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Chapter 629: Chapter 635: Fourth Order
"Eh?!"
After skimming through the secret technique, Li Zhixuan suddenly felt that some key aspects seemed familiar.
"What is it? Is there something you don’t understand?"
"No, Disciple just feels like this secret technique is somewhat familiar."
Li Zhixuan furrowed her brows and thought for a moment before saying, "Before I left on my journey, Jiu gave me a Nascent Soul Secret Skill! There are similarities in the crucial parts to the one Master gave me."
"It seems that your Jiu is also a person of great fortune," Ancestor Wu Xin said with a faint smile, thinking it was a coincidence that Li Zhirui obtained an inheritance from some sect.
After all, such breakthrough secret techniques exist within all great powers, and the core principles are actually not very different, only the emphasis varies.
Li Zhixuan’s expression turned somewhat strange as she said, "Master, the secret technique from the family, Jiu deduced it himself by integrating some remnant scriptures and insights from the Nascent Soul."
"Are you speaking the truth?"
Ancestor Wu Xin looked at her with some surprise, and after receiving a firm response, he exclaimed, "Your Jiu’s talents may even surpass yours."
"How is your Jiu’s swordsmanship?"
Although he already had a very good disciple, the more geniuses the better, of course, as that would aid the sect’s development.
Not having skills in swordsmanship was not a problem either, for the Ten Thousand Swords Sect was not just about sword cultivators; after all, a sect’s development could not do without cultivation skills and placed more emphasis on well-rounded growth, aiming to cover any weaknesses.
"Jiu has not learned swordsmanship, but he is skilled in using spells, has a high talent for alchemy, and our family’s cultivation technique is quite unique, not suitable for switching to the Sword Dao," she explained.
Pausing, she continued, "However, Jiu probably won’t join the sect. He has a wife and child at home, and most importantly, a departed elder of the family entrusted him with a heavy responsibility for the family."
Li Zhixuan certainly hoped Li Zhirui could have a bigger and better platform to fully express his abilities and talents to help him advance faster and further, but she knew her brother would never leave the family.
Rather than letting her master bring up the subject, it was better to dispel the idea beforehand, to prevent her brother from having to personally decline and offend a Divine Transformation-stage cultivator.
Upon hearing this, Ancestor Wu Xin gave up on the idea and asked no more about the Li family.
"Alright, is there anything else you don’t understand? Speak up, and let your master answer them all."
Li Zhixuan immediately voiced her doubts and, after getting answers to all of them, took her leave.
----
Meanwhile, up in the skies above Wanxian Island, the sudden flash of lightning and rumble of thunder, dense clouds shrouded the area, the thick, heavy clouds obscuring the light, plunging a large area into darkness, the oppressive might making it hard for people to breathe.
"Is this..."
"Someone is breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage?"
Li Darong and others who had seen Li Zhirui and Jiang Fengwu break through were instantly shocked in their hearts. When did their family have such an unremarkable member?
However, once they understood the situation, they realized they were mistaken. It was not a family member breaking through, but rather Li Zhirui’s Contracted Spirit Beast, Da Qing!
"Quick, send someone to inform the ancestor! And arrange for people to evacuate the clansmen within the range of the Thunder Tribulation!" Li Darong quickly gave orders after calming down.
Li Zhirui, who was in the middle of alchemy, suddenly felt restless, causing the batch of Spirit Pills he was crafting to fail.
Before he had time to clean the Pill Furnace, he heard the urgent sound of the Knocking Bell.
’Has something happened to the family?!’
Li Zhirui hurriedly got up, opened the door, and saw a clansman with an excited and thrilled expression, who said, "Ancestor, your Contracted Spirit Beast is breaking through to the fourth rank. The Clan Leader has asked me to inform you of this."
Da Qing is breaking through to the fourth rank!
Overwhelmed by the immense surprise, Li Zhirui was somewhat dazed for a while before finally recovering. He immediately dashed towards the center of the Tribulation Transcendence.
By the time he arrived, Li Darong and the others had already evacuated the nearby clansmen, everyone watching from a distance at the tightly sealed cave abode.
Before the Thunder Tribulation descended, Da Qing finally emerged from the cave abode.
Watching his confident smile, Li Zhirui’s anxiety lessened a great deal. In fact, upon serious reflection, the Thunder Tribulation didn’t really amount to much for Da Qing.
After all, the Turtle Clan had always been renowned for its defense, and ever since following him, Da Qing had always focused on defensive spells.
Boom—
The first bolt of Tribulation Thunder struck, and Da Qing quickly deployed his defensive spells, layer upon layer, effortlessly neutralizing it.
His ease attracted the envy of everyone; if they had such capability, then the Thunder Tribulation would no longer be a perilous life-or-death situation.
Bolt after bolt of Tribulation Thunder fell, but all were blocked by Da Qing’s spells, calm and collected, without any sign of urgency.
Only for the strongest, final strike did he put forth his Life-bound Magic Treasure, a defensive treasure crafted from his molted shell and remnants of his form-transformation.
As Da Qing channeled a great amount of mana into it, the two went from initially equal in strength, to the Tribulation Thunder’s energy gradually dissipating, and finally disappearing altogether.
"We did it!" A radiant smile spread across Li Zhirui’s face.
The dense clouds of Tribulation transformed into pure spiritual energy, pouring into Da Qing’s body, solidifying the somewhat ethereal Nascent Soul within him.
From this moment!
Da Qing officially became the first fourth-order Spirit Beast of the Li family!
And Li Zhirui also received a significant amount of mana feedback after his breakthrough.
"Jiu, I made it!"
"Congratulations! Now hurry back and consolidate your realm," now was not the time for idle chat, there would be plenty of time later on.
"Okay," Da Qing nodded and turned back to the cave abode.
"Ancestor, should we hold a Nascent Soul Ceremony?"
After considering it, Li Zhirui shook his head, "Let’s wait until Da Qing comes out and see what he wants."
Strictly speaking, they shouldn’t hold one because Da Qing was his Contracted Spirit Beast, and in their eyes, he was the most important family member, but to others, he was simply a member of the Devil Race.
However, if Da Qing wanted it, holding a ceremony for him wouldn’t be an issue, given that the nearby powers, except for a few like the Profound Ice Sect and Water Spirit Sect, were all vassals of the Li family.
"I’m leaving now."
He still had to suppress the mana feedback that Da Qing’s breakthrough had given him.
——
"The Li family has produced another Nascent Soul cultivator?"
The commotion of the Tribulation Transcendence was too great to hide from the watchful eyes in the shadows, and on the very day, this news reached the hands of the rulers of the nearby powers.
"How long has it been! The Li family now has three Nascent Souls, and in a hundred years, that number might double!"
"Being a vassal of the Li family, it’s hard to say if it’s good or bad."
The upside was that the Li family demanded fewer tributes and didn’t exploit them excessively.
But every vassal harbored a desire for independence!
Yet the development speed of the Li family was too frightening; they saw no hope of breaking away from the Li family.
Among them, the Profound Ice Sect had the strongest reaction initially.
Since Han Chan returned to the sect from the Spirit Stone Vein with an exaggerated version of her encounter with Li Zhirui to the assembly of Elders, the Profound Ice Sect had decided to take action against the Li family.
