Chapter 1413: The Location of the Ruthless Person's Sternum

The Hall Master's decree required three conditions to be fully activated.

First, the master level must reach eight stars; second, the Eye of Clarity must be cultivated to the fourth realm, the Vajra's Wrathful Glare, Subduing Demons and Taming Beasts; third, cultivation must reach the Saint Domain eighth level!

The other two were still lacking, but the master level reaching eight stars had already activated certain permissions and power.

Knowing this was not the time for careful inspection, Zhang Xuan put both tokens into his ring and slowly descended from the air.

"Congratulations, Master Zhang, on passing the Master Pavilion assessment and breaking the Saint Son Hall's tens of thousands of years of records..."

Coming before him, Master Zhan still could not believe it.

Passing nine floors in about twenty minutes, challenging nine geniuses alone—even the former Little Princess did not have such ability.

"Can I now enter the inner courtyard?"

Zhang Xuan smiled slightly.

"Of course. If you wish to go, I will take you there now!"

Master Zhan nodded: "But it's not much different from outside, just that the spiritual energy is more abundant."

"Thank you for your trouble, Master Zhan."

Zhang Xuan clasped his fists.

Seeing his insistence, not even resting, Master Zhan was full of admiration, said no more, and with a flicker of his body, led the way forward. Zhang Xuan followed closely.

"Master Zhang..."

Hurriedly following, Luo Xuanqing wanted to explain the previous matter in detail but ultimately stopped.

"Go check out the inner courtyard first. I'll find you tonight."

Having him kill the person his sister liked on his behalf could not be publicized. With so many masters and soul experts here, it was better to be cautious.

After all, it was a family scandal.

"Alright."

Seeing that the other's cultivation had been completely consolidated, Zhang Xuan smiled and nodded, then closely followed Master Zhan, flying toward the inner courtyard.

The inner courtyard of the Saint Son Hall was not in the five main halls but within a lake far from the various buildings.

Taking out a token, Master Zhan lightly traced it across the lake's surface, and a seal was undone. Then a massive gate slowly rose from the water, rippling with spatial power.

"Such formidable spatial control..."

Seeing this gate and its surroundings, Zhang Xuan could not help raising his eyebrows.

He had already comprehended the third level of the Derivation Space Scripture and had a deep understanding of space. This gate before him was invisible even to the Eye of Clarity, and he had no awareness of it at all, indicating that the person who set up this gate had at least reached the fourth-level peak of spatial control, or even... the fifth level!

The space arranged by such an expert had extremely strong stability. Even if he found it, without a special token, it would be very difficult for him to open it with his strength.

"This is the passage to the inner courtyard and the badge representing your identity."

As the gate appeared, Master Zhan handed over the token.

Zhang Xuan took it, gently stroked its surface, and saw it was carved with various patterns, identical to those sealing the Heterodox tribe.

All were spatial array patterns.

He dripped blood to bind it, then put the token into his ring.

"Let's go in."

Master Zhan stepped into the gate first, and Zhang Xuan followed closely.

Upon entering the gate, he was immediately transported as if by a spatial array, and the next moment, he arrived amidst a cluster of buildings.

The spiritual energy here was nearly twice as dense as in the Saint Son Hall, almost tangible, converging so that a light grasp could condense it into droplets, forming spiritual liquid.

What had been priceless at Hongyuan Academy was now commonplace here.

"Truly a cultivation sanctuary..."

He sighed in admiration.

The denser the spiritual energy, the faster the cultivation. Here, the energy was almost tangible; every pore opened, and even without active cultivation, it would seep in on its own, converting into true qi and slowly increasing one's power.

If he had started here from the beginning, even without spirit stones, he could have easily reached his current strength in a year, or even higher!

No wonder the saint clans had so many geniuses, each achieving considerable cultivation at a young age. With abundant resources and innate talent, it was hard not to succeed.

"The inner courtyard's most important aspect is not spiritual energy, but its cultural heritage and atmosphere. Cultivating here sharpens the mind and heightens the spirit! Whether training or studying, everything becomes faster!"

Seeing his astonishment, Zhan Shi explained.

Zhang Xuan nodded.

This place was originally arranged by the ancient sage Bu Shang, imbued with Confucius's principles, and reinforced by the power of countless talented students over tens of thousands of years. The rich cultural atmosphere made one unable to resist the urge to learn and cultivate, striving to reach higher.

"Let's go pay respects to the statue of Saint Kui!"

After letting him absorb the surroundings for a while, Zhan Shi said.

"Saint Kui?"

"Although this place was left by the ancient sage Bu Shang, it is thanks to Saint Kui that it has been maintained until now and nurtured countless geniuses!"

Zhan Shi explained: "In a folded space, stability is crucial. Especially in a place so rich in spiritual energy, maintaining it requires various forms of order. Without Saint Kui guarding it, it would have collapsed long ago!"

Zhang Xuan nodded.

A folded space was like an inflated balloon; if not properly maintained, it would not only fail to expand but eventually deflate over time.

For example, the space he used to house life had always been maintained by the Mother of Thousand Ants and Bees; otherwise, it could not have remained stable to this day.

The previous mountain gate was the same.

The statue of Kui Sage shattered and, not long after, completely collapsed.

This one before him had even more abundant spiritual energy, so the turmoil was naturally more intense. For it to endure ten thousand years without error, there must be a powerful will guarding it.

He arrived before a colossal statue.

Clad in a long robe, with a refined countenance, it was identical to the Kui Sage he had seen at the mountain gate, exuding an awe-inspiring aura.

Although it did not condense a will like the one at the mountain gate, the entire stone statue seemed to possess a spirit. A single glance gave one a feeling of sudden enlightenment, clearing the mind.

"As expected of the first master of the Saint Son Hall..."

Even a mere statue filled him with reverence. Kui Sage's strength in life must have far surpassed that of the current acting master by an unknown degree.

He stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

Leaving aside how powerful he was, the mere fact that he had nurtured countless strong individuals, allowing humanity to flourish for tens of thousands of years without being harmed by the alien spirits, was worthy of admiration and respect.

Moreover, he had received his inheritance and learned the Netherworld Divine Pupil.

Unfortunately, after reading so many books these past few days, he had not found any texts on pupil techniques; otherwise, he would have long since elevated this skill to the Heavenly Dao level and cultivated it well.

"Master, I sense... my sternum!"

Just as he was filled with emotion, the voice of the Savage entered his mind from the Book of Heavenly Dao.

"Where is it?"

He had been so eager to enter the inner courtyard, partly for Luo Ruoxi, but also largely to restore the Savage. Hearing that the sternum was found, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

"It's inside this statue..."

The Savage's voice trembled.