Chapter 1247 The Welcoming Envoy Has Arrived

"Master Zhang, these are the rewards from headquarters for this exchange of war masters..."

Zhang Xuan, along with Sun Qiang and the others, had just returned to the War Master Hall's residence when Hall Master Xing arrived.

During the last exchange among the four major War Master Halls, twenty war masters were to be selected to go to the Sword Pool of the Qianchong Empire. The Qingyuan Empire had secured all the slots and received commendation from headquarters, with the rewards already delivered through special channels.

"There are 120 high-grade essence spirit stones in total, twenty more than expected. However, with my authority, I can only use half—that is, sixty."

With a flick of his wrist, he took out several jade boxes and handed them over.

"Sixty high-grade essence spirit stones? Not bad!"

Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but sigh, "My hard work training them wasn't in vain..."

"Hard work training?"

Hall Master Xing's eyelids twitched uncontrollably, and he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

You agreed to help with training, gave a plan, then disappeared to go challenge halls for fun, and didn't even show up for the competition...

If that's called hard work, then how are those who actually trained diligently supposed to live?

"Thank you very much!"

Ignoring the other's twitching eyelids, Zhang Xuan opened the jade box and, feeling the rich spiritual energy, nodded in satisfaction.

With so many high-grade essence spirit stones, his cultivation would surely advance further, reaching a higher level.

Although, as a master teacher, he had the duty to help war masters improve their combat strength, he certainly wouldn't refuse any benefits that came his way.

"This is what was promised before, nothing special. If Master Zhang has no further needs, I won't disturb your cultivation..."

Knowing that with the spirit stones in hand, the other would surely cultivate, Hall Master Xing said no more and took his leave.

Once he left, Zhang Xuan didn't hesitate. He shook his body and entered the Thousand Ant Beehive.

He had long possessed the cultivation technique for the Saint Realm Fourth Layer, the Primordial Spirit Realm; what he lacked were high-grade essence spirit stones. Now that they had arrived, it was time to rapidly increase his strength.

After all, he had been stuck at the peak of the Saint Realm Third Layer for over ten days; it was time to break through.

Everything else was false; strength was what mattered most.

Without strength, even one's girlfriend might belong to someone else...

He adjusted his state to its peak, prepared everything, and then sat cross-legged. With a point of his finger, a spirit stone leaped out of the jade box.

The surging, pure spiritual energy, amplified by the formation, quickly gathered around his body and began to flow in through his acupoints.

"Still not enough..."

Knowing that his demand for spiritual energy was much greater than that of ordinary cultivators, he continued to point.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

The remaining fifty-plus high-grade spirit stones flew out one after another, dispersing around his body and landing in specific positions.

Rumble!

The spiritual energy from the sixty high-grade essence spirit stones was torn by the spirit-gathering array, becoming as thick as liquid in the blink of an eye.

For anyone else, under such circumstances, they would likely find it hard to breathe, and instead of cultivating, their cultivation might even regress.

It was like fine wine: low-proof wine is pleasant to drink, but if it's too high, turning into pure alcohol, drinking it would be lethal.

If the spiritual energy is too dense and the absorption speed insufficient, a power differential would arise, like water flowing from high to low, easily leading to power collapse or even death.

However... Zhang Xuan wouldn't encounter such a situation.

His physical body, tempered by the Five Radiance Golden Body and the Heavenly Path Physique, was comparable to a mid-grade saint artifact, and his soul had been cultivated through the Heavenly Path Soul, making it extremely powerful... Therefore, for him, the more spiritual energy, the better.

As the spiritual energy gathered more and more, reaching a certain concentration, Zhang Xuan opened his mouth wide and inhaled sharply.

Boom!

The mighty aura immediately surged in through his acupoints and mouth, rapidly converging toward his dantian.

Inside his dantian, the ten-meter-tall infant, seeing the spiritual energy rushing in, danced excitedly, devouring it in large gulps and undergoing constant transformation.

The Saint Realm Fourth Layer, the Primordial Spirit Realm, involves continuously absorbing power to nourish the infant, causing it to transform into a primordial spirit the size of a real person.

Now, with ample spiritual energy and the Heavenly Path technique already thoroughly memorized, the infant began to change rapidly at a visible rate.

His entire aura also grew stronger.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

As the infant transformed, the spiritual energy of the high-grade essence spirit stones was drained away, and they began to shatter with crisp sounds.

"Such a huge consumption..."

Zhang Xuan's eyebrows twitched.

He had previously thought that fifty high-grade essence spirit stones would allow him to go from the peak of the Infant Realm to the peak of the Primordial Spirit Realm, but now it seemed... he had underestimated it.

As the Heavenly Path technique progressed, the requirements for spiritual energy became increasingly pure and the quantity larger... Having cultivated to this point, even high-grade essence spirit stones felt somewhat inadequate.

"'Wealth, partners, techniques, land'... indeed, wealth is foremost. Without resources, even the best talent is useless!"

He sighed inwardly.

Earlier, he had thought to quickly break through to the Saint Realm Seventh Layer and gain the strength to fight that genius of the Zhang family, but now it seemed not so easy.

Just gathering the spirit stones was troublesome enough.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Finally, after shattering thirty-two high-grade essence spirit stones, it was as if a bottleneck had been broken, and he broke through the shackles of the Infant Realm!

Boom!

His aura suddenly changed—the Saint Realm Fourth Layer, the Primordial Spirit Realm, had been reached!

With the breakthrough, Zhang Xuan immediately felt his thinking become clearer, and his physical body and soul also changed, becoming tougher, stronger, and full of power!

Not only that, his reactions were faster.

Previously, when fighting against an Out-of-Body Realm expert, his strength and true energy were not inferior, but his reactions were still a bit slow. Without the aid of the Eye of Insight, he might not have been able to contend even with the clone of Qingtian Emperor in Qingyuan City.

But now, he could crush him with a single finger, effortlessly.

"Continue..."

Seeing that there were still remaining spirit stones, Zhang Xuan didn't dwell on it. He steadied his mind, closed his eyes, and continued cultivating.

After about half an hour, the remaining twenty-eight high-grade essence spirit stones all shattered, and his cultivation smoothly reached the middle stage of the Primordial Spirit Realm!

He extended his hand and gently clenched it; the surrounding space instantly solidified, becoming tangible.

"So strong..."

Feeling his control over space advance further, Zhang Xuan's eyes brightened: "With my current strength, even if I encounter the Qingtian Emperor of Jibei Swamp, without using a clone, I can easily kill him..."

From the Infant Realm to the middle stage of the Primordial Spirit Realm, he had advanced three minor levels, but his strength had more than doubled!

With his current strength, if he encountered the split Qingtian Emperor again, without tricks or clones, relying solely on power, he could easily kill him.

That is to say, he was now comparable to a late-stage Out-of-Body Realm expert, and could even fight an ordinary peak expert.

In the Out-of-Body Realm, each minor level requires undergoing a lightning tribulation, and the gaps between them are like chasms... Before even breaking through, he could fight above his level; if this got out, it would absolutely scare people to death.

Of course, with the Heavenly Path technique, combined with Heavenly Path martial skills and the Eye of Insight, if he couldn't even do this, he might as well not live.

"It's a pity there are only sixty spirit stones; I can't push my cultivation to the peak of the Primordial Spirit Realm in one go..."

He shook his head.

If he had another sixty spirit stones, reaching the peak of the Primordial Spirit Realm should not be difficult... At that time, he could even fight a peak Out-of-Body Realm expert!

A master teacher of Song Xuan's level could be easily defeated without using the Gold Origin Cauldron.

"Hall Master Xing can only use sixty spirit stones; I really can't take all their rewards..."

The War Master Hall had rewarded 120 high-grade essence spirit stones, but Hall Master Xing's authority allowed him to use only half. If he could use the rest, he would certainly make further progress.

Of course, one must not be too greedy.

Taking half was already a lot; if he drained the pond to catch all the fish, how would the war masters of the War Master Hall cultivate?

After adapting to his strength for a while and fully mastering his cultivation, Zhang Xuan finally left the beehive.

"Young master, Hall Master Wu of the Master Teacher Hall said that after you come out of seclusion, please go to the Master Teacher Hall."

As soon as he stepped out of the room, Sun Qiang approached him.

"Go to the Master Teacher Hall?"

Zhang Xuan frowned.

Hadn't he just returned not long ago? What did they want now?

"Yes, Hall Master Wu said that the welcoming envoy from the Saint Son Hall has arrived and asked if Master Zhang is interested in participating in the Saint Son selection..."

After thinking for a moment, Sun Qiang said.

"The welcoming envoy has arrived?" Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

Earlier, Master Mu had told him that Luo Ruoxin was likely in the Saint Son Hall, and to find her, he would have to enter it.

However, it wasn't easy to get in; there were quota restrictions.

At that time, he was told that the welcoming envoy would arrive in twenty days to take people away. Counting the time, it had been exactly twenty days since he parted with Master Mu, so the envoy should indeed be here.

"I'll go take a look..."

Since it involved Luo Ruoxin, without any hesitation, Zhang Xuan shook his body and flew straight toward the Master Teacher Hall.

Soon, he arrived.

"Master Zhang!"

Now that he was the teacher of all master teachers, everyone recognized him. As soon as he entered, countless master teachers cupped their fists and bowed.

"Is that Master Zhang?"

"So handsome..."

"I'm his loyal fan; I want to bear his children..."

...

Discussions immediately arose around him.

After the Heavenly Sound of the Teacher, Zhang Xuan had replaced Zhang Jiuxiao's position and become the idol of the youth throughout the Qingyuan Empire.

Seeing him appear, the young people who had come to the Master Teacher Hall to study were all excited, unable to contain themselves.

"This is not the life I want... My heart is so tired!"

Seeing the crowd's fervor, Zhang Xuan felt helpless.

To be honest, he just wanted to live a low-key life, study quietly, advance quietly, and be a handsome man in peace...

Having so many people so crazily infatuated with him was not something he enjoyed.

Turning his head to look around, he saw that the millstone-butt who had been crazily infatuated with Zhang Jiuxiao was also in the crowd. Seeing him look over, she kept screaming, as if she wanted to rush over and pin him to the ground...

Thus... he became even more melancholy.

"Forget it, it's time to leave Qingyuan City..."

He sighed.

He had been in Qingyuan City for over twenty days, long enough; it was time to leave.

"I must get the Saint Son Hall quota..."

Clenching his fist, Zhang Xuan's eyes flashed.