"Don't think that just because you have a spiritual sword you can act so high and mighty. It's not like we don't have trump cards!"
Seeing the brocade-robed youth pressing forward step by step, the white-robed youth gritted his teeth and said coldly.
"Remember this name—I am Chu Yi from Lingkong Academy!"
Boom!
As soon as Chu Yi finished speaking, a terrifying surge of spiritual energy burst forth from his body. In the blink of an eye, his aura soared to the brink of the Divine Soul Realm.
"Spiritual Pulse!"
Many around them gasped in astonishment.
After all, everyone here was a rare prodigy among countless competitors. It wasn't unusual for some of them to possess spiritual Pulse. In fact, the closer one got to true experts, the more common spiritual Pulse became among them. It wasn't anything shocking.
Yet, the brocade-robed youth showed no change in expression. Instead, a trace of disdain curled on the corner of his lips.
"It's just a human Pulse. You dare to show off in front of me?"
Whoosh!
With a wave of the spiritual sword, a gale shot out from its blade like a storm of sword edges. The ground of the platform was immediately slashed open, leaving deep gashes in its path.
"What?!"
Chu Yi was startled by the scene, evidently having underestimated the power of a mid-grade spiritual sword.
He threw out a full-force punch, which only just barely managed to disperse the wind blades. Even so, his sleeve was shredded, and he quickly called out to the others, "You guys, what are you waiting for?!"
The other four heard him and didn't hesitate any longer. Since they now shared a common enemy, temporarily joining forces wasn't an issue.
"Heavenly Sword Break!"
"Mountain Suppression Seal!"
"Phantom Sword Slash!"
"Heavenly Thunder Break!"
The four unleashed their spiritual arts at the same time, and judging by their power, each one was at least a low-level spirit-grade offensive technique.
Liu Bai watched with interest. As expected from elite students of the top spiritual academies, while their temperaments might still need tempering, their combat strength was undeniably real.
"Hahaha, even if you join forces, so what? What do I, Zhou Ze, have to fear!"
With a loud laugh, Zhou Ze's aura surged violently, reaching the peak of the initial Phase of the Divine Soul Realm. With his lone strength, he directly suppressed the other four.
"Hm? This guy actually has an Earth Pulse. Looks like geniuses in this Great Thousand World really are as countless as the stars." Liu Bai couldn't help but comment.
Liu Bai had nearly gone mad with slaughter just to elevate his own spiritual Pulse to the Earth rank, and now this Zhou Ze stood here, born with it. It was hard not to feel a little bitter.
Boom!
Just as the combined attacks were about to land, Zhou Ze raised his sword in front of him. In the next instant, a violent storm erupted from his body, forming a massive swirling wind barrier that completely blocked the incoming assaults. The windstorm rapidly expanded, clearing out everything within several dozen meters.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Four crashing sounds rang out. Chu Yi and the others were blown back and slammed to the ground, vomiting blood with stunned expressions on their faces.
Everyone around them gasped, sucking in cold air. Four late-phase Spiritual Wheel Realm experts hadn't even been able to touch him before being utterly defeated. Was the gap really this massive?
Zhou Ze walked forward, raised a hand, and the markings between Chu Yi and the others' brows rapidly dimmed. Beams of light shot out and entered the crimson imprint on Zhou Ze's forehead.
After robbing so many Grade-three imprints, the mark on Zhou Ze's forehead had deepened to a rich crimson, surrounded by a faint silver glow. It looked as though it was just about to evolve into silver.
"It still hasn't reached Grade four? So close…" As he thought this, Zhou Ze's gaze locked onto Liu Bai.
"You. Hand over your imprint and spare yourself the pain."
Although Liu Bai's cultivation was slightly higher, it wasn't enough to make up for the gap between them. Whether it was Zhou Ze's spiritual Pulse or the spiritual sword in his hand, both gave him the power to challenge higher realms.
"Heh, I'm actually quite curious what kind of pain you think you can inflict on me," Liu Bai said with a calm smile.
Zhou Ze's expression darkened. "Are you provoking me?"
"Nine Spirit Sword Art!"
Without another word, Zhou Ze shouted and unleashed his spiritual energy. In front of him, nine spiritual swords condensed out of pure energy.
These spiritual swords were formed with his spiritual sword as the foundation. Each blade radiated sharp green wind edges. In the blink of an eye, they flew out in a fan-shaped formation, surrounding Liu Bai with a slicing aura sharp enough to tear through the air itself.
Liu Bai was visibly impressed. Zhou Ze was indeed extraordinary. Had he entered the Spiritual Road, even if he hadn't been crowned King, he would definitely have been among its elites.
"Looks like even outside of the Spiritual Road, the geniuses gathered by the Five Great Academies are nothing to scoff at."
The Spiritual Road's candidate selection was determined by the Judgment Mirror. Even with Liu Bai's knowledge of the original work, he still didn't know what exactly the Judgment Mirror was or how it evaluated talents. But there was no way a single mirror could truly sift through all the prodigies of the Great Thousand World.
Moreover, not every selected candidate necessarily accepted the offer to enter the Spiritual Road. After all, at the end of the day, the Five Great Academies were still just academies and couldn't compare with truly powerful forces.
Of course, now was not the time to be impressed by others. Facing the nine incoming spiritual swords, Liu Bai activated his spiritual energy. In an instant, a massive brownish-yellow mountain rose up, completely shielding him.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The spiritual swords struck the mountain with crisp metallic clangs.
What left everyone stunned was that despite Zhou Ze's terrifying offensive, the mountain didn't budge in the slightest. Such terrifying spiritual power left everyone dumbfounded.
Zhou Ze's face darkened. He hadn't expected Liu Bai's defenses to be so strong. It far exceeded his expectations.
"You've attacked. Now it's my turn, isn't it?" Liu Bai said with a soft smile.
Zhou Ze was shocked. If that guy's defense was already this ridiculous, then what about his offense? He absolutely couldn't afford to wait and get hit.
After all, this wasn't a turn-based game. The first thing Zhou Ze thought of was to strike first.
At once, the spiritual sword in his hand flared with powerful winds and unleashed a massive wind blade dozens of meters long, aimed straight at Liu Bai.
Whoosh!
The wind blade slashed through Liu Bai's body like it was cutting him clean in half.
But before Zhou Ze could celebrate, Liu Bai's figure began to fade, then disappeared completely.
It had just been an illusion!
"Not good!"
Zhou Ze immediately realized something was wrong. But before he could react, Liu Bai had already appeared behind him and thrown a punch toward his chest.
A surge of energy roared forth. Three dark light seals surfaced on Liu Bai's fist. As the punch landed, a violent force swept out.
Even a genuine Divine Soul Realm expert would likely be seriously injured if hit head-on by this blow.
At the critical moment, Zhou Ze finally raised the spiritual sword in his hand, placing its blade in front of his chest to block.
As the black death seal collided with the gale generated by the spiritual sword, a terrifying shockwave erupted. Both of them were forced backward by the sheer impact.
Zhou Ze could no longer hold onto his spiritual sword. It was knocked from his hand as the remaining force of the punch smashed directly into his chest.
Splurt!
Zhou Ze spat out a mouthful of blood, his aura rapidly weakening. His spiritual sword stabbed into the ground beside him, its sharp blade plunging a full three feet deep into the stone platform.
The entire guiding platform fell into dead silence at the sight.
The four individuals whose imprints had been taken by Zhou Ze earlier felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction upon witnessing the scene.
Serves you right for scheming against us, you bastard. And in the end, you just made it easier for someone else to reap the reward!
Liu Bai did not mock Zhou Ze as the victor. He simply raised his hand calmly, and the crimson imprint on Zhou Ze's forehead turned into a stream of spiritual energy, flying out and merging with the mark on Liu Bai's own forehead.
Soon, Liu Bai's red grade-three imprint began to transform rapidly, eventually turning into a brilliant silver hue, officially reaching the grade-four level.
With his objective achieved, Liu Bai did not linger. Without looking back, he left immediately.
While a grade-four imprint was enough to meet the entry requirements for the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, Liu Bai had no intention of stopping here. After all, there were many valuable treasures in the Northern Heaven Realm, and a large number of competitors had entered. He could even trade his imprints for urgently needed items. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
This was far more profitable than grinding for spiritual value within the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy.
In the time that followed, Liu Bai began swiftly traversing the ancient forest.
Compared to the Northern Spiritual Realm's Northern Spiritual Field and the Dark Abyss, the Northern Heaven Realm contained far more treasures. Even with casual exploration, Liu Bai had already discovered several spiritual materials. When acquired, these spiritual items automatically had a strand of spiritual energy absorbed by the imprint, which would then be stored within it. This meant not only obtaining rare treasures but also upgrading the imprint in the process. It was a true two-birds-with-one-stone situation.
Of course, wherever there were spiritual items, guardians would be present.
When obtaining these materials, Liu Bai inevitably had to battle the spiritual beasts that guarded them.
Just like now.
Standing before Liu Bai was a four-to-five-meter-tall beast. Its body was pitch black like iron, and a sharp horn grew from its head. This was the Ironhide Violent Rhinoceros, one of the most powerful Mid-level spiritual beasts. Its formidable defense was troublesome even for Divine Soul Realm experts.
Moreover, it possessed a violent temperament. It particularly loved to skewer intruders with the one-meter-long spiral horn on its head. Now that it had been disturbed by Liu Bai, it had entered a berserk state.
Moo!
With a furious roar, the Ironhide Violent Rhinoceros charged forward like a tank. Any tree or boulder in its path was instantly reduced to rubble by its armored body.
Liu Bai dodged the deadly charge with a flash of movement.
In their earlier clash, he had already experienced the terrifying impact and absurd defense of the Ironhide Violent Rhinoceros. Even when he used his threefold Death Seals on it, the beast had only staggered back a few steps, showing no signs of injury at all. Liu Bai had been shocked.
"Shattering Star Fist, Shatter!"
Next, Liu Bai unleashed the Shattering Star Fist he had cultivated to the perfect stage and through which he had comprehended its true essence.
Like a falling meteor, Liu Bai's fist, brimming with force that tore through the air, smashed down on the beast's heavy back.
The enormous force made the Ironhide Violent Rhinoceros stumble sideways, nearly collapsing.
At the same time, a strange energy seeped from Liu Bai's fist into the rhino's tough hide. A terrifying force erupted from within, causing deep, bone-revealing cracks to appear across its broad back. Blood gushed out like a river.
The Ironhide Violent Rhinoceros let out a shrill wail. After being struck several more times, its legs finally gave out and it collapsed heavily to the ground.
Looking at the beast, which was now barely breathing, Liu Bai couldn't help but think that if he had a spiritual artifact—no need for a mid-grade one, even a low-grade spiritual artifact would do he could've finished off such a tough beast in one blow.
There would've been no need to waste so much time here.
Ding! Congratulations, player, on slaying a peak Mid-level spiritual beast. You've gained 500 experience points and 3 Soul Beast Points.
After checking his attribute panel, Liu Bai saw that his experience points were nearing forty thousand, and he now had 80 Soul Beast Points. If he wished, he could initiate a major upgrade at any time, whether it be spiritual power cultivation, body-tempering techniques, or even array formation proficiency. All of them could receive a qualitative boost.
It was just that he hadn't encountered any real threats yet, so he kept his strength at this balanced state for now. That way, at a critical moment, he could unleash a sudden, overwhelming transformation. Whether the enemy was human or beast, it would give them a true surprise.
This wasn't playing the fool to trick others. It was simply maximizing the benefits of his abilities through smart use.
He raised his hand and collected the spiritual essence of the Ironhide Violent Rhinoceros. A faint wisp of spiritual energy was absorbed by the imprint on Liu Bai's forehead, deepening its silvery luster once again.
At this rate, Liu Bai believed that he could soon elevate his imprint to grade five. At that point, he would be close to claiming one of the core entry slots.
Just as Liu Bai was about to confirm his direction and continue moving, a terrifying tremor suddenly came from the distance. A deafening beastly roar echoed from the skies.
At the same time, fifty kilometers from Liu Bai's current location, atop a mountain
A massive black bear collapsed with a thunderous crash. Scorching hot blood surged out, dyeing the earth crimson.
This giant bear was entirely black but bore a circle of purple markings around its neck, resembling a collar.
From its neck, the purple pattern extended downward and formed a crescent moon on its chest. This was the defining trait of a high-level spiritual beast: the Purple-Marked Black Bear.
Atop the enormous corpse of the Purple-Marked Black Bear stood a girl clad in black training attire. Her figure was curvaceous and striking.
Her foot was planted squarely on the fallen beast.
....
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