Chapter 300: Tearing Space
Instantly, Xiang Yu’s entire body erupted into flames. The fire danced and swirled around him as he searched for the perfect form to assume.
He recalled the memory of the original flame and tried his best to imitate its otherworldly appearance.
The creature’s structure wasn’t that complex to replicate.
It consisted mainly of a massive head covered with billions of tentacle hands. Well, maybe it was hard to replicate, but on a smaller scale, it was much easier.
Most of Xiang Yu’s flaming body condensed to form a sphere about one meter in radius. He then shaped ten tentacle-like appendages extending from the sphere before solidifying completely.
“Hmm, I’m just missing one thing,” he thought, examining his new shape.
“Oh, I’ve got it,” he said aloud as he summoned his void domain. He didn’t expand the domain but instead employed its dark energy to completely cover his entire body. He was now a shadowy floating entity that looked straight out of a nightmare.
He stretched out his arms experimentally, thinking the tentacle hands were quite useful. They had no natural joints or breaking points and could bend and twist in any direction he desired. He thought to himself that he felt most comfortable and natural in this form. Maybe he should try using it more frequently in combat to see if it provided any significant advantages.
He then slowly floated downward and entered the spirit spring. He reflected that the spirit vein had been recently upgraded, which meant the qi concentration in the spirit spring had increased substantially. With his increased body surface area in this form, he should be able to absorb much more spiritual energy through his skin. This was even more beneficial now that his bloodlines had reached the noble stage, boosting his qi absorption through skin even further.
As he absorbed the spiritual energy, he continued examining the changes in his bloodlines. Now for the dragon bloodline effects. After the enhancement, his physical strength and agility had increased even more. He also received a huge boost to his endurance and defensive abilities.
Most of the abilities he had merged into the dragon bloodline simply supplemented his already existing abilities rather than creating new ones. Xiang Yu raised one of his arms and covered it with protective scales. Golden dragon scales instantly formed, covering the entire arm. He then activated one of his newly acquired abilities, creating a qi barrier that enhanced the scales’ defense even further.
He raised another “arm” and summoned scales on it as well. He then began striking the first arm with force. After several strikes, the second arm’s scales started showing visible signs of stress and cracking.
“The barrier is quite sturdy,” he thought with satisfaction as he dismissed both the scales and protective barrier from his arms.
An ability he was particularly curious about was the instinctive tool crafting enhancement. However, he felt somewhat disappointed when he tested it. Although the boost was definitely present and measurable, it didn’t mean much compared to his already extensive blacksmithing profession.
Another newly acquired ability was his enhanced sense for detecting precious metals and gems which he had been feeling constantly since the fusion completed.
He could sense many precious metals and gems buried deep within the spirit vein. It was normal for such materials to naturally form near spirit veins over time, though Xiang Yu didn’t think much of them since they weren’t particularly high level.
After the recent spirit vein upgrade, they were slowly advancing, but for them to become truly useful, they still had a long way to go. Maybe after he had upgraded the spirit vein two or three more times, they might become worth harvesting.
The final thing Xiang Yu wanted to test was his earlier hypothesis about reaching void realm physical strength through pure body cultivation. After his bloodlines broke through to the noble stage, his body refining cultivation had also advanced to the twenty-fourth layer.
He wondered if this was enough to face a void realm cultivator based purely on physical strength alone.
He concentrated intensely and exerted all his strength at the tips of his appendages. He then tried to tear through space.
After several seconds of intense struggle, a thin split began appearing. He summoned even more of his tentacle hands, using all ten of them simultaneously to grip the edges of the tear. Using all his strength, he managed to successfully tear space.
He then released his grip and allowed the space to slowly heal itself. As the tear mended, he thought to himself that he still wasn’t quite at the level he wanted to achieve, though he was definitely getting close. He just needed a little more power to reach that threshold.
He would probably achieve true void realm physical strength after breaking through to the twenty-fifth layer of body refining.
He then leaped out of the spirit spring and instantly transformed back to his human form before his feet touched the ground.
It was time for lunch. He also needed to reassure his master and martial aunt that he was fine now. With that, he left the spirit vein.
…
Zhao Tianling was walking leisurely through the mountainous terrain with several other female disciples when they came across a mountain range filled with lightning.
“Senior Sister, this place looks a little dangerous. Should we go back?” one of the female disciples asked nervously.
Tianling raised her hand, gesturing for the others to stop.
“Looks like someone is attempting a breakthrough here,” she said calmly. “We should indeed turn back so we don’t accidentally get caught up in the tribulation.”
Just as she finished speaking, a voice called out from behind their group.
“Ah, if it isn’t Sister Ling Ling!” The voice was distinctly male.
“Are you perhaps frightened by a little lightning? Why don’t you join me and I’ll take you to look around?”
When she heard that familiar voice, Tianling’s expression immediately soured.
“Chen Wuji?” she thought aloud as she turned around to face him.
Chen Wuji stood there with an arrogant expression plastered across his face, flanked by a group of male disciples who shared his cocky demeanor, as if everyone else was beneath them.
“No need to be so formal, Sister—” he began with a smug smile, but before he could complete his sentence, she had already turned to face the opposite direction.
“We’re leaving,” she stated dismissively, gesturing to the girls in her group. Without another word, they began walking away from both Chen Wuji and the tribulation zone.
Once Tianling and her companions had completely disappeared from view, Chen Wuji’s arrogant expression twisted into anger.
“Senior Brother, should we go after them?” one of his followers asked cautiously, sensing his mood.
“No need,” Chen Wuji replied curtly, fixing his expression.
He thought to himself that a sect elder was overseeing them and wouldn’t allow them to get into a confrontation. After all, they were all geniuses from the same sect.
“Let’s go on ahead. I want to see who is breaking through here,” he declared.
The other disciples exchanged uncertain glances. “But Senior Brother…” one of them began hesitantly.
But before they could voice their objections, Chen Wuji had already turned and started walking toward the lightning-filled mountains. His followers had no choice but to obediently trail behind him.
Chen Wuji thought to himself that he was in a particularly foul mood after that encounter. So what if the cultivator breaking through possessed incredible power? Were they really more formidable than the sect elders who were supposed to be watching over them?
…
Author’s Corner:
Quick clarification, the empress did indeed expand her integration realm divine sense within the area. But this doesn’t have an intimidation effect as it is just there so other powerful experts could sense it and stay away. Weaker people like this group won’t sense it. Their caretaker should be able to though
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