Liu Bai swiftly traversed through the forest and soon arrived at the location where the battle had just occurred.
"A high-level Spiritual Beast, the Purple-Marked Black Bear, a creature comparable to the middle phase of the Divine Soul Realm. Judging by the clean strike to its vital point, it was slain in a single blow. The one who did this must be an expert."
Staring at the corpse on the ground, Liu Bai speculated with a serious expression.
"Divine Soul Realm... could it be one of those monsters who came out of the Path of Spiritual Road?"
This was nothing more than Liu Bai muttering to himself in a low voice, but just as he finished speaking, a chill suddenly crept up behind him. Without even turning around, he instinctively lunged forward, spinning three full rotations mid-air, landing over ten meters away.
With lingering fear, he looked back to where he had stood just moments before, only to find cracks spiderwebbing across the ground. Atop those cracks was a long, shapely leg wrapped in a tight black training uniform.
Following the leg upward, what entered his view was an icy, stunningly beautiful face. Her crystalline eyes glared at him with a fury that made her chill all the more intense.
"What a beautiful girl."
This was the first thought that flashed through Liu Bai's mind.
But after seeing the power of her kick, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly again, "What a violent girl."
Raising an eyebrow, Liu Bai was the first to speak.
"Miss, I wonder what I have done to offend you to the point of prompting a sneak attack from behind?"
In a situation like this, whoever speaks first gains the moral ground. It doesn't matter what the reason is. Labeling it as a sneak attack from behind was enough to justify anything that followed.
"Hmph, a petty man who speaks rudely behind someone's back. You think you're even worthy of being ambushed by me? That kick was just a warning. Otherwise, it would have taken half your life."
The girl in black not only had a cold face but also a frosty voice. She looked at Liu Bai with undisguised disdain, as if she were looking at a disgusting fly.
Liu Bai was left speechless. Could it be that she was the one who killed the Purple-Marked Black Bear? And did she overhear what he had just said?
"My apologies. I meant no offense. I was merely admiring the strength of someone capable of passing through the Path of Spiritual Road. May I ask for your name? Were you also part of the Spiritual Road selection?"
Although this girl appeared cold and distant, she didn't seem to be unreasonable. Seeing Liu Bai offer a sincere apology, the hostility she had shown earlier gradually faded.
"Why do you ask?"
Liu Bai smiled gently and replied, "Please don't misunderstand. I'm simply curious. I wonder how many Kings were born from the Path of Spiritual Road this time and how many chose to enter the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy."
This girl had likely emerged from the Path of Spiritual Road, but probably hadn't reached the level of King status. Otherwise, her cultivation wouldn't merely be at the middle phase of the Divine Soul Realm.
Frowning slightly, the girl was somewhat surprised by Liu Bai's refined demeanor. Unlike other men who looked at her with undisguised desire, his calm and courteous manner gave her a better impression of him.
After hesitating briefly, she introduced herself.
"My name is Li Qing. I passed through the Path of Spiritual Road, but I did not receive the King qualification. There were many who did achieve that in the Path this time. I don't know exactly how many were awarded the King title, but as far as I know, there should be no fewer than four Kings in the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy. As for whether they are currently within the Northern Heavens Realm, I can't say."
"Li Qing?" Liu Bai was slightly surprised as he looked at this seemingly indifferent girl.
If he remembered correctly, she had appeared in the original story as well, even working on a mission together with Mu Chen. At that time, she had been a notable figure on the Heavenly Ranking.
That would explain it. Anyone capable of passing through the Path of Spiritual Road must possess extraordinary talent and strength. It would be perfectly reasonable for her to claim a place on the Heavenly Ranking three years later.
"Thank you for telling me, Miss Li Qing. I hope we meet again someday."
With that, Liu Bai cupped his fists in farewell and turned to leave.
Li Qing stood there in a slight daze. She hadn't expected him to leave so decisively, without the slightest hesitation. Was she really that lacking in charm?
However, she quickly regained her composure, forcefully pushing that odd thought from her mind. She glanced once more in the direction where Liu Bai had disappeared, then departed swiftly from the mountain herself.
Night fell over the Northern Heavens Realm like a thick ink wash, with only a few scattered stars glimmering faintly in the sky, adding to the desolation.
Within the ancient forest, various roars echoed through the darkness, filled with anger. Clearly, they came from Spiritual Beasts that had been disturbed.
As the original inhabitants of the Northern Heavens Realm, these Spiritual Beasts were not at all welcoming of the sudden intrusion of outsiders. Thus, battles erupted constantly across the land, even throughout the night.
Deep within the forest, a campfire crackled softly. Liu Bai sat cross-legged beneath a large tree, the orange glow of the flames casting shadows across his face and cloaking the surroundings in a layer of mystery.
This was the first night he had spent in the Northern Heavens Realms.
Throughout the day, aside from slaying a few high-level Spiritual Beasts and seizing the Imprints from Zhou Ze and his group, Liu Bai's greatest gain was meeting Li Qing and learning some news regarding the Path of Spiritual Road.
Unfortunately, he didn't know how many of his fellow new students were characters who had appeared in the original work.
Those peerless geniuses from the Heavenly Ranking, such as Shen Cangsheng, Li Xuantong, Su Xuan, and the Celestial Demoness, should all be among the same intake of students into the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy.
That meant he would be competing against them in the days to come.
Looking at his attribute panel, Liu Bai did not intend to increase his cultivation just yet. However, he could enhance himself in other areas, such as formations. This way, others would not notice anything unusual, and it would not affect his ability to launch surprise attacks.
Upgrading the Wolf Spirit Slaying Array and Nine Heavens Thunder Spiritual Array to the Greater Mastery stage only required 300 experience points each. Including what he had already gained through cultivation, it would not cost him much at all.
However, the Five-Wheel Heaven-Shattering Array, as a Rank-2 Spiritual Array, required a significantly higher cost of 1500 experience points, five times more than the others. This demonstrated the large gap between different Ranks of Spiritual Arrays.
Spending nearly 2000 experience points to upgrade all three arrays to their maximum level, Liu Bai still had over 37,000 experience points remaining.
He chose not to enhance his Spiritual Array Mastery Level for now because he was already qualified to be a Rank-3 Spiritual Array Master if not for the lack of array diagrams. Therefore, his current proficiency was already on par with his strength. What he lacked were the array diagrams.
After a brief hesitation, Liu Bai decided to upgrade his only Deity Technique, Frost Skin Jade Bone Technique, to the Greater Mastery level.
After consuming 6000 experience points, Liu Bai suddenly felt a violent tremor within his body.
Inside his Spiritual Sea, which resembled an endless starry sky, a massive spiritual wheel spun rapidly. Two visible streams of spiritual energy extended from the void, merging into the enormous wheel.
Buzz.
Liu Bai could feel his very flesh and blood resonate with a deep hum. As his heart began to beat violently, a white, jade-like glow burst forth from his chest, surging throughout his body. A faint halo of light covered all his internal organs.
This sight caused Liu Bai a moment of astonishment. Upon probing with his spiritual perception, his face broke into a wide smile.
The halo covering his internal organs was slowly nourishing and improving them, strengthening them from the deepest layer of blood and flesh cells, bit by bit.
A surge of vast vitality radiated from within his internal organs, making even his breathing feel much lighter.
Under the augmentation of this spiritual radiance, even if he were to suffer severe internal injuries, he could recover rapidly. With the powerful self-regeneration ability brought by this surge of vitality, Liu Bai was certain that his physical body had once again ascended to a higher level.
The most immediate change brought by this improvement in physique was that Liu Bai's resistance to impact had become even greater. At this point, he could already withstand the pressure of condensing the fourth Death Seals.
There was also another gain. Liu Bai noticed that his awakening Spiritual Pulse points had increased by fifty. Although it was just a drop in the ocean compared to the one thousand required to ascend to the Four Earth Pulse stage, it was still equivalent to the worth of fifty human lives. Liu Bai was quite pleased.
Afterward, something unexpected happened the Blazing Sun Art, which had not progressed for some time, also advanced by one level due to this opportunity. However, at the seventh layer, the Blazing Sun Art could only elevate Liu Bai to the later phase of the Spiritual Wheel Realm. Compared to his current peak-stage Spiritual Wheel Realm cultivation, it wasn't enough to directly allow a breakthrough. It only slightly strengthened the Fire Attribute Spiritual Wheel in his Heart aperture. The improvement was not drastic.
------
Player: Liu Bai
Cultivation Level: Spiritual Wheel Realm – Peak
Profession: Spiritual Array Master (Second Rank)
Spiritual Pulse:Grade Three Earth Pulse (50/1000)
Constitution: Spirit Skin Jade Bone
Cultivation Techniques:
Blazing Sun Art (Seventh Layer – 150/4500)
Hundred Scrolls of Array Dao · Volume 1(Initial ·Heart Array Low-Tier – 0/1200)
Low-grade Body Refining Deity Art · Ice Skin Jade Bone Art ( Greater Mastery – 150/30000)
Mountain God Art (Third Layer – 200/9000)
Skills:
Spirit-grade Low-level Star Shattering Fist · Shatter (Perfect)
Spirit-grade Low-level Blaze Step · Flame Phantom Body (Perfect)
Spirit-grade High-level Great Sun Burning Sea Palm (Minor Mastery – 0/1200)
Spirit-grade High-level Mountain-shaking Divine Fist (Minor Mastery– 0/1200)
Spiritual Arrays:
Wolf Spirit Slaying Array (Greater Mastery)
Nine Heavens Thunder Spiritual Array (Greater Mastery)
Five-Wheel Heaven-Splitting Array (Greater Mastery)
Experience Points: 31330
Beast Soul Points: 80
------
Hmm, not bad.
Liu Bai nodded in satisfaction. As long as he could obtain information about a Heavenly Beast, he could choose to break through to the Divine Soul Realm at any time and it would be an instant level-up at that!
Letting out a slow breath, Liu Bai was about to begin his daily cultivation again when suddenly, a series of furious roars from Spiritual Beasts began drawing closer...
This made Liu Bai frown slightly. It seemed that finding a peaceful night to cultivate was out of the question.
Who could be so restless even during the night?
With a flash of his figure, Liu Bai leapt to the top of a giant tree dozens of zhang tall. Standing atop a branch and gazing into the distance, he saw three figures standing in midair several kilometers away. Vast fluctuations of spiritual energy were emanating from their bodies all of them had clearly reached the Divine Soul Realm.
"Three Divine Soul Realm experts pursuing someone… just who is that person down there?"
Liu Bai was a little surprised. What kind of unforgivable crime had that person committed to be hunted by three Divine Soul Realm experts?
On the ground, massive trees were falling one after another from the battle, and from the continuous pained roars of Spiritual Beasts, one could judge that the person below was by no means weak. Even while being besieged by a horde of beasts, they were still able to slay them without pause.
"Three Divine Soul Realm experts joining forces, even drawing in Spiritual Beasts to swarm the opponent… That's ruthlessly decisive. They're trying to completely eliminate them."
Liu Bai's eyes narrowed slightly, and he began to speculate silently.
Such methods were quite familiar Mu Chen in the original story often used tactics like this, especially during the Spiritual Road, where he stirred up a bloodbath and caused the fall of many prideful geniuses.
After some thought, Liu Bai decided to quietly approach under the cover of night.
For those three to use such ruthless tactics, it was most likely a struggle for benefits. And if there was profit to be had, why shouldn't he go take a look?
Meanwhile, on the battlefield a thousand meters away...
A cold and beautiful young woman in a red dress was being surrounded by a group of golden lion beasts. More than a dozen golden lions lay dead on the ground, but the remaining one a towering, golden-maned lion was a true late-stage high-level Spiritual Beast, equivalent to a human cultivator at the later phase of the Divine Soul Realm. Facing such a terrifying beast, the girl was already showing signs of strain.
Roar!
The golden lion suddenly opened its enormous jaws, releasing a deafening lion's roar. The golden mane around its neck surged like flames. In the next instant, a brilliant golden sonic pillar erupted with a thunderous boom, extending for several dozen li before slowly dissipating.
Pff!
The girl in the red dress, hit directly by the sonic pillar, violently spat out a mouthful of blood. Her originally elegant dress was now tattered, exposing large patches of snow-white skin beneath.
"Tsk tsk, she took the Lion King's Roar from the Golden Flame Lion King head-on. Even if she doesn't die, she's got no strength left to fight."
One of the three figures in the sky, a black-robed youth, clicked his tongue.
But judging by his expression, he had no intention of helping. Whether the girl lived or died didn't matter in the slightest to him.
Yet before he finished speaking, that seriously wounded girl in red suddenly charged straight toward the lion. Her pale jade-like hands pushed forward, and spiritual energy surged, condensing into a glowing spiritual spear within her palm, its power immense.
"Spirit-Piercing Spear!"
A cold and clear shout rang from the girl's lips. With a flick of her slender arm, the spiritual spear erupted with radiant light, tearing through the air like a dazzling ribbon and piercing directly into the Golden Flame Lion King's exposed heart.
It turned out that everything she had done earlier had been an act. By enduring the lion's devastating attack, she had created an opening for a fatal counterattack.
This scene left Liu Bai, who had just approached, utterly stunned.
He had to admit this woman was absolutely ruthless.
.....
For Advance Chapters
pateron.com/Translaterappu
Bonus Chapter @
300 power stones =1
500 power stones =2
1 Review = 1 Chapter