Chapter 132: Extraordinary Powerhouses Across the World

In the bedroom, Li Yunfei sat cross-legged on his bed alone. The Bone Spirit Banner floated in the air before him as he continuously channeled incantations into the staff, a trace of his soul imprint gradually merging with the artifact.

Once the refining process was nearly complete, he used a Soul Pill as an aid, pushing the soul imprint within the banner to maturity without needing the usual forty-nine days of nourishment. From this moment on, the Bone Spirit Banner was completely under his control. His 260,000 skeleton warriors had effectively become his private army—a legion of the undead that he could carry with him at all times.

After finishing the refinement, Li Yunfei opened his system interface to check the changes brought about by reaching level 50 and entering the Golden Core stage.

First, the system storage had expanded from 100 cubic meters to 200. It seemed that once the storage merged into a complete space, it would expand by a certain amount each time he reached a major new realm. Whether it doubled or simply added another 100 cubic meters remained to be seen; he would have to reach the next major realm to clarify. If it was an addition of 100, then upon entering the Nascent Soul stage, it would become 300 cubic meters; if it doubled, it would be 400.

Next, he turned to his character attribute panel. His four-dimensional attributes had also changed. Upon entering the Golden Core stage, both his and Honghong's four-dimensional attributes had vanished, replaced by the same format used by the skeleton warriors.

His current stats were: Physical Strength 215 (5), Soul Strength 153 (3). His composite physical strength was 43 times that of an ordinary person, and his composite soul strength was 51 times that of an ordinary person. It seemed that the breakthrough to the Golden Core stage, with its massive infusion of heavenly spiritual energy, had tempered his body and soul once more, leading to a significant increase.

He could now command 41 super skeleton warriors. He immediately purchased 23 Bone Spirit Emblems from the system store and cast them into the banner. Following this, he used the system to equip them with Qi-Armor, Crescent Moon Blades, and Purple Gold Hammers, and ensured they were fully fed with all four types of spiritual pills. This single transaction cost about 78,000 grams of spirit stones, but to Li Yunfei, it was still a drop in the ocean.

Honghong's current stats were: Physical Strength 232 (5), Soul Strength 136 (3). Her composite physical strength was 46 times that of an ordinary human, slightly stronger than Li Yunfei's, primarily in agility. However, her composite soul strength was only 45 times that of an ordinary person, far inferior to his.

Level 50 newly unlocked talent skill: Flame Tail Avatar.

Flame Tail Avatar: Each tail can manifest an external avatar. Every Flame Tail Avatar possesses the same cultivation level as the main body and masters all its abilities. The main body can switch places with any avatar at any time, and each avatar can become the main body. In other words, each tail represents one life. If an avatar dies, one tail is lost, and the main body’s cultivation level regresses by one major stage.

Li Yunfei was struck with wonder; this talent skill was incredibly overpowered. No wonder it was said that a nine-tailed fox has nine lives—it turned out that each tail represented a life. Furthermore, when Honghong used this technique, her four tails plus her main body meant that one Honghong became five. That was five Golden Core grand cultivators of undiminished strength, all sharing a single mind and coordinating perfectly. They could easily gang up and beat the current strongest, Ziwei, to death. Even he himself would likely be no match for five Honghongs; it would take at least eight to ten experts of the same level to deal with her.

In other words, Honghong was truly the number one expert in the world today. It was indeed a brilliant decision not to let her switch to practicing Taoist methods. He wondered what other heaven-defying talent skills she would unlock in the future.

After marveling for a while, Li Yunfei looked at the stats of his super skeleton warriors: Level 47, Body Strength 149 (5), Soul Strength 77 (3). Although their level was only equivalent to a "True Intent" realm martial artist, their physical and soul strength were nearly on par with an "Invincible" realm martial artist, as the four-dimensional attribute pills had increased their strength by a full tenfold. Most importantly, he possessed forty-one of them.

Summing up the power of his small team—six Golden Core grand cultivators, 41 warriors equivalent to the Invincible realm, and powerful magical artifacts—this strength was enough to crush the entire Zixiao organization. Li Yunfei could now say that the power he held was the greatest in the world; he could go anywhere he pleased. As long as he didn't fall into a powerful formation, no one could hold him back.

Taking a deep breath, Li Yunfei calmed his emotions, warning himself not to become arrogant. After all, this was the strength he possessed, not his own personal power. He still needed to continue his studies; currently, his combat methods were somewhat lacking. He would go find Yingzi to learn the Qingcheng Sword Technique, then later ask Ziwei for techniques and sword manuals from other sects.

Zixiao was different from traditional sects; it had no sectarian prejudice. Every sect contributed its own unique techniques, and any Zixiao member could study the methods of other sects. However, there was no end to learning, and the unique techniques of any single sect were enough for a disciple to study for a lifetime. Therefore, disciples of the major sects rarely studied the techniques of others, viewing them at most as references. They understood better than the "Academy faction" that one shouldn't bite off more than one can chew. If they could master their own school's arts, that was already enough; how could they have the energy to learn the methods of others? In fact, the major sects contributed their techniques primarily for the benefit of the Academy faction. The Academy faction consisted of talents cultivated by the state; regardless of which sect's techniques they practiced, it had nothing to do with those sects—they belonged only to the state.

Li Yunfei rolled off the bed, purchased 1,000 spirit bamboo shoots to prepare several days' worth of rations for A-Bao and Xiao-Bei, and then headed out. Zhang Ziying was practicing in the living room with Honghong; hearing the door open, they both stopped and stood up.

Li Yunfei proposed to Zhang Ziying that he wanted to learn the Qingcheng Sword Technique from her. Zhang Ziying laughed bitterly and said, "Learning from me is not as good as finding He Ming! I've only learned some martial arts forms; He Ming is the one who understands the true Qingcheng Sword Technique."

Li Yunfei stroked her face and smiled, "It’s fine, we’ll take it step by step. My close-quarters combat is also a weakness. From the beginning, I planned to cultivate both martial arts and magic. It's not too late to learn martial arts first and then the methods of the sword immortals."

Seeing this, Zhang Ziying did not refuse. "Alright then. I practice the Eight Immortals Sword Technique; its power is quite decent. Let's find an open space."

Honghong chirped excitedly, "I want to learn too!"

Li Yunfei smiled and ruffled her hair, "Fine, let's learn together."

The three arrived at the open space outside the helipad in the camp area. Li Yunfei took out two Blood-Thirst Flying Swords and handed one to Zhang Ziying, while Honghong summoned her own from within her body.

Zhang Ziying took the flying sword, stepped forward, and assumed a stance. "Let's begin! Watch closely. The first form: Immortal Raises the Robe."

As Zhang Ziying demonstrated, she recited the incantation: "The Immortal raises the robe to strike, follow the momentum to pull the sword back. Xiangzi plays the flute to seize the center, blocking left and warding right, no worries in sight..."

Li Yunfei and Honghong enveloped Zhang Ziying with their spiritual sense, observing every detail of her movements clearly, and immediately began to mimic her.

...

"Honghong, add more fire."

"Whoosh."

By evening, piles of bonfires had been lit in the hundreds of meters of open space between the Iron Siege City and the camp. The army soldiers, organized by squad, were grilling around their respective fires. They were roasting pork, beef, and mutton, along with vegetables like potatoes, eggplants, and chives, and each person was given a large bottle of fruit juice. There was no help for it; soldiers were not allowed to drink alcohol, so they had to make do with juice for the victory celebration.

In one area, the members of the Zixiao Heaven Group were gathered. It was a bit like the "Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each showing their own magic." They were also roasting meat, but they were using the monster meat provided by Li Yunfei, which was naturally different from what the ordinary soldiers had.

Ordinary soldiers, lacking cultivation, could not refine monster meat and were prone to being overwhelmed or even exploding from the immense spiritual energy and blood qi contained within. Thus, they could only eat ordinary meat roasted over firewood.

Monster meat, however, could not be roasted over ordinary firewood. Firstly, given the density and quality of monster meat, ordinary flames couldn't cook it through in a short time. Secondly, the mundane smoke from ordinary wood would cause the spiritual energy in the monster meat to dissipate rapidly, leading to a loss of blood qi and a decrease in quality. Therefore, monster meat had to be roasted using spiritual fire manifested from spiritual power. This not only preserved the quality but could even enhance it.

To use firewood for monster meat, one would need to use spiritual materials as fuel, but who would be willing to burn such things? That would be the equivalent of lighting a cigarette with a hundred-dollar bill—it was literally burning money.

Li Yunfei's circle was the simplest: they set up the monster meat, and Honghong casually tossed a ball of eerie fox fire under the meat, adding a bit more from time to time. The Shangqing disciples used talisman fire to roast their meat; knowing they would be having monster meat at the afternoon celebration, they had happily drawn a large stack of "True Fire Talismans" at noon. The Chunyang disciples, not knowing any spells, had to use the True Fire they normally used for refining flying swords. This method required a constant output of spiritual power until the meat was cooked, which was slightly troublesome. However, everyone was in high spirits, so they didn't mind the inconvenience.

The monster meat was quite valuable, and the quantity was limited; it wasn't something one could eat whenever one wanted. But today, they could eat to their heart's content. It was said that the newly appointed Elder Chenlong had prepared dozens of tons of monster meat, enough for them to feast. This gesture earned Li Yunfei another wave of goodwill. Ziwei had also specially arranged for a batch of spirit wine brewed from spirit fruits to be transported from headquarters to reward the cultivators.

Once the meat was cooked, everyone ate, drank, and chatted, feeling very relaxed. There were 17 people in Li Yunfei's group, including himself, Zhang Ziying, and Honghong. There were also Ziwei, Yan Hexiang, Guo Qilin, A-Bao, Xiao-Bei, Daoist Yuling, Zhou Ming, Yang Lianzhen, Xie Liuyun, Li Yusheng, Guan Boyu, Yu Rui, Qi Jin, and Luo Feng.

A-Bao and Xiao-Bei did not eat monster meat. Since they had completed their cultivation quota for the day without any shortcuts, they received their full rations. They enjoyed their spirit bamboo shoots and spirit wine, finding their own contentment.

The circle was quite large, and they were a bit further from the central roasting area, but that was not a problem. Everyone was a cultivator at the Yin Spirit stage or higher; they could simply flick a bit of spiritual power to cut off a piece of meat and retrieve it with their spiritual sense.

As they chatted, the topic drifted to the global situation. After all, with senior figures gathered together, the perspective was different, and the topics naturally differed from those of ordinary people.

Li Yusheng remarked, "It is said that things are dire in France. There are basically no living people left in the capital; except for those who escaped, everyone has turned into skeleton monsters. Even hiding in the sewers was useless."

"It's fortunate that our country's skeleton monsters didn't show such massive mutations, otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy to pacify these ancient battlefields."

Yang Lianzhen asked curiously, "By the way, what exactly is the difference between the skeleton monsters in France and the ones here? Why did they mutate?"

He Ming explained, "It has to do with how those skeleton monsters died. The skeleton monsters in our Great Xia were soldiers in life, dying in battlefield combat; they can be considered to have had the most 'normal' deaths. But the skeleton monsters wreaking havoc in Paris now either died of smallpox and plagues or leprosy. Very few died normal deaths, so most of those skeleton monsters are poisonous. At the time, the death toll was so high that there weren't enough cemeteries, so they dug tunnels underground to pile up the corpses, thus forming those catacombs."

Ziwei added, "Indeed! The magnetic field of such a place is bound to be altered. The Paris catacombs are an even more extreme 'evil land' than the ancient battlefield of Changping. If the Changping battlefield is the Underworld, then the Paris catacombs are no different from Hell, or even the Abyss."

Zhang Ziying said with interest, "Our country has both Buddhist and Taoist cultivators who can create various anti-evil weapons that ordinary people can also use. I wonder how the West deals with ghosts and monsters?"

Ziwei explained, "The West is the same. They use holy water, garlic extract, and anti-evil weapons made of silver, which are also effective against ghosts and monsters. Especially a type of ultraviolet bullet, which has massive lethality against them, though the cost is much higher than ours. Moreover, after the spiritual recovery, the Roman Curia reorganized the three major knightly orders, totaling over 100,000 members. Clearing out 8 million skeleton monsters shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Zhang Ziying exclaimed, "How can they have so many people?"

Ziwei said, "This is determined by the method of cultivation. The cultivation system of the Curia is completely different from that of Great Xia. Although they also require cultivation aptitude, their power is relatively easier to obtain. As long as they are devout enough to God, they can rapidly increase their 'Light' power. The more devout they are, the faster their cultivation grows. That's why the Holy Knights and true priests are all a group of fanatic believers in God. But once their faith in God wavers even slightly, their power will rapidly decline. This is completely different from Great Xia cultivators, who emphasize finding one's 'true self' during cultivation, pursuing the unity of heaven and man, and martial artists who strengthen themselves to struggle against destiny. Added to the fact that there are many Catholic believers, the base of people with cultivation aptitude is relatively large, so naturally, they can gather so many people."

Li Yunfei teased, "No wonder only we people of Great Xia dare to shout, 'My fate is up to me, not the heavens,' and are always looking to defy the heavens. Because in the end, we cultivate our own bodies, not relying on power bestowed by deities—at most, we borrow some power from them. If they dared to shout that, God would teach them a lesson in minutes."

"Hahaha!" A burst of laughter erupted from the group. Daoist Yuling did not laugh, but sighed instead, "You are right. It is precisely because of this that when our Great Xia cultivators reach a certain level, they must endure the disasters sent by heaven. If they survive, they become immortals on the spot; if they fail, they are reduced to ashes. However, the Curia's cultivators do not have this problem. Each has its own advantages, I suppose!"

He Ming raised the ceramic wine bottle in his hand and laughed, "Not everyone is even qualified to endure a heavenly tribulation; let's wait until we can reach that stage before worrying. No need to worry about the sky falling now—drink, drink!"

Everyone happily raised their bottles in acknowledgment and drank together.

Afterward, Ziwei spoke to everyone about the main types of extraordinary beings and teams in countries around the world, such as the sword masters, ninjas, onmyoji, and ghost warriors of Japan, Great Xia's neighbor. He mentioned the Roman Curia's Inquisition, the Cardinals, and the three major knight orders: the Charity, the Temple, and the Teutonic. He talked about the Knights of the Round Table of the British Isles and the mage legion founded by the wizard Merlin. He also mentioned the priests and witches of Africa, the Amazon warriors of the Americas, the Berserkers of Northern Europe, the Saints of Greece, the Buddhist cultivators and ancient yogis of India, and so on.

Of course, "Awakened" beings existed in every country. It was just that most Western countries did not have a unified management system for them; very few countries organized their Awakened ones like Great Xia did. Because in the Western mindset, awakening is a private matter, and no one has the right to interfere. Whether an Awakened person works for the country should be based on voluntary principles. This is the same as in countries that don't ban guns; due to the emergence of Awakened beings, society is even more prone to chaos than it would be if everyone carried a gun. Awakened beings would get into fights in cities and on streets over a single disagreement, and there were even criminal syndicates composed entirely of Awakened beings. On top of that, various "heroes" played by young people with excess justice and a desire to punish evil and promote good frequently caused damage to cities, leading to major economic losses.

The things Ziwei recounted gave Li Yunfei a preliminary impression of the world's famous extraordinary experts. Afterward, everyone asked some details about various types of extraordinary beings, as everyone was very clear that on the future world stage, these people would be their main opponents. The more detailed their understanding, the better.