Chapter 873

Swish——

In the dense jungles of the Oceania wilderness, space suddenly rippled violently, and Xu Jingming was teleported here.

"That was close—that aura was definitely a Beast God-level monster!"

Xu Jingming stood firmly on the ground and let out a long breath.

He hadn't expected the Beast God-level monster's mental energy to be so powerful—it had truly sensed the death of the Sabertooth Tiger Emperor and sent out its mental energy to investigate.

"The Space Beast Bone needs seven more hours before it can perform another teleportation; for safety, I'll stay put for now."

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!...

Mental energy surged wildly, and thirty-two blades wreathed in black lightning materialized around Xu Jingming.

Immediately afterward, it began to spin around his body like a high-speed drill, plunging straight into the ground for three or four hundred meters before stopping.

"Once I'm here, even a Beast God's mental energy will struggle to detect me."

Xu Jingming slightly expanded the soil space around him, finally feeling somewhat at ease.

Although mental energy can sense and scan everything nearby, its strength diminishes when obstructed.

His own mental energy could penetrate at most fifty meters underground.

He had no idea what was happening on the surface.

But he had already prepared a solution for such a situation.

"Little Sword, keep watch over the surface for me."

Xu Jingming immediately released the Thorned Sword Grass.

Its vines rapidly grew, quickly piercing through the ground and transforming into an inconspicuous cluster of shrubbery.

Through the shared mental energy of the Thorned Sword Grass, Xu Jingming could now observe the outside world.

Outside, everything remained normal; occasionally, two or three monsters passed by, with no other abnormalities.

"Burrowing underground combined with the Thorned Sword Grass—no one will ever find me."

A smile spread across Xu Jingming's face as he finally relaxed and fell into deep thought.

"Based on my real combat with the Sabertooth Tiger Emperor, I can now face ninth-tier opponents and even suppress them.

But the indestructible matter of ninth-tier creatures is just too extreme—normally, one kill would suffice, but now I need to kill them five or six times in a row to truly eliminate them.

Killing a ninth-tier creature five or six times consecutively is still difficult for me right now..."

Xu Jingming's gaze sharpened slightly.

His strength is still too weak...

Of course, if anyone else heard these words, they'd probably be furious enough to spit blood.

You're already at the upper seventh tier with ninth-tier combat power—and you're still not satisfied?

"But that's fine—I came to the wilderness specifically to harvest ability points.

With enough ability points, my strength will rise quickly."

Strength wasn't Xu Jingming's primary concern right now; what truly intrigued him was the dark shadow he'd seen earlier.

"Eva, was that dark shadow the Sabertooth Tiger Emperor's soul?"

Xu Jingming asked.

"More accurately, it was the materialization of its powerful mental energy—calling it a soul isn't far off."

The holographic projection of the little girl Eva appeared before Xu Jingming, shrugging as she explained:

"Once an adept reaches the ninth tier, not only does their physical body transform, but their mental energy also ascends.

At that stage, the physical body becomes irrelevant—so long as their mental energy remains intact, they can persist.

That's why destroying a ninth-tier creature's brain still doesn't guarantee its death."

"I see," Xu Jingming nodded slightly.

He had once encountered Zachary, a master of mental energy from the Second Civilization Era, so he understood this easily.

In fact, he was already looking forward to the changes he'd experience upon reaching the ninth tier.

For the next seven hours, Xu Jingming remained underground.

Only when the Space Beast Bone accumulated enough spatial energy for another teleportation did he emerge from the ground and begin his slaughter.

The SSS-tier combat technique, Heavenly Prison of Ten Thousand Thunderbolts, was indeed devastating—but far too conspicuous, likely attracting Beast Emperor-level monsters.

Thus, he dared not use lightning techniques on a large scale; instead, he mostly relied on single-target Thunderbolt Techniques or his spear to kill monsters.

Even so, he still earned a staggering 100, 00 ability points per day!

With ability points in hand, Xu Jingming didn't hesitate—he immediately invested them into combat technique proficiency and the Divine Mind Cultivation Technique...

One month later, in a remote region of the Oceania wilderness, six hundred meters underground.

In a space roughly the size of a bedroom, Xu Jingming sat cross-legged on the ground.

Above his head floated a brilliant golden lightning orb, radiating intense light that illuminated the entire space.

This was another ability of the SSS-tier Chaotic Divine Thunder—simulating the properties of other lightning forms.

At this moment, the Chaotic Divine Thunder was mimicking the characteristics of the SS-tier Heavenly Divine Thunder.

Aside from its unique, transcendent aura, it perfectly replicated the sacred essence of the Heavenly Divine Thunder.

In fact, if Xu Jingming wished, he could even simulate the S-tier Purple Celestial Thunder.

"Huh—"

Xu Jingming, seated calmly, breathed steadily, his energy refined to an extreme degree—as if he were on the verge of breaking through a barrier!

Seventh Tier Apex!

This was the effect of the SSS-tier rare herb he'd consumed in the Yer Secret Realm a month ago.

And this effect would continue for over three months, accelerating his breakthrough.

At this moment, though his eyes appeared closed, he was actually checking his system interface.

【Name】: Xu Jingming

【Level】: Seventh Tier Apex (+)

【Ability】: Chaotic Divine Thunder (SSS)

【Physique】: Blood Qi (+)

【Mental】: He (+)

【Skills】: Spear Technique (Perfected), Fist Technique (Master+), Thunderbolt Divine Punishment Sword (SSS, Master+), Thunderstar Spear (SSS, Master+)...

【Body Cultivation】: Divine Thunder Blood Demon Body (SSS, Ninth Stage)

【Mind Cultivation】: Thunder Sea Contemplation Method (SSS, Fifth Stage)

【Domain】: Thunder Domain (First Stage)

【Ability Points】: 432, 00

Over the past month, he had gathered 3, 20, 00 ability points in the wilderness!

Combined with his original 200, 00+, his total reached 3, 20, 00 ability points!

Of these, 1, 00, 00 ability points were used to elevate his Spear Technique from Grandmaster to Perfected.

The rest were primarily invested in boosting combat technique proficiency.

Now, all his techniques below SS-tier had been raised to Perfected level!

Even his SS-tier and SSS-tier techniques were all at least at Master level.

Every technique was now seamlessly integrated—this perfectly described his current state.

"My energy has been fine-tuned to perfection; it's time to prepare for the breakthrough..."

His system interface already had enough ability points to reach the eighth tier.

But Xu Jingming still held a Purple Cloud Pill, meant to assist in breaking through Grandmaster level—he wouldn't waste it.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, revealing a pair of sharp, resolute black-and-white pupils.

With a flick of his right hand, a purple pill appeared in his palm.

Without hesitation, he swallowed it whole!

BOOM!!

The pill instantly dissolved, unleashing boundless power within his body!

The already terrifying aura of his Seventh Tier Apex state surged violently upward!

Both his physique and mental energy underwent a radical transformation.

The SSS-tier Chaotic Divine Thunder above his head flickered erratically, radiating an intensely dangerous aura!

Nearly a full minute passed before all the phenomena gradually subsided.

Xu Jingming's aura stabilized at an extraordinarily terrifying level—Eighth Tier Grandmaster!

PS: Failed the second resurrection match—waiting for the third tomorrow...