"Senior Brother Song, it's understandable that you would have such thoughts."
"But Junior Brother Chu Feng just entered the Northern Profound Academy — he's an absolute newcomer. And this trial can only be participated in by the twenty strongest new disciples of our Northern Profound Academy."
"I'm afraid... the other disciples won't accept it."
Hei Yao said.
"Who won't accept it?"
"Whoever doesn't accept it, tell them to come find me."
"That's it, the matter is decided."
"I'm tired today. I'll head back to rest."
Song Xi seemed to be in a bad mood after being contradicted by Hei Yao. After saying this, he quickened his speed through the air and vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Sister Wang, this Chu Feng... what exactly is his background?"
"How come Senior Brother Song has never mentioned him before?"
Hei Yao sidled up to Wang Ziyan, getting very close — practically pressing against her.
But Wang Ziyan pivoted immediately, putting distance between herself and Hei Yao.
"If you want to know, go ask him yourself."
Wang Ziyan glared at Hei Yao, then chased after Song Xi.
"Damn it, this bitch — before Song Xi showed up, she was pestering me all day long."
"Now... she's pretending she doesn't know me?"
Watching Wang Ziyan's alluring retreating figure, Hei Yao cursed silently.
……
After sending Song Xi off, Chu Feng returned to his residence to cultivate.
What Chu Feng was cultivating, naturally, was not to advance his cultivation, but rather to figure out how to undo the Soul Armor of the Sleeping Dragon.
The Soul Armor of the Sleeping Dragon had sealed Chu Feng's Three Souls and Seven Spirits.
As a result, both his cultivation and his formation arts had regressed.
But once these seals were removed one by one, not only would his cultivation be restored, it would actually increase.
In the words of that mysterious existence, this was called "nurturing the armor."
The first thing Chu Feng needed to nurture now was his Life Soul.
The Life Soul was a person's very foundation.
But Chu Feng had already found a way to break it.
He needed to fill the connection between the Soul Armor of the Sleeping Dragon and his Life Soul using the triple forces of Mental Power, martial power, and bloodline, following a specific trajectory — that would undo the seal.
At first, Chu Feng was cautious, but soon he was operating with practiced ease.
After just a few short hours, Chu Feng successfully removed the seal between his Life Soul and the Soul Armor of the Sleeping Dragon.
In this moment, not only could Chu Feng feel that his cultivation had risen back to the Second Level Sovereign, he could also sense that something inside him had changed compared to before.
It was as if an imprisoned power had finally broken free from its cage.
Chu Feng took out a stone — a Test Stone, capable of measuring a martial cultivator's talent.
Chu Feng infused his martial power into it, and the stone immediately released a dazzling display of seven-colored radiance — the highest level of talent that this Test Stone could display.
"As expected, my talent has been restored. The rest... is just the recovery of my cultivation."
After completing this test, Chu Feng tried to open the Spirit Gate once again.
But unfortunately, the Spirit Gate still could not be opened, and his formation arts remained at the first level of Dragon Transformation.
However, Chu Feng felt that this nurturing of the armor was actually simpler than he had imagined.
Although it would grow increasingly difficult later on, Chu Feng felt that perhaps it wouldn't be long before his cultivation was fully restored — and his strength would increase as well.
At this moment, Chu Feng seemed to understand the words of that mysterious existence.
The mysterious existence had told Chu Feng that if he wanted to save Zi Ling, he didn't need to do anything — he simply needed to undo the Soul Armor of the Sleeping Dragon, and he would be able to save her.
The reason the mysterious existence had said this was presumably because he already knew that if Chu Feng could completely undo the Soul Armor of the Sleeping Dragon, his cultivation would definitely increase.
And if Chu Feng was not mistaken, the Soul Armor of the Sleeping Dragon would raise his cultivation to a level that could look down upon all the disciples of the Sleeping Dragon Martial Sect.
Otherwise, the mysterious existence would not have said such things.
Chu Feng put away the Test Stone and sat cross-legged once more.
Although the seal on his Life Soul had been removed and his cultivation had been restored to the Second Level Sovereign, Chu Feng had no intention of stopping.
Next, he needed to remove the seal from one of his spirits.
The first spirit — Tianchong — was also a person's foundation.
To remove its seal, he would also need to wield Mental Power, martial power, and bloodline simultaneously, but following a different trajectory.
Simply put, all three souls and seven spirits had been locked.
Chu Feng needed to forge his Mental Power, martial power, and bloodline power into a key in order to open each lock.
But each lock was a different lock, and each required a different key.
Chu Feng's next task was to find the trajectory that would undo the seal on the spirit of Tianchong. Once he found it, it wouldn't be long before he could break through.
But after searching for a while, Chu Feng was completely without a clue.
This dealt a blow to his confidence.
Just moments ago he had thought that nurturing the armor was easy, but he suddenly realized it wasn't so simple after all.
At the very least, using the same method he had found for breaking the Life Soul's seal would not work for finding the spirit's trajectory.
Chu Feng would have to try a different approach.
"Junior Brother Chu Feng, are you there?"
Just as Chu Feng was wracking his brain, a voice called out from outside his door.