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nHaishi continued on with her flying getting better by the minute. The air around her seemed to be carrying her and guiding her toward the path of least resistance. There was a wind current that moved like a river wherever she flew. Feng Xin was carefully monitoring their surroundings to prevent any accident from interrupting her in her current state. The further along one moved in the cultivation realms the less talent played a part and it became more on your ability of comprehension. Unlike epiphany which is a burst of inspiration. Comprehension is built on experience and even if one was interrupted in the middle of it, one can still enter it during silent meditation.

nHaishi’s current state was influenced by the time she spent as a rock in the primal lots dew river. Inside that river, she felt like she had lived in it for years moving along with the current when in the real world only a few minutes had passed by. However, her years-long experience in the illusion was very real to her and had planted certain seeds in her that needed just a sudden catalyst to be triggered. Her pushing past her limits in flying and becoming unbridled like the wind was exactly that trigger. This was a boon for Haishi as what she comprehended now would form the pathway leading towards the later stages of core formation realm.

nFeng Xin was busy monitoring the surroundings before he frowned as he noticed Haishi was borrowing the momentum from her comprehension and the qi that was flooding into her to break through the gates leading to the 5th stage of core formation realm.

n“She’s being too hasty,” Feng Xin silently thought to himself

n“Haishi don’t be in a hurry to break through to the 5th stage just yet. Use the opportunity you have now to reinforce and solidify your foundations. The sturdier it is now the further and easier your road will be ahead. This will also help you be stronger in a fight against those in the same realm as you.” Feng Xin gently advised as he placed his palm above her head and used some of his qi to calm Haishi’s excited qi.

nHaishi didn’t stop the invading qi even though it’s very dangerous for a cultivator to let foreign qi run around in their body. Feng Xin’s qi had helped her calm down as she quickly halted her attempt to breakthrough without a second thought. She may not trust Feng Xin yet and was more terrified of him than anything but she believed in his insight. She had seen and experienced how Feng Xin had massacred spirit beasts that were at the same level or stronger than her as if they were nothing. That display of power left a clear impression on her. She both feared and envied it. So when Feng Xin offered his suggestion on what she should do she didn’t hesitate and took it as a creed hoping that someday she’d have a sliver of the ability she saw from him.

nHaishi was still maintaining her speed despite the brief interlude with Feng Xin. Five minutes passed by and they were close to zone ten. The spirit beasts had stopped attacking as most of the spirit beasts there were in the early stages of foundation realm or at the qi refinement realm. Haishi’s core formation pressure was enough to scare a whole lot of them away and leave some petrified for life. The distance to the edge of the green fog region kept shrinking by the minute with little to no external interference.

nThe green cloud miles ahead became visible as the green fog thinned out the closer they were out of the green fog region

n“Haishi you see that area with the small green cloud that’s the destination I need you to fly to.” Feng Xin said as he pointed to the fist-sized dot in the clouds. With their eyesight as core formation experts, it was easy to spot the cloud especially Haishi with her compound eyes filled with over a thousand lenses. Years of living in the green fog region had made her eyesight keener. She swiftly flew in that direction drawing closer to the exit of the green fog region.

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nThe fight between the tupelo tree and the Ao Yin was still heated and intense. One tried to corrode the other while the other tried to purify it. However, things were not looking too good for the Tupelo tree as it had to fight against Ao Yin and also maintain the barrier to protect Peng Zhen and Gui Bingwen from the aftermath of its fight. Both these elders had pained expressions filled with guilt and frustration at their weakness. If things stood as they were it was only a matter of time before the Tupelo tree lost. It would lose more leaves the longer the fight progressed but it had no way of ending the fight not with it supporting the both of them.

nPeng Zhen couldn’t help but look upwards at the sky which was filled with the green cloud. His instincts kept screaming at him that something terrifying was about to fall. If it was any other time he would have dreaded but at this moment that brewing disaster felt like a saving grace. If it fell the Ao Yin would definitely suffer the brunt of it giving them and the Tupelo tree a chance to survive. Dong Yanlin was still in a petrified state however some color had started returning to his limbs and parts of his face. Peng Zhen had been monitoring his situation ever since the barrier was put up. From his experience with the person, he had a feeling Dong Yanlin wouldn’t risk his life without living a slim chance of a way out. His assumption was proved right as Dong Yanlin seemed to be regaining vitality albeit at a slow pace. If he woke up things would get dicier than they already were.

nJust as Peng Zhen was debating how he would convince the Tupelo tree to let him out of the barrier and deal with Dong Yanlin his earlier wishes were answered. A green light in the shape of an arrow flashed so fast that even Peng Zhen could barely catch a glimpse of it. The green-like arrow was targeting the area Ao Yin was. Before Peng Zhen and Gui Bingwen could register what it was there was a blinding explosion the moment it clashed with the Ao Yin. The Ao Yin roared defiantly but the green light in the shape of an arrow decimated part of its silhouette as it struck the flesh-like finger where the bone saber was with a force so high that it threatened to blow apart the Tupelo’s tree barrier. The barrier that was sturdy before was now filled with cracks all over. The tupelo tree grew even brighter than before as more leaves fell. The barrier that was moments away from being blown apart was rapidly mended soon after.

nAfter the dust settled from the collision both Peng Zhen and Gui Bingwen got a clear look at what the green-like arrow was. It turned out it was a green feather and it had penetrated a small part of the bone saber before it disappeared into a small gust of wind. Just as Peng Zhen was about to make sense of what he saw up above him the green cloud cleared out all of a sudden but in its place was a gigantic swallow the size of an elephant. It was coldly gazing at Ao Yin as it gently floated with its wings. It screeched so loudly that Peng Zhen felt his eardrums quake. He quickly used some of his qi to dampen his ears and reduce the sounds coming in. The screech didn’t last for long as it was silent once more after a few seconds.

nBut this made the atmosphere even eerier. As Peng Zhen and Gui Bingwen looked up once more they saw a green light being charged from the mouth of the swallow. The levels of energy were multiple levels higher than the previous feather attack.

n“GUI WE NEED TO HURRY TOWARDS THE CENTER OF THE TREE!!! Tupelo you need to shrink the barrier to just within a few meters of you or we won’t survive the attack that’s to come.” Peng Zhen yelled as he rushed towards the tupelo tree. In a few seconds, they were both beneath the tree which shrunk the barrier and concentrated it to the tiny spot they were together.

nWithout even speaking as if in tacit understanding both Peng Zhen and Gui Bingwen started driving all their qi in the Tupelo tree without reservation. That barrier was the only thing that could protect them. The barrier grew brighter as the tupelo tree stacked five more on top of the current one. It lost over two hundred leaves the moment the barriers all went up.

n“IT’S COMING GUI BRACE YOURSELF!!” 𝒃𝒆𝒐𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝙘𝙤𝒎

nThe swallow’s charged attack finally fell like a pillar of green light except the light was filled with millions of tiny squalls compressed together. The attack struck the Ao Yin that was roaring defiantly to the skies as it struck upwards with a ferocious punch.

nBOOM

nA huge green mushroom explosion filled the area which drowned out even the Ao Yin’s yell. The wave spread beyond the collision point as it spread like an ocean drowning out a shoreline. The range of the explosion ran for more than a mile with the earth being sliced and diced into dust with Ao Yin, the tupelo tree, and the rest being blanketed in the sandstorm that was being formed concurrently with the destruction.

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