Chapter 310: Late Stage Great Perfection

Chunyangzi stood quietly to one side watching Zhang Nuo, and when he sensed that something was wrong within Zhang Nuo's body, his expression turned ugly. Logically speaking, after more than six years of preparation, coupled with sufficient Spiritual Qi, there should not have been any problems with breaking through to the late stage!

But as it turned out, it was not as simple as Chunyangzi had thought; Zhang Nuo was clearly in trouble now!

"Boom!"

A muffled sound came from within Zhang Nuo's body, followed by a stream of fresh blood flowing from the corner of his mouth; his eyes were tightly shut, his face was sallow, and white mist steamed and slowly emerged from the top of his head!

"Could it be that the Spiritual Qi is too vigorous? That's unlikely!"

Judging by Zhang Nuo's performance, it should have been caused by chaotic Spiritual Qi in his body, but given his level of control over Spirit Power, such a thing should almost never happen! Back when he was breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Mid-stage, Zhang Nuo had forcibly used Spirit Power to clear his meridians; although his body suffered some damage, nothing major had occurred!

"Boom!"

Another muffled sound, and this time Zhang Nuo suddenly opened his eyes. His facial muscles were twisted, his eyeballs were almost bulging out, and Yin energy flashed between his brows. The Hell Butterfly flew out, and its chaotic Butterfly Wings and the unstable Red Glow Fire warned Chunyangzi that things had reached a terrifying point!

Anxious in his heart, Chunyangzi did not dare to speak up to ask, for he knew that at such a critical moment, if Zhang Nuo were distracted even slightly, there would be an immediate possibility of him perishing!

"Snap!"

A crisp sound of a plant growing rapidly came from the palm of Zhang Nuo's right hand. As soon as the Divine Tree sprouted, it grew rapidly, eventually reaching about a zhang in height!

Above the massive canopy, Spirit Power was constantly being emitted. These Spirit Powers, like tangible snowflakes, slowly fell to the ground and disappeared in a flash!

It seemed that Zhang Nuo was using the Divine Tree to dissipate the unstable Spirit Power in his body. The Divine Tree absorbed Spirit Power very quickly, yet despite this, constant booming sounds still came from Zhang Nuo's dantian.

"Ah!"

Zhang Nuo let out a loud roar through gritted teeth, suddenly raising a finger and pointing it into the void toward the stone door of the Cave Abode!

"Swish!" A streak of Sword Qi broke through Zhang Nuo's finger and struck the stone door rapidly! The Sword Qi was as thick as an arm, and the mixed Spirit Power made it look very unstable!

With a loud "Booming" sound, the seemingly indestructible stone door was shaken incessantly by the Sword Qi released by Zhang Nuo. At the point of impact, a deep pit the size of a palm was still emitting faint blue smoke!

Chunyangzi grimaced! How hard was the stone door of the Cave Abode? How could it have been struck like this by a single streak of Sword Qi from Zhang Nuo? He turned his head to look at the finger Zhang Nuo had just used to launch the Sword Qi, only to see the skin burst open and the stark white finger bone exposed, showing with what force the Sword Qi had surged out!

"Thump!"

After releasing the Sword Qi, Zhang Nuo collapsed onto the Putan. The Hell Butterfly and the Divine Tree both quickly retracted into his body, and everything ended just like that!

Stepping forward to grab Zhang Nuo's pulse, Chunyangzi felt a little more at ease upon sensing the intense beating of the pulse. Since there was still a heartbeat, it meant this kid was still alive! It was just that the previous ordeal had been more than his body could bear, causing him to faint!

"You kid are truly strange! Just breaking through to a late stage, and you actually caused such a huge commotion!"

Shaking his head with a wry smile, Chunyangzi said with some confusion, and then he went back to busy himself with other matters, ignoring Zhang Nuo who remained in a coma.

About four or five days later, Zhang Nuo's fingers moved, and then he let out a loud cry as if he had been stepped on the tail!

"So painful!"

After seeing the state of his finger, Zhang Nuo felt his scalp go numb; the flesh at the fingertip was long gone, revealing only the stark white bone.

Recalling carefully, it was caused by the streak of Sword Qi that had surged out from his body earlier! At the final moment, Zhang Nuo saw that he could no longer control the Spirit Power surging from his Fifth Divine Sea! In his desperation, he activated the fifth level of the Shangqing Sword Art, pouring all the Spirit Power from the entire Divine Sea into a single streak of Sword Qi, and then forcibly released it. Only then did he resolve the crisis of his body exploding!

Thinking of the Fifth Divine Sea, Zhang Nuo hurriedly looked inward, only to see a row of five Divine Seas resting quietly below his dantian, though each one was dim and lusterless! Above the five Divine Seas, the Golden Core was significantly larger than before, with ripples appearing on its surface!

Not only that, but Zhang Nuo also discovered to his surprise that his cultivation had not just broken through to the Golden Core Late Stage, but had advanced to the Golden Core Late Stage Great Perfection, meaning one of his feet had already stepped into the Nascent Soul Stage!

"Senior! Senior!"

In his pleasant surprise, Zhang Nuo ignored the injury on his finger and called out to Chunyangzi repeatedly!

"What are you howling about! I'm not deaf!"

As if he had popped out of the ground, Chunyangzi appeared before Zhang Nuo in a flash.

"I've reached the Late Stage Great Perfection!"

"Heh heh! I saw that a day ago! You kid really are a freak; how did you manage to advance your cultivation to this point all at once?"

Chunyangzi was very puzzled; what tricks had this kid pulled during his cultivation process?

"Senior, I didn't do this on purpose; the situation at the time was like this..."

In one breath, Zhang Nuo told Chunyangzi everything that had happened when he was breaking through to the late stage.

"The Divine Tree can bear fruit?"

Despite his advanced age, Chunyangzi widened his eyes in surprise like a child, his mouth remaining open for a long time! After a good while, he finally said:

"It's a good thing the fruit wasn't ripe, otherwise you would have certainly lost your life!"

Zhang Nuo gave a wry smile; Chunyangzi was right. If it had been a ripe fruit, the Spirit Power contained within would surely have been even more powerful, and that would not have been something he could have channeled out of his body with a single streak of Sword Qi!

Through this incident, Zhang Nuo also realized the power of the Divine Tree. If he could consume such a ripe fruit when breaking through to the Nascent Soul Stage in the future, it might produce twice the result with half the effort!

While lost in thought, Zhang Nuo's bone-exposed finger accidentally touched something, and a scream of "Ow!" brought him back to his senses; he hurriedly wrapped the injured area with Spirit Power!

"Kid Zhang, during the time you were cultivating, I specially prepared a big gift for you!"

Chunyangzi said mysteriously.

"Oh! What is it? Take it out quickly!"

Hearing this, Zhang Nuo was very curious. The things Chunyangzi prepared would definitely not be ordinary. When Chunyangzi handed a palm-sized wooden puppet to Zhang Nuo, he felt speechless! Wasn't this something to coax a child with?

Seeing Zhang Nuo's indifference, Chunyangzi scolded him with a laugh and said:

"You unappreciative thing! This puppet looks ordinary because it hasn't been attuned to you yet. Its name is Puppet Doll! It is a type of substitute Puppet Magic Treasure! It can save your life at a critical moment!"

Examining the puppet in his hand carefully, Zhang Nuo was still somewhat skeptical. Several days later, when the Spirit Power in his body had recovered, under Chunyangzi's guidance, Zhang Nuo refined the Puppet Doll into his body.

After being tempered by Pill Fire for more than ten days, the Puppet Doll suddenly underwent a change. Looking inward, he saw that the face of this puppet had grown to be exactly the same as Zhang Nuo's, and not only that, but even its limbs were very similar! If it were to put on the same clothes as Zhang Nuo, it would be as if it were cast from the same mold.

With a slight movement of his Divine Sense, the Puppet Doll would perform various actions according to Zhang Nuo's will!

Only then did Zhang Nuo realize that this was a good thing! It seemed that Chunyangzi had spent quite a lot of effort to refine it!

"How about it? Now you know its wonders, right!"

Chunyangzi was very proud; this was a secret puppet technique he had learned from the Immortal World. At the time, due to material limitations, he had never been able to make it.

"With it, I am equivalent to having a second chance!"

"However, you must not be too arrogant. The attacks this puppet can withstand are limited. Once it exceeds the range it can bear, the remaining attack will still fall upon you!"

Seeing Zhang Nuo becoming somewhat carried away, Chunyangzi said with a stern expression.

"Understood! Even if it only helps me bear a fraction of the damage, that is still good!"

Zhang Nuo was not greedy, and he said with a faint smile.

"Besides, I found a cultivation technique in the Cave Abode; I believe you will also like this very much!"

Chunyangzi had not been idle during this time; he had searched almost everything in Jian Moli's Cave Abode, and finally, from a hidden compartment, he found a Jade Slip. When his Divine Sense sank into it, even Chunyangzi was moved!

Zhang Nuo was not surprised to find a cultivation technique in the Cave Abode of an Integration Stage cultivator. When he took the Jade Slip from Chunyangzi's hand, he slowly sank his Divine Sense into it.

A moment later, Zhang Nuo almost shouted out loud, the look of wild joy on his face growing even more intense!

"I didn't lie to you, did I?"

Having long guessed that Zhang Nuo would have this expression, Chunyangzi said with a smug smile.

"I didn't expect Jian Moli to have hidden such a powerful cultivation technique. If we hadn't come, I'm afraid it would have remained buried underground with him forever!"

Zhang Nuo kept his grip on the Jade Slip tight, as if he were afraid it would fly away if he let go!

"It seems we will have to stay here for a while longer, at least until you have cultivated the technique in the Jade Slip to a certain stage!"

"That goes without saying! With my current cultivation realm, if you give me a year, I can cultivate it to about the second level!"

Looking full of confidence, Zhang Nuo sank his Divine Sense into the Jade Slip once more. Chunyangzi nodded slightly, turned his body, and walked toward other parts of the Cave Abode!

Having read the Jade Slip back and forth several times, Zhang Nuo could not control the wild joy in his heart. This was a complete cultivation technique, with detailed explanations from beginning to end; it was much better than the few incomplete techniques he had cultivated before.

At the very least, when his cultivation realm was high enough, this technique could be cultivated to great completion! After figuring out the first few chapters of the technique, Zhang Nuo sat cross-legged and began the cultivation of the first level!