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Astral Combatant.

With this technique, Ja Sun wouldn't need to bear the pain of the Mental Acupuncture Technique and his mental prowess would increase by leaps and bounds.

A miraculous technique developed by a man titled Extreme Phantom Douluo.

But Ja Sun had used this chance to take it one step further. He was given the opportunity to break past the original method and took it. He absorbed the mental poison brought by the nightmare beast and further discharged upon the sudden fusion of the two spirit beasts.

The violet mist and the drastic whirlpool of mental energy continued to assimilate and the injuries to his mental scape continued. This was different. Aside from soul-rending pain, there was no physical change.

'Hehe... the usual...' Ja Sun's smile turned even bloody.

In the world of colliding poison and energy, a hand finally tore out from the cocoon-like rotation and on the index finger, the Bright Goddess Butterfly instantly perched, her body giving a bright light as Ja Sun was roused further.

The hand was purely made out of violet mental energy. And soon, another phantom arm tore out of the cocoon and gripped the surface of the energy violently, shattering it apart as Ja Sun's entire mental scape crumbled.

Pain left, but the dark mental scape shattering gave way to a beautiful mist-like heaven that instantly descended. Ja Sun felt that his mind was soaked in a comfortable hot spring. A figure holding the Bright Goddess Butterfly shot out of the cocoon and its features were exactly like Ja Sun's except that the mark of evil title wasn't present on the phantom. Ja Sun's view changed. From the very beginning, he could only control and view his mental scape like an outsider but right now, he was within it.

But his consciousness was also split to observe the outside situation. Internal and external. Even Ja Sun took almost a full hour to slowly get accustomed to this situation while the fusing of the beast seemed to be reaching its last stages.

Waving his hand, Ja Sun absorbed the mist-like mental energy and poison. The transition was a smooth one.

Astral Combatant: A technique that allows a person to absorb and refine a fresh corpse's mental energy and also give form to mental energy, increasing the attacking and defending capabilities of one's consciousness.

The shattering of his dark mental scape symbolized Ja Sun truly entering the level of Spirit Sage in terms of mental energy.

Rank 70 is a very special state for a Spirit Master because it brings qualitative change to one's body due to the ability to achieve True Martial Soul Avatar.

The same is related to body and mind.

Ja Sun's body was stranded in the level of Spirit Emperor for a long time. Why? Because this state of transformation is a qualitative one.

But right now, Ja Sun's mental scape was entirely different. It was a mystical world of white roiling mists. The strand of violet continuously discharging poison became too conspicuous but now, Ja Sun didn't feel a thing. His own mental energy gained a poisonous trait. He continuously pulled the poison towards him and refined it.

He then gazed at the mystical world. It was just a display. Nothing was truly spirit energy there because all of his spirit energy henceforth will be condensed within the Astral Combatant itself. Even Ja Sun couldn't comprehend the mysteries behind his own consciousness. But Bright Goddess was instantly excited by the change.

The mist-like world actually looked like clouds. As if the violet astral combatant form of Ja Sun was flying above the clouds.

Once he observed everything, he looked at his current mental form.

Besides limbs and similar bodyparts, this strange form was completely flat down there and naked. But...

'I can finally use other methods of mental attacks and not just needles.'

Ja Sun's gaze sharpened. And not just that, he could control this body and his real body simultaneously.

Ja Sun gazed at the mist finally settling. The purple spirit beasts stopped moving around. The blue and red glow around it disappearing and right now, replaced by Fantasy Beast's original indecisiveness was a childlike curiosity.

The method of absorbing a spirit soul is to simply allow the mental world to accommodate the spirit soul and now Ja Sun did. He barely felt a thing. His mental energy was far sturdier in the form of a poisonous violet-colored hunk that could invade other's consciousness and beat his enemies from within!

The purple beast felt a connection with Ja Sun and soon moved around him. Information entered both of their minds while a transformative scene occurred in the real world.

While it felt like many minutes had passed, the transformation within Ja Sun was a quick and shocking one. The moment Ja Sun's body rejected any more support marked the evolution of his mental energy and the completion of his Astral Combatant.

Qian Daoliu's eyes revealed an astonished light and he hurriedly stabilized Ah Yin's condition by sending in spirit energy as she could barely keep her eyes open. Vitality and mental exhaustion are two different things after all. She was filled with boundless vitality, not boundless mental energy but seeing that Ja Sun's vibe had changed, Ah Yin turned the support to herself and recovered quickly.

Withdrawing the domain, she gazed at Qian Daoliu inquisitively as he replied.

"His mental energy just made a qualitative leap."

His tone was calm now. With years of experience, even he felt instinctually that the most dangerous period had passed. It was already night and others were still waiting intently.

Silently, Ah Yin closed her eyes while Ja Sun's body began to refine the poison that almost caused him to lose his life.

Once the Spirit Soul is accepted completely, the next process is a quick one.

If Ja Sun was refining poison for the first time then it would have been a tough ordeal but Bibi Dong's poison was way more potent.

The color of his skin returned, his bulging veins retracted and the unabsorbed energy of two spirit beasts finally showed an effect.

Tremendous spirit energy undulated forcefully, attracting everybody's attention.

The phantom of the Three-eyed Silver Lion finally reverted to its silver brilliance, Ja Sun's hair glimmered under its light and the dried up blood began to flow and collect under him like a small pool of purple toxin.

Even in the darkness, strangely, another radiance blossomed from Ja Sun.

Purple, Purple, Purple.

Three of his spirit rings emerged, the sight of which made others sigh.

But it was only after these three spread rings that his glowing body revealed dots of darkness leaking out. This darkness much more prominent than the darkness of the night for it was accompanied by a radiance.

"He... did it!"

Liu Erlong stopped eating and stood up.

The uncountable dots moved around the three concentric rings and converged into a pitch-black ring that gave a silent pressure.

His body trembled once again.

His head, mainly his forehead brightened and gave a violet glow.

Ja Sun's spirit energy that barely settled on rank 45 instantly rose once again and an intense pressure was birthed from the middle of his brows right around the tattoo of the green vertical eye.

Violet mist moved around the shape of the third eyes and the pattern before condensing into a lavish headband-like ornament settled over his third eye. The violet crystal-like surface revealed beautiful emerald veins and in the middle, a prominent violet gem gave a piercing emerald light.

Within Ja Sun's mental scape, a similar ornament appeared on the forehead of the Astral Combatant as the Purple Beast continued to move around him.

"A spirit bone," Xie Xan whispered.

"We all can see that," Bibi Dong muttered.

"It's the fifth one we're seeing. When did Spirit Bones become so easy to achieve?" Hu Lana finally grew dissatisfied once Ja Sun was out of trouble.

"Rest. His changes aren't complete yet."

Qian Daoliu exhaled a sigh of relief.

Ordinarily, the absorption of the spirit ring would only take a few hours. But Ja Sun opened his eyes 13 hours later.

A violet streak flashed across his gold pupils and he exhaled deeply.

The spirit rings around him disappeared and the phantom of the Martial Soul vanished, too. The skull bone in the form of the third-eye-like ornament melted into Ja Sun's skin under his urge and he found multiple pairs of eyes silently staring at him.

---

Before being plunged into questions, Ja Sun was graciously allowed to rest. Of course, after taking a bath which was simply dipping in water and coming out. When he woke up, he found the tent empty. A hint of disappointment touched him.

He wanted to thank Ah Yin. Her support was really a crucial one this time.

But thinking about it, Ja Sun shrugged. He wasn't going to leave her soon anyway. Might as well be by her side and help her instead of being corny and melodramatic. Ja Sun knew that acting like that would only open him to ridicule by the group he carefully cultivated to slowly turn insensitive in the crudest moment.

Silently, Ja Sun sat and observed his condition.

Rank 47, and moreover, his cultivation was completely stable. His spirit energy would have instantly hit rank 50 if its quality wasn't refined to the peak by Final Buddha Array.

His mental energy was also firmly in the level of Spirit Sages. Not only that, he can now finally leave the path of mental masochism and cultivate mental energy more naturally. With Astral Combatant, his mental attacks will be more fluent and dangerous. With Fiery Golden Pupils, it was like giving wings to a tiger.

Finally, his body. His entire physique had grown a little bulkier. His bodily functions improved to the limit, too. But he was still stranded in the peak of the body of a Spirit Emperor. Not because the enhancement wasn't enough. But because his gauntlets absorbed the most of it. The appearance of the gauntlets didn't change at all but the force behind them certainly did.

A little push and he will soon gain another qualitative transformation.

Finally, within his mental scape, around him floated the violet mist aimlessly. This wasn't a poison but the new spirit beast. Meanwhile, the Bright Goddess Butterfly was more than happy to fly in the clouds.

Once he observed everything, he closed his eyes and spread his mental energy. This time, the Astral Combatant gave a simple pulse of mental energy. Ja Sun didn't even spend a sliver of his mental energy but he could already 'see' everything within three meters of radius.

'Amazing...'

There was another discovery. His martial soul seemed strengthened. According to the directory of a bloodline, spirit rings or spirit souls of similar attributes but the higher difference in power provokes one's heritage. This was a simple strengthening that meant nothing. In reality, the best tonic to evolve his own martial soul was either the three-eyed golden lion itself or immortal herbs like Beautiful Silk Tulip.

Ja Sun finally stood up and his body made popping sounds.

He was still barefoot so he took out the Wingless Covers from his essence tool and walked out.

Outside, he saw all five of them covered in dust while a particularly pleased Qian Daoliu sat on a wooden rocking chair, basking in the sunlight. They were still within the clearing where they found the fantasy beast and his appearance attracted Qian Daoliu's gaze.

"Alright," he smiled and the pressure from the four students and one teacher disappeared before all of them sighed collectively.

"You all did show the best of your capabilities. Especially Xie Xan and Hu Lana, well done. An ability like yours is an uncommon one but the use lies in tactics," Qian Daoliu chuckled and finally looked at Ja Sun, beckoning him over.

"Come! You and Ah Yin really are tough disciples. If I knew she had a domain, would I keep her stranded in rank 60 for so long?" Qian Daoliu growled.

He instantly placed this as an issue of lack of trust between him and the duo. And for this, he had no other option but to accept it and cultivate a bond with them slowly. Even Daoliu knew that a truly exceptional person will always be cautious of revealing his true abilities. Wasn't he the same in the past?

"Master," Ja Sun walked forward and bowed slightly. Glancing at Ah Yin, he didn't know what to express but seeing her plain expression, Ja Sun smiled and stood once again.

"It's not like we wanted to hide it," Ja Sun shrugged, "But look how were we supposed to trust a grey-haired man with a cheesy smile?"

"My smile?"

Qian Daoliu inquired again.

"Well..." Ja Sun chuckled, "My smile is always called bloody, or scary."

"Because it is. Smiling while bleeding poison no less," Daoliu shook his head. He felt like he had seen completely different sides of his disciples.

"Since you wanted your team to experience it, too, it's time to share the experience. Not only is this method strange, but the appearance of the Nightmare beast was certainly an anomaly."

As Ja Sun next to Ah Yin, Daoliu explained their finding on how a nightmare beast was born instantly and was absorbed by him alongside the Fantasy Beast. Easy to say, it was definitely a dangerous situation and without Ah Yin, he would have died this time. This simply made Ja Sun more fascinated than scared.

A beast born by the death of another and the negative will of the world, how could it not interest Ja Sun?

He was the cause of a discovery.

But so was Ah Yin.

Her support wouldn't affect Ja Sun in that delicate period made Daoliu comment on the application of the domain that she could most possibly assist others when they are absorbing spirit rings, too. But this was needed to be tested and no doubt the test subjects would be someone from their group itself.

Daoliu already saw that the group trusted each other enough. When more secrets are revealed, the trust will grow naturally. However, bringing a third party, even other spirit masters from Spirit Hall would affect the situation negatively. Everyone keeps their secrets and Daoliu knew it for a fact that Bibi Dong, despite her trust and affection for him and Xunji, had her own secrets and line of thought already developed and different than theirs.

Once Qian Daoliu was done with his explanation, everyone looked at Ja Sun and he stood up with a smile.

"Master... do I get a chair if I'm explaining, too?" He inquired.

"No," Daoliu smiled and closed his eyes.

Sighing, he looked at the group and stated softly, "Keep everything between ourselves. Aside from us, no one else should know about it."

While saying this, his gaze landed on Bibi Dong for a moment.

Narrowing her eyes, she scoffed. She understood what Ja Sun was trying to say.

"Oh, and unlike master, I don't care if you cut in between and ask questions. So don't hold back," Ja Sun chuckled.