Xue Wei felt all the air surrounding him turn into an energy-filled storm. The heaven-and-earth-essence rushed into his body at a speed unlike any he had ever experienced before.
Despite the rush of energy, his body felt comfortable; the energy cascaded through his meridians, and into every pore of his body. He felt the bottleneck he had been fighting since before he even arrived on Yan Dalu finally loosening up, and the Qi within his dantian rushed to improve his cultivation base.
After breaking through the bottleneck, there was nothing stopping his explosive advancement. It was like an endless stream that flowed into his body, and soon he felt another breakthrough rapidly approaching.
While cultivating, Xue Wei completely forgot about everything else; the outside world was but a fleeting dream to him, and all he could focus on was his body and the energy that was constantly being refined in it.
Another five hours went by as he cultivated, churning and refining more Qi than he had ever had to before, before Xue Wei finally finished his cultivation. At this point, he’d had multiple breakthroughs, bursting through into the Earth Knight rank and then even another two layers after that. His Qi level had now settled on the third layer of the Earth Knight rank—a tremendous increase, especially considering how he had completely neglected his Qi cultivation after arriving in Yan Dalu.
Now his cultivation base was more-or-less equal in both spiritual energy and Qi, and he was capable of fighting with much more proficiency than before.
Xue Wei stretched his body as he felt that the wanton absorption and refinement of the heaven-and-earth essence had finally slowed down to a more regular rate, and he left the room, only to find that the rest of the house was silent.
Looking out the window, he saw that the sun had already set and the moon had risen in the sky, blanketing the entire courtyard in a silvery light. Stars were also shining brightly, illuminating the otherwise dark night.
Taking a moment to explore the house and spread out his spiritual energy, he could sense that everyone had returned to their own rooms, with Luoluo having already fallen into a deep sleep while the others were immersed in their cultivation.
Xue Wei felt rejuvenated after his explosive cultivation with the aid of the Rainbow Pill. His body felt lighter than ever before, he could feel strength pulsating in every muscle of his body, and he pondered on what to do next.
Should he head to the training grounds and hope that there was someone to spar against, or should he return to cultivating on his own in the room?
Having reached a conclusion, Xue Wei wrote a message that he slipped under the door into Lin Xiao’s room before he made his way to Hei Gou’s room.
Arriving, he knocked on the door, “Hey, Gou,” he called out. After a short while, a rather disgruntled looking Hei Gou opened the door. Being interrupted when one was cultivating was not very comfortable, but he understood that Xue Wei would not interrupt him without purpose.
“What is it?” he asked while leaning against the door frame. His posture made his entire being ooze arrogance, making the corner of Xue Wei’s lips twitch as he tried hard not to laugh at the handsome young dog’s pretentiousness—especially since he needed his assistance now.
“I just had a few breakthroughs,” Xue Wei explained. “I need someone to spar with, so I can get used to my new strength, but here, it is quite difficult to find someone who is capable of withstanding my attacks. So, I thought of you. Are you interested in a sparring match with me?”
Although Hei Gou had been cultivating, a better way to get results with one’s cultivation was to spar with a worthy opponent. Not only would it improve the speed with which one would absorb the heaven-and-earth essence, but it also helped one improve their combat ability—not to mention a better comprehension of their abilities.
Hei Gou had been eager for someone to spar with, as after his blood awakening on the way to Yan Dalu, he had not had any other choice other than to spar with Lin Xiao. And by now, the two of them knew each other so well that they no longer benefitted from sparring with one another.
It was different to spar with Xue Wei. Xue Wei was half a Sovereign Beast. He could use martial art techniques that were made for humans, but he could also use powerful innate abilities that belonged to the Azure Dragons.
He has become quite good at switching between his Qi and spiritual energy attacks with one another so that the opponent never knew what was coming for him—it could be anything, making it all the more difficult to counter.
This excitement made Xue Wei an interesting opponent, and even after having known him for as long as Hei Gou had, he still had not grasped a full scope of Xue Wei’s battle form. Throughout their travels Xue Wei’s mental state had changed, his personality was also heavily affected by his transformation from a trash human into a revered Sovereign Beast.
Xue Wei could easily guess what Hei Gou was thinking when he saw the excitement shining within the handsome dog’s eyes.
Shaking his head in amusement, Xue Wei just turned around and began walking out of the house. “Let’s go then,” he laughed.
The note that Xue Wei had left to Lin Xiao stated that he had gone to the training grounds with Hei Gou to spar and that if they were not back before the time that Luoluo woke up, then he should bring her to them so that they could get breakfast together.
Xue Wei practically came to see Lin Xiao as a nanny. He was the most responsible, and capable of almost anything, so looking after a child should not prove to be too problematic for him. Bai Tianyi, on the other hand, would be completely incapable of looking after a child, so Xue Wei did not even consider him. It was fortunate that he hadn’t already attempted to kill her to consume her soul power yet.
As they walked through the academy, Xue Wei noticed that the previously bustling roads were now deserted. Even the facilities that had often been occupied by students now stood empty.
Many of the students of the more prominent families had already gone back home. It was as if the academy lost most of its worth, now that the Soul Tower was broken.
As they reached the training grounds, they found that only a handful of experts were present, and all of these were Qi cultivators—Primordial Beasts.
Although the majority of important people within Yan Dalu cultivated spiritual energy, there were still quite a few Primordial Beasts that cultivated Qi, and they were not to be belittled.
Xue Wei and Hei Gou looked around, quickly finding a sparring arena that was unoccupied. They casually went towards it, chatting with one another as if the perilous situation they were actually in had no effect on their mental state.
The Baili family must be planning their revenge on Xue Wei and could strike at any given time. At the same time, the Soul Tower becoming nonfunctional meant that not only was the entire continent worried, but the elders within the Garden of Shadows were far too preoccupied to give them any assistance. Nonetheless, they were completely carefree as they joked around.
Noticing their carefree behavior, the other students were stumped for words. Were these two delusional, or were they being overconfident?
The Baili family were not to be denigrated, and everyone knew that Xue Wei had killed a young master Baili already. Everyone had heard about the academy’s response, and the Baili family’s manhunt was scheduled to begin shortly.
Was this really the time for them to be coming to the training grounds and spar with one another in such a carefree manner?
Xue Wei took a stance in front of Hei Gou. He quickly activated the Qi within his body, causing it to pour out of his hand, and taking on the shape of a longsword.
Swinging the sword to test its ephemeral weightlessness in his hand, Xue Wei released a wicked grin on his face. It had been too long since he’d last experienced a proper fight. Although it was against his brother, Hei Gou, he knew that he could go all out. Even if they ended up getting injured, they would never blame one another, they would just laugh it off, as they knew they would never hurt each other on purpose.
Xue Wei wielded the shining sword with a flourish, reminding Hei Gou not to underestimate the power behind its razor sharp edge.
Without hesitation, he swiftly placed his claws on his hands, took a defensive stance and got ready to defend himself.
Forbidden Rush!
Windwolf Sword Slash!
Xue Wei did not go easy on Hei Gou; he rushed towards him so fast that all that the spectating Primordial Beasts could see was a blur of motion.
Suddenly, Hei Gou’s pupils constricted, and he retreated three steps while lifting the claws above his head—just in time to block the Qi sword that Xue Wei was pressing down on him.
Although Xue Wei was now at the third layer of the Earth Knight rank in Qi levels, Hei Gou was at the fourth layer; however, it turned out that their strength was equally matched.
The grins on the sparring duo’s faces deepened more profoundly than they had been before; their blood was boiling in excitement.
It was a long time since they had been able to fight without caring for their surroundings, and using their inner energies to clash.
Xue Wei had retreated slightly after a clash with Hei Gou, but when a big enough distance had opened between them, Xue Wei unleashed a fierce Azure Light Finger, before he immediately rushed beside the hurtling azure energy, and simultaneously landed a Shattering Mountain Palm as it hit.
Hei Gou was hard-pressed to defend himself against the synchronized attacks.
He lifted his claw to deflect the Azure Light Finger, as he was acutely aware that this attack—being inspired by an innate skill of the Azure Dragons—was the most lethal one of the two attacks, and in turn, couldn’t prevent the palm attack landing solidly on his chest.
The moment the attack landed on his chest, he felt as if his blood was starting to flow in reverse; the Qi in his body turned sluggish, and his body shot backward like a kite being cut from its string.
Digging his claws into the ground, he managed to slow down the speed with which he was sent scurrying back. Blood leaked from the corner of his lip, but there were no signs of displeasure on his face.
Xue Wei did not rush to follow up this time. It was, after all a sparring match, and he did not want his friend’s life.
Hei Gou snickered and wiped the blood from his lips with a smile, before he withdrew a vial from his storage treasure, and poured out some Returning Spring Healing Pills into his hand. He then popped them straight into his mouth, chewed loudly with audible crunching sounds and swallowed loudly.
The wounds he had sustained were quickly healed under the consumption of the pills, and he snickered. “My turn this time!” he exclaimed, jumping high into the air while a set of beautiful black wings sprouted from his back.
With these black wings, his speed increased tremendously. He was much more dangerous than before, and even while relying on his Forbidden Rush, Xue Wei still felt hard-pressed to keep up with the cuts from Hei Gou’s lightning-fast claws, as they came from all directions.
“Transformation is not allowed!” Xue Wei yelled out with laughter, stepping back. “But damn, you can transform partially?! This is so awesome!” he exclaimed, and Hei Gou just laughed out loud.
“This is not a transformation but an innate ability!” he argued back, punctuating it with a few flaps of his wings that sent him speeding once more.
“So unfair!” Xue Wei muttered while his eyes focused. Hei Gou was almost too fast for him to keep up with, he had to really strain all his senses to protect himself against the incoming onslaught of attacks.