Monster

The two sides had never borne any deep grudge against each other. Su Ling'er had merely wanted to vent her anger.

Once she defeated "Ye Yun," she could not be bothered to waste any more effort on a freshman.

But Futu Yun was not so easygoing.

A terrifying aura suddenly erupted, crushing down on Su Ling'er and her group like a mountain.

"Creak!" Under the pressure of that overwhelmingly powerful aura, everyone's knees suddenly buckled.

Quite a few senior students fell directly to their knees. Only Su Ling'er, her eyes bloodshot, stubbornly withstood the pressure.

The bones throughout her body continuously let out creaking sounds as they were squeezed under the immense force.

"Oh!" Seeing that Su Ling'er had actually remained standing beneath his aura, the mockery in Futu Yun's eyes deepened.

Yet the oppressive aura only grew stronger.

Su Ling'er and the others frantically circulated the spiritual energy within their bodies, desperately resisting the pressure that left them unable to move.

Only now did they fully understand just how terrifying this freshman was.

Fusion Heaven Realm experts could merge with heaven and earth, manipulate the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and wield mountain-shattering power with every gesture.

But that did not mean a Fusion Heaven Realm cultivator could necessarily defeat someone at the Divine Soul Stage.

In a small place like the Northern Spiritual Realm, the Fusion Heaven Realm almost completely crushed the Divine Soul Stage.

But at the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, challenges across realms were commonplace.

For instance, if a Divine Soul Stage cultivator refined a Fusion Heaven Realm beast spirit, they might well be able to fight a Fusion Heaven Realm expert.

If they refined an even higher-grade beast spirit, it would not be impossible for them to suppress their opponent instead.

Beyond that, Spiritual Arts, spiritual artifacts, and even combat experience could all turn the tide of battle.

But the situation before them could not possibly be explained by common sense.

A Peak Divine Soul Stage cultivator had forced a group of Fusion Heaven Realm cultivators to bow their heads with spiritual energy alone?

That meant he had single-handedly stood against the power of heaven and earth!

How could this be something a Divine Soul Stage cultivator was capable of?

Even Heaven Transformation Realm or Heavenly Reaching Realm experts could not suppress the power of heaven and earth through their own spiritual energy alone!

The Fusion Heaven Realm drew upon the power of heaven and earth to enhance attack power.

The Heaven Transformation Realm merged with a region of heaven and earth to reinforce defense.

The Heavenly Reaching Realm, meanwhile, increased the strength of the Divine Soul.

Although all three realms amplified spiritual energy,

in essence, they still fought by relying on the Fusion Heaven Realm's ability to mobilize the power of heaven and earth.

It was merely that those at the Heaven Transformation Realm and Heavenly Reaching Realm could command greater amounts of that power.

Only after reaching the Sovereign Stage could one suppress the power of heaven and earth with one's own spiritual energy.

Yet Futu Yun was only at the Divine Soul Stage. What gave him the right to suppress a region of heaven and earth?

His own spiritual energy alone?

This proved that there was something fundamentally wrong with Futu Yun's Divine Soul Stage.

Not only Su Ling'er and the others,

even Li Xuantong, who had originally intended to come looking for trouble, gradually began to feel fear.

This fear was not directed at Futu Yun's strength, nor was it directed at his background.

It came from instinct, from fear of the unknown.

What kind of monster was this?

As second place on the Sky Ranking, even when facing a Heavenly Reaching Realm expert, Li Xuantong would try every possible way to find a chance of victory.

Even if he could not win, he would find a way to escape. He would never feel fear.

At their level of cultivation, if they felt afraid whenever they encountered a stronger opponent, there would be no point in cultivating any further.

Even if Futu Yun beat up Su Ling'er and her group,

or even beat him up as well, Li Xuantong would not feel the slightest fear.

But this situation, so far beyond all reason, made him instinctively afraid.

After teaching Su Ling'er and the others a lesson, Futu Yun turned and returned to his room.

Sitting on the bed, he clenched his hand, and the crystal-like Spirit Value Token appeared in his palm.

This Spirit Value Token was connected to the Spiritual Value Hall, where all transactions throughout the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy were gathered.

He held the Spirit Value Token and sent a thread of spiritual energy into it. It immediately began to glow.

The light condensed before him into a screen, displaying a dazzling array of product images and corresponding information.

"Furious Python Spear, mid-grade spiritual artifact, priced at eight thousand Spiritual Value."

"Nine Flames Art, cultivation Spiritual Art, mid-grade spirit rank, priced at nine thousand Spiritual Value."

"Demon Phantom Step, movement Spiritual Art, mid-grade spirit rank, priced at seven thousand eight hundred Spiritual Value."

In truth, the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy was like a miniature Northern Heavens Continent.

One could see many market principles from its internal trading system alone.

Even at the same mid-grade spirit rank, spiritual artifacts cost more than ordinary Spiritual Arts, while cultivation Spiritual Arts were priced even higher than spiritual artifacts.

Strictly speaking, however, cultivation Spiritual Arts were not easy to sell, since demand for them was inherently limited.

A person only needed one cultivation Spiritual Art, but they could own many spiritual artifacts.

Attack, defense, escape—different types of spiritual artifacts served different needs.

As for Spiritual Arts, there was even less need to mention them. "One trick is enough for a lifetime" was merely a saying.

If someone truly knew only one Spiritual Art, they would definitely suffer greatly.

A dazzling stream of product images flashed past Futu Yun's eyes.

Some of the goods in the Spiritual Value Hall had been put up for consignment by students, while the rest belonged to the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy.

"Primordial Golden Crow Essence, priced at four million Spiritual Value." Futu Yun paused.

He had forgotten that this item existed in the original novel.

The Primordial Golden Crow was a mid-grade heavenly-rank spiritual beast, ranked thirty-fourth on the Earth Ranking of the Myriad Beast Record. Its quality could only be considered average.

But like the Primordial Tiger Jiao Essence, it was exceptionally rare.

Most importantly, its attribute was highly compatible with his own.

Futu Yun now generated metal from earth, water from metal, and wood from water.

He had condensed the Dragon Soul Thunder Spirit, but the earth attribute originally derived from Earth Demon Thunder had already been cleansed away.

The Golden Crow was fire-attributed, and the final Vermilion Bird Divine Seal of the Four Divine Beasts Constellation Scripture was also fire-attributed.

His physical body was compatible with the Primordial Dharma Body, the Endless Light Body, and light itself was naturally aligned with fire.

With the Primordial Golden Crow Essence, he could now absorb the power of the Endless Light Body from afar and strengthen his Divine Soul.

There were actually many fire-attributed beast spirits, including quite a few divine beasts.

The reason Futu Yun had set his sights on the Primordial Golden Crow

was partly because the Golden Crow was an avian, making it compatible with the Vermilion Bird Divine Seal he would cultivate next.

But that alone was not enough.

If all he needed was a fire-attributed bird, would divine beasts such as the Nine Nether Flame Sparrow not be even better?

The key was that the Primordial Golden Crow had three legs.

The White Tiger Divine Seal, Black Tortoise Divine Seal, and Azure Dragon Divine Seal he had cultivated before also each had three.

Although the Golden Crow and Vermilion Bird had no direct connection,

they were both fire-attributed avian divine beasts.

Even if they had never interacted in life, after death they could still bring forth some degree of compatibility.

Using the Primordial Golden Crow Essence to cultivate the Vermilion Bird Divine Seal,

its three legs could perfectly correspond to the three Divine Seals of the White Tiger, Black Tortoise, and Azure Dragon.

Furthermore, the Golden Crow's fire attribute itself leaned more toward the light attribute, or rather, yang energy.

This characteristic meant that its flames not only possessed scorching destructive power,

but also contained the purifying and regenerative power of light.

That was precisely why Futu Yun had deliberately chosen the Primordial Golden Crow Essence to assist his cultivation.

He hoped to use its supremely yang and pure energy to cleanse his soul.

When he broke through to the Fusion Heaven Realm and condensed the Vermilion Bird Divine Seal,

the power of the Primordial Golden Crow Essence could further improve Futu Yun's Divine Soul.