Chapter 1670: Heavenly Fire Tribulation

Finally, Zhang Xuan abandoned this idea. The inheritance of teaching has specific rules and etiquette. Since Feng Ziyi was Master Yang's direct disciple, accepting him would clearly go against these rules.

Otherwise, if everyone wanted to recruit good students, wouldn't it lead to chaos? After all, there's a vast difference between direct disciples and ordinary students. Even Master Kong could not overstep these boundaries.

It seems that in the future, he would still need to find suitable individuals to accept as students. Given how powerful the Tome of Heaven's Path was, the more of them he had, the better. If he had hundreds of these tomes in his mind, he could simply throw them at any Ancient Sage who appeared. He estimated that just one person could wipe out the entire Otherworldly Demonic Tribe!

"By the way, Master Kong had three thousand disciples... could it also be for this?" A thought suddenly struck him. Master Kong only had seventy-two direct disciples, but his recorded students totaled no less than three thousand. Could it be that, like himself, Master Kong also had a library and accepted so many people as students... all to condense the Tomes of Heaven's Path?

When he fought the ruthless man back then, perhaps it was this kind of indiscriminate throwing of books that literally blew him into a pulp... Just like how "random punches can kill a master"... being killed by random books would probably make him the most tragic strong cultivator to die.

"I should be able to figure it out if I check later whether Master Kong was skilled at throwing books at people..." This was merely his conjecture; the specifics still required careful verification.

He stopped his wild thoughts and meticulously explained the important cultivation points to Jiang Feifei. By the time she fully understood, it was already past midnight.

"There's still some time until dawn. I'll take a look and see if I can cultivate my Witch Soul to the 'Golden Body' realm!" He glanced around, realizing it was still early, and exhaled a mouthful of stale air. His main purpose for coming here was to temper his Witch Soul so it could control the Ancient Sage's corpse. Now that he had gathered all the cultivation techniques for the 'Indestructible Body' and 'Golden Body' realms, and had no shortage of treasures, it was best to break through as soon as possible.

He had Jiang Fangyou arrange a secluded courtyard. Sitting cross-legged in the quiet room, his spirit stirred, and his Witch Soul leaped from his glabella, quietly hovering in the air.

"Let's begin..."

After adjusting for a while, feeling his state was at its peak, he lightly flipped his palm. The various treasures he had acquired from the Jiang clan's treasure vault, meant to replenish spiritual energy, fell to the ground, emitting a rich aura.

*Whoosh!* The acupoints all over his soul body opened, and spiritual energy rapidly surged in. Zhang Xuan's aura continuously surged. In less than a quarter of an hour, he had accumulated enough to reach the peak of the 'Indestructible Body' realm, on the verge of taking the final step.

"I just broke through, and it hasn't fully stabilized yet. My soul power still feels a bit unstable..." After attempting to break through several times and finding the barrier quite solid, Zhang Xuan frowned. His Witch Soul had only just broken through to the 'Indestructible Body' realm less than half a day ago, and its power was still somewhat unstable. If he were to attempt a breakthrough now, even if successful, it would likely have a significant impact on his future cultivation.

As his strength advanced to the Great Sage realm, the difficulty of cultivation had increased manifold, and progress was no longer as effortless as before.

"Could it be that I need to spend two or three more days to stabilize it?" Zhang Xuan frowned. Spending two or three days just to stabilize a realm... that was simply too slow. The current situation was critical; he had to increase his strength as quickly as possible. Otherwise, even with a Saint artifact like the Dragon Bone Divine Spear, he wouldn't be able to unleash its full combat power.

"If only there was something that could put pressure on my soul power, my progress would surely be much faster..." A thought struck him, and Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up: "That's right, the Soul Imprint!"

That Soul Imprint, if he didn't activate the True Soul Art, exerted immense pressure on his soul, making it difficult even for his Witch Soul to resist. If he relied on himself to refine his soul power, progress would be slow; it would take at least three to five days to fully consolidate the 'Indestructible Body' realm. However, with the aid of this item, it would definitely speed things up considerably. Perhaps... he could fully consolidate it tonight.

"Out!" With a flip of his palm, a seal immediately floated before his eyes. The moment it appeared, it exuded an intense oppressive aura, as if it could tear one's soul apart.

Without activating the True Soul Art, his Witch Soul slowly approached. *Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!* It was as if it had approached a blazing fire; his soul body was violently corroded, emitting creaking sounds, as if it could collapse at any moment.

"Heaven's Path cultivation technique, activate!" With a cold snort, the cultivation technique immediately began to circulate within his soul body. The Witch Soul, which had begun to crumble, gradually became stable and more solidified. Just like the last time he faced the Dragon Bone Divine Spear, he absorbed the pressure into his soul body to temper himself.

The 'Indestructible Body' for the soul, similar to that for the physical body, involved altering the soul's essence and refining its intricate structure, making the soul body more resilient. With the pressure, his previously somewhat unstable soul body quickly solidified, growing stronger and stronger. Golden rays of light even began to appear within it, clearly a sign of advancing towards the 'Golden Body' realm.

"Is this the 'Golden Body'?" He looked at the golden light that had appeared and indeed found that the areas enveloped by it were much more resilient than others. A normal soul body was formless and insubstantial, but a soul body infused with golden light already possessed power far surpassing that of peak Saint artifacts.

"It's indeed powerful!" His eyes shining, Zhang Xuan continued to absorb the pressure into his soul body, constantly tempering the strength of his Witch Soul.

Two hours later, he stopped. After a period of strenuous cultivation, his soul body, which had reached the 'Indestructible Body' realm but was still somewhat unstable, became completely consolidated. His entire demeanor also underwent a profound transformation; from a distance, he appeared more ethereal, exuding an otherworldly, almost transcendent aura, as if he had ascended to immortality.

A Great Sage, surpassing the Saint Realm, had a fundamentally different life essence. Inside his soul body, golden streaks now covered everything. When fully activated, it glowed brilliantly, appearing like an immortal or a buddha.

"Continue!" Knowing he had reached the peak and further progress would be difficult, Zhang Xuan put away the Soul Imprint. His spirit stirred again, and countless spiritual energies surged wildly into his body. The 'Indestructible Body' power, which had just stabilized, began to climb once more.

*Boom!* With a violent roar, the power, having reached its peak, immediately tore through the frozen shackles. The golden streaks within his body melted and spread throughout his entire soul, making it shimmer with golden light and illuminate the entire room!

The 'Golden Body' realm had been reached!

"It's truly powerful..." Feeling the instantaneous transformation of his Witch Soul, Zhang Xuan was filled with excitement. Upon reaching this realm, he could easily perform Witch Soul spatial travel without worrying about being crushed and injured by fractured space.

"It looks like Lu Chong has reached at least the 'Golden Body' realm..." A hint of embarrassment flashed across him. His own student had actually progressed faster and was stronger than him, leaving him feeling helpless.

*Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!* As he was lost in thought, before he could continue marveling, he heard a violent rumbling sound. Outside the hall, dark clouds gathered, and powerful forces pressed down.

"Lightning tribulation? Does the Witch Soul 'Golden Body' realm also have a lightning tribulation?" He frowned, feeling surprised, when he heard the Bone Dragon's voice from his physical body's waist: "It's not lightning, it's Heavenly Fire! Lightning tempers the soul, Heavenly Fire refines the 'Golden Body'! This is the Heavenly Fire Tribulation..."

"Heavenly Fire Tribulation?" He was stunned for a moment, then Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up, and his face flushed with excitement: "Doesn't that mean... I can get rid of the Innate Fetal Poison in advance?"