Eight Gates Formation

Let me think. The so-called Eight Gates—Opening, Rest, Life, Injury, Closure, View, Shock, and Death—should correspond to the Yinbai Acupoint, Tiantu Acupoint, Shanzhong Acupoint, Juque Acupoint, Shenque Acupoint, Zhongji Acupoint, and Xinshu Acupoint. Among them, the Gate of Opening and Gate of Rest are both located at the Yinbai Acupoint in the head. In other words, the Yinbai Acupoint must be struck a second time to open the Gate of Rest.

Ye Kai spread his Soul Power throughout his body while using his Spiritual Power to examine its circulation internally. Sure enough, he discovered several places in his torso and head that suppressed and controlled the Soul Power within him.

Looks like this might work. In that case, I'll skip the Library today and try the Eight Gates Formation. Ye Kai abandoned his original plan and turned back toward the Training Field.

Meanwhile, after Bibi Dong returned to the Pope's Hall, she summoned Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo. "Guimei, take Nana, Xie Yue, and Yan out to hunt Fallen. Let the three of them do the fighting. If you encounter a Fallen on the verge of breaking through, capture them alive yourself. I have other uses for them."

"Yes." Ghost Douluo accepted the order and departed.

"Yue Guan, arrange for someone to compile the Soul Ring ages of all Soul Masters currently in Spirit Hall. In particular, ask those whose first or Second Soul Rings are close to their limits whether they performed heavy physical labor or underwent specialized body training during childhood," Bibi Dong instructed Chrysanthemum Douluo.

"Yes, Your Majesty the Pope. Should Titled Douluo be included as well?" Chrysanthemum Douluo asked.

"Yes."

"Then, regarding the Worship Hall..." Chrysanthemum Douluo hesitated slightly. As one of the higher-ups, though he did not know the reason, he knew of the rift between the current Pope and the Worship Hall.

"All offerings in the Worship Hall except the Grand Elder must be included. Take my papal writ to the Grand Elder and tell him that this concerns Spirit Hall's path to future prosperity. The Grand Elder will agree."

"Understood. I will go at once." Chrysanthemum Douluo no longer hesitated. He respectfully accepted the papal writ and withdrew from the Pope's Hall.

The Pope's Hall returned to silence, but the person within it did not.

"Hehehe, look at you now. You've developed improper thoughts toward your own disciple. How are you any different from your teacher?" A voice brimming with malice rang out in Bibi Dong's mind.

"Shut up. Don't mention that bastard to me."

"You're even worse than he was. You could lay hands on a six-year-old. If your disciple found out that his beloved teacher was actually someone who could harbor such thoughts toward a six-year-old child..."

"I said shut up!" Thoroughly enraged by those two remarks, Bibi Dong erupted with a startling aura. A massive blast of air sent the decorations in the hall flying in every direction.

Hearing the Pope's furious roar, the Maids outside all hurried away. The Pope losing her composure was not something they were meant to know about.

"Hm? Where are you all going?" Having just experienced the Eight Gates Formation for himself, Ye Kai saw the Maids who should have been on duty leaving and could not help asking.

"Your Highness Ye Kai, it seems that Your Majesty the Pope was arguing with someone inside the hall just now. She was extremely angry," the lead Maid said after bowing to Ye Kai.

Arguing with someone? Ye Kai was startled. As the Maids stationed outside the Pope's Hall, they theoretically could not have failed to notice anyone entering through the main entrance.

"I understand. You may leave. Clear everyone away from the vicinity of the Pope's Hall." If his guess was correct, it was probably a conflict between his teacher and the divine consciousness of the Rakshasa God.

This was the perfect chance to see whether the Purification Domain could affect malicious intent. Of course, the other party was a First-Class God, so completely purifying it was basically impossible. Still, it would be a good result if he could suppress it somewhat.

"Teacher, I'm here," Ye Kai announced as he reached the door.

After a long while, Bibi Dong's voice came from within. "Come in."

Ye Kai pushed open the door and entered. Seeing that the wrecked Pope's Hall contained only Bibi Dong, he understood immediately.

Without saying much, Ye Kai bent down and began cleaning up.

"Leave these things to the Maids. Hm? You're injured? Who did this?!" Bibi Dong had initially wanted to tell her disciple not to bother with such trivial tasks, but she noticed that Ye Kai's aura was unstable and his face slightly pale.

The anger Bibi Dong had only barely suppressed instantly flared up again. Someone actually dared injure her disciple right under her nose. Aside from that old fossil from the Worship Hall, no one else would dare do such a thing.

What, did you think Xiao Kai had lured away your precious granddaughter, so you came to take revenge on him? You old bastard, I'll pluck a few feathers off you this time!

"No, no, no, Teacher. I accidentally injured myself while training," Ye Kai hurriedly explained when he saw that Bibi Dong seemed to have imagined something.

Within the Eight Gates Formation, the first three gates—the Gate of Opening, Gate of Rest, and Gate of Life—were the safe zone. That was to say, although there would be aftereffects such as weakness and mental fatigue, opening only the first three gates would not cause excessive damage to the user's body.

Thus, after discovering that he truly could open the first three gates, Ye Kai did not stop and directly assaulted the fourth gate, the Gate of Injury.

As violent Soul Power surged, the Gate of Injury opened successfully, followed by an intense wave of pain.

As expected, the body only starts taking damage from the fourth gate onward. But it's still within my control. Let's try the fifth gate.

After four years of hellish self-torture training, supplemented by nourishing medicinal baths, and with his martial soul awakened, he was at least on the same level as Rock Lee during the Chunin Exams. The fifth gate should be within reach as well.

"Fifth Gate, Gate of Closure, open!"

Even more violent Soul Power surged through him alongside excruciating pain. At the same time, Ye Kai's skin rapidly flushed red, veins bulging across his neck, face, arms, thighs, and many other places. Enduring the agony, he activated his inner vision and saw his meridians tearing apart, healing, then tearing apart again.

With my current physical condition, the fifth gate is already my limit. Next, I'll test the enhancement effect.

With a loud boom, Ye Kai appeared at the other end of the Training Field. "No, why has my speed increased so much, yet my body and eyes can still keep up?"

Back when Kakashi did not have the Sharingan, his movements were too fast for his eyes to follow. As a result, Lightning Blade could only be used at close range or after trapping an enemy with Earth Release.

Ye Kai should have suffered the same drawback, yet during that experiment, he had not felt his eyes failing to keep up with his movements.

"Could it be because of Spiritual Power?" After all, he had transmigrated to this continent. His soul from his previous life had at least been that of an adult. Added to the boosts from the system and the God-level Tree of Life, even if he could not compare to Huo Gua, he should be slightly stronger than Tang God King.

"Forget it. If I can't figure it out, I won't dwell on it. But these Five Gates really hurt!" Although he had been injured during training before, external wounds and internal meridian injuries brought entirely different kinds of pain.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Explosions rang out across the Training Field once again. Only a black shadow could be seen darting continuously through the grounds, leaving countless craters wherever it passed.

After throwing another punch that shattered a wooden post, the remaining force howled outward and struck a large tree beyond the Training Field along with a powerful gust of wind. Ye Kai withdrew from the Five Gates state. "That's enough for today."

As he spoke, Ye Kai limped out of the Training Field. He first called over a Guard and instructed him to find builders to repair the grounds, then headed for the Pope's Palace.

"That was what happened. However, this soul skill is not yet fully developed and still requires more practice to perfect," Ye Kai explained to Bibi Dong.

"Besides, my recovery speed is different from that of ordinary people. I'll heal quickly, so please don't worry, Teacher."

Bibi Dong ignored Ye Kai's explanation. She grabbed his right hand and sent Soul Power into his body to inspect his condition. Sure enough, just as Ye Kai had said, many of his meridians were torn, but they were healing at an abnormal speed.

Releasing his hand, Bibi Dong shot Ye Kai an exasperated glare. "You little brat, all you know is how to make your teacher worry."

"Teacher, you haven't eaten yet, right? Then, as an apology for making you worry, I'll arrange dinner tonight." Ye Kai did not dare continue the conversation. He turned and ran off—of the thirty-six stratagems, fleeing was the best.