Feng Yanran said angrily, “Although disciples from the two academies can fight here, interfering with warriors cultivating in private rooms is not allowed. Are you really disregarding the rules jointly set by the two academies?”
“Heh heh, as long as that Ling Xiao comes out, we naturally won’t do anything more. But does he dare? He’s just a coward hiding like a turtle, utterly laughable!”
Those words were likely from the red-robed warrior earlier. He continued, “That guy was so arrogant before. Why is he hiding inside now and not coming out?”
The people outside the stone door, seeing no sign of movement from inside, narrowed their eyes.
“Idiot!” Feng Yanran said disdainfully. “You’re a warrior at late-stage Liangyi Heaven cultivation, yet you couldn’t beat a mere Heavenly Vein warrior and had to call for help. And you dare call others cowards? What does that make you, something even worse than a coward?”
Actually, Feng Yanran had come out mainly because she worried Ling Xiao might act impulsively.
Though Ling Xiao was impressive, his cultivation was still lacking. Dealing with just the red-robed warrior would be fine.
The key issue was that more than one person had come this time, especially Blood Skeleton, an elite disciple from Divine Phoenix Academy. He had originally ranked in the top ten, and though new experts had joined and dropped his ranking, he was still within the top twenty.
Ling Xiao absolutely couldn’t be his match.
Seeing no response from Ling Xiao, she didn’t know why he had suddenly gone quiet, but Feng Yanran truly breathed a sigh of relief.
Of course, she didn’t know that Ling Xiao was now fully immersed in the universe constructed by his Mountains and Rivers martial soul, completely unaware of external matters.
“Feng Yanran, I’m sparing you only for Prince Feng Yinshan’s sake. Don’t push your luck!” Blood Skeleton said coldly. “Anyone I, Blood Skeleton, target will never escape for life. Mo Wushang, Qin Bixue, and you worthless trash, the three of you guard here. Notify me immediately if there’s any movement!”
Hearing this, Mo Wushang and the others looked uneasy.
They knew well how terrifying Ling Xiao was. They had only dared come today relying on Blood Skeleton’s strength.
If Blood Skeleton left, they wouldn’t dare provoke Ling Xiao even with ten times the courage.
“You’re actually afraid of a Heavenly Vein warrior?” Blood Skeleton’s face darkened unpleasantly.
“Senior Brother, that kid is a bit strange. Though he’s only at Heavenly Vein cultivation, his strength rivals a Sancai Heaven warrior. Moreover, he has a woman at peak Liangyi Heaven cultivation by his side.”
The red-robed warrior gritted his teeth, deciding to tell the truth.
“Worthless!” Blood Skeleton didn’t believe a word.
Who could defeat a late-stage Liangyi Heaven warrior at Heavenly Vein level?
“Blood Senior Brother, you’re at a critical breakthrough point. Go back and cultivate. Leave this to me.”
At that moment, the Dragon-Severing Stone of one of the third-level private rooms opened, and a white-robed man stepped out.
“Duan Yun!”
“It’s me, Duan!” The white-robed man cupped his hands with a smile.
“Good, good. I didn’t expect you’d broken through to mid-stage Sancai Heaven. With you here, I can rest easy.” Blood Skeleton laughed heartily.
“You three stay with Duan Yun. With him around, that kid can’t cause trouble!”
With that, Blood Skeleton turned into a blood mist and descended the pagoda. Within the mist, a terrifying skull faintly appeared.
When Blood Skeleton left, he didn’t remove the secret technique scrolls from the Dragon-Severing Stones.
Feng Yanran tried to take them down, but Duan Yun blocked her.
With her strength, she couldn’t remove the scrolls under Duan Yun’s interference, so she could only helplessly watch the three private rooms with the scrolls continue to shake.
In her heart, she could only pray that the three inside would be fine.
In her private room, Lan Yuer endured this torment for a full month.
Though uninjured, the constant harassment meant she couldn’t do anything for a month, and even her pretty face had turned pale and bloodless.
“A month already. I’m afraid I can’t hold on much longer!” Lan Yuer smiled bitterly in helplessness.
She had only brought a month’s worth of food. Once it ran out, she’d have to go hungry. If pushed to the limit, she’d have no choice but to risk rushing out.
Dying in battle was better than starving.
In another private room, Ling Xiao finally broke through his bottleneck, advancing his cultivation to mid-stage Yixian Heaven.
After advancing to the Heaven-Human Realm, the Mountains and Rivers World didn’t undergo drastic changes this time, but the spiritual energy and Light and Shadow Profundity inside had clearly improved significantly.
Moreover, Ling Xiao’s Light Profundity had reached the second step.
The second step of Light Profundity featured condensing Crimson Sun Cones.
The first step was Crimson Sun Feather Robe for defence, the second was Crimson Sun Cones for attack.
As for Shadow Profundity, it remained at the first step, Shadow Armour, with the second step yet to be comprehended.
Light and Shadow Profundity was the essence Ling Xiao had refined from the Light Inheritance in the Light Cauldron. It required parallel progress in Light and Shadow Profundities.
So the next stage would naturally be comprehending the second step of Shadow Profundity.
By now, over a month had passed.
Ling Xiao felt it was time to leave.
Based on his past experience, after a cultivation breakthrough, he needed to temper himself, fully consolidating the stage before continuing cultivation. Otherwise, he couldn’t unleash the full power of this level, and injury might even cause regression.
So today, with his cultivation at mid-stage Yixian Heaven, a full breakthrough in realm, he needed thorough honing.
At the same time, under the torment of hunger and harassment, Lan Yuer finally couldn’t hold back and opened the Dragon-Severing Stone.
Outside the stone door, the red-robed warrior’s face twisted into a sinister sneer.
He knew the door didn’t lead to Ling Xiao, but to a warrior named Lan Yuer, whose strength was only at Yixian Heaven level, not as hard to handle as Ling Xiao.
He could ravage her harshly without Duan Yun’s help.
He really wanted to see if Ling Xiao would go mad upon emerging and seeing his friend’s miserable state.
Of course, if it were just him, he’d fear Ling Xiao’s revenge.
But with Duan Yun here, and Blood Skeleton backing him, he wasn’t afraid even if Ling Xiao sought revenge.
He had become utterly reckless.
The red-robed warrior had even prepared an attack, ready to ambush and severely injure her the moment she emerged.
Once heavily wounded, even a lioness would have to submit obediently.
“Stop!” Just as the red-robed warrior struck, Feng Yanran intervened.
She hadn’t returned to her private room to cultivate, worried about Ling Xiao being ambushed.
Now, seeing the red-robed warrior attack Lan Yuer, she naturally couldn’t stand by.
