Chapter 868: Breakthrough, Silkworm Seal Realm!

"Brother Deer..."

Wu Xu rushed over, pried him off the wall, and fed him a healing pill.

"You, you..."

After swallowing the pill and circulating his true qi for a while, Half-Saint Brother Deer sobered up a bit. Looking again at Zhang Xuan not far away, he felt like crying.

You, a mere Void Step Realm kid, have a Divine Consciousness Realm sacred beast as a pet, and even a sacred artifact... Are you Confucius's illegitimate son?

Otherwise, how could you have so many good things?

"What's wrong? You said as long as I don't use Azi, I can choose any other means. I didn't break the rules!" Zhang Xuan said.

"Pfft!"

Choking, Brother Deer spat out another mouthful of blood.

What kind of nonsense is this!

He had thought the opponent only had a Purple Sun Beast and nothing else. As long as he restricted that, he could easily thrash him. He never dreamed... there was also a cauldron!

Screw your cauldron!

I'm here to spar with you, not with your sacred artifact... The rules weren't broken, but how can this fight go on?

There's simply no way to fight, alright?

"What I mean is, without relying on treasures or sacred beasts, dare you compete with me? Fight me using only your own strength..."

Gritting his teeth, Brother Deer said.

Afraid that the other party might pull out some other powerful magic weapon, he directly proposed fighting with personal strength.

"Oh, you want to spar with me?" Zhang Xuan raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, do you dare to agree?" Brother Deer gritted his teeth.

He had always been proud, but today he suffered more humiliation than in his entire previous life. If he didn't vent it, he feared his future achievements would stop here.

Although a Half-Saint challenging a Void Step Realm seemed like bullying the weak, the opponent had so many tricks up his sleeve that even he felt he might not have full confidence.

"Double the bet!" Zhang Xuan said calmly.

If he wanted to spar, it wasn't impossible—as long as the money was enough, everything could be negotiated.

"Fine!"

With a flicker in his eyes, Brother Deer nodded.

"Remember, you just lost and already owe me a hundred top-grade spirit stones!" Zhang Xuan said.

"Rest assured, if I lose, I'll pay the spirit stones. Of course, if you lose, I hope you'll honor the bet!" Brother Deer snorted.

"No problem. Let's do this: I won't bully you. I'll give you an hour to regulate your breathing and recover from your injuries before we fight. Otherwise, I'm afraid you'll refuse to admit defeat!" Zhang Xuan added.

“You…”

The other party's words were clearly kind, but for some reason, when they reached his ears, they sounded like mockery. Brother Deer was so angry he nearly spat blood again. After calming down for a long time, he took a deep breath and said, “Fine!”

His formidable combat prowess had been honed through countless battles. He knew that at critical moments, one cannot act on impulse. One hour—though it wouldn't fully heal his injuries—would restore his combat strength to over ninety-five percent.

For him, that was enough!

“Wu Xu, give me two of your Lesser Rejuvenation Pills!”

He turned to look at Wu Xu.

“Yes!” Wu Xu nodded. Though somewhat reluctant, he knew Brother Deer had been injured for his sake. He took out two pills and handed them over.

Lesser Rejuvenation Pills were sixth-grade elixirs, highly effective for healing injuries even in the Saint Domain. Taking two pills would bring significant improvement, if not complete recovery.

Taking the pills, he swallowed them. The medicinal power instantly dissolved in his body, and his originally pale complexion quickly recovered.

“Master, this guy managed to survive my charge without dying—his strength is… not simple!”

Seeing him recover, the Golden Origin Cauldron looked at Zhang Xuan, and the Violet Yang Beast also turned its gaze.

Both the beast and the cauldron had fought with Brother Deer. Though it seemed like bullying a child, they knew his strength was formidable. Their master, though not weak, was likely far inferior in comparison.

“I know.”

Zhang Xuan nodded.

Through the Eye of Insight and the Library of Heaven's Path, he naturally knew the other party was extremely powerful—indeed, he couldn't match him.

However, actual combat and raw strength were one thing; adaptability and judgment were another.

Though he was confident he wouldn't lose, to be safe, he still needed to prepare. That was why he allowed the other party an hour to recover.

This time allowed the other to heal his injuries and gave him a buffer as well.

“Do you have any cultivation techniques for the Void Step realm? The more, the better!”

Zhang Xuan looked at Hu Yaoyao and the others.

The fastest way to improve strength was to cultivate.

One hour meant nothing to others, but for him, as long as he gathered enough techniques from the Heavenly Path, he could advance rapidly!

“Yes!”

Hu Yaoyao and the others nodded.

As peak Cocoon Seal realm experts, they had prepared many Void Step techniques—some for their own cultivation, others to explain to their subordinates. Each had transcribed no fewer than several hundred volumes.

Gathering them together, Zhang Xuan swept his eyes over them and immediately absorbed them into his mind.

“What about Cocoon Seal realm techniques?”

With a thought, he formed a Heavenly Path book and asked again.

“There aren't many Cocoon Seal realm technique manuals—I only have about twenty!”

“I only have a little over twenty as well! Dong Xin is more meticulous; she might have more.”

"I have some, but only a little over forty!"

……

Soon the four of them also gathered the techniques for the Cocoon Seal realm, totaling about a hundred or so.

Continuing to collect and organize, Zhang Xuan finally looked over them.

As he had guessed, the Heaven's Path techniques for the Void Step realm were easily assembled, but those for the Cocoon Seal realm were clearly still far from complete.

However, the method for breaking through to the Cocoon Seal realm was quite complete.

In other words, the Heaven's Path techniques from the early Void Step realm to the early Cocoon Seal realm were all assembled!

"Guard me; I want to cultivate!"

Although he hadn't collected techniques for the peak of the Cocoon Seal realm, being able to reach the Cocoon Seal realm was already satisfying to Zhang Xuan. He smiled and instructed Hu Yaoyao and the others.

"Yes!"

Everyone nodded, exchanged glances, and their faces were full of bewilderment.

The competition was about to start, and you're cultivating now... Isn't this cramming a bit too last-minute?

Though puzzled, since he had said so, they nodded and shielded him from behind, keeping a close watch on Wu Xu nearby, afraid he might cause trouble.

However, whether it was Wu Xu or Brother Deer, though they had been impatient regarding the Red Fire Fruit, they were still proud when it came to the competition. They did not come to cause trouble and instead focused on recovering from their injuries.

They strove to reach their peak strength within an hour.

Seeing their attitude, Hu Yaoyao breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to ask Senior Ziyang how likely Zhang Shi was to win, she heard Dong Xin beside her let out an involuntary "Eh!"

"What's wrong?"

Everyone looked over.

"Look... Zhang Shi!"

Her body stiff, Dong Xin couldn't help pointing behind her.

"Zhang Shi?"

Hu Yaoyao and the others looked over and were also stunned.

"I feel like... Zhang Shi's strength seems to be... Void Step realm中期?" Long Cangyue couldn't help saying.

Just now when Zhang Shi acted, they saw clearly that he was only at the early Void Step realm. How could it be that after they stood guard and kept watch on Wu Xu for a while, they felt that this guy's strength seemed to have... broken through?

"It's not 'seems like,' but... it really is Void Step realm中期!" Hu Yaoyao nodded. "It should be that Zhang Shi broke through to the early Void Step realm long ago, accumulated enough, and reached the point of breaking through!"

Breaking through a small level wasn't a big deal. If he had been at the critical point before, cultivating and breaking through was very normal.

Nothing to be surprised about.

"Yeah, that must be it. No wonder Zhang Shi dared to agree to compete with the other party. It turns out he was about to break through to the Void Step realm中期. But... a small level gap isn't too big, right... Ah?"

Nodding, Xue Zhenyang was muttering to himself when suddenly he screamed.

"What's wrong with you now?"

Seeing him like this, Long Cangyue was speechless.

After all, they were the top students of the Master Teacher Academy, experienced and knowledgeable. How come today, following Zhang Shi, they were startled at every turn, like country bumpkins who had never seen the world?

"How come... I feel like Zhang Shi is at the Void Step realm后期? Am I seeing things..."

Pale-faced, Xue Zhenyang rubbed his eyes vigorously.

Just now he looked carefully, and Zhang Shi was at the Void Step realm中期. How could it now feel like后期? Even if his perception was off, it shouldn't be this far off!

"后期? Are you kidding? We all saw it, it's中期..."

Long Cangyue laughed, about to mock him for his failing eyesight, when his eyes also widened: "Holy crap!"

"It seems... it really is后期!" He was almost in tears.

Seeing the two acting crazy, Hu Yaoyao and Dong Xin quickly looked over, rubbing their eyes repeatedly.

It seemed... Zhang Shi really was at the Void Step realm后期!

Could it be that they had seen wrong before?

That couldn't be!

All four of them saw wrong at the same time?

But... no matter how they looked now, he was undoubtedly at the Void Step realm后期, no problem at all!

"It seems... not Void Step realm后期, but... Void Step realm巅峰!"

Before their shock subsided, Dong Xin said in a hoarse voice.

"巅峰?"

Their eyes blurred, and Hu Yaoyao looked like she was about to cry: "I feel like... he's冲击 the Cocoon Seal realm? It seems like he's冲击... Uh, no, he's already a Cocoon Seal realm expert..."

The other three were dumbfounded again. Sure enough, the young man behind them was already a Cocoon Seal realm初期 expert!

From the early Void Step realm to the early Cocoon Seal realm, a whole major level... this guy took only half an hour... Even seeing it with their own eyes, they felt dumbfounded.

"Dong Xin, how long did it take you to go from the early Void Step realm to the early Cocoon Seal realm?"

Feeling like his jaw was about to drop, Hu Yaoyao couldn't help asking.

"Two years and four months... My cultivation speed was already ranked in the Master Teacher Academy..."

Dong Xin's voice was dry.

Back then, she had improved a major level in two years and four months, feeling exhilarated and confident, thinking she was unmatched among the heroes of the world...

Seeing this young man before her, she realized that what she called speed?

It was no different from a turtle!

No wonder at the Elder Council, this guy said he had been too busy lately and his cultivation speed had slowed down. At the time, they thought he was bragging. Seeing it with their own eyes, they knew he wasn't bragging at all; he was being modest to the point of being reckless...

Thinking of this, she couldn't help shuddering.

If she went to the Ten Great Elders and said that Zhang Shi was really modest and low-key... would those elders think she was bragging and just throw her out?