From Five Animal Exercises to being hailed as a saint and ancestor

Deep within the Abyss of Silent Souls, that last piece of pure land has shrunk to less than ten feet.

The once golden and radiant skeleton of the saint in the center has now lost its luster, becoming as gray and fragile as mortal bones, as if it would be blown away by the wind at any moment.

Its last remaining trace of primordial power is being greedily absorbed by the chaotic stone bead spinning to its limit within Yao Mengkang's dantian.

As the last wisp of pure golden energy entered the stone bead, the sacred remains trembled slightly, then completely lost all their divine power, turning into a pile of ordinary, withered bones scattered on the ground.

And in that very instant—

"Buzz!!!"

The stone bead suddenly trembled, emitting an unprecedented, resounding hum!

It seems to have reached a certain critical point.

Immediately afterwards, a vast energy, far more powerful, pure, and gentle than ever before, yet containing supreme Daoist principles, burst forth from the stone bead like a dam bursting, instantly filling Yao Mengkang's limbs, bones, meridians, and spiritual sea!

This energy is the most essential part of the stone bead after it devoured the entire origin of the sacred remains, and after being tempered, purified, and transformed by its mysterious power!

Its quality is so high that it far exceeds Yao Mengkang's own spiritual power by more than a hundred times!

"Boom—!"

The spiritual sea within his body, which had already expanded to 250,000 zhang, emitted a tremendous roar as if the heavens and earth were being created, under the infusion of this terrifying energy!

The sea level rose wildly, and the boundary expanded madly into the endless void at a visible speed!

Three hundred thousand zhang! Five hundred thousand zhang! Eight hundred thousand zhang!

Ultimately, the vast spiritual sea reached a breadth that would leave all spiritual sea realm cultivators in the world speechless and incredulous—a million zhang!

A million-foot-wide spiritual sea!

This has surpassed any limit recorded in ancient books, reaching a legendary realm!

Within the spiritual sea, spiritual energy is like mercury, heavy and boundless, with every drop of seawater containing terrifying energy.

Yao Mengkang could sense that his current spiritual power was probably even greater than that of some cultivators who had just entered the Yuan Dan realm!

With the ultimate transformation of his spiritual sea, his cultivation at the second level of the spiritual sea realm also broke through one after another with unstoppable momentum under the impetus of this power!

Spirit Sea Realm, Level Three! Level Four! Level Five! ...

Finally, it advanced triumphantly all the way and came to a steady stop at the peak of the ninth level of the Spirit Sea Realm!

Just one step away from condensing the Yuan Dan and stepping into a new world!

A powerful sense of strength filled his entire body. Yao Mengkang felt as if his body had transformed into a volcano about to erupt, or an endless starry sky containing infinite possibilities.

He clenched his fist slightly, and the surrounding space emitted a subtle distorting sound.

He had a strong confidence that if he encountered that Bull Demon Soul Beast again, he wouldn't even need to use the Silent Soul Blade Technique. He could crush it with the sheer power of his million-foot spiritual sea!

As he looked inward into his dantian, preparing to carefully experience this earth-shattering change, his gaze was drawn to the Chaos Stone Bead.

At this moment, the stone bead has changed drastically!

It is no longer the dull, uneven rock it once was.

The beads became more rounded and smooth, and their entire surface exhibited a restrained dark golden luster.

Most strikingly, on its surface, extremely complex, mysterious, and seemingly naturally formed golden patterns have quietly emerged.

These winding and spiraling patterns subtly form some incomprehensible designs, exuding an ancient, vast, and supreme aura, as if recording the secrets of the beginning of the world.

The stone bead floated silently within the Chaos Chakra, like the absolute core of this world, rotating slowly and majestically. Each rotation caused the ebb and flow of the entire Chaos Chakra.

It has become more mysterious, and more... "beautiful," a kind of magnificence that transcends worldly aesthetics and points directly to the origin of the Tao.

Yao Mengkang could clearly sense that the connection between the stone bead and him had become even closer, as if it had become an inseparable part of his body.

At the same time, a clearer and more complex torrent of information is slowly being released from the stone bead, waiting for him to interpret and digest it.

……

Their gaze shifted to beyond the Abyss of Silent Souls.

As Yao Mengkang underwent a transformative metamorphosis at the bottom of the abyss, the turmoil in the outside world temporarily subsided.

The disciples of Qinglu Academy reported in detail to Tiandao Academy about their encounter with soul beasts in the Silent Soul Abyss, as well as the strange situation where the soul beasts' soul sources could enhance the divine soul but also cause mental erosion.

This matter drew the attention of the academy's higher-ups, who, after investigation and speculation, reached a chilling conclusion:

It's not that no one knows the "benefits" of soul beasts, but rather that most of those who were able to hunt large numbers of soul beasts in the Silent Soul Abyss in the past, attempting to improve themselves through this method, probably failed to resist the subtle erosion. In the end, they lost control of their minds, either dying in madness or completely turning into monsters who only knew how to kill. They simply couldn't bring this news out!

The Abyss of Silent Souls, with this "sweet poison," has lured and buried generations of geniuses who sought shortcuts.

This echoes the ancient proverb: When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. On the path to becoming stronger, one must always be vigilant against temptations and remain true to oneself.

In the blink of an eye, three days have passed since the end of the assessment.

All the students who passed the assessment and those who survived have returned to Qinglu Royal City aboard the Sky-Piercing God-Slaying Ship.

After three days of rest and treatment, most people's condition stabilized.

The day after leaving the Silent Soul Abyss, a powerful mental fluctuation suddenly erupted in the courtyard where the outer disciples lived!

Inside the room where Zhou Tiancan was sitting cross-legged, spiritual light soared into the sky. He closed his eyes, and the ancestral aperture on his forehead shone brightly, spreading out a divine soul power that was far more acute and refined than before!

He successfully opened the ancestral meridian that had been troubling him for so long!

This was undoubtedly due to the soul source he accumulated by hunting soul beasts in the Silent Soul Abyss, and the antidote that Xuan Yuanpo forcibly fed him at the last moment, which prevented him from losing control. This allowed the accumulated soul power to be released within a safe range, enabling him to break through the barrier in one fell swoop!

The Heavenly Path Academy officially posted the list of the top 1,000 students in this assessment.

Qinglu Academy achieved remarkable results, with disciples such as Xuanyuan Po, Su Xiaoman, Shi Potian, Zhou Tiancan, and Mu Qingqing all being selected!

They will accompany Elder Li Xun and the academy's deacons to the headquarters of the Heavenly Dao Academy in the Central Region to begin a new chapter in their cultivation journey.

Xu Ziyi, who remained unconscious, was escorted back to Qinglu Academy by Shangguan Hong, Xiao Yunhai, and other teachers and elders to continue her recuperation and treatment.

Outside the royal city, the enormous Sky-Piercing God-Slaying Ship is about to set sail.

Xuanyuan Po, Zhou Tiancan, and the others stood on the ship's side, taking one last look at the distant horizon, towards the direction of the Silent Soul Abyss shrouded in gray mist.

"Senior Brother...you must return safely." Mu Qingqing prayed softly.

Zhou Tiancan clenched his fist, feeling the new sensations brought about by the opening of his ancestral meridians, his heart filled with a mixture of gratitude and worry for Yao Mengkang.

Xuan Yuanpo's gaze was calm, and deep within his icy blue eyes lay unwavering conviction.

He believed that his senior brother, who always managed to create miracles, would not perish easily in that perilous place.

The flying boat slowly rose into the air, transformed into a streak of light, and disappeared into the horizon.

Meanwhile, in the deepest part of the Silent Soul Abyss, in the ruins of the "Pure Land" that had lost the protection of the Holy Remains' power and was being eroded and swallowed up by the surrounding gray mist, a figure slowly stood up.

His aura was as deep and unfathomable as the sea!