Breakthrough

To the students of Northern Azure Spirit Academy, the Spirit Value Hall was an exceedingly important place, one that accompanied them through nearly their entire time at the academy.

After finishing his challenge of the Divine Soul Ranking, Liu Bai hurriedly left the freshman residential area and headed deeper into Northern Azure Spirit Academy.

Unlike Northern Spirit Academy, where Liu Bai had once studied, Northern Azure Spirit Academy's students enjoyed enormous freedom and were not constrained by any Mentors at all.

Of course, under normal circumstances, no Mentor would try to restrict what the students did...

That was because many students at Northern Azure Spirit Academy were even stronger than the Mentors themselves, leaving those Mentors with little they could actually teach them.

Of course, that did not mean Northern Azure Spirit Academy lacked powerful famous teachers. It was simply that those top-tier Mentors were first-rate experts even across the Northern Azure Continent. To receive their guidance, one had to pay an exorbitant amount of Spirit Value to hire them.

This was not a burden that newly enrolled freshmen could afford.

After more than twenty minutes, Liu Bai finally arrived before the Spirit Value Hall...

It was a grand hall beyond description. It stood within Northern Azure Spirit Academy like a mountain peak, surrounded by drifting clouds and mist, making it seem like an immortal realm.

Standing outside the Spirit Value Hall, Liu Bai raised his head and saw enormous golden characters hundreds of feet tall gleaming in the air.

Figures swept through the surrounding sky like locusts before shooting into the magnificent hall. The flow of people never seemed to stop.

"This place is pretty popular." With a soft laugh, Liu Bai quickly entered the Spirit Value Hall as well.

The moment he stepped into the hall, Liu Bai felt a peculiar Spirit Array fluctuation sweep across his body. Clearly, it was the protective grand array of the Spirit Value Hall.

The space inside the Spirit Value Hall was equally vast. In particular, numerous round, crystalline spheres floated in the air, and within them were vaguely visible all kinds of scrolls, Spiritual Artifacts, heavenly treasures, and more.

Liu Bai was deeply impressed. He had no idea which genius of Northern Azure Spirit Academy had come up with this method of putting such precious items on display. Wasn't this deliberately tempting people...?

Reluctantly withdrawing his gaze, Liu Bai did not dare entertain any improper thoughts despite how tempted he was.

After all, the Spirit Value Hall was not only protected by a grand array, but was surely also guarded by experts from Northern Azure Spirit Academy. If he remembered correctly, the one stationed here seemed to be Northern Azure Spirit Academy's guardian Divine Beast, the Northern Darkness Dragon Kun, right?

This was a Divine Beast at the peak of Ninth-grade Supreme, said to be unmatched beneath the Earthly Sovereign Realm. With him here, nothing could possibly go wrong in the Spirit Value Hall.

Sweeping his gaze around, Liu Bai saw the surrounding students heading toward their respective crystal counters for service. Without hesitating further, he walked directly toward the nearest one.

The person responsible for receiving Liu Bai was not some hidden expert, but a pretty girl who looked only a little older than him. She appeared to be a student of the academy as well.

"Junior, what would you like to exchange for?"

Seeing that the one approaching was a handsome young boy, the woman immediately greeted him warmly.

Liu Bai wore a faint smile as well. "Senior Sister, I'd like to exchange for the Spirit-grade Mid-tier Cultivation Method, Golden Crow Blazing Flame Art; the Third-grade Array Diagram, Hundred Spirit Sword Array; Basic Essentials of Spirit Artifact Forging; and Basic Essentials of Spirit Pill Refining."

Hearing Liu Bai list four items in a row, the pretty senior sister froze.

Though she did not yet know the exact prices of these items, having worked in the Spirit Value Hall for so long, she was well aware of the value of a Spirit-grade Mid-tier Cultivation Method and a Third-grade Array Diagram.

"Senior Sister?" Seeing the pretty girl before him spacing out, Liu Bai could not help calling out.

"Oh, oh. Junior, please wait a moment. I'll get them for you right away..." The girl came back to her senses and immediately blushed. While secretly annoyed at herself for embarrassing herself before such a handsome junior, she was also curious about who he was to be able to spend so much Spirit Value at once.

I thought he was some freshman junior, but apparently not...

The freshmen had only just entered the academy. They could not possibly have enough Spirit Value to exchange for such things.

In truth, the pretty senior sister was not wrong. Even Liu Bai had originally planned to exchange for all these items within a month.

However, what he had not expected was that after taking first place on the Divine Soul Ranking, he had been directly rewarded with fifty thousand Spirit Value. That was thirty thousand more than Mu Chen had received for third place in the original story, giving Liu Bai enough capital to exchange for everything he needed at once.

Soon, the pretty senior sister returned carrying a box, with a trace of shock still on her face.

"Junior, I've brought your items. Please take a look. The total comes to fifty-one thousand Spirit Value."

From her eyes, Liu Bai could tell that she did not quite believe he could produce so much Spirit Value.

But that was fine. He had originally possessed eight thousand Spirit Value, and with the fifty-thousand reward added on, exchanging for these items was more than affordable.

Moreover, first place on the Divine Soul Ranking came with a daily reward of two thousand Spirit Value. One day's reward alone was enough for him to stay in the A-grade Area for an entire month. In that case, moving into the A-grade Area would be no problem at all.

Liu Bai examined the items. After hearing the system prompt and confirming that all four items had been recorded, an idea suddenly came to him...

If I said I didn't want them now, wouldn't that be pretty damn low...?

"Junior?" The pretty senior sister called out, thinking Liu Bai did not have enough Spirit Value.

Liu Bai came back to his senses, feeling the tiniest bit ashamed of his earlier thought. He quickly took out his Spirit Value Token.

"Swipe the card!"

Pretty senior sister: "...?"

Well, although she did not understand what exactly this handsome junior had said, she understood what he meant.

After deducting fifty-one thousand Spirit Value from his Spirit Value Token, the pretty senior sister's eyes were filled with astonishment.

What she was most curious about now was whether this junior really was a freshman...

Naturally, Liu Bai had no intention of clearing up her doubts. After receiving the items he needed, he immediately returned to his residence in the Freshman District. It was time to properly improve himself.

"Ding! A Spirit-grade Mid-tier spirit art, Golden Crow Blazing Flame Art, has been detected. Would you like to merge it?"

"Yes!"

In an instant, Liu Bai felt the fire-element spiritual energy within his Heart Aperture suddenly churn. The originally crimson Sunflame spiritual energy instantly turned golden, and a mass of golden Golden Crow spirit flame abruptly rose, burning throughout the entire aperture space.

As the Golden Crow spirit flame burned, the fire-element spiritual energy within his Heart Aperture was rapidly refined. The original Sunflame spiritual energy quickly transformed into Golden Crow flame energy.

"Ding! Congratulations, player. Fusion successful. Golden Crow Blazing Flame Art has been raised to the fifth layer."

Along with the system prompt, a piercing Golden Crow cry suddenly rang out from the depths of Liu Bai's soul. The next moment, a massive golden bird burst from within the Golden Crow spirit flame. With a flap of its wings, endless spirit flames rained down.

"Golden Crow Manifestation?!"

This time, Liu Bai had truly been struck by a surprise from heaven.

One had to know that a Spirit-grade Mid-tier spirit art could not manifest a form. This was also the greatest difference between Spirit-grade Mid-tier and Spirit-grade High-tier, and the main reason for the enormous gap in their value.

After examining it carefully, Liu Bai discovered that this golden bird had only the shape, but not the essence. It was fundamentally different from a true Cultivation Method manifestation, which allowed him to rein in some of his delight.

Still, this was already quite good. It was much stronger than an ordinary Spirit-grade Mid-tier Cultivation Method.

The fifth layer of the Golden Crow Blazing Flame Art still only gave him Divine Soul Realm Middle Stage spiritual energy cultivation. Liu Bai did not raise it immediately. Instead, he first raised the other three—Hundred Spirit Sword Array, Basic Essentials of Spirit Artifact Forging, and Basic Essentials of Spirit Pill Refining—to Great Accomplishment.

As a third-grade array, the Hundred Spirit Sword Array required 7,150 Experience Points to reach Great Accomplishment. Spirit Artifact Forging and Spirit Pill Refining, meanwhile, were only basic spirit arts, requiring merely 900 Experience Points each to reach Great Accomplishment.

After this round of upgrades, Liu Bai's more than forty thousand Experience Points had fallen to thirty-eight thousand.

In exchange, he gained a powerful Third-Grade Spirit Array and acquired two new professions: Spirit Array Master and Spirit Pill Master.

Player: Liu Bai

Realm: Divine Soul Realm Late Stage

Professions: Level 3 Spirit Array Master; Artifact Forger; Spirit Pill Master

Spirit Veins: Three Earth Veins (50/1000)

Physique: Spirit Muscle Jade Bone

Essence Soul: Three-Headed Stone Flood Dragon (Heaven-grade Mid-tier Spirit Beast)

Cultivation Methods: Golden Crow Blazing Flame Art (Fifth Layer 0/12500); Hundred Scrolls of Array Dao: Upper Volume (Great Accomplishment · Heart Array Advanced); Low Grade Body Tempering Divine Art · Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art (Great Accomplishment 4500/30000); Mountain God Art (Fourth Layer 0/18000); Basic Essentials of Spirit Artifact Forging (Great Accomplishment); Basic Essentials of Spirit Pill Refining (Great Accomplishment)

Skills:

...Spirit-grade High-tier Great Sun Sea Burning Palm (Great Accomplishment 35/6000); Spirit-grade High-tier Mountain Shaking Divine Fist (Great Accomplishment 0/6000)

Arrays:

...Hundred Spirit Sword Array (Great Accomplishment)

Pill Formulas: None

Blueprints: None

Experience Points: 38080

Beast Soul Points: 72

Pill refining required pill formulas and a pill furnace, while artifact forging required blueprints and a forging furnace. Liu Bai was in no rush to obtain these things, because he had raised Spirit Artifact Forging and Spirit Pill Refining in preparation for upcoming missions. Perhaps he could even get pill formulas and blueprints for free then. Why not?

"The remaining Experience Points should be used to improve my cultivation... I wonder when that guy I pushed down will come back to reclaim his position. Should I play weak and give him a surprise at the crucial moment, or face him directly in my strongest state...?"

After thinking it over, Liu Bai abandoned that particular bit of bad taste and directly added 18,000 Experience Points to the Mountain God Art.

Soon, a faint spiritual glow radiated from the top of Liu Bai's head. Within that glow, a Divine Soul no larger than a palm slowly rose and sat cross-legged atop his head.

The moment this Divine Soul appeared, Liu Bai's body suddenly trembled. The world before his eyes seemed to begin changing, shifting from unfamiliarity to closeness...

If heaven and earth had once been an entirely unfamiliar world to Liu Bai, then now, it seemed that an exceedingly wondrous connection had formed between him and heaven and earth.

At that moment, Liu Bai seemed to gain some insight. His hands formed seals, and the tiny Divine Soul atop his head formed the exact same hand seals.

Rumble!

Countless strands of heaven and earth spiritual energy around the entire lake suddenly surged over in a frenzy, roaring like innumerable rivers as they rushed straight into Liu Bai's room before finally pouring into his body.

Boom!

In an instant, the spiritual energy within Liu Bai's body erupted like a volcano. The three Spirit Wheels spun directly at their limit, like three black holes madly devouring both this spiritual energy and the spiritual energy from the outside world.

Woo, woo, woo...

Mournful wails echoed from Liu Bai's small building, awakening countless freshmen who had been cultivating throughout the Freshman District because of the changes in heaven and earth spiritual energy.

"What's happening again?"

The freshmen who had originally been delighted to secure residences near Liu Bai now felt helpless.

Had they known this guy could stir up so much trouble, they would never have chosen to live here. It had not even been a day, and he had already caused so many disturbances. How were they supposed to cultivate like this?!

"Is this... another breakthrough?" An Ran looked at Li Jing beside her with a puzzled expression.

The incident half a day ago had been for challenging the Divine Soul Ranking. There should not be any problems this time, right?

Li Jing also revealed a helpless expression and could only nod. "This time, he really is breaking through..."

"But why is the commotion so huge?" An Ran was still confused.

Given Liu Bai's Divine Soul Realm Late Stage cultivation, his breakthrough should be to Divine Soul Realm Peak, or perhaps half-step Heaven Fusion Realm. It should not have been able to stir up such widespread spiritual energy fluctuations.

"No. I think he's attempting to break through to the Heaven Fusion Realm!" Li Jing said with certainty.

She herself was at Divine Soul Realm Peak, so she naturally knew what breaking through Divine Soul Realm Peak looked like. That was why she had come to this conclusion.

Yet her words startled An Ran once more. When she looked toward Liu Bai's small building again, her face was already full of shock.

To directly advance from Divine Soul Realm Late Stage to Heaven Fusion Realm, either his Cultivation Method was special, or he had spirit pills assisting him. It seemed that when he went to the Spirit Value Hall earlier, he must have exchanged for something good.

"It looks like I need to hurry and challenge the Divine Soul Ranking too..." Li Jing murmured, her delicate brows slightly furrowed.

However, those words darkened An Ran's expression. The more she interacted with people like Liu Bai and Li Jing, the more thoroughly her inner pride was shattered.

Compared to these true favored children of heaven, An Ran's performance was simply too ordinary.

Yet this did not cause her to lose confidence. Instead, it ignited the unyielding fire in her heart. She wanted to prove that even if she did not possess Liu Bai's heaven-defying rate of improvement or Li Jing's extraordinary cultivation talent, she, An Ran, could still become one of the academy's strong through her own efforts!

More than ten minutes later, the violent spiritual energy fluctuations between heaven and earth finally began to weaken.

Liu Bai also opened his eyes. At this moment, the aura he radiated had undergone a heaven-shaking transformation compared to before!