Chapter 1111: What a Long Rift
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
Even though the Skyleaf King had only been at Leaving Aperture realm primary stage, his Primordial Spirit had already undergone the tempering of the Leaving Aperture Ordeal, bringing the strength of his Primordial Spirit to a whole new level. However, Hall Master Xing was only at Half-Leaving Aperture realm, but his Primordial Spirit was already far stronger than that of the Skyleaf King. This was truly frightening.
Even so, provided that they were in the same cultivation realm, it was still impossible for Hall Master Xing to defeat him.
After all, he had cultivated the Saint Ascension Decipher and ascended to become a Celestial Saint. In his power class, there were none who could possibly be a match for him. The fact that Hall Master Xing was able to withstand a third of his strength was already an incredible feat in itself.
Let me see what kind of flaws there are in his Primordial Spirit... Activating his Eye of Insight, Zhang Xuan began assessing the sight before him.
The Primordial Spirit ahead of him had a transparent quality reminiscent of a perfect crystal.
Any other spirit awakener in his place would have been awed by the overwhelming might of the Primordial Spirit, but with the sharp gaze of Zhang Xuan’s Eye of Insight, he was able to easily find innumerable flaws in the Primordial Spirit. There were many gaps that presented themselves in the form of depressions on the surface of the Primordial Spirit that would have prevented the flow of thought and power.
In a way, it was similar to glass; while it seemed flat and smooth to the human eye, one would find little bumps and depressions on it when placed under a microscope.
The Eye of Insight was capable of peering through the essence of items. Even though the other party’s Primordial Spirit appeared transparent and perfect on the surface, ultimately, it was not formed from cultivating the Heaven’s Path Divine Art. When magnified, Zhang Xuan was able to see all kinds of depressions and rifts on it.
After studying it for a moment, Zhang Xuan nodded. As long as I fill up those depressions, it will be difficult for inner demons to assault him.
Inner demons were formed from the deepest desires or the apprehension within one’s heart. If one’s Primordial Spirit was perfect, devoid of depressions and openings, it would be like a completely sealed egg, making it difficult for inner demons to breach one’s defenses.
Zhang Xuan smiled as he reached his hand forward. Fortunately, the depressions aren’t too big, so it won’t be too difficult to resolve the issue.
With every single tap, a bundle of spirit would fill up the depressions within Hall Master Xing’s Primordial Spirit. The glow that it radiated gradually became brighter and brighter, and eventually, it was nearly blinding.
Hmm? There’s a long rift here. While traveling around Hall Master Xing’s Primordial Spirit, Zhang Xuan suddenly caught sight of something that left a deep frown on his forehead.
At the back of Hall Master Xing’s Primordial Spirit, there was a glaring rift that extended down the center, from one end to the other.
Even though it isn’t too deep, it has severed many of the connections within the Primordial Spirit, preventing it from functioning normally. Zhang Xuan stroked his lower jaw and fell into deep thought.
It seemed like Hall Master Xing’s Primordial Spirit had been severely injured at some point, or else it was impossible for there to be such a huge rift on his Primordial Spirit.
Zhang Xuan scratched his head as he contemplated. It’s not too difficult to fill up the smaller depressions using the means I have learned from the spirit awakener books. But, such a huge rift... How should I go about fixing it?
Judging the huge size of the rift, reminiscent of a valley in the Primordial Spirit, it was apparent than ordinary means would not work on it.
To make an analogy, a wall that had depressions could easily be plastered over to make it smooth once more, but if half of the wall collapsed altogether, the repair work would be far more complicated than that.
Suddenly, Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up in excitement.
Wait... While ordinary methods will not work, if I use the method that I use for artifact enchantment within this rift, I might just be able to fill it up swiftly!
Ordinary methods were unlikely to work, but considering how his spirit enchantment could bring even the massive building of the Spirit Awakener Guild to life, it should not be too difficult for him to create a spirit within the crevice to fill it up.
There had been no records on anyone doing this before, but... didn’t Kong shi just offer him some advice not too long ago?
He had to innovate and forge his own path!
Sticking along with the conventions would just limit his potential!
And this was the time for him to do so. If he were to succeed, Hall Master Xing would surely be able to clear the Trial of Inner Demons easily and resolve the problem plaguing the Combat Master Hall!
Kong shi is the World’s Teacher; there can’t be any mistake trusting him! Zhang Xuan nodded his head in satisfaction.
He swiftly assessed the feasibility of the matter based on his comprehension on spirit enchantment. There might be some side effects from doing so, but it won’t affect his core.
One of the problems in this solution was that the spirit used to fill up the rift would have its own consciousness as well, similar to that of the guild building. There was a chance that it would run amok.
This would be a huge problem for anyone else, but not for Zhang Xuan. All he had to do was eradicate that consciousness right after the spirit was born.
If it had been any other spirit awakener in his place, the other party would probably have been forced into a bitter fight against the spirit in order to erase it, and in the process of doing so, that might even have harmed Hall Master Xing’s Primordial Spirit. However, as a soul oracle and a poison master, Zhang Xuan had many means that would allow him to effectively deal with spirits.
Alright, it’s settled then...
Having conducted a simulation of the entire process in the head and confirming it to be feasible once more, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.
Drawing his consciousness back to his body, he turned to Division Head Liao and instructed, "Division Head Liao, I’ll need you to guard us. By no means should anyone interrupt us during the course of the spirit enchantment!"
Division Head Liao nodded in response. "Rest assured!"
Nodding back, Zhang Xuan took a deep breath and closed his eyes once more. His will slipped into Hall Master Xing’s mind along with the light, and in the blink of an eye, he was standing before the rift once more. With a grim expression, he stepped forward and tapped on the rift lightly.
Hu!
The darkness within the rift was slightly cleared by the emergence of a spark of light.
However, the spark was still too small to fill the entire rift. Zhang Xuan had to create another eight sparks before the light was able to cover the entire rift.
After that was finally done, he could not help but feel deeply exhausted.
Previously, in order to enchant the guild building of the Spirit Awakener Guild, he had produced thirty-two sparks, and over here, he had created another eight. All in all, he had already used the abilities of a spirit awakener for more than forty times when the limit for the average spirit awakener was only three times.
With that, he had finally reached his limit.
I need to wipe away that newborn spirit.
Even though Zhang Xuan was exhausted, he knew that it was not the time to rest. Suppressing his exhaustion, he walked up to the rift.
He had to eradicate it as soon as possible, or else the clash of the two wills would cause Hall Master Xing great suffering.
Gathering his soul energy, a brilliant glow gathered on Zhang Xuan’s palm. He was just about to make a move when...
Hong long!
The door to the room suddenly burst open. Following which, an anxious voice exclaimed, "Hall Master Xing, bad news..."
Shit... Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes in alarm.
He had just been about to speak when the massive Primordial Spirit before him rose from its dormant state. It abruptly released a powerful aura that jolted Zhang Xuan’s will out.
Hall Master Xing had awoken from his trance due to that shouting, and as a natural defensive mechanism of his body, Zhang Xuan’s will was viewed as a foreign object and forcefully expelled from his mind.
If Zhang Xuan had been in his peak state, he would still have been able to withstand the simple instinctive reflex of Hall Master Xing’s body easily. However, drained from all of the spirit enchantments he had done that day, he was feeling sluggish and weak all over, leaving him in no state to defend against Hall Master Xing’s reflexive actions.
Returning back to his body, Zhang Xuan opened his eyes and saw an old man standing within the room with a frantic look. Division Head Liao was berating the old man with a deep frown on his forehead, seemingly criticizing the other party for abruptly barging in forcefully.
Having regained consciousness, Hall Master Xing turned to the old man and asked, "Division Head Wei, what’s the matter?"
"Hall Master Xing, Division Head Wu of the Footwork Division has also left the Combat Master Hall for the Xuan... that place!" Division Head Wei reported anxiously.
As there was an outsider around, he did not dare say the name ’Xuanxuan Faction’. Otherwise, if others learned that their combat masters had willingly defected to another organization, they would surely have become the joke of the town.
"He still went in the end," Hall Master Xing muttered with a livid expression.
He had thought that his division heads would at least still be able to hold themselves back, but who would have thought that they would succumb to the temptation in the end?
He felt so choked up that he could vomit blood.
Hall Master Xing was just about to speak when the person who had just enchanted his Primordial Spirit for him, Sun shi, suddenly asked with a deeply worried look, "You... Are you still fine?"
"I’m fine. Right, I haven’t thanked Sun shi for enchanting my Primordial Spirit yet. I feel like my fighting prowess has been raised another notch, and my entire body is gushing with power!" Hall Master Xing replied with a smile.
As expected of a master spirit awakener, the other party’s means were indeed formidable. Just a single session of enchantment, and he could already feel the strength of his Primordial Spirit rising by leaps and bounds.
He felt that it would not be a problem even if he were to challenge the Leaving Aperture Ordeal in his current state.
"I see... I’m glad to see that you are fine!" Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.
It seemed like he had worried excessively. Even though he had enchanted a spirit into the other party’s Primordial Spirit in order to fill the rift, it only made up a very small portion of it. Under the suppression of Hall Master Xing’s powerful Primordial Spirit, it was likely that it would be assimilated before it could do anything.
After thanking Sun shi, Hall Master Xin stood up with a resilient glint in his eyes. "Division Head Liao, prepare the formation. I’ll be heading over right now!"
There were only Ten Division Heads in the Combat Master Hall, and five of them had already defected to the Xuanxuan Faction. Granted that it was not a true defectionthey were only there to learn battle techniques for the time beingbut still... if others were to learn of the matter, it would not reflect well on their Combat Master Hall! Their pride and honor were at risk of being shattered!
He had to resolve this problem at its root once and for all.
"Alright!" Knowing that the situation was urgent, Division Head Liao quickly rushed into action as well. He led the way to a huge hall before placing his palm on a mechanism. A burst of light shone, and a one-man passageway emerged before them.
"I’ll be entering now," Hall Master Xing stated. He turned around to look at Zhang Xuan and said, "Sun shi, I’m afraid that I’ll have to ask you to stay a while longer. If I fail the trial this time around, I might require your help once more..."
"Un." Zhang Xuan nodded.
After which, Hall Master Xing stepped in.
Watching him leave, Zhang Xuan finally felt exhaustion overcoming his body. Thus, he took a seat on the ground, closed his eyes, and began meditating so as to recuperate from his previous exertion.
He had to drive his soul energy using the Heaven’s Path Spirit Enchantment Art ten times before his exhaustion finally alleviated. When he opened his eyes once more, he saw Division Head Liao pacing around the entrance nervously, looking into the passageway from time to time.
"What’s wrong?" Zhang Xuan stood up and walked over.
"Hall Master Xing has been inside more than two hours now. I fear that something bad might have befallen him during the trial!" Division Head Liao replied with a worried frown.
"He isn’t out yet?" Zhang Xuan also frowned upon hearing those words.
He had been too busy recuperating previously, so he was not too aware of the passing of time. However, doing a swift calculation at the moment, it did seem like two hours had already passed.
This did not make sense. Regardless of whether Hall Master Xing passed or not, the results should have been out by now. It did not make sense for there to not be the slightest movements at all.
"Yes, he isn’t out yet," Division Head Liao replied apprehensively. "No matter whether he has cleared the trial or not, he should have at least sent a message by now. However, there’s been no news from him at all."
Right after those words were spoken, flurried footsteps suddenly sounded from the passageway. Following which, a figure came into sight.
"You are... Hall Master Xing? W-what happened to you?"
Upon seeing the appearance of the figure, Division Head Liao’s lips twitched as his body froze from astonishment.
At the same time, Zhang Xuan also caught sight of the figure, and he nearly fainted on the spot.
"What is that monster?"