Crossing the Cultivation Realm: Two Souls Coexist

The old tortoise looked at Gu Yang in its hands, who was half-dead from being tormented but still stubbornly arguing.

He shook his head irritably, stretched out his rough, tree-bark-like forepaw, and slapped Gu Yang's back twice, neither too hard nor too softly.

"Well--!"

Gu Yang let out a muffled groan, his face turning from white to red and then quickly turning deathly pale.

He was already suffering from reversed blood flow and damaged meridians due to the attack of that strange golden ball, and his spiritual energy was in complete chaos. He was barely holding on by sheer willpower.

The old tortoise's two seemingly casual slaps actually struck several key points on his vital energy points, instantly disrupting the fragile balance he was maintaining within his body!

A sharp pain, like being stabbed by a thousand needles, suddenly erupted from the meridians of my limbs and bones!

Gu Yang felt all his strength drain away in an instant, and he couldn't even lift a finger.

His body went completely limp, like a rag doll whose bones had been removed, lying limply in the old turtle's hand.

Completely at their mercy, they didn't even have the strength to curse; all they could do was furrow their brows in pain and gasp for breath.

Seeing this, Hu Qing quickly stepped forward, carefully took the limp Gu Yang from the old tortoise's claws, and helped him sit on a relatively clean rock.

Seeing Gu Yang's miserable state, Hu Qing felt both heartache and helplessness, and whispered:

"Serves you right for always being disrespectful and outspoken with your seniors. Now you're paying the price, aren't you?"

Gu Yang leaned against the rock and took a while to catch his breath before swallowing with difficulty; his throat was dry and sore.

He recalled the terrifying experience, still shaken, and asked with deep confusion:

"Senior... what exactly was that last thing? It was so... so eerie! There was no way to avoid it, no way to defend against it! It seemed to... only bomb the area around me?"

The old tortoise, with its claws folded behind its back and its head raised, adopted the air of a reclusive sage. It shook its massive head and slowly said:

"Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed. If we tell you everything in advance, what's the point of this training?"

Besides, I... did give you a hint.

"hint?"

Hu Qing and Gu Yang were both taken aback, looked at each other, and began frantically searching their memories.

These past few days have been nothing but getting beaten up and climbing mountains. I've been so exhausted that I'm completely disoriented and can't remember any hints at all.

Gu Yang frowned, enduring the throbbing pain in his meridians, and tried hard to recall.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him, like a lightning bolt streaking across the night, and he exclaimed:

"You... the hint you're talking about, could it be that sudden gust of wind that appeared out of nowhere and ambushed me before I stepped onto that step?!"

“That’s right!” A hint of approval, or rather amusement, appeared in the old turtle’s green bean eyes. “He’s not too stupid; he can make the connection.”

Upon hearing this, Gu Yang nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. His face instantly turned from white to ashen. Ignoring the pain in his meridians, he raised his voice eight octaves and angrily cursed:

"What kind of hint is this?! It's no different from nothing! I thought you were senile, or just bored and using a broken gale that's long since stopped working on us to annoy and interfere with my ascent..."

"Snapped!"

Before he could finish speaking, he received another sharp slap on the forehead from the old tortoise, the sound crisp and clear.

The old tortoise glanced at him sideways, its eyes filled with a threatening tone that seemed to say, "If you keep talking so recklessly, believe me, I'll really spin you around like a top for another three days."

Hu Qing thought a little deeper than Gu Yang, combining the old tortoise's previous statement that "Golden Fiend Tempering Body Wind" could strengthen the physical body.

Considering the color of the golden sphere and the timing of its appearance, a thought struck him, and he tentatively asked:

"Senior, could it be... that golden sphere of light, like the previous gale, although the attack method is different, is essentially also a kind of... tempering?"

Or perhaps, another form of 'enhancement'?

Upon hearing this, the old tortoise's inscrutable expression was instantly replaced by a strange look.

It didn't answer directly, but a smile, a sinister and gloating curve, appeared at the corner of its mouth.

Upon hearing Hu Qing's guess, Gu Yang mustered his spirits, endured his discomfort, and began to carefully examine his own body.

The flow of spiritual energy was sluggish and obstructed, the meridians ached faintly, and the muscles and bones felt sore and weak from overexertion...

Not only did I not sense any signs of "enhancement," on the contrary...

“Something’s not right…” Gu Yang’s expression became extremely strange, with a hint of confusion and uncertainty.

"Why do I feel... not only have I not gotten stronger, but... I seem to be even weaker? I feel like... I've been hollowed out?"

"Weak? No way?" Hu Qing was also taken aback. He hadn't been directly hit by the golden ball, so he couldn't experience it firsthand.

But judging from Gu Yang's listless appearance and pale complexion, it didn't seem like he was faking it.

The old tortoise standing nearby finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.

But he quickly forced a serious expression, cleared his throat as if to sound solemn, and said earnestly, "Weak? That's right!"

Seeing the two people's confused and uneasy eyes, it slowly explained:

"Next, from where you are now to the top of the mountain, the last ten steps... each step could trigger the 'Sealing Spirit Golden Fiend Ball' attack we just saw."

Moreover, the most troublesome aspect of this golden sphere is not only its concentrated explosive power, but also the fact that the energy it releases upon explosion has an extremely strong 'spiritual energy sealing' effect!

"Spiritual energy sealing?!" Hu Qing and Gu Yang gasped simultaneously.

“That’s right.” The old tortoise nodded, his tone lighthearted, as if he were enjoying watching a good show.

"If you are hit by these golden orbs repeatedly, or if you expend too much energy defending against them, your spiritual power will be continuously suppressed and sealed... until the very end..."

It deliberately dragged out its words, enjoying the increasingly unpleasant expressions on their faces, before slowly saying:

"Perhaps... they really will be temporarily suppressed into 'mortals' who have a powerful physical body but can't use any spiritual power at all."

"Become...a mortal?! How can I possibly reach the summit then?!"

Gu Yang cried out in disbelief.

Unable to use spiritual power, relying solely on a physical body nearly crushed by the immense pressure, to climb the final steps with ten times the pressure and the deadly golden ball attack? That's simply a fantasy!

Hu Qing's throat also felt dry, and he asked with difficulty, "Senior... is... is this even possible?"

The old tortoise shrugged nonchalantly, his tone as casual as if he were discussing what to eat for dinner:

"That's none of my business. I've wasted enough time in the East China Sea, and there's a mess in the West that I still have to clean up."

It paused, looked at Hu Qing and Gu Yang, and the previous playfulness in its eyes was gone, replaced by a rare seriousness:

"I will give you two more days at most. If you can overcome this final hurdle and successfully reach the summit within two days, you will have passed my test."

His cultivation should be able to break through to the peak of the Transcendent Realm. If not…

It didn't finish speaking, but the meaning was already very clear.

"That only means that you are not yet qualified or mentally prepared to undertake more important missions. For the subsequent missions in the Central Region, we may have to find someone more capable."

After saying that, it ignored the two people whose expressions were constantly changing, humming its never-ending but inexplicably cheerful little tune, and slowly swayed away from the training ground.

Hu Qing and Gu Yang were left behind, gazing at the solitary peak that soared into the clouds, its last ten steps disappearing into the mist.

They looked at each other, their hearts heavy with unprecedented pressure and confusion.