Chapter 1153: Saint Realm

Not stopping because they managed to reach the Grandmaster Realm, both Xuan Hao and Yi Min continued to attentively listen to Gong Cheng. Even if they had already figured out that something was off, it didn't change the fact that listening to Gong Cheng preaching the Dao of Blacksmithing was immensely helpful to both of them. Even after they had broken through to the Elementary Realm in the Dao of Blacksmithing, this didn't change in the slightest and both of them were still progressing rapidly.

Rumble~!

However, a month after Gong Cheng had started preaching the Dao of Blacksmithing to them, a low rumbling sound could be heard throughout the interior of the forge before it started spreading outward to cover the entire Blue Shore Kingdom and beyond it.

"Huh!?"

"This is..."

Not able to keep themselves focused on comprehending the Dao of Blacksmithing with such a large disturbance taking place, Xuan Hao, and Yi Min both opened their eyes and stared at Gong Cheng who was now surrounded in a faint layer of light with a shocked expression.

The reason for the shock was not the faint layer of light now covering Gong Chen nor the rumbling sound that had already begun to quiet down, but the fact that the aura around Gong Cheng was far stronger than before, to the point where even Yi Min who was still in the Soul Ascension Realm could sense the drastic change.

This strength... He is at least comparable to that general from the Blue Sea Empire!

Narrowing both of his eyes as he examined the new strength of Gong Cheng, Xuan Hao could not help feeling shocked. Gong Cheng had clearly been a bit weaker than him just a moment ago, but now his strength had suddenly increased to the Half Bloom Stage, the peak of the Earth Immortal Realm if one didn't count the Radiant Bloom Stage.

"Hm?"

However, as he continued examining Gong Cheng who was still in the process of undergoing some kind of transformation beneath the faint layer of light enveloping his body, he soon realized that even though his strength had reached a level comparable to the Half Bloom Stage, his actual cultivation had not changed.

The change in strength didn't come from his cultivation realm suddenly increasing, but seemed to come from somewhere different...

Whoosh~

Lost in his own thoughts as he tried to figure out what had happened to Gong Cheng, the person in question suddenly opened both of his eyes with a bright smile covering his aging face. Dispelling the faint light around his body in the process.

"Hahahaha! I finally succeeded! I broke through the Saint Realm! Hahaha! I can't wait to see the faces of those old fools when they learn about this! Hahaha!" Not even giving Xuan Hao or Yi Min a chance to ask him about what happened, Gong Cheng began laughing joyfully as he inadvertently ended up telling them what had happened just now-

"Saint Realm!?"

"Amazing..."

As a result, Xuan Hao and Yi Min could not help exclaiming loudly as they looked towards the old man filled with both surprise and awe.

The Saint Realm.

Even though both of them knew little about the Saint Realm, they at least understood how important a Saint Realm Expert was- An existence that even the major powers on the continent couldn't ignore and would kill if they couldn't get them to join them... At least, that was what they guessed from how the major powers had acted when it came to the secret of reaching the Pseudo Saint Realm and the death of any Saint Realm Expert that had appeared on the continent not aligned with any of these major powers in the past.

"Haaa..."

Taking a deep breath as he calmed himself down after experiencing his newfound power and the countless ideas relating to the Dao of Blacksmithing rushing through his mind, Gong Cheng turned to look at Xuan Hao and Yi Min with a grateful expression on his face.

Although neither of them had done anything and had just listened to him preach the Dao of Blacksmithing, it was this simple thing that had allowed him to pass through the final hurdle and officially enter the Perfection Realm in the Dao of Blacksmithing. Allowing him to step into the Saint Realm without the need to pass through the Pseudo Saint Realm.

Without them, he would have undoubtedly ended up trying to forcibly reach the Perfection Realm on his own until the day his lifespan ran out without reaching the Saint Realm.

"Thank you for listening to this old man over the past month..."

For this reason, Gong Cheng could not help himself from bowing gracefully to the two of them. Feeling genuinely thankful that Xuan Hao and Yi Min had stayed and listened to him for the past month without moving. After all, even the slightest interruption during enlightenment might result in him failing to grasp the tiny bit he needed to reach the Perfection Realm.

"N-no need senior, both of us benefitted immensely from your lecture!"

"Yes, there is no need to worry, we both managed to breakthrough to the Grandmaster Realm during enlightenment."

"Grandmaster Realm!?" Hearing what Yi Min and Xuan Hao said, Gong Cheng showed a shocked expression as he examined both of them and discovered that they had indeed managed to comprehend the Dao of Blacksmithing. Stepping into the Elementary Realm in the Dao of Blacksmithing. "Guess I wasn't the only one benefiting from my enlightenment earlier..."

"Indeed, so there is no need for senior to bow his head to the two of us, we already received a lot of benefits from listening to senior and experiencing his breakthrough to the Saint Realm." Nodding her head with a somewhat anxious expression on her face, Yi Min tried her best to stop Gong Cheng from bowing towards them.

Even if Xuan Hao was unaffected by it, she was still a little Soul Ascension Realm Expert and couldn't withstand the pressure of having such a powerful expert bow his head to her. "Hehe, seem like I made you a little nervous. My bad." Chuckling lightly as he saw Yi Min's reaction, Gong Cheng didn't continue bowing his head as he stood back up. Allowing the nervous Yi Min to calm down.

"Senior Gong Cheng, if I might take the opportunity to ask, what is the difference between the Grandmaster Realm and the Saint Realm? And I wonder if you managed to learn anything about the Pseudo Saint Realm after reaching the Saint Realm..." Jumping in at this moment, Xuan Hao decided to ask the question that had been on his mind ever since he realized that Gong Cheng had broken through to the Saint Realm.

Not only because he was curious about the Saint Realm and why Gong Cheng's strength had suddenly increased, but also because he wanted to know if he had any idea how reach the Pseudo saint Realm. After all, he only had a month left until the time for the emergency quest was up!

If he didn't manage to reach the Pseudo Saint Realm in this time, his cultivation base would end up sealed for the next five years!

At that point in time, not to mention dealing with the Earth Immortal Realm Expert from the Heavenly Dragon Temple, he might not even be able to make it back to the Star Shattering Sect...

"Oh? I just recently broke through to the Saint Realm and don't really have a good grasp about the realm. All I know is that after breaking through I managed to gain a new power that allows me to fight with someone at the Peak of the Earth Immortal Realm. More importantly, I feel that this power can grow beyond the Earth Immortal Realm if I continue to progress in Saint Realm. Other than that, I also feel that my lifespan increased significantly. At least by another ten thousand years.

As for the Pseudo Saint Realm... From what I can tell, it isn't as special as I thought it would be. To be honest, with my current strength, I can help the two of you reach the Pseudo Saint Realm in a less than a week."

""Really!?""

Hearing what Gong Cheng said, both Xuan Hao and Yi Min could not help exclaiming in surprise at the same time as they looked over at Gong Cheng filled with disbelief.

After all, the Pseudo Saint Realm was a secret that the major powers had done their best to hide, yet Gong Cheng had told them that he could help both of them reach the Pseudo Saint Realm in less than a week. How could they not be shocked when they heard this?

"Hehe, calm down. The Pseudo Saint Realm isn't that special, but at the same time, it is. In a sense, one can only reach the Pseudo Saint Realm with the help of a past Saint Realm Expert."

""?""

Hearing what Gong Cheng said, Xuan Hao and Yi Min just ended up becoming more confused than before...

wah~ First chapter of the month ^^