Chapter 059: Four Hours

The night sky was clear, cloudless. Bright stars hung in the heavens, shining brightly.

On a not-too-high mountaintop in the western suburbs of Jinghua City, Chen Xiao sat cross-legged with his eyes tightly closed on a smooth stone slab.

The area around the hill was covered with low graves. This was the main reason Chen Xiao chose this place for cultivation. Normal people wouldn’t wander around graves in the middle of the night, so he didn’t have to worry about being disturbed.

As for an environment like a graveyard, even real ghosts—things Chen Xiao had seen before, including ones from whom he had bought something—wouldn’t scare him. He had already defeated creatures far more ferocious than ghosts.

At this moment, Chen Xiao’s mental energy entered that ethereal state once again. His entire body became like a wisp of smoke, growing lighter and floating upward.

Indeed, little by little, starlight condensed into a human-shaped silhouette that emerged from Chen Xiao’s body and flew into the air. This silhouette was only one-tenth the size of a normal person, appearing like a layer of illusory starlight. But upon closer inspection, it was clearly Chen Xiao, reduced tenfold in size, though his features were somewhat blurred.

The invisible forces of the stars scattered across the sky were continuously absorbed and merged by this starlight-formed silhouette. With each absorbed piece of star energy, the silhouette grew more solid and stronger.

Gradually, the silhouette sat cross-legged in mid-air above Chen Xiao’s head, mirroring his position below.

Only at this moment did Zhou Tian Ming Gu unleash its true power.

In an instant, all the star energy within a ten-mile radius gathered on top of the hill, making it glow as brightly as day. Chen Xiao himself resembled a celestial being draped in starlight, seemingly on the verge of ascending to immortality.

His mental energy also grew rapidly under the influence of this star energy.

……

“The Zhou Tian Ming Gu technique—this kid has really started cultivating. Thankfully, I was prepared; otherwise, who knows how much chaos this could cause.”

In front of the office building housing the headquarters of the Soul of China, Yu Ye Xiao Chen looked at the western sky and sighed bitterly. It was the first time Chen Xiao was practicing this technique outside, and he had no idea it would cause such a stir.

At that moment, most of the residents of Jinghua City who weren’t asleep saw that the graveyard in the western part of the city was glowing like a treasure mountain.

Below the hill in the western suburbs, a large group of military vehicles was stationed there. Although it was night and they were in a graveyard, some bold individuals or supernatural beings might come to investigate.

Sure enough, after a short while, a few supernatural beings arrived to check things out.

But when they saw the military vehicles stationed below, they seemed to understand something and left silently. Only a few bold ordinary youths, not realizing what was going on, tried to climb up.

“Stop!”

A tall young man in military uniform stopped them.
“This is a national military zone; further entry is prohibited!”
The man had a stern expression, his voice as hard as steel, and an aura of menace about him—clearly a seasoned soldier who had been to battle.
Faced with this oppressive aura, the young men could imagine the harsh conditions in the mountains and, feeling uneasy, retreated sheepishly.
…
Chen Xiao had no idea what was happening below. By now, he had entered a miraculous realm.
Within a ten-mile radius, endless star energy filled the air, gradually narrowing until it enveloped only Chen Xiao’s body, transforming into a thin thread that soared into the sky.
The starlight-formed humanoid shadow had already merged into Chen Xiao’s mind sea. His mind sea was already filled with dense clusters of starlight points, while his primary divine entity swiftly consumed these spiritual energies, releasing pure divine power that flowed through the mind sea.
At this moment, the water-based divine power within Chen Xiao did not release any water energy; it merely assisted in assimilating the star energy to enhance his spiritual power.
In the primary divine space, Shui Miao, who was trying her best to revive the Xuanwu egg, paused briefly before ignoring it.
…
Boom!
A loud explosion echoed in the air, scattering all the star energy instantly. Chen Xiao slowly opened his eyes.
His gaze was as bright as a star, with a three-inch-long beam of starlight shooting out from his eyes.
“Is it already dawn?”
Chen Xiao sensed his spiritual power—it was at the fourth level, initial stage. Looking at the rising sun on the other side of the city, he murmured, “It seems I overestimated the effectiveness of the ‘Zhou Tian Ming Gu Fa.’ It took an entire night just to raise my spiritual power to the fourth level, initial stage.”
Previously, it had taken Chen Xiao only three minutes to raise his spiritual power from the third level, initial stage to the third level, peak. Now, it took him an entire night to rise from the third level, peak to the fourth level, initial stage.
Of course, if other sorcerers heard about this, they would surely commit suicide. Raising one’s spiritual power by an entire level in just one night was nothing short of legendary. Although a sorcerer’s strength isn’t solely determined by spiritual power, improving its level is extremely difficult.
The reason Chen Xiao could improve so rapidly was twofold: first, the terrifying power of the ‘Zhou Tian Ming Gu Fa,’ and second, the assistance of his primary divine entity. For anyone else, even practicing this method for half a year would hardly result in such a significant improvement.
Of course, since this was Chen Xiao’s first time practicing this method, even with the help of his primary divine entity, his progress wouldn’t be as rapid going forward.
Chen Xiao took a deep breath, stood up from the bluestone slab, and moved his body slightly. Immediately, a crackling sound came from his bones.
“Huh? My physical strength has also increased? First level, intermediate stage…”
Chen Xiao clenched his fist in surprise.
“Well, practicing the Spiritual Tempering Method seems to have improved my physical body as well.”

Chen Xiao shook his head slightly. His mental energy instantly connected to the Main God’s Space.
“Four hours! The time I can stay in the Main God’s Space each day has doubled!”
Chen Xiao’s eyes lit up. The longer he stayed in the Main God’s Space, the longer Sōuhén and the others could stay in this world.
“Four hours is enough. Besides, my strength now is far beyond what it used to be. A fourth-tier supernatural being is considered a pretty skilled person in a world of supernatural abilities, right?”
Confidence arose in Chen Xiao’s heart.
As for the lack of combat experience he once had, he was no longer worried after defeating Chen Wenhǔ. By the time he truly began to merge with the Main God’s essence, such combat experience seemed unimportant anyway.
“Next, I just need to wait for Saturday’s assessment as a hunter.”
Chen Xiao leaped upward. The power of the Main God surged through his body, turning him into a blur as he rushed downhill.
……