Chapter 659: Golden Core, University War

The moment Dao Qiankun's figure soared into the sky and disappeared from everyone's sight, Zhang Yu finally relaxed a little, then turned his gaze to the treasures on the ground.

The Heavenly Sun Radiant God, the Azure Water Gold Crystal Armor, and the twenty-four Taihao Sacred Regulation Flying Swords had all been left behind on the ground, not taken away with him.

Seeing this, Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Did... Brother Dao leave these on purpose?"

Without time to think further, feeling the fierce battle still raging outside, Zhang Yu quickly reconnected with his treasures and flying swords, and put his armor back on.

At the same time, Director Gao, Starfire Zhenren, Zhang Pianpian, Yu Xinghan, and Yue Mulan all gathered around Zhang Yu.

The next moment, the strange phenomenon of the sixth layer vanishing drew everyone's attention.

Seeing the message from the Heavenly Court, Zhang Yu was startled: "For the next two years, there will be no contact from the Heavenly Court or the sect?"

All along, Zhang Yu had felt that every move he made was constantly constrained by the various rules of the Heavenly Court and the sect, and monitored by countless righteous gods, giving him an oppressive sense of unfreedom.

But at this moment, when all those bonds were truly shattered in an instant, a trace of bewilderment arose in Zhang Yu's heart.

Director Gao then shouted, "This is no place to stay. Let's go quickly."

The group followed Director Gao as they fought their way outward, only to find a large number of unlicensed powerhouses converging, locked in chaotic battle with the experts from the top ten academies.

Surging thunder and qi blasts clashed and exploded repeatedly, whipping up a furious gale that completely trashed the entire award ceremony venue.

Anzhen Zhenjun arrived with Yan Qianji, Ye Xingli, and others, joining Director Gao and Zhang Yu's group as they continued to break out.

Although the unlicensed powerhouses before them were far inferior to the assembled experts of the ten academies in individual strength, they were greater in number, more fearless of death, and charged forward wave after wave, pinning everyone in place.

Yu Xinghan, protected behind Director Gao, exclaimed in surprise, "Where did so many unlicensed breakthrough cultivators come from?"

Zhang Pianpian said in a low voice, "Part of it is Dao Qiankun using his immortal authority to disguise them; the rest probably just broke through right before or after the righteous gods disappeared. These people are all believers of the Feather Transformation Sect, utterly unafraid of death. Watch out for their suicidal tactics."

Zhang Yu glanced at Yu Xinghan. During his fight with Dao Qiankun, he had sensed a spatial fluctuation that did not originate from either himself or Brother Dao.

But besides him and Dao Qiankun, probably no one else on the scene could detect that faint spatial change as not coming from them.

"Is it Yu Xinghan?" Zhang Yu's mind conjured up information about the Third Eye divine ability.

"Did this guy learn something from watching my battle with Brother Dao?"

Yet Zhang Yu also knew this was not the time to dwell on such thoughts. All these ideas flashed by in an instant, and he focused all his attention back on the present.

Just then, the moon in the sky gradually took on a tinge of blood, and a sinister god's laughter began to echo in everyone's ears.

"What?"

Anzhen Zhenjun's gaze sharpened as he felt the parameters of his dharma skeleton start to go haywire, the vision from his eye skeleton gradually filled with illusions, and all his soul cultivation dispatches began to lag.

The experts of the top ten academies were all affected, some disconnecting from the spiritual realm, others shutting down their dharma skeletons; in an instant, their advantage plummeted.

At that moment, the spiritual realm churned violently, and a phantom of a pagoda descended from the sky, sweeping across the entire scene with blazing light, instantly clearing away all the spiritual realm information from the sinister god.

Seeing this pagoda shadow, Zhang Yu's heart leaped with joy: "The Nine Heavens Primordial Yang Tower? Master is here."

Director Gao's eyes narrowed as he sensed an unusual aura emanating from the Nine Heavens Primordial Yang Tower at that moment.

He recalled the message the Heavenly Court had just sent to every student and teacher of the Ten Thousand Methods Academy, and he realized then that Ciji, who had been acting as principal, had already obtained a Divine Transformation certificate.

But the speed of her breakthrough still amazed him, especially the tower before him...

"Level 41, stepping into the Divine Transformation realm? And a treasure breaking through that fast too?"

Director Gao knew that the Divine Transformation realm had always been a difficult threshold; even in the present age, breaking through remained extremely tough, and not every Nascent Soul cultivator with a Divine Transformation certificate could necessarily make it.

And while he knew that Ciji had long been stuck at the final gate before Divine Transformation, at a point where she could almost step through with a nudge, the speed and strength of her breakthrough today still surprised him — as if she had long prepared and was just waiting for this moment.

The next moment, the Nine Heavens Primordial Yang Tower blazed with light once more, its intense spiritual radiance sweeping the field. Wherever it passed, the unlicensed powerhouses screamed as their dharma skeletons burst apart, leaving them either dead or wounded.

After sweeping the entire scene, Ciji's figure appeared above the Nine Heavens Primordial Yang Tower. She swept her gaze across the group and immediately sent out row after row of messages.

Streaks of spiritual light fell like pillars of light, crashing directly down on everyone's heads.