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

Time passes silently.

Four months have passed in a flash.

Deep within Zhenyuan City, beneath a phoenix tree.

"Splash!"

Shen Chang'an leaped up from the pit filled with gray waste liquid and landed steadily on the ground. After this second tempering, the power of his blood and qi emanating from him was like that of an ancient ferocious beast lying dormant.

"Phew...it's finally over."

Shen Chang'an let out a long breath. Although he was still in pain, he was able to grit his teeth and endure it.

Du Qiongyu nodded in satisfaction: "Alright, the second body tempering is complete. Your meridians and bones have expanded to their current limits. Go back and rest to consolidate them. After you break through, try the third body tempering, which will take about half a year. By then, your physical body will reach a higher level."

"Thank you very much, Senior Du."

Shen Chang'an finished dressing and casually cupped his hands in greeting.

The next second, he didn't even show any trace of spiritual energy fluctuations; he simply took a step forward casually.

"Whoosh!"

Shen Chang'an's figure vanished into thin air in an instant.

Looking at the spot where Shen Chang'an disappeared, a hint of amazement flashed in Du Qiongyu's beautiful eyes: "Good lad... his skill in shrinking the distance to an inch has actually reached such a level that he doesn't even need the starting stance anymore."

......

Half an hour later.

Inside the bronze hall in the center of Zhenyuan City.

As soon as Ling Shan Dao Ren, Du Qiong Yu, and Qin Xu stepped into the main hall and hadn't even had a chance to settle into their respective chairs, the thirteen spiritual beings who had been waiting impatiently inside the hall instantly became restless.

"Ling Shan! Du Qiongyu! Stop dawdling and hurry up! Where's this month's spiritual energy?!"

"What's the rush? Are you a starving ghost reincarnating?"

Lingshan Daoist rolled his eyes in annoyance.

After four months of intense exploitation, the three of them had fully replenished their spiritual energy reserves, returning to the peak of the ninth realm. As for the extra spiritual energy produced by Shen Chang'an, they used a spirit-gathering array to compress and package it, bringing it to this hall for targeted poverty alleviation.

The Taoist priest of Lingshan suddenly waved his wide sleeves.

Thirteen clusters of pure spiritual energy, radiating a rich white light, landed precisely on the thirteen chairs.

A strange and enchanting sound suddenly filled the hall.

"Hiss... Hah...!!"

"Oh...that feels so good, so incredibly good..."

"Hmm... This pure spiritual energy is like rain after a long drought!"

Hearing the intermittent, even somewhat suppressed, groans, Lingshan Daoist felt goosebumps all over his body.

He slammed his hand on the armrest, cursing with anguish, "Mind your manners! What kind of behavior is this! You were all once big shots who could shake the world with a stomp of your feet, and now you're acting like humiliated courtesans when you inhale spiritual energy. You've completely disgraced this old Taoist!"

"Pah! It's easy for you to talk when you're not the one suffering!"

"You three well-fed men don't know the hunger of starving men! You've been eating and drinking well with that kid every day, you're already stuffed! We old bones have been withered in our coffins for thousands of years, can't we even make a sound after absorbing some spiritual energy? If you're so capable, let's switch places!"

"Exactly! A well-fed man doesn't know the hunger of a starving man!"

The spirits echoed their sentiments, and a war of words ensued.

Lingshan Daoist was speechless after being rebuked and could only sit down angrily.

Once everyone had completely absorbed the spiritual energy and leaned back in their chairs contentedly, the hall returned to silence.

"Alright, let's get down to business."

He looked to his left at Du Qiongyu.

"How's the younger generation's patience these days? Are they making a fuss about going back to Donghuang?"

"Don't worry, he's not in a hurry at all. I just painted a very rosy picture for him, telling him that after the second tempering, his body must undergo a full six months of natural settling and adaptation before it can withstand the third extreme tempering."

"Hahaha, what a great achievement! What a great achievement!"

Upon hearing this, all the spirits in the hall beamed with joy.

"So, does that mean we can at least continue absorbing spiritual energy for free for another six months?!"

"Let's just stall him for now! Let's keep him hanging for six months. When the six-month period is up, we'll see how he is. If he still has patience, we can all brainstorm and offer him some more promises! If all else fails, we'll send him back."

These ninth-realm experts, for the sake of a little spiritual energy, were utterly shameless in their schemes against their juniors, filling the hall with a joyful atmosphere.

"Oh, right."

The one on the right suddenly asked.

"Just how far has that kid progressed in his cultivation level?"

"We should have reached the threshold of 999 li by now."

"He's just one final push away. I estimate... it'll be this month. Within this month, he'll definitely break through that ultimate barrier, his spiritual sea will surpass a thousand, and he'll officially step into the sixth realm of the Spirit Abyss!"

"A thousand miles of spiritual sea... This is the legendary true perfect foundation. Even in our golden age, those who could reach the limit of the spiritual sea were extremely rare."

Then, more than a dozen pairs of eyes turned to look at the two spirits sitting at the front, one on the left and one on the right.

Back then, among their group, only the two of them were humans who truly reached the limit of the Thousand-Mile Spirit Sea at the Fifth Realm.

"Old buddy,"

Lingshan Daoist looked at the two of them.

"You two broke through to the Limitless Spirit Sea realm back then, and that kid is about to step into the Spirit Abyss. Do you have any good suggestions regarding condensing the Limitless Spirit Sea into the Spirit Abyss?"

The two spirits, one on the left and one on the right, exchanged a glance.

After a moment, Youyi slowly spoke, his voice low: "We do have a suggestion. We do have an idea. If it works, his Lingyuan will be unprecedented."

"but......"

Zuo Yi took over the conversation, his gaze deep.

"This idea is too dangerous and too outrageous. Now is not the time to talk about it. Before that, I need to test this kid's character."

......

A few days later, in a desolate, black canyon.

"These are today's practical targets."

Qin Xu stood on the high cliff, and with a flick of his finger, a sword aura struck the stone next to the three demons in the valley below, attracting their attention.

Shen Chang'an stood on the edge of the cliff, looking in the direction of the sword energy, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Those weren't ordinary, mindless, beast-like monsters, but three humanoid monsters! Judging from the aura emanating from them, they were all at the sixth realm!

"Three humanoid demons of the sixth realm..."

Shen Chang'an quickly calculated in his mind. The humanoid demons were not only physically strong, but also possessed a certain level of intelligence and combat skills, making them far more troublesome than those wild beasts that only knew how to charge around recklessly.

"No black flames are allowed, and the spiritual sea is not allowed to boil."

"Use the array symbols I taught you, as well as the Golden Light Spell and Thunder Magic from Mount Ling. Go."

As soon as he finished speaking, the three sixth-realm humanoid demons below, startled, let out a deafening roar, their scarlet eyes fixed on Shen Chang'an on the cliff face.

"boom!"

One of the monsters, wielding a giant bone axe, suddenly exerted force with its legs, shattering the hard black rock. Like a cannonball, it charged upwards, swinging the bone axe down towards Shen Chang'an with a terrifying whistling sound that tore through the air!

He remained completely calm.

"Good timing."

"Golden light, solidify!"

A dazzling golden light erupted from his body. But instead of forming a protective shield over his entire body as usual, this golden light, guided by his fingertips, condensed into a golden shield no bigger than the palm of his hand in front of him!

Precise micro-management compresses defensive capabilities to the extreme.

"when!!!"

The enormous bone axe slammed down on the palm-sized golden shield, producing a deafening clang of metal striking metal!

Amidst the flying sparks, the terrifying power of the sixth-realm demon was completely blocked by this small golden shield.

"Hehe, it's my turn."