185: Heavenly Union

Zhang Sheng sat cross-legged, his mind sinking into his Sea of Consciousness as he began to comprehend the "Soul-Startling Thorn".

Although the flow of information within his Sea of Consciousness described this Spell extremely briefly, it made Zhang Sheng's heart burn with excitement!

Condense Mental Energy into a thorn, shatter the soul and wound the spirit, killing without a trace!

Just these few lines were enough to ignite his desire.

Instant cast! Without needing to Cultivate to Perfection, the moment a thought arises, the attack arrives.

Formless! A pure Mental Energy assault, invisible and traceless, impossible to guard against.

Spell-breaking! Striking directly at the Divine Soul, no matter how exquisite the Spell, it must die in the cradle!

This is simply a Divine Artifact for sneak attacks, breaking deadlocks, and killing enemies above one's Realm!

Zhang Sheng could almost foresee that once he mastered this Spell, his combat strength would undergo a qualitative leap.

He acted immediately!

Driving his will, the originally Chaotic Mental Energy within his Sea of Consciousness began to churn violently, struggling to condense into a sharp form.

The difficulty of the "Soul-Startling Thorn" was laid bare before him:

Not only did he need to compress the ethereal Mental Energy to a nearly materialized state, but he also had to precisely engrave mysterious runes onto the final three-tiered mental thorn!

The most peculiar thing was that its method of Cultivation was completely at odds with mainstream Spells—it did not consume Qi!

It was a pure mental creation in itself, yet it could leave the body to attack enemies!

The first time he condensed it, the Mental Energy collapsed with a bang at the critical point.

Failure.

But almost simultaneously, a line of cold characters appeared silently on his unique "talent panel":

【 Learning Spell — "Soul-Startling Thorn" ... Progress: 1% 】

A confident arc curved at the corner of Zhang Sheng's mouth.

No matter how difficult a Spell was, as long as a progress bar appeared on the panel, he had absolute certainty!

The terrifying aspect of this "Once Certified, Forever Certified" Talent lay right here—as long as he grasped that one percent of "correctness," he could precisely correct the remaining ninety-nine percent of "errors"!

Failure? It was merely a stepping stone to success.

With undivided attention, he threw himself into Cultivation once more.

The numbers on the panel jumped steadily through repeated failures:

【 Progress: 3% 】

【 Progress: 5% 】

【 Progress: 6% 】

...

【 Progress: 99% 】

Dozens of failures brought dozens of experiences nearing success.

Every collapse of Mental Energy was accumulating power for the next assault.

Far from being discouraged, Zhang Sheng was immersed in the pleasure of this visible, exponential improvement.

This was simply the most generous gift from fate!

Finally!

【 Spell: Soul-Startling Thorn (Beginner: 0.01%) 】

Success!

A transparent thorn, as thin as a cow's hair and only an inch long, shot silently out of Zhang Sheng's Sea of Consciousness!

It had no physical form, no fluctuations, and could not even be captured by conventional perception.

Wherever his Divine Sense reached, his intent arrived!

Its speed surpassed any Spell Zhang Sheng had mastered, because it ignored spatial barriers!

Once a thought locked onto a target, the mental thorn had already arrived!

This seemingly tiny thorn drained a significant portion of Mental Energy from Zhang Sheng's Sea of Consciousness, bringing a slight wave of dizziness.

"Huh? The panel doesn't specify the rank?" A thought flashed through Zhang Sheng's mind, but he immediately cast it aside. "Who cares about the rank, as long as it's strong enough!"

After becoming a Beginner, increasing the Realm would be a matter of course.

Every time he cast the Spell, he would inevitably succeed in condensing a "Soul-Startling Thorn" within his Sea of Consciousness.

Time passes quickly during Cultivation, and seven days flickered by in an instant.

...

Hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, in the heartland of Qinglan Prefecture.

The towering Eight Gods Sect stood here; it was the undisputed local hegemon of Qinglan Prefecture, founded by ancient Ascension practitioners and their Bloodline descendants.

Legend had it that when it was founded, eight Great Masters of the Star God Realm presided over it, and the name of the Sect originated from this.

At this moment, the atmosphere inside the Sect's assembly hall was heavy.

"Senior Brother," Junior Brother Huo Chen said in a steady voice, tinged with helplessness, "The Sect Master and the three Elders are all in seclusion. Right now, major Sect affairs require your decision. The Qinglan Prefecture Governor's decree has arrived, ordering our Eight Gods Sect to immediately reinforce Luoxia Prefecture. This matter concerns the survival of our Sect; I hope you will consider the big picture!"

"Huo Chen!" Xu Han, a Disciple sitting below Tiger, stood up abruptly, fire in his eyes,

"You speak lightly! It's not your son who died! Senior Brother's grief over the loss of his son has not yet subsided, and you want him to cast aside his personal vendetta to deal with some decree?!"

"Presumptuous!" Lian Qiu's willow-leaf eyebrows stood erect, and a tyrannical Spiritual Pressure erupted, instantly pressing Xu Han until his face turned deathly pale and his breathing became difficult, "Xu Han, is it your place to talk back to Third Junior Brother here?!"

"Enough, Junior Sister." Huo Chen raised his hand to stop Lian Qiu's pressure, his gaze turning back to the seat of honor,

"Senior Brother, I am by no means unsympathetic to your pain; my men are also doing their utmost to investigate the murderer of Nephew Tian Yang.

It's just... the Qinglan Prefecture Governor's move, forcing us to cross borders to support Luoxia Prefecture, is an open violation of the "Lingtian Covenant"! If this precedent is set, there will be endless trouble! Senior Brother, how should we respond to this?"

On the seat of honor, Tiger kept his eyes closed and remained silent; only his knuckles tapped slowly and heavily on the cold black-iron armrest, emitting a "du, du" sound, each strike hitting the heartstrings of everyone in the hall.

After a long while, his tightly closed eyes suddenly opened, and his gaze, sharp as a knife, swept across the hall.

"Junior Brother Huo Chen," Tiger's voice carried a weary huskiness, yet it contained unquestionable decisiveness,

"The Eight Gods Sect is no longer the Eight Gods Sect of the past. Over these years, the Song Kingdom Imperial Dynasty's reach has grown ever longer; have they done few things that violate the "Lingtian Covenant"? Before those truly top-tier Sects and aristocratic families make their stance known, we cannot be the ones to stick our necks out!"

He paused, a flash of apprehension crossing his eyes: "Otherwise, the fate of the Chiyang Dao Sect will be a warning to us!"

"Immediately!" Tiger's voice rose sharply, carrying an irresistible command,

"Gather the men, prepare the supplies; we must set off within three days to reinforce Tianxing City in Luoxia Prefecture! We absolutely cannot leave any handle for the Qinglan Prefecture Governor to attack us!"

Huo Chen frowned deeply and pressed, "Senior Brother, since the Song royal family is so unscrupulous, is there... absolutely no reaction from the Ascending Heaven Pavilion?"

Tiger looked deeply at Huo Chen, his eyes complex:

"Third Junior Brother, this matter... involves too much. There are some secrets that even you and I have no right to know. This reinforcement of Luoxia Prefecture is also tacitly approved by Revered Master. I hope you all... understand."

With the order given, everyone's expressions varied, and they retreated one after another.

In the empty hall, only Tiger and Lian Qiu, who had not left, remained.

"Lian Qiu," Tiger's voice carried a trace of imperceptible expectation, yet was filled with suppressed pain, "Do you... have something else?"

Lian Qiu stepped forward, her lips moving slightly, and a faint sound transmission entered Tiger's ears:

"Senior Brother, regarding Nephew Tian Yang... I may have found some clues."

"What?!" Tiger sprang up from his seat, the veins on his forehead bulging, his figure flashing like lightning before Lian Qiu, his hands gripping her shoulders tightly, his eyes blood-red,

"Lian Qiu! What do you know! Tell me quickly! Who is it?!"

Impatiently, he flipped his hand to take out an ancient wooden box; as the lid opened, a refreshing medicinal fragrance that seemed to contain the ultimate truths of heaven and earth permeated the air, and inside the box lay a treasure pill the size of a longan, with flowing pill patterns.

"Junior Sister!" Tiger's voice carried a desperate madness,

"This is the 'true intent pill'! As long as you can help me avenge this blood feud, it is yours! And... the quota for the God-Connecting Battlefield in twenty years, my Eight Gods Sect's quota, will also be yours!"

Lian Qiu's gaze lingered on the true intent pill for a moment, a flash of heat crossing her eyes.

As for the God-Connecting Battlefield... that place was known as the "Graveyard of the Strong," and this promise from Senior Brother held no attraction for her.

"Senior Brother, you speak too seriously," Lian Qiu suppressed her emotions and said sternly, "As for the Medicinal Pill, it will not be too late to give it to me after you have avenged your great hatred. As for the God-Connecting Battlefield... this Junior Sister knows her own limitations and does not have the fortune to enjoy it."

She leaned in a step closer, her voice lowered even further, carrying a trace of cold certainty:

"When Nephew Tian Yang had his accident, in the wilderness near Tiangu City... there was an expert who had some connection with the Swift Wind Mansion."

"Who?!" Tiger's breathing became heavy instantly.

"The Revered Master of the Hua Mansion — Zhang Sheng!" Lian Qiu said word by word, "This person was hunting desolate beasts in that wilderness at the time, and... it was precisely during that period that his name climbed into the top ten thousand of the fledgling tiger ranking!"

"More importantly..." a cold light flashed in Lian Qiu's eyes,

"Senior Brother Huo Chen and I once wanted to take away the Swift Wind Mansion Revered Master, Feng Shaoqin, intending to use his hand to test Zhang Sheng's depth. Unexpectedly... that Feng Shaoqin was killed on the spot by Zhang Sheng! His methods were ruthless, and his mind was deep!"

"And what Zhang Sheng used to kill Feng Shaoqin... was precisely an extremely sharp, lightning-fast blade-type attack Spell!"