Heishadongtian.
In a magnificent hall, Fu Beichen stood before it. After listening to the report from his subordinate, he remained silent for a long time, the atmosphere within the hall becoming somewhat oppressive.
“Wu Shun, what do you think?” Fu Beichen cast his gaze towards an old man and asked.
“Although it sounds unbelievable, it’s the only possibility. That Zhang Fan truly possesses monstrous talent, and his strength cannot be judged by common sense. However, with the Four Great Elders guarding Dalouhai, and other forces with peak Nascent Soul realm experts stationed there, Zhang Fan will surely die once he leaves the Dalou Realm,” Wu Shun said.
Fu Beichen shook his head and said, “It’s not enough.”
“Take my Sect Master’s token and go see the Grand Elder. Ask him to set out for Dalouhai immediately. Once Zhang Fan appears, you must apprehend him and prevent him from falling into the hands of others.”
“The Grand Elder?” Elder Wu Shun’s wrinkled face showed a flicker of surprise. That was a half-step Soul Transformation existence.
To deal with a mere Zhang Fan, he thought the Four Great Elders would be sufficient. After all, those four elders were different from them, the law enforcement elders. Each of them was a Nine Tribulations realm expert, and the First Elder possessed the cultivation of the peak Nascent Soul stage.
“Concurrently, invite the Feixian Mansion and Riying Dongtian in my name. Let’s pay a visit to the Six Kings’ Mansion. Bai Mengtian and Qiu Qianzong, those two old fellows, should be restless by now.”
Wu Shun vaguely sensed something was amiss. “Is the Sect Master going to demand the person?”
“Hmph, those three are merely ants. How could they be worthy of me personally coming to demand them? However, I am very curious to see how unyielding the backbone of the Six Kings’ Mansion truly is.”
Wu Shun understood. Demanding the person was a pretense; stirring up trouble was the real intention.
…
On the Panlong Mountain Range, within the main hall of the Six Kings’ Mansion.
The Mansion Lord Ling Xiu sat at the head of the hall. Below him, a group of cultivators sat in two rows. Although everyone could feel the undercurrents of the outside world, the atmosphere within the hall was quite relaxed.
“It seems that my Six Kings’ Mansion is the biggest winner from this trip to the Dalou Realm,” Ling Xiu said with a smile on his face. “I’ll propose a toast to congratulate all my brothers on their great progress in cultivation and their fruitful return.”
Everyone raised their cups in unison and drank them dry.
Lin Haotian’s gaze swept across the hall. Now, even Xiao Yi, the weakest among the Six Kings, had reached the Nine Tribulations realm. Mo Yan had even displayed the strength of a half-step Soul Transformation, and the other cultivators had also seen significant improvements. Compared to forces like the Feixian Mansion, it was a scene of prosperity.
Lin Haotian stood up and cupped his hands towards Ling Xiu, saying, “Mansion Lord, the outside world is already in turmoil. The cultivators from Feixian Mansion, Heishadongtian, Riying Dongtian, and the Tengshe clan suffered heavy losses in the Dalou Realm. They hate my master to the bone and harbor a killing intent towards the three of us. While the Six Kings’ Mansion is powerful and fears no one, a united front of the four factions would still pose a great threat. I wonder how the Mansion Lord intends to respond.”
Upon these words, the hall fell into a brief silence, and the atmosphere became subtly tense.
“Hahaha.”
Ling Xiu’s hearty laughter broke the delicate atmosphere in the hall. He asked, “What four factions united?”
“The patriarch of the Tengshe clan only has the cultivation of the peak Nascent Soul realm. If such a force dares to cause trouble at my Six Kings’ Mansion, I’ll let my second brother go to the Southern Barbarian region and annihilate his entire clan. What of it?”
“As for the other three factions, the city protection formation of my Six Kings’ Mansion is not so easily breached.”
Hearing Ling Xiu’s affirmative reply, Lin Haotian breathed a sigh of relief. Even if those three factions joined forces, as long as they held out until his master returned, all crises would be resolved.
…
In the Dalou Realm, within the Dalou Hall.
Immersed in cultivation, Zhang Fan was unaware that the outside world was already in turmoil. Having refined a large number of demon beast Nascent Souls, his aura had reached the peak of the early Nine Tribulations realm, just one step away from crossing this threshold.
However, all the Nascent Souls, spirit herbs, elixirs, and even spirit crystals on his person had been exhausted. The white immortal infant within his body was like a bottomless pit, greedily devouring everything, yet showing no signs of growth.
Such a massive amount of resources would have been enough to allow an ordinary early Nine Tribulations realm cultivator to break through to the late Nine Tribulations realm in a short period.
“Truly a freak. Such a massive investment of resources is like a stone sinking into the sea. Let me lend you a hand.”
The spirit of Dalou flicked its sleeve, and the spiritual energy within a radius of ten thousand miles surged like a tide, then rapidly converged towards the Dalou Hall.
“It’s still a little short,” Zhang Fan said with some helplessness. He was now extremely poor, with not a single spirit crystal left on him.
Just as he was about to give up, he suddenly felt a surge of majestic spiritual energy pouring down from the dome of the Dalou Hall, continuously flowing into his body.
“Excellent,” Zhang Fan roared, circulating his cultivation technique with all his might, frantically absorbing the spiritual energy. His previously stagnant cultivation began to rise again, impacting the shackles that confined him.
This scene lasted only for a few breaths. When Zhang Fan stood up again, the aura emanating from him was several times stronger than before.
“This is only the middle Nine Tribulations realm. I wonder how many resources it will take to break through to the peak Nine Tribulations realm?” Feeling the vast magical power within his body, Zhang Fan did not show joy but instead let out a wry smile.
He looked up at the spirit of Dalou and cupped his fists, saying, “Thank you for your assistance.”
“I have followed my master for hundreds of thousands of years and have never seen a freak like you. I can’t imagine what level of strength you will reach once you break through to the Soul Transformation stage.”
Sensing Zhang Fan’s powerful aura at that moment, the spirit of Dalou’s eyes were filled with astonishment.
His realm was clearly only the middle Nine Tribulations, yet the profoundness of his magical power was even stronger than that of a peak Nascent Soul cultivator.
“He’s a pervert!”
Liu Mu had just survived his ninth Nascent Soul tribulation. He was secretly rejoicing that he had finally caught up to Zhang Fan in terms of realm. He never expected that Zhang Fan, who had just broken through to the early Nine Tribulations realm, would break through again in less than a month, causing him, who was originally enthusiastic, to feel a sense of frustration.
Zhang Fan himself was very curious about how strong he would be once he broke through to the Soul Transformation stage.
However, he was currently only in the middle Nine Tribulations realm, still a considerable distance from the Soul Transformation stage. It was too early to discuss this topic. After a moment of thought, he asked, “From now on, will the Wushan star domain no longer have a Dalou Realm?”
The spirit of Dalou nodded, its eyes flashing with excitement. “The purpose of the Dalou Realm’s existence was to find a successor for my master. Now that one has been found, after the young master completes the inheritance, I will travel through the starry sky with her, hoping she will grow quickly and reclaim the star domains lost by my master.”
“You’ve broken through to the Nine Tribulations realm? Not bad.” Sensing Liu Mu’s surging magical power, Zhang Fan couldn’t help but nod.
Having cultivated the supreme golden Nascent Soul, Liu Mu, upon entering the Nine Tribulations realm, possessed the qualification to contend with peak Nascent Soul cultivators. Coupled with the great dao supreme treasure he had previously obtained, even if he could only exert a portion of its power, he could still fight against a half-step Soul Transformation expert.
“It’s been more than half a month since the Dalou Realm closed. Are you two going out now?” the spirit of Dalou asked.
“More than half a month has passed?”
Zhang Fan was immersed in cultivation, at a critical juncture of his breakthrough, and had not paid attention to the passage of time.
“In this past half-month, the outside world has probably already descended into chaos, right?” Zhang Fan was not worried about the safety of Lin Haotian and the others. Ling Xiu, knowing his current strength, would surely protect Lin Haotian and the other two.
“It is time to go out.” This trip had yielded significant gains. Having stayed in the Dalou Realm for three years, Liu Mu was also looking forward to the outside world.
The spirit of Dalou nodded, waved its hand, and tore open a spatial rift connecting to Dalouhai.
After bidding farewell to the spirit of Dalou, Zhang Fan and Liu Mu rushed into the spatial rift together, disappearing from the Dalou Hall.
…