Chapter 652: Peak of the Spirit-Body Unity Realm

Seeing the writing on the wall, Zhang Xuan was filled with disappointment.

The first woman who had stirred his heart turned out to be nothing more than an encounter; he didn't even know her name.

With a sweep of his hand, he erased all the writing on the wall, then leaped out of the cave.

Outside, the open space was empty; there was no sign of anyone.

It seemed she had already gone far away.

"I was unconscious for three days?"

After searching around and realizing he could no longer find her, he calculated the time and couldn't help shaking his head.

He hadn't expected his unconsciousness to last a full three days.

"The unity of spirit and flesh has allowed my true qi cultivation to successfully reach the peak of the Spirit-Body Unity Realm..."

Previously, breakthroughs always required first finding the corresponding Heavenly Dao technique before he could advance. This time, however, after being unconscious, not only had his soul and body perfectly fused, but more importantly, his true qi cultivation had made tremendous progress!

He had directly advanced from the peak of the Turbid Clarity Realm to the peak of the Spirit-Body Unity Realm!

A full major level.

It wasn't just good luck; the Spirit-Body Unity Realm was precisely about achieving unity of spirit and flesh and increasing soul power.

His current soul power, needless to say, had perfectly merged with his body, aligning with the Heavenly Dao technique's principle of governing by non-action. Naturally, his cultivation had broken through.

The surging true qi circulated rapidly within his body, nourishing his entire being and making his essence, energy, and spirit even more vigorous.

"An ordinary peak Spirit-Body Unity Realm cultivator has a maximum physical strength of 3.2 million cauldrons, but I... have reached 4 million cauldrons!"

Closing his eyes, he let his spirit wander through his dantian.

At this moment, relying on the ability of spirit-body unity, even without exerting force, he could clearly know how much power he could unleash.

With his cultivation at the peak of the Spirit-Body Unity Realm, his true qi strength alone had reached 4 million cauldrons, comparable to an early Bridge Heaven Realm cultivator.

If he added his physical strength of 2 million cauldrons and soul power of 3.2 million cauldrons, totaling 9.2 million cauldrons, he might even be able to kill a mid-stage Return to One Realm (Transformation of Mortals Seventh Layer) cultivator with a single punch!

(Early Return to One Realm: 8 million cauldrons, mid-stage: 9 million cauldrons, late stage: 10 million cauldrons, peak: 11 million cauldrons!)

Of course, the Return to One Realm meant all things return to one. True qi, soul, and body had all greatly improved, and the mastery over nature had reached a very high level. The body had developed a sense of danger, making it far from easy to injure!

For example, earlier when he fought Princess Fei'er, even though his strength far exceeded hers, he could only defeat her by using the library.

At higher levels, both reaction speed and control over the body were incomparable to lower-level experts.

In other words, although his current strength was not much different from a mid-stage Return to One Realm cultivator, his actual combat power might not even be enough to defeat an early Return to One Realm cultivator with only 8 million cauldrons; at best, it would be a draw.

As for those a level lower, like peak Bridge Heaven Realm cultivators, they were no match at all; he could easily kill a group of them.

"Having reached the Spirit-Body Unity Realm, my master teacher rank is now half-step five-star..."

When he took the master teacher examination, his cultivation had always been a hindrance. Now that his cultivation had improved, he was considered half-step five-star, on par with Luo Xuan and the others.

"Three days have passed; I wonder if they have left..."

After three days, he didn't know if Master Hong and the others had left or not.

Normally, after cultivating in the Cleansing Pool, they would go to the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy. Now that the pool had collapsed and couldn't be used for a while, staying any longer was pointless. Perhaps they had already set off.

From here to the Hongyuan Empire was still a long distance. If they didn't hurry, they might not make it in time for the start of school, and they could be disqualified.

The master teacher academy recruited new students every February and August. They were aiming for the February intake, and it was already January, only a month away from the start of school.

"Let's go back..."

Knowing that time waited for no one, he took a deep breath and was about to fly back to the Huan Yu Imperial Capital to see if Master Hong and the others had left, when he saw the branches and leaves nearby shake, hurried footsteps sounded, and several figures strode over.

"Xing Yuan, Princess Fei'er? Why are they here?"

With a flicker, he landed on a large tree and looked down, couldn't help but be startled.

It was none other than Yu Fei'er, Xing Yuan, Luo Qiqi, Wu Zhen, and Ye Qian, the crown prince, who had come from the master teacher academy.

Luo Qiqi walked at the front, holding a map as if searching for something, while the others followed behind, all with solemn expressions.

All five were somewhat disheveled, and some even had injuries, clearly having just experienced a fierce battle.

"Qiqi, how much farther?"

Yu Fei'er's fair face showed anxiety.

"According to the map, it's around here..." Luo Qiqi confirmed the surroundings and said.

"Good. We need to hurry. Although I used a formation plate to block those big fellows, they are too strong; they'll probably break through the barrier soon and catch up..."

Yu Fei'er said.

"Yes!"

Xing Yuan nodded, glanced back with a wary expression, as if still frightened by what had happened earlier.

"It's strange. We've encountered many spirit beasts before, and they usually act alone. Why are these... banding together and frantically searching everywhere?"

Wu Zhen was puzzled.

"I'm also curious. Not to mention others, take the Cang Lion and the Bear-Scale Tiger, for example. These two land overlords rarely interact, but now they're not only cooperating but also attacking together like good friends. And the Dragon Eagle Beast... since when did flying spirit beasts become so intimate with these land beasts?"

Xing Yuan added, equally confused.

Since the Cleansing Pool couldn't be used, they had adjusted in the imperial capital for nearly three days before entering the Qingji Mountains to complete the academy's trial mission. But before they even reached the destination, they encountered a group of frenzied spirit beasts.

These big fellows, all at the fifth layer of Transformation of Mortals, were extremely powerful and had banded together, attacking anyone they saw, nearly killing them on the road.

If not for Princess Fei'er having many life-saving items, they would never have escaped!

"Ye Qian, didn't you say the Qingji Mountains were very safe? Is this what you call safe?"

Recalling the scene of being chased by a horde of spirit beasts with no way to escape, Yu Fei'er was furious.

In all her life, aside from that Zhang Xuan, when had she ever suffered such humiliation!

"I..." Ye Qian broke out in a cold sweat, his face full of misery: "Before... these spirit beasts didn't like to attack humans. I don't know what's going on either!"

While the others were baffled, he was even more confused.

He had been to the Qingji Mountains many times and knew many spirit beasts. Normally, these big fellows rarely attacked humans. But today, they had gone mad, banding together and attacking without a word, driving him crazy.

Remember, before coming, he had sworn that the Qingji Mountains were very safe!

As a result, less than half a day after saying that, they were being chased all over the mountains by numerous spirit beasts, nearly exhausted to death. Just thinking about it was frustrating.

"Alright, no need to explain. If those guys come again, you can block them yourself..." Yu Fei'er waved her hand.

Ye Qian's mouth twitched.

If he, only at the Spirit-Body Unity Realm, were to block them, he would probably be dead before the first wave of attacks ended. He hesitated: "How about... I ask my father to send troops to drive these spirit beasts away?"

The Huan Yu Imperial Capital was nearby. If willing, they could send a large army to encircle and suppress them. Although these dozens of fifth-layer Transformation of Mortals spirit beasts were powerful, they couldn't withstand an army.

"You know the academy's mission this time. Sending troops would make us fail the mission and return in disgrace?" Yu Fei'er snorted.

"This..."

Ye Qian scratched his head.

She was right. Their mission this time involved secrets that couldn't be leaked. If it got out, failing the mission would be the least of their worries; they might even be expelled for violating regulations.

"Alright, stop the nonsense. Hurry up and help Qiqi figure out where we are and find the entrance to the underground palace. Once we enter the underground palace, we should be safe. Otherwise, when those big fellows catch up again, I'll throw you to them first, so they can taste the flavor of a crown prince!"

Frowning slightly, Princess Yu Fei'er waved her hand.

"Yes!" With a twitch of his mouth, Ye Qian dared not waste words and quickly went to Luo Qiqi's side.

Although he was the crown prince of the Huan Yu Empire, he was helpless against such a willful princess.

Standing in front of the map, he looked for a moment and pointed forward: "It seems not far; it should be behind that peak..."

"Then let's move quickly!"

With a snort, the group hurried forward according to the marked location on the map.

As soon as they left, Zhang Xuan emerged from his hiding spot.

"They must be going to complete some trial..."

Knowing that Yu Fei'er and the others had come, he figured they had accepted a trial mission from the academy. He had thought it would be deep in the Qingji Mountains, but it turned out to be here.

"From their tone, they must have encountered... that group of spirit beasts!"

Zhang Xuan scratched his head.

Earlier, to save that girl in white, he had offended over thirty spirit beasts. Perhaps because of that, these creatures were enraged and attacked any human they saw, causing these people to suffer undeserved misfortune.

"If they are still around, it's best not to fly away; otherwise, it's easier to be discovered..."

He also understood why this group wasn't riding flying spirit beasts.

Among the thirty-plus spirit beasts, some were adept at flying. Once in the sky, they would become targets, quickly discovered and ambushed.

None of them could fly. On the ground, they could still escape using various means, but if attacked in the sky, the only way out was to fall to their deaths.

Moreover, to find an exact location in the dense mountain forest, flying was certainly not feasible.

"Since they can't ride flying spirit beasts, I can't fly away either..."

Since Luo Qiqi and the others couldn't fly, he certainly couldn't either. He didn't want to be surrounded by countless spirit beasts as soon as he took off.

Although his strength had greatly increased and he no longer feared these spirit beasts, he didn't want to fight them and invite trouble.