Chapter 40

Makoto saw the fat man's lecherous smile, and his heart sank to the bottom. Being in the Wheel Pulse Realm, he had nowhere to borrow force from in the void, and could only watch helplessly as the arrows sliced through the air.

"Thud..." Makoto used all his strength to block two arrows, but one still hit him directly between the eyebrows. The price of this pursuit was death.

At the same moment Makoto was hit by the arrow, Hua Yun leaped off the black eagle and rushed straight toward Fanle.

Qin Wentian stepped forward, charging at Hua Yun, and unleashed the Dragon Subduing Fist with wild abandon, clashing with the oncoming Hua Yun.

"Kill." Hua Yun's eyes were filled with intense killing intent. The terrifying Starfall Fist swept through with overwhelming power, and Qin Wentian felt a massive force shaking him, his face slightly changing. Using the counter-shock force, he flew backward, colliding heavily with Fanle's body.

Fanle retreated several steps, almost retreating into the mist before stabilizing his stance.

"What do we do if we can't fight?" Fanle steadied Qin Wentian, feeling depressed.

"If we can't fight, we can only run." Qin Wentian's arm still ached severely. If he hadn't reacted quickly, his arm would have been crippled.

The little rascal seemed to understand Qin Wentian's meaning and charged over. The two jumped up, and the little rascal immediately carried them into the mist.

This scene made Hua Yun pause. Didn't they know that the Mist Illusion City was a death trap?

"Those fools, their first choice to kill Makoto was to prevent him from summoning beasts to continue chasing them." Oufeng stepped forward, secretly feeling lucky. Those two guys cooperated too well, and there was even a beast that could transform. If it weren't for the fear of Makoto summoning beasts to chase them, the first target for hunting would have been him.

But it was a pity, they were doomed. This dark forest was vast, and some places were off-limits. The Mist Illusion City was a death trap; once you entered, you couldn't leave.

"Mission accomplished, but you'll have to explain Makoto's death yourself." Hua Yun turned and left, making Oufeng's expression stiffen. This was a bit troublesome.

In the mist, the little rascal carried Qin Wentian and Fanle for a while.

"No one is chasing us?" Fanle's voice sounded.

"Yep." Qin Wentian replied.

"It seems a bit off, is it very dangerous?" Fanle's body shuddered. It seemed they didn't dare to come in?

"Maybe."

"Are we going to die here?" The fat man's voice was tinged with sobs.

In the mist, they couldn't tell the way and were lost...

"Fat man, I'm still a virgin, if I die, I want to die with a beautiful woman." The fat man hugged Qin Wentian and wailed... Qin Wentian kicked him down.

After another half an hour, they finally walked out of the mist. The moment they emerged, they were stunned by what they saw. In front of them was a castle... the Mist Illusion City was not an illusion but a real castle.

Not only that, but they saw many armored soldiers inside the castle. They wore black armor, exuding a killing aura. When they saw the two, a pair of black-armored soldiers approached, their spears pointed, and the killing intent almost made the fat man fall over.

"Fat man, I can't be this unlucky." This time the fat man really cried. These people were all in the Wheel Pulse Realm... everyone's realm was higher than his, and there was no way to escape.

Qin Wentian also didn't expect to find such a castle hidden in the dark forest, and it was training a batch of terrifying soldiers.

The killing aura grew stronger, and Qin Wentian and the fat man released their star souls, preparing to run.

"Qin—Wen—Tian." At that moment, a figure clad in armor walked over and called out Qin Wentian's name. The voice was slightly hoarse, and only his eyes were exposed.

"Hmm?" Qin Wentian's pupils contracted. Someone here knew him?

"Everyone, step back." The figure said indifferently, and the black-armored soldiers immediately left, making Fanle sigh in relief. It seemed the fat man had a big destiny.

"Who are you?" Qin Wentian looked at the figure curiously.

"This Mist Illusion City is a death trap; once you enter, you can't leave. Of course, you are an exception. Follow me." The figure's voice was still hoarse. He turned and walked into the castle, and Qin Wentian and Fanle followed, full of confusion.

The mysterious figure led them to a comfortable residence, where there were even maids, and they were quite beautiful.

"Take good care of them." The mysterious figure instructed the maid, then said to Qin Wentian, "When you want to leave, just tell the maid, and I will arrange for you to leave. But remember, don't reveal this place to outsiders, or I guarantee you won't live for three days."

"Sure, sure." The fat man grinned. The mysterious figure glanced at Qin Wentian again and said, "Your realm has reached the ninth level of Body Refinement. You can try to break through to the Wheel Pulse Realm."

After saying that, the mysterious figure left, leaving Qin Wentian full of doubts.

"Who is he?" After the mysterious figure and the maid left, Fanle asked Qin Wentian.

"How should I know?" Qin Wentian shrugged. He couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he thought.

"Do we sneak out?" Fanle whispered, but he immediately regretted it when several beautiful women carrying food walked in. Fanle's eyes immediately lit up, forgetting all about sneaking out.

The beautiful women placed the food on the table and retreated to the side. Fanle smiled and said, "Beautiful sisters, join us."

The maids shook their heads, indicating they didn't dare.

Fanle felt a bit disappointed, then looked at the food, his eyes lighting up.

"Leopard gall, bear heart, red snake fruit... This food is too good." Fanle was amazed. However, this castle was in the dark forest, and with the strength of the people there, it indeed had a natural advantage.

What surprised Fanle even more was that a few star meteorites were soon delivered to Qin Wentian, said to be for his breakthrough. Fanle even suspected that Qin Wentian might be the castle's young master.

True friends and comrades, the fat man generously shared Qin Wentian's star meteorites, worried that Qin Wentian might not be able to use them all.

After seeing the star meteorites, Qin Wentian knew the other party had no bad intentions. Otherwise, they wouldn't have done this deliberately. He then began to practice quietly, indeed needing to break through his realm.

As for Fanle, he enjoyed the free food and chatted with the beautiful sisters, living a very happy life. The food here was definitely of royal treatment, and even the royal children of the Chu Kingdom might not have such conditions, which was very beneficial for cultivation.

Besides the good treatment, no one ever disturbed them.

The night was as dark as ink. Qin Wentian sat cross-legged on the ground. The mist in the sky couldn't block the starlight from falling. At this moment, the rumbling sounds inside Qin Wentian's body were continuous, and his whole body seemed to be flowing with a special light.

"His body is crystalline, and the starlight nourishes his body. This is the peak of Body Refinement." Fanle lay lazily on the side, watching Qin Wentian practice. This guy was indeed very diligent, immersing himself in practice for days.

"Thud." A light sound made Fanle squint his eyes, looking at Qin Wentian with a smile on his lips: "He's starting to stimulate the acupoints. Is he trying to break through to the Wheel Pulse Realm?"

"This guy's cultivation speed is terrifying. It doesn't seem like many days since his last breakthrough." Fanle muttered to himself. Although there were external factors like the food and star meteorites, Qin Wentian's cultivation method and star soul were undoubtedly very powerful, very suitable for Body Refinement.

The Body Refinement realm was to forge a perfect body. Some people had weak cultivation methods and weak star energy, so their Body Refinement was very poor, and cultivating earth and heaven energy was even worse. Conversely, the better the cultivation method, the more powerful the star energy, the faster the Body Refinement, and they could forge a perfect body in a short time. Qin Wentian clearly belonged to the latter, with a powerful cultivation method and a powerful star soul.

The violent star energy from the Sky Hammer Star continuously fell, entering Qin Wentian's body. Inside him, boundless star energy flowed, then gathered in various acupoints, fiercely impacting them.

The human body has many meridians and acupoints. The Wheel Pulse Realm requires opening and stimulating all the acupoints in the body, allowing the body to store more energy. Then, the meridians and acupoints are connected to form a complete wheel pulse, allowing the energy to flow smoothly through the body.

Through this complete wheel pulse, the energy stored in the limbs, bones, and major acupoints can be connected to the hands, feet, eyes, ears, and other parts, making attacks more powerful and enhancing vision, hearing, and other abilities.

Whether ordinary martial cultivators or star destiny cultivators, they can all break through to the Wheel Pulse Realm.

As the acupoints were stimulated one by one, Qin Wentian's face showed pain. Opening and stimulating acupoints was an extremely painful process, but Qin Wentian gritted his teeth and persisted, making the quiet space filled with crisp sounds.

Fanle, on the side, was secretly amazed. This guy was really determined. However, despite this, a smile appeared on his lips.

He remembered Ou Chen's contemptuous look and Ou Feng's crazy pursuit. This guy indeed needed to practice well, to break through his realm as soon as possible and form a second star soul.

Now, the one-month assessment period seemed to be over.

...

In the morning, the students who entered the dark forest for the assessment gradually emerged. The teachers of the nine academies and martial houses were waiting outside. Those who emerged from the dark forest would become part of their academy or martial house.

Jiang Zhen and Mo Shang stood together, and beside them were Ou Chen, Mo Qingcheng, and Ruo Huan.

"Ou Feng is out." Jiang Zhen saw Ou Feng's figure and smiled. In the future, Ou Feng would join his sect.

Ruo Huan's beautiful eyes flashed with displeasure. Ou Feng had tried to harm Qin Wentian in the dark forest. Although Mo Qingcheng and she had watched Ou Chen closely, they couldn't guarantee that Ou Feng wouldn't seek help from others. After all, the students from the assessment came from various places and didn't know each other well, except for some from the royal city who had connections.

Mo Qingcheng coldly glanced at Ou Feng, making his face stiffen, and he lowered his head, not daring to look at Mo Qingcheng's eyes. In front of this woman, he couldn't even lift his head, even though he wanted to look at her more.

Mo Qingcheng had been watching the students who emerged. She felt guilty about what happened that day. When she saw Qin Wentian chasing Ou Feng, she directly scolded Qin Wentian without asking for the details.

However, as the sunset appeared, casting red light on the dark forest, Qin Wentian still hadn't emerged. Over three hundred people from the Imperial Star Academy had already come out.

Compared to other academies and martial houses, the Imperial Star Academy had the highest pass rate, but the number was still the smallest. However, considering the numerous cities in the Chu Kingdom and the young geniuses from other countries, three hundred people were indeed insignificant.

"Ou Feng, what did you do to Qin Wentian?" Mo Qingcheng suddenly turned her gaze to Ou Feng and asked coldly.

"I don't know. The dark forest is vast, and he might have encountered a beast and died." Ou Feng said nervously.

Mo Qingcheng released a strong aura, and Ou Feng hid behind Ou Chen. Mo Qingcheng coldly said, "If anything happens to him and it's your fault, you'll be in trouble."

With that, Mo Qingcheng turned and left on a flying crane. Ruo Huan, looking at Mo Qingcheng's departing figure, thought that since she had acknowledged her mistake, she couldn't blame her anymore.

Her gaze also coldly swept over Ou Chen and Ou Feng.

"I will investigate this matter." Mo Shang regretted agreeing with his master's opinion. After all, Qin Wentian's cultivation was still weak, and he had been tricked. If anything happened to him, he wouldn't be able to rest easy.