Blood Phoenix, once known as the number one killer in the assassin world. She was the most talented martial artist Zhang Fan had encountered on Earth in terms of cultivating divine sense.
At that time, she had accepted a mission to assassinate Zhang Fan. Despite being only at the mid-stage of the Sacred Domain, she had already transformed her mental energy into divine sense, comparable to an ordinary Heaven-Human Realm martial artist.
Furthermore, she had independently devised some methods for utilizing divine sense, making her exceptionally brilliant. Zhang Fan had then been impressed by her talent and wanted to recruit her.
However, Blood Phoenix, having achieved so much at a young age and consistently holding the top position on the assassin rankings, supporting a vast assassin organization single-handedly, naturally possessed her own pride and had refused Zhang Fan.
In the end, Zhang Fan, unwilling to see such a rare genius be obscured by environmental constraints, passed on the foundational篇 of the Spirit Refining Art to Blood Phoenix.
He wondered what level she had reached by now.
...
"With your current strength, Dad, you can probably be considered a master among late-stage Sacred Domain experts." The matter related to Blood Phoenix flashed through Zhang Fan's mind. He looked at his father and said, "I reckon you're doing quite well."
"Haha, still far behind you, kid." Zhang Xing'an said humbly, but the proud smile on his face betrayed his true feelings.
After all, for ordinary martial artists, the Sacred Domain was an insurmountable realm, with countless innate grandmasters stuck at that final step, unable to break through. Yet, he, Zhang Xing'an, had not only reached the Sacred Domain but also cultivated to the mid-stage, naturally feeling immensely proud.
"That's true. I guess I'm not even as good as my disciple, and certainly far from as good as me," Zhang Fan said without mercy.
Hearing this, Zhang Xing'an's proud laughter abruptly stopped. He stared at his son's grinning face, wishing he could beat him up.
Su Yun, standing beside them, couldn't help but smile as she saw Zhang Xing'an in a predicament. After cultivating on the island for some time, with the aid of the Golden Scale Yuan-Breaking Pill, Su Yun's cultivation speed had also been extremely rapid. Her strength was now likely comparable to Qin Luoshui's.
"After your dad broke through to the Sacred Domain, he bragged to me for who knows how long. At his age, he can't even catch up to his son's disciple, I don't know where he gets his confidence," Su Yun complained to Zhang Fan.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xing'an's expression became even more awkward. For someone who valued his reputation, it was becoming difficult to stay there.
"Master."
"Master."
At this moment, Ailebela and Lin Haotian also approached, looking quite excited. However, before they could speak, they suddenly heard a deafening roar that seemed to shake the island itself.
Everyone looked and saw a blood-colored flood dragon, as thick as a water bucket, erupt from the bottom of the lake. Its colossal body churned up waves, transforming into a bloody streak of light and soaring straight into the sky.
If not for the excellent soundproofing of the Misty Rain Spirit Gathering Array Zhang Fan had set up, the entire city of East Sea would likely have heard this roar.
Sensing Zhang Fan's presence, the Blood Demon Flood Dragon could no longer contain its excitement. After circling in the air once, it charged directly towards Zhang Fan.
As it dived, the Blood Demon Flood Dragon's size continuously shrank, eventually becoming as thin as a baby's arm. It then coiled around Zhang Fan's arm, appearing incredibly obedient.