On the platform, Nie Kong couldn't help but feel a wry amusement. For nearly half an hour, the War Spirit had been repeating the exact same action: relentlessly probing the Spirit God Acupoints. It seemed determined to lock onto them, trying ten times, then a hundred, then a thousand.

By now, this probing had gone on for about two thousand attempts, yet the War Spirit showed no sign of giving up. Even if it probed ten thousand times, the War Spirit wouldn't gain anything, but he couldn't let it continue this pointless effort indefinitely. He needed a solution; this single-minded War Spirit wouldn't stop until it achieved its goal.

Nie Kong's mind raced, "...Perhaps I should try the Dark Star."

A moment later, a flicker of intuition struck Nie Kong. The Dark Star within the 'Jade Pool Acupoint' suddenly pulsed slowly, sending out a faint ripple of deathly energy.

The Nine Dark Stars were vastly different from the Spirit God Acupoints. While the Acupoints would reveal themselves once supported by spiritual power, the 'Nine Dark Stars,' even when containing death qi, remained hidden. Unless they were exposed externally, as with the War Clan's methods, or their precise location was revealed by the possessor, no one could sense them. This was true for the War Spirit as well.

This red-robed War Spirit was merely a spirit creature with weak sentience. Its function on the 'War Spirit Hearing Divine Platform' was to select a suitable Spirit Art based on the physical condition of the War Clan disciple. In other aspects, its ability probably fell short of a Rank Three Black Spirit Master.

Now, detecting the fluctuation of death qi at the location it had probed two thousand times—though it was merely a fleeting glimpse—the War Spirit became visibly excited.

"Hoo! Hoo!"

In an instant, the speed at which that fluctuation passed through the Spirit God Acupoint abruptly doubled. Noticing the War Spirit's change, Nie Kong smiled faintly. The Dark Star pulsed once more, leaking out a slight bit more death qi.

"Hoo! Hoo!"

The War Spirit grew even more agitated. As time wore on, under Nie Kong's subtle direction, the speed of the Dark Star's fluctuation within the Jade Pool Acupoint gradually increased, and more death qi seeped out. The War Spirit seemed to know the target was close and probed with increasing vigor.

"Hoo! Hoo!"

"Hoo! Hoo!"

"..."

The War Spirit was busily occupied within Nie Kong's body.

Below the platform, the onlookers gazed at the intensely churning cloud of red mist, exchanging bewildered glances, all guessing what might be happening inside.

"Patriarch, we can't wait any longer." Zhan Tianlun's impatience resurfaced, voiced with a tense edge.

"Go on, then!"

Zhan Yunlan pondered for a long moment before finally waving a hand.

The War Clan's Spirit Arts were highly peculiar. For their Black Spirit Masters, if the physical constitution didn't align perfectly with the Spirit Art, even exceptional talent would yield little success. Otherwise, the War Clan wouldn't open the 'War Spirit Hearing Divine Platform' every year. If Nie Kong were brought down now, he certainly wouldn't obtain the most suitable Spirit Art from it. Based on past experience, although a longer 'Hearing Divine' process indicated better aptitude, this was only relative. For someone like Nie Kong to persist for half an hour was definitely not a good sign. Allowing him to remain longer would inflict serious damage to his mind.

"If he fails to complete the 'Hearing Divine,' then he is unsuitable for cultivating War Clan Spirit Arts. Perhaps we must exchange for a good Spirit Art from another sect."

Zhan Yunlan and the two Grand Elders exchanged a look, their thoughts seemingly aligning, before fixing their gazes back on the 'War Spirit Hearing Divine Platform' with expressions tinged with helplessness. Letting a War Clan disciple like Nie Kong practice an external sect's Spirit Art would certainly tarnish the War Clan's reputation if word got out. However, after thousands of years, having finally produced a second disciple who had heard the complete 'Heart Drum Battle Tone,' how could they simply abandon him because he failed to secure a suitable Spirit Art on the 'War Spirit Hearing Divine Platform'?

"Hoo?"

Just then, after countless efforts, a rapidly flashing Dark Star finally presented itself without any concealment. The War Spirit paused, seemingly astonished that what it had probed for so long was this kind of object.

"Hoo!"

Brushing past the Spirit God Acupoint again and sensing that familiar wave of death qi, the War Spirit's tone carried a hint of deflation. But in the next instant, its mood returned to its initial calm. It swept past the Spirit God Acupoint and continued to probe rapidly over Nie Kong's other areas.

Sensing the War Spirit had given up its fixation, Nie Kong breathed a soft sigh of relief. Dealing with such a meticulous creature that refused to cease until its objective was met was truly troublesome. It was a blessing that he had condensed one Dark Star and placed it in the 'Jade Pool Acupoint'; otherwise, he didn't know how he would have pulled off this deception today. "Perhaps the only option would have been to terminate the 'Hearing Divine'..."

Having received Zhan Yunlan's nod, Zhan Tianlun, who had been growing increasingly anxious, no longer hesitated. He strode to the base of the steps and, under the gaze of the surrounding crowd, leaped onto the final step.

"Buzz!"

A sharp, resonant hum suddenly erupted from beneath the 'War Spirit Hearing Divine Platform.' Not only did the surrounding space roar, and the steps tremble violently, but even Zhan Tianlun was startled by the sudden sound, his forward foot momentarily suspended in the air.

"Come back!"

A moment later, Zhan Tianlun heard the Patriarch's sharp command and instinctively retracted his foot. After a brief pause, Zhan Tianlun turned to look, only to see everyone’s eyes fixed intently on the 'War Spirit Hearing Divine Platform,' including the Patriarch Zhan Yunlan and the two Grand Elders, as if witnessing something utterly unbelievable.

What was going on?

Zhan Tianlun reflexively turned his head back. In the next instant, Zhan Tianlun's eyes widened into perfect circles, his mouth dropping open in shock. At the base of that red pillar, a stream of golden light was slowly rising, growing brighter like the rising sun. When the mass of gold fully manifested within the column, billions of golden rays shot out, dazzlingly brilliant and utterly blinding.

"Gol... Golden Art?"

Zhan Tianlun muttered the words, his eyeballs stinging from the intense golden glare, forcing him to squint involuntarily.

If Zhan Tianlun was reacting this way, the War Clan disciples were even more stunned.

There were three tiers of Golden Arts. In the history of the War Clan, those who persisted through the 'Five-Nine Battle Tone,' 'Six-Nine Battle Tone,' or even the 'Four-Nine Battle Tone' or 'Three-Nine Battle Tone' might have obtained Purple Arts. However, the Golden Art was only potentially attainable by those who heard the 'Six-Nine Battle Tone,' and it had to be the complete 'Six-Nine Battle Tone'! The number of people who had heard the complete 'Six-Nine Battle Tone' was already pitifully small, illustrating how rare the emergence of a Golden Art was. In the War Clan’s millennia of lineage, only a mere three individuals had ever obtained a Golden Art from this 'War Spirit Hearing Divine Platform.' On average, that was less than one per millennium!

Yet, here they were, only a few hundred years later, witnessing the reappearance of a Golden Art, and this time, it was obtained by an outer-surname disciple. The War Clan disciples could scarcely believe their eyes, all struck dumb, unable to utter a sound.

"A Golden Art..." Zhan Yunlan murmured, his lips trembling slightly.

"The fourth! The fourth one..." The two Grand Elders' eyebrows were twitching violently. The third War Clan member to obtain a Golden Art was the Ancestor currently residing atop the War God Mountain, and Nie Kong was the fourth, separated by only about three hundred years. Such a short interval between two Golden Art acquisitions was unprecedented in the War Clan.

Compared to the shock or elation of the Zhan-surname members, the dozens of outer-surname disciples were significantly calmer. During their time on War God Mountain, they had heard enough to know how slim the chances were for a Golden Art to appear. Even so, while deeply astonished, they couldn't feel the same profound impact as the Zhan-surname elders.

"..."

"I didn't expect him to get the Golden Art; no wonder the 'Hearing Divine' process was so drawn out."

"Golden Art... His physical condition must be that outstanding?"

"This Nie Kong is truly lucky; if we want to earn the true acknowledgment of the War Clan, maybe we have to rely on him!"

"..."

After the initial amazement subsided, unconcealed envy surfaced in the hearts of those outer-surname disciples.

"Qing Yue, it seems I won't need you to communicate with the War Spirit; I can secure a good War Clan Spirit Art on my own." Noticing the golden light in the pillar, Nie Kong felt a surge of joy. After ceasing its focus on the 'Spirit God Acupoint,' the War Spirit quickly completed its probe of Nie Kong's entire body. The moment the eighty-one red threads retracted into the red robe, the sound signaling the Spirit Art’s appearance rang out. Initially, Nie Kong assumed he would receive a Purple Art, never expecting the final manifestation in the red pillar to be gold instead of purple. Looking back, it must be due to having heard the complete Battle Tone. The eighty-one 'Heart Drum Battle Tones' had refined Nie Kong's body, especially his bone structure, to nearly the absolute limit achievable.

The Spirit Arts of the Nether Soil, like those of the War Clan, required extremely high bone density. Since the 'War Spirit Hearing Divine Platform' selected Spirit Arts based on physical condition, Nie Kong's advantage was overwhelming; if he still didn't get a good Spirit Art, it truly would defy heaven.

"Hmph." Qing Yue was clearly disdainful of Nie Kong being so easily satisfied. According to her original plan, she intended to sweep up every single War Clan Spirit Art. Unfortunately, Nie Kong was too cautious, thwarting her scheme.

Nie Kong chuckled inwardly, his attention returning to the pillar. Unlike the rapid ascent of the Spirit Arts during the previous 'Hearing Divine' process, this golden light drifted upward quite slowly. It took a full two minutes for the golden mass to reach the apex of the red pillar.

"Whoosh!"

The 'Red Robe' covering Nie Kong's body surged, and the golden light detached from the red column, hovering lazily above Nie Kong's head. Then, the red robe began to oscillate at varying speeds—sometimes fast, sometimes slow—and the golden light followed suit, compressing and distorting erratically, constantly shifting its shape. Nie Kong suddenly understood: even the manifestation of the Spirit Art after its discovery was controlled by the War Spirit...

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