Chapter 94: A Breakthrough!

The moment the words left his mouth, everyone present froze.

They all looked over in surprise, and Xiao Yang was left even more bewildered. What did that mean? Had he heard of it, or not?

“Ahem. Brother Xiao, you have never heard of the Celestial Star Palace?”

Jin Buhuan asked in confusion.

That only made Xiao Yang even more lost.

“Is this Celestial Star Palace really so formidable? Why should I know it?”

He searched through his memories, but there was no impression of it at all.

“Big Brother, of course the Celestial Star Palace is formidable.”

Seeing that Xiao Yang truly did not know, Jin Jie could not help blurting it out.

“Then tell me just how formidable it is.”

After asking that, Xiao Yang felt the matter had somehow become even more complicated.

He even had a vague feeling that this story was going to be rather sordid.

“Brother Xiao, let me put it this way. Above the realm of Martial Kings, there are still higher realms, and the Celestial Star Palace was founded by people of that level.”

Xiao Yang had actually known long ago that beyond Martial King there were still higher realms, but he had not expected to hear it under these circumstances.

He asked a few more simple questions.

Yet Xiao Yang’s mood grew worse and worse.

In the end, he asked the final question.

“Do you know the past of Zhou Jianhou from the Spirit Sword Peak of the Giant Spirit Sect?”

That made Jin Buhuan pause slightly.

But he still nodded.

“I know a little.”

“I heard that Zhou Jianhou began practicing the sword at six, became a Martial Master at eight, and reached the half-step Great Martial Master stage at thirteen.”

“Before the age of twenty-five, he became a Sword Marquis. Even among the Ten Kingdoms, he was renowned.”

He stopped there.

At the same time, a trace of sorrow appeared on Jin Buhuan’s face.

“City Lord, why stop there?”

Xiao Yang was practically dying of impatience.

He hated nothing more than people who only said half a thing.

“Sigh. Only, at the age of twenty-six, Zhou Jianhou returned to the Giant Spirit Sect and never again left the mountain gate.”

Huh?

Xiao Yang was stunned.

At that moment, Jin Buhuan seemed to remember something else.

He went on.

“I heard he also brought back a little girl.”

Zhang Long walked out of his quarters.

Compared with the last time he had emerged, his strength had undergone a qualitative leap.

“It’s time to make a trip outside.”

Over these past few days of bitter cultivation, he had learned about what had been happening beyond.

Just as he stepped out of the door, a disciple trotted over.

“Senior Brother Zhang, you’ve come out of seclusion? I’ll go report it at once.”

The young man said with delight.

He then turned to leave.

“Wait. I’ll go see Master myself.”

Zhang Long wanted to go in person, because he was about to break through.

He needed some guidance, and he should also let Gongsun Miao know.

He was about to advance.

“Understood, Senior Brother Zhang!”

The young man nodded and went back to his own cultivation.

As for Zhang Long, he leaped lightly and was already more than thirty feet away.

In the blink of an eye, he disappeared from sight.

“Senior Brother Zhang Long is probably already a Martial Marquis.”

The young man muttered to himself.

Then he resumed his training.

At that moment, Gongsun Miao was also in cultivation, refining a stream of spiritual energy.

“Master, I’m here.”

A voice suddenly rang out from outside.

Gongsun Miao immediately ceased his cultivation, raised a hand slightly, and the door opened.

“Come in.”

Zhang Long strode in.

At a glance, Gongsun Miao saw that Zhang Long was different now.

His entire body seemed like a great demon, his blood and qi surging, every breath stirring the spiritual energy around him.

This was clearly the hallmark of a Martial Marquis.

“You’ve entered the Martial Marquis realm?”

Yet Zhang Long shook his head.

“No, Master. Not yet. I’m still a little short, but I’m close.”

“Don’t be impatient. With your aptitude, breaking through to Martial Marquis is only a matter of time.”

Gongsun Miao said calmly.

In his view, Zhang Long’s talent made it no hard thing to enter the Martial Marquis realm.

So long as time was sufficient, the breakthrough was inevitable.

“Master, I want to ask about the martial divine image. I have a feeling I’ll break through very soon.”

The instant those words were spoken, a flash of gold passed through Gongsun Miao’s eyes.

The martial divine image was the very framework of a person’s essence, energy, and spirit.

If a Great Martial Master could faintly sense it, that meant a breakthrough in the near future, most likely into Martial Marquis.

“Martial Marquis is already beyond the scope of ordinary martial artists. One can use essence, energy, and spirit to outline the future path of one’s martial dao.”

Though these were only fundamentals, Zhang Long listened with great seriousness.

That pleased Gongsun Miao greatly.

“Long’er, feel it boldly. Feel the most fundamental power within your heart.”

Hearing this, Zhang Long could not help closing his eyes.

He calmed himself and quietly sensed every smallest change in his body.

Suddenly.

A violent power appeared.

It was a force Zhang Long had never seen before.

In fact, before such power, he did not even have the courage to resist.

“What are you?”

Yet he could sense that this power seemed to possess a will of its own.

There was no response.

The power remained like a dead pool, impossible to stir.

Zhang Long also came out of that state.

“Master, I saw a pool of water. What should I do?”

Gongsun Miao’s brows twitched wildly.

His eyes were also filled with shock.

When he had broken through back then, the extent of his spiritual power had been only the size of a small basin.

But his disciple had seen a whole pool.

A shock beyond words.

He swallowed hard.

“Long’er, try to stir that pool and shape the strongest living being in your heart.”

Zhang Long nodded.

Soon, he entered that wondrous state once more.

This time, he was able to easily command the pitch-black waters of the pool.

A phantom slowly appeared.

It was a monstrous tiger, twenty zhang long, black as ink all over, with a single horn on its head and a pair of wings on its back.

“Roar!”

The moment it was born, a heaven-shaking roar burst forth.

Even Zhang Long felt his head go faint beneath that roar.

Outside, wisps of black currents appeared and slowly encircled Zhang Long’s body.

“He’s broken through!”

Gongsun Miao could tell at a glance that Zhang Long was now in the midst of a breakthrough.

Joy surged in his heart, impossible to restrain.

What was more, from the aura alone he could sense that Zhang Long’s martial divine image was extremely powerful, far surpassing even his own Six-Eyed Flying Eagle.

“Roar!”

Another thunderous roar rang out.

The entire Giant Spirit Sect was filled with the domineering sound of a tiger’s howl.

Some disciples with weaker cultivation immediately spat out blood.

Even disciples at the Martial Master level went deathly pale.

They looked in astonishment toward the sky in the distance.

Deep within the Giant Spirit Sect, a white-haired elder suddenly opened his eyes.

“Someone has broken through to Martial Marquis, and his martial divine image is terrifyingly powerful.”

He murmured softly.

In the next instant, he vanished from where he stood.

Bang!

The giant sword in his hands fell to the ground.

Zhou Jingpeng raised an eyebrow and said indifferently, “Add three thousand more.”

Meng Changsheng’s face darkened, but he did not dare say another word.

He obediently picked up the giant sword and continued his practice.

He knew full well that if he argued back, Zhou Jingpeng would only double his punishment.

Three thousand would become six thousand.

Just as he lifted the giant sword and was about to begin his swings, a heaven-shaking beast’s roar suddenly rang out.

Startled, Meng Changsheng trembled.

Bang!

The giant sword in his hands slipped free and crashed to the ground.