Once Liu Bai returned to the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy, he immediately felt as though even his breathing had become much smoother.
Instead of heading to the Mission Hall to submit his task, Liu Bai went straight to the Refining Institute.
When Elder Chi Huo saw that Liu Bai had returned so quickly, he was clearly startled. After listening to Liu Bai recount everything that had happened on this trip, his expression changed drastically.
"I never imagined this mission would turn out to be so perilous. But you brat, your courage is far too reckless. You clearly knew the other side had a Heaven Transformation Realm expert with an extraordinary background, yet you still dared to strike so ruthlessly…"
Though he scolded him with words, Elder Chi Huo's eyes were filled with joy and appreciation as he looked at Liu Bai.
It had only been a reconnaissance mission, and an ordinary person would certainly never have acted as Liu Bai had. Fan Jiu had tried to use himself as bait to lure out people from Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy, but had Liu Bai not done the exact same thing in return?
Although such a method undoubtedly magnified the danger, one had to admit it was the fastest way to resolve the matter.
"You should not have killed Fan Jiu like that. Or at least, if you truly had to kill him, you should have dragged him into the range of our Academy first. That way, even if his backers discovered what happened, they would not have dared to pursue you further."
Liu Bai nodded repeatedly. This was a lesson learned the hard way.
The main reason, however, was that as his strength increased, Liu Bai had grown somewhat arrogant. Deep down, he had never regarded Fan Jiu's father, the City Lord, as much of a threat, which was why he had acted so rashly.
"Still, I must admit, you continue to surprise me at every turn. Fan Tong, the City Lord of Mu City, may not be a top level expert, but to dominate a region still requires remarkable strength. Yet you managed to drive him off just like that?"
"Heh, I was only lucky. If he had been even a quarter of an hour slower, the one fleeing would have been me." Liu Bai grinned.
"Hahaha, even so, you should still take pride in this. Forget about the new students, even among the older ones, aside from the top three on the Heavenly Ranking, no one can claim to secure a victory against you."
"But I did not expect that the one targeting the Xie family would turn out to be Yu Yuan…" Elder Chi Huo's face grew slightly grave, as though pondering how best to handle this matter.
A moment later, Elder Chi Huo's smile returned as he looked at Liu Bai. "Enough, we will leave the later troubles for another time. This mission was carried out exceedingly well. And considering the dangers you encountered, I will raise the task's level to a lower tier Heaven-rank mission. The reward will be one and a half million Spiritual Value, plus three pieces of middle grade forging materials that I have personally tempered."
With a wave of his hand, Elder Chi Huo pointed at a pile of metallic ores nearby. "Choose your materials from here."
Liu Bai's eyes immediately lit up. He quickly bowed deeply to Elder Chi Huo.
With one and a half million Spiritual Value and three pieces of materials sufficient to refine mid grade Spiritual Artifacts, Liu Bai then proceeded to the Mission Hall to formally submit the task.
Because Elder Chi Huo had already raised the task to a lower tier Heaven-rank level, the elder handling Liu Bai's task submission this time was not an ordinary deacon but a Mission Hall elder. Coincidentally, it was the same elder who had witnessed Liu Bai's duel with Huo Yun.
"A Heaven-rank mission? You brat, how did you end up taking on a Heaven-rank mission? This is sheer recklessness!" The Mission Hall elder immediately recognized Liu Bai, and his face darkened.
It was not that he looked down on Liu Bai, but rather the Academy's protective stance toward its new students. After all, Heaven-rank missions often involved facing Heaven Transformation Realm. Even among the top ten of the Heavenly Ranking, few could attempt them alone, most would only do so with a strong team.
And Liu Bai clearly did not fit such qualifications.
"Hehe, Elder misunderstands. This was originally just a high tier Earth-rank mission, but after Elder Chi Huo heard the details, he personally decided to raise it to Heaven-rank."
Liu Bai explained with a smile.
Upon hearing this, the elder's expression eased somewhat.
Still, he warned with concern. "Liu Bai, I know who you are. Though your strength is indeed impressive, remember this well: when undertaking missions, act within your limits. Nothing is more important than preserving your life. A dead genius is no genius at all. Only those who survive to grow stronger are true geniuses."
"Your student will always remember Elder's teachings." Liu Bai bowed respectfully.
The submission was soon completed, and the original reward of one million Spiritual Value was transferred to Liu Bai's token. As for the extra five hundred thousand, Elder Chi Huo had already handed it over to him earlier along with the three materials.
Glancing at his Spiritual Value token, Liu Bai saw that his total now exceeded two million. It seemed the time had come to exchange for a new Spiritual Beast Essence.
He had already chosen his targets within the Spiritual Value Hall.
For the Metal attribute, the Heaven-rank low-level Spiritual Beast, the Golden Nì Beast, ranked fifty fifth on the Earth Ranking, requiring two million Spiritual Value. For the Water attribute, the Mid-level Spiritual Beast, the Blackwater Xuan Serpent, ranked forty fifth, requiring three million Spiritual Value. For the Fire attribute, the Mid-level Spiritual Beast, the Ancient Golden Crow, ranked thirty fourth, requiring four million Spiritual Value.
Adding to his already owned Three-headed Stone Dragon, the only attribute still lacking a clear target was Wood.
Although the Spiritual Value Hall did have some Wood attribute Spiritual Beast Essences, they were all ranked below sixty. To be frank, Liu Bai felt they were beneath his notice.
Since his Spiritual Value was insufficient anyway, he was not in a hurry.
For now, he would exchange for the Golden Nì Beast, a Metal attribute Spirit Beast. Legend had it that it was the descendant of the ancient Golden Nì and the Winged Xuan Tiger. With the body of a lion yet resembling a tiger, its back bore wings, its claws rivaled middle grade Spiritual Artifacts, and it was ferocious beyond compare.
At the Spiritual Value Hall, under the instructor's peculiar gaze, Liu Bai spent two million Spiritual Value to redeem a Golden Nì Beast's Spiritual Essence. The long string of digits on his Spiritual Value token instantly dropped to six thousand. In a single moment, he was nearly back to square one.
Liu Bai, however, paid no mind. He left immediately with the Spiritual Beast Essence.
He did not notice the instructor's expression of hesitation, otherwise the latter might have explained to him that, in theory, each person could only possess a single Spiritual Beast Essence. Moreover, after stepping into the Heaven Transformation Realm, a Heaven-rank low-level Spiritual Beast like the Golden Nì Beast was of limited use.
Spending so much Spiritual Value would have been better spent on a powerful high-level Spirit-grade Technique or a Peerless grade Spiritual Artifact.
When Liu Bai returned to the freshmen quarters, the Willow God Society still had many new students cultivating in the plaza.
This time, Liu Bai was wiser. Unlike last time, he did not arrive with fanfare, attracting everyone's attention and reverence, only to put himself in an awkward position.
Instead, he quietly returned to his residence and immediately began fusing with the Golden Nì Beast's Spiritual Essence.
Compared to the first time, the process was much easier.
Not only was he more experienced now, but Liu Bai's current strength far surpassed the Golden Nì Beast's when it was alive, let alone now that it was merely a remnant essence.
In less than half a day, Liu Bai had completely fused with it. As his Spiritual Energy surged, a massive golden beast resembling a flying tiger appeared behind him. Yet upon closer inspection, its features carried the likeness of a lion, which added a somewhat goofy charm to its appearance.
After merging with the Golden Nì Beast, Liu Bai discovered his Metal Spiritual Energy had also undergone a transformation, becoming sharper and more ferocious. These were exactly the traits of the Golden Nì Beast.
This was similar to what had happened with the Earth attribute earlier. Originally, Liu Bai's Earth Spiritual Energy had been brown, but after fusing with the Earth Stone Python, it had become grayish white, gaining the hardness of rock.
Unfortunately, the Earth Stone Python had been too low in rank, so aside from toughening his Spiritual Energy slightly, it provided no further benefit.
After upgrading it to the Three-headed Stone Dragon, however, Liu Bai noticed his Earth Spiritual Energy had become even sturdier, with both his defense and attack power rising by another level.
This method of fusing Spiritual Beast Essences to enhance one's Spiritual Energy was one of the important ways cultivators increased their strength. Just like in the original story, Mu Chen, after fusing with the Nine Nether Bird's Nine Nether Flames, could already contend with Mid-Phase Heaven Fusion Realm while still at the Divine Soul Realm.
Unfortunately, the Nine Nether Bird was a super Spiritual Beast ranked in the top twenty, and it had bonded with Mu Chen's bloodline, allowing him to fully merge with its Nine Nether Flames and wield far greater power.
Liu Bai currently lacked both conditions, so naturally he could not replicate Mu Chen's feat.
In truth, the reason Liu Bai had chosen the path of cultivating all five attributes was primarily to compensate for his lack of background, techniques, and resources.
If not for his unique ability to cultivate all five elements simultaneously, then even if he could rely on his system to raise his cultivation faster than others, at best he would only surpass them slightly in training speed. Crossing realms to battle would still have been out of reach.
And in the Great Thousand World, if you are not invincible from the start, no matter how fast you grow, there will always be those stronger than you.
Just like with Fan Jiu and Fan Tong, if you defeat the son, the father will come for you. When that happens, you may not even have the chance to run. In most cases, you would not even manage to defeat the son, because anyone with background would certainly have strong protectors at their side, just like Elder Lin had been for Fan Jiu.
In such a case, Liu Bai's greatest likelihood would be to die at the hands of an enemy's guardian expert, ending his "wicked" path before it had even begun.
Opening his status panel, Liu Bai noticed the prompt indicating that his Three-headed Stone Dragon could now evolve again. But when he checked the newly fused Golden Nì Beast, he was surprised to find there was no evolution prompt at all.
"What is going on?"
Liu Bai posed the question to his system, and to his surprise, the system actually responded.
"Ding. Reminder to player. The Three-headed Stone Dragon's next evolution is the Four-winged Flood Dragon, a Heaven-rank High grade Spiritual Beast. Required Beast Soul Points: 300."
"Ding, reminder to player, the Golden Ni Beast's next evolution is the Ancient Ni Beast, a Supreme Heavenly Beast, a leap-grade evolution, requiring 800 Beast Soul Points."
Liu Bai was slightly stunned. So it turned out that not all Spiritual Beast evolutions followed a step-by-step path. The Earth Stone Python could advance from Heaven-grade low-level to Heaven-grade Middle-level, then to Heaven-grade high-level, apparently because its starting point was too low and it had a corresponding higher-ranked counterpart.
As for the Golden Ni Beast, its superior form was the Ancient Ni Beast, which ranked fourteenth on the Earth Rankings, an immensely powerful Supreme Heavenly Beast.
At present, Liu Bai only had five hundred Beast Soul Points, so he could only afford the evolution of the Three-Headed Stone Dragon for now.
"Forget it, better to evolve the Three-Headed Stone Dragon first."
The Four-Winged Flood Dragon was itself a tremendously powerful Heavenly Beast, possessing the bloodline of the Winged Dragons. In the Great Thousand World, the mightiest of the Winged Dragons was the Yinglong.
The Yinglong, one of the Four Ancient True Dragons, belonged to the lineage of the Yellow Dragon, and was revered as the progenitor of Winged Dragons.
Its appearance was no different from ordinary True Dragons, with a head like a camel, horns like a deer, eyes like a hare, ears like an ox, neck like a serpent, belly like a clam, scales like a carp, claws like an eagle, and palms like a tiger. What set it apart was that it bore wings upon its back, belonging to the rare lineage of winged dragons.
This meant that the Four-Winged Flood Dragon carried a trace of Yinglong bloodline.
Of course, although Liu Bai did not know how diluted that bloodline was, he had a faint feeling that with the System's aid, he might one day truly evolve a genuine Yinglong.
Casting in three hundred Beast Soul Points, Liu Bai saw the Three-Headed Stone Dragon that coiled around the Spirit Mountain within his Spiritual Wheel let out a deafening dragon's roar.
From its three grayish-white horned dragon heads, Liu Bai could faintly sense a tinge of pain. Then, from the junction of the three heads, layers of thick dragon scales rapidly spread upward, swallowing the three separate dragon heads and fusing them into one.
At the same time, the grayish-white Stone Dragon body turned into a yellow-brown hue, etched with streaks of azure wind patterns.
Four massive bulges rose along its spine. In the next instant…
Rip!
Amidst a pained dragon cry, the four bulges tore apart from within, and four dragon wings unfurled like butterflies breaking free of their cocoons. In the blink of an eye, two pairs of massive azure wings stretched wide.
"The Four-Winged Flood Dragon, complete!"
"Roar!!!"
The newly evolved Four-Winged Flood Dragon clung to the towering Spirit Mountain, raising its head to release an exhilarated dragon's cry. A terrifying draconic might spread from its body, permeating even through Liu Bai's own form, radiating outward to a hundred-meter radius around him.
At the very moment this dragon might spread, a startled cry rang from outside Liu Bai's pavilion, abruptly snapping him out of his immersion.
With a frown, Liu Bai's figure flickered as he appeared outside his door, where he saw Zhang Heng lying sprawled on the ground in a most awkward posture.
"Boss…" Zhang Heng, who had been firmly smashed into the ground by the pressure, now looked up at Liu Bai with a pitiful expression, calling out with grievance.
The sight nearly made Liu Bai burst into laughter, though he barely held it back at the last moment.
"Ahem, Zhang Heng, what happened, why are you in such a hurry?"
Hearing Liu Bai's question, Zhang Heng's grievance vanished. Before he even got up, he shouted anxiously, "Boss, Boss, quick, save them! At the sixth-Rank Spiritual Array region, some seniors have surrounded Sister Su Xuan and the others. I came to get reinforcements!"
The moment those words fell, the smile from Liu Bai's earlier great gains vanished instantly.
...
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