Chapter 1118: Guild Survived

The previous few levels all featured four-headed, eight-armed puppets. Although there are none here, there's a black pillar that likely serves the same purpose.

"Let's try and see..."

Sitting where he was, he pressed his palm to the ground. A halo of light immediately enveloped the pillar. Just like with previous spirit awakenings, Zhang Xuan's consciousness seemed to plunge into darkness.

"Illuminate!"

Knowing that illuminating the darkness was equivalent to awakening the item's spirit, he circulated the Heaven's Path Spirit Awakening Art in his mind and pointed his finger forward.

A ray of light shone forth, dispelling the darkness, but it was very faint, like a candle flickering precariously in the wind, as if it could be extinguished at any moment.

"Hmm?"

With the previous puppets, he could illuminate the entire space just by circulating the Heaven's Path Spirit Awakening Art. But now, it only illuminated the immediate vicinity and could easily be extinguished. This meant that the spiritual essence of this item was even harder to awaken than he had imagined.

"As expected of a seven-star level item, the difficulty has indeed increased significantly..."

Knowing this, Zhang Xuan felt no frustration; instead, his eyes lit up.

The previous assessments had lacked any real technical challenge; this one finally felt like a proper test.

"I want to see how difficult a seven-star assessment can be... I'll definitely illuminate you today!"

With a challenge before him, Zhang Xuan immediately became full of interest.

Other spirit awakeners can only perform it three times a day, then need a long rest before continuing. He was different; the Heaven's Path Spirit Awakening had almost no side effects. Moreover, his soul power far surpassed others at the same level, meaning he wouldn't get tired even if he performed it dozens of times a day.

His finger pointed forward again.

Another ray of light ignited. It still appeared faint, but it drove the darkness back a little further.

"Merge!"

His soul circulated rapidly, bringing the two flames together. The flames that had been burning separately slowly merged.

These two flames were both spiritual essences he had ignited, containing his soul's will, so merging them was not difficult.

Of course, this was only possible for him. The flames ignited by the Heaven's Path Spirit Awakening could have identical attributes, something ordinary spirit awakeners couldn't achieve.

If the attributes were different, they couldn't be merged. Otherwise, it would be like two wills appearing within a single item, similar to the Saint Domain Bodhi Tree incident. If they competed against each other, it might even completely destroy the entire weapon.

Once merged, the flame strengthened considerably, illuminating the surroundings. Although it still couldn't completely dispel the darkness, it no longer seemed on the verge of dying out at any moment, as it had before.

"It really works..."

Spirit merging was something he had suddenly thought of on a whim, and he hadn't expected it to actually work. He smiled faintly and pointed forward again.

*Whoosh!*

Two more flames were ignited and continued to merge with the existing one.

With four flames merged, the flame transformed into a sturdy torch, powerful and vigorous, radiating light in all directions and illuminating an area of at least a hundred meters.

"What a large space..."

With the light, Zhang Xuan could now see the surroundings clearly.

With the previous puppets, the range of his conscious perception was only a few meters, or ten-odd meters. Once the spiritual essence was awakened, it could completely envelop them. But this one, after illuminating a hundred meters, he still couldn't see the end... This weapon is truly too large!

The larger the weapon, the stronger the spiritual essence needed to support it. Just like the Golden Origin Cauldron must be more powerful than the Ice Rain Sword... After igniting the spiritual essence four times, he still couldn't find the boundary. This was enough to show that this pillar was terrifyingly immense.

"I didn't expect a seven-star assessment to be so difficult. I refuse to believe I can't illuminate it..."

If the Heaven's Path Spirit Awakening Art he cultivated couldn't even pass this assessment, wouldn't it be a disservice to the Library of Heaven's Path in his mind?

"Continue..."

His finger lightly tapped again. His soul circulated faster, and several more flames appeared before him. As he continuously over-drafted his energy, his face also turned slightly pale.

Although his soul power was strong, and he could perform spirit awakenings far more times than ordinary people, continuous exertion still caused great harm to his soul.

*Whoosh whoosh whoosh!*

He continued to merge the ignited spiritual essences. The torch transformed into a bonfire, illuminating an even greater distance. However, he still couldn't find the end.

Not being able to illuminate the end meant he hadn't succeeded.

"I'll go all out..."

Clenching his teeth, he spat out a mouthful of vital blood. Zhang Xuan's consciousness desperately held on.

After continuously merging thirty-two flames, the bonfire before him transformed into a powerful sea of fire, like a scorching sun, illuminating everything around him.

*Boom!*

The dark space trembled, finally allowing him to see the complete situation clearly.

The place within this weapon that contained consciousness was actually several miles in size. No wonder its spiritual essence was so difficult to awaken.

Finally succeeding, Zhang Xuan felt his body completely drained, and was filled with curiosity.

He had cultivated the Heaven's Path Spirit Awakening Art. His understanding of spirit awakeners had already reached the peak of seven-star, or even the early stage of eight-star. He could guarantee that Vice Guild Leader Xu and the others' spirit awakening speed would be far inferior...

Even so, he was almost exhausted to death before he succeeded. What kind of assessment was this?

Isn't it too difficult?!

Inside a spacious room in the Spirit Awakener Guild, three women sat facing each other. They were the highest-ranking members of the guild: Vice Guild Leader Xu, Guild Leader Ruan, and Vice Guild Leader Chen.

"Xu Ying, what exactly happened? The Twin Heroes of Jibei are not to be trifled with. Although the Grounded Hero Dao Kou's strength is ordinary, the Sky-supporting Hero Zang Xu is not someone we can handle. If they come to cause trouble, our Spirit Awakener Guild will probably owe the Master Teacher Pavilion another favor..."

Guild Leader Ruan looked over.

Dao Kou came to help his student awaken a spirit and break through to the Primordial Spirit realm, but he didn't even do anything and was beaten half to death... Guild Leader Ruan heard about it as soon as she arrived, which was why she hastily summoned Vice Guild Leader Xu and Vice Guild Leader Chen.

If the Twin Heroes of Jibei were reasonable people, there would be nothing to fear. But these two individuals have a notorious reputation, and now they've suffered such a huge loss. If they cause any trouble, the Guild's current strength wouldn't be able to suppress them.

At that time, they would have no choice but to seek help from the Master Teacher Pavilion.

"It's like this..." Vice Guild Leader Xu Ying explained Zhang Xuan's matter in detail.

"You said... this fellow might be a Combat Master?" Guild Leader Ruan frowned slightly, then nodded: "If that's the case, it would be great. Even if the Twin Heroes of Jibei want to act arrogantly, they definitely wouldn't dare to oppose the Combat Master Hall!"

Not to mention that the Combat Master Hall is a branch of the Master Teacher Pavilion, the countless astonishingly powerful martial artists within it are not to be offended by any profession.

"If the Sky-supporting Hero Zang Xu comes to cause trouble, you can directly push all the responsibility onto that fellow. Don't cause trouble for our Spirit Awakener Guild. We are merely an auxiliary profession; we can't contend with those powerful experts..."

Guild Leader Ruan instructed.

Most spirit awakeners are women because their minds are delicate, making it easier for them to grasp the essence of cultivation.

Being women who cultivate an auxiliary profession, they naturally couldn't be a match for these ferocious bullies.

To be honest, if not for the rules set by the Master Teacher Pavilion, spirit awakeners would have long been exploited by other professions. How could they enjoy such prestige as they do now?

Precisely because of this, their profession is only established in places where the Master Teacher Pavilion exists. They simply don't go to other places to avoid unpredictable trouble.

"Okay..." Vice Guild Leader Xu Ying nodded, then suddenly remembered something: "Oh right, that young man hasn't left yet. He said he wanted to learn about spirit awakening and went to the library to read books!"

"Read books? A man wants to learn spirit awakening?" Guild Leader Ruan shook her head.

It wasn't that she looked down on men, but that it simply wasn't something they could achieve.

"Whether he's actually studying or not, I've already sent someone to check. They should be back soon..." Vice Guild Leader Xu Ying also shared her thoughts, not having much hope for Zhang Xuan. However, two or three hours had passed, and he still hadn't come out, which inevitably made her curious.

*Creak!*

Just as she finished speaking, a woman rushed in.

It was Vice Guild Leader Xu Ying's student, a six-star spirit awakener.

"Well, is that young man really reading?" Vice Guild Leader Xu Ying smiled, seeing her return.

"Reporting to Guild Leader Ruan, Vice Guild Leader Chen, and Teacher... He's not just reading... he's also taking a spirit awakener assessment..."

The woman, remembering what she had just seen, was filled with disbelief.

"Taking a spirit awakener assessment?" Vice Guild Leader Xu Ying frowned: "He seemed completely ignorant of the spirit awakening profession, didn't he? And he wants to take a four-star spirit awakener assessment after less than three hours of reading?"

She had interacted with him. He knew nothing about the spirit awakening profession. And he wants to take an assessment like this... What a joke!

"He... not only took the assessment, but he also activated the spiritual essence of the puppet in the corner... The puppet ran around wildly, and has already been suppressed by us sisters..." the woman hastily replied.

"Running wild... no, that's not right!"

This time, it was Guild Leader Ruan's turn to be puzzled. She couldn't help but look over: "As long as two arms and one head of the four-headed puppet are activated, it counts as passing the assessment. Due to the limitations of the other heads, even if activated, it shouldn't be able to move... How could it run wild?"

"He... activated the spiritual essence of all four heads and eight arms of the puppet..." Her lips trembled; the woman seemed to not believe it herself as she spoke.

"Activated all of them?" The three guild leaders simultaneously stood up, their eyes filled with disbelief.

To activate one spiritual essence and control four heads... it could be said to be almost impossible. Even they couldn't do it. A fellow who knew nothing, after only reading for a while, managed to do it?

"You mean... he activated that four-star puppet?"

Vice Guild Leader Xu Ying could no longer contain herself.

If this was truly the case, this young man might indeed be a spirit awakening genius.

"Not just... four-star. The five-star and six-star ones were also activated. He's currently in the seven-star room, facing the pillar in the corner, doing something unknown..."

The woman said.

"Five-star and six-star too?"

The three guild leaders all swayed.

After a moment, Guild Leader Ruan frowned: "The seven-star puppet is broken; it hasn't been repaired. That pillar supports our guild building; it has no spiritual essence, so it's impossible to activate..."

*Rumble!*

Before she finished speaking, everyone felt the guild building shake violently, as if they were on a small boat being tossed by waves.

"This is bad, Guild Leader... Our guild... it's alive!"

Immediately after, an elder rushed in, her face ashen.