Chapter 72: Four-Ring Liu Yuan vs. Silver-Tier Awakening Long Aotian, The Sect Shakes!
"What? Has Aotian successfully completed the Secondary Awakening of his Body Martial Soul?"
Hearing Chen Lu's report, Du Busi's towering frame jolted. A blinding, intense light erupted from his emerald-green eyes, illuminating the dim hall.
Shock collided with absolute ecstasy on the old man's weathered face. As the master of the Body Sect, he understood the monumental significance of a Secondary Awakening for a Body Soul Master better than anyone alive.
He did not even bother to leave further instructions for Liu Yuan. Soul power detonated beneath his feet, cracking the solid stone floor. Like a streak of emerald lightning, Du Busi tore through the air, rushing madly toward the training grounds deep within the sect.
He had to see it. He had to confirm the degree of Long Aotian's awakening with his own two eyes.
Left standing in the hall, Liu Yuan watched the lingering trail of green light fade into the distance. The calm depths of his Double Pupils rippled, reflecting a heavy surge of intrigue.
"Has Senior Brother Aotian actually completed the Secondary Awakening of his Body Martial Soul?" Liu Yuan murmured. A rare note of genuine admiration laced his tone. "To touch the threshold of a Secondary Awakening at the Rank 50 stage... truly impressive."
A spark of anticipation ignited within his chest. During his time in the Body Sect, Liu Yuan had spent countless hours buried in the sect's hidden archives, memorizing ancient texts and forbidden scrolls.
He knew the lore intimately. The Secondary Awakening was the sole path for a Body Soul Master to shed their mortal limitations and undergo a fundamental, qualitative evolution. Yet, the difficulty of triggering this awakening was astronomical, fraught with lethal risks and agonizing uncertainty.
The vast majority of the sect's elite disciples only ever caught a glimpse of that evolutionary leap after their cultivation reached Rank 60 or higher, requiring decades of polishing their soul foundation to absolute perfection.
Yet Long Aotian had only just acquired his fifth soul ring. To cross that threshold at a mere Rank 50 defied conventional logic.
Liu Yuan felt a genuine sense of joy for his senior brother, but his pragmatic mind was already calculating his own path. His current cultivation sat solidly at Rank 44. The Rank 50 bottleneck was rapidly approaching.
If he could observe Long Aotian's current state and extract insights from his awakening experience, it would provide an very useful blueprint for his own Secondary Awakening.
He did not waste another second. An ice-blue light flared beneath his boots. Activating the Qilin Step, his figure blurred into a phantom, trailing a freezing mist as he chased after Du Busi's path.
Left entirely alone in the empty hall, Chen Lu's mouth twitched. "Hey! Wait for me!"
...
Deep within the sect's expansive training grounds, the air hummed with a heavy, oppressive heat. Du Busi had already landed in the center of the arena.
Long Aotian stood motionless on the reinforced stone tiles. The sheer density of his blood and qi was suffocating. Even from dozens of meters away, the ambient temperature spiked, radiating a terrifying vitality that surged beneath his skin like boiling magma.
But the most striking detail was his skin. A faint, metallic sheen rippled across his bare arms and neck, reflecting the sunlight with a cold, indestructible luster. It was a physical toughness that had completely transcended the limits of mortal flesh.
Hearing the heavy thud of boots, Long Aotian opened his eyes. He immediately reined in his erupting aura, clasping his hands together in a deep, respectful bow. "Master."
"Stand still! Do not move a muscle!" Du Busi barked, his usual composure entirely discarded. He closed the distance in a single stride, his massive hands clamping down onto Long Aotian's shoulders like a pair of iron pincers.
He refrained from forcefully injecting his own soul power, knowing it could disrupt the newly awakened state. Instead, he employed the Body Sect's most guarded sensory technique. His emerald eyes narrowed, carefully mapping every inch of Long Aotian's musculature, bone density, and meridian pathways, analyzing even the microscopic dilation of his pores.
Seconds ticked by in suffocating silence. Then, the rigid tension in Du Busi's face melted away. A booming, earth-shaking laughter tore from his throat, echoing across the surrounding mountains.
"Hahahaha! It is real! It truly is the Secondary Awakening of a Body Martial Soul!"
Du Busi slapped Long Aotian's shoulder with enough force to crack a boulder, his eyes burning with wild, unrestrained joy. "Excellent! Although the transformation has not fully solidified due to your current rank limitations, this metallic luster and internal aura are unmistakably Silver-tier! Good! Very good!"
He nodded repeatedly, his chest heaving with pride. "Aotian, to trigger a Silver-tier Secondary Awakening at merely Rank 50... your talent is monstrous!"
"With this foundation, once your cultivation breaches Rank 90 and you ascend to become a Titled Douluo, your physical vessel and willpower will undergo the baptism of the Heavenly Tribulations. When that day comes, you will possess a massive chance of achieving the legendary Gold-tier Secondary Awakening!"
Du Busi's laughter rang out again. A Gold-tier Awakening was the ultimate, supreme pinnacle pursued by every generation of Body Sect Masters. Once a Body Soul Master achieved that golden state, they became an absolute, invincible god among peers of the same realm.
Long Aotian's breakthrough today had just secured a terrifyingly solid foundation for the Body Sect's future supremacy.
A rush of freezing wind signaled Liu Yuan's arrival at the edge of the arena.
He stopped a few paces away, his gaze locking onto Long Aotian. The pale golden patterns within his Double Pupils slowly rotated, dissecting the visual information. Through his enhanced vision, he could clearly see the microscopic changes. Every single cell in Long Aotian's body vibrated with a deep, dense energy, structurally reinforced to hold vastly superior explosive power.
"Congratulations, Senior Brother Aotian," Liu Yuan said, stepping forward with a calm, genuine smile.
Long Aotian turned. Seeing the younger boy, the intense, battle-hardened edge in his eyes softened into a warm smile.
His senses, sharpened by his recent awakening, immediately detected the heavy, oppressive soul power fluctuations rolling off Liu Yuan's frame—the obvious aftershocks of a major breakthrough.
"Junior Brother Liu Yuan, the congratulations should be mutual," Long Aotian replied, reaching out to clasp Liu Yuan's forearm.
"I heard the news. Absorbing a forty-five-thousand-year soul ring for your fourth ring... Such a feat is completely unmatched in the history of our sect."
Long Aotian's grip tightened slightly. The warmth in his expression remained, but a blazing, unquenchable battle intent suddenly ignited in his eyes. "Junior Brother, do you still remember the agreement we made before you left for your hunt?"
"We agreed that the moment you returned with your fourth soul ring, we would cross hands in a formal spar."
"When I first proposed it, my only intention was to use your pressure to test the limits of my fifth soul skill. After all, those Double Pupils of yours never fail to force out my absolute best."
Long Aotian took a half-step back, his aura naturally flaring. "But now, the situation has changed. Not only have I secured my fifth soul ring, but I have also unexpectedly achieved my Secondary Awakening. Because of this, our spar is no longer just a test—it is an absolute necessity."
He stared straight into the depths of Liu Yuan's strange, dual-pupiled eyes, his voice dropping to a low, challenging rumble. "So, Junior Brother... knowing the power I hold now, are you still willing to step onto the stage with me?"
"I need to know exactly where we stand. I want to see who is stronger."
Meeting that burning gaze, Liu Yuan did not flinch. He did not take a single step back. Instead, the corners of his mouth curled into a sharp, calm arc. "Since Senior Brother is offering the invitation, I would be a fool to refuse."
He rolled his shoulders, the sound of popping joints echoing sharply. "I am quite eager to experience the true weight of a Silver-tier Secondary Awakening for myself."
"Good! Splendid!"
Long Aotian threw his head back and laughed heartily, completely shedding his usual stoic steadiness.
He grabbed Liu Yuan by the arm and practically dragged him toward the elevated, reinforced sparring stage at the center of the training grounds.
Within minutes, the news of the impending clash swept through the entire Body Sect like a violent hurricane.
"What? Senior Brother Liu Yuan and Senior Brother Aotian are fighting again?!"
"Heavens, this is going to be insane! Senior Brother Liu Yuan just absorbed a forty-five-thousand-year fourth soul ring, and Senior Brother Aotian just completed a Silver-tier Awakening! They've both experienced massive leaps in power. This match is going to tear the arena apart!"
"Stop wasting time talking and hurry up! If we don't grab a spot now, we won't see a thing! Just watching a single exchange between those two monsters will give us massive insights into our own martial souls!"
"Let's go, let's go! Move!"
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