Chapter 87: Exceeding Limits
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Body as high as 2 meters and almost 5 meters long, the Eight-clawed Golden Salamander had its large body covered with dull golden scales that barely reflected the sunshine. Its back towards the group revealed a thick tail with protruding spines that grew more prominent as one gazed up the giant salamander's back. The spiked spine reached the highest point somewhere in the middle before turning shorter and shorter, hiding ahead of the thickest and longest white bone spike. Four sets of limbs stretched down connected to sharp claws giving this prehistoric-looking spirit beast its name: Eight-clawed Golden Salamander.
Xie Xan silently stared at this beast, his heartbeats turning a notch quicker and he suddenly felt nervous.
"It's gonna be alright," He suddenly felt a pat on his back as Ja Sun walked out. His martial soul already changing his body as his elongated black hair now turned silver and shimmered slightly while hiding his fuzzy ears and the green tattoo of a third eye appeared on his forehead once again.
The procedure was already discussed. Everyone wanted to see if Ja Sun could persuade a spirit beast to sacrifice itself for another spirit master instead of Ja Sun. In case it is unsuccessful, they all had already planned out their course of action. The best case would still be trying to persuade the salamander but if it doesn't come to be then assassinating it while it is positively responding to Ja Sun's existence would also be good.
The moment the large salamander felt Ja Sun's breathe, its scaly neck instantly tilted and revealed the profile of the beast with a bell-like large eye staring at Ja Sun's direction, and without thinking at all, it pounced on Ja Sun.
'That's new,' Ja Sun blinked but before he readied himself, the salamander turned its large body dexterously and landed one foot away from Ja Sun before stopping. Now facing the beast directly, Ja Sun continued to match the beast's gaze.
"Grrrrrr!"
A low, guttural growl echoed from the dark scaly mouth of the salamander followed by a terrible odor that almost made Ja Sun kill the beast, or at least, clean the beast. With a slight shudder, Ja Sun smiled and patted the nose of the salamander with a look of ease. Wearing the gauntlets, he could only feel the toughness of the scales and that made him realize that sneak attacking it at once will be much harder unless they strike its weak points.
Seeing Ja Sun easily befriending the Salamander, for a moment, others felt hesitant. Especially Xie Xan. They could attack a ravenous beast without a guilty conscience but as the Salamander crouched down, comfortingly lying on its stomach and closing its eyes while Ja Sun began to communicate with it, others couldn't help but feel a sense of lament.
Seeing this, Qian Daoliu could only shake his head slightly and exhale. This was the face of inexperience. If given the opportunity himself, Qian Daoliu would opt for what Ja Sun did and act without any guilty conscience. What's there to be guilty about? Humans have manipulated other humans since ancient times and if given the opportunity, they would do the same to dangerous yet simultaneously simple spirit beasts.
At this moment, Ja Sun's voice was transmitted to his group using the voice compression technique.
"This method is going to be too slow in the end. I'm going to try using my spirit bone and when I do, don't feel startled or cause any action that might make the Salamander cautious."
With that, a violet tendril of mist suddenly emerged from the middle of Ja Sun's brows silently and twisted around in a strange pattern over the tattoo of his third eye until it turned into a luxurious headgear attached to his forehead with the pattern of a vertical third eye in the center and gave a purple sheen with a bright emerald glow held in the middle.
At this moment, a purple domain spread out with Ja Sun as the center as he unleashed the major ability of his Spirit Bone: True Fantasy.
In reality, this was technically a domain ability but it did not boost oneself and had other supportive type abilities and instantly, everyone sensed the space around them fluctuate a little. Qian Daoliu was no exception. He observed everything silently and realized the spatial element hidden within the ability.
The body of the Salamander tensed but at this moment, Ja Sun connected with the salamander's mind and finally achieved true telepathy with it, using thoughts to convey one's intent without any form of misunderstanding. Under the gloomy violet domain, everyone looked at each other but none dared test its capabilities out. They could feel their senses being slightly suppressed when suddenly, the Salamander opened its large mouth and flicked its long tongue to give Ja Sun a dragging lick.
'Well... with telepathy, fooling spirit beasts are certainly easier,' Ja Sun thought internally.
His plan was simple to the extreme.
True Fantasy could deprive opponents off of their mental strength and suppress their five senses. Even if Ja Sun doesn't attack any opponent in this state, he can still reveal their most dreaded nightmare in the form of a real-life illusion that only he can see.
Meanwhile, to allies, once connected using his mental energy, they would receive the benefit of being able to communicate with one another telepathically. Of course, if he willed it, their pace of cultivation within the True Fantasy would increase additionally by 30%.
To Salamander, who was just exposed to the Bright Goddess Butterfly and Nightmare's Fantasy while explicitly feeling the effect of Ja Sun's special talent, it became a lot milder in its resistance. To Salamander, Ja Sun still conveyed that it would be a spirit soul. A being that would live with the spirit master until both of them part by death and for this very reason, Salamander was much more appreciative of the idea but the real deal was that it still thought that once it becomes a spirit soul, it can still cultivate quicker than before because Ja Sun shares this advantage with his teammates.
Well, they wish!
Ja Sun continued to work on the salamander but this time his pace was a bit quicker since the spirit bone ability drained his spirit energy quickly.
But the Salamander was much more decisive in nature than the rather ditzy Fantasy Beast who ended up being assimilated into Nightmare's Fantasy. With its ferocious nature and Three-eyed Silver Lion's increasing influence after being strengthened by the rather substantial effect of four black spirit rings, the Salamander finally agreed. It was ready to sacrifice its life but had been thoroughly misinformed.
Exhaling, Ja Sun removed the ability and the violet dome blocking the sunlight dispersed. Feeling the sensational effect of its heightened pace of cultivation disappearing, the Salamander's heart grew resolute. After all, many beasts with the age of cultivation greater than 10000-years have a chance to gain higher intelligence and adaptability and the Salamander displayed the effects clearly.
Gesturing Xie Xan to step forward, Ja Sun stared at him for a moment before whispering, "Give me a drop of your blood."
"Hmm?" Xie Xan looked startled when Ja Sun stated calmly, "The Salamander cannot understand human speech yet. Next time, don't reveal a confused expression. Do as I say. A drop of your blood."
Thinking for a moment, Xie Xan took out a simple dagger and poked the tip of his finger just firmly enough to draw blood before stretching his hand towards Ja Sun.
Within the lush forest, a strange scene soon appeared in the eyes of the spectators as Ja Sun controlled the drop of blood with his spirit energy and dripped it in the middle of the Salamander's huge face. It was then the Salamander closed its eyes as if waiting for something and Ja Sun narrowed his eyes, his voice traveling to Xie Xan.
"Kill the beast in a single strike. Anything else will be disadvantageous. As quickly as you can while the Salamander is converging its strength."
"And what exactly is going on?" Xie Xan finally couldn't help but ask. This was different than what Ja Sun went through.
"Different martial souls," Ja Sun stated concisely and whispered, "But if you want the Spirit Beast to change its mind, sure, wait longer."
Pursing his lips, Xie Xan instantly brought out his Moon Blade, and his second and fourth spirit rings flared simultaneously while Xie Xan felt his body filled with strength. Pressing both the blades and hilt together and holding the two crescent blades with both his hands, Xie Xan raised his hand like a butcher and a trace of guilt entered his eyes before he swung down. Should he have known how terribly mistaken the salamander was then Xie Xan would have felt worse but he still would have swung his blades down.
*Ssshhhhhh*
Blood instantly erupted from the headless body of the Salamander. Without defending against Xie Xan's full-powered strike and struck at such a point, the salamander had its head cleanly removed as it tumbled on the ground once before settling. The body of the salamander began to writhe and twist as it couldn't move and soon a black ring floated out of the corpse's body.
All of Xie Xan's guilt melted under the somber radiance of the pitch-black spirit ring. He glanced at it with evident desire but held his hand and glanced at Ja Sun. Everyone was confused by Ja Sun's actions. They still didn't know about Telepathy and his deceit but informing them of this wasn't an issue. But he would truly feel a pity if his words somehow affect Xie Xan's condition.
"I will tell everyone later. Over a campfire and good drink," Ja Sun smiled and walked before patting Ah Yin's waist lightly, "You're up."
The movement made others feel a little worse and by that, it meant Liu Erlong and Bibi Dong. Xie Xan and Hu Lana were already a couple and from what the duo could observe, despite Ja Sun's rather frivolous front, his and Ah Yin's growing intimacy pressurized the two in another form and manner.
Scoffing softly, Ah Yin walked forward but not before trying to discreetly stomp on Ja Sun's foot only to find it long moved away as he retreated with a smile. Since the lady doesn't mind, why wouldn't Ja Sun want to feel her up every now and then? He felt that he had already shown plenty of patience when it comes to such matters. In fact, he was considerate of the world he was in, or else, with his status as the leader of the rebellion, he'd be touching many bases in just a single date.
"Alright, I'm going to do it," Xie Xan pursed his lips before inhaling deeply and spreading his arms out. His chest ballooned up and a loud exhaling sound finally made his chest sink in.
"Hey," Hu Lana walked towards Xie Xan and held his arm, her eyes now without any worry but pure encouragement. She was freaking out internally. Who wouldn't? But the last thing she wanted, similar to Ja Sun, was to affect Xie Xan with her burdens and she had her own way to motivate Xie Xan.
"You can do it. And when you have a fifth spirit ring stronger than mine... I'll be fully expecting you to save me, you know. Perverted bastards aren't low in the city, I will wear something nice and let you beat all of them!"
"Please don't," Xie Xan's lips twitched when Hu Lana leaned forward and whispered something in his ears.
Suddenly, Ja Sun's and Qian Daoliu's eyes widened while their lips parted in surprise.
'Woah! I'd be pretty motivated to return alive... but this begs the question, how were the two of them doing it before?' Ja Sun gulped.
Ah Yin and other girls specifically gave the couple the privacy when Hu Lana whispered, something that couldn't be expected from Ja Sun... or Qian Daoliu now it looks like.
Before she pulled back, Hu Lana made sure to gently peck Xie Xan's cheek and smiled brightly, "Go, quickly become a Spirit King. If you're lucky, a spirit bone is already waiting for you!"
"Thank you," Xie Xan smiled widely. How couldn't he understand Hu Lana's intentions but seeing such great support, he nodded and then looked at Ah Yin.
"I really hope that your assistance can work on me. I would be filled with regret if it's just something you can do for... you know, more than close individuals."
Ah Yin smiled and even gave a slight chuckle, "I hope so, too. How regretful it would be, indeed."
Hu Lana smirked and retreated. Who asked Xie Xan to poke Ah Yin? Could she have survived Ja Sun without any talents of her own?
Once everyone settled, Qian Daoliu finally spread out his senses to lock the area around him with his breath and spiritual pressure while Xie Xan sat down next to the corpse before attracting the spirit ring using the faint connection created after killing the spirit beast.
The halo-like black spirit ring instantly shifted onto Xie Xan and rotated slowly above his head.
"Ka-ul, do you know what could happen during Soul Shock?" Hu Lana finally revealed a worried gaze and inquired softly while Ah Yin stood close to Xie Xan.
"It can either be removed completely, reduced tremendously, or Increased heavily. Of course, you wouldn't want to hear such an obvious answer, Sister. But for the maximum benefits, I do hope that the soul shock isn't removed... after all, it is one of the best ways to increase one's mental strength."
Ja Sun smiled. He had done all he could without putting himself in harm's way. Now, everything would depend on Xie Xan himself.
The black spirit ring above Xie Xan would contract and expand while moving up and down over his body as if a living entity making inspections. It was clearly the similar manner in which everyone else absorbed their spirit rings, not the least bit similar to how Ja Sun did but even if the external process remained the same, everyone was hoping to have the internal process greatly smoothened out.
Xie Xan's breathing was steady and Ah Yin kept a close eye on his condition.
"If something happens, start to assist him slowly and then increase the pace," Bibi Dong spoke up, making Ah Yin nod. This was her original intention in the first place.
"No worries," she replied.
On the other hand, Xie Xan silently without any movement for an hour before his body began to violently tremble while the spirit ring contracted around him as if trying to enter his body. With each contraction of the rotating spirit ring, Xie Xan's shoulder would shudder and veins soon began to bulge around his body. Yet, Ah Yin silently observed his situation. Absorption of the spirit ring is a delicate matter and the only reason why she acted during Ja Sun's time was that it was truly a desperate situation with both, his mental capacity and physical capacity on the verge of destruction.
But even if pushed against the limits, Xie Xan's injuries could be recovered once he successfully absorbed the spirit ring. If the situation truly took a turn for the worst, only then would Ah Yin act else complications may arise and instead of helping Xie Xan, she might accidentally end up harming him.
Hu Lana looked on from distance, her fists clenched and her stare extremely dangerous.
After another hour, one of Xie Xan's veins around his arm finally burst and while his blue-grey sleeve began soaking in blood, even two lines of blood followed from the corner of his eyes and the trembling lips finally bubbled with blooth filling his mouth.
"Ah Yin," Hu Lana called out but everyone stayed silent. Instead of risking Xie Xan's life by diverting their attention to console Hu Lana, everyone observed Xie Xan instead. The situation may look terrible but already being a Spirit Ancestor and stronger one at that with his mind and body tempered in the Disorienting Ghost Canyon and his physique also washed by poisons, Xie Xan's limit was already at the higher end of what an ordinary Spirit King could possess. What even Ja Sun could perceive was that unfortunately, there wasn't any soul shock and all Xie Xan had to bear was physical pain.
After going through all the trouble, Ja Sun, of course, didn't want anything bad for Xie Xan. Pain is the best medicine for the growth of mental energy and that is why his Mental Acupuncture Technique was so great. Of course, willingly accepting torturous pain without any benefit didn't suit Ja Sun and with Astral Combatant, his mental energy was already growing without losing the least bit of its sturdiness and condensation.
But, in the end, Xie Xan's physique was quite a bit away from Ja Sun's and such a bloodshed would have affected Xie Xan's future potential severely if Ah Yin wasn't present.
Seeing that none, including their teacher had moved, Hu Lana bit her lips and forcefully calmed herself down. Her mental aptitude, as being a charm casting spirit master, was high. Still, the sight of her lover's bloodied body was not something her sore eyes needed to spectate upon.
"Oh! It's done!" Ja Sun's eyes brightened as the spirit ring finally entered Xie Xan's body and Xie Xan broke through into rank 51 before the boost from the spirit ring stabilized.
However, after that, Xie Xan simply fell on his back, his legs still crossed but cushioning his fall was a blanket of thick blades of Blue-silver grass while they glittered in a silver-gold radiance that instantly began healing the worst of Xie Xan's injuries.
With relief sweeping her, Hu Lana almost collapsed on her knees weakly but was held promptly by Bibi Dong who helped her down gently.
"Search the corpse of the spirit beast," Bibi Dong looked at Ja Sun and Liu Erlong as they finally made their way towards the corpse of the spirit beast and stabbed the carapace in its limbs and torso but found no burst of spirit energy. Even the head of the Salamander had nothing to note.
"No spirit bone found," Liu Erlong grumbled while Ja Sun remained silent. He already realized the rarity of spirit bones but with his trait, he did hope to find a lot of good things.
"You should just share the spirit bones," Liu Erlong gave Ja Sun a sidelong glance as he stored the corpse of the spirit beast. After all, the spoil would naturally belong to him since it was purely his own effort why the salamander wasn't aggressive and died easily.
"Oh? Sure," Ja Sun smiled gently, "Then what do you offer to trade for the spirit bone of your liking? Your own bones? Or the body it supports?" Only Ja Sun's extremely suggestive calls or words would now incite Liu Erlong. Faced with such a low-effort provocation, Liu Erlong sneered, "With you? I'd rather die first."
But she, unfortunately, fell into a disgusting trap.
"So there is a way," Ja Sun mumbled and walked back while Liu Erlong's body shuddered. Ah Yin could talk about the toilet but Ja Sun couldn't joke about necrophilia? The world isn't so sweet.
"Drop dead!" Liu Erlong screamed.
"Woah, what? First, you suggest it yourself and now you want me dead? Your intentions aren't so straightforward, I see," Ja Sun shook his head. Only such a fiery mess would now be Ja Sun's joy in making fun and messing with someone. Even Bibi Dong and Ah Yin couldn't compare to Liu Erlong when it came to the reception of Ja Sun's words.
Liu Erlong was like a ball of fire that attracted moth-like insults and every time she devoured said moths, the fire would only grow brighter.
"Why do you even bother replying?" Hu Lana sighed, the sight of Liu Erlong flapping like a fat fish on a chopping board was truly a relieving one as she felt her tense nerves melt loosen a lot.
"Liu Erlong," Bibi Dong smiled calmly, "We're all adults. We understand."
"Aaaahhhhhhhh!"
The dark-haired Dragoness roared into the sky, unable to vent her frustrations.
"Teacher... now that I think about it. Maybe your poison can act as a lubricant to those interested parties—"
"Alright, enough. At least, let me leave before discussing such infernal things," Qian Daoliu finally scowled.
"Right, right," Ja Sun grinned while Bibi Dong glared at him.
'Now Grandmaster may misunderstand I'm into some weird thing!' She whined internally.
***
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