171: The true meaning of supernatural powers

A massive phantom suddenly erupted from the burly man's body!

The phantom looked exactly like him, only magnified dozens of times!

Original Form True Fetus!

Among the methods for condensing a True Fetus circulating in the market, the most common was this Yellow-grade technique—the Original Form True Fetus.

The appearance of the phantom meant the burly man had already stepped into the Late Stage of the True Fetus Realm!

At this moment, the True Fetus phantom and the burly man's actual body exerted force together, pushing the power of the Original Form True Fetus to its absolute limit.

The Kunyuan Giant Hand that had been tightly pinning him was actually forced open by a sliver by this surging, immense strength!

"Hmph!"

Zhang Sheng let out a cold snort, a cold light flashing in his eyes.

Another Kunyuan Giant Hand condensed instantly!

Then came a third!

And a fourth!

All four giant hands exerted force simultaneously, and a terrifying power suddenly erupted!

Puchi!

Blood and mangled flesh splattered everywhere like a bursting tomato!

The burly man's body, along with his struggling True Fetus phantom, was instantly crushed!

Zhang Sheng moved swiftly, raising his hand to pull the storage rings of the group into his grasp.

Immediately after, several blazing fireballs flew out, precisely incinerating the remaining corpses and all traces of battle until only scorched earth remained.

Having finished this, Zhang Sheng turned his sharp gaze toward a certain shadow behind him and said coldly:

"Come out. What's the point of hiding?"

Clap! Clap! Clap!

The sound of crisp clapping rang out.

In the distance, a figure wearing a hooded black robe emerged silently.

"Truly, the younger generation is to be feared!" a powerful yet raspy voice called out. "I'm quite curious, when did you discover me?"

Zhang Sheng's tone was flat and emotionless: "From the very beginning."

The face beneath the hood visibly stiffened.

He had indeed failed to sense any Divine Sense probes from Zhang Sheng throughout the entire encounter, making it impossible to judge whether the other party was telling the truth.

"I wonder, Your Excellency," Zhang Sheng asked in return, his voice carrying a trace of subtle vigilance,

"Are you here for me, or for this band of thugs?" He was secretly alarmed; his Penetrating Spiritual Eye, which had reached Perfected State, was actually unable to pierce through that hooded black robe or see the depths of the opponent's strength.

That clothing was clearly a special Spiritual Artifact.

"You misunderstand." The Man in Black spoke in a low voice. "That burly man killed one of my juniors previously, and I followed them all this way just for revenge. Now that he is dead, the debt is settled. Farewell."

Before his voice had even faded, the hooded Man in Black flickered and transformed into a dark shadow, rapidly retreating into the distance.

Zhang Sheng did not stop him.

When facing an opponent whose background was unclear, caution was the best policy.

This was not a place to linger!

Zhang Sheng did not hesitate, choosing a direction and flying away at full speed.

After flying ten thousand miles in one go, he finally stopped in a desolate area.

Because at the very moment he killed the burly man, he discovered that his Breath Concealment Art, which he had kept active, had undergone an extremely subtle change!

Countless new insights regarding the Breath Concealment Art flooded into his Sea of Consciousness like a bursting dam!

That feeling was as clear as when he had previously broken through from the Transcendent stage to the Perfected State!

Ever since the Breath Concealment Art reached the Perfected State, this Spell had almost become a "passive skill" for him, remaining active at all times.

Now, he immediately sank into his Sea of Consciousness and looked at that mysterious talent panel:

Spell: Breath Concealment Art · Tier 1 (True Intent Level 1: 0.0001%)

Zhang Sheng's heart shook violently!

He remembered clearly that after his "Once Certified, Forever Certified" Talent gained the Limit Breaking trait, the proficiency of any ability at the Perfected State would automatically increase as long as it was used, until it exceeded 100%.

And the Breath Concealment Art, which was always active, naturally grew the fastest!

Now, it had actually broken through the limits of the Perfected State and entered a brand-new Realm—True Intent!

But the problem was, shouldn't True Intent be a Domain that only a Supernatural Power Realm Cultivator could touch?

The Divine Power Realm!

That was a Realm dreamed of by countless Cultivators!

A Cultivator needed to Cultivate their True Fetus to Perfection and then consume a precious god-connecting treasure medicine to have any hope of stepping into this Realm.

And before breaking through, Cultivators would do everything in their power to polish their best Spells or blood-and-Qi Martial Skills to the Perfected State.

This was so that at the moment of breaking through to the Divine Power Realm, there would be a higher chance of comprehending True Intent from these perfected Spells and Martial Skills, allowing them to evolve directly into true Divine Abilities!

Comprehending True Intent was the foundation of performing a Divine Ability!

Zhang Sheng never expected that he would touch the edge of True Intent ahead of time while still in the Divine Breath Realm!

Although it wasn't a complete Divine Ability, at this moment, even this "True Intent Level 1" Tier 1 Breath Concealment Art completely crushed the Tier 2 Perfected State Concealment God Technique in its effectiveness!

"If my True Intent level for this Breath Concealment Art is high enough when I break through to the Divine Power Realm... couldn't it evolve directly into a Divine Ability?!" Thoughts raced through Zhang Sheng's mind.

Wonderful!

Simply wonderful!

It was beyond words!

He had finally found the key to this latest mutation of his talent panel!

Since a Tier 1 Breath Concealment Art could comprehend True Intent, wouldn't his other Tier 1 and Tier 2 Spells have the same potential?!

This discovery made his heart surge with excitement, making him want to go into secluded cultivation immediately.

However, logic told him there was something more important right now—obtaining an official identity.

According to the omniscient guide's information, more than half a year had passed since the last conscription in Azure Mist City.

A new round of New Prefecture conscription could start at any time.

He had to enter Qinglan Academy to study and get that official identity before then.

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Zhang Sheng identified his direction and flew toward Heavenly Injury City once again.

Returning to Heavenly Injury City, he went straight to the teleportation array area.

Teleportation arrays of all sizes stood here, their lights flashing incessantly.

After some inquiries, Zhang Sheng finally understood: the small teleportation arrays mainly led to other "Great Prefectures"—powerful regions overseen by Divine Power Realm experts, distinguishing them from the "New Prefectures."

Although the vast majority of New Prefectures had long since fallen, ten thousand years of accumulation had ultimately given rise to many such Great Prefectures.

"If only I could buy a teleportation array for myself!" Zhang Sheng couldn't help but fantasize.

Unfortunately, without reaching the Divine Power Realm, one didn't even have the qualification to purchase one.

The largest teleportation array led to the central provincial city, and a single transfer cost as much as ten million spirit crystals!

Ordinary Cultivators couldn't even scrape together the one million spirit crystals needed to teleport to a nearby Guard City, let alone a provincial city.

Zhang Sheng ultimately chose a Guard City to the east named "Tiangu City." This city was not one of the thirty-six Guard Cities under Azure Mist's jurisdiction, but belonged to Luoxia Prefecture further east.

Further east of Luoxia Prefecture was the treacherous Desolate Territory—the front line where humans and desolate beasts fought.

Zhang Sheng planned to check the situation in Luoxia Prefecture first before deciding whether to head directly to the battlefield.

After paying the million spirit crystals, Zhang Sheng waited by the teleportation array.

Soon, a group of twelve was gathered.

The teleportation array glowed brilliantly, and a strong sensation of spatial distortion hit him, making the world spin.

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Sheng was on the other side.

Beneath his feet was a new teleportation array base, and the Evil Qi permeating the air was several times more intense than in Heavenly Injury City!

Just stepping out of the array, Zhang Sheng immediately felt the abnormality of the surrounding Spiritual Qi—it was violent, chaotic, and filled with primitive energy fluctuations.

Although a massive spirit suppressing pillar also stood in the city, Luoxia Prefecture had currently only established thirty-two Guard Cities, making it impossible to form a complete "Heavenly Dipper Spirit Suppressing Grand Array."

Its spirit suppressing effect was naturally far inferior to that of Azure Mist, which possessed a complete grand array.

However, Zhang Sheng keenly discovered that this violent Spiritual Qi seemed... not to affect the operation of his Cultivation Technique?

The Perfected State of the Primordial Chaos Heavenly Art actually allowed him to freely absorb energy in this environment!

In contrast, the others traveling with him didn't have it so easy.

Once they consumed spiritual power, they had to rely on spirit crystals to recover, appearing very constrained.

Walking on the streets of Tiangu City, a thick, inseparable Evil Qi blew against his face.

This was the mark left by long-term bloody combat with desolate beasts.

The number of Cultivators in the city far exceeded that of Heavenly Injury City, but their Realms were generally not high, mostly in the Divine Breath Realm.

What Zhang Sheng saw on their faces was deep numbness and a lingering sense of despair.

People of the New Prefecture.

A large number of New Prefecture Cultivators flooded this place, using beast materials they had just brought back from the Desolate Territory—still smelling of blood—to exchange for the spirit crystals they needed to survive.