Chapter 575: Chapter 357: Thousand Illusions

Xu Yang sat down on the futon and began to comprehend the complete Formless Thousand Illusion Skill.

This Cultivation Technique was exactly as the old man described; it indeed possessed the ability of Concealing Breath and altering one’s physical appearance.

Compared to the Breath Concealment Skill he had bought in the black market, it was countless times superior. At the Entry Realm, one could already control their flesh and blood to change their appearance and conceal their aura.

At the Minor Achievement Realm, this ability was further elevated. Concealing Breath was no longer simply hiding one’s entire Cultivation; rather, one could display a specific level of Cultivation to outsiders as needed.

His actual Cultivation was currently at the Celestial Essence Second Layer, but his current Breath Concealment Skill crudely hid everything. When others saw him looking like an ordinary person, they would naturally know he was hiding his true strength.

The Minor Achievement Realm of the Formless Thousand Illusion Skill was different. He could outwardly display a Celestial Essence First Layer Cultivation, or even a Bone Marrow Cleansing Cultivation. It was much more practical.

As for altering appearances, reaching the Minor Achievement Realm not only allowed one to change their facial features but also adjust aspects like their height.

At the Great Success Realm, the disguise capabilities became even more profound, allowing control over the growth of facial hair and head hair. In terms of Concealing Breath, one could even imitate the aura of others.

The Perfection Realm was the true Formless Thousand Illusions with Thousand Transformations. Even the color of Gang Yuan could be altered. Everything could be done at will.

"What a great Cultivation Technique!"

Xu Yang marveled. This Formless Thousand Illusion Skill was practically an essential tool for assassination. With this Cultivation Technique, many things would become much easier to accomplish.

[Formless Thousand Illusion Skill: Uninitiated (0/300)]

Glancing at the interface, Xu Yang did not leave immediately. He continued to comprehend the Formless Thousand Illusion Skill, and the night quickly passed.

The next day.

He withdrew his attention from the wall and looked at the prompt on the interface.

[Acquired Formless Thousand Illusion Skill, Points +100]

[Martial Arts Longevity Points: 2389]

He had gained another hundred points!

"I will practice it when I get back!"

Xu Yang stood up and walked out of the secret room. When he went down to the second floor, the old man was still sitting on the futon as usual.

"Thank you for the generous gift, Senior. I shall take my leave now!"

Regardless of whether the old man responded, Xu Yang earnestly cupped his hands in a salute before turning and heading downstairs.

Returning to his courtyard, he threw himself back into his Cultivation. He simultaneously converted his power using the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture and practiced the Formless Thousand Illusion Skill.

Two days later.

The Formless Thousand Illusion Skill finally reached the Entry Level.

Inside the Quiet Chamber, Xu Yang had a Heart Thought. His boundless power entirely retracted into his Dantian, and his vigorous Qi-Blood melded into his flesh and vanished. He looked exactly like an ordinary person.

"Let’s try the disguise ability!"

What he looked forward to the most was the disguise capability.

Although he had a human skin mask, it was fake after all. Moreover, that face was being targeted by the Fuhu Gang, so it could no longer be used.

As his muscles wriggled, Xu Yang felt a tugging sensation on his facial skin. By the time he drew the Burning Separation Saber to use as a mirror, his entire appearance had changed.

Looking at his reflection in the blade, he controlled his facial muscles and quickly transformed into Sun Tao’s likeness. After some further adjustments, even his voice became Sun Tao’s.

The only flaw was that their aura and height were different. Anyone familiar with Sun Tao would instantly know he was an imposter.

That evening.

The moment Xu Yang stepped into the dining hall, he heard the news that Sun Tao had broken through to the Celestial Essence Second Layer.

After eating, he hurried to Sun Tao’s courtyard to offer his congratulations, only to find that many people had already gathered there.

Lu Ren, Gu Qingfeng, Jiang Fan, and Ye Qiuling were present. Even Lü Fengxing and Yuan Chengji, who had little to no connection with him, had brazenly shown up.

Besides them, some students from Basic Class A were also there.

Sun Tao ranked fourteenth on the Lingyun List. Naturally, quite a few people wanted to use this opportunity to befriend him.

"Congratulations, Senior Brother Sun."

Xu Yang soon saw the glowing Sun Tao, whose tyrannical aura was still somewhat out of control for the time being.

Seeing Xu Yang arrive, he beckoned for Xu Yang to sit beside him.

"Has Brother Xu not broken through yet?" someone looked at Xu Yang curiously.

With Sun Tao’s breakthrough, only Xu Yang, Lu Ren, and Jiang Fan were left in Basic Class A who hadn’t broken through.

Jiang Fan and Lu Ren had special circumstances, which everyone knew. However, since Xu Yang was able to beat Lin Jingyu to death during the selection, it stood to reason that he should have broken through to the Celestial Essence Second Layer by now.

One had to know that by this point, even some people ranked in the forties on the Lingyun List had reached the Celestial Essence Second Layer.

Yet, he still showed no signs of progress and kept his aura completely hidden. Therefore, this person couldn’t help but ask.

Xu Yang looked over. The person speaking was Du Ziming, ranked twenty-ninth on the Lingyun List.

"I am lacking in resources and have not yet reached Perfection in the Celestial Essence First Layer, so I don’t have the qualifications to attempt the Celestial Essence Second Layer just yet," Xu Yang said, cupping his hands.

Lu Ren laughed and said, "Brother Du might not know this, but Xu Yang broke through to the Celestial Essence Realm even later than Senior Brother Sun. If he had already reached the Celestial Essence Second Layer, wouldn’t that mean his talent is even better than Senior Brother Sun’s?"

"How is that possible? When he killed Lin Jingyu, Xu Yang was much fiercer than Sun Tao. How could his Cultivation be inferior?"

Du Ziming looked at Xu Yang meaningfully. "I was even planning to challenge Brother Xu. If your Cultivation doesn’t break through, I can’t proceed with my challenge. Brother Xu, you aren’t deliberately holding back your breakthrough out of fear of being challenged, are you?"

After their Cultivation broke through to the Celestial Essence Second Layer, many people had already begun to challenge those ranked higher than them—first to prove themselves, and second to earn academic credits.

Xu Yang was ranked three spots higher than him, so he had his eyes set on Xu Yang.

Of course, the main reason was that Xu Yang’s reputation was great enough. Xu Yang’s killing of Lin Jingyu had caused a sensation throughout Yunzhou City. If he could defeat Xu Yang, he could instantly step on Xu Yang’s reputation to rise in status.

As for Xu Yang’s feat of killing Lin Jingyu, in his eyes, Xu Yang only succeeded because he was a few years older than Lin Jingyu. If he had been in Xu Yang’s place, he was confident he could have killed Lin Jingyu as well.

In fact, it wasn’t just him; many people felt that Lin Jingyu died an unjust death. Given a bit more time, Lin Jingyu could have suppressed and killed Xu Yang with a single hand. However, simply because he was younger, he could only die with resentment at Xu Yang’s hands.

Instantly, many people also looked toward Xu Yang, feeling that Du Ziming had a point. Xu Yang’s reputation was too vast. To maintain it, the only method was to avoid fighting altogether.

Once the Lingyun List rankings were abolished after some time, no one would challenge him anymore.

"If Brother Du thinks so, then let it be," Xu Yang smiled.

He generally never bothered arguing with idiots unless he couldn’t hold himself back. Since Sun Tao broke through today, he happened to be in a good mood.

"Brother Du, Brother Jiang, Senior Sister Ye, and my senior brother are all witnesses to this matter. It can’t be fake," Lu Ren chimed in, rarely speaking up on Xu Yang’s behalf.

Although Du Ziming still harbored doubts, he was here today to congratulate Sun Tao and couldn’t really afford to have a complete fallout with Xu Yang here.

The group then shifted to discussing other topics.

"Oh right, I heard today that Tu Gang has already applied to Teacher Jin Yu to challenge Lu Wei," Du Ziming suddenly said, as if remembering something.

The moment these words came out, everyone turned to look at him.

"Wasn’t he going to challenge a Spirit Bone Celestial Pride? Why did it change to challenging Lu Wei?" Sun Tao asked in surprise.

Back in the classroom, Tu Gang had loudly proclaimed that once he broke through to the Celestial Essence Second Layer, he would challenge the Spirit Bone Celestial Pride Duan Ming.

Gu Qingfeng chuckled. "Back then, it was probably the fearlessness of the ignorant. Now, he must have realized the gap between himself and the Spirit Bone Celestial Prides, so he gave up."

Tu Gang wasn’t the only one who wanted to challenge a Spirit Bone Celestial Pride back then. Everyone was a genius; who would ever believe they were weaker than anyone else?

However, after this group of geniuses recently obtained Spirit Bone Techniques to practice, they finally understood how terrifying the Spirit Bone Celestial Prides truly were. Leaving aside the gap in innate talent, even their Cultivation Techniques were not as exquisite as the other party’s. What could they possibly use to fight a Spirit Bone Celestial Pride?

Not to mention the fact that they hadn’t even successfully learned a Spirit Bone Technique yet. Even if they had, they would need to practice it for at least half a year to a year to release their potential. Only then would they have the confidence to contend with a Spirit Bone Celestial Pride.

"That must be it. I had similar thoughts before, but now I understand the disparity between myself and the Spirit Bone Celestial Prides," Sun Tao smiled bitterly.

He had not chosen a Spirit Bone Technique, but rather a powerful Cultivation Technique comparable to one. It was through this Cultivation Technique that he discovered exactly what made the Spirit Bone Celestial Prides so fearsome.

"Has no one mastered a Spirit Bone Technique yet?" Xu Yang asked curiously.

He had heard that quite a few people chose Spirit Bone Techniques, but so far, there hadn’t been a whisper about anyone actually succeeding in mastering one.

"How could a Spirit Bone Technique be so easy to learn? If it could be mastered in ten days or half a month, Teacher Jin Yu wouldn’t have refrained from setting a time limit," Gu Qingfeng sighed.

"Has Brother Gu also failed to master it?" Xu Yang asked.

He recalled that Gu Qingfeng seemed to have chosen a Spirit Bone Technique as well.

Gu Qingfeng shook his head. "Never mind me, even Lu Wei and Tu Gang haven’t mastered it."

Xu Yang was taken aback. He hadn’t expected that even Lu Wei and Tu Gang had failed to master a Spirit Bone Technique. Yet, it had only taken him a dozen days or so to reach the Entry Level of the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture.

Xu Yang wondered if the previous assessment of Lu Wei possessing Wisdom and Root Bone Dual Perfection was a mistake.

Logically speaking, Lu Wei’s talent shouldn’t be inferior to his. Since he had managed to master the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture, Lu Wei shouldn’t have failed unless his talent was actually lacking in comparison.

"Wait, that’s not right!"

Xu Yang quickly realized that it wasn’t a misjudgment. Rather, he had overlooked his own Root Bone.

Although the interface still classified his Root Bone as Perfection Level, the reality was that over the past year or so, he had spent a total of six or seven thousand points to upgrade it.

His Root Bone was actually infinitely close to the Spirit Bone tier, far surpassing an ordinary Root Bone Perfection.

"If I had known earlier, I wouldn’t have chosen a Spirit Bone Technique and competed with those Spirit Bone Celestial Prides. I assume it’s the same for you, Brother Xu?" Gu Qingfeng said.

He was already regretting his choice of a Spirit Bone Technique.

It wasn’t that he was unaware of Mortal Bone Cultivation Techniques that could rival Spirit Bone Techniques; he simply wanted to compete with the Spirit Bone Celestial Prides. He had also chosen the Spirit Bone Technique for the academic credit reward promised by Jin Yu.

However, more than a month had passed. Even though he had thoroughly comprehended the Spirit Bone Technique, he was unable to reach the Entry Level. Regret had already crept into his heart.

Xu Yang "smiled bitterly" and said, "I was too impulsive back then. Spirit Bone Techniques simply cannot be mastered by a Mortal Bone. I don’t have much hope left. But if Brother Gu persists, there should still be a chance."

"Who told you to overestimate your own capabilities? Jiang Fan even advised against it back then," Lu Ren said, gloating slightly.

Having known Xu Yang for so long, this was his first time seeing this usually unflappable guy face a setback, and he couldn’t help but revert to his old nature.

Gu Qingfeng nodded. "The Cultivation Technique has been chosen, so I can only follow this path to the bitter end. I’ll just treat it as killing time."

Night fell, and the crowd dispersed.

"In a few more days, the power conversion will be complete."

Returning to his courtyard, Xu Yang once again immersed himself in practicing the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture. Only when the power conversion was finished would his transition to the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture be complete, allowing him to continue advancing his Cultivation.

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