Chapter 131

Given Wang Ping's current grasp of the spirit realm language, it's still not convenient to ask these questions.

But his divine sense is astonishing; even though suppressed by the spirit realm's heaven and earth, he can now scan a radius of a hundred zhang around him.

Therefore, just from the vitality emanating from these young cultivators, they are indeed very young.

Like those eighteen- or nineteen-year-olds, their vigor bursts forth, something that all youth-preserving and life-extending secret arts cannot achieve.

If we compare with this, they might truly have reached Foundation Establishment at an extremely young age, equivalent to twenty years old in the lower realm.

Wang Ping thought for a moment, then shamelessly wrote two characters on the ground: twenty-five!

This age is not something Wang Ping just wrote randomly; because of the Qingdi Changsheng Gong, he has a lifespan of 260 years at Foundation Establishment, so the vitality his bodily functions display is extremely close to that of a twenty-five-year-old youth.

Seeing the characters on the ground, Ye Ming and the others were somewhat incredulous; in their clan, achieving Foundation Establishment at twenty-five already makes one a marginal figure.

Liu Haodong gazed at the characters on the ground, a flash of inspiration struck his mind, and he exclaimed delightedly: "I know!"

Swish! Swish! Swish!

His companions all turned their gazes toward Liu Haodong.

Although Wang Ping wondered what this guy had thought of again, to maintain his current image he merely gave him a faint glance.

Ye Ming: "Haodong, what have you thought of again?"

Liu Haodong excitedly said: "With Blue Elder Brother's talent, actually breaking through Foundation Establishment at twenty-five yet possessing such formidable strength can only be due to one reason: breaking through limits on the path of Great Perfection in Qi Refining! I don't know whether Blue Elder Brother broke through in spellcraft or spiritual power, or perhaps in willpower!"

The meaning revealed in Liu Haodong's words gave Wang Ping a jolt; there are actually two other ways to break through limits on the Great Perfection path of Qi Refining!

He had never heard Xiao Yang mention it before.

"Blue Elder Brother! Have I guessed correctly?"

Gazing at Liu Haodong's excited expression, Wang Ping slightly nodded, though inwardly speechless: "Is my slow cultivation related to breaking through limits?"

"It's just that my spiritual roots are too poor!"

"I indeed guessed right; Blue Elder Brother, I don't know which path of breakthrough you took, but with such formidable strength, it must be the hardest path—breaking through the limit of willpower. Indeed, only by breaking through the willpower limit does spiritual power follow, and with the blessings of heaven and earth, can one possess such formidable strength at Foundation Establishment!" Liu Haodong said excitedly.

Hearing the other party repeatedly call him "Blue Elder Brother," which made Wang Ping, who usually addressed others as Daoist friends, feel a strange sensation.

The most fatal thing is Liu Haodong's damned ability to fill in the blanks, which perfectly resolved some inconvenient-to-say problems for him.

Is my formidable strength related to breaking through the willpower limit? At least Wang Ping currently feels no such connection; his ability to slay seven Scarlet-patterned Gold Elephants relies on the two somewhat special magical treasures, the Fan Tian Seal and the Diamond Pestle.

Of course, it also has to do with his pure spiritual power!

Seeing Liu Haodong staring straight at him, Wang Ping thought for a moment, then a crystal-clear light blossomed at his brow; in an instant, Ye Ming and the others felt an intangible pressure descend.

This feeling came and went quickly, but Ye Ming and the others' gazes toward Wang Ping were now different.

That radiance can only be produced after breaking through the willpower limit and entering Foundation Establishment.

For a moment, those who originally had a slight admiration for Wang Ping directly developed a hint of awe.

Wang Ping, with his peripheral vision, observed the whole scene; seeing his goal achieved, he inwardly nodded.

In the next half hour, because they felt a hint of awe toward Wang Ping, in the conversation they were led to reveal a lot of information through Wang Ping's indirect questioning!

For example, they are currently participating in the annual Foundation Establishment trial of Bright King City, and in this mountain range only second-rank demonic beasts survive.

In the Spirit Realm, humanity is one of the twelve peak clans, and there exist True Immortals.

Upon hearing this information, Wang Ping was utterly shocked.

Cultivation begins with Qi Refining, then Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Void, Union, Great Vehicle, and Crossing the Tribulation — these nine major realms must be passed to become a True Immortal!

True Immortals are the pinnacle of the known cultivation path; they should ascend to the Immortal Realm, so how can True Immortals exist in the Spirit Realm?

He didn't ask this question; since even these Foundation Establishment cultivators know it, it seems True Immortals indeed exist in the Spirit Realm!

At that moment, he realized his region was the Xuanhuang Region, one of the great human domains!

In the Xuanhuang Region there are nine heaven-level cities, each with a Spirit Void expert seated as its guardian.

Furthermore, there are second-tier earth-level cities, each with a Void Fusion-level expert seated as its guardian.

The entire Xuanhuang Region is overseen by a Union-stage sovereign; when mentioning this sovereign, the Spirit Realm cultivators all look reverent.

According to them, the Union-stage sovereign oversees the Xuanhuang Region, but whatever one thinks, there is a response; a cultivator at that realm merges with the Dao and senses everything about themselves with extraordinary clarity.

Especially within the Xuanhuang Region, this sensation is strongest; this knowledge is an admonition given to them by their clan elders.

Wang Ping's heart almost leapt out of his chest; in Bright King City eight thousand li away, there actually sat a Spirit Void expert.

He, Wang Ping, a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the lower realm, was actually this close to such an expert.

"Lan Dage, why don't you join us in this Foundation Establishment trial? Although you haven't registered, as long as you are a Foundation Establishment cultivator and can enter here, you can still participate in the trial battle. Hopefully, such situations are not rare!"

Wang Ping pondered for a moment, then asked: "Can we kill people?"

Wang Ping didn't realize how calm he sounded when he said that; once again it made the young Foundation Establishment cultivators' hearts tighten, feeling a murderous aura pressing down from their Lan Dage.

"Lan Dage! In the trial, life and death are unrestricted! But generally speaking, unless there is a deadly feud between the two sides, very few cultivators would engage in slaughter!" Ye Ming replied somewhat cautiously.

Seeing their appearance, Wang Ping frowned; these young Foundation Establishment cultivators gave him the feeling of being too tender, with not a trace of a sharp aura all over.

If this were in the lower realm, it would basically be impossible; speaking of returning to this trial, if it were in the lower realm, most cultivators' thoughts would probably be to kill all competitors.

Wang Ping, who had experienced slaughter in the lower realm, was very unaccustomed to this situation, and eventually couldn't help but voice his doubt.

Ye Ming and the twenty-two other cultivators, upon hearing this, turned red-faced, then somewhat deflated said:

"Lan Dage, there naturally are truly cruel trials, but the clan elders don't let us participate, reasoning that our strength is insufficient and going there would be suicide!"

Liu Haodong pursed his lips and muttered: "Back when I reached Foundation Establishment at eighteen, I once proposed the demand to undergo a cruel trial, but my parents scolded me; in the end they said, if you want to undergo a cruel trial, there will be plenty of opportunities later— the most important word in the Foundation Establishment stage is 'nurture', nurture yourself well to prepare for the later Golden Core."

Wang Ping blinked, wondering how old this carefree Liu Haodong was when he reached Foundation Establishment.

Eighteen years old?

Gazing at this batch of young cultivators before him, Wang Ping sighed: "These are all geniuses!"

"Lan Dage! Lead us in slaughtering the demonic beasts! You stand aside to suppress the battlefield and give us some pointers— how shall we pay you?"

Ye Ming said with a pleading expression.

As soon as these words were spoken, the remaining young cultivators' eyes lit up, all looking hopefully at Wang Ping.

To be honest, Wang Ping didn't really want to take these burdens; he had already planned to refuse, but when he saw Liu Haodong pull out a fist-sized spirit stone from his right wrist, the refusal on the tip of his tongue was forced back.

Instead, he answered in his heart: "I can only do my best!"