He had consumed three bottles of Wintry Spirit Essence, but before he could even begin assimilating it, Fei shi had come over to have a talk with him. Following which, his future brother-in-law had brought him here. While he had managed to neutralize a portion of it along the way, a large portion of it had still remained in his body.
It was not too much of a problem for him to just sit cross-legged on the ground. However, as soon as he tried to use his zhenqi to decipher the formation, he immediately suffered a backlash.
Zhang Xuan's face paled, and his body trembled uncontrollably. He felt as if his internal organs had turned into blocks of ice, and he found himself unable to control his zhenqi.
"Don't think about deciphering the formation yet … Otherwise, I might just freeze to death here!"
Zhang Xuan's heart jolted.
He had been thinking about how he could decipher the formation to leave a good impression on Luo Xuanqing, but from the looks of it now, it seemed like it was impossible.
If Zhang Xuan did not refine the spirit essence in his body as soon as possible, it would be a small matter for him to waste so many good things. In the worst case scenario, it might even result in a hidden danger, causing uncontrollable changes to his body.
"Assimilate!"
Knowing that there was no time to waste, Zhang Xuan took a deep breath and gathered the Heaven's Path zhenqi he had just gathered. Making use of the glacial spiritual energy, he began pushing for a breakthrough in his cultivation.
The Heaven's Path zhenqi had no attribute, but it was capable of neutralizing all lethal poisons in the world. On top of that, it could even mimic the Zhenqi of Slaughter of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, such that not even the Greenleaf King and Goldenleaf King were able to notice it.
It was due to this ability that the Wintry Spirit Essence, which even the Glacier Plain Court feared, was nothing to him.
Gugugugu!
Driving his zhenqi, Zhang Xuan's stiff body began to melt once more, and a powerful surge of zhenqi surged toward the bottleneck.
Kacha! Kacha!
In an instant, the bottleneck of Leaving Aperture realm intermediate stage was torn apart. Zhang Xuan's zhenqi surged furiously, and his strength rose once more.
With the abundant spiritual energy in his body, and having studied the Leaving Aperture realm breakthrough for many years, Zhang Xuan was extremely familiar with the process. Like a rolling snowball, his Heaven's Path zhenqi grew stronger and stronger. In less than five breaths, he successfully broke through the bottleneck of Leaving Aperture realm advanced stage.
Ten breaths later, he had already reached Leaving Aperture realm pinnacle!
Hu!
After breaking through three small stages in a row, the Icy Spirit Liquid's spiritual energy slowly dissipated. It was completely exhausted and lost its power.
"I succeeded …"
Heaving a sigh of relief, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.
As expected of the treasure of the Glacier Plain Court, it was something that even Chen Leyao was unwilling to give up on. Using it to achieve a breakthrough was indeed more efficient.
"Since I've already broken through, let's go through the Thunder Tribulation!"
Having reached Leaving Aperture realm pinnacle, Zhang Xuan no longer hesitated.
Rumble!
The thunderclouds were attracted over and emitted a malevolent power.
Upon reaching the Leaving Aperture realm, as long as one did not intentionally conceal their cultivation, they would be able to summon a lightning tribulation. Furthermore, the intensity of the lightning tribulation would vary according to the strength of the cultivator.
The stronger one was, the more terrifying the lightning tribulation would be.
…
"Luo Xuanqing, since you think so highly of this Zhang Xuan, why don't you guess how long it will take for him to crack Bi Hongyin's formation plate?"
The fatty lifted his stomach to prevent it from falling to the ground as he looked over with a smile.
"Bi Hongyin's formation plate is at grade-8 intermediate stage. I might have to put in quite a bit of effort to decipher it!"
Luo Xuanqing paused for a moment before continuing. "My guess is that it will take at least an hour!"
Deciphering a formation was much easier than setting one up. To be able to set up a grade-8 formation in just a few breaths, even the lowest grade-8 formation would require a deep understanding of formations. No matter how formidable Bi Hongyin's formation plate was, Luo Xuanqing did not think that she would be able to do it.
However, this was the first time he had come into contact with such a formidable formation plate, so it would take at least an hour or even longer.
"An hour? You sure have a lot of confidence in him … But I think that it'll be difficult for him to do so! "
The shorty scoffed coldly. "It's not like you don't know how powerful Bi Hongyin's formation is. It's infused with demonic tunes and Primordial Spirit attacks. Those who are trapped within it won't even be able to focus their attention. How could it be that easy to decipher the formation? Even some 8-star high-tier formation masters would need at least four to six hours to succeed. Even if Zhang Xuan is as formidable as you make him out to be, it'll be impossible for him to succeed without two hours! "
"You're still too confident in him. I don't think that he'll be able to succeed at all!" the fatty shook his head.
As a Saint 7-dan expert, Zhang Xuan had seen many formidable formation masters in his time, so he was well aware of the limits of their capabilities.
Bi Hongyin's demonic tunes were not just at the pinnacle of demonic tunes, her formations were extremely powerful as well. Even though it was only a grade-8 intermediate-tier formation plate, its prowess was far greater than that of a high-tier formation plate.
It would be hard to say whether Bi Hongyin would be able to escape the first time she came into contact with it, let alone decipher it in just a few hours.
"This …"
Hearing the words of the duo, Luo Xuanqing's confidence began to wane.
Perhaps it was due to Bi Hongyin's incredible talent, allowing her to instantly deduce the crux of the formation and succeed in a single try.
Or perhaps it was due to the fact that she had practiced it many times before. Just because he had never seen a grade-8 elementary formation before did not mean that Bi Hongyin had never seen one before.
If she had practiced it many times before, it was only natural that she would be able to successfully set it up so quickly.
Hong long!
While Luo Xuanqing was still worried, the formation before him suddenly shook intensely, and a powerful surge of energy seemed to be surging at an incredible rate.
After maintaining the formation for around twenty breaths, the sky suddenly darkened, and fearsome lightning descended from the heavens.
It was impossible to see what was happening within the formation due to the thick layer of mist, but the fact that the lightning clouds were floating right above their heads made their hair stand on end.
"What's going on?"
Bi Hongyin, who was in charge of the formation, was also stunned.
She had only been maintaining the formation to test the other party's ability to decipher the formation. She had not committed any heinous crimes, so why would she be struck by lightning?
Surely it didn't have to be that vicious!
She had only been infusing her zhenqi into the formation plate to maintain the formation, so she did not pay much attention to what was happening within. As such, she was unaware that the young man inside had managed to raise his cultivation from Leaving Aperture realm primary stage to Leaving Aperture realm pinnacle in just twenty breaths.
"Damn it!"
Bi Hongyin hesitated for a moment. Seeing that the lightning was heading straight for her formation plate, she clenched her fists tightly and launched a powerful attack.
Hong long!
But before her attack could reach the black clouds, a lightning bolt as thick as a human's waist suddenly fell from the sky.
Kacha!
Carrying boundless might and an aura that seemed capable of piercing through the heavens, the lightning bolt swiftly devoured her attack.
Tzzzzzzz!
In an instant, Bi Hongyin's entire body stiffened. Her hair stood on end, and her face was charred black. The seductive air that she had exuded a moment ago was nowhere to be seen.
Even though her cultivation had reached Saint 7-dan, it was still insufficient before the might of the heavens.
Under the immense might of the lightning bolt, the dark clouds in the sky seemed to have dissipated significantly.
Bi Hongyin heaved a sigh of relief. Just as she was feeling relieved that she had managed to escape unscathed, she suddenly felt another surge of energy gushing out from the formation. Sensing this surge of energy, the dark clouds in the sky seemed to have gone berserk. They gathered once more, and in just a few breaths, the number of dark clouds had already doubled.
"What's going on?"
Bi Hongyin felt her scalp going numb. She felt as if she had gone insane.
Luo Xuanqing and the others were also dumbfounded, not knowing what was going on.
Kacha! Kacha!
However, they did not have much time to think. As soon as they were done gathering the dark clouds, the lightning bolt in the sky came crashing down.
This time, it was even larger than before, with a diameter of two meters.
Bi Hongyin's legs trembled uncontrollably, and her face paled.
However, knowing that it was impossible for her to dodge the lightning bolt, she could only take it head-on. Gritting her teeth, she raised her arms and exerted all of her strength to strike the lightning bolt upward.
Kacha!
The lightning bolt struck her once more, and her entire body was charred black. A charred smell lingered around her, and white smoke rose from her body.
Most of her zhenqi had already dissipated, and she spurted a mouthful of blood.
"I guess I managed to withstand it …"
Bi Hongyin felt so stifled that she could explode at any moment. However, she still heaved a sigh of relief.
The previous lightning bolt was indeed powerful, but judging from the state of the dark clouds, it seemed like they were about to dissipate after just two strikes.
Barely after she thought of this, a surge of energy suddenly burst forth from the formation once more.
Hong long long!
The dissipating dark clouds gathered once more, and this time, they were even more powerful and majestic than before.
If the area of the dark clouds was only several hundred meters in radius previously, it had already expanded to a radius of two to three kilometers at this moment. Before she could even stand against it, she could already feel the overwhelming might of the lightning bolt, as if a massive dragon was rumbling and roaring within it. It felt as if it would break free from its shackles at any moment and reduce the entire world to dust.
"Why?"
Bi Hongyin's legs caved in, and she nearly fell to the ground.
The previous lightning tribulation had nearly killed her on the spot, and this one was several times stronger than before. There was no way she would be able to withstand it.
Why was it striking her?
And from the looks of it, it seemed like it wouldn't rest until one of them was dead.
"Stop watching the commotion and come over to help!"
Knowing that it was impossible for her to withstand the lightning tribulation on her own, she roared.
"Alright!" Luo Xuanqing and the others also realized the severity of the situation, and they hurriedly rushed forward.
Hualala!
The crowd swiftly made a move.
The combined power of the four experts caused a hole to appear in the sky.
The seven-colored light collided with the lightning tribulation, and a deafening explosion reverberated across a hundred li. A short crack appeared on the ground.
Luo Xuanqing and the others felt their faces flushing red, and their blood and flesh were churning furiously, as if they were on the verge of exploding. Their faces were blackened, and their hair stood on end as they spurted mouthfuls of blood.
As powerful as they were, the lightning tribulation in the sky was simply too frightening. Even with their combined might, they were only able to fight it to a draw.
It was fortunate that they were all members of powerful sects, and they had their own means to protect themselves. Otherwise, even if they were to survive, they would have been bedridden for several months at the very least.
Outside the formation, the crowd was on the verge of spurting blood from the lightning tribulation. Within the formation, Zhang Xuan, who had his Spiritual Perception isolated from the outside world, was sitting on the ground, staring at the sky with a confused look on his face.
I should be able to sense the aura of the lightning tribulation after making a breakthrough … Why isn't the lightning tribulation here yet?
He had been waiting for the lightning tribulation for quite some time now, but there was no sign of it at all. Could it be that he had used the wrong method?
Hu!
He released the lightning tribulation once more.
Still nothing.
He released the lightning tribulation once more.
Still nothing!
It can't be … Could it be that the lightning tribulation was so easily defeated that it didn't dare to come?
Zhang Xuan rubbed his glabella in displeasure. I thought that the Leaving Aperture Ordeal would be as difficult as the Saint Ascension Ordeal, but isn't it a little too easy?
Kacha! Kacha! Kacha!
Outside, Luo Xuanqing and the others were electrocuted once more, and smoke was rising from their heads.
(The summer fan event has come to a successful end. Laoya has already mailed the prizes and books you have received yesterday. As long as the address is correct, it should arrive within a week. Hehe! Thank you for your support. It's already the middle of the month. Do you still have any monthly tickets?)
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