Zhang Fan flew alone, traversing through the white clouds ten thousand meters in the sky. Occasionally, passenger planes would fly past him. The passengers within, upon seeing Zhang Fan, exclaimed that they had encountered an immortal.
However, Zhang Fan's speed far surpassed that of the passenger planes. In less than half an hour, he had returned to the East Sea.
Passing through a dense layer of mist, Zhang Fan landed directly on the island in the center of the lake.
To Zhang Fan's surprise, the island was exceptionally lively. Besides his father Zhang Xing'an and Aile Bella, who had been in seclusion, his mother Su Yun was also present on the island.
Lin Haotian, ever since his strength reached the Saint Domain, rarely returned to the Dark Group. He had been living on the island with his girlfriend.
After all, the spiritual energy on the island was far more abundant than outside, making it an excellent sacred ground for cultivation. Moreover, with their strength having increased significantly, cultivating in the spiritually thin outside world had become much more difficult.
"Haha, you little rascal are finally back. Take a palm from your father!" Zhang Xing'an, who was practicing palm techniques on the beach, became exceptionally excited upon seeing Zhang Fan descend from the sky.
He immediately launched a palm strike.
"Heaven Overturning Palm!"
The palm technique Zhang Xing'an used was none other than the Heaven Overturning Palm from the Thirty-Six Styles of the War Emperor, created by Zhang Fan himself.
He stomped his foot, levitating into the air. As he executed the palm technique, a small amount of heaven and earth power converged towards him on the island, forming an immense palm print.
The palm print covered the sky, carrying a heavy pressure, and struck towards Zhang Fan. It was evident that Zhang Xing'an had not held back any strength in this strike.
However, Zhang Fan neither dodged nor resisted the palm strike from his father. He allowed the massive palm print to descend upon him.
The enormous palm print, infused with a trace of heaven and earth power, struck Zhang Fan fiercely. The beach around Zhang Fan was indented, forming a colossal palm print.
Yet, Zhang Fan, standing at the center of the palm print, was completely unharmed. On the contrary, the recoil from the strike sent the levitating Zhang Xing'an retreating step by step.
"You little brat, you've truly become more and more formidable. You can stand there and let me beat you without getting injured."
He had unleashed a full-power palm strike, even summoning a trace of heaven and earth power, yet Zhang Fan remained unharmed. Instead, Zhang Xing'an himself was sent flying back.
This disheartened Zhang Xing'an, who had just broken through and was brimming with confidence.
He was now at the mid-stage of the Saint Domain, and had even cultivated divine sense. With such strength, he was still no match for Zhang Fan.
He was unaware that Zhang Fan's strongest attribute was his physical body. After all, once his Myriad Domain Town God Body achieved minor success, he could easily grasp golden cores with a single hand. And Zhang Fan was now just one step away from minor success.
Zhang Fan patted the dust off his clothes, looking at his father with a smile of satisfaction.
With the aid of the Sevenfold God Breaking Pill, his father had not only entered the Saint Domain in just a few months but had also reached the mid-stage of the Saint Domain. It seemed he had completely refined the Sevenfold God Breaking Pill.
Of course, what surprised Zhang Fan the most was that his father had actually cultivated the Divine Refining Art to minor success, transforming his mental power into divine sense and thus being able to mobilize a trace of heaven and earth power.
He had predicted that even with his help, it would take his father at least the late-stage of the Saint Domain to have a chance to cultivate the Divine Refining Art to minor success.
After all, for ordinary cultivators, transforming mental power into divine sense was something only achievable upon entering the Heavenly Human realm.
It was already considered exceptionally heaven-defying for someone at the late-stage of the Saint Domain to cultivate divine sense.
Thinking of this, Zhang Fan recalled Blood Phoenix, once known as the number one assassin in the assassin world. She was the most talented martial artist he had encountered on Earth in terms of cultivating divine sense.
At that time, she had accepted a mission to assassinate Zhang Fan. Despite her cultivation being only at the mid-stage of the Saint Domain, she had already transformed her mental power into divine sense, comparable to ordinary Heavenly Human realm martial artists.
Furthermore, through her own exploration, she had created some methods for utilizing divine sense, making her incredibly talented. Zhang Fan had at that time felt a desire to recruit her.
However, Blood Phoenix, having achieved such accomplishments at a young age and consistently holding the top rank on the assassin list, single-handedly supported a vast assassin organization. Naturally, she possessed her own pride and refused Zhang Fan.
Ultimately, unwilling to see such a rare genius become mediocre due to environmental constraints, Zhang Fan passed on the basic篇 of the Divine Refining Art to Blood Phoenix.
He wondered what realm she had cultivated to by now.
...
"With your current strength, Dad, you can probably be considered an expert among late-stage Saint Domain powerhouses." The thought of Blood Phoenix flashed through Zhang Fan's mind. He stared at his father and comforted him.
"Haha, I'm still far behind you, kid," Zhang Xing'an said humbly, but the proud smile on his face betrayed his true thoughts.
After all, for ordinary martial artists, the Saint Domain was an insurmountable peak. Many innate grandmasters were stuck at that final step, unable to break through. Yet, he, Zhang Xing'an, had not only reached the Saint Domain but had also cultivated to the mid-stage, making him incredibly proud.
"That's true. I guess I'm not even as good as my disciple, and compared to me, I'm far behind," Zhang Fan taunted without reservation.
Hearing this, Zhang Xing'an's proud laughter abruptly ceased. He stared at his son's forced smile and wished he could beat him up.
Su Yun, standing beside them, couldn't help but smile upon seeing Zhang Xing'an's discomfiture. After cultivating on the island for some time, with the aid of the Golden Scale Yuan Breaking Pill, Su Yun's cultivation speed had been remarkably fast. Her strength was now likely comparable to Qin Luoshui's.
"After your dad broke through to the Saint Domain, he was showing off to me for who knows how long. At his age, he can't even catch up to his own son's disciple. I don't know where he gets his confidence," Su Yun complained to Zhang Fan.
Hearing this, Zhang Xing'an's face became even more awkward. Being a man who valued his reputation, he felt like he could no longer stay there.
"Master."
"Master."
At this moment, Aile Bella and Lin Haotian also stepped forward, looking quite excited. However, before they could speak, they heard a deafening roar that seemed to shake the entire island.
Everyone looked and saw a blood-red Flood Dragon, as thick as a bucket, erupting from the bottom of the lake. Its colossal body churned up torrents of lake water, transforming into a blood-red streak of light that shot straight into the sky.
If not for the excellent soundproofing effect of the Misty Rain Gathering Spirit Formation that Zhang Fan had set up, the entire population of Donghai City would likely have heard this roar.
Sensing Zhang Fan's presence, the Blood Demon Flood Dragon could no longer contain its restlessness. After circling in the air once, it charged directly towards Zhang Fan.
As it descended, the Blood Demon Flood Dragon's size continuously shrunk, finally becoming as thick as an infant's arm. It coiled around Zhang Fan's arm, appearing incredibly docile.
...