A Qualitative Leap in Strength

Blood Fiend and the Crimson Flame Wolf King had both been badly wounded, and Deputy Leader Lu Ling was heavily injured as well. How could Liu Bai, who wanted to play the oriole, possibly let such a perfect opportunity slip away?

While everyone waited for the Wolf King to die on its own, a figure suddenly descended from the sky. A dagger instantly pierced through the Wolf King's skull, ending its final breath...

"Ding! Congratulations to the player for level-skipping and killing the intermediate Spirit Beast Crimson Flame Wolf King. You have gained 1,000 Experience Points and 3 Beast Soul Points."

A pleasant system notification rang out.

But it was accompanied by an angry, startled roar.

"Who are you?!"

Lu Ling, who had already risen to his feet, stared at the figure that had suddenly appeared in the valley. The man had covered his face with his collar and killed the Crimson Flame Wolf King the instant he appeared. Lu Ling certainly did not think he was here to help them.

Unfortunately, Liu Bai said nothing. He swiftly opened his status panel and immediately poured his Experience Points into the Blazing Sun Art.

Player: Liu Bai

Realm: Spirit Wheel Realm Initial Stage

Class: Spirit Array Master (Level 1 Spirit Array Master)

Spirit Veins: Awakening (4/10)

Cultivation Method: Blazing Sun Art (Fifth Layer 0/3000); Basic Spirit Array Manual (Great Accomplishment 0/500)

Skills:

Mortal Grade High Rank Wind Breaking Finger (Great Accomplishment); Mortal Grade High Rank Senluo Death Seal (Great Accomplishment); Spirit Grade Low Rank Star Shattering Fist (Initiation 0/100); Spirit Grade Low Rank Blazing Step (Great Accomplishment 0/1500); Spirit-grade High-tier Great Sun Sea Burning Palm (Minor Accomplishment 0/1200)

Arrays:

Flame Serpent Spirit Breaking Array (Great Accomplishment)

Experience Points: 255

Beast Soul Points: 21

His cultivation directly rose to the Spirit Wheel Realm. Then, without the slightest hesitation, Liu Bai turned and threw a punch at Lu Ling.

"Star Shattering Fist!"

As the punch flew out, the wind roared!

Liu Bai had no time to inspect the changes in his body after advancing to the Spirit Wheel Realm. He only knew that he was now several times stronger than before, and the power of his Star Shattering Fist had increased tenfold.

Seeing that the newcomer had attacked him without hesitation, Lu Ling knew there was no room left for reconciliation. There was only one choice—fight!

The other members of the Blood Fiend Adventuring Group were still tied down by the Crimson Flame Wolves. Their leader, Blood Fiend, had lost an arm and a leg and naturally could no longer fight. Their only chance of survival was for Lu Ling to defeat this suddenly appearing mysterious man.

"Wind Riding Sword Art!"

In an instant, Lu Ming unleashed his ultimate move.

He had no choice. His current condition did not permit a prolonged battle, and judging by the aura surrounding his opponent, the man was clearly a Spirit Wheel Realm expert as well. If he did not use his trump card, he would not have the slightest chance.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Streaks of azure sword qi shot toward him. Sensing the sharp aura emanating from them, Liu Bai immediately retreated.

Clang!

With a crisp ring, he watched his Star Shattering Fist's force get cleaved apart by the sword qi before both forces dissipated.

But there were still more than a dozen such sword qi behind them!

At that moment, Liu Bai's gaze was exceptionally calm. Vast, surging spiritual energy rapidly gathered in his palm. Moments later, the fiery-red energy transformed into a blazing sun that appeared above his hand.

"Great Sun Sea Burning Palm."

Liu Bai shot into the air, thrusting out his right palm. Spiritual energy poured forth without restraint, and his entire body seemed to transform into a sphere of blazing light. A fiery-red sun more than ten feet wide appeared in his palm, tightly grasped by him before hurtling downward at the sword qi and Lu Ling with terrifying force.

The valley floor slightly caved in beneath that violent impact. Even the pack of Crimson Flame Wolves began trembling under that astonishing pressure.

Could he really block this palm strike?

Lu Ling's body trembled slightly as he gripped his longsword tightly. Points of light slowly emerged across his body, resembling soaring dragons of light as they shimmered brilliantly.

As those points of light emerged, the spiritual energy fluctuations of Lu Ling's Spirit Wheel Realm Initial Stage began rising. Before long, they reached a level comparable to Blood Fiend's Spirit Wheel Realm Middle Stage.

Spirit Veins!

Clearly, Lu Ling was someone who possessed Spirit Veins!

Liu Bai narrowed his eyes. Someone with Spirit Veins would be a target every force in the Northern Spirit Realm sought to recruit! Moreover, this man was not weak to begin with. Why would he remain in such a tiny adventuring group?

But this was no time to think about that. No matter what trump cards his opponent possessed, the killing intent in Liu Bai's heart did not waver in the slightest.

As he watched his dozen or so sword qi crumble beneath the blazing sun while its power remained undiminished, Lu Ling could only grit his teeth and charge straight at the Great Sun, like Kua Fu charging forward without hesitation to chase the sun in the sky.

Unfortunately, although his spiritual cultivation was now higher than Liu Bai's, the gap between the grades of their spirit arts was simply too great.

The power unleashed by the Spirit-grade High-tier Great Sun Sea Burning Palm was enough to erase their minuscule cultivation gap. Even Blood Fiend or the Crimson Flame Wolf King, at their peak, would have been unable to block this palm strike head-on.

Boom!

Like a meteor falling from the heavens, a fiery-red blazing sun radiating intense spiritual energy crashed into the valley floor.

In an instant, the terrifying high temperature that swept outward sent the Crimson Flame Wolf King's body flying hundreds of meters away before it smashed viciously into the surrounding cliff walls.

Blood Fiend on the ground suffered the same fate. After enduring such a horrifying impact, his head tilted to the side, and he fainted without a struggle.

Still, cultivators truly had formidable vitality. An ordinary person would have died hundreds of times over by now, yet he was somehow still hanging on...

As for the remaining members of the Blood Fiend Adventuring Group and the Crimson Flame Wolves, they stopped fighting at the same time in perfect unspoken agreement, then desperately sprinted toward the valley exit.

But before they could reach it, a figure had already blocked their path.

What no one expected was that the Masked Mysterious Man calmly closed his eyes right in front of them, even tucking both hands into his sleeves...

What was going on?

For a moment, the members of the Blood Fiend Adventuring Group were utterly bewildered.

But they were adventurers who had licked blood from their blades. Seeing this, someone immediately steeled himself, took a step forward, and charged at the figure.

Yet Liu Bai only evaded his attacks. Though his eyes were closed, he continually dodged every strike.

"Why aren't you attacking? Are you waiting to die?!" Seeing this, the man panicked and roared at his stunned companions behind him.

His companions immediately snapped out of it. One after another, they roared and charged forward while brandishing their weapons.

However, these men, consumed by the urge to risk their lives, failed to notice that more than a dozen Spirit Seals suddenly appeared on Liu Bai's hands hidden within his sleeves, silently melting into the air.

Just as the group prepared to rush him, Liu Bai, who had been dodging all this time, suddenly stopped. Looking at those pairs of savage, bloodthirsty eyes, a faint smile appeared on his handsome face. Then he brought his hands together and formed a strange hand seal.

"Flame Serpent Spirit Breaking Array!"

The fully mastered Flame Serpent Spirit Breaking Array instantly enveloped the entire valley entrance. The crimson spirit array, dozens of meters wide, abruptly emitted a heart-pounding fluctuation. Then three enormous flame serpents flew from the array and charged directly into the crowd.

Although it was only a First-Grade Spirit Array, each of those flame serpents possessed strength comparable to the Spirit Wheel Realm Initial Stage. Moreover, the Flame Serpent Spirit Breaking Array at Great Accomplishment could directly form three flame serpents. Even if Lu Ling were still alive, he would have been completely unable to stop them!

Thus, what followed was a one-sided slaughter!

And under Liu Bai's control, the flame serpents did not target only the seven members of the Blood Fiend Adventuring Group. The remaining nine Crimson Flame Wolves were within their attack range as well.

One minute later, the rampaging flame serpents dissipated after exhausting their spiritual energy. But at that point, no living creature remained in the entire valley except Liu Bai.

There were even pools of red, liquid-like metal on the ground. They had been the weapons held by the Blood Fiend Adventuring Group's members, melted directly into molten iron by the terrifying heat of the flame serpents...

Liu Bai shook his head. Clearly, even he had not expected the Flame Serpent Spirit Breaking Array to be so powerful.

Of course, that was also because he had completely mastered the array, allowing him to unleash one hundred and twenty percent of its power.

And the reason he had been able to set up the spirit array so easily and quickly with his eyes closed was because he had just raised his array cultivation to the state of a Heart Array!

The clock turned back one minute.

When Lu Ming was swallowed by the blazing sun formed from Liu Bai's Great Sun Sea Burning Palm, a system notification sounded beside Liu Bai's ear.

"Ding! Congratulations to the player for killing a Spirit Wheel Realm Initial Stage cultivator. You have gained 300 Experience Points and 10 Spirit Vein Awakening Points."

"Ding! Congratulations to the player. Your Spirit Vein Awakening Points have met the requirement. Spirit Vein awakening will now begin. Please wait..."

Although the beginning of his Spirit Vein awakening delighted Liu Bai, his only thought now was not to let the Blood Fiend Adventuring Group members and the remaining Crimson Flame Wolves escape. So after checking his Experience Points, he decisively added them to the Basic Spirit Array Manual.

Then another note appeared after the Basic Spirit Array Manual on his panel: Low-level Heart Array.

Within the Great Thousand World's system of array cultivation, there were two exceptionally profound states. The first was the Heart Array state, while the second was the Mind's Eye state.

The so-called Heart Array state allowed an array master to break free from the limitations of ordinary sight and perceive arrays directly with the heart. The paths of a spirit array would all be held within one's mind and could move according to one's will. Some people further divided the Heart Array state into three grades: low-level, middle-level, and high-level.

Liu Bai had now just entered the low-level Heart Array state. That was why he could set up a spirit array so quickly without needing to use his eyes.

As for why he had closed his eyes in front of the enemy, it was naturally to prevent his vision from affecting him during his first use of the Heart Array state, as well as to confuse his enemies somewhat. It was definitely not for the boring sake of showing off.

Generally speaking, even exceptionally gifted Spirit Array Masters could only possibly comprehend the Heart Array state after reaching Level 3 Spirit Array Master. Mu Chen in the original story was an exception, since he had inherited the bloodline of a Great Grandmaster Spirit Array Master and had been born with such extraordinary talent.

Now Liu Bai counted as one too, except he had done it by giving himself cheats...

So, if one wanted to grow in a cruel place like the Great Thousand World, one either needed bloodline and backing or cheats. Otherwise, among all the experts throughout the original story, who had truly risen all the way from the very bottom?

The Mind's Eye state was even more outrageous!

The Virtual Mind's Eye was still fairly normal. At its core, it remained a kind of illusory comprehension.

When a Spirit Array Master who had grasped the Virtual Mind's Eye set up an array, they would consume less spiritual energy, the array's power would become greater, and the failure rate would drop significantly. They could even set up arrays beyond their level.

But the Actual Mind's Eye was rather absurd, because it allowed a Spirit Array Master to see directly to the core of a spirit array. In other words, they could identify an array's central hub at a glance. If two Spirit Array Masters fought, the one with the Actual Mind's Eye could instantly see through the painstakingly laid grand array of the other, find its weakness, and shatter it. How was anyone supposed to fight that?

Of course, that was not even the most terrifying part. If the Actual Mind's Eye was raised to its strongest state, it could even condense into the form of a True Eye. That was the true Mind's Eye.

Legend had it that beneath the gaze of the Mind's Eye, no array could endure!

If you encountered such a Spirit Array Master, it was best not to casually set up an array in front of him. He could see through it at a glance, and in the next moment, that array would be his. It was practically the Great Thousand World's version of the Sharingan. How were anyone else supposed to play?

It's a pity that the Basic Spirit Array Manual can only be raised to the low-level Heart Array state. It seems that in the future, I'll need to seek out not only higher-level Cultivation Methods, but also deeper secret arts for array cultivation. Liu Bai could not help sighing inwardly.

Then, he began cleaning up the battlefield.

That was, collecting Spirit Beast Cores...

There were dozens of Crimson Flame Wolf corpses in this valley. Gathering them would mean dozens of low-level Spirit Beast Cores. Adding the Wolf King's core, Liu Bai could declare himself first place in this training without any surprises.

After collecting the Spirit Beast Cores, he did not forget to specifically check on the leader of the Blood Fiend Adventuring Group...

Well, a cultivator with only one arm and one leg would not live long even if left alone, so Liu Bai kindly helped him find release.

"Ding! Congratulations for killing a Spirit Wheel Realm Middle Stage cultivator. You have gained 500 Experience Points and 1 Spirit Vein Awakening Point."

Liu Bai could not help frowning. His system had issued many such notifications by now.

But the experience gained from killing Blood Fiend and Lu Ling was much less than what he had received for killing the Wolf King...

There should be an experience bonus for level-skipping kills...

That was the only possibility. As for the Spirit Vein Awakening Points, they were probably related to whether the enemy possessed Spirit Veins... Lu Ling had Spirit Veins, so he had given more Awakening Points—ten times that of an ordinary person.

He now looked at his status panel.

The 1,000 Experience Points from killing the Wolf King, together with the more than 1,000 he had originally possessed, had been used to raise his cultivation. The remaining 255 points, plus the 300 points from killing Lu Ling, had been used to upgrade the Basic Spirit Array Manual, leaving only 55 points.

Afterward, Liu Bai used the spirit array to kill seven people and nine Crimson Flame Wolves, gaining a total of 1,670 Experience Points. Adding the 500 from killing Blood Fiend, he now had more than 2,000 again.

Player: Liu Bai

Realm: Spirit Wheel Realm Initial Stage

Class: Spirit Array Master (Level 1 Spirit Array Master)

Spirit Veins: One Spirit Vein (12/50)

Cultivation Method: Blazing Sun Art (Fifth Layer 0/3000); Basic Spirit Array Manual (Low-level Heart Array)

Skills:

Mortal Grade High Rank Wind Breaking Finger (Great Accomplishment); Mortal Grade High Rank Senluo Death Seal (Great Accomplishment); Spirit Grade Low Rank Star Shattering Fist (Initiation 0/100); Spirit Grade Low Rank Blazing Step (Great Accomplishment 0/1500); Spirit-grade High-tier Great Sun Sea Burning Palm (Minor Accomplishment 0/1200)

Arrays:

Flame Serpent Spirit Breaking Array (Great Accomplishment)

Experience Points: 2225

Beast Soul Points: 30

Thanks to readers Zhou Tian Dian Huang and JackCoLee for the tips!