Chapter 2237: Nine Songs Breaks Through to God King

Although he had defeated Feng Jiuge, the "teacher" who had helped him make such rapid progress hadn't actually participated in a fight himself. Therefore, his claim to first place felt undeserved. That's why, after the competition, he had been waiting there for his opponent to arrive.

"If I win," Zhang Xuan asked, looking over, "will I get the spot to enter the Spirit God Palace?"

"If you can win, I will naturally give it to you," Feng Hanqiu nodded.

The purpose of entering the Spirit God Palace was to contemplate the various artifacts left by the Divine Emperor, hoping to gain insights that would help one break through to the Divine King realm. Since he was already a Divine King, whether he gained further insights or not didn't really matter. Consequently, he wasn't as keen on this opportunity as he once was. Furthermore, if his opponent proved capable of defeating him, the slot would rightfully be theirs anyway, so handing it over would be no issue.

"Let's begin!"

Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now that I've broken through to the Divine King realm, fighting you would be taking advantage of my superior cultivation," Feng Hanqiu stated, looking at him calmly. "To ensure fairness, I'll let you make the first three moves."

A Divine King and a peak Heavenly God were fundamentally different levels of power; challenging someone at a lower rank would be unfair, and he still wished to maintain some dignity.

"No need!" Zhang Xuan shook his head.

A newly ascended Divine King wasn't powerful enough to warrant him giving concessions. Without further ado, he stepped forward, instantly appearing before Feng Hanqiu. With a gentle strike, the air in the entire courtyard seemed to solidify.

"So strong?"

Feng Hanqiu, who had intended to concede three moves, felt the immense power. His pupils abruptly constricted, and he no longer dared to underestimate his opponent. He swiftly brought his hands up to meet the strike, his internal energy rapidly circulating.

Zhang Xuan's palm remained entirely unaffected, descending straight down. Feng Hanqiu's face paled as he slid across the ground, ending up thoroughly disheveled.

A single move, and the victor was clear!

Even having achieved the Divine King realm, Feng Hanqiu was still unable to withstand a single move.

"Give me the spot!" Zhang Xuan stated calmly, standing with his hands behind his back.

Although the purified Heavenly Dao True Energy had decreased in quantity, its power had increased countless times over. Even a peak Divine King like Fu Jiangchen was no match for it, let alone Feng Hanqiu.

"Thank you for showing mercy..."

Rising to his feet, Feng Hanqiu, despite his disbelief, understood that the last move had been executed with mercy; otherwise, he wouldn't have merely slid across the ground. Without much hesitation, he flicked his finger, and a jade token flew over.

It was the token to enter the Spirit God Palace!

Taking it casually, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. With this item, he could finally enter the Spirit God Palace and search for Luo Ruoxi.

"I wonder... Brother Feng Xuan," Feng Hanqiu asked, full of doubt, "could you tell me how you cultivated such a level of power?"

He had previously ranked first on the Spirit Origin Heaven's Divine King potential list, and his cultivation was among the most formidable in the Nine Heavens of the God Realm. Yet, even after his breakthrough, he couldn't withstand a single strike. How exactly did Zhang Xuan cultivate such power?

"Nothing special," Zhang Xuan replied, nodding. "It's simply a matter of accumulating enough, and then a qualitative leap naturally occurs."

"Accumulation?" Feng Hanqiu's ears rang as if he had stumbled upon the secret to immense power, his face flushing slightly. "Brother Feng Xuan, do you mean that once one reaches a certain level, they should dedicate more time and effort to accumulating and cultivating, rather than rushing for a breakthrough?"

He had always understood the concept of accumulation; he himself had remained at the peak Heavenly God realm for an unknown period, precisely to build up such profound power. Unfortunately, compared to Zhang Xuan, his own accumulation still fell far short. Could it be that his accumulation was still not enough? But... he had thought he'd already accumulated everything possible! It was like stacking boxes: no matter how skillful one was, beyond a certain height, the stack would inevitably collapse. Everything had a limit; pushing past it, like overstretching a spring, could be counterproductive.

"That's right, sometimes you clearly feel you've reached the limit, but after more effort, you find there's still a gap," Zhang Xuan sighed. He had once believed that Heavenly Dao True Energy was the most formidable energy in existence, but only after cultivating Heaven's Emotion True Energy did he truly understand the difference between the two.

"I've learned something..."

Seeing Zhang Xuan's words, Feng Hanqiu's expression grew solemn, and he looked over with bright, curious eyes. "Brother Feng Xuan, accumulating to such a degree must have required immense effort!"

"Indeed!" Zhang Xuan replied, deeply moved as he recalled the arduousness of his cultivation. "Since breaking through to the Heavenly God realm five days ago, I've diligently cultivated every single day. Even on my busiest days, I set aside at least half an hour specifically for cultivation. On less busy days, I cultivate for two hours a day. It is only through such effort that I have achieved what I have today. The hardship involved is truly immense..."

"F-five days?" Feng Hanqiu was stunned. "You broke through to the Heavenly God realm only... five days ago? And you only cultivate for a maximum of two hours?" He had just heard Zhang Xuan speak of sufficient accumulation leading to power, and had assumed it meant years, even decades, of effort. He never imagined it had only been five days since his breakthrough...

You must be joking! Five days... that's hardly hardship! Even a short cultivation retreat lasts longer than that. And within those five days, there was even one day when he only cultivated for half an hour.

"That's right, it's been five days; it's about time for another breakthrough," Zhang Xuan mused, oblivious to Feng Hanqiu's exasperation. "However, I haven't found an appropriate cultivation technique yet. So, how about we let Jiuge break through first?" If he hadn't been preoccupied with entering the Spirit God Palace and meticulously researching cultivation techniques recently, he would have likely broken through already. Clearly, he had been somewhat lax in his cultivation. Such negligence was the greatest taboo in cultivation.

"Breakthrough? Reaching the peak Heavenly God realm in a total of no more than ten hours..." Feng Hanqiu was exasperated. "I'm not suggesting that Brother Feng Xuan's cultivation is insufficient, but rather... breaking through to the Divine King realm requires a deeper understanding of the cosmos and a mastery of spatial principles. It's not simply about one's true energy reaching a certain level; the difficulty involved is not easily overcome..."

Before Feng Hanqiu could finish, he saw "Brother Feng Xuan" approach Feng Jiuge with a genial expression. "Do you want to break through to the Divine King realm?"

"Yes..." Feng Jiuge nodded, eyes shining.

"Since we're just standing around, let's begin!"

With that, "Brother Feng Xuan" produced a pill and placed it into Feng Jiuge's mouth. Simultaneously, he made a grasping motion with his hand, sending countless streams of true energy surging into Feng Jiuge's body along his acupuncture points.

*Crackle! Crackle! Boom!*

A series of crackling sounds, like popping beans, erupted. Feng Jiuge, whose cultivation had been stuck at the peak Heavenly God realm, suddenly raised his eyebrows as an invincible aura, like a sword's keen edge, surged from his dantian and shot straight into the sky.

"This is Divine King cultivation..."

Feng Hanqiu and the others who had accompanied him on the side all stared in bewildered disbelief. "This is... a breakthrough?" He had just proclaimed that breaking through to the Divine King realm was an insurmountable challenge, only to witness someone else achieve it effortlessly. That was a blatant slap in the face! And to top it off, this was the "waste" who had been expelled from the family just days ago because of his low cultivation! This was the same person who, after just one hour of instruction, had shattered the Nine Phoenix Grand Array and achieved second place among cultivators below the Divine King realm. And now, Feng Hanqiu, having just broken through himself, still couldn't even defeat the one who taught him. Now, with a casual pill and a few gestures, Zhang Xuan had allowed Feng Jiuge to break through to a realm Feng Hanqiu himself had yearned for over ten years.

In that instant, Feng Hanqiu felt his worldview and values completely overturned. Divine King... was breaking through truly... that simple? If it was really that simple, what had he been doing all this time?