Chapter 3601: Awakening Success

Xuan-yang Realm, Azure Lotus Island.

In a secret chamber, Wang Changsheng sat cross-legged on a meditation mat. A miniature Nascent Soul, identical to him, floated before him. On the mini Nascent Soul's left chest was an aquamarine halo, radiating a faint spiritual light. Upon closer inspection, the aquamarine halo contained mysterious patterns, resembling a spiritual medicine seed.

Wang Changsheng spent over five hundred years successfully awakening his spiritual aperture. Without the insights on spiritual aperture awakening passed down by the Ye family ancestors, Wang Changsheng might not have succeeded. He only possessed the secret technique for awakening the aperture, not the experiential knowledge. If he had relied solely on his own exploration, he might not have succeeded on his first attempt. The Wang family had acquired many ancient texts over the years, but not a single word about spiritual aperture awakening was mentioned, indicating a lack of experience in this area among these powers.

After awakening his aperture, Wang Changsheng clearly felt his magic power had indeed doubled, yet he remained in the mid-Mahayana stage. This was only the first aperture; opening a second one would result in an even greater increase in magic power. For the same divine ability, the deeper the magic power, the greater its might.

With a single-handed gesture, Wang Changsheng recalled the miniature Nascent Soul into his dantian. He closed his eyes, clearly feeling his body brimming with energy.

Wang Changsheng walked out. Wang Tunian was sitting in a green stone pavilion, holding a green flat peach in his left hand and a pot of spiritual wine in his right.

"Congratulations, Master, on emerging from seclusion." Wang Tunian chuckled good-naturedly. They had successfully annihilated the Jinchi Tribe and Heavenly Fire Palace, completing Wang Changsheng's assigned tasks and safely returning to the Xuan-yang Realm.

"Where are Xiuluo and the others?" Wang Changsheng asked casually.

"They're all back. We departed from the Myriad Spirit Abyss, passed through a spatial node, and successfully arrived in Guangyun Realm..." Wang Tunian reported everything in detail.

Their harvest was considerable. They acquired no less than seven pages of the Heavenly Void Jade Tome, two Nine Nether Moon Lotuses, two Nine-Bend Exquisite Fruit Trees, two Demon Suppressing Beads, three Darkfire Demon Slaying Beads, two Myriad-Ton Fruit Trees, over seven hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones, four sets of eighth-tier formations, two two-hundred-thousand-year-old Nine-Origin Profound Woods, two pieces of over-hundred-thousand-year-old East-Yi Divine Wood, one Origin Essence Stone, and two eighth-tier spirit ore veins. It would have been truly difficult to bring all of this back without the combined efforts of multiple Mahayana cultivators. The Demon Suppressing Beads and Darkfire Demon Slaying Beads shared a similar efficacy to the Qiankun Demon Suppressing Talismans. Heavenly Fire Palace possessed the crafting method for the Darkfire Demon Slaying Beads, which originated from the Heavenly Void Jade Tome. Both the Demon Suppressing Beads and Darkfire Demon Slaying Beads were single-use items. With the crafting method, the Wang family could now create Darkfire Demon Slaying Beads as long as they found the necessary materials.

Dong Xueli had advanced to the Mahayana stage. Wang Yuanwei, however, failed to overcome her inner demons and perished. Wang Yuan had also entered the Mahayana stage. By the time Wang Xiangrong arrived at Canghai, Dong Xueli had already reached the Mahayana stage. Wang Xiangrong upgraded Canghai Island's spiritual vein to the eighth-tier before returning to Xuanling Continent with Wang Qingfeng and Dong Xueli. Wang Yingjie continued his secluded cultivation in Canghai. An ascetic like Wang Yingjie was well-suited for secluded cultivation in Canghai. Bai Yuqi was already at the perfected Body Fusion stage and was undergoing secluded cultivation to attempt breakthrough to the Mahayana stage. If she hadn't consumed the Ephemeral Origin Fruit during her Void Refinement stage, she would have been able to attempt the Mahayana breakthrough much earlier, but everyone's path was different. Wang Yingjie, for instance, chose to endure the fifth Great Heavenly Tribulation rather than consume the Ephemeral Origin Fruit, only taking it during the mid-Body Fusion stage.

Wang Qingcheng and Wang Mengbin participated in the war and acquired an Origin Essence Stone from the Ye family. Wang Xiangrong upgraded Tianzhu Island's spiritual vein to the eighth-tier. As a result, the Wang family now controlled five eighth-tier spiritual veins: Azure Lotus Island, Tianzhu Island, Golden Scale Island, Myriad Flame Mountain Range, and Canghai Island. Canghai Island was located in Canghai and overseen by Wang Yingjie.

The Golden Scale Tribe had been destroyed by Huoyunzi. After Wang Changsheng eliminated Huoyunzi, he dispatched people to take over Golden Scale Island and search for Yin Qing. With Yin Qing eliminated, the Wang family would face no further resistance in the marine domain.

The family now possessed a considerable number of Mahayana cultivators. Including Wang Changsheng, Wang Ruyan, Wang Qingshan, Wang Qingfeng, Dong Xueli, Wang Qingcheng, Sun Yuejiao, Wang Mengbin, Wang Yingjie, Liu Hongxue, Wang Xiangrong, Wang Yidao, Wang Yulan, and Wang Qingxiao, there were fourteen Mahayana cultivators. This count didn't even include Wang Tunian and others. Simply based on the number of Mahayana cultivators, the Wang family was on par with major clans.

What the Wang family currently lacked was a Profound Heavenly Treasure. Possessing one such treasure would solidify their status as a major clan.

Of course, while the Wang family had many Mahayana cultivators, currently, only Wang Changsheng, Wang Ruyan, Wang Qingshan, Wang Qingxiao, Wang Yidao, and Wang Mengbin were relatively strong. The other Mahayana cultivators had not been in the stage for long, nor had they engaged in life-or-death battles with other Mahayana cultivators. If they truly faced Mahayana cultivators from major clans, they would be no match, as exemplified by Wang Qingcheng.

Wang Qingcheng had participated in the battle in the Northern Cold Ice Plain and was almost killed.

The Wang family now needed time. Newly advanced Mahayana cultivators needed to undergo secluded cultivation. Wang Qingshan and other Mahayana cultivators were already in secluded cultivation, distributed across Tianzhu Island, Azure Lotus Island, and the Myriad Flame Mountain Range. These three strongholds could easily provide mutual support via large-scale teleportation arrays.

"Go and call Xiuluo," Wang Changsheng instructed.

Wang Tunian acknowledged and stood up to leave.

A moment later, Wang Tunian returned with Wang Xiuluo. As Wang Xiuluo was about to bow, Wang Changsheng stopped him: "Come, let's go out and spar." He wanted to see how much his strength had increased after awakening his spiritual aperture.

"Master, are you joking?" Wang Xiuluo asked nervously, suspecting he had misheard. He hadn't done anything wrong!

Just as Wang Changsheng was about to reply, he took out a blue communication disk and cast a spell into it. Wang Yongqian's voice emerged: "Ancestor, we've discovered traces of Yin Qing."

"Come here immediately and report to me," Wang Changsheng instructed.

Soon after, Wang Yongqian arrived and recounted the events in detail. The Wang family had been aggressively expanding their territory in the marine domain. The sudden killing of clan members at one of their outposts, which was protected by a seventh-tier formation and had Body Fusion cultivators, with no time even to send an alert, pointed definitively to a Mahayana cultivator. When an elder came to investigate, they unexpectedly discovered a secret realm and found Yin Qing's former residence, but Yin Qing was already gone. Wang Mengbin personally took charge of the investigation and located Yin Qing in a certain place. Yin Qing had already advanced to the mid-Mahayana stage. After a skirmish, Wang Mengbin injured Yin Qing with his Soul-Destroying Divine Lightning, and Yin Qing used an escape technique to flee.

"This is the dead skin sloughed off Yin Qing, sent back by Ancestor Mengbin," Wang Yongqian said, taking out a golden jade box and handing it to Wang Changsheng.

"Understood, you may go and attend to your duties." Wang Changsheng waved his hand, dismissing Wang Yongqian. He had been planning to test his current strength, and since Yin Qing had effectively walked into his crosshairs, he decided to use her for a trial.

Wang Changsheng took Wang Chan, Wang Tunian, Wang Lin, and Wang Huanyu, and left Azure Lotus Island. Yin Qing had been injured by the Soul-Destroying Divine Lightning and likely couldn't have fled far. Wang Tunian's keen sense of smell would allow him to locate Yin Qing's hiding place.