281: Chapter 281 Breaking Through the Realm

Tang Long laughed heartily and pointed at Guan Guo.

"Shameless! Now I'm actually starting to appreciate you."

"In this world, people who care about saving face usually don't live very long."

"But you, you have the capital to live a long life."

Guan Guo sneered, "Cut the useless talk. If you want to stall for time, I have no objections."

"I just saw your battle technique earlier, and now I'm itching to try it."

"The strongest Genius of this generation in Dongyu is between you and me! I am eager to know who will have the last laugh!"

Tang Long shook his head, "You got one thing wrong."

"I don't know when it started, but so-called geniuses can actually try to go toe-to-toe with cheaters now."

"You might count as a Genius, but running into me is just your bad luck."

"Actually, I'm someone who appreciates talent. Now, I'll give you a chance: kneel and pledge your loyalty to me, and I'll spare your life."

"Otherwise, I might accidentally beat you to death."

Guan Guo let out a laugh, his face twisted in a sinister grin.

"The more you stall for time, the more it shows that you're all bark and no bite!"

"What was that ultimate technique called just now? Can you use it again?"

"My Phoenix Cry only displayed half its power before."

"Even if you can use it again, that move has strong sustained destructive power but lacks explosive power, so you're bound to lose..."

Before he could say the word "undoubtedly," another wave of Qi erupted from Tang Long's body, and he stepped into the battle circle.

Just seconds later, before many people could even understand what was happening, the Qi Flow on his body erupted once more.

Guan Guo gasped, unable to help but mutter to himself.

"Four... five stages... ten seconds..."

"He must have used some secret method to suppress his Realm, deliberately waiting until this moment to achieve a shocking effect."

"His schemes are indeed deep, but... the combat power of the fifth stage is just so-so."

At this moment, not only were the students exclaiming in shock, but even the experts at the main viewing platform couldn't help but discuss it.

"This Tang Long is quite interesting."

"Suppressing Qi Flow? I've really never heard of any secret method that could have this effect."

"It's not that simple. Cultivation must be gradual; the body must possess enough endurance during cultivation to adapt to increasingly stronger Spiritual Energy pressure."

"He must have cultivated a Cultivation Technique to enhance his physique first; his endurance must have already met the standard for him to dare play like this."

"Even so, the fourth or fifth stage should be the limit; taking any bigger steps would be asking for trouble."

"It's not just asking for trouble; if things go wrong, he could suffer from body explosion or severed meridians, or even lose his life."

"Regardless, breaking through four stages in a few minutes is a record that must go down in the annals of history. His name will be written into history."

"Grandstanding. The Guan Guo opposite him is at the seventh stage; what's the point of him breaking through to the fifth stage?"

"For geniuses of his and Guan Guo's level, there's no difference between the Lower Realm and the Middle Realm. Unless he reaches the Upper Realm, it won't have much impact, and it doesn't mean he will definitely win."

Even Crown Prince Ye Xuanji couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Teacher, do you know why Tang Long is doing this?"

Grand Preceptor Qian Wenzhao shook his head, "This old official does not understand either."

"The battle techniques he and Guan Guo used earlier have actually already reached the lethality level of Blood Refining."

"The first few minor stages of Qi Manipulation are already insignificant to him. Exposing this card of his at this time seems to have very little impact on the outcome."

"However, I believe that Tang Long would not act without a reason; there must be a cause for doing this."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's eyes widened, because Tang Long's aura surged again at this very moment!

Layers of Qi waves kicked up dust; the commotion was far greater than when he broke through the fourth and fifth stages just moments ago, and it was clearly not just crossing one Realm.

Tang Long actually didn't want to change his Realm for the time being; after all, he only had eight types of Spirit Rings at the moment, and he lacked the Sun Spirit Cultivation Technique to compensate for the core.

However, Miao Manman and Lu Xiaohu weren't pulling their weight, so he had to stand up and handle the situation himself today.

To defeat his opponents while being at a lower level, breaking through his Realm became a necessary means.

Over the past few days, he had preliminarily practiced the Wuque Methods he obtained, including the 'Life-Killing Canon' poison technique he got from Han Feng in Feng City, which had already reached Level 5.

Only the Wild Grass Breathing Method remained at Level 2 because it wasn't very useful for the time being.

But his spiritual nature was already very high, and with the assistance of his three Clones, it was too easy to focus on promoting an ordinary Cultivation Technique.

In these ten-plus minutes, he pushed it from Level 2 to Level 5. After replenishing sufficient Spiritual Energy, the Breakthrough was naturally a matter of course.

The fifth stage of Qi Manipulation was his current true Realm.

But, it was far from his limit.

Since he had already broken through the Realm, there was no need to control it anymore.

He had already obtained the attributes for the sixth stage, and now he would get the rewards for the seventh, eighth, and ninth stages as well.

With the blessing of two points of divinity and the activation of the Level 2 Gift of the Barbarian Ancestor, his Realm soared four more stages instantly on top of the fifth stage!

[Gift of the Barbarian Ancestor has taken effect! Duration: 40 seconds!]

[Your Realm has increased to the ninth stage of Qi Manipulation! Base vitality increased by 15,000, base life recovery increased by 300/hour, base Spiritual Energy cap increased by 300, gained 30 free attribute points, gained 15 skill points!]

[Skill: Spirit Astral LV6, promotion conditions met!]

[You have comprehended the skill: Spirit Blade LV1!]

At this moment, after the class bonuses, Tang Long's vitality directly broke through the 360,000 mark, and his Spiritual Energy surged past 60,000!

After acquiring a healing skill, 300 points of life recovery didn't count for much.

But 30 attribute points and 15 skill points were extremely timely.

He immediately dumped four points into Spirit Astral; not maxing out such a core survival skill in time would be a crime.

As for the others, they could be set aside for now.

Then he looked at Guan Guo opposite him again.

Guan Guo's body trembled slightly, because at this moment, Tang Long had shattered too many of his inherent perceptions.

Since he could remember, he had been secretly cultivated, and everyone he came into contact with said he was a one-in-ten-thousand Genius.

He possessed the Blood-Fire Dual Spirit Body, had learned two Wuque Methods, and in his childhood, he had even consumed a world-renowned, rare treasure from another world—a Phoenix egg, thus possessing the ability of Nirvana.

Therefore, among his peers, no one could compare to him.

Even freakish talents like Zhao Junji and Zhu Le, who were the best of the best, were not worth mentioning in front of him.

He carried a deep blood feud, and everyone, including himself, constantly reminded him that one day in the future, he must take revenge with an attitude of Invincibility and stand on the crest of the era once again.

This trip to Song City was considered a small test, but it was also a very good opportunity.

He originally thought it was foolproof and that he could definitely trample the people of Song City under his feet and make a glorious appearance.

But... what exactly was this Tang Long in front of him?

A few minutes to go from the first stage to the fifth, and a few seconds to break through directly from the fifth to the ninth?

Was he even human?

At this moment, the viewing platform was also eerily quiet.

Ordinary people couldn't understand and couldn't comment.

Most of those at the Blood Refining, Open Origin, and even Spirit Map stages had already misjudged him and dared not say anything for a moment, fearing that after they commented, Tang Long would boom again and step into Blood Refining.

Even the couple Xu Chaoyang and Wei Mingzhu, who had some understanding of Tang Long's strength, or the several bishops of The Sect, couldn't help but be dazed at this moment.

They knew Tang Long was strong, but they didn't know he was this strong.

Stages seemed not to exist in front of him; he went up whenever he wanted, completely deviating from the common sense of martial arts.

At this time, Tang Long frowned and asked, "Classmate Guan Guo, are you coming over, or should I go over?"

Guan Guo suddenly came back to his senses, immediately cupping his hands, and a large amount of Spiritual Energy, like a storm, compressed toward his hands.

However, Tang Long gave him a teasing smile.

"Have you ever heard that in all martial arts under heaven, only speed is unbreakable?"

"A move that takes so long to charge up, and you actually think you can sweep through Song City with it."

"Naive!"

Saying this, he suddenly raised his hand, and a golden light directly crossed the distance of more than twenty meters and slashed over.