Crossing the Cultivation Realm: Two Souls Coexist

The state of Hu Qing and Gu Yang at this moment is far more mysterious and unpredictable than any of their previous breakthroughs.

Originally, their attempt to break through the Nascent Soul shackles relied solely on their own strength, like a lone figure trying to move a mountain.

But after that fragment of the sacred artifact perfectly integrated and combined with the original sacred artifact within their dantian, a wondrous change occurred—

Between their nascent souls, a deeper, more extraordinary energy resonance and connection seemed to have been established.

Even more noticeable was that the chains of laws binding their nascent souls had also faintly merged into one!

The result was quite peculiar: each chain was indeed thicker and stronger than before.

The runes of law flowing on it are also more complex and profound, making it almost impossible for one person to shake it.

However, when Hu Qing and Gu Yang united their minds and spirits, and their spiritual power merged, they attacked together.

The two forces, which share the same origin but complement each other, converge into an unstoppable torrent, making the overall difficulty of the breakthrough much less than expected!

At this moment, inside the sealed earthen sphere, the two focused their minds, guiding the surging and roaring spiritual energy within their bodies.

Within their meridians, spiritual energy was no longer a stream, but transformed into a surging river, flowing ceaselessly and emitting a deep and grand rumbling sound, as if thunder was rolling within their bodies.

Even more strangely, their heartbeats were initially somewhat disordered, but gradually synchronized as their spiritual energy circulated.

The "thump...thump..." of heartbeats began to resonate in unison, like a unified war drum on a battlefield, each beat striking the critical point of breakthrough, bringing a stronger resonance of power.

Even Lin Feng, who was guarding outside the earthen ball, could clearly hear the heartbeat and surging spiritual energy coming from inside, like muffled thunder.

The spirit stone powder covering the surface of the earthen ball, which had been depleted of its spiritual energy and turned into grayish-white waste, was also shaken by the huge commotion inside, as if it might peel off at any moment.

The old tortoise listened intently to the sounds coming from inside the earthen ball, its small, beady eyes gleaming with undisguised admiration. It couldn't help but mutter under its breath, a hint of sourness in its voice:

"Tsk... How come such talent and comprehension always seem to come from the human race... God is so unfair..."

As time passed, the rumbling and heartbeat within the clay ball gradually slowed down, became steady, and finally settled into a deep and restrained tranquility.

"Crack!"

A crisp cracking sound broke the silence.

On the left side of the soil ball, an arm suddenly burst out of the ground!

The skin on her arm was smooth and supple, with a faint glow, as if she had been reborn.

Immediately afterwards, with another "click," an equally strange arm emerged from the right side of the earthen ball.

As if by unspoken agreement, the two arms, one on the left and one on the right, simultaneously pressed against the inner wall of the clay ball, and then suddenly exerted force outward—

"boom!!"

With a loud bang, the two clay balls exploded, turning into dust that filled the sky!

The old tortoise was prepared; with a wave of its sleeve, an invisible force swept over.

All the dust settled obediently back to the ground like a tamed flock of sheep, without a speck of it touching the two who had just broken through the barrier.

It gave a feigned snort of displeasure.

Gu Yang chuckled and touched his head, his face beaming with the joy of a breakthrough and a hint of pride.

Hu Qing stood beside him, her expression relatively calm, looking at the goofy Gu Yang with a hint of helplessness.

The old tortoise's eyes flashed like lightning as it quickly swept over the two men's exposed arms. Their skin was delicate and smooth, with a faint jade-like luster, clearly indicating that it had undergone tempering.

It asked somewhat uncertainly, "That was quite a commotion, yet you only managed to tear open the chain on one arm?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Yang became even more smug. He snorted twice, extended his right hand, made a "2" gesture, and laughed:

"Senior, you underestimate us! There are two of them! The chains on both arms have been completely removed!"

I feel light and refreshed now, my spiritual energy flows smoothly, only the chains on my legs remain to be untied!

Little Purple was counting on her fingers, trying hard to figure out how many chains were left. Her little brows were furrowed, and she was muttering to herself, but she just couldn't figure it out. She looked cute and funny.

Lin Feng looked on in astonishment and blurted out, "Both arm chains are fully open?!"

Doesn't that mean those logs rolling in the mud can no longer do anything to you?

These words were like a spark, instantly igniting Gu Yang's long-suppressed desire for revenge.

His eyes suddenly lit up, a "vicious" smile appeared on his face, and he rubbed his hands together, saying:

"That's right! We've been tormented by those broken logs for so long, it's only fair that we get our revenge! You wait here, I'm going to test the results now!"

After saying that, he leaped off the bank and landed steadily in the still sticky and heavy mud, splashing up a cloud of mud.

He raised his head and arrogantly shouted at the old turtle on the shore, "Senior Turtle! Don't be shy, throw down a couple of logs! Let me test the power of these new arms!"

Hu Qing and Xiao Zi exchanged a helpless glance, walked to the shore, squatted down, and prepared to watch the show.

Lin Feng, always eager for chaos, urged from the sidelines: "Brother Gu! One stick isn't enough to show your prowess! Let the seniors have a few more! Hit hard, don't lose face!"

The old tortoise looked down at Gu Yang, who was eager to try, and slowly curled up a dangerous, calculating smile.

Hu Qing and Xiao Zi on the shore could clearly see this expression. The two of them shivered involuntarily and silently mourned for Gu Yang for a second.

Unfortunately, Gu Yang, with his back to the old tortoise in the mud, was completely unaware of what he was about to face, and was still excitedly moving his wrists and ankles.

Seeing that Gu Yang was ready, the old tortoise didn't waste any words and gently moved his fingers hidden in his sleeve.

"Gululu..."

The mud downstream of the swamp began to roll unusually.

The next moment, a dark log, like a cannonball, came crashing down on Gu Yang's head with a dull thud!

Gu Yang neither dodged nor evaded, a glint of light flashed in his eyes, he clenched his right fist, and the muscles of his arm, which had just broken through and was surging with power, instantly tensed up. He then threw a fierce punch at the rolling log!

"Pfft!"

A strange, muffled thud! The expected violent collision did not occur. The incredibly hard log was pierced straight through by Gu Yang's fist as easily as piercing tofu!

With a burst of punching power, the entire log shattered into countless pieces, flying everywhere!

Gu Yang casually tossed the half-wood hanging from his arm onto the shore, feeling the surging power in his arms. He couldn't help but laugh loudly, feeling smug and triumphant.

However, his laughter stopped abruptly less than two seconds later, and his expression changed drastically!

Upstream, instead of single or double logs, there was a dense, dark mass!

A dozen or so logs, like an out-of-control raft, crashed down with a deafening roar, carrying the force to crush everything in their path!

"Senior Turtle! You can't take a joke! You ambushed us! And you ganged up on us!" Gu Yang yelled angrily, his voice trembling.

Despite his cursing, he didn't slow down his work.

His strength after the breakthrough was indeed extraordinary. Facing the torrent of rolling logs, he used punches and palms, blocked and deflected them, his body twisting and turning in the mud.

They either smashed or deflected the rolling logs, and if they couldn't avoid them, they used skillful footwork to dodge them.

In an instant, they actually managed to fight their way through the raging "wooden formation," and although they were in a sorry state, they were not directly hit.

Having barely survived the attack, Gu Yang stood panting in the middle of the mud pit, about to flash a victorious smile at Hu Qing and the others on the bank, and perhaps add a few more sarcastic remarks to the old turtle—

Mutations reborn!

"call out!"

A blurry orange shadow, moving with incredible speed, shot out of the mud beneath his feet without warning! It aimed straight for his face!

Gu Yang reacted extremely quickly, almost instinctively throwing another punch!

"clang!!"

This time, instead of the dull thud of wood breaking, there was a crisp, clear sound, like the clash of metal!

A shock force several times stronger than before came from his fist, making his entire arm go numb!

He looked closely and was horrified—this was no longer wood.

This is clearly a log made entirely of some kind of orange-yellow rock crystals! Its hardness far surpasses that of the previous ironwood!

Gu Yang hardened his heart and was about to add more force to completely smash the stone and wood...

But at the most critical moment when his old strength had just gone and his new strength was about to be born, the properties of the mud beneath his feet suddenly changed!

Originally just heavy and viscous, it suddenly gained extremely strong adsorption and retardation power, as if it had instantly turned into the thickest glue!

The power he had gathered was suddenly halted and depleted by this unexpected change, causing his foot to slip and his point of leverage to be lost in an instant!

"Boom!!!"

A heavy muffled sound!

The log made of rock crystals slammed solidly into his chest, which was wide open as he lost his balance!

"puff--"

Gu Yang couldn't catch his breath and was thrown backward by the force of the impact, leaving a long trail in the mud before finally coming to a stop, lying sprawled out in the mud.

He gazed at the few stars that had just appeared in the sky, which seemed to be mocking him, his eyes filled with a despair that made him feel utterly hopeless.

On the shore, all was silent.

Hu Qing and Xiao Zi silently covered their faces.

The old tortoise slowly sipped its tea, as if nothing had happened.