The overwhelming Bing Fire Divine Lightning engulfed the black waves in the sky, and the terrifying Xuanwu beast was suppressed beneath the weight of a divine mountain.
When all the heavenly phenomena finally faded, only two figures remained standing in midair.
"I lost." At this moment Liu Xuan had calmed down, accepting the fact of his defeat.
"Oh? Senior Liu is rather open-minded." Liu Bai chuckled softly.
Liu Xuan shook his head. "If a person cannot even accept their own defeat, then what qualifications do they have to pursue victory? Moreover, I can sense that you did not go all out, am I right?"
His strongest trump card had been so easily dispelled, and he had previously heard that Liu Bai had defeated Liu Feng, Huo Yun and the others using a fierce golden lightning. That was completely different from the heavy, earthen yellow lightning he had just witnessed, which meant Liu Bai still had other techniques unused.
However, Liu Bai had no intention of revealing the truth. He simply said, "Senior Liu thinks too much. This Deity Art of mine was only recently obtained, and I have barely begun to comprehend it. Just now, I truly did go all out."
Liu Xuan nodded and did not press further. He directly transferred one million Spiritual Value from his Token, then turned and departed.
This scene immediately caused a commotion throughout the sixth-Rank Spirit Convergence Array. Everyone was abuzz with discussion about the battle. But what they did not yet know was that at this very moment, outside the array, the entire academy had already erupted.
"Big news, big news!"
"Rank thirteen on the Heavenly Rankings, Liu Xuan, has been defeated! Freshman Liu Bai has taken his place at rank thirteen. Everyone else shifts down one rank!"
At the same time, on the giant Heavenly Rankings Stone Monument on the wings of the Divine Bird Mountain, a new name was flashing with golden light.
"Heavenly Rankings, rank thirteen, Liu Bai, cultivation at Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy for forty-two days."
Yes. A freshman who had entered the Northern Spiritual Academy for less than a month and a half had brazenly charged into the Heavenly Rankings. Moreover, he had directly entered the top twenty. This unbelievable event had unfolded vividly before the eyes of all.
In the freshmen quarters, every member of the Willow God Association was roaring in excitement, venting their uncontainable passion.
Elsewhere…
Within the Xuan Gang, Li Xuantong stood atop a hill, gazing at the giant monument on Divine Bird Mountain. His name was also inscribed upon it, but only beyond rank fifty.
The Xuan Gang had been celebrating their leader's achievement of entering the Heavenly Rankings, even claiming Li Xuantong should be recognized as the true number one freshman. But now, when he looked again, he felt a stinging pain on his face.
"Liu Bai… it seems I truly have been complacent these days. But that will end now. Wait and see, I will catch up!"
At this moment, Li Xuantong's battle spirit surged to the heavens.
At the headquarters of the Demon Gate, He Yao lacked such magnanimity. He was nearly consumed by rage, his rationality teetering on the edge.
"Li Xuantong, Shen Cangsheng, and Liu Bai… Very well. The day my Crane Divine Art reaches perfection will be the day I trample you all beneath my feet!"
Back in the Codex Hall he had failed to obtain a Deity Art, but he still cultivated his clan's secret Crane Deity Art. Once paired with the Sky Demon Crane's essence blood in his possession, he too would be able to defeat a Heavenly Transformation with only a Heaven Fusion cultivation.
As for Shen Cangsheng, that cultivation maniac had already entered the Lightning Territory after the Freshman Assembly. He was likely still in seclusion. Even if he had heard the news, with his temperament he would hardly react, aside from perhaps lengthening his training even more.
"Heh, this little fellow is truly swift and decisive. He has barely returned, and already he has stirred such a commotion. But this time, I may have a mission that could interest him…"
At the Spiritual Artifact Institute, Elder Chi Huo had just returned from the Grand Dean of the Great Academy. When he heard the news, he only smiled lightly, showing no trace of surprise.
For Liu Bai, who had slain a Heavenly Transformation and forced back even a late Heavenly Transformation Realm expert, being ranked thirteenth on the Heavenly Rankings was not astonishing at all. Even if he entered the top ten or top five, Chi Huo would not have been surprised.
"Oh yes… I recall those three will be joining the Discipline Hall in a few days. Once the top three leave, does that not mean Liu Bai will directly step into the top ten? Hahaha, how interesting…"
Remembering what he had just heard from the Grand Dean, Elder Chi Huo's smile grew even brighter.
Meanwhile, deep within the Lightning Territory, a bald elder gazed at a violent storm of lightning and murmured, "The little one is indeed remarkable. But when will he finally cultivate the Five Elements Divine Lightning Art to perfection?"
Whenever he thought of that youth, the bald elder felt helpless.
No matter how gifted, every student who entered the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy was bound to enter the Lightning Territory to cultivate, where he could observe those with heaven-defying potential.
But that little one had never once entered the Lightning Territory since enrolling. Even so, his strength grew at an astonishing pace, improving day by day. In such a short time, he could already contend against Heavenly Transformation Realm. This was a bizarre phenomenon indeed.
At this moment, nearly every high-ranking figure in the academy was focused on Liu Bai's name. After their astonishment passed, most of them were delighted. For the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy to produce such a monstrous talent brought honor and glory to the entire institution.
Many were already anticipating the future Grand Spiritual Academy Tournament, when all the academies would gather to compete. By then, Liu Bai's growth would surely astound everyone.
As for Liu Bai himself, he remained unaware of the outside clamor.
Finding a secluded spot with Su Xuan and the others, Liu Bai transferred one million Spiritual Value from his Token into theirs.
"Fortune smiled on us this time. With the Heavenly Spirit Lotus seeds and this two hundred and fifty thousand Spiritual Value, you have enough to break through once more."
The four did not refuse, for the battle had revealed the truth clearly. Strength was what truly mattered.
If they had all been at the Heavenly Transformation Realm, would anyone have dared to oppress them?
At this moment, their hunger for strength was fiercer than ever before.
Returning to his residence, Liu Bai examined the Spiritual Value within his Token.
From Bai Ran and Liu Xuan, he had obtained one and a half million. After giving one million to Su Xuan and the others, he still had five hundred thousand left.
Moreover, by defeating Liu Xuan, he had inherited his opponent's ranking. He was now ranked thirteenth on the Heavenly Rankings, directly entering the top twenty, and receiving an additional one million Spiritual Value as a reward. From now on, as long as his rank remained, he would receive ten thousand daily.
This meant that from now on, not only could Liu Bai cultivate in the sixth-Rank array, but he could even reside permanently within the seventh-Rank array without ever worrying about Spiritual Value again.
This was one of the greatest reasons why so many strove to ascend the Heavenly Rankings. The benefits were simply too great.
"It seems it is time to move."
Although freshmen had a year of free housing in their quarters, Liu Bai's demand for higher-level arrays was great. With his current status and fame, it was no longer suitable for him to remain there.
It was not that he had forgotten his roots. Rather, with his reputation, countless people would try to step on him to climb higher.
And never doubt such people existed. Reality was far more fantastical than imagination.
The Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy had innumerable students. How many sought to stand out, and how many actually succeeded? Now Liu Bai, a freshman who had been at the academy for less than two months, had accomplished what they all dreamed of. Jealousy was unavoidable.
As for strength, there were indeed clear-headed individuals in this world, but even more were those with blind confidence. Among them, the majority were the academy's youth.
Even the one ranked first on the Heavenly Rankings would be challenged. How much more so for a rising star like Liu Bai.
Liu Bai had no desire to waste time entangled with such blind and brainless challengers. After all, he could not kill them, so it would only waste his time.
Regarding Spiritual Value, not everyone belonged to a top-tier faction like the Iron Cavalry Society or Xuanwu Pavilion. Many loners were not lacking in Spiritual Value, but they certainly would not hoard too much of it either.
Because Spiritual Value was worthless if it could not be transformed into one's own strength.
With that time, it was better to complete missions.
Liu Bai took out his Spiritual Value Token and began browsing through his targets.
Although he now possessed the strength to slay an early-stage Heavenly Transformation Realm expert, he would still struggle against those in the mid and late stages.
Yet among his many paths, there was only one that could quickly and greatly enhance his combat ability, and that was the Spiritual Arrays.
Liu Bai's attainments in array mastery had already reached the level of a fifth-Rank Spiritual Array Master. With the rise of his cultivation and the support of his Five Element Spiritual Cavities, he could now easily condense over five hundred Spiritual Seals, and if given time, that number could even rise to eight hundred.
This was enough to support his recognition as a fifth-grade Spiritual Array Master. The only thing he lacked was the array diagram.
A fifth-rank array diagram cost at least one million Spiritual Value in the Spiritual Value Hall. A fourth-grade one cost five hundred thousand, while a sixth-rank was a monumental leap, the cheapest of which exceeded three million.
Liu Bai pondered. His current trump cards were not entirely secure, and a fifth-rank Spiritual Array carried power comparable to the peak of the initial Human Body Disaster Realm. It would serve as an excellent ultimate card for him at present.
After browsing for a long time, he finally found one that satisfied him.
The Divine Cauldron Refining Heaven Array, a fifth-grade Spiritual Array, required six hundred Spiritual Seals to construct. Its power equaled the pinnacle of the initial Human Body disaster Realm. Even the three monstrous talents currently in the top three of the Heavenly Rankings would suffer against it.
After all, this was not yet two years later, and the "Three Generals" of the original story had not yet broken through to the Three Disaster Realm.
"One point three million Spiritual Value. I'll take this one." Liu Bai nodded in satisfaction.
He also planned to exchange his two high-Level Spirit-grade Offensive Art and two high-grade Spiritual Artifacts, then acquire an Ancient Golden Crow essence.
Unlike Spiritual Artifacts, which disappeared once traded away, a Spiritual Art could be recorded into his system and still be exchanged afterward.
Although Liu Bai did not plan to cultivate them himself, he could pass them on to his companions. Of course, this could only be done through Spiritual Soul transmission, for Spiritual Art scrolls could not simply be copied into text or diagrams.
In the Great Thousand World, every Spiritual Art scroll was engraved by the Spiritual Soul of a predecessor onto a specialized scroll. Any slight error in this process would render the scroll useless.
What was more, to create such a scroll required complete mastery of the art. If the creator's understanding was shallow, how could they possibly engrave a complete scroll?
This was why so many incomplete Spiritual Arts circulated throughout the world. At least eighty percent of them were created this way.
Though raising a Spiritual Art to its highest level was not especially difficult for Liu Bai, it would still consume much effort and time.
But he had no intention of creating Spiritual Art scrolls. It was far too exhausting and time-consuming.
The real reason he decided to exchange away his high-level Spirit-grade Arts and Spiritual Artifacts was because he had no need for them. Nor did he intend for the Liu family to practice such flawed methods in the future. Trading them for Spiritual Value was the best choice.
As for the Blood Demon Art fragment, Liu Bai had not yet decided. He was still hesitating whether to complete it first and then trade it away at the value of a Deity-grade Spiritual Art.
Exchanging the array diagram, exchanging the spirit beast essence, Liu Bai was in a rush to strengthen himself. Not because he feared people stepping on him to rise, but to prepare for his upcoming missions.
Now that he had entered the top twenty of the Heavenly Rankings, Liu Bai was qualified to accept Heaven-level missions from the Mission Hall.
All Heaven-level missions took place on the Northern Heaven Continent, and most involved combat. The enemies faced could be extremely powerful.
Even among many ranked on the Heavenly Rankings, these missions were considered too dangerous. The Northern Heaven Continent was home to countless experts. You never knew when you might encounter enemies hostile to the Spiritual Academy, bandits who wanted to kill and plunder, or simply someone who disliked the sight of you.
Perhaps over a reason you could not even imagine, you could suddenly be plunged into a deadly crisis. Such dangers were not something everyone could handle.
Each year, the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy lost many students on the Northern Heaven Continent. Some vanished without a trace, their killers never found, their fates never confirmed.
Such silent, inexplicable deaths struck fear into every student's heart.
Perhaps only someone like Liu Bai, who grew stronger with every kill, would eagerly seek such deadly missions.
With that excitement, Liu Bai once again arrived at the Spiritual Value Hall and once more encountered a familiar face.
....
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