41: Chapter 41 Extreme Clash: Compression of Malevolent and Spiritual Auras

By the third day of implementing the Foundation Suppression Method, the ground of the Northern Plains training field had been smashed into hundreds of deep pits.

The two thousand elites were divided into four groups that took turns sparring. Each group of five hundred fought from dawn until dusk, and when night fell, the next group would continue.

The consumption of Healing Powder and Qi Recovery Pills was staggering. Wang Mu had to reallocate warehouse stock, changing the distribution of medicine from portions to buckets.

The results of the extreme sparring were immediate.

After three consecutive days of compression, the elites could already withstand dozens of rounds without collapsing. The spiritual energy in their meridians was becoming increasingly dense, and the blood energy in their bones was becoming increasingly heavy.

A Martial Dao Citizen at Body Forging Stage 9 was struck on the shoulder by a crimson flame saber during a spar. The fire-glow runes buzzed, but the blade only left a white mark on his skin.

The hardness of his physical body had already exceeded the level expected of Body Forging Stage 9.

The situation on the side of the Cultivation Citizens was even more exaggerated.

When two veteran soldiers from the Sword Qi Battalion at Qi Refining Stage 9 sparred to the seventieth round, the spiritual energy on their crimson flame sabers changed color; the original orange-red fire-glow was compressed into a white line so narrow it was almost invisible.

The white line slashed against the opposing Black Iron Shield, cutting a half-inch deep gash directly into it.

That was an F-grade Black Iron Shield.

The spiritual energy of Qi Refining Stage 9 should not have possessed such cutting power.

But after the Foundation Suppression Method pushed the spiritual energy density to the limit, the output efficiency underwent a qualitative change.

With the same total amount of spiritual energy released, compressed into one-tenth of the volume, the sharpness increased several times over.

Wang Pingan had been observing from the firmament.

At the end of the third day, he descended to the training field.

The two thousand elites were catching their breath during a shift change, and upon seeing the Divine Lord descend, everyone immediately knelt on one knee.

Wang Pingan did not let them rise.

He looked toward Wang Mu and Wang Shan.

"Come out and strike with all your might."

Wang Mu gripped his crimson flame saber, stepped out of the formation, and stood in the center of the training field.

Wang Shan shouldered his Cavalry lance and stood to Wang Mu's right. The two exchanged a glance, both seeing eager fighting intent in each other's eyes.

Three days of extreme compression had made them clearer than anyone else about just how strong they had become.

But they hadn't truly tested just how strong they were.

Wang Pingan pointed to a piece of Black Iron Heavy Wood standing at the north end of the training field.

It was a material moved from the Northwest Blood Energy Zone, as thick as an arm, forged from a composite of black iron and blood wood, specifically used to test the output limit of Martial Dao Citizens.

A normal peak Body Forging Stage 9 punch could make the heavy wood sway three times.

A slash could leave a half-finger-deep blade mark.

Wang Pingan only said one word: "Slash."

Wang Mu stepped forward half a pace, holding the crimson flame saber horizontally across his chest.

He did not strike immediately.

Spiritual energy surged from his dantian, slowly circulating along the meridians that had been repeatedly ground down by the Foundation Suppression Method.

The meridian walls were extremely tough; as the spiritual energy flowed within, not a sliver leaked out, and it was all compressed into a dense white stream.

The white stream flowed into the crimson flame saber. The fire-glow runes on the blade were stimulated to the limit by the high-density spiritual energy; the red light faded, transforming into a narrow and sharp white blade aura.

Wang Mu struck.

The movement was not fast; one could even say it was very slow.

When that white blade aura landed on the Black Iron Heavy Wood, the entire heavy wood did not move a hair.

It was quiet for a breath.

Then, the Black Iron Heavy Wood snapped cleanly in the middle, the cross-section so smooth it could reflect a person's silhouette.

The top half of the heavy wood crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The two thousand elites present were all stunned.

That was Black Iron Heavy Wood.

The Black Iron Heavy Wood that a peak Body Forging Stage 9 could only cut half a finger deep had been sliced into two pieces by Wang Mu in a single stroke.

After watching, Wang Shan stuck his Cavalry lance aside and strode to the second piece of heavy wood.

He did not use a weapon.

Blood energy surged up from the soles of his feet, climbing along his bones and muscles all the way to his right arm.

Under the effect of the Foundation Suppression Method, the blood energy did not burst outward into soaring red light but instead clung tightly to the surface of his skin, condensing into a layer of blood-colored qi armor as thin as transparency.

Wang Shan threw a punch.

The sound of his fist hitting the Black Iron Heavy Wood was dull.

The heavy wood did not break.

But with the point of contact as the center, dense cracks spread in all directions. The entire heavy wood shattered from within, collapsing into a pile of fragments that scattered on the ground.

Slashed in two with one blade.

Shattered with one punch.

Both had the cultivation of Qi Refining Stage 9 and Body Forging Stage 9, yet they achieved the destructive power that should only belong to the Foundation Establishment and Blood Condensation stages.

The atmosphere on the training field was high.

The two thousand elites let out a low roar, a sound mixed with excitement, awe, and trembling.

They had seen the true effect of the Foundation Suppression Method with their own eyes; there was no need to break through. As long as the foundation was suppressed to the limit, combat power could still span half a major stage.

Wang Pingan looked at the broken heavy wood and fragments, his gaze sweeping over Wang Mu and Wang Shan.

"The two of you, come together and take the aftermath of a Psionic Heavy Cannon head-on."

This sentence made everyone present startle.

A direct bombardment from a Psionic Heavy Cannon was enough to blow away a Cultivation Citizen at Qi Refining Stage 9 directly; even the spreading aftermath was not something a Stage 9 cultivation could withstand head-on.

Wang Mu and Wang Shan exchanged a glance.

Without hesitation.

Wang Mu held his blade horizontally in front, his spiritual energy condensing into a white screen of light.

Wang Shan stood half a pace behind Wang Mu, releasing his blood energy, and the blood-colored qi armor covered their entire bodies.

On the high ground of the Artillery Battalion, ten Psionic Heavy Cannons aimed at an empty space sixty zhang away and fired simultaneously.

Ten psionic shells exploded in the empty space, the shockwave spreading in all directions.

By the time the aftermath reached Wang Mu and Wang Shan, it had already attenuated by more than half, but it still carried enough force to blow away ordinary Qi Refining Stage 9 citizens.

The white light screen and the blood-colored qi armor were hit by the shockwave simultaneously.

The light screen trembled violently, and cracks appeared at the edges.

The blood-colored qi armor was compressed and deformed; Wang Shan's feet slid, carving two deep marks into the ground.

But neither of them retreated.

After the shockwave dissipated, the crimson flame saber in Wang Mu's hand was still humming, and the white light screen shattered into a sky full of spiritual light.

Wang Shan's blood-colored qi armor had also mostly dissipated; the veins on his arms bulged, and a trace of blood hung from the corner of his mouth.

But they stood their ground.

With the cultivation of Qi Refining Stage 9 and Body Forging Stage 9, they took the aftermath of the Psionic Heavy Cannon head-on and did not fall.

The two thousand elites were impassioned.

The low roar shook the birds in the Northern Plains, causing them all to fly away.

Wang Pingan raised his hand, and the training field quieted down.

He opened his Divine Kingdom panel and scanned it line by line.

[Heavy Immortal Martial Elites: One thousand (Qi Refining/Body Forging Stage 8 to 9 Perfection · Extreme Realm Compression).]

[Late-stage Support Citizens: One thousand (Qi Refining/Body Forging Stage 5 to 7).]

[Spiritual Energy Artillery Battalion: Five hundred, sufficient live ammunition.]

[Heavy Cavalry: Five hundred, warhorse rune armor intact.]

[Combat Supplies: 20,000 portions of Healing Powder, 18,000 portions of Qi Recovery Pills, 6,000 portions of Mental Soothing Potion, 800 spare crimson flame sabers, 500 spare Black Iron Shields, 300 Cavalry lance heads, 60 Psionic Heavy Cannon crystal tubes, 40 barrels of cooling rune liquid, provisions sufficient to maintain the entire army for seven months.]

[C-grade Portable Psionic Shield: One.]

When his gaze fell to the bottom, Wang Pingan's finger paused for a moment.

A line of golden prompts floated at the very bottom of the panel.

[Note: Some elite citizens have had their foundation compressed to the Extreme Realm of a Divine Being; their internal spiritual energy/blood energy has reached the quasi-Foundation Establishment/quasi-Blood Condensation critical line.]

[Once the Divine Kingdom promotes to the Demi-God stage, unlocking the Foundation Establishment/Blood Condensation cultivation limit, the breakthrough success rate for the aforementioned elites: One hundred percent.]

One hundred percent.

There was no possibility of failure; it was an absolute one hundred percent.

The Foundation Suppression Method had hammered the foundation of these elites to the extreme; the spiritual energy and blood energy within them had long been enough to break through ten times over. The only thing lacking was the permission of the Divine Kingdom's rank.

As long as Wang Pingan promoted to Demi-God, these one thousand Extreme Realm elites would collectively break through to Foundation Establishment and Blood Condensation in a short time.

One thousand Foundation Establishment stage cultivators plus one thousand Blood Condensation stage martial artists appearing as a formed unit in a Demi-God initial stage Divine Kingdom was unheard of among all the newcomer Divine Kingdoms in the Federation.

However, Wang Pingan knew how to play it safe; he would not go around proclaiming it.

Wang Pingan closed the panel.

He glanced at the artificial sunlight passing overhead in the firmament and calculated the external time.

There was less than one day left until the Nova Assessment.

It was enough.

He issued the final Divine Oracle for battle preparation.

"The entire army is to cease sparring and enter the highest state of combat readiness."

"The Artillery Battalion is to check all crystal tubes, the Cavalry is to feed the warhorses, and the infantry is to organize their armor and weapons."

"After tomorrow, you will step onto the real battlefield."

The two thousand Extreme Realm elites knelt on one knee, and the aura tiger roared silently above the camp.

Wang Pingan withdrew his divine sense, and his consciousness exited the Divine Kingdom.