Promise!

Chapter 267, Success or Failure

call!
Mai Yinghuang broke through the first of the three barriers of Yin Shen – Sensing the God, and opened the Yin Shen Mystic Treasure. His vast and powerful pressure swept in all directions like a tidal wave.

Those martial artists below the Innate Realm who had been standing on high eaves to show off were now being impacted and swayed as they fell like dumplings.

People like Cen Zhanshan, Min Zhongmin, and Hong Baoshu, who were at the Innate True Qi Realm, also felt a wave of dizziness and subconsciously stepped back.
Even those at the Innate Qi Realm like Qin Douzhan had slightly pale faces.

The aristocratic families at the forefront, as well as the warriors at the Corpse Severing Realm outside of them, felt a gloomy atmosphere because they were closest to the front. They felt as if something was stuck in their chests, which was extremely uncomfortable. They unconsciously released their own 'power' to resist.

Zhuang Jin and Shangguan Yunchang, one with a powerful soul and spiritual strength far surpassing others in the same realm, and the other being an outstanding individual with a third of the Suspended Heaven Mirror's authority, were far from being affected by the mere aftershocks of opening the Yin Mystic Treasure. Their expressions remained unchanged, and they were even able to concentrate on discussing via telepathy.

"Just now, Mai Yinghuang used the connection made by the thunderclouds in the sky to resonate with the burning spiritual power of the 'Burning Technique.' The two worked together to break through the Niwan Palace and open the Yin Secret Treasure. What a brilliant idea and what courage! And he actually succeeded!"

Zhuang Jin sighed, his eyes sharp: "Through this method, the spiritual energy consumed by the 'Burning Technique' in this level will definitely be far less than expected."

This is something that even someone as perceptive as him or Shangguan Yunchang might not be able to see.

"This person's approach should be inspired by the 'Burning Technique,' and he has tailored it to his own physique and the lightning attribute of his cultivation method."

Shangguan Yunchang's tone also carried a hint of surprise: "However, I have read that 'Burning Technique,' and it is an incomplete version. It is a technique that requires burning oneself to the point of death, and it has serious flaws."

"Furthermore, even if the amount of spiritual energy burned was less than expected, it was still two or three tenths. This person is not known for his spiritual power, so he may not be able to complete the second stage of Fusion Yuan."

"That's true... wait, what is Mai Yinghuang trying to do?"

Zhuang Jin and Shangguan Yunchang looked over in surprise.

Today, the shock that Mai Yinghuang brought them has only just begun.

……

More dark clouds gathered in the sky, as if drawn by an invisible force, hanging low and pressing down, truly a scene of "dark clouds pressing down on the city, threatening to crush it."

Rumble, rumble!

Click!

Suddenly, amidst the continuous thunder, lightning bolts danced wildly, and a bolt of purple lightning struck Mai Yinghuang directly.

At this moment, the first thought of the tens of thousands of martial artists present was that Mai Yinghuang had gone mad—daring to actively attract lightning during his breakthrough?
However, Mai Yinghuang was not harmed or affected in the slightest; his body only became slightly brighter.

Next, bolts of lightning struck down one after another, and his body shimmered with light, gradually condensing into a hazy purple sphere. His innate vital energy successfully began to transform into Yin spirit energy.

While countless people were confused by this step, only Zhuang Jin and a few others understood it and were amazed.

The second stage of Yin Shen, Fu Yuan, has extremely high requirements for essence, energy, and spirit.

The essence mainly refers to the physical body's meridians. Mai Yinghuang used the falling lightning, the life-giving lightning of early spring in February, to repair his physical body and reduce the pressure on his body caused by the transformation of innate essence into divine essence.

Qi, mainly innate Gang Yuan, was still some distance away from merging with the Yin Shen thought and transforming into divine essence. However, with the help of the power of heaven and earth lightning, it made up for the difference and forcibly merged the innate Gang Yuan with the Yin Shen thought.

In the first stage of Yin Shen—Sensing the Spirit—Mai Yinghuang, with the help of a trace of connection with the thundercloud, combined his spiritual power with the Burning Technique to break through the Niwan Palace and unlock the Yin Shen Secret. At this time, in the second stage of Yin Shen, he once again used external conditions to eat the thundercloud twice more.

However, even though Mai Yinghuang possesses a lightning-attribute physique and cultivation technique, external lightning elements are powerless against a 'god'. The problem that Zhuang Jin and Shangguan Yunchang mentioned earlier still applies to him.

Mai Yinghuang understood this as well. At that moment, a colorless and transparent bead flew out from his arms, spun and shattered, and countless specks of light were absorbed. In that instant, his weakened and feeble spiritual power was restored to its full strength.

'The Spirit-Nourishing Pearl!' The name of that translucent round pearl came to mind for countless people present.

Spirit-Nourishing Pearl: A rare treasure that restores spiritual power in one go, but in terms of rarity, it is a level higher than the Five Elements Spirit Pearl.

What is its origin?
At the roundtable meeting held by Zhan Shengchu, Mai Yinghuang also took advantage of the momentum to accumulate some experience.

At this moment, the second stage of Yin Shen Fu Yuan (fusion of essence, qi, and spirit) has extremely high requirements. Mai Yinghuang first used lightning to solve the problems of essence and qi, and then used the Spirit-Nourishing Pearl to solve the problem of spirit. He broke through the three stages of essence, qi, and spirit in succession and is rapidly completing the Fu Yuan stage.

……

"No wonder this person dared to break through in front of everyone!"

Seeing what Mai Yinghuang had done, Zhuang Jin was truly amazed: "This man dares to think and act, and he has made the most of the external conditions. He deserves to be called a genius."

It's obvious that whether it's breaking through the first barrier by sensing the spirit and using a connection with the thunderclouds in the sky, or breaking through the second barrier by fusing the essence and energy of lightning, it's not as simple as it sounds. It requires great skill, perseverance, and courage.

What's even more remarkable is that despite such preparation, he kept it all to himself, without revealing a word beforehand. No one knew or even thought of it, until this crucial moment of 'leaping over the dragon gate,' when he decisively unleashed it.

This was also beyond Shangguan Yunchang's expectations, and she shared the same sentiment as Zhuang Jin: how many heroes there are in the world.

'However, sometimes, some things happen not only on the chessboard, but also outside of it.'

Zhuang Jin and Shangguan Yunchang both thought of this point and also realized that Mai Yinghuang would definitely be prepared, but whether he could influence the higher-ups, the Yin God Grand Venerables, and change the situation was still unknown.

……

Just as Mai Yinghuang took out the Spirit-Nourishing Pearl—

A mile away, in the main hall of the Cen family, a light screen was displaying the scene of Mai Yinghuang's breakthrough in real time.

"You little rascal, your cunning is so deep, I cannot let you live today!"

Cen Chongxuan, the head of the Cen family, snorted coldly and was about to get up.

Governor Xuanyuan Zhengji stopped him, saying, "Young friend Mai broke through today in front of everyone. Why make things difficult for yourself, Brother Cen? Why not give me some face? Life and death are predestined, so let him be!"

The three major families jointly blockaded the independent martial artists outside, but there was also struggle between them. The same was true between the state government and the three major families, which was quite delicate, with cooperation and struggle intertwined.

In some respects, the state government and the three great families did not share the same stance. For example, after the roundtable meeting and Zhan Shengchu's blockade of the gate in the Funiu Mountains, the three great families were at the height of their power in Cangzhou City. Xuan Yuan Zhengji, the governor and a member of the royal family, did not want the three great families to be too idle and was preparing to find them some things to do.

"What did Sister Shangguan say?" Cen Chongxuan looked at Shangguan Jinfeng, seeking her support.

"Let's take another look, no rush, no rush!" Shangguan Jinfeng said with a smile.

This time, the main purpose is to accumulate experience for Shangguan Yunchang. It is far from the end. For a martial artist like Mai Yinghuang with a lightning attribute physique and cultivation technique, the third level of Yin Shen, 'Ping Yuan', is the biggest test.

Seeing that things were hopeless, Cen Chongxuan said nothing more, sat down again, and thought to himself, 'If that old man from the Ge family were here, it would be much more convenient; we could act covertly.'

The three great families of Cangzhou have different cultivation methods: the Cen family's is wind-attribute, the Shangguan family's is ice-attribute, and the Ge family's is lightning-attribute. If the Ge family's Yin spirit is here, it can exert influence without anyone knowing, causing Mai Yinghuang to be trapped in his own web.

Xuanyuan Zhengji looked at Cen Chongxuan's gloomy face and guessed what he was thinking, but he narrowed his eyes.

Why didn't Ge Daoqian, the head of the Ge family, come today, citing illness? It's because he visited him last night! The Ge family head has less than ten years left to live; having a common enemy might not be a bad thing. The Shangguan family also has its own agenda; Shangguan Jinfeng wants Shangguan Yunchang to learn from Mai Yinghuang's example. Only the Cen family…

The three major families can be divided on this matter. In addition, Mai Yinghuang is not a native of Cangzhou, which is worth mentioning. The three major families are not firm in their attitude. Xuanyuan Zhengji saw through all this, and with Mai Yinghuang coming to make a deal and promises, he went along with it and helped him this time.

……

Mai Yinghuang, having burned his bridges, sold off all his savings accumulated over the past century, except for what he used for today's breakthrough, to bribe Governor Xuan Yuan Zhengji. He also made various promises regarding the breakthrough and to avoid interference during the process. All his painstaking efforts were for this moment.

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

Click!
Amidst the rumbling thunder, lightning bolts danced wildly in the dark clouds, gathering and falling in dense clusters, as if connecting heaven and earth.

Mai Yinghuang sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, his whole body levitating into the air. A halo of light spun behind his head, and his entire body was filled with a bluish-purple light, forming a ball of lightning on the outside, as dazzling as a god.

The second of the three trials of Yin Shen—Rong Yuan—is nearing its end.

……

At this point, the number of onlookers had decreased by more than half.

The martial artists on the street below, who were frequently struck by streaks of lightning due to the low-hanging thunderclouds, had dispersed considerably. Many had also discovered that lying down offered a greater chance of avoiding injury, and thus lay prone in a mass.

Even if a martial artist at the Innate True Qi Realm erects a three-foot-high qi wall, it cannot be blocked, and it is also unseemly to lie down, so many leave.

For martial artists at the Innate Qi Realm, the Innate Qi protecting their bodies is the only way to make it effective, but they still need to stay a certain distance away.

Only a martial artist at the Corpse Severing Realm like Zhuang Jin, with his innate Qi surging and supporting a spherical energy shield to block lightning, could still maintain close range, staring intently, carefully sensing, memorizing, and absorbing experience.

'The fact that no Yin Spirit has intervened so far must be due to the effectiveness of Mai Yinghuang's preparations; now, the timing, location, and people are all in harmony.'

Zhuang Jin looked at the figure suspended in mid-air: 'Can he succeed today?'

Shangguan Yunchang stood beside her, using her three-thirds of the Sky-Piercing Mirror's authority to perceive the subtle details. At one moment, she suddenly looked up and said, "It's raining!"

……

'The second stage of the Three Gates of Yin Spirit, Fusion of Origin, is complete!'

Mai Yinghuang was preparing to face the final trial of the Three Trials of the Yin God—the Cultivation of Mind—resonating with the lightning in the outside world through his transformed divine essence, when he suddenly sensed rain falling and was immediately astonished: 'How could this be?!'

The second day of the second lunar month is known as the Dragon Raises its Head, which falls around the time of the Awakening of Insects. Rain is frequent during this period. Although today is indeed a sunny day, there are rain clouds lurking in the sky.

Previously, Mai Yinghuang gathered dark clouds, established a connection with them, and attracted and suppressed them, which formed a funnel shape, causing endless rain clouds weighing countless tons to gather from the heavens above, and at this moment, 'artificially' created a rainstorm.

At this moment, the rain fell, and following that thread of connection, it transformed into a waterspout, while endless lightning and thunder that tore through the sky also followed and flowed down.

boom!
From the outside, it appeared as if a giant waterspout had suddenly appeared in the sky, connected to Mai Yinghuang at one end, and was struck by lightning, causing it to explode and the torrential rain to evaporate into mist.

This sudden scene stunned the onlookers, but in an instant, Mai Yinghuang's figure reappeared, completely unharmed. It turned out that the lightning energy ball outside acted as a plasma shield.

Crash!
When rain falls, thunder disappears. The amount of lightning in the air does not decrease, but rather the amount of water far exceeds the amount of lightning, which disperses and isolates the lightning, making it difficult to absorb and utilize it.

Mai Yinghuang originally planned to use a secret method to resonate his divine essence with the lightning in the outside world to pass the final test of 'peace of mind', but now the situation has changed and he can only endure it on his own.

After holding on for dozens of breaths, cracks appeared on the surface of the person's body amidst a series of cracking sounds, and at the cracks, there was a flow of light that seemed to materialize.

"Ugh!"

Mai Yinghuang sighed, opened his eyes and looked at the falling rain, his voice filled with regret and resentment: "All my scheming has come to naught, a hundred years of hard work has been in vain."

The next moment, he transformed into a beam of light and shot into the sky, plunging into the clouds. A terrifying shockwave swept across, dispersing the dark clouds and creating a huge hole, allowing the sunlight to fall through, followed by the drifting of countless particles.

—This is Mai Yinghuang knowing he had failed, unwilling to cause further bloodshed, and at the last moment channeling his own energy into the sky, also because of 'fate playing tricks on him,' and his unyielding resistance against it.

But how can human strength contend with the forces of nature? In just a short while, the dark clouds gathered again, and a torrential downpour began, as if bidding them farewell.

……

At this moment, the most nearby aristocratic warriors at the Corpse Severing Realm all had complex expressions. Although they were of different statuses and backgrounds, Mai Yinghuang's ability to do so was worthy of respect even if he was an enemy. Moreover, having witnessed the entire process of his breakthrough and benefited from his kindness, they naturally would not mock him. They silently clasped their hands and left.

However, the ones who reaped the greatest rewards were Zhuang Jin and Shangguan Yunchang.

However, at this moment, Zhuang Jin's thoughts were more focused on lamenting Mai Yinghuang's failure: 'This man clearly had plans for the final challenge, but due to changes in the celestial phenomena, he failed at the last hurdle. Heaven did not favor him.'

However, from another perspective, relying on others is unreliable; external changes ultimately stem from a lack of personal strength.

If he is strong enough, even if he cannot rely on external forces to overcome the final hurdle, Mai Yinghuang can still do so on his own.

“Breaking through to the Yin Spirit realm is no easy feat,” Li Shizong sighed.

Bian Zhihao also shook his head.

In his view, wasn't Mai Yinghuang gambling by taking advantage of external conditions? He just won the first two gambles, but lost the last one because of changes in the external environment.

At this moment, he thought of the fishermen in his hometown of Hanzhou, who lived on the eastern shore of the sea; he thought of how he had tried to persuade Zhan Shengchu but the latter had not listened; and he thought of Mai Yinghuang now... He couldn't help but feel more awe and caution.

Ge Zhaoqing and Ao Zhiqi were also deeply moved. After all, they had known each other for a while, and together with Zhuang Jin and others, they erected a cenotaph for Mai Yinghuang.

In short, Mai Yinghuang's failure to break through left many people feeling regretful and disappointed, but also relieved many others.

……

Mai Yinghuang's attempt to break through to the Yin God realm in public, though unsuccessful, caused quite a stir and became a topic of conversation among the people of Cangzhou for months.

The Heavenly Bureau and the three great families were quite tolerant of the dead and did not interfere.

As time went by, the impact of this incident gradually faded away.

After this incident, Zhuang Jin has been slacking off at Bailu Martial Arts Academy, serving as the dean and providing guidance in exchange for a reward, while also cultivating his realm and mastering the "Nine Revolutions Golden Body Technique." Occasionally, he would also be invited by Li Shizong and the other three for small gatherings.

Speaking of Li Shizong and his three companions, after that warning to Ao Zhiqi, he either gave up the idea or for some other reason, and never mentioned it again.

Time flew by and it was already mid-November of that year. After nearly a year, Zhuang Jin finally completed the accumulation of the first stage of the Innate Corpse-Slaying Realm.

……

(End of this chapter)