After exchanging a single move, Liu Bai finally understood what the light shadow had meant.
That earlier strike, let alone a Heaven Fusion Realm cultivator, even someone at the Heaven Transformation Realm would find it difficult to withstand.
No wonder the other party had warned him that he might die. It truly was a possibility!
"No, with just my current Five Elemental Spiritual Energies I absolutely cannot withstand three strikes from him!"
Liu Bai's brows furrowed deeply.
He remembered that in the original story, when Mu Chen encountered the Guardian, it was nothing more than a puppet controlled by the Spiritual Arts Hall. Although its strength was formidable, Mu Chen relied on his understanding of arrays, exhausting all his efforts to destroy the puppet Guardian's array core, thereby achieving a narrow victory.
But the light shadow before him now, Liu Bai was certain, was absolutely not some puppet. Rather, it was more like a special spiritual body.
"Damn it, you think this can stump me? Deep Blue, add points!"
Of course, he had no "Deep Blue", so adding points still had to be done through his own control.
He still had more than eighty thousand experience points. Without hesitation, he raised the Flowing Gold Spirit Refining Art and the other three cultivation techniques by one level each, consuming less than forty thousand experience points.
In an instant, aside from his strongest Earth Spiritual Energy, the other four elements surged dramatically. Liu Bai immediately felt his strength grow once again. Opening his palm, the gray mass of fused spiritual energy grew by another thirty percent.
Although the light shadow's features could not be seen, Liu Bai could clearly sense its astonishment. It was obviously baffled that Liu Bai's cultivation could suddenly rise for no apparent reason.
And not only the light shadow, even Elder Zhu Tian and the others, who were observing this scene through the power of the Spiritual Arts Hall, were bewildered.
"What is going on? His spiritual energy suddenly increased so drastically? Could this be some sort of secret technique?" Elder Zhu Tian pondered deeply, trying to recall any method that resembled this.
The white haired elder opposite him was also full of doubt. Even with their vast knowledge, they could not provide a reasonable explanation for Liu Bai's condition.
"Second strike!"
With a roar, Liu Bai actually counterattacked, launching an offensive strike against the light shadow.
Boom!
Fist and palm collided, sending waves rippling through the entire space. The surroundings even showed faint signs of instability.
Liu Bai felt that terrifying shock force surge through his arm and crash into his body. A mouthful of blood spurted out instantly.
But very quickly, a white jade like liquid wrapped around his organs. A cooling sensation spread throughout him and within a few breaths his injuries had already recovered by seventy to eighty percent.
This was the ability of his Ice Muscle Jade Bone constitution, which provided strong healing to his own injuries.
Even so, Liu Bai's expression did not lighten. This was merely the second strike!
Gritting his teeth, Liu Bai chose to raise both the Profound Water Art and the Golden Crow Explosive Flame Art by one level each.
"Ding, consumed 17,600 experience points, Profound Water Art advanced to the seventh layer."
"Ding, consumed 17,600 experience points, Golden Crow Explosive Flame Art advanced to the seventh layer."
In an instant, his Water and Fire Spiritual Energies reached the Early-phase of Heaven Fusion. The spiritual energy within his body underwent another earth shaking transformation. At this moment, his presence was already comparable to that of a Heaven Transformation Realm cultivator.
"This young man…" Elder Zhu Tian's eyes widened.
He had already known Liu Bai cultivated all Five Elements, but earlier his elemental strengths were clearly unbalanced.
That was easy to understand. To cultivate five techniques simultaneously, it was impossible to advance them equally. Otherwise, the time required would be too overwhelming and overall progress would be far too slow.
Yet Liu Bai's current performance had overturned the elder's worldview. How could increasing cultivation be as simple as eating and drinking?
In such a short time, he had broken through twice in succession. And not just with one element each time, but with different elements. This was absurd.
"Even a Deity-grade secret art could not achieve this. It is more reasonable to think this boy had deliberately hidden his true strength."
The golden light shadow looked at Liu Bai, whose aura had once again strengthened. Even it paused momentarily, as though this successive transformation had disrupted its flow.
"Third strike!"
Very quickly, the golden light shadow returned to normal. With a wave of its hand, the gray spiritual currents gathered, forming a spiritual longsword.
"Block it!"
Liu Bai roared angrily, veins bulging around his eyes as his expression grew ferocious.
He mobilized all of his fused spiritual energy, forming a spiritual shield before him.
In order to thicken the shield, he even abandoned other defenses, focusing only on protecting his vital points, hoping to avoid being slain in one blow.
Boom!
Inside the great hall, Liu Bai's figure was flung backward in a sorry state. His feet scraped against the black iron like floor, leaving long scars, before he slammed into a massive stone pillar.
Pfft.
Another mouthful of blood sprayed out, leaving his complexion pale. Even with all his efforts to defend, when that sword descended, he felt as though his life had nearly ended.
This was Liu Bai's first time feeling so close to death.
"Cough cough…"
He coughed violently, spitting mouthfuls of blood as though it cost nothing, staining his entire chest crimson.
"This injury is serious. Even with the healing of the Ice Muscle Jade Bone, it will take at least three or four days to fully recover…"
Supporting himself against the stone pillar, Liu Bai rested for a long time before he could barely move again.
Inside the Spiritual Arts Hall, Elder Zhu Tian and the others watched with deep emotion.
"This boy is truly unexpected. He dared to face such a desperate situation and in the end he actually succeeded!"
They knew clearly that this was a special Deity-Grade Mid-level Spiritual Art, originally not even within the reward range.
Not that they were unwilling to use it as a reward, but the Guardian of this level was something no Heaven Fusion cultivator could resist. Encountering it would only waste a precious opportunity, harmful rather than beneficial for the new students.
But unexpectedly, Liu Bai really succeeded.
"Challenger, you have successfully passed my test. Now, you may claim your spoils." The golden light shadow's emotionless voice echoed.
Liu Bai took a deep breath. After glancing at the now still golden figure, he suppressed the turbulent blood within him and cautiously walked around it toward the stone platform at the rear.
Upon the stone platform hovered a scroll glowing with five colored radiance. When Liu Bai approached, the scroll did not resist and was easily taken into his hand.
Buzz.
The instant he obtained the Five Elemental Divine Lightning Art, the hall suddenly erupted with dazzling light. Space twisted and in the blink of an eye the scene before his eyes shifted.
When Liu Bai regained his composure, his gaze swept forward and fell upon Elder Zhu Tian, who was smiling at him. Beside him stood the white haired elder, and further behind were more than ten elders, each with hair ashen yet gazes filled with astonishment as they studied him.
"Haha, you are truly fortunate. By the rules, you should not yet be qualified to access such a Deity-Grade Mid-level Spiritual Art." Elder Zhu Tian scanned Liu Bai and then continued with a smile. "But since you managed to pass the Guardian's trial, this Art is yours. The academy will not take it back."
"However, I must remind you of one thing. Though I do not know what secret you carry, I must emphasize that cultivating a Deity-grade art is different from an ordinary Spiritual Art. The requirements are harsh and dangers are involved. When you cultivate it, you must proceed cautiously, avoid greed or rashness, or else you may harm yourself."
Liu Bai's expression turned solemn. He bowed respectfully and said, "Thank you Elder for the reminder. I will remember."
Elder Zhu Tian nodded with a smile.
"Good. Others will take some more time. For now, stabilize your injuries here."
He could clearly see the chaos within Liu Bai's body. Without that mysterious power constantly repairing him, this boy might not even be able to stand.
The spiritual energy within the Spiritual Arts Hall was no weaker than that within the sixth Rank Spirit Converging Array, so Elder Zhu Tian deliberately gave Liu Bai time to recuperate.
Liu Bai gratefully nodded once more, then sat down cross legged and closed his eyes to recover.
About a quarter hour later, Elder Zhu Tian flicked his sleeve. Four rays of light flashed, and Su Xuan along with three others appeared within the hall.
Spiritual energy surged around them, showing they too had gone through fierce battles. Judging by their expressions though, their fights had not been as brutal as Liu Bai's. Everything had remained within their control. Only Li Xuantong and Shen Cangsheng looked somewhat disheveled, their outer garments torn.
As Su Xuan and the other three appeared, they immediately saw Liu Bai seated cross-legged. When their eyes landed on his blood-soaked robes and pale face, they were all momentarily stunned.
"How did you get injured so badly?" Su Xuan walked over, her expression turning somewhat stern as she asked.
"Hehe, don't just look at how badly this little fellow is hurt. Among the five of you, his gains are the greatest!" Elder Zhu Tian said with a hearty laugh.
Looking at the five youngsters before him, his mood was visibly excellent.
"Mm, all of you did very well. This time, to have three of you obtain Deity-grade Arts while the other two obtained Quasi-Deity Arts, this is a grand occasion that has not appeared for over a hundred years!"
Although these Deity-grade Arts were extremely precious even in the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, the academy would not feel any loss from bestowing them. On the contrary, they would be pleased.
Because this signified that this generation of newly admitted students possessed boundless potential. The benefits they would bring to the academy in the future would far surpass the value of a mere few Deity-grade Arts.
Hearing Elder Zhu Tian's words, the four of them displayed different expressions.
Su Xuan and the other two were astonished, while He Yao's face was filled with jealousy. For among the three who had obtained Deity-grade Arts, he was not one of them.
Taking a deep breath, He Yao suppressed the blazing flames in his chest, though in his heart he had already made a secret resolution. So what if they had obtained Deity-grade Arts? He himself also possessed one. When he perfected his own in the future, he would definitely trample these three beneath his feet.
Indeed, at this moment He Yao no longer viewed only Liu Bai as an opponent. Even Li Xuantong and Shen Cangsheng were counted among his rivals.
As for Su Xuan, who also had not obtained a Deity-grade Art, she was sincerely happy for Liu Bai at this moment.
The young girl was actually quite content. Although she had ranked second in the Freshman Tournament, she knew very well that her strength could not compare to monstrous geniuses like Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong.
"Alright, since the selection of the Spiritual Arts has already been completed, this Freshman Tournament can now be considered fully concluded." Elder Zhu Tian spoke as he saw Liu Bai stabilize his injuries and rise to his feet.
He waved his sleeve and five beams of spiritual light shot out, each landing upon the Spiritual Value Tokens of the five.
"Your Spiritual Values have also been credited. You may leave now. I hope that all of you will cultivate diligently and achieve great accomplishments in the future."
"Many thanks Elder Zhu Tian!" The five bowed respectfully in unison.
Leaving the Spiritual Arts Hall, the five went their separate ways. Su Xuan glanced at Liu Bai and asked, "Where are you planning to go next?"
Liu Bai pondered for a moment and replied, "I plan to cultivate for a few days in the Sixth Rank Spirit Convergence Array to recover from my injuries. What about you?"
With his injuries in such poor condition, it was impossible for Liu Bai to take on missions. Thus, for now, he could only focus on healing himself, while also taking the opportunity to cultivate and raise the remaining two of his spiritual arts.
Su Xuan said, "I also plan to cultivate in the Sixth Rank Spirit Convergence Array. The Spiritual Value I have now should be enough to sustain me for a few months. If possible, I want to directly break through to the Late-phase of the Heaven Fusion Realm."
Indeed, this choice was very fitting for Su Xuan's character. She paid no attention to other matters and focused only on first elevating her cultivation.
Soon, after arranging matters for her younger sister, Su Xuan departed together with Liu Bai toward the Sixth Rank Spirit Convergence Array.
For Liu Bai, this was already his second visit and he was becoming somewhat familiar with the place. But for Su Xuan, it was her first time seeing the Sixth Rank Spirit Convergence Array, and she was still greatly shocked.
The two found a quiet valley. Inside the valley, rare flowers and exotic herbs bloomed, filling the air with fragrance. A clear stream trickled gently, producing a pleasant sound. Sunlight filtered through the branches, reflecting upon the surface of the water, forming shimmering, dancing points of light that resembled fluttering butterflies.
The moment they saw this scenery, both were very satisfied. Su Xuan sat cross-legged beside the stream while Liu Bai chose a stone beneath a large tree, and they each entered cultivation.
With the vast supply of spiritual energy provided by the Sixth Rank Spirit Convergence Array, the two frantically absorbed spiritual energy into their bodies. Yet in comparison, Liu Bai's absorption speed was more than three times that of Su Xuan's.
As spiritual energy poured in rapidly, Liu Bai's five Spiritual Reservoirs and Qi Sea swiftly filled up, and at the same time, his injuries were also healing quickly.
....
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