“Senior Brother Changgong, what is there left to discuss? You should make the decision on this matter!” A boisterous laugh rang out, spoken by Baolong, the Hall Master of Huoyun Palace, clad entirely in fiery red.
“Indeed, Senior Brother Changgong’s suggestion is quite good.” Liancheng, the Hall Master of Qingfeng Palace, stroked his snow-white beard, offering a slight smile.
“Good!”
Houtu, the short and thin Hall Master of Shanhun Palace, spoke, his words exceptionally concise.
Yangtian, the Hall Master of Zilei Palace, chuckled loudly: “Indeed, quite a few of these youngsters have been wrongly eliminated. Giving them a chance is fine by me.”
Ronyun, the Hall Mistress of Shuixian Palace, also nodded lightly, her voice delicate and pleasing to the ear: “Senior Brother Changgong, this ‘Six Halls Grand Competition’ truly failed to serve its intended purpose this time. I wholeheartedly agree with this proposal. Furthermore, those inner city disciples who deliberately disrupted the competition must be severely punished!”
“Excellent!”
Gu Changgong, the Hall Master of Yaoxin Palace, marked by a small black mole between his brows, slowly swept his gaze over everyone in the room, taking the lead: “Since Junior Brother Baolong, Junior Brother Liancheng, Junior Brother Houtu, Junior Brother Yangtian, and Junior Sister Ronyun have no objections, this matter is settled.”
As he spoke, Gu Changgong’s gaze fixed on the doorway, and he sharply commanded: “Notify the six Vice Hall Masters, including Shayan, to prepare to seal the Illusionary Space!”
“Yes!”
The affirmation came from outside the door. . . . . .
“Look quickly, what are the six Vice Hall Masters doing?”
“Judging by previous years, they must be preparing to seal the Illusionary Space.”
“Unlikely, right? There are still at least five hundred people inside the Illusionary Space right now. It’s not supposed to be the time to end the assessment yet. Why are they preparing to close it?”
“. . . . . .”
Seeing the figures of Shayan and the other five Vice Hall Masters suddenly appear before the entrance to the Illusionary Space, sitting down cross-legged on that small circular platform, the crowd was filled with shock and uncertainty. Preparing to close the Illusionary Space while the Six Halls Grand Competition hadn't even concluded was an unprecedented event.
“Seal!”
Suddenly, that familiar, powerful voice echoed above the Illusionary Space, causing everyone’s hearts to tremble. The Lingxiao Altar instantly fell into absolute silence.
The moment the word “Seal” sounded, the right palms of Shayan and the other five shot out simultaneously, pressing down onto the circular platform. Instantly, the spirit patterns ignited with spiritual energy. Azure, yellow, purple, blue, and two streaks of fiery red flames surged through the six arched pillars and rushed into the Illusionary Space.
“Buzz!”
A violent, vibrating tremor suddenly erupted, making everyone’s ears ring loudly.
As soon as they recovered their senses, everyone felt that the sky above the Lingxiao Altar seemed to have suddenly grown significantly darker—an inky blackness manifested from the edges of the Illusionary Space, then spread out uncontrollably towards the center, like creeping vines.
Immediately afterward, green light began to flicker at the entrance to the Illusionary Space.
“It’s sealed, it’s really sealed!”
“I heard that someone saw several Hall Masters from Lingyu City gathered together just now. Is sealing the Illusionary Space early the result of their discussion?”
“Alas, who knows what the Hall Masters are thinking. The inner city disciples haven’t even been selected yet, and they’ve sealed the Illusionary Feast Hall!”
“. . . . . .”
The clamorous voices surged over the Lingxiao Altar in waves, but the layer of black covering the Illusionary Space continued its advance without hesitation. . . . . .
Inside the Illusionary Space, atop a towering mountain peak.
Nie Kong and Miao Ge simultaneously felt a premonition, opening their eyes to see the blackness stretching in from the surrounding horizon at a visible speed. Wherever it passed, pillars of green light descended from the high sky. Each pillar of light represented one disciple of Lingyu City.
“The Six Halls Grand Competition is over?”
Nie Kong and Miao Ge exchanged glances, seeing a trace of surprise in each other’s eyes. Although they had no idea how much time had passed since the competition began, judging by the number of light pillars descending, they could estimate roughly how many people remained in the Illusionary Space.
By convention, the Six Halls Grand Competition should not have ended this quickly.
The blackness in the sky soon enveloped everything. . . . . .
The high sky grew progressively dimmer, and the descending green light pillars became sparser. This was because they were in the central region of the Illusionary Space; most Lingyu City disciples had already been cleared out by the rampaging spiritual beasts. Now, few people remained in this large section of the mid-space.
“It’s our turn!”
Nie Kong laughed heartily, about to rise to his feet and await the descent of the green light pillar, when a sudden stirring in his heart made him recall the intensely concentrated life force he had felt from the emerald-green pillar when he first entered the space. A strange idea surfaced in his mind.
With a thought, Nie Kong settled back down, crossed his legs, and continued circulating the ‘Spring and Autumn Life Spirit Art.’ Miao Ge glanced at Nie Kong with some confusion. What on earth was this guy thinking? The Six Halls Grand Competition was about to end, yet he was actually continuing his cultivation.
“It’s coming!”
Miao Ge cried out softly. Two green light pillars instantly descended from the heavens, enveloping the two figures atop the peak.
The moment the pillar touched his body, Nie Kong indeed sensed that astonishingly rich life force again. His ‘Four Spiritual God Apertures’ began to vibrate at an unprecedented speed. Large masses of green energy separated from the light pillar, pouring wildly into Nie Kong’s body like a bursting flood tide.
The sudden integration of such intense life force into his spiritual power was like a Category 12 hurricane sweeping across a calm sea; the spiritual power surged violently, crashing against Nie Kong’s apertures like monstrous waves.
Wave after wave, layer upon layer. . . . . .
The speed was so fast that Nie Kong was momentarily stunned. The previous wave of spiritual power had not yet receded before a new wave surged in, piling higher and higher, seemingly on the verge of bursting his ‘Four Spiritual God Apertures.’
Dazed and confused, Nie Kong felt himself being pulled into a dormant darkness.
In just an instant, a bright light flashed before his eyes.
“Thud!”
His body crashed onto the ground while maintaining the posture of sitting cross-legged. Nie Kong vaguely heard deafening shouts erupting from his surroundings, though he couldn't quite make out what they were shouting. At this moment, Nie Kong’s spirit was immersed within his ‘Four Spiritual God Apertures.’ Although the spiritual energy in his meridians no longer battered the apertures, it still surged torrentially and vast, making it almost unbelievable to Nie Kong that he could actually sense that invisible barrier within the Spiritual God Apertures—the barrier that signified a breakthrough!
Although this sensation was faint, fleeting, and somewhat unclear, the joy in Nie Kong’s chest was beyond description. To think that just a few days ago, he had only just broken through to the fifth stage of Spirit Fusion. Now, after absorbing the life force from that green light pillar for mere seconds, his cultivation had advanced this much?
The further one cultivated, the harder it became to sense that invisible barrier in the apertures. Nie Kong was currently only in Spirit Fusion, so it wasn't very distinct. If he reached the Pill Spirit or Cave Spirit realms, those Spirit Masters might not sense that invisible barrier for years, even decades, or even centuries.
After all, once the barrier manifested, with a period of diligent cultivation, a breakthrough would be imminent. The appearance of that invisible barrier now meant Nie Kong would reach the sixth stage of Spirit Fusion before long—this period could be days, or ten-plus days, but certainly not exceeding a month.
Nie Kong suppressed the joy swelling in his heart and continued to sense.
Immediately, Nie Kong’s heart gave a slight jump; he discovered a droplet of emerald-green liquid within his Spiritual God Apertures—it was actually liquid life force!
Nie Kong had never imagined that life force could take on a liquid form. Since it hadn't been absorbed by his spiritual power, could it be that his spiritual power had become saturated after absorbing enough life force? Perhaps only these two words could explain why the life force, upon entering his body, wasn't completely absorbed!
As for the life force manifesting in liquid form. . . . . .
“Could it be the result of extreme condensation?”
Nie Kong recalled the situation inside the green light pillar just moments ago. At that time, he hadn't thought about anything; he simply absorbed as much life force as possible. The concentration of life force in that pillar was so rich that even Nie Kong, who could absorb the life force of plants and trees at will, felt an urge of greed, wishing he could drain it all in one gulp.
What Nie Kong hadn't anticipated was that in just a few seconds, his spiritual power became saturated, and the residual life force condensed into a liquid bead within his apertures! Even more miraculous was that his cultivation showed signs of an impending breakthrough.
If absorbing the life force from the Illusionary Space just once yielded such results, what if he absorbed it a few more times. . . . . .
The moment this thought arose, Nie Kong tossed it aside. Such things were most effective the very first time they were done; absorbing it again later would likely not yield such a significant benefit. Moreover, this Illusionary Space was a critical location for Lingyu City; how could it be repeatedly sealed and unsealed just for the sake of three disciples?
“Nie Kong!”
Finally, a somewhat familiar voice roused Nie Kong from his reverie. He looked up and found standing before him an exquisite, doll-like young girl, her face rosy with a natural blush, her skin so soft it seemed it could be broken by a touch, and her eyes so bright they looked as if they could be squeezed for juice.
At this moment, the little loli’s gaze was extremely peculiar; her round eyes stared fixedly at Nie Kong, as if she wanted to swallow him whole in one bite.
“Who are you?”
After looking at the little loli for a moment, Nie Kong suddenly asked, his gaze somewhat distant. He felt the young girl before him was extremely familiar, but his mind was still jumbled with thoughts of liquid life force and soaring cultivation, a chaotic mess, preventing him from immediately recalling her identity.
“You don’t recognize me?”
The little loli blinked a couple of times, her small mouth forming an ‘O’ shape, nearly causing her to topple over. Then, she hopped up as if her bottom had been scorched, huffing indignantly, “Big Liar, you don’t recognize me? You tricked me twice that day! How could you not know me!”
Clearly, Nie Kong’s question of “Who are you” had dealt a major blow to the little loli.
“Big Liar?”
Nie Kong started, then took a closer look at the little loli’s face, and a look of sudden realization dawned on him, “You’re the little loli Gu Yi. . . . . . Uh, little sister, why are you here in Lingyu City too? I heard that after the competition at the Qianling Medicine Assembly that time, you slipped away without even taking your rewards.”
“What do you mean slipped away? I left openly and honorably! Hey, hey, Big Liar, look here, I’m talking to you! Hey!” As she spoke, Nie Kong suddenly stood up and walked right past her, dealing another major blow to the little loli, who waved her small fists and jumped up and down shouting. . . . . .
P: Third update is here. Ugh, I originally said I would make up the 2,000 words I owed from the day before yesterday, but I got delayed too long during the day and can’t make it up now. My apologies.