Returning to his private courtyard, Li Fan once again drew out a wisp of divine soul to examine. This time, he keenly sensed a difference from before.
In the pure white expanse, Li Fan had previously been unable to effectively identify the presence of a soul covenant, relying entirely on vague gut feelings and guesswork.
However, being washed over by countless divine souls in the Sea of Resentful Souls seemed to have wrought a wondrous change within his own soul.
After several tests, Li Fan was delighted to discover that his rate of successful identification had leaped from two in a thousand to three percent.
"Simple, brute-force methods really suit me best after all. A few more sessions, and identifying soul covenants won't be an issue at all," Li Fan thought with quiet excitement.
With the Dao Transformation Stone and the Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation aiding him, the risks of the Sea of Resentful Souls were virtually nonexistent for Li Fan.
Instead, it was an immense opportunity.
Somewhat akin to how he had felt after using the Will Horse back then, Li Fan could faintly sense that his divine soul had grown somewhat sturdier.
This even made him look forward to tomorrow's "surfing" session in the Sea of Resentful Souls arriving a little sooner.
And so, under continuous study and training combined with the scouring waves of divine souls in the Sea of Resentful Souls, Li Fan's success rate in sensing soul covenants climbed steadily—rising from five percent, to ten percent, and up to fifty percent...
By the time only eight members of the lucky alternates remained alive, this extra special training finally came to an end. At this point, Li Fan's accuracy had settled at eighty percent.
Ji Hongdao's assessment was that he sat right in the middle of the pack—barely acceptable, but showing promise for the future.
Unfortunately, the Formation Planning Hall's authorized access period for the Sea of Resentful Souls had expired. Li Fan no longer had the chance for private tutoring; from here on, he could only rely on independent training to make further progress.
Still, after being scoured by the Sea of Resentful Souls for so many days and coming into intimate contact with the divine souls of countless Five Elders Association cultivators bearing soul covenants, Li Fan had gained an intuitive grasp of how to spot them.
As long as that familiar sensation from being struck by the soul waves welled up in his spirit, there was an eighty percent chance a soul covenant mark was present.
Following up with a final screening substantially raised his accuracy.
With his glaring weakness eliminated, Li Fan's standing among the many formation prodigies steadily rose.
While Li Fan continued his advanced studies in the Cosmos Courtyard, time rolled forward to Anchor Year 27.
Congyun Sea, waters near the deserted island.
Xiao Heng stood facing the wind, his bearing vastly different from before.
One hundred and eight deep-blue water swords revolved and shifted incessantly around him, forming wondrous arrays one after another.
He gazed down at the sea, looking grave. A peculiar cry echoed from the deep ocean floor. A shadow beneath the surface expanded rapidly.
In an instant, it enveloped Xiao Heng within its shadow.
The phantom form of a colossal strange beast emerged, gaping its maw wide to devour Xiao Heng whole. A flash of blue light glinted in Xiao Heng's eyes. In an instant, his figure blurred into an ethereal haze.
He vanished from where he stood, evading the beast's ambush.
High in the sky, Xiao Heng looked down at the beast whose strike had hit nothing, and a faint smile appeared on his face. With a gentle breath, surrounding clouds were drawn toward him, gathering around his body.
Figures made entirely of clouds, bearing an eighty percent resemblance to Xiao Heng, swiftly coalesced. Ten, a hundred, a thousand... in the blink of an eye, an army of cloud figures had formed. Brandishing sharp swords, they swooped down to launch an assault on the beast below.
In an instant, sword lights crisscrossed the air, and countless explosions bloomed across the beast's body.
"Weak! Too weak!"
"Xiao Heng, are you just scratching an itch for me?"
The beast actually spoke human words—it was Ye Feipeng's voice!
Effortlessly fending off Xiao Heng's onslaught, Ye Feipeng's immense body gave a slight shudder. The sea churned, whipping up towering waves hundreds of feet high. The beast leapt out of the water, transforming into a giant bird as it soared into the sky. Facing the army of thousands of cloud soldiers, it paid them no mind at all.
Charging headlong, it was completely unstoppable.
In a single breath, it smashed all the cloud figures to smithereens and arrived right before Xiao Heng. Xiao Heng's expression did not waver; his form blurred once more into an ethereal illusion. Moments later, he reappeared elsewhere in the sky.
"Fatty, what good is having nothing but brute strength?"
"Attacking me is like hurling an axe into the sky. The sky is so high and vast. No matter how high you throw the axe, you can't even graze the sky's surface!"
"This is one of the four Golden Core methods I comprehended—the Method of Emptiness! What do you think?" A hint of pride showed in Xiao Heng's tone.
Previously, when he was on the verge of Core Formation, guided by an obscure intuition in his heart, he had traveled to the center of the Congyun Sea.
When he saw that ethereal, transparent structure standing high in the sky, Xiao Heng had been profoundly moved.
The Cloud Water Heavenly Palace held countless opportunities within.
Countless cultivators risked life and limb just to enter, hoping to strike it rich overnight. But...
All of them overlooked that the very existence of the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace was a miracle in itself! Formed from clouds and water, floating upon the firmament—a magnificent spectacle woven between substance and illusion!
Xiao Heng had stood outside the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace for nearly a year. Cultivators came and went in endless streams, pointing and whispering about him.
He turned a deaf ear to it all, silently and meticulously intuiting the dao.
In the end, taking inspiration from the way the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace existed in the world, he comprehended the Method of Cloud and the Method of Emptiness. Combined with the Method of Sea and the Method of Sword derived from cultivating the Sea-Calming Divine Sword, he ultimately formed his Golden Core through four methods!
Not long after returning to the deserted island, he encountered Ye Feipeng, who had likewise broken through to the Golden Core realm. Having grown dramatically in strength, Xiao Heng naturally felt an itch to spar with him.
Ye Feipeng readily agreed, which led to the battle underway.
When they clashed, despite having mentally prepared himself, Xiao Heng was still caught off guard. Compared to before, Ye Feipeng's "beastification" was far more complete. He could completely shed his human form and turn into a genuine mythical beast.
In his Kun form, his body was colossal. Lurking beneath the waves, he moved with baffling speed, proving utterly unpredictable. At the slightest lapse in attention, he would breach the surface, swallowing everything in his path whole.
In his Peng form, he was faster still. When he spread his wings wide, gale-force winds trailed in his wake. With both speed and power boosted, his destructive force reached absurd heights.
Xiao Heng's Golden Core-level One Hundred and Eight Sea-Calming Divine Sword Array had once been smashed to pieces when Ye Feipeng simply rammed his head right through it.
Fortunately, Xiao Heng's newly comprehended Method of Emptiness was exceedingly profound, allowing him to evade Ye Feipeng's frantic assaults time and again.
Seeing that this attack had missed once more, the little fat man grew furious.
"'Xiao's axe, high and vast sky; throw it high and not even graze a hair'? Xiao Heng, you're far too arrogant!"
"Human strength has its limits! What's more, a mere Golden Core cultivator dares compare himself to the true heavens?"
"If you are the sky..."
"Then I shall swallow the heavens!"
Amidst a roar that rumbled like thunder, the Kunpeng's already massive body expanded once more.
Flapping his wings, countless chains forged of azure wind locked down the surrounding sky. Then he opened his maw wide, and a pitch-black shadow manifested within.
That shadow seemed to hold infinite suction; the very fabric of the sky began warping, dragging toward the maw.
Xiao Heng's expression shifted slightly. He tried to shift and phase his form again,
only to discover in horror that the Method of Emptiness, which had proved infallible until now, had lost all effect!
His body flew uncontrollably toward the terrifying beast's maw, and the spiritual energy inside him ground to a halt under the crushing pressure enveloping him.
Seeing how dire the situation was, Xiao Heng could only shout helplessly, "I yield! I concede!"
A gleam of blood-red flashed in the Kunpeng's eyes, showing no sign of stopping.
Fortunately, moments later, black pupils reclaimed the beast's eyes. Ye Feipeng snapped back to his senses and halted his rampage.
Chapter 298