Gazing at the grayish-white light orb before him, Liu Bai could clearly see a massively reduced version of the Earthstone Spirit Python coiling and roaring within it. Its savagery and ferocity made Liu Bai involuntarily furrow his brows.
"The most dangerous part of fusing a spiritual beast's spiritual essence lies in the residual beast consciousness. If that consciousness cannot be suppressed, it could lead to the cultivator being taken over and becoming a mere puppet under its control..."
The higher the rank of the spiritual beast, the greater this danger. Even in the original novel, Ji Xuan was nearly possessed by the Primordial Sky-Dragon Eagle lodged itself within his Spiritual Space.
Of course, this Earthstone Spirit Python was merely ranked seventy-fourth on the Earth Ranking. Even in its mature stage, it only barely reached the early Heavenly Fusion Realm, with fairly average strength. So in fact, the difficulty of fusion was even less than that of the Northern Golden Stripe SeaEagle.
Liu Bai cradled the light orb in his palms and placed it near his Qi Sea in the Dantian. His Spiritual Wheel began to rotate rapidly, and the light orb started to gradually merge into his body under the guidance of his spiritual energy.
Once the spiritual essence of the Earthstone Spirit Python entered the Qi Sea Space, it was as though a floodgate had opened. The spiritual energy within the remnant surged like a tide toward Liu Bai's Divine/Spirit Soul.
Seeing his Divine Soul instantly engulfed by thick grayish-white light, Liu Bai couldn't help but feel shocked. A rich spiritual glow burst from within his Divine Soul at once, blocking a small serpent hidden within the gray light that had attempted a sneak attack.
Hiss hiss hiss!
After being repelled, the gray-white little snake bared its fangs and claws, emitting a string of angry hisses from its mouth.
Liu Bai curled his lips slightly. His small Divine Soul raised both hands and quickly formed hand seals. In the next moment, a surge of powerful Earth-attributed spiritual energy permeated the void and condensed into a great mountain that directly suppressed the gray-white little snake beneath it.
Only after doing all this did Liu Bai let out a small sigh of relief.
At the same time, he felt the spiritual energy within his Qi Sea rapidly expanding to the point of almost overflowing.
After all, this was the complete spiritual energy from a Heaven Beast's spiritual essence—naturally vast and overwhelming. Liu Bai immediately urged his large Spiritual Wheel within the Qi Sea to rotate at full speed, madly absorbing and refining all the spiritual energy.
Throughout this process, Liu Bai had to divide his attention and use his Spirit Soul to guide his soul force deep into the consciousness sea of the snake pinned beneath the divine mountain, intending to completely erase the Earthstone Spirit Python's remaining will.
This process wasn't instant, yet Liu Bai noticed something unusual while obliterating the beast's consciousness—his own soul force was stronger than that of the Earthstone Spirit Python. Didn't that mean that although his current cultivation realm was still within the Divine Soul Realm, his soul force had already reached the level of the Heavenly Fusion Realm?
This was the first time Liu Bai had made such a discovery.
But it wasn't surprising. After all, he had never studied soul force before. This power only began to be lightly applied by cultivators after forming a Spirit/Divine Soul. Unless under special circumstances, most cultivators wouldn't even make use of soul force until they reached the Three Heavens Stage.
If one never uses it, one naturally wouldn't know how their strength compares with others. Liu Bai had always thought he was just like everyone else. Now it seemed he had unknowingly possessed a hidden treasure all along.
With such a powerful soul force, wiping out the Earthstone Spirit Python's residual will became a much simpler task. In just over two hours, the entire spiritual beast essence had become incomparably pure.
Staring at the grayish-white serpent floating in front of him, Liu Bai's Spirit Soul used its translucent fingers to toy with it for a moment. Then, after a brief thought, his consciousness moved, and he arrived in the Earth-attributed Spiritual Energy Space of his Spleen Aperture.
As soon as he arrived, he noticed the previously quiet grayish-white serpent had suddenly become extremely excited. It flicked its tail and shot straight toward the divine mountain ahead.
Liu Bai did not stop it and merely watched in silence.
Very quickly, the serpent arrived atop the divine mountain. With a furious roar, it manifested the massive form of the Earthstone Spirit Python, several tens of meters long. Its thick body coiled around the mountain peak, raising its head high and opening its mouth wide as it began to inhale and exhale the Earth-attributed spiritual energy lingering above the mountain.
As it breathed in and out, the originally yellowish-brown Earth spiritual energy quickly turned into a grayish-white hue. This new color resembled that of rock and stone, granting Liu Bai's Earth spiritual energy a sharp and unyielding nature, as if nothing could stand in its way.
"Excellent. With the enhancement from the Earthstone Spirit Python's spiritual essence, my Earth spiritual energy not only boasts unmatched defense, but now also possesses an indestructible, penetrating sharpness."
Liu Bai nodded in great satisfaction.
This was precisely why cultivators in the Divine Soul Realm could only unleash their full strength after fusing with a spiritual beast's spiritual essence. The purification and enhancement of their elemental spiritual energy was crucial.
After an entire day, Liu Bai finally gained complete control over the Earthstone Spirit Python's spiritual essence. The spiritual energy within his Qi Sea had also been fully refined. His cultivation naturally broke through to the late phase of the Divine Soul Realm.
This result was within Liu Bai's expectations. However, what surprised him was that aside from the change in his cultivation, none of his other status indicators had changed.
Most notably, the Mountain God Art had not increased in experience at all despite his breakthrough.
Liu Bai had already anticipated that the Mountain God Art might not advance to the fifth layer immediately. After all, based on the skill's grade, reaching the fifth layer would likely require his cultivation to jump from the mid-stage directly to the peak of the Divine Soul Realm.
But the fact that there wasn't even a single experience point increase was something he hadn't expected.
The Mountain God Art required 18,000 experience points to go from the fourth to the fifth layer. Now that his cultivation had risen to the late-phase of Divine Soul Realm, he should have gained at least eight to nine thousand experience points, right?
Yet in reality, it hadn't increased by even a single point. The counter still showed zero!
After thinking it through for a moment, Liu Bai realized a possible explanation.
The advancement of the Mountain God Art affected the Earth-attributed Spiritual Wheel in his Spleen Aperture. But the spiritual energy he had just absorbed through fusing the beast had entered his primary Spiritual Wheel in the Qi Sea. Although both wheels were interconnected, the main wheel which fused both Earth and Fire attributes could not enhance the five elemental Spiritual Wheels in reverse. Hence, this situation had occurred.
This also explained why, despite cultivating two techniques and gaining two special Spiritual Wheels, Liu Bai's cultivation had only become deeper and thicker rather than overpowered.
In other words, it was the quality of the cultivation techniques that determined the growth of his realm, not the number of techniques he had.
Just like now his cultivation advanced because of the Mountain God Art. Even though his Blazing Sun Art had stagnated, it didn't hinder his overall improvement, though it did limit the growth of his Fire spiritual energy.
"Late-phase Divine Soul Realm. That should be enough to secure a solid ranking in the Northern Heaven Realm's assessment. I don't need to push my cultivation any further for now," Liu Bai thought to himself.
Before entering the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy, maintaining his current cultivation level was the wisest decision.
Firstly, this would allow him to gain the full experience value from killing high-level spiritual beasts. And slaying Heavenly Beasts would even grant him double the experience bonus. Once he entered the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy, he could take advantage of his thick spiritual energy reserves to charge for a spot on the Spiritual Ranking. At that point, he could reap the rewards and gain more spiritual value to exchange for urgently needed techniques.
Yes, a perfect plan.
Since he couldn't raise his realm for now, he would continue to accumulate spiritual energy instead. That too would boost his combat strength.
Thinking this, Liu Bai didn't hesitate and immediately began upgrading the Blazing Sun Art.
The eighth layer required 4,350 experience points. The ninth layer required 9,000 experience points.
But even the ninth layer of the Blazing Sun Art was only equivalent to the early-phase Divine Soul Realm. This alone showed how poor the cost-performance ratio of low-grade techniques was.
After pondering for a moment, Liu Bai also upgraded both of his High-level Spirit- Grade offensive arts to the Mastery Stage. With this, even when facing a Heavenly Beast, he would no longer have to rely solely on spiritual arrays to inflict damage.
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Player: Liu Bai
Cultivation: Late-phase Divine Soul Realm
Profession: Spiritual Array Master (Rank-3)
Spiritual Pulse:Grade Three Earth Pulse (50/1000)
Physique: Spirit-Skin Jade-Bone
Cultivation Techniques:
Blazing Sun Art (Ninth Layer – 0/13500)
Hundred Scrolls of Array Dao · Volume 1(Minor Mastery ·Heart Array Mid-Tier 0/3000)
Low-grade Body Refining Deity Art · Frost Skin Jade Bone Art ( Greater Mastery – 1000/30000)
Mountain God Art (Fourth Layer – 0/18000)
Skills:
High-level Spirit-Grade: Great Sun Sea-Burning Palm (Greater Mastery, 0/6000)
High-level Spirit-Grade: Mountain-Shaking Divine Fist (Greater Mastery, 0/6000)
Arrays: ...
Experience Points: 3830
Beast Soul Points: 92
-------
Liu Bai stretched lazily, then looked at the massive serpent corpse still lying inside the underground cavern. Without hesitation, he stored it into his mustard seed bracelet.
Even though the spiritual essence of the spiritual beast had been extracted, the corpse of a Heavenly Beast was still a priceless treasure.
Especially a beast like the Earthstone Spirit Python. Whether it was its scales, the horn on its head, or even its sinews, all were excellent materials for crafting spiritual artifacts. With his system, if he were to learn the art of artifact forging someday, there was no doubt he could instantly become a Spiritual Artifact Forger.
When he stepped out of the cave, he just so happened to see An Ran sitting on a rock, meditating.
At that moment, sunlight spilled across the mountains, casting its warm glow upon the girl. Reflected through the frost mist around her, the light refracted into radiant colors, making her appear ethereal and dreamlike—like an immortal maiden descending into the mortal world.
"You've come out of seclusion?" Feeling the gaze upon her, An Ran quickly opened her eyes and saw the boy staring at her. Her heart skipped slightly as a faint shyness surfaced.
Liu Bai smiled and nodded without saying much. He retracted his gaze calmly and casually said, "Things here are more or less finished. I'll be heading back to the camp now. Tomorrow is the day I agreed to meet Li Qing What are your plans, An Ran?"
It was Liu Bai who made the deal with Li Qing, so there was no need for An Ran to get involved. Moreover, now that she had obtained a grade-seven imprint, there was no reason for her to continue risking herself by hunting Heavenly Beasts.
However, upon hearing Liu Bai's question, the girl clearly hesitated.
After all, the two of them had helped each other multiple times and could be considered friends by now. Wouldn't it seem heartless to leave just like that?
Liu Bai noticed her internal struggle and smiled. "Alright, no need to feel conflicted. For you right now, a grade-seven imprint is already more than enough. The rest of your time would be better spent on cultivation. Besides, you just fused with the spirit remnant of the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk and still haven't fully mastered it. That's something you need to prioritize and can't afford to delay."
After all, An Ran wasn't one of those monstrous geniuses who emerged from the Spiritual Road. A grade-seven imprint was already the limit of her capabilities. That much was evident from the original story, where even after three years she had only reached the eearly-phase of Heavenly Fusion Realm. Her talent, when placed before a Heavenly Ranking elite like Li Qing, was merely average. There was no need to push beyond her limits.
Through their time spent together, An Ran had gained some understanding of Liu Bai's character. So she didn't feel that he was belittling her, but rather being honest.
And in the previous battle, she had indeed sensed a certain unfamiliarity between herself and the spiritual essence of the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk. This lack of synchronization was a major flaw that prevented her from unleashing her full power, and it truly needed to be addressed.
"Alright, I'll listen to you. I'll stay at the camp to focus on cultivation. If you need any help, you can come find me anytime," An Ran said seriously.
"No problem!"
Liu Bai snapped his fingers, leaving behind a bright smile.
Half a day later, Liu Bai and An Ran once again arrived at the camp nestled within the surrounding mountains. After exchanging farewells in the bustling crowd, Liu Bai headed toward the trading area to see if he could find any worthwhile treasures. An Ran, on the other hand, went elsewhere to look for a quiet place to pitch her tent.
After making a full round, Liu Bai didn't come across anything particularly valuable, but he did hear quite a few pieces of information.
The two that interested him most were as follows:
The first had something to do with him—Zhou Fan. After the spiritual essence of the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk was snatched away by a mysterious Spiritual Array Master, Zhou Fan once again rallied the Zhou Faction to besiege and kill an Ice Profound Spirit Flood Dragon. He then successfully absorbed its spiritual essence and broke through to the Heavenly Fusion Realm!
The Heavenly Fusion Realm… this was the first confirmed breakthrough to the Heavenly Fusion Realm reported in the Northern Heaven Realm.
It had to be said, Zhou Fan's talent and strength were indeed terrifying—truly worthy of being crowned king in the Spiritual Road.
However…
"Ice Profound Spirit Flood Dragon? Could that be the same one that appeared in the original story? Could it be that the Northern Heaven Realm I'm in now is the same one Mu Chen entered in the original?" Liu Bai pondered silently.
But this wasn't a big deal. After all, both he and Mu Chen came from the Northern Spiritual Realm. Perhaps the teleportation array only connected to fixed regions…
Liu Bai didn't pay it much attention. With his presence now in the story, whether Mu Chen could still follow the same path as in the original was anyone's guess. And small details like these were not worth getting hung up on.
What Liu Bai truly cared about was the fact that Zhou Fan had already broken through to the Heavenly Fusion Realm. If Zhou Fan found out that it was Liu Bai who snatched the spiritual essence from under his nose, he certainly wouldn't let the matter rest easily.
As for the second piece of news, it was even more intriguing to Liu Bai.
There were rumors that the Spirit Crown Bearer of this Spiritual Road had made an appearance, and the name attached to it was someone Liu Bai already recognized a familiar figure from the original story Li Xuantong!
The one ranked second on the Heavenly Ranking in the original, and also the first top-tier Heavenly Ranking expert who made a move against Mu Chen because of Luo Li!
....
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