Breaking the Sound Barrier
Inside the secret realm of the Yin-Yang School, Zhang Xuezhou rolled over and stood up.
This secret place accumulates Spiritual Qi only after a hundred years; otherwise, it is quite barren.
Zhang Xuezhou lay in this secret place for more than half a month. He felt that his Law Power had recovered by only 10%, and the nourishment of Spiritual Qi to his body was also relatively limited.
"Oh no!"
Zhang Xuezhou looked around.
The attainment of physical sainthood allows Zhang Xuezhou to maintain his body at its peak at all times. Even if he only has 10% of his power left, Zhang Xuezhou can still exert that 10% of his power in the strongest state.
Zhang Xuezhou wasn't worried about his own situation; he was more concerned about Ren Anran.
Ren Anran's journey will inevitably be arduous, unlike his effortless travels.
During the transformation, he saw Ren Anran's dissipated magical Law Power, which meant that Ren Anran was a pure Yang Soul descending to earth.
If Ren Anran's Yang Soul Incarnation Technique does not have any special abilities, it will be difficult for her divine soul to draw upon the Law Power of her physical body after it descends, which also means that Ren Anran's Yang Soul divine soul will have difficulty condensing into a physical form.
"Spiritual Qi can only maintain the Yang Soul's state from deteriorating. To restore its normal state, the Yang Soul must be nurtured. Only the Great Wilderness Creation Scripture can shape it. We still need to find Zhu Jiuyin for this!"
Plans are no match for changes, and Zhang Xuezhou's plans have failed more than once or twice; every time, the plan and the reality are two different things.
In their normal plan, Ren Anran would travel between the illusory and real forms of his Yang Soul incarnation. Upon landing, he might lose contact with his main body, but he could still exist independently.
This situation has been verified by Ren Anran multiple times, not only in the twisted environment of North Rehe, but also over long distances.
For example, when Ren Anran and the others went to Qinmeng, one of his Yang Soul clones remained in the North Rehe until they were defeated by the ferocious spider beast.
This Yang Soul Body, similar to the One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones, was not affected by distance and, in Ren Anran's estimation, could even survive as a separate individual.
Although Ren Anran's Yang Soul clone is not very strong, it has a very high chance of surviving outside of his main body.
This is also the opportunity Zhang Xuezhou is trying to create for the journey. He is trying to let Ren Anran enter the society where the Three Realms Experience Realm Technique is the main method of cultivation, so as to achieve local customs and be completely integrated into it.
"My soul no longer Zhu Jiuyin through the Great Wilderness Creation Scripture, An Ran won't come with me to Mount Tai. She should go to Zhu Jiuyin's place!"
After waiting for a moment, Zhang Xuezhou swayed and used the Five Elements Formation to pass through.
He leaped onto the Jade Emperor Peak, and a faint light appeared on his arms, which then transformed into wings.
Having absorbed the Demon Power that surged into its body from the giant serpent, the jade wings refined by Technique Within the Clouds transformed into another form when they shattered, which differed significantly from the description of Technique Within the Clouds's highest-level Wind and Thunder Wings.
Perhaps Zhang Xuezhou had never actually seen the Wind and Thunder Wings, as this form was somewhat similar to the Crimson Gold Cloud Wings.
Zhang Xuezhou didn't care about the appearance of the wings. After all, for him, they were just a means to fly, and as long as he could fly, that was enough.
"These wings don't seem to be defined by the Technique Within the Clouds... That's right, Leizhenzi himself only acquired the Wind and Thunder Wings through a great fortuitous opportunity, and he doesn't know how to cultivate them. The Technique Within the Clouds is more of a replication of his abilities; it's almost impossible for him to cultivate Wind and Thunder Wings through the Technique Within the Clouds!"
Zhang Xuezhou flapped his wings.
His initial speed was extremely slow, and his wings were like heavy iron. When he flapped them upwards, it was no different from walking. But as he continued to flap them, his speed gradually increased.
These wings constantly adapted to his body and the aerial environment, thereby continuously increasing his speed.
This improvement seemed endless. In just a few minutes, Zhang Xuezhou had recovered to the Jade Wing level, and his progress did not stop.
The abilities granted by the Wind Avoidance Instruction allowed him to break the sound barrier. For those skilled in flight, the sound barrier is the limit; excessive speed inevitably leads to disintegration.
When Zhang Xuezhou was chasing Daojun, he encountered his speed limit and had to rely solely on his physical strength and ability to avoid the wind to keep up, which also caused a violent explosion.
At that moment, he easily broke the sound barrier, his body showed no abnormalities, and he left only streaks of light as he flew through the air, without even making a sonic boom.
"This must be the fastest speed in the Three Realms!"
The sound barrier is undoubtedly the standard; below the sound barrier is one batch, and above the sound barrier is another.
Once this limit is broken, it will inevitably become the top speed in the Three Realms.
Zhang Xuezhou didn't know how many cultivators could break through to this level, but he felt that he could accelerate further. However, as he continued to accelerate upwards, he felt that the consumption of Demon Power within his body would increase several times over.
Even if his Law Power and Demon Power were at a low point, Zhang Xuezhou wouldn't be able to withstand the enormous energy expenditure from higher speeds, let alone when his physical condition was perfect.
"It seems that only the consistent cycle of the True Self Realm can reduce the power consumption at higher speeds!"
As the thoughts raced through his mind, Zhang Xuezhou began to stabilize his speed, seeking a balance between flight and Demon Power, striving to maintain his speed with minimal loss of Demon Power.
Flying directly from Mount Tai to the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains is thousands of miles long, and at top speed it takes only two or three hours, which is several times faster than flying overnight using the Imperial Shuttle.
As they approached the Xieluosi River Holy Land, Zhang Xuezhou exhausted his Demon Power and then switched to the Cloud Soaring Technique.
Zhang Xuezhou's cloud-flying technique remained at the same level as before, but the benefits of his physical attainment of sainthood allowed him to increase his flying speed by relying on his Law Power.
He was anxious yet remained calm, making good use of his limited physical strength.
As the familiar lake came into view, Zhang Xuezhou felt a sense of relief, but then his eyelids twitched suddenly.
The figures of the two leaders of the Western Sect came into view; one was standing on a blue lotus, and the other was sitting on the back of the Peacock Great Wisdom King.
Before the two, the Eight Views Carriage stood silently in the air.
The two goddesses, Xuan Nu and Shang Yuan, stood on either side of the Eight Scenery Carriage, while two figures inside the carriage sent chills down Zhang Xuezhou's spine.
His approaching body suddenly stopped, and before any scrutinizing gaze could sweep over him, Zhang Xuezhou's body had already plummeted, landing among the many noisy demonic birds below.
"They're really fast!"
Having learned the information from 'Bai', Zhang Xuezhou left the vortex of the Xieluosi River Holy Land well in advance.
However, he was a little too slow. He used Zhu Jiuyin to lure Ren Anran, and Donghua arrived at the Xieluosi River Holy Land at that moment.
Like natural enemies, even without Donghua's deliberate scheming, the other party was now blocking Zhang Xuezhou's path.
"Damn it, what am I going to do in this state?"
Reversing life and death cannot restore all power. Shi Wudao needs to recuperate for a year and a half, and even Zhang Xuezhou, with his strong abilities, will have a recovery period.
Although he appeared to have been lying in bed for half a month, his physical body contained almost no food or elixirs, and he could only generate power by absorbing Spiritual Qi, which resulted in his recovery being far from complete.
After exhausting his Demon Power and rushing to the Xieluosi River Holy Land, Zhang Xuezhou only had about 10% of his Law Power left.
Even when he was in good condition, he wouldn't dare to challenge Donghua easily. In his current terrible state, it was completely impossible, not to mention that Donghua had the Empress, Xuan Nu, Shangyuan, and the two Western religious leaders by his side.
As he plummeted toward the restless, noisy flock of demonic birds, Zhang Xuezhou felt a headache coming on. He was also terrified that the battle between these powerful cultivators would cause aftershocks that could inflict irreversible damage to Ren Anran's soul.
"In real life, I had a stroke of incredible luck, but here I'm experiencing some bad luck, or perhaps I've encountered an opponent far too strong, exceeding the scope of luck's influence. Forcing my way in at this point probably won't bring any benefits!"
Zhang Xuezhou hesitated for a moment, then hesitated to step forward.
He waited patiently for the situation in the Xieluosi River Holy Land to change, and also tried his best to restore his Demon Power, seeking an opportunity to take Ren Anran away from here.
"Black-haired cousin, what brings you here too?"
It landed sullenly below the demon bird, and chased away several more demon birds that were defecating on its head.
A clear voice rang out. Zhang Xuezhou looked at the several chattering demon birds complaining, and then at the leader of a demon bird with white wings.
When the demon bird called out a name that sounded almost unfamiliar, Zhang Xuezhou remembered his only friend in the Xieluosi River Holy Land.