The true essence within Ling Xiao’s body continued to condense, with nine cyclones spinning rapidly within his nine martial veins, further enhancing the quality and density of his true essence.
The inner core of the Ten Thousand Poison Giant Python was indeed that of a peak Eighth-Level beast. Its abundant energy was far beyond what the gallbladders of the golden snakes could compare to.
During cultivation, Ling Xiao could clearly feel a massive surge of energy pouring into his martial veins, being assimilated and transformed.
Mortal Realm Sixth Layer Late Stage!
Mortal Realm Sixth Layer Peak!
Mortal Realm Seventh Layer!
Finally, after an hour, a terrifying aura spread through the passage, the violent storm of true essence scattering the snake corpses everywhere.
Ling Xiao was pleasantly surprised. He had finally reached the critical final three stages of the Mortal Realm.
The sensation was extraordinary.
It felt as if his life essence had elevated significantly, and his perspective had broadened.
Mortal Realm Seventh Layer, also known as “Divine Courage.”
Ling Xiao could feel his soul, inner strength, and body merging more perfectly, allowing for greater coordination in battle.
Leng Hao, Dai Yuling, and Shangguan Lei, standing nearby, were under immense pressure.
The three of them, almost instinctively, knelt before Ling Xiao, unable to even lift their heads.
“Get up,” Ling Xiao said, retracting his terrifying aura.
Leng Hao gave a bitter smile, “Brother Ling, it seems I’ll never catch up to you in this lifetime.”
He had just broken through to the early Mortal Realm Fifth Layer, thinking he was closing the gap with Ling Xiao, only for Ling Xiao’s breakthrough to widen it again.
“You have to keep chasing, even if you can’t catch up. That’s what drives cultivation,” Ling Xiao said with a smile. “Let’s keep moving.”
“Got it!”
Leng Hao’s eyes lit up at Ling Xiao’s words. With such a role model, he had no reason to be complacent—only relentless cultivation could give him a chance to catch up!
Ling Xiao led the way, with Dai Yuling, Leng Hao, and Shangguan Lei following.
“Following the boss is just too easy. No need to be on edge all the time,” Shangguan Lei remarked with a sigh.
This wasn’t flattery but genuine sentiment.
In terms of cultivation, Bai Feifei and Tantai Lingzi were stronger than Ling Xiao, but traveling with them required constant vigilance—one wrong move could mean death.
With Ling Xiao, however, there was no need to worry about danger. They could just keep moving forward.
It was as if Ling Xiao could see through everything, anticipate everything. Shangguan Lei felt more and more that choosing to follow Ling Xiao was the right decision.
Though Demon Flame Heavenly Sovereign was powerful, he was indifferent. Ling Xiao, on the other hand, was approachable.
“You three don’t need to worry about dangers on the way. You can consolidate your cultivation while we travel,” Ling Xiao said with a smile.
The three nodded.
Ling Xiao’s brisk pace had a reason. The entire monster lair’s map was displayed in his Mountain River Diagram, clearly showing where dangers lay and where it was safe—even the locations of traps were known to him.
This allowed him to move without hesitation or caution.
Exiting the snake cave, Ling Xiao and the others entered a wide main path.
It seemed the ten branching paths all converged here.
As they entered the main path, strange creatures appeared ahead—beings woven from straw, yet incredibly strong.
The weakest were Fifth-Level beasts, equivalent to Mortal Realm Fifth Layer martial artists, while the strongest reached Seventh-Level beasts.
There were fifty of them!
Shangguan Lei, Dai Yuling, and Leng Hao stopped cultivating, preparing to fight.
“No need for you to act. Keep cultivating. I’ll let you know when it’s your turn,” Ling Xiao said.
With that, a massive flaming monster appeared behind him.
This was the mutated martial soul he had taken from Hei Suo, evolved from the Ghost Fire Martial Soul—a half-finished Death Dark Flame Martial Soul.
But it was more than enough to deal with these creatures!
Whoosh~~
The giant flaming monster lunged at the straw-woven creatures.
In an instant, fire spread through the passage, and the straw monsters, vulnerable to flames, were swiftly reduced to ashes.
The rest fled in terror from the flames.
“So strong!”
Dai Yuling, Leng Hao, and Shangguan Lei were astonished.
The same martial soul in Hei Suo’s hands paled in comparison to Ling Xiao’s.
This guy was just too extraordinary.
Ling Xiao smiled inwardly, satisfied with the attack’s power.
It seemed that after breaking through to Mortal Realm Seventh Layer, his true essence, soul power, and attack strength had all undergone a qualitative leap.
Before the breakthrough, it wouldn’t have been this easy.
With Ling Xiao, a monster in their midst, the group encountered several more waves of various beasts. Yet, upon meeting Ling Xiao, they were instantly obliterated.
Nearly all were one-shot kills.
There were only brief pauses.
As they neared the end of the main path, they encountered a powerful puppet beast made entirely of metal, equivalent to a Ninth-Level beast or Mortal Realm Ninth Layer martial artist.
It led over a thousand smaller puppet beasts.
Yet, the smaller puppets were nearly wiped out by Ling Xiao in an instant, with the few left spared for the others to practice on.
As for the Ninth-Level puppet beast, Ling Xiao pierced its core with a single sword, reducing it to rubble.
To Ling Xiao, the number of enemies meant nothing—he had too many area-of-effect techniques.
Combined with the Mountain River Martial Soul’s ability to absorb true essence, the more enemies, the happier he was.
Dai Yuling, Leng Hao, and Shangguan Lei, after countless shocks, grew numb to Ling Xiao’s divine might.
His strength was etched into their minds, their very bones—impossible to forget.
This was no longer a monster lair; it felt like Ling Xiao’s personal hunting ground.
He was like a terrifying king of hunters, making all beasts tremble.
Another hour passed, and the four reached the end of the main path.
Through the Mountain River Diagram, Ling Xiao knew that in the lair at the end dwelt the final guardian of the second stage.
A Half-Step Heavenly Sovereign.
In terms of strength, it was far stronger than Bai Feifei.
Though both were Half-Step Heavenly Sovereigns, Bai Feifei was only at 20% of that level, while this guardian was nearly 90%, on the verge of breaking into the Heavenly Human Realm.
Ling Xiao considered for a moment and chose to wait.
Alone, he wasn’t a match for this guardian. He needed to wait for Bai Feifei and Tantai Lingzi to arrive.
Two hours later, Bai Feifei, Tantai Lingzi, Wu Yang, Qin Wu, Liu Lie, and Situ Jun arrived one after another.
However, Wang Nan was missing.
But the cold voice didn’t announce Wang Nan’s elimination, meaning he was still alive.
