Seven days later.
Inside Li Xun's room, he sat upright in a wooden barrel, his eyes slowly opening. A wave of spiritual sense, almost tangible, swept outwards, encompassing the entire area.
This spiritual sense was overwhelmingly terrifying.
Nearby Profound Sun Sect disciples, before even realizing what had happened, were forced to the ground with a thud. By the time they recovered, the oppressive spiritual sense had already vanished without a trace, as if everything moments ago was merely an illusion.
"Finally, I've reached the minor completion level in the Great Yan Divine Technique," Li Xun murmured softly to himself.
Seven days had been enough for him to barely achieve minor completion on the Great Yan Divine Technique. This was an impressive speed, especially since he wasn't solely focused on cultivating this technique.
In addition to that, he had brought the Six Path Heaven Tyrant Fist to the minor completion level, and the Jade and Golden Glaze Technique to a level just shy of major completion.
The rapid advancement in the Jade and Golden Glaze Technique was mainly due to a visit to the Myriad Treasures Pavilion in Zhen Tian City. After spending a hefty 2,000 high-grade spirit stones, he had forced the technique to its current level.
With a splash, Li Xun stood up from the barrel.
His entire body shimmered, radiant with divine flames, as if forged from pure gold. His very being exuded an intense power, and even his hair gleamed with a golden light.
It was as though a golden divine flame danced around him, and the aura he emitted was akin to that of an awakened deity. Golden blood energy surged to the skies, radiating a terrifying, kingly might that was unrivaled.
"My current strength is about 30% stronger than before," Li Xun muttered.
Do not underestimate this 30% increase.
Li Xun had already been among the forefront of his peers. This additional boost in strength, once known, would surely plunge others into despair.
"It's thanks to the body refinement technique that Ye Han gave me," Li Xun said with a chuckle.
His past efforts had not been in vain. At a critical moment, Ye Han had gifted him a High-grade Earth body refinement technique.
In the future, if he could obtain a Technique Advancement Token for body refinement techniques, he might consider upgrading this technique to a High-grade Heaven one.
A High-grade Earth body refinement technique was already this powerful—what level of strength would a High-grade Heaven technique bring? The thought was almost unimaginable.
"With my current strength, there shouldn't be many who can rival me in the Phoenix Origin Secret Realm this time," Li Xun thought to himself.
As this thought crossed his mind, a Profound Sun Sect disciple arrived at his door.
The disciple's face was pale—not from injury but from sheer fright. Earlier, as he approached the door, an overwhelming, divine pressure had suddenly emanated from within Li Xun's room, forcing him to the ground in an instant.
It took him a long while to recover.
Although uninjured, the oppressive force left him shaken. Fortunately, he knew his senior brother wouldn't harm him. Otherwise, he might have fled in terror.
Steadying himself, the disciple called out, "Senior Brother Li Xun, are you here? Elder Xie sent me to invite you over. He has important matters to discuss."
"Understood," Li Xun replied from within the room.
Not long after, Li Xun stepped out.
Clad in a light purple robe, he appeared calm and refined, showing no trace of the overwhelming spiritual sense he had unleashed earlier that had suppressed the entire Profound Sun Sect.
Today marked the opening of the Phoenix Origin Secret Realm.
At this moment, Elder Xie likely wanted to remind him of matters related to the secret realm.
After meeting with Elder Xie, the two spoke for about fifteen minutes.
As expected, Elder Xie's instructions were indeed about matters to be mindful of within the Phoenix Origin Secret Realm.
Additionally, Elder Xie took a moment to advise him to pay closer attention to the Profound Sun Sect disciples' affairs.
After all, the Phoenix Origin Secret Realm is fraught with danger. It contains not only ferocious beasts but also disciples from other sects. If someone harbored ill intent and made a move within the secret realm, it would be nearly impossible for Profound Sun Sect to investigate.
Surely the Great Zhou Empire wouldn't reopen the secret realm just for Profound Sun Sect to search for clues, right? Who knows whether those entering the secret realm would truly seek answers or merely chase opportunities?
After delivering his instructions, Elder Xie summoned the disciples qualified to participate in the Phoenix Origin Secret Realm expedition. The group was small—just thirteen people, including Li Xun.
Compared to other sects, this number was neither impressive nor disappointing.
The group of a dozen or so disciples stood on a flying spiritual treasure. Elder Xie stood at the forefront, pointing forward as a stream of light entered the treasure.
In an instant, the disc-shaped treasure transformed into a radiant sun, breaking through the skies as it headed outside Zhen Tian City.
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The Phoenix Origin Secret Realm was not located within Zhen Tian City but rather 3,000 miles to the east.
After roughly half an hour, Li Xun and his party arrived at a vast wilderness of uncharted mountains. These nameless peaks, situated so close to Zhen Tian City, were almost devoid of even Body Refinement-level beasts.
On ordinary days, few cultivators could be found here. But today was different.
The area was occupied by tens of thousands of elite soldiers from the Great Zhou Empire. Each soldier was clad in armor, their blood and vitality surging like dragons.
The soldiers, like countless stars in the sky, surrounded a single valley.
Within the valley, the other sects had already arrived. Profound Sun Sect was the last to make an appearance.
As soon as the Profound Sun Sect group arrived, all eyes turned toward them.
Some expressions were cold and indifferent, others warm and welcoming, while still others remained entirely impassive.
The Third Princess of Great Zhou, dressed in an elegant white palace gown, exuded nobility and grace. When her gaze landed on Li Xun, she smiled faintly and gave him a small nod, acknowledging his presence.
Behind her stood a figure shrouded in divine light, her expression puzzled as she observed the Third Princess greeting someone.
This figure was none other than Qin Xueyi.
Following the Third Princess's gaze, Qin Xueyi looked in the same direction. Her heart stirred.
He's here after all!
The first time she met Li Xun, his strength had already reached the peak of the Spirit Meridian Realm, just a step away from the Profound Elixir Realm.
It didn't surprise her that Li Xun had come. What did surprise her was his current role.
She remembered that in her previous life, Profound Sun Sect had indeed participated in the Phoenix Origin Secret Realm, but their outcome was miserable.
At that time, the sect didn't even send a proper leader; their strongest member was merely at the peak of the Spirit Meridian Realm.
As a result, Profound Sun Sect was humiliated within the secret realm, bullied by other sects, and ultimately gained nothing. Worse, they lost several promising disciples.
But this time was different.
This time, Li Xun had become the leader of Profound Sun Sect, elevating the sect to a position of great attention and prominence.
It was astonishing.
What puzzled Qin Xueyi even more was the sight she had just witnessed: Was the Third Princess greeting Li Xun?
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