Zhou Xinqiu's palm slammed straight into the white panther's chest. Both of the ethereal like beings collided into each other at frightening speeds before being knocked back. The white panther was only pushed back a few steps, but Zhou Xinqiu was knocked all the way back into a tree. However, around Zhou Xinqiu was a golden aura of overflowing Qi.
"Huo Mingliang, Lan Lei, she is about to breakthrough. We have to stall the panther's advance without her for now." Yu Qingsu saw Zhou Xinqiu in that state and spoke.
"I know" Huo Mingliang nodded and Lan Lei did as well. All three of them faced the panther alone, standing in between Zhou Xinqiu and the panther.
Zhou Xinqiu sat down in the cross legged position and closed her eyes as her aura began to expand. "Xinqiu, the demonic unification is ready. After the breakthrough, unify yourself with the divine halo and use the resulting energy on the panther to kill it." Qin gong advised.
"en" Zhou Xinqiu's hair flew in the wind as her aura steadily rose higher and higher before the golden energy finally ceased emanating from her body for a slight second just before a gold shockwave erupted outwards with her as the center. She stood up looking at the panther and the others who were in a sorry state. Using the corporeal stride of the white tiger, she once more approached the tiger moving from side to side barely being able to be seen by the naked eye. A purple-gold halo appeared above her head and a devious power could be felt from it. She grabbed the halo with her now bloody hand which interacted with the halo turning it completely dark red.
"Step back" Zhou Xinqiu ominously said before she pulled the halo down, struggling to bring it onto her head. Her eyes changed to being now completely black and void of any feeling of life. The halo was completely absorbed into her body and the energy within the halo wriggled around in her veins, nourishing every part of her body before trying to find a way to escape. Her facial features became even more crisp and beautiful. Some of the energy went to her back where it pushed out to form wings while the remaining energy gathered in her core to make a final push to escape her body.
A smirk appeared on her face as she looked at the angry panther. Right then, she rose into the air and a great beam of red demonic power exploded out from her body and smashed onto the panther knocking its head completely off of its body and disintegrating it into nothing.
"Ah.. This…" Lan Lei looked up in shock.
Zhou Xinqiu floated back to the ground where her wings disappeared and her eyes changed back to normal. However, her body and face were permanently changed and she had even already reached the peak of the second stage of Qi circulation just after breaking through to the second stage moments ago. She turned around and smiled innocently at the group to which Huo mingliang and the others began laughing and discussing what had just happened.
—-
"Alright, now that we are all safe, the rest of the journey to the capital shouldn't take any longer than a day. I gathered some intel that the monthly entrance examination of the academies will end in 3 days which means we must get there soon and participate in the exam." Yu Qingsu shared with the group what she had found in the nearby village that they had reached recently.
"My father said that if need be we can all attend the great mountain academy without having to take any exam since he knows the headmaster there personally" Zhou Xinqiu said.
"Hmm the great mountain academy is ok but if we.. or rather you want any progress in your cultivation then you will have to attend one of the top schools in the capital. As far as I know from how it was back then, the top two schools are the Royal Yan Academy and the Ziwei (Emperor Star) Academy. I believe the great mountain academy ranks somewhere in the 25th-30th range." Huo Mingliang explained to the others.
"The royal yan academy must be set up by the dynasty right?" Yu Qingsu asked.
"Yes, the Royal Yan Academy was created by the current dynastic ruler and the Emperor Star Academy was established by the previous rulers of this land, the Ziwei imperial clan. Although the Royal Yan Academy is ranked first, the Ziwei Academy is pretty much equal in power to them and is more often than not treated like a sovereign power in the dynasty."
"Ziwei imperial clan? Are they still around?" Zhou Xinqiu thought out loud.
"The Ziwei imperial clan of this area was actually a branch clan of a much greater power located somewhere else in the world.. although I don't know much about that power, it's said that some inheritance knowledge of that power still lives on in the Emperor Star Academy."
"Oh I see! It seems interesting! Haha I wonder how the Yan dynasty managed to take over." Zhou Xinqiu asked before standing up. "We should get going now unless we want to miss the entrance examination. Thank you for sharing about the academies with us Huo mingliang."
"No problem. Let's leave now"
—-
After a few more hours of traveling, the group finally reached a huge gate made of marble and limestone which was surrounded by many soldiers who guarded each entrance point into the city.
"Looks like we finally made it!" Yu Ling grinned at the sight and took a deep breath.
"Sirs we are here to take the entrance examination please!" Zhou Xinqiu smiled and asked the guards.
"Right this way young men and women. Please follow me to the examination area." The soldier nodded and walked into the city while the group of five followed behind anxiously waiting to see what they were getting themselves into.