Ten Months Later: Mysterious Jade Body, Attempting a Breakthrough

"My name is Tie Long!"

"My name is Tie Hu!"

"Watch out!"

"..."

Bang—!

Xiao Xian's body was sent flying by a vicious blow from a Big Hammer.

Oscar hurriedly stepped in front of him and conceded defeat.

"..."

By the time Oscar dragged Xiao Xian off the arena, Flender finally appeared. He grabbed the unconscious Xiao Xian by the collar and lifted him up.

"Tell Mubai that you can get back on your own!"

Shrek Academy.

"I think you're just wasting your effort, Boss. Instead of letting him take part in spirit battles, you might as well just beat him up yourself."

Inside a small wooden cabin, Zhao Wuji tossed the unconscious Xiao Xian into a medicinal bath. At the same time, he stuffed a handful of candy beans into his mouth, grabbed his hair, and used the water from the bath to wash them down.

Flender stood to one side and said in a low voice, "I'm his Dean. No matter how I beat him, he knows he definitely won't die."

"But in a spirit battle, one careless mistake could kill or cripple him. If he isn't pushed into a desperate situation, how can he bring out his greatest potential?"

"Only when his opponent is about as strong as he is, when he has hope of winning yet finds himself in a desperate situation, can he unleash potential he normally doesn't possess and have even the slightest chance of breaking through his shackles."

"Otherwise, cultivating would be far too easy for Spirit Masters everywhere. Regardless of talent, all they would need to do is hire a powerful Spirit Master and get beaten up."

Zhao Wuji glanced at Xiao Xian, sprawled limply in the medicinal bath, and chuckled. "Then, Boss, do you think he brought out his greatest potential today?"

At those words, Flender's face instantly darkened a little.

Today? Of course not. In fact, he was still far from it.

"Before he goes to participate in spirit battles from now on, beat him up once at the academy first. Otherwise, the first few matches really are a waste of effort." Flender glanced at Zhao Wuji, then left with his hands behind his back.

Zhao Wuji fell silent at once. "..."

Don't ask. He regretted it.

He had really found himself another job.

"..."

For the next stretch of time, Xiao Xian's life was very stable.

In the mornings, he recuperated from his injuries and cultivated Soul Power with Xiao Jue.

In the afternoons, Zhao Wuji beat him up until his face was bruised and swollen, his entire body weak and wracked with pain, leaving him unable to get up.

After eating candy beans and sausages at night, he continued participating in spirit battles, fighting until he lost consciousness.

What happened after he fainted was beyond his control.

In any case, he woke up in a medicinal bath every time.

At first, his body was still wrapped in bandages. As time passed, there were fewer and fewer of them.

His Mysterious Jade Body actually made considerable progress during this process.

The bottleneck in his Soul Power also loosened day by day.

Xiao Xian occasionally wondered whether Zhao Wuji's beatings were more effective, or whether spirit battles were more effective.

In the end, he found no answer. Perhaps it was fifty-fifty, or perhaps the two complemented each other.

It was simply that during spirit battles, he truly fought harder.

As a result, at the Soto Great Spirit Arena, the name Black Robe became increasingly renowned.

That head-on fighting style was simply captivating, attracting a large number of fans.

Some male spectators occasionally saw him use Mysterious Jade Hand. Seeing how slender and fair his palms were, they assumed that beneath the black robe was a fiery-tempered young woman who had come specifically to the spirit arena to vent her frustrations. The contrast was so great that they fell for her.

Quite a few female spectators, meanwhile, insisted that he was an extraordinarily handsome, flirtatious young master.

Their reason was that someone had once seen a man in the same black robe, with twins in his arms, at Suotuo City's famous Rose Hotel...

The two groups argued without end.

However, before long, someone pointed out that there were four Black Robes in total. Which one were they even talking about?

The spectators became even more confused, splitting into different factions.

Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun in particular later changed their names to Black Robe Number Three and Black Robe Number Four respectively, and began imitating Xiao Xian's fighting style as well.

The spectators could no longer tell them apart at all.

"..."

Compared to Xiao Xian, Xiao Jue had it much easier.

He only had to cultivate, eat, cultivate again, then eat again.

Because between the two of them, the one holding them back had always been Xiao Xian.

It was his body that limited Xiao Jue's growth.

As Xiao Jue's Mysterious Heaven Skill advanced, even the Soul Power gained through cultivation took him a long time to digest. Otherwise, his meridians would be unable to bear the strain.

Fortunately, these conditions improved day by day.

During this time, Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun also tried Xiao Xian's cultivation method.

Unfortunately, they had neither the Mysterious Heaven Skill nor the Mysterious Jade Body evolved from the Mysterious Jade Hand, so they did not possess Xiao Xian's absurd recovery speed.

Especially the Mysterious Heaven Skill.

As a pure Daoist internal cultivation method, it was exceptionally effective at nourishing the body and healing injuries.

Simply eating sugar pills and recovery sausages, even with Medicinal Baths added in, was still somewhat insufficient.

Not to mention that whenever Xiao Xian was about to suffer severe injuries, he used the Suction Palm and Blowing Fire Palm to dissipate the force.

He was not just recklessly pushing himself.

Thus, Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun soon could no longer endure it and returned to their normal cultivation routines.

Oscar was still somewhat envious of Xiao Xian's Self-Created Soul Skill.

Xiao Xian let him try it several times, but he could never suppress the chaotic Soul Power of the Sunlight Spore. Every attempt ended with him vomiting blood, and he gradually gave up his dream of becoming a battle Spirit Master, focusing instead on being Food System.

In the blink of an eye, ten months had passed. Inside a small wooden cabin at Shrek Academy.

The veins all over Xiao Xian's body bulged, and tiny beads of blood surfaced layer by layer on his jade-like skin.

Oscar sat cross-legged on the bed opposite him. Having just emerged from meditation, he watched in terrified silence, scarcely daring to breathe.

This was another attempt by Xiao Xian to break through to Level 30.

In fact, as early as the second month after arriving at Shrek Academy, Xiao Xian's Soul Power had already broken through to Level 29.

After that, he had remained firmly stuck at Level 29.

Not until yesterday, after several more battles, did the jade hue of the Mysterious Jade Hand finally spread across his entire body.

Under the effects of the Mysterious Jade Hand, all the meridians throughout his body had strengthened by another level.

Only then did he dare attempt a breakthrough.

Half an hour later.

Pfft—!

Xiao Xian spat out a mouthful of blood.

He slowly opened his eyes and saw the terror on Oscar's face, unconsciously offering him a reassuring smile.

"Brother Oscar, give me a sausage!" Xiao Xian wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his tone finally somewhat helpless.

"I, your father, have a...!" Oscar did not dare delay. He quickly recited the Soul Curse, and several sausages appeared in his hands.

Xiao Xian ate six or seven in a row before waving his hand.

"Brother Xian, you failed again!" Oscar sighed as well.

Over this period of time together, whether it was him, Dai Mubai, or Ma Hongjun, all of them had come to admire Xiao Xian immensely.

At the very least, they definitely could not have kept up that level of cultivation.

Even if they could, they would not have lasted long.

When Xiao Xian was absent, Zhao Wuji had told them that his cultivation was practically a matter of succeeding or dying.

And more likely than not, dying.

Yet Xiao Xian had somehow endured until now, only to fail once again in the end.

Xiao Xian had originally closed his eyes again.

But upon hearing Oscar's words, he suddenly opened his eyes, blinked, and chuckled. "Failed? No."