Testing His Skills

The tiny Divine Soul sat atop Liu Bai's crown, completely removed from the protection of his physical body and exposed to the world between heaven and earth.

An entranced expression actually appeared on the tiny Divine Soul's face. He sensed heaven and earth, as though he himself had quietly merged into them.

This was an entirely different realm from the Divine Soul Realm.

Liu Bai felt his mind suddenly become incomparably vast, as though he had finally escaped the cage that had trapped him for years and regained precious freedom.

Now, it seemed that every movement he made could merge with heaven and earth, allowing him to draw upon the vast spiritual energy between them.

So this is the true essence of the Three Heavens Realm—breaking free from the prison of the flesh and becoming one with heaven and earth. Recalling the information he had once read about the various stages of the Great Thousand World, Liu Bai gained an even deeper understanding of spiritual energy cultivation.

At that moment, Liu Bai's Divine Soul gradually became as lustrous as jade. It was no longer as illusory as before, and even seemed to possess a tangible texture.

It feels somewhat like the Yin Spirit and Yang Spirit of cultivation systems. And now, this tiny Divine Soul is rippling with astonishing spiritual energy fluctuations. Liu Bai sensed the changes in his body and thought to himself.

Huff.

Suddenly, he slowly exhaled a cloud of white vapor. Then his hand seals changed, and the Divine Soul above his crown slowly sank back into his body, returning to his Sea of Qi.

After all, he had only just broken through to the Heaven Fusion Realm, so Liu Bai's Divine Soul could not yet travel far from his body. It was said that certain incomparably powerful experts could remain physically motionless while their Divine Souls traveled ten thousand miles in an instant.

The Heaven Fusion Realm... Grandfather is probably still working hard to change his Cultivation Method in seclusion... Thinking of his grandfather, Liu Jingshan, who had entered seclusion before Liu Bai departed, he could not help shaking his head with a smile.

Next, Liu Bai raised the Golden Crow Blazing Flame Art to the sixth level, granting him fire-element spiritual energy equivalent to the peak of the Divine Soul Realm. Unfortunately, he lacked experience points. Otherwise, if both Cultivation Methods had been raised to the Heaven Fusion Realm, the spiritual energy within him would have been enough to rival that of a late-stage Heaven Fusion Realm cultivator!

"Now, setting up the Hundred Spirit Sword Array will be effortless." A smile appeared at the corner of Liu Bai's lips. "And I can easily condense the fourth and fifth Senluo Death Seals as well."

With that thought, Liu Bai raised his right hand. Black spiritual energy swiftly covered his palm, and in the next instant, black death seals emerged one after another from his palm.

One, two, three, four... Only upon reaching the fifth did Liu Bai once again feel that powerful backlash.

Liu Bai could not help frowning. The backlash from four Senluo Death Seals was enough to rival an early-stage Heaven Fusion Realm cultivator, while five seals were something even mid-stage Heaven Fusion Realm experts would not dare withstand head-on.

Although the grade of this spiritual art was not high, it continuously grew stronger with the number of death seals. Moreover, the more seals there were, the greater the increase!

With a thought, fire-element and earth-element spiritual energy flowed simultaneously from Liu Bai's Heart Aperture and Spleen Aperture. Relying on the violent force of Golden Crow Blazing Flame and the heaviness of rock spiritual energy, Liu Bai finally neutralized the backlash from the fifth death seal.

Feeling the numbness in his palm and arm, Liu Bai's mood improved even further.

Noticing that Liu Bai had successfully broken through, Li Jing, Guo Xiong, and the others from the neighboring buildings quickly arrived at his pavilion.

The moment he saw Liu Bai, Guo Xiong could not help asking, "Boss Liu Bai, did you break through to the Heaven Fusion Realm?"

Liu Bai nodded with a light smile. He did not know when it had started, but Guo Xiong had become increasingly smooth with the title "Boss Liu Bai."

After personally seeing Liu Bai confirm it, Li Jing also sighed and said helplessly, "I really don't know which of us is the genius who passed through the Spirit Road. With your talent, you would probably rank among the best even among those who gained King Titles on the Spirit Road."

Liu Bai smiled again. "Those who can enter the Spirit Road are naturally heaven's favored children, but those who did not enter may not necessarily be inferior. The Great Thousand World is vast and boundless, and everyone has their own opportunities."

"Boss, it is certainly worth celebrating that you took first place on the Divine Soul Ranking this time, but Huo Yun, whom you pushed down from first place, is no simple character. I heard that he has already reached the peak of the mid-stage Heaven Fusion Realm and is even qualified to challenge the Heavenly Ranking. We need to be more careful from now on. He may very well come looking for trouble."

Guo Xiong spoke with a solemn expression.

"Don't worry. I'm already at the early stage of the Heaven Fusion Realm now. Dealing with him won't be a problem." Liu Bai nodded in response.

Guo Xiong's information network was quite impressive. They had only entered the Northern Azure Spirit Academy for a day, yet he had already learned about Huo Yun. That was enough to prove his capabilities.

With someone like him around, many matters would not need to be troublesome in the future.

"Li Jing, Guo Xiong, I saw a spiritual pill called the Divine Soul Pill in the Spirit Value Hall earlier. It is highly suitable for both of you. If you can exchange for it, it should significantly shorten the time needed for you to break through to the Heaven Fusion Realm. You should both find a way to exchange for one."

With him around, Liu Bai naturally would not allow those by his side to remain below the Heaven Transformation Realm even three years after the story began, as they had in the original work. Such progress was far below his standards.

Li Jing could not help rolling her eyes. "You think I don't want to exchange for one? But a single Divine Soul Pill costs twenty thousand Spirit Value. Given our current situation, who knows when we'll be able to afford one?"

Liu Bai merely smiled. "Don't worry. Our Spirit Value will soon come knocking..."

"Who is Liu Bai? Tell him to get the hell out here!"

Before Liu Bai could finish speaking, a cold shout wrapped in surging spiritual energy rang through this Freshman District like thunder.

"See? I told you they'd come." Liu Bai smiled teasingly, seemingly unaware of the abrupt change in expression on the faces of those before him.

"Come on. They've come right to our door, so let's go take a look."

With that, Liu Bai took the lead and headed outside.

It was a vast square, clearly intended for the freshmen's daily cultivation.

At that moment, the entire square was already packed with people. Countless freshmen had emerged and were looking at the figure standing in the air above the center of the square, each with a different expression.

Very soon, Liu Bai and his group arrived at the center of the square. Judging solely from the man's aura, he was merely at the peak of the early-stage Heaven Fusion Realm. He was probably not Huo Yun himself.

"I am Liu Bai. State your purpose." Liu Bai spoke calmly.

The fact that Huo Yun himself had not come left him somewhat disappointed, so he had little interest in humiliating this man.

"Heh, as expected of the one ranked first on the Divine Soul Ranking. You do have guts." The newcomer sneered coldly. "But you have no sense of proper manners. It seems we need to teach you freshmen a lesson and let you understand what it means to respect your seniors!"

Boom!

As his voice fell, vigorous spiritual energy swept out from the young man's body. His figure shot forward as he charged straight at Liu Bai.

Liu Bai remained calm, but a chill was reflected in his eyes. His five fingers suddenly clenched, and he threw a punch. As black spiritual energy gathered, four Senluo Death Seals condensed at once before being blasted forward with his fist.

Bang!

The four Senluo Death Seals shot out, trailing long tails of light. The air along their path was violently blown apart, producing deep explosive booms.

The young man charging at Liu Bai sensed the ferocity of that punch, and his eyes immediately narrowed. However, the alarm was quickly replaced by anger.

"You're just a freshman, yet you dare act so arrogantly before me!"

Although Liu Bai's breakthrough to the Heaven Fusion Realm surprised him, it instead reduced his wariness by several degrees.

After all, Liu Bai's current situation showed that he had also exploited the loophole in the rules. He had poured all his spiritual energy into his Spirit Value Token when he was on the verge of breaking through to the Heaven Fusion Realm, then challenged the Divine Soul Ranking.

That made him no different from the other old students. It also showed that he was merely someone who relied on tricks, not some monstrous genius who could not be provoked.

With that thought, the young man's concerns vanished. Spiritual energy erupted from within him, and he threw out a punch of his own.

Boom!

A visible shockwave of spiritual energy swept outward with a deafening roar. The young man's face immediately turned pale with horror. His body trembled as he was violently blasted backward, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth as sweetness filled his throat.

"How is that possible?!"

Feeling the tearing pain in his chest, the young man's entire face was filled with shock.

His opponent was merely a newcomer who had just broken through to the Heaven Fusion Realm. Yet he could not even withstand a single move?

It was not only him. The surrounding freshmen were also stunned, before the square erupted into an uproar.

"Heh, interesting..." Crane Demon, with his alluring green hair, watched the scene unfolding in the center of the square from afar. His narrow eyes immediately narrowed, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

Over at the Xuan Gang group, Ye Tian, the Black-Robed Youth beside Li Xuantong, could not help saying in surprise, "Who is this Liu Bai? He's that powerful? Why didn't I hear this name when we were on the Spirit Road?"

Ye Tian was no ordinary person. He was also one of the King Title Holders from the Spirit Road, but he had been won over by Li Xuantong and had followed him ever since. He was also Li Xuantong's assistant in managing the Xuan Gang. His own strength had reached the half-step Heaven Fusion Realm, and he was already preparing to break through.

Yet no one had expected that after entering the Northern Azure Spirit Academy, the first person to break through would be an unknown nobody like Liu Bai.

Li Xuantong smiled indifferently. "Not every genius comes from the Spirit Road. Clearly, Liu Bai is one of them. I also heard before that he personally defeated Zhou Fan after Zhou Fan broke through to the Heaven Fusion Realm. He is suspected to be a Level 3 Spirit Array Master..."

"It seems those rumors still underestimated him. Aside from being a Spirit Array Master, his own cultivation talent is equally formidable!"

"Someone like him will inevitably become a powerful rival in our future struggles at the Northern Azure Spirit Academy!"

"You think that highly of him?" Ye Tian was once again surprised.

If he remembered correctly, among this year's freshmen, aside from the taciturn Shen Cangsheng, no one else had ever received such an evaluation from Li Xuantong. Not even the renowned Crane Demon.

"We have plenty of time. You'll understand in the future." With that, Li Xuantong turned and left.

There was no need to watch what happened next. Unless Huo Yun personally stepped forward, these old students were no match for Liu Bai. There was no point in staying any longer.

"Well? My strength is passable, isn't it?" Liu Bai looked at the young man with a smile. "But it seems your strength is still not enough if you want to regain face. You can inform Huo Yun now. If he truly refuses to accept this and wants trouble with me, he can come himself."

"You...!" The young man's face immediately flushed red with humiliation and anger.

"Don't get smug too soon!"

"If Brother Huo Yun were not at a critical point in seclusion right now, how could a freshman like you be allowed to act so arrogantly here!"

"But don't get too pleased with yourself. Brother Huo Yun belongs to our Iron Cavalry Society. Although he has no time to teach you a lesson, our Iron Cavalry Society will not let today's matter rest! Just you wait!"

After throwing out that threat, the young man fled the Freshman Square in a sorry state.

"The Iron Cavalry Society? There's actually such a faction in the Northern Azure Spirit Academy?" Liu Bai raised an eyebrow. This was the first time he had heard that name.

Before long, Zhang Heng and Shao Rui, the two men under Guo Xiong responsible for gathering intelligence, were sent out. About an hour later, the two hurried to Liu Bai's pavilion.

"Boss, we've found everything out." Zhang Heng panted heavily, his face full of worry.

"This Iron Cavalry Society is one of the top factions in our Northern Azure Spirit Academy. Its president is Bai Ran, an expert ranked within the top fifty of the Heavenly Ranking. He possesses quasi-Heaven Transformation Realm strength, ranks thirty-second on the Heavenly Ranking, and is extremely powerful."

"Moreover, the Iron Cavalry Society has several thousand members, and only geniuses are invited to join. I heard that besides the president, it has two vice presidents, both with late-stage Heaven Fusion Realm strength. Huo Yun also holds a considerable position within the Iron Cavalry Society..."

Liu Bai nodded, then waved his hand. A stream of spiritual energy flew from his Spirit Value Token, split into two, and entered Zhang Heng and Shao Rui's Spirit Value Tokens.

"You two have worked hard. This thousand Spirit Value is compensation for your efforts. Go back and cultivate properly."

"Thank you, Boss!" Having received five hundred Spirit Value each, Zhang Heng and Shao Rui left joyfully.

However, the remaining three, Li Jing and the others, all became exceptionally solemn.

"I didn't expect the Iron Cavalry Society to have such power. Boss, compared to them, the few of us are inevitably outnumbered and isolated..." Guo Xiong said with a frown. Combined with his resolute face, he looked far more like a boss than Liu Bai, whose handsome appearance carried a hint of laziness.

Li Jing pondered for a moment. "Should we discuss this with Su Xuan? We can also contact Li Xuantong and the others. The Divine Soul Ranking should have been territory for us freshmen to compete over, yet it has all been occupied by these opportunists. I think they will definitely have their own thoughts about this."

Although Li Xuantong had already broken through to the Heaven Fusion Realm, he had many people under him. Whether they sought fame or Spirit Value, the Divine Soul Ranking was an excellent opportunity.