The process of condensing the Death Seal went extremely smoothly. With his enhanced physique and the added amplification from the FrostSkin JadeBone Codex, Liu Bai's body underwent a qualitative transformation.
After successively condensing the second and third Seals, when attempting to condense the fourth, Liu Bai once again experienced that terrifying backlash. Even with his Spiritual Wheel Realm spiritual energy, he was completely unable to withstand it. If not for the FrostSkin Jade Bone Codex's reinforcement, this backlash alone would have injured him.
"So right now, I can only condense up to three at most…"
Although Liu Bai was a little dissatisfied, this was already an astonishing achievement.
One must know that in the original story, Mentor Mo who also cultivated the Death Seal was only able to condense two Seals during the Divine Soul Realm. Even Mu Chen, who condensed the third Seal in the late Spiritual Wheel Realm, had to borrow the power of the Nine Nether Sparrow to do so.
Moreover, it had to be admitted that the spiritual energy produced by the Great Pagoda Art that Mu Chen cultivated was the most domineering of all early-stage cultivation methods. Without a doubt, the Death Seal was tailor-made for it. This was something Liu Bai had to acknowledge, even with his cheat-like advantage he still couldn't match that combination.
The next day, the camp became lively once more.
Many young men and women gathered together, enthusiastically discussing their plans for the day. Several were indignantly vowing that they would not go another day without results like yesterday.
Liu Bai silently observed everything without much concern.
In the coming days, he would continue hunting beasts with all his effort. If it were only for the first-place reward from this training event, then based on his current harvest, he could already sit back and secure it without worry.
But his goal was to kill monsters and gain experience, so the slaughter would not cease.
With that in mind, Liu Bai departed swiftly, vanishing alone into the forest.
Meanwhile, Zhang Jie and Shi Lin, who had been secretly watching him, couldn't help but curl their lips in disdain...
After seeing Liu Bai return spotless the previous day, they were convinced he hadn't fought any of those ferocious spiritual beasts at all. Most likely, he had hidden somewhere and cheated.
After all, he was the young lord of Liu Domain. Who could guarantee he didn't have strong experts from Liu Domain kill beasts for him and then secretly deliver them? Such a possibility couldn't be ruled out.
"Just wait, I'll expose you for the cheater you are!" Zhang Jie sneered in his heart, though the jealousy in his eyes betrayed his thoughts.
On the other side, Zhao Pei and Li Yuan also saw the scene. However, unlike Zhang Jie, they didn't harbor such animosity toward Liu Bai they simply didn't take him seriously.
"Zhao Pei, how was your squad's harvest yesterday?" Li Yuan asked with a faint smile. He considered Zhao Pei a rival.
"Heh, I'm actually curious about your results too…" Zhao Pei replied, not taking the bait, and countered with a grin.
Li Yuan didn't respond. He merely gave a cold snort before turning around and leading his team toward the deeper parts of the Northern Spiritual Fields.
Seeing this, Zhao Pei naturally departed as well.
After the initial period of adaptation, the elite teams of Northern Spiritual Academy were all about to go full force today…
Boom!
In the forest, Liu Bai's figure swept past as he struck backward with a palm. Two pitch-black death seals surged out from his palm, their violent power erupting. The force was so overwhelming that it directly shook a low-level spiritual beast in the middle phase of the Spiritual Movement Realm to death.
"As expected, the Death Seal's power truly scales with quantity. Even though I only used two just now, the might already surpassed that of the low-level spirit-Grade art Starshatter Fist."
Liu Bai silently evaluated it in his heart.
What was even more important was that these Death seals were already fully condensed and stored in his palm. He could activate them with just a thought, and their energy consumption was minimal. Compared to ordinary spiritual arts, they were not only faster to deploy but also less taxing an absolute advantage.
After collecting the beast's spiritual essence, Liu Bai didn't linger or rest. He immediately resumed his hunt.
He had no choice. At this point, the low-level spiritual beasts were all being instantly killed by him. They didn't even pose any real consumption. So now, Liu Bai had already begun heading deeper in.
Swish swish swish…
Liu Bai's figure darted like an illusion, weaving through the forest.
"I should be nearing the inner region of the Northern Spiritual Field. This should be where mid-level spiritual beasts roam…"
From here on, Liu Bai dared not proceed recklessly. His pace slowed, and his vigilance rose to the maximum.
Suddenly, just as he stepped onto a towering tree, a low beastly growl reached his ears.
That growl was filled with warning, as if an attack was about to strike at any moment.
Liu Bai froze. The hairs on his entire body stood on end. His instincts screamed that he had been locked on by a terrifying beast. Any movement now might trigger a deadly strike.
"To think I just got here and was already targeted... So much for all my caution and vigilance it's laughable in the face of true spiritual beasts…"
There was no helping it. Aside from the lessons his second uncle Liu Zong gave him in the Dark Abyss, this was only Liu Bai's second time venturing into the wild. It was inevitable that he would make mistakes.
Such slip-ups were forgivable in the outer region, where his strength vastly exceeded that of the low-level beasts. He could rely on brute strength to hide himself.
But now that he was in the mid-level beast zone, things were entirely different.
As Liu Bai was caught in a moment of distraction, a massive black figure suddenly lunged from the front. A huge claw, brimming with explosive force, smashed down toward him.
Boom!
Liu Bai tapped his foot lightly. Crimson spiritual energy erupted beneath him, and his figure shot backward like a blur, retreating dozens of meters in an instant.
Crash!
Though Liu Bai dodged, the giant tree beneath his feet wasn't as lucky. It was directly shattered into splinters by the rampaging beast's strike.
Amidst the shattered tree fragments, the beast's true form emerged a massive ape with four arms…
"A Four-Armed Spiritual Ape? Damn, it's this beast!"
Once matured, the Four-Armed Spiritual Ape could evolve into the high-level spiritual beast Six-Armed Spiritual Ape, ranked 125th on the Earth Ranking of the Myriad Beast Record—even higher than Liu Qingtian's Thunder Scale Beast.
As Liu Bai observed it, the Four-Armed Spiritual Ape charged again.
It stomped the ground with its foot, shaking the earth. Using that explosive force, its entire body shot up like a cannonball, rocketing into the air. In the blink of an eye, it appeared right in front of Liu Bai. Its claws clenched, violently compressing spiritual energy into a bladelike claw that slashed down toward Liu Bai.
"Perfect timing!"
Liu Bai's fighting spirit surged. He roared fiercely as spiritual energy gathered into his Qilin Arm, causing his fist to resemble a meteorite crashing down. He punched straight toward the incoming claw.
"Starshatter Fist!"
Although Starshatter Fist was still at the initial level, when driven by Liu Bai's current spiritual power, its strength had multiplied several times compared to when he'd fought the Blood Fiend Mercenaries' vice commander.
Boom!
The massive claw collided fiercely with Liu Bai's fist. With a thunderous bang, spiritual energy burst in every direction. Liu Bai felt a tremendous force slam into him, launching his body backward. As he flew through the forest, every tree he struck was snapped in half.
By the time he finally stopped, blood was already seeping from the corner of his mouth.
"As expected of a high-level spiritual beast bloodline. Even though it hasn't matured, its combat prowess far surpasses that of ordinary mid-level spiritual beasts."
If not for the fact that Liu Bai's spiritual energy and physical body had both improved significantly the previous day, this strike wouldn't have left him lightly injured—it would've killed him outright.
"Very good. Then let's see how you like this, you little beast!"
With a focused mind, one spiritual seal after another flew from Liu Bai's hands. As he dodged the attacks of the Four-Armed Spiritual Ape, he continuously infused the spiritual seals into the void.
If one looked closely, they would notice that although Liu Bai's movements were swift and evasive, his position remained within a fixed range.
Once all fifteen spiritual seals had vanished into the void, Liu Bai formed a hand seal with both hands to activate the Spiritual Array. In the next moment, crimson flame lines appeared in the void and quickly outlined a complex Spiritual Array. Immediately after, three massive flame serpents roared forth with savage fury.
Roar! Roar! Roar!
Roars filled with rage and agony erupted from the Four-Armed Spiritual Ape. The pain in its voice was unmistakable.
Clearly, even a beast as powerful as the Four-Armed Spiritual Ape could no longer endure the violent assault of the three flame serpents. Its once golden fur had been charred black, and even its flesh had been scorched.
However, as terrifying as the flame serpents were, they could not be sustained for long. Just as the Spiritual Array was about to dissipate, Liu Bai leapt high into the air and landed directly on the back of the Four-Armed Spirit Ape. His right hand clenched into a fist, and in his palm, three Death Seals manifested instantly.
"Die!"
Boom!
The three Death Seals violently slammed into the back of the Spiritual Ape's skull.
This location was a fatal weak point for its species. Normally, due to its four powerful arms, it was practically impossible to land a strike there.
However, having been scorched by the flame serpents, the Four-Armed Spiritual Ape was preoccupied with extinguishing the flames covering its body. Its fur had been burnt to the point of numbness, and it had lost all perception of the sneak attack. It had no time to react.
With that single strike, the terrifying power of the Death Seals completely shattered the massive ape's skull. In the same motion, Liu Bai reached in and extracted its Spiritual Beast Essence.
This was the Spiritual Beast Essence of a Four-Armed Spiritual Ape.
Even though this one was not yet fully mature, the Essence was still extremely valuable. Even a Divine Soul Realm expert would covet it.
After all, once the Essence was refined, the bloodline could still be cultivated and nurtured. The key was whether the bloodline itself was powerful enough.
As for why others who could not obtain powerful high-level Spiritual Beast Essences did not go after young ones of high-ranking species...
First, the Essences of immature beasts could not compare to those of fully matured ones in a short time. Second, locating these young beasts was far from easy.
Because wherever there was a powerful offspring, there were surely even more terrifying parents. Trying to hunt a cub inside the lair of one or even two high-level Spiritual Beasts was undoubtedly far more dangerous than hunting a single adult beast.
After retrieving the Spiritual Beast Essence of the Four-Armed Spirit Ape, Liu Bai did not hesitate in the slightest. He immediately turned around and fled into the distance.
If the parents caught him, he would be in serious trouble.
Finding a mountain stream, Liu Bai changed into a fresh set of clothes. He also gathered some black herb leaves, squeezed out their juice, and smeared it across his body.
These herbs could suppress his scent. This was something that had been taught back in Northern Spiritual Academy. Once he had withdrawn from the battlefield, details like this could not be overlooked.
"Looks like I can't go any deeper today. I'll just hunt some Low-level Spiritual Beasts around the outskirts."
Time passed swiftly. As night fell, Liu Bai hurriedly returned to camp, still spotless in appearance.
He had prepared a number of training robes in his spatial Mustard Seed Bracelet. They all looked nearly identical, so it was difficult for anyone to notice any differences.
However, what surprised Liu Bai was that both Instructor Mo and Instructor Xi also emerged from the depths of the Northern Spiritual Fields, and they looked rather disheveled.
Curious, Liu Bai couldn't help but ask, "Instructor Xi, what happened to you two?"
Upon hearing him, the two instructors noticed Liu Bai nearby.
Instructor Mo merely nodded before departing, while Instructor Xi walked over and sighed, saying, "Don't even mention it. Some bastard killed a Four-Armed Spiritual Ape and provoked the elder ape deep in the Northern Spiritual Fields. It went berserk and rampaged outward, causing devastation everywhere."
"If Instructor Mo and I hadn't joined forces to repel it, we would have had a serious situation on our hands today…"
That elder ape was the undisputed king of the Northern Spiritual Fields. Every expert in the entire Northern Spiritual Realm knew it resided deep within, but none dared provoke it because of its terrifying power.
To kill that elder ape would require at least three mid-stage Divine Soul Realm experts working together, and this was something none of the nine domains of the Northern Spiritual Realms could muster at present.
As for whether the Domain lords would be willing to cooperate leaving aside the fact that there was likely more than one high-level Spiritual Beast in the depths of the plains—just the idea of cooperation alone was unlikely.
Although alliances among the nine Domains did happen occasionally, the Six-Armed Spiritual Ape only existed in a single instance. In the end, who would get the Spirit Beast Essence?
This Essence would undoubtedly produce a powerful Divine Soul Realm expert and could completely alter the balance of power across the nine Domains.
Something like this who would yield? Who dared to yield?
Listening to Instructor Xi's words, Liu Bai felt a little awkward.
It seemed he was the one who had stirred up this whole mess…
Instructor Xi did not notice Liu Bai's expression. He simply sighed and said, "Alright, get ready. You likely won't be allowed to go out tomorrow. We need to wait and see whether the elder ape will calm down. Otherwise, this training session might be suspended altogether."
There was, of course, one more thing Instructor Xi did not mention aloud the appearance of the Six-Armed Spirit Ape would surely attract countless covetous eyes.
Normally, it hid deep in the plains, and no one dared provoke it for fear of encountering other high-level Spiritual Beasts. But now that the elder ape had appeared, it was sure to draw opportunists.
In fact, Instructor Xi was already considering whether to summon the Headmaster. If the three of them acted together, they might be able to seize the opportunity to take the elder ape down first.
...
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