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Chapter 1130: A Big Gap

Though King Tianye was only at the early stage of the Ethereal Incarnation realm, his soul had undergone the Ethereal Tribulation and reached a different level. Hall Master Xing, despite being only at Half-Step Ethereal Incarnation, possessed an Ethereal Incarnation even stronger and more refined than the king’s. Indeed, it was terrifyingly powerful.

However, even so, it was almost impossible for anyone at the same level to defeat him.

Having cultivated the Enfeoffment Severance Art, successfully becoming an Enfeoffed Saint, and combining it with the Heaven's Path Divine Art, he was absolutely invincible at the same level. Anyone capable of withstanding even a third of his power would be considered an exceptionally formidable existence among master teachers.

“Let's see what's wrong with his Ethereal Incarnation…”

The Eye of Insight squirmed and looked over.

The Ethereal Incarnation before him was crystal clear, refined by Hall Master Xing to be as transparent as crystal, appearing flawless.

To anyone else, it would be a marvel, but under the gaze of the Eye of Insight, many flaws became apparent. Each flaw was like a pit, hindering the flow of thought and power.

It was like glass: smooth and flat to the naked eye, but uneven and bumpy under a microscope.

The Eye of Insight could see through to the essence of things. Although the opponent's Ethereal Incarnation was crystal clear and spotless, it had not been cultivated through the Heaven's Path Divine Art. When magnified several times, various grooves and intersecting ravines became clearly visible, resembling insurmountable chasms.

“If these pits are filled, inner demons won't be able to invade…”

After studying it for a while, Zhang Xuan nodded.

Inner demons were essentially formed from specific obsessions or unresolved issues. If the Ethereal Incarnation were perfect and flawless, without these grooves—like a sealed egg—then inner demons would be unable to enter.

Stabilizing the Ethereal Incarnation meant filling these holes to make it purer.

“The pits aren't big, so solving this is easy…”

With a light smile, Zhang Xuan extended his hand and tapped it.

With each tap, a wisp of spirituality sealed the defect, and Hall Master Xing's Ethereal Incarnation became increasingly dazzling and radiant.

“Hmm? What a huge crack…”

After circulating his gaze once, Zhang Xuan suddenly frowned.

At the very center of the back of the Ethereal Incarnation, a massive, terrifying crack appeared, almost bisecting one side.

“Although not deep, it effectively obstructs the operation of the entire Ethereal Incarnation…”

Zhang Xuan stroked his chin in thought.

This defect was simply too significant. Hall Master Xing must have suffered a severe injury to his Ethereal Incarnation; otherwise, such a large crack would be impossible.

“Filling in small indentations is relatively simple; a Spirit Awakener’s soul-nourishing methods can be used. But for something this large… how do I fix it?”

Scratching his head, Zhang Xuan pondered.

The small pits he had seen earlier could be easily filled using a Spirit Awakener's soul-nourishing techniques. But the one before him was like a canyon; ordinary methods definitely wouldn't work.

It was like plastering a wall: minor dents could be patched up with a bit of material, making them invisible to outsiders, but if half the wall had collapsed, the required materials would be entirely different.

“Right, normal methods definitely won't work. If I use the method for awakening the spirit of a weapon to light up this void… it should be quickly resolved!”

After pondering for a while, Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up.

Ordinary nourishing methods would be ineffective, but weapon awakening was different. He had previously even successfully activated a colossal entity like the Guild. He only needed to ignite the void, and the chasm would naturally be filled.

Using awakening techniques to nourish an Ethereal Incarnation was not recorded in any books he had read before, but… hadn't Master Kong advised him?

To innovate!

Not to stick to old ways!

Now was the time for innovation. Perhaps this could easily fill the chasm, significantly boosting Hall Master Xing's strength, allowing him to pass the inner demon trial, and thus resolving the current hidden danger.

“Trusting Master Kong must be the right way!”

Nodding with satisfaction, Zhang Xuan refined his understanding of the Spirit Awakener profession: “There are some flaws in doing this, but they won't affect the foundation.”

The so-called flaw was that the ignited spirituality would develop its own consciousness, becoming uncontrollable, just like the Guild had before.

Of course, this would be troublesome for others, but for him, it wasn't a big problem. After igniting it, he could simply erase the newly formed consciousness.

An ordinary cultivator would have to go through various struggles to erase a consciousness, potentially even harming the opponent's Ethereal Incarnation. However, as a Witchcraft Soul Master and a Poison Master, he possessed countless methods to accomplish this silently.

“This is how I'll do it…”

After refining the plan a few more times and confirming that it aligned with Master Kong's advice to forge his own path, Zhang Xuan finally relaxed. His consciousness returned to his body, and he looked up at Hall Master Liao, who was nearby, giving him instructions.

“Hall Master Liao, I'll trouble you to stand guard for us and try to prevent anyone from disturbing us!”

“Don't worry!”

Hall Master Liao nodded.

Having given his instructions, Zhang Xuan took a deep breath, closed his eyes again, and his consciousness, accompanied by light, re-entered the other party's sea of consciousness. In the blink of an eye, he arrived at the crack, his eyes serious as he tapped it.

The dark void within the crack was immediately illuminated by light.

However, the ignited spirituality was too small to fill it completely. Zhang Xuan repeated the process, continuously igniting eight more sparks, which finally enveloped the entire fissure.

After completing this, Zhang Xuan's face was etched with fatigue.

He had previously ignited thirty-two sparks for the Guild, and now another eight… meaning he had continuously used his Spirit Awakener abilities forty times today.

An ordinary Spirit Awakener would be exhausted after using the ability three times and would require at least ten days of rest. He had performed it forty times in one go, reaching the limits of his physical endurance.

“Now to erase the newly ignited consciousness…”

Despite his fatigue, knowing it wasn't time to rest, Zhang Xuan suppressed the dizziness in his head and approached the crack.

He needed to erase this newly ignited consciousness; otherwise, the conflict between the two consciousnesses would cause Hall Master Xing immense suffering.

He flipped his palm, and light flickered within it. Just as he was about to act, he heard the door burst open with a "BOOM!", and an anxious voice rang out.

“Hall Master Xing, this is bad…”

“Oh no…”

Zhang Xuan's pupils contracted. Just as he was about to speak, he felt the colossal Ethereal Incarnation before him suddenly light up, and his body jolted, ejecting him.

Under the shouts of that voice, Hall Master Xing awoke from his meditative state. Since his consciousness was something external, it naturally could no longer remain there.

Of course, if he were still in his prime, he might have been able to resist the passive protective measures of the Ethereal Incarnation. But now, he was as limp as mud and simply couldn't withstand it.

His consciousness returned to his body, and he opened his eyes. He then saw an elder approaching nearby, while Hall Master Liao was speaking to him, likely instructing him not to disturb the Hall Master at the moment.

“Hall Master Wei, what happened?”

Having fully awakened, Hall Master Xing looked over.

“Hall Master, Hall Master Wu of the Leg Art Hall has also left the Combat Master Hall and gone to the Xuan… there!” Hall Master Wei hurriedly clasped his fist.

Because there were outsiders present, he dared not utter the name "Xuanxuan Club." Otherwise, if outsiders knew that dignified Hall Masters of the Combat Master Hall were learning from others, they would surely be ridiculed to death.

“He actually went…”

Hall Master Xing's face turned ashen.

He had thought his Hall Masters would at least show some restraint, but he didn't expect them to eventually lose control and rush over…

A wave of frustration almost made him vomit blood.

“Are you… alright?!”

Just as he was about to speak, he saw Master Sun, who had helped him with the awakening, looking over with deep concern.

“I'm fine. I haven't even thanked Master Sun for helping me with the awakening. I feel my strength has increased significantly now, and my body is full of power…” Hall Master Xing smiled faintly.

As expected of a Grandmaster Spirit Awakener, his methods were formidable. Just by helping him stabilize his Ethereal Incarnation for a moment, he felt countless times stronger and full of vigor.

Now, he felt as if he could successfully overcome the Ethereal Tribulation even if he rushed out to challenge it.

“That's good…”

Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed he had overthought things. Although he had used the object-awakening method on the crack, it was only a very small part. With Hall Master Xing's powerful Ethereal Incarnation suppressing it, it should not cause any trouble and would soon be assimilated.

“Hall Master Liao, activate the formation. I need to go over!”

After thanking Spirit Awakener Sun Qiang, Hall Master Xing stood up, his gaze firm.

The Combat Master Hall had a total of ten Hall Masters, and now five of them had been swayed by members of the Xuanxuan Club, voluntarily joining them. Although they were only going to learn combat techniques and it wasn't considered betrayal, if word got out, the Combat Master Hall's reputation would be greatly damaged, and it would sound terrible!

They had to stop this from continuing as quickly as possible.

“Alright!”

Knowing the urgency of the situation, Hall Master Liao did not try to dissuade him. He walked out of the room, entered a large hall, and lightly pressed his palm onto a surface. Light immediately radiated, and a single-person access passage appeared before them.

“Alright, I'm going in…” Hall Master Xing said, then turned to Zhang Xuan, who was not far away: “I'm afraid I'll have to trouble Master Sun to wait a bit longer. If this doesn't succeed, I might still need your help…”

“Understood!”

Zhang Xuan nodded.

Hall Master Xing lifted his foot and walked in.

Seeing him leave, Zhang Xuan finally felt his entire body weary. Without anything to hide, he sat on the ground, closed his eyes, and began cultivating to recover from the previous exertion.

He circulated his Spirit Awakener cultivation method at least ten cycles before he felt much more comfortable. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Hall Master Liao pacing back and forth in front of the passage, occasionally glancing inside, his face full of anxiety.

“What's wrong?”

He stood up and walked over.

“He's been in there for an hour, and the Hall Master still hasn't come out… I'm afraid something went wrong…”

Hall Master Liao said.

“Still not out?”

Zhang Xuan frowned.

He had been so focused on recovering his strength that he hadn't noticed the time. Calculating it now, indeed, over an hour had passed.

After such a long time, regardless of success or failure, there should have been some result. It was impossible for there to be no movement at all.

“Yes…”

Hall Master Liao was full of anxiety: “Under normal circumstances, whether he passed or not, he should have sent me a message. But there's no news at all right now…”

Before he finished speaking, urgent footsteps echoed from the passage, and then a figure emerged.

“You're… the Hall Master? W-what happened to you?”

Upon seeing the figure's appearance clearly, Hall Master Liao's mouth twitched, his body stiffened, and he stood dumbfounded.

As he walked closer, Zhang Xuan's vision also went dark, and he nearly fainted.

“What the hell is this?”

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