Chapter 750: Five Radiant Golden Body Second Layer

Geo-core Fiery Rock, a scorching mineral formed in the very core of the earth's fire after thousands of years of refinement, contains boundless fiery energy. An ordinary cultivator who touches it would have their palm scorched.

Six-star artifact forgers commonly use it as charcoal to smelt materials that are difficult to refine. Unexpectedly, with the enhancement of a formation, it had been arranged to create this so-called Fiery Earth Passage.

Under the illumination of his Eye of Insight, the formation before him appeared exceedingly profound. Not only could it emit the heat from the Geo-core Fiery Rock, making it difficult for people to endure, but it could also draw spiritual energy from its surroundings to maintain the energy circulation within the rock.

Consequently, even though the passage had existed for an unknown number of years, the Fiery Rock's spiritual essence remained as perfect as ever, without the slightest depletion.

"If I stop the formation, that would be cheating..." he thought. "I want to break the record fairly and squarely!"

After observing for a while, he smiled faintly.

Although the formation before him was intricate, with his discernment, stopping it would be quite simple.

Once stopped, the passage would certainly not be as scorching. Let alone staying for seventeen minutes, even spending the New Year inside would be no problem.

However, doing so would smack of opportunism, which was not his style.

It's just breaking a record; is there a need to cheat?

Am I the kind of person who cheats?

"Five Luminaries Golden Body!"

With a faint smile, Zhang Xuan's lips curled upwards.

The reason he was delighted upon seeing the Geo-core Fiery Rock earlier was not because he had found the core of the formation, but because... this very item was exactly what was needed to cultivate the second stage of the Five Luminaries Golden Body!

Back in the underground palace, he had fused the Five Luminaries Golden Body manual with numerous other manuals given by Luo Qiqi. Although this had formed a Heaven's Path cultivation technique, it still had four flaws.

The flaw in the second stage was that to complete it, Geo-core Fiery Rock had to be used!

Because this item was hard to find and only encountered by chance, he had only cultivated the first stage before leaving. Now that he had encountered it, how could he possibly let this opportunity slip by!

The first stage of the Five Luminaries Golden Body had already caused his physical strength to surge to 4 million ding. Would the second stage yield an even greater increase?

"Let's try it!"

Acting on his thought immediately, he dispersed his protective zhenqi. Zhang Xuan smiled faintly, and with all his pores open, he immediately began to absorb the energy frantically.

If it were anyone else, even with the same cultivation technique, they would not dare to act rashly without knowing the Geo-core Fiery Rock's precise location and properties.

He was different. With the aid of his Eye of Insight, all the critical points and flaws of the passage were clear to him. He knew exactly where to cultivate to absorb the Fiery Rock's spiritual energy completely without harming his body.

Sitting cross-legged, he circulated his Red Dust Heaven-Treading Art, floating in the very center of the passage. He adjusted his position, aligning four Geo-core Fiery Rocks with four acupuncture points on his body. After a few breaths, as his chest rose and fell, the scorching flames around him immediately surged into his body along his meridians like fiery dragons.

Crackling sounds reverberated!

Under the scorching heat of the fiery dragons, his muscles and bones felt as if they were being whipped, emitting a series of explosive sounds.

His face flushed, and Zhang Xuan clenched his fists.

Cultivating a flawed technique was indeed troublesome. Aside from other matters, this second stage not only required Geo-core Fiery Rock but, more importantly, refining the flames would also cause his body immense pain.

If not for his unwavering will and powerful soul energy, he probably would have fainted on the spot from this single impact.

A rumbling sound emanated from within him!

However, although the pain was intense, the results were evident. His physical body, previously as solid as iron and difficult to improve, was now like a balloon being inflated, with its endurance, resilience, and defense visibly increasing.

4 million ding!4.5 million ding!5 million ding!6 million ding!

Time quietly flowed by, and his strength quickly reached a staggering 8 million ding!

At the peak of the Bridge Heaven realm, one's strength was merely 6.2 million ding, whereas only cultivators at the initial stage of the Unity realm possessed 8 million ding!

This meant that now, he could fight against an initial stage Unity realm expert with just his physical body. And with the addition of zhenqi, soul energy, and other abilities, even a mid-stage Void-stepping realm expert would likely find it difficult to defeat him!

Incredible!

He exhaled a mouthful of turbid air, and Zhang Xuan landed on the ground.

The second stage of the Five Luminaries Golden Body had already been completed.

As for the third stage, the required treasure was Primordial Heavy Water, which was the complete opposite of Geo-core Fiery Rock. Even if he wanted to cultivate it, there was no way, so he could only put it aside for now.

"Now that I've completed the second stage of the Five Luminaries Golden Body," he mused, "the heat here can no longer affect me..."

Standing quietly in place, he looked around.

With the advancement of the Five Luminaries Golden Body, not only had his strength increased, but more importantly, his body had become completely immune to the heat of the Geo-core Fiery Rock. Although this place was unbearable for others, it was nothing to him; he wouldn't even be injured if he lay down and slept there.

"It's still a bit early to leave now..." he muttered. "Since I'm breaking the record, I should make sure to get the credits..."

He frowned slightly.

It was true that the Five Luminaries Golden Body was a Heaven's Path cultivation technique, but he had only cultivated one-fifth of it, so the time wouldn't be too long. Although he hadn't calculated precisely, he knew that if he left now, he probably wouldn't have passed the test.

"Let's see if I can cultivate my soul energy!"

Since he was just waiting around anyway, with a thought, his witch soul left his body.

The reason the spiritual energy in the Cleansing Pool could be absorbed by a soul body was because this spiritual energy had undergone tempering and purification by earth fire, separating the pure from the turbid.

This passage before him, formed by Geo-core Fiery Rock in conjunction with a formation, contained spiritual energy that was also refined. It should also be suitable for soul absorption.

Disregarding his physical body, his witch soul floated in the air.

The souls of ordinary witch soul masters feared sunlight and extremely yang objects like fire. He was different; his Heaven's Path Witch Soul had no such flaw. Although this place was like a furnace, his soul could still roam freely within it without suffering the slightest harm.

At present, his Heaven's Path Witch Soul cultivation technique had only reached the Soul Harmony realm, making it difficult to break through and continue cultivating. However, he could certainly absorb spiritual energy to increase his soul body, just as he did in the Cleansing Pool.

Last time, because that scoundrel clone had snatched it, his soul body was just shy of reaching ten meters. With this spiritual energy, he could try to see if he could break through his current limits.

A sizzling sound emanated!

His massive soul body, with a single breath, absorbed the pure spiritual energy around him that had been tempered by the Geo-core Fiery Rock. It surged directly into his body, nourishing his soul.

"It truly works..."

His eyes glinted, and Zhang Xuan was so excited he almost jumped.

As expected of a rare treasure required even by the Five Luminaries Golden Body, the spiritual energy tempered by the Geo-core Fiery Rock was even purer than that in the Cleansing Pool, and was an absolute supreme tonic for a witch soul.

"Hehe," he chuckled, "this time I won't release my clone. I'll let my main body absorb everything first!"

Having learned from his previous experience at the Cleansing Pool and knowing that his scoundrel clone would surpass his main body once it started absorbing, Zhang Xuan decided not to release the clone for now. He would wait until his own absorption was complete and he could no longer improve.

While he was absorbing, outside, chaos had erupted.

An hour had already passed since he entered the Fiery Earth Passage.

Everyone had thought he would escape within three to five minutes. With so much time passed and no sign of him... he couldn't have died inside, could he?

"The formation mechanism of the Fiery Earth Passage has a detection function," Luo Yan said, frowning. "If a record challenger truly loses their life force, they will be immediately sent out..."

He had entered the Fiery Earth Passage before and had specifically studied it. If a challenger truly died inside, they would also be sent out.

Since he hadn't come out yet, nor had he been sent out, it meant... he was still alive and still persevering!

This guy... did he really enter the Fiery Earth Passage? Or did he go somewhere cool to eat?

Does he have to be this exaggerated?

To be honest, not only was he going crazy, but all the onlookers outside were also getting a little frantic.

When others broke records, surpassing by a few seconds or a minute or two was considered impressive. But this guy, he had surpassed it by several times over and still hadn't come out... He couldn't possibly be planning to live in there, could he!

"The Fiery Earth Passage is extremely scorching, hot enough to melt steel," Luo Yan murmured. "Staying for an hour..."

Swallowing hard, Luo Yan could no longer resist turning to look at Li Xuan. "Are you... sure he's really a freshman?"

"He told me himself... It should be true," Li Xuan quickly nodded, her lips twitching. "Besides, if he were an older student, I would have heard of him before..."

She was also a master teacher with excellent discernment. When this guy asked questions earlier, he clearly knew nothing, so he was definitely not faking it.

An outsider claiming to challenge a record—she had thought it was just a helpless remark made out of overestimation. She never dreamed that he would not only do it but succeed!

This was a record that the Master Teacher Academy had maintained for an unknown number of years, one that many wished to break but couldn't!

"I just thought he was overestimating himself..."

Remembering how she had scorned him earlier, it now seemed that she was the one who should be scorned!

He truly had the ability and strength!

How ridiculous that she had been blind to it...

"A freshman..."

Hearing the confirmation, Luo Yan's lips also twitched.

He had stayed in the Fiery Earth Passage for three minutes, boasting about it for years and earning the admiration of countless people. This guy, however, went in and didn't come out. And he had just mocked him earlier...

The thought of this made his face burn with shame.

Let alone him, even the ten great elders of the academy would find it difficult to last longer than seventeen minutes, let alone an hour.

"Senior, the Fiery Earth Passage is incredibly dangerous," a master teacher asked, unable to hold back after waiting a bit longer with no movement. "Even if Master Zhang's physical body is strong, he can't stay in there indefinitely. Could something have happened to him?"

Breaking a record should have limits, right? Exceeding it by more than half would be unheard of. Now he had surpassed it by several times over; it was truly beyond imagination.

"Hmm, I don't understand it either," Luo Yan hesitated. "How about this, you all wait here. I'll go find the teacher! He's very knowledgeable; he should know what's going on!"

He lifted his foot and walked outside. Soon, he arrived at a room.

"Teacher!"

He knocked on the door.

"Luo Yan, what is it?"

An old man inside the room looked up.

It was the Vice Dean of the Artifact Forging Faculty, Yuan Hong!

A six-star high-tier master teacher (peak six-star) and a peak six-star artifact forger, his status in the Artifact Forging Faculty was second only to the dean.

"Reporting, Teacher, someone is challenging the Fiery Earth Passage record!" Luo Yan said quickly.

"The Fiery Earth Passage? The seventeen-minute record has stumped countless people. That's not an easy hurdle!" Yuan Hong sighed, then smiled, stroking his beard as he looked over. "Who is it? Lu Wu, Chen Hai, or Du Jiu? The Artifact Forging Faculty is getting worse with each generation; only these few might still have a chance!"