High-level martial arts: Long spear with black flames to suppress demons.

Within a black stone forest in the abyss rift.

"boom!"

With a deafening thunderclap, a thick bolt of purple lightning descended from the sky and struck the back of a Fifth Realm Demon Spider, which was as large as a truck.

The spider's hard shell was instantly shattered and charred, and it crashed to the ground.

But this is just the beginning.

Amidst the scattered rubble, more than a dozen ferocious fifth-realm demons roared as they surrounded the figure in the center from all directions.

Shen Chang'an did not hold the Tribulation Cloud Spear; instead, he stood empty-handed in the center of the beast horde.

Despite being surrounded and attacked by more than a dozen monsters of the same level, he showed no sign of panic.

"Buzz!"

He swiftly formed a hand seal. The next second, a dazzling golden light erupted from his body, enveloping him entirely.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Three demonic leopards at the fifth realm transformed into black lightning and pounced, their sharp claws striking the golden light, but only producing a metallic scraping sound. That seemingly thin layer of golden light was actually indestructible, without even a single crack appearing!

"this one?"

He put two fingers together and pointed to the sky.

"Ray is coming!"

"Boom!"

In an instant, thunderclouds gathered in the originally dark, purplish-red sky. Then, as if guided by eyes, more than a dozen bolts of purple lightning struck precisely on the heads of the dozen or so fifth-realm demons surrounding them!

"Awoo!"

With a series of piercing screams, this group of fifth-realm demons, capable of triggering a small beast tide in the outside world, was struck by lightning and charred to a crisp in less than half a minute, all of them dying.

Shen Chang'an clapped his hands, looked at the monster corpses scattered all over the ground, and nodded in satisfaction.

These three months of arduous training have paid off. The defensive power of the Golden Light Mantra and the destructive power of the Thunder Technique are ridiculously useful. He didn't even need to use the Black Flame; with just these two Taoist spells, he can dominate among his peers.

High in the sky.

Ling Shan Dao Ren stood on the void, looking down at Shen Chang'an's swift and decisive battle from above.

Watching Shen Chang'an's skillful hand seals and precise control of lightning magic, the old Taoist couldn't help but stroke his long white beard, his cloudy old eyes filled with undisguised admiration.

"This kid's comprehension... is simply monstrous."

"In just three short months, he has already cultivated the Golden Light Mantra to the point where both form and spirit are present, and he can also cast lightning spells instantly and at will."

After burning the dozen or so fifth-realm demons into pure spiritual energy, Daoist Lingshan, as usual, swallowed them whole in one gulp, letting out a satisfied burp. Then the two found a clean boulder to sit down and rest.

"Senior, I've recently encountered a problem while practicing the Golden Light Mantra."

While regulating his breathing, Shen Chang'an casually condensed a ball of golden light at his fingertips and skillfully kneaded it into various shapes.

"This golden light can now not only cover my entire body, but I can also freely assemble it into the shape of a shield or a longsword. However..."

"Our teachers at school say that many spells, if constructed solely with spiritual power, have limited power. But if they are transformed into 'talismanic spells,' using special talismanic paper or spiritual materials as a 'carrier,' their power is not only stronger but also more stable. Do you think... if I draw this Golden Light Spell on a talisman, will its power double?"

After listening, the Taoist of Lingshan did not immediately refute, but stroked his beard and nodded thoughtfully: "Hmm... what your teacher said does make some sense."

"But if I'm not mistaken, the spiritual energy in the world is probably quite thin in your current era. The thinness of spiritual energy means that the spiritual power of cultivators is neither pure nor profound enough. Under such circumstances, spiritual power itself is too fragile to be used directly as a carrier for powerful spells, so we have to resort to external objects such as talismans to carry power."

"Only those with insufficient spiritual power need to rely on external forces, but you are different. Your hundreds of miles of spiritual sea are not for show."

"Therefore, you don't need to find any external vessel at all. What you need to do is use your own pure spiritual energy as the vessel!"

The old Taoist priest stood up, placing his hands behind his back: "When you reach the eighth realm, the Spiritual Aspect Realm, which means you can summon a Spiritual Aspect, that Spiritual Aspect will be your best vessel. Although your current Spiritual Aspect may not be as magnificent as the Spiritual Aspect Realm of the Primordial Era, it was still the ultimate form condensed from your life's cultivation! It was the most perfect vessel."

"Watch closely!"

The Taoist priest of Lingshan suddenly let out a low shout.

"Buzz!"

A gigantic phantom image, thousands of feet tall, suddenly appeared in the void behind the old Taoist!

Although the spirit image was somewhat blurry, its massive body was densely covered with countless golden Taoist incantations! These incantations flowed across the spirit image as if they were alive.

"Did you see that?"

The old Taoist priest put away the spiritual image.

"There are no talismans or any external carriers! This spirit image is the best carrier for me! All spells and incantations can be directly imprinted on the spirit image, multiplying their power more than twice!"

"You haven't condensed a spiritual form yet, but you can directly release a large amount of spiritual power to create a temporary vessel."

Shen Chang'an was deeply moved. He seemed to have grasped something crucial and nodded vigorously.

Then, he couldn't wait to stand up and, following the old Taoist's advice to use his own spiritual power as a medium, began to try to release the lightning spell he had just used.

"Ray is coming!"

Shen Chang'an pointed his fingers like a sword at a black boulder in the distance.

"boom!"

A bolt of lightning struck, blasting the giant rock to pieces.

But Shen Chang'an frowned. This power... seemed no different from what he had released using only spiritual energy before. First attempt, failure.

"Your direction is correct, but your output method is terribly wrong!"

The Taoist Master Lingshan commented mercilessly, "You possess a vast spiritual sea spanning seven hundred miles, but in actual combat, you only utilize a very shallow layer of spiritual energy on the surface of that sea each time!"

"You're too conservative! You're always so careful with your spiritual energy output, afraid of draining yourself dry at once. But your spiritual energy is as abundant as an ocean right now; you don't need to worry about running out at all!"

"What you need to do is to completely ignite your entire spiritual sea! Mobilize all your power! Only a boiling spiritual sea can support the terrifying output embodied within yourself!"

Shen Chang'an was struck as if by a thunderbolt.

Yes, he was used to the days of careful planning. Even though his spiritual sea had expanded to seven hundred miles, his combat style remained at the stage of slow and steady progress. Even when he exerted the greatest spiritual power, he only used a small part of the surface.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and focused his mind into his dantian.

Upon introspection.

It was a vast ocean of spiritual energy spanning seven hundred miles. Although it looked magnificent, at this moment, the sea was as calm as a mirror, and only when he cast a spell would a tiny ripple appear.

"How can we... make this sea boil?"