Half a Step from a Breakthrough

On the other side, Xia Yang, who was attacking, immediately felt that the purple Soul Power he had injected into Tai Nuo's body encountered strong resistance.

His Soul Power seemed to be stuck in a quagmire, making it extremely difficult to move forward.

"Ha!"

Tai Nuo roared again, and the power he had gathered within him suddenly retaliated, forcefully pushing the alien Soul Power back towards Xia Yang.

The backlash from his Soul Power came swiftly and fiercely. Xia Yang felt a tightness in his chest, a metallic taste in his throat, and couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

To avoid further injury, Xia Yang could only grit his teeth and continue to unleash his Soul Power Soul Power to resist Tai Nuo's counterattack.

For a moment, the two were locked in a dangerous stalemate.

They stood still, and energy surged where Xia Yang's palms touched Tai Nuo's chest.

At this moment, none of them dared to be the first to withdraw their Soul Power.

The two could only compete by constantly expending their Soul Power.

In an instant, the two formed a fragile balance.

"What's wrong with you, kid?!"

Tai Nuo was both shocked and furious, and immediately roared at Xia Yang, "Did you have to use such force in a normal fight?"

"If I hadn't reacted quickly, I would have been seriously injured, if not dead!"

The sense of crisis he felt just now still left Tai Nuo with lingering fear.

"It was an accident! It really was an accident!"

Xia Yang was also suffering in silence.

He had just had a sudden inspiration and tried to combine his first Soul Skill with his Self-Created Soul Skill.

Xia Yang never expected that the combined Soul Skill would produce such tremendous power, capable of directly breaking the opponent's Martial Soul Possession state.

"Hmph! Even if what you're saying is true, what do we do now?"

Tai Nuo also knew that now was not the time to pursue the matter; the immediate priority was to resolve the current predicament.

"We can only slowly and synchronously withdraw our respective Soul Power; we can't continue to deplete it like this, or we'll both suffer heavy losses."

Xia Yang offered a solution, his voice hoarse from the intense depletion of his Soul Power.

"Hmph, I think it's your Soul Power that's about to give out."

Tai Nuo snorted coldly, revealing Xia Yang's current state in a single sentence.

"Stop talking nonsense, just tell me if you're going to cooperate or not."

Xia Yang replied irritably.

"Snort!"

Tai Nuo thought that Xia Yang was, after all, a guest invited by Tang Xiao, and that he was also helping the Third Miss with her cultivation.

So, Tai Nuo forcibly suppressed his anger and said no more.

"Bring it on!"

Ultimately, Tai Nuo compromised and agreed to try Xia Yang's method.

Then, the two cleared their minds of distractions and began to carefully control the flow of Soul Power.

This is an extremely delicate and dangerous process; the slightest mistake could cause the Soul Power to go out of control.

Xia Yang even closed his eyes, relying entirely on his inner perception to guide the surging Soul Power, ensuring the synchronization and stability of the recovery.

Time passed slowly, and under the highly concentrated control of the two, the output of Soul Power gradually weakened, and the turbulent energy fluctuations slowly subsided.

After the last trace of his released Soul Power was drawn back into his body, Tai Nuo immediately leaped backward, creating enough distance between himself and Xia Yang.

Tai Nuo stared at Xia Yang with lingering fear, his voice filled with lingering dread, and said, "I'm really scared of you!"

"A simple match almost turned into a life-or-death struggle!"

"I think I'd better just stick to guarding my own gate!"

After saying that, Tai Nuo turned and left the yard, cursing under his breath.

Afterwards, Tai Nuo returned to the courtyard gate to continue his duty of guarding, preventing Xia Yang from leaving the Clear Sky Sect.

Xia Yang, however, remained standing quietly with his eyes closed.

His mind was completely absorbed in his body, carefully sensing the changes in his Soul Power.

Xia Yang silently circulated the Hunyuan Technique. The Soul Power within his body was like a river freed from its restraints, surging and flowing with unprecedented vitality, endlessly circulating.

"Splash..."

Xia Yang could almost hear the sound of Soul Power flowing through his meridians, clear and powerful.

He keenly sensed that after the intense Soul Power confrontation and precise control he had just experienced, his long-standing Soul Power bottleneck was showing signs of loosening!

As the Hunyuan Technique circulated through the heavens and earth one cycle after another, Xia Yang's previously stagnant Soul Power began to grow Sisi but steadily!

Although the growth rate is slow and the increment is not large.

However, Xia Yang was absolutely certain that this was not an illusion.

"Could it be... could it be that I'm about to break through my current bottleneck?"

An overwhelming joy welled up in Xia Yang's heart.

He suppressed his excitement, kept his mind clear, continued to activate his cultivation Cultivation Technique, guided the circulation of his Soul Power, and patiently waited for the moment when he would accumulate enough power to undergo a qualitative change.

Level 29.1!

Level 29.2!

Xia Yang's Soul Power was slowly increasing.

Level 29.4!

Level 29.5!

An hour later, Xia Yang slowly opened his eyes.

A complex expression flashed across his face.

There is both the satisfaction of progress and the regret of not achieving a breakthrough.

"Level 29.5, half a step towards breakthrough..."

Xia Yang muttered to himself, his tone carrying a hint of amusement and exasperation.

It's only a step away from the threshold of Level 30, but it's still an obstacle that requires time and opportunity to overcome.

Ever since Xia Yang and Tai Nuo's nearly out-of-control fight, Tai Nuo has ignored Xia Yang for several days in a row.

Whenever Xia Yang tried to strike up a conversation, the burly man from the Strength Clan would turn his head away with a stern face, expressing his dissatisfaction through silence.

After a week of Xia Yang's persistent explanations and communication, Tai Nuo finally managed to believe that the dangerous situation was indeed caused by an accident during the fusion of Soul Skill, rather than by Xia Yang's intention.

After the explanation was cleared up, the atmosphere between the two gradually eased, and Tai Nuo no longer deliberately avoided daily interactions with Xia Yang.

However, when Xia Yang enthusiastically invited Tai Nuo to spar again, he was met with a firm refusal.

"My task is to watch over, ah, no, my task is to 'protect,' to ensure you stay peacefully within the Clear Sky Sect,"

Tai Nuo crossed his arms and firmly refused, "I'm not here to spar with you."

No matter how Xia Yang tried to persuade him, or even promised to control his strength, Tai Nuo remained unmoved.

Having learned his lesson once, he was clearly unwilling to take any more risks.

Left with no other choice, Xia Yang had to return to cultivating alone.

The following month passed by in a monotonous and routine manner.

Xia Yang spent all his time in the courtyard, immersing himself in the tempering of his Soul Power and the deduction of his Cultivation Technique.

Whenever he felt bored or depressed, he would leave the courtyard and wander among the mountains where the Clear Sky Sect was located.

The mountain peaks are shrouded in mist, the Pine Forest are lush and green, the streams are babbling, and the waterfalls are rushing.

These natural landscapes became Xia Yang's only solace from loneliness.

Of course, wherever Xia Yang went, Tai Nuo, his silent "shadow," always followed behind him.

Xia Yang was already used to this, so he simply treated him as if he were invisible.