Chapter 153: Xie Xan's Breakthrough
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With the wingspan ranging to 7 meters and a body as long as 3, the 42000-year-old Ravaging Blind Raven was an absolute monster. Its feathered head had no space for eyes and with only a single beaker and a pair of sharp talons, the cunning Raven had made a lunch out of its prey but this allowed the trio to move around. Not willing to miss out on the benefits of the Soul Shock this time, Ja Sun's innate ability to calm the spirit beasts wasn't used. In fact, this lack of usage while the constant increase in strength made Ja Sun wonder about the limit of cultivation of a spirit beast that he can now convince to commit suicide.
It is a fierce and magnificent spirit beast, no doubt about it, but its hunters were equally sharp and quick-witted. Before the Raven could grab the considerably smaller peacock with its talons and take-off, the strands of Blue Silver grass shot out instantly, wrapping the beast in a tight hold.
*Kkaaawwwwwww*
It screeched and instantly spread its senses once again while the feathers on its body grew sharp. However, its mind was struck with something heavy. Something... final.
The beast fell into a daze and a crimson shadow shot out like a twister that instantly sliced off the Raven's head who couldn't even put up any defenses in time for the sudden assault.
*Thud*
*Spssshhh*
A pool of blood began forming due to such a spreading injury especially from the neck of the beast. Silently, the crimson aura around Xie Xan vanished along with his spirit rings and he gazed at the black spirit ring rising from the Raven's body. There was a purple spirit ring still within the location where the peacock breathed its last but it only provided 80 years of cultivation to Ja Sun's two spirit souls.
"So... am I lucky enough this time? Is there a spirit bone?" Xie Xan mumbled as he touched his chin.
"Focus," Ja Sun barked, "Thr Ravaging Blind Ravens are gifted with mental energy." He felt the potency of the beast's mental reserves so he could judge. "The soul shock will not be easy probably."
"I would have to face one of these days. The quicker the better," Xie Xan recollected his breathing and without feeling disgusted by the blood around him, he sat down stating, "Try to not snatch the spirit bone if there is one."
"But if there is a spirit bone inside the peacock, it's mine," Ja Sun crossed his arms.
"Ehm," Ah Yin cleared her throat.
"Mine," Ja Sun rejected flatly, darkening her expression in return.
With a smile, Xie Xan pulled the spirit ring towards himself while Ja Sun began searching the two corpses. However, they weren't graced by luck to gain a spirit bone again.
They grew silent and calm while Ah Yin and Ja Sun expanded their methods to keep an eye on the situation. There was a quick reaction to Xie Xan's situation. His body began trembling while the veins around his head started to pop out. The first hurdle to absorb a black spirit ring is the Soul Shock and even if it doesn't get too easier by time, the first one is supposed to always hit the hardest.
Ah Yin got to work instantly. The sudden consumption of the mental energy Xie Xan had developed over the years with his constant training and endurance would also lead to exhaustion of spirit energy that would try to fill the void and this would end up being the source of Xie Xan's demise.
Usually, a sixth spirit should be of the age of about 25000 years but by breaking through his capacity and absorbing a similar ring as his fifth ability, Xie Xan could clearly reach higher. However, Xie Xan needed to capitalize on this advantage. He internally felt that even with his capacity drastically increasing, his body wouldn't hold out against anything above 40000 and even a 40000-year-old spirit ring would be his break-even point.
But with how potent the Ravaging Blind Ravens are with their mental energy to compensate for their lack of sight, Xie Xan would need Ah Yin's constant support.
Suddenly, Ja Sun's and Ah Yin's expressions changed. They felt another entity entering their range.
"It's another Ravaging Blind Raven. A weaker one but still above 20000 years of cultivation. Possibly the mate of the one we killed," Ah Yin could clearly sense it using her domain.
Activating his spirit transformation, Ja Sun's body went through some changes once again. His dark hair turned silver and the green mark on his forehead turned into the tattoo of the third eye. Arms growing silver fur and palms turning into talons wrapped by Vajra Gauntlets that shaped themselves accordingly. His legs went through a similar transformation and his feet turned into tough talons too but this time they pierced through his sandals.
"I'll calm it down. If there's anything else, contact me. I will be nearby," Ja Sun mumbled as he began walking away when Ah Yin suddenly called out.
"You look good like this..."
Stunned, Ja Sun looked at her with a strange expression, "Are you high? This isn't the time."
But unfazed and equally curious of what other changes does this transformation brings, Ah Yin smiled, "Then you know what's the right time, correct?"
"If Xie Xan dies, I'm telling on you to Hu Lana," Ja Sun turned around. These were double standards, he felt. If he passes some dirty remarks during a tense situation it isn't right but it's okay when Ah Yin does it all the while Xie Xan's life is hanging on balance?
'I think not!' Ja Sun snorted... 'But we can definitely try it...'
---
Xie Xan's world had changed. He was unconscious in the real world, he felt, but in this greying room, he was very much conscious. Those who had experienced Soul Shocks in their group had kept their experience vague for some reason. Understanding that most of the time the first-timers will be faced with their fears, Xie Xan felt that things must have been too personal to discuss.
Even Hu Lana never described the events of her soul shock perfectly and in the end, pleaded not to be questioned about it.
'What is this place?'
Xie Xan looked around when suddenly crimson chains ended with pitch-black shackles caught his wrists and pulled him down. His entire body fell and a black shackle caught his neck and his ankles followed soon after.
"Finally you decide to visit me..."
A cold whisper echoed in this room and Xie Xan frowned. He knew the owner of the voice but this may be the first time he was subjected to such a cold and distant tone. Struggling to look up, feeling the shackles around him, Xie Xan scowled and spoke up, "You're dead, aren't you?"
"Do I look dead?" The middle-aged man standing naked replied with a growl.
"Son, did you think I won't return? And I won't have my vengeance?"
The man's tone was threatening as he waved his hand and a door materialized on the front wall. From it walked out a trembling Hu Lana who looked much younger than she is now. Her face was still naive but her innocent charm sent Xie Xan into a world of nostalgia.
With a rough grab, the man pulled Hu Lana into his embrace. Not for a moment did he wait as his hands began roaming all over Hu Lana's body.
But the more Xie Xan saw, the stranger his expression got. Instead of anger, disgust clouded his mind. He didn't care what was happening in front of him but the sight of the bouncing phallus was still a little too hard for him to bear to watch not only just on Hu Lana but any individual.
"Ah... I remember... I fucking do remember it. You wanted to rape Hu Lana to try and get an erection, right? After we killed you, we found many pills around that you had stashed away. Can't believe I didn't make any connections then."
Xie Xan's words made the man stop in his tracks while shock filled his gaze.
"Wh—"
"So the Soul Shock phenomenon... is not entirely based on showing you your worst fears," Xie Xan realized as he spoke with an enlightened expression. He could never get angry at an illusion when he knew it was an illusion. It just lost all purpose to it. It was similar to getting angry at a kleptomaniac for stealing. Not only that, his training, his future child, and worst of all, the smug grin of one particular bastard in his mind wouldn't let him fall in on an illusion knowingly just because of his ego.
"You're probably the soul of the Raven I killed. By letting you inside of me through the Spirit Ring absorption process, I also allowed you to access my memories. There is no other way around it... but the longer I am consumed by the illusion, the quicker my mental energy would deplete," Xie Xan began as the shackles around him disappeared. So did Hu Lana and the man and the room. Within a crimson world stayed a furious raven with its feathers sticking out.
"You killed me!"
It shrieked violently.
"And I'm not sorry about it," Xie Xan's eyes suddenly took black as if he had gone blind while his moon blades appeared in his hands.
---
It is as Xie Xan reasoned. The illusion in most of the soul shock is nothing but a method to prolong the exhaustion of one's mental energy but fortunately even if it took Xie Xan longer than now to realize the truth, he still wouldn't be in a fatal condition. But amongst the group, Xie Xan could also be called to have accepted things so calmly.
It was as he had said. What was the point of bringing the past? Yes, after killing his father Xie Xan had nightmares that Hu Lana was truly forced upon by his father but she was also the one who helped him out of that stage. No matter the reason, the act of patricide is a hard one to endure. The Raven picked on these waning nightmares to reignite Xie Xan's trauma but ended up losing out completely.
In the real world, the pitch-black ring disintegrated and entered Xie Xan's body. While he could actively tackle soul shock, he was truly passive against the other tests. With his body refined by an Immortal Herb of the peak quality: Yearning Heartbroken Red, Xie Xan's body accepted the pressure easily. He could be considered a minor powerhouse now. But the same couldn't be said about his spirit energy.
In the end, this was an act of chewing greater than one can digest but the exhaustion of the spirit energy was quickly stabilized by Ah Yin until Xie Xan's spirit energy began to rise by itself, signifying his breakthrough.
His aura climbed up and so did his strength. But unlike what Ah Yin had expected, Xie Xan's rank actually settled at 62 instead of 61 and she couldn't help but frown.
Something was strange. She could feel it.
Xie Xan's injuries, around his head specifically, were taken care of as he slowly opened his eyes and shocked the viewers.
"Ugh... why the fuck am I only seeing lines?" Xie Xan questioned before he blinked. New information began to instinctively guide him and the result of his breakthrough. He blinked again, his eyes totally pitch-black as he stared at Ah Yin, Ja Sun, and...
"Is that another Ravaging Blind Raven?" Xie Xan questioned.
"Yes, your new mate," Ja Sun replied. He was successful in his task of calming down the spirit beast who didn't feel remorse for the death of a loved one but a source of sustenance instead.
"Is that..." Ah Yin whispered.
Six spirit rings surrounded Xie Xan— Yellow, yellow, Purple, Purple, Black, and Black.
"Rank 62 Spirit Emperor, Xie Xan, am forever in your debt not only because of the immortal herb but this external spirit bone."
Xie Xan confirmed their wild guesses.
An external spirit bone!
Aside from Bibi Dong, Xie Xan would be the second one on the team to have an external spirit bone but what did it do?
This was a question that made the couple curious.
---
After the trio returned while shooing away the raven since it was barely of any use, Xie Xan took quite a bit of rest before explaining his situation. His eyes had turned normal and he could activate his 'spirit bone' as he wished. It was truly a strange thing, calling eyeballs a spirit bone, that is. But an external spirit bone has never been limited by shape or size and that's what makes them so special. Even Ja Sun only had an 'artificial' external spirit bone in the form of Vajra Gauntlets.
"It's called the Blind World External Bone," Xie Xan grinned, "When activated alone, my point of view turns entirely different. I become immune to illusions and am capable of seeing the flow of spirit energy around me. It will take some time to get used to it... however, the pupils technique you couldn't make use of... The Asura Sight Technique would be perfect with this external spirit bone."
Ja Sun was brimming with envy. Too bad that if the external spirit bone is taken out from the body, they simply lose their functions.
As Xie Xan said, this was an amazing ability and the best part of the external spirit bone is that it grows with the user.
"What about your sixth ability? You said that if you activate your spirit eyes 'alone'. Does that mean that there will be a better effect in tandem with your spirit skill?"
Ja Sun questioned and Xie Xan nodded. This was a known phenomenon. If a spirit bone and the spirit rings emerge from the same beast it would have a better effect.
Even Ja Sun's cloning technique worked well with the disguising portion of his skull bone.
"If used with my sixth spirit skill, the spirit bone will let out a mental attack on anyone who looks in my eyes so long I wish for it."
"Then what's your sixth spirit ability?" Ah Yin inquired, already curious.
"It's..."
Xie Xan smiled and began explaining things.
{A/N: I don't like revealing skills early because there won't be any point to it to explain now and then again later when it is actually used. But you guys can check the auxiliary chaps in webnovel since I have that updated. But mind you, it will be a spoiler. I haven't added Xie Xan's and Ah Yin's sixth ability and the spirit bone she received from Qian Daoliu and Hu Lana's page still needs to be formed but the rest are complete.}
---
Xie Xan's breakthrough and fortune brought no small amount of surprise once they returned. Especially for Hu Lana. She had always been Xie Xan's target to surpass and now he had truly surpassed her in rank and spirit bone. But with how developed and rooted their relationship was, this only made Hu Lana practice more. Meditation wouldn't affect the baby so Hu Lana could have minor breakthroughs without any troubles.
But as they say, good things often come in the form of triplets.
Before the matches finally began within the Spirit City, Yu Xiaogang had reciprocated Ja Sun's efforts of contacting him.
But startling Ja Sun was Yu Xiaogang's demand.
If Ja Sun wanted to speak with him, he must have Liu Erlong by his side.
However, sensing the trouble in the force, Ja Sun realized that what he truly called Liu Erlong was 'Yu' Erlong. Her technical clan name since she had always adopted her mother's surname.
Hearing this, 'Yu' Erlong wanted to meet the man with the nuts to call her that and agreed with a clearly outraged expression.
Setting a date, Ja Sun and the team dove back into the paperwork with Xie Xan starting to train with his spirit bone activated to get used to it. Since the external spirit bone consumed a lot of spirit energy already, Xie Xan would request Ah Yin's assistance to quickly pump him with spirit energy.
Of course, with their Spirit Emperor ranked partners training, their Spirit King ranked counterparts— Ja Sun and Hu Lana, raised quite a ruckus within the office, not letting others continue their work until... Bibi Dong scolded them and things were set straight again.
The day of Ja Sun's appointment with Yu Xiaogang arrived and he brought two beautiful women: Liu Erlong and Tang Yuehua, to either of his sides with quite a smug expression.
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