At that, Ye Wushuang extended both hands and clenched her fists.
A mysterious black radiance appeared once more, spreading from her fists throughout her body and forming a layer of visible Xuanwu Body-Protecting Astral Energy.
The astral energy was as heavy as a mountain, radiating a defense aura that made the heart tremble.
“Clatter.”
The teacup in Zhao Shuying’s hand fell to the floor.
Su Changyuan’s mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. He looked like a fish gasping for air.
He had spent an entire six months studying the technique, yet his junior sister, Ye Wushuang, had actually mastered it to perfection in the span of a few breaths.
“This… This is absolutely impossible!”
Sixth Senior Brother Gu Changfeng was the first to recover. A strange glint flashed through his eyes. “Senior Brother, could this technique have some special amplifying effect on her physique?”
Su Changyuan remained silent for a long while before stepping forward.
“Junior Sister, throw a punch and let me verify it.”
Ye Wushuang shrugged. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Su Changyuan pressed his palms together and circulated his spiritual power to its utmost limit, laying down three layers of defense.
Ye Wushuang did not waste words. Holding back ninety-nine percent of her strength, she gently sent out a punch.
Bang!
All three layers of Su Changyuan’s defenses shattered simultaneously.
He staggered back seven or eight steps, his arm aching and numb.
The great hall once again fell into dead silence.
Su Changyuan lowered his head and looked at his clothes, then raised it to stare at Ye Wushuang’s innocent expression.
“…I’m jealous.”
He forced out those three words, then turned and walked back to his place without saying another word.
The other senior brothers and sisters exchanged glances.
Shen Yueyao moved her lips, but in the end, said nothing.
Gu Changfeng still wore his gentle smile, but the light in his eyes had grown more complicated.
Zhao Shuying rubbed her eyes and muttered, “A monster… She’s definitely a monster…”
The news soon reached Dao Yan, the Perfected One.
Half an hour later, a maid arrived at Ye Wushuang’s residence and delivered two items.
The first was a golden talisman radiating a faint spiritual light.
“This is a one-time protective talisman bestowed by the sect master. It can withstand a full-power strike from a cultivator at the peak of the Violet Palace Realm. The sect master said that since Junior Sister has only just joined the sect, it never hurts to carry a life-saving talisman.”
The second item was a cultivation technique.
Ye Wushuang opened the cover, and three ancient-looking characters immediately caught her eye: Azure Vault Art.
“The sect master says this technique is one of the treasures of the sect’s Scripture Repository. It is a low-grade Heaven Rank technique, granted to Junior Sister as a welcome gift.”
After bowing, the maid withdrew.
Ye Wushuang held the two items in her hands and remained speechless for a long time.
“Old Man Dao Yan really is generous.”
She put away the protective talisman first. It could save her life at a critical moment.
As for the low-grade Heaven Rank Azure Vault Art, it was of little use to her at present, but perhaps it would come in handy someday.
Ye Wushuang stored both items in her storage ring, sat down cross-legged, and took out the Heavenly Astral Divine Escape Technique to study.
“System, spend the points.”
The difficulty of cultivating a supreme-grade Heaven Rank technique far exceeded her expectations.
The remaining five Fortune Points were only enough to cultivate the Heavenly Astral Divine Escape Technique to the Initiate Stage.
Even so, its effects at the Initiate Stage were already astonishing.
Ye Wushuang’s speed increased by at least three times. Combined with the concealment effects of the Divine Concealment Art, she could come and go like the wind, with almost no one able to detect her movements.
On the night of the fourth day, Ye Wushuang pushed open her door and glanced toward the distant Shattered Star Cliff.
“Time to go treasure hunting.”
Shattered Star Cliff was a forbidden area in the rear mountains of the Profound Heaven Sect. Apart from the sect elders and core disciples, few people usually ventured there.
Its cliff face was as steep as if it had been carved by a blade, and it was shrouded in dense fog all year round. According to legend, it had been cleaved open by a Heaven Rank spiritual sword during an ancient war.
Ye Wushuang circulated the Heavenly Astral Divine Escape Technique and the Divine Concealment Art. Her figure transformed into a wisp of green smoke as she silently swept toward the rear mountains.
An incense stick’s time later, at Shattered Star Cliff.
Ye Wushuang landed atop the cliff and spread her spiritual sense across a radius of three hundred feet.
According to the description on the system panel, the supreme-grade Earth Rank Breakthrough Pill was sealed within a crevice in the cliff face.
Gu Changfeng would discover it by accident while practicing his sword techniques.
“In that case, I apologize, Gu Changfeng. Your opportunity was excellent, but it belongs to me now.”
Ye Wushuang carefully searched along the cliff face.
The rocks were jagged and the crevices numerous. Finding a single pill among them was indeed no easy task.
However, Ye Wushuang had the support of spiritual perception at the peak of the Grotto-Heaven Realm, giving her a range and precision far beyond that of ordinary people.
Half an incense stick later, deep inside an extremely concealed crack in the middle of the cliff face, she sensed a faint fluctuation of medicinal energy.
“Found it.”
Ye Wushuang reached into the crack. Her fingers touched a layer of icy seal.
The seal was not particularly strong, possessing roughly the power of the early Xiantian Realm.
To Ye Wushuang, who possessed the Flame Phoenix True Fire, it was practically useless.
A stream of Yin spiritual power flowed into the seal, and the Flame Phoenix True Fire gently brushed against it.
With a soft snap, the seal instantly turned to ash.
A pill radiating a faint golden light floated out.
The pill was perfectly round, with intricate medicinal patterns flowing across its surface. Its medicinal aura was so dense that it almost seemed to have solidified.
A supreme-grade Earth Rank Breakthrough Pill.
A legendary, heaven-defying pill capable of forcibly helping a Xiantian Realm cultivator break through a minor realm.
Ye Wushuang took the pill into her hand.
[Ding! The host has intercepted Gu Changfeng’s key opportunity. Tenfold Rebate activated!]
[Congratulations, host. The supreme-grade Earth Rank Breakthrough Pill has been upgraded to one low-grade Heaven Rank Xiantian Breakthrough Pill!]
[Xiantian Breakthrough Pill: Upon consumption, it can assist a cultivator in breaking through their realm bottleneck. Its effects are best on cultivators below the Xiantian Realm.]
[Fortune Points +3! Current Fortune Points: 3.]
Ye Wushuang was very satisfied. Although a tenfold rebate was not as impressive as a ten-thousandfold rebate, this Xiantian Breakthrough Pill was exactly what she needed.
She was currently at the peak of the Grotto-Heaven Realm, only one step away from the Xiantian Realm.
Yet without external assistance, that one step would require at least several months or even years of accumulation.
This pill could help her cross it directly.
Ye Wushuang did not linger at Shattered Star Cliff.
After returning to her residence on Skybalance Peak, she immediately set up a soundproofing array and a concealment array, then sat down cross-legged.
The supreme-grade Xiantian Breakthrough Pill went down her throat.
Boom!
Terrifying medicinal energy exploded within her body.
The Taiyin Profound Qi Breathing Art began circulating at full force, guiding the medicinal power through her meridians and tempering her flesh.
The Nine-Phoenix Flame Phoenix Physique awakened at the same time. Dark flames enveloped her entire body, burning away all excess impurities.
Under the impact of the medicinal power, cracks began to appear in the bottleneck at the peak of the Grotto-Heaven Realm.
Crack.
The layers of the bottleneck shattered one after another.
Boom!!!
An unprecedented, surging power erupted from within Ye Wushuang.
Early Xiantian Realm!
Ye Wushuang’s aura underwent a qualitative leap in an instant.
The Xiantian Realm and the Grotto-Heaven Realm appeared to be separated by only a single major realm, but the gap between them was as vast as the distance between the clouds and the mud.
Xiantian Realm cultivators could begin to commune with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Both the efficiency and power of their spiritual energy surpassed what Grotto-Heaven Realm cultivators could achieve.
More importantly, a Xiantian Realm cultivator’s lifespan increased significantly, while their physical body underwent a complete transformation, as if reborn.
Feeling the surging power nearly overflowing from within her body, Ye Wushuang let out a long breath of turbid air.
“The Xiantian Realm… It’s far too powerful. No wonder they say that everyone below the Xiantian Realm is nothing more than an ant.”
Her spiritual sense had expanded severalfold. She could even vaguely perceive every blade of grass and tree within several miles of Tianheng Peak.
The Divine Concealment Art circulated at full force, perfectly suppressing the fluctuations of aura caused by her breakthrough.
To outsiders, she still appeared to be no more than a new disciple at the peak of the True Essence Realm.
“Check the status panel.”
[Name: Ye Wushuang]
[Realm: Early Innate Realm]
[Fate: Superior Among Men]
[Physique: Nine-Phoenix Flame Phoenix Body (Mutated)]
[Techniques: Heaven-Grade Supreme-Rank “Heavenly Dipper Divine Evasion Art” (Beginner), Earth-Grade Supreme-Rank “Taiyin Profound Qi Cultivation Formula” (Perfected), Earth-Grade Supreme-Rank “Black Tortoise Iron Wall Art” (Perfected), Profound-Grade High-Rank “Sword-Controlling Art” (Perfected), Heaven-Grade Low-Rank “Firmament Art” (Not Cultivated), Unranked “Divine Concealment Art” (Perfected)]
[Innate Divine Abilities: Nine-Phoenix Nirvana (0/9), Flame Phoenix True Fire]
[Current Fortune Points: 3]
