"Oh no, the energy defending the Treasure Refining Hall is nearly depleted!"

The Vice President of the Meridian Refining Master Guild, Qian Sanyuan, had once partially managed the Refining Treasure Hall, so he understood it more than others, and at this moment, he spoke with a grim expression.

Although the Refining Treasure Hall is a space divine artifact, its energy does have a limit. It must accumulate over many years to achieve an extremely high defensive power.

Of course, if some high-rank heavenly materials and earthly treasures are continuously thrown into the Artifact Heart of the Refining Treasure Hall, perhaps its energy could accumulate slightly faster.

However, at this moment, the master of the Refining Treasure Hall, Yun Xiao, was in a special state, naturally unable to control the Artifact Heart, so the Refining Treasure Hall could only passively endure the attacks of the Holy Grade Heavenly Spirit.

The earlier attacks of the Holy Grade Heavenly Spirit were imperceptible to these human cultivators inside the Refining Treasure Hall, but at this moment, the force of those bombardments was so obvious; they all knew what this meant.

"But the Chairman and Master Xue have not yet recovered to their peak!" 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Qingmu Wu appeared anxious too. Although his severe injuries had healed somewhat over seven days, the thought that outside was a Holy Grade Heavenly Spirit made him fearful.

However, even though they knew Lu Yanji and Xue Tianao would soon recover, no one dared disturb them at this point, as it could waste the efforts of their past seven days.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Over the next three days, the sound of energy fluctuations continuously came from the sky above, and the ground shook more and more violently, making everyone’s faces look extremely unsightly, uncertain when they might face ruin.

Whirr, whirr, whirr...

When the tenth day of the group’s stay in the Refining Treasure Hall arrived, a completely different kind of energy fluctuation suddenly came from somewhere, making their hearts stir.

"It’s Elder Lu, it’s the aura released by Elder Lu!"

When everyone turned their gaze to the place the energy fluctuation came from, they were both surprised and delighted because that majestic energy was indeed emanating from Lu Yanji.

"Is this... has he recovered to the Early Stage of the Heavenly Realm? Why does it seem a bit different from before?"

Young ones like Nie Xiaosheng could only sense the grandeur of that force but were unable to perceive anything deeper due to their limited power.

"No, this isn’t the aura of the Early Stage of the Heavenly Realm, but a breakthrough?"

Compared to those low-rank cultivators, experts like Qingmu Wu and Lian Yuluo, who had reached the Heaven Rank in power of soul, were the first to recognize a possibility that could make one ecstatic.

Because at this moment, the aura around Lu Yanji was becoming ever more violent, not just restoring to the Early Stage of the Heavenly Realm but advancing significantly beyond his original level.

"How is this possible?"

Even those like Lian Yuluo and the Heaven Rank Meridian Refining Masters, sensing the truth, found it hard to believe, knowing that Lu Yanji’s breakthrough to the Early Stage of the Heavenly Realm had only occurred in the last two or three months.

Only ten days ago, Lu Yanji was severely wounded and on the verge of death from a single golden blade of the Holy Grade Heavenly Spirit, so how could he breakthrough again in such a short time?

This is not the Spiritual Rank Three Realms or Earth Rank Third Realm but the last great rank of the Heavenly Rank Third Realm. For so many years, not a single human cultivator on the Tenglong Continent has appeared at the Early Stage of the Heavenly Realm.

Little did they know, this person, originally the first on the Heavenly List, Master of the Meridian Refining Master Association, had been trapped at the Peak of the Lingyun Realm for so many years, and now his breakthrough was astonishingly alarming.

Regardless, Lu Yanji being able to breakthrough again at this time, reaching the level of the Middle Stage of the Heavenly Realm, might greatly alter the human race’s fate in the following events.

Not to mention, these human cultivators present, who had been in constant fear under the ceaseless attacks of the outside Holy Grade Heavenly Spirit on the Refining Treasure Hall.

Yet, unexpectedly, such a significant surprise came at this moment; they believed that once Lu Yanji truly broke through to the Middle Stage of the Heavenly Realm, that Holy Grade Heavenly Spirit could no longer smash as easily as before.

Bang!

However, just as everyone was captivated by the aura of Lu Yanji’s breakthrough, another wave of energy suddenly emerged from another place, startling them all.

At first, everyone thought it was the Holy Grade Heavenly Spirit outside attacking the Refining Treasure Hall once again until they turned their gaze to where the energy fluctuation was, and their expressions became extremely peculiar again.

"It’s Master Xue, he... he’s about to breakthrough too?"

Even Nie Xiaosheng noticed something amiss this time, as the momentum from breaking through from the Peak of the Lingyun Realm to the Heavenly Realm was even greater than Lu Yanji’s small realm breakthrough by quite a bit.

"Father..."

Xue Ningxiang, whose gaze had always been fixated on her father, sensed it quite clearly; her eyes were full of excitement because she knew this was the realm her father had longed for all these years.

In the past, on the Tenglong Continent, even Heavenly Realm experts were extremely rare. After those of the same generation as Lu Yanji moved to higher planes, the strongest on the Tenglong Continent turned out to be just Lu Yanji, who was at the Peak of Lingyun Realm.

This was one of the reasons why human experts were helpless when facing the Holy Grade Heavenly Spirit; human cultivators who hadn’t reached the Heavenly Realm were simply no match for Strange Spirit Experts of such a level.

But now, Lu Yanji was breaking through to the Middle Stage of the Heavenly Realm, and Xue Tianao, after his meridians were repaired, not only restored his strength to a perfect state but even advanced further.

"Yun Xiao, this guy, is really something, isn’t he?"

At this moment, everyone, upon sensing these two facts, turned their shocked gazes to that simple-clothed boy. Besides shock, there was an intense heat in their eyes.

Everyone probably already suspected in their hearts that the original severe injuries of Lu Yanji and Xue Tianao, with their subsequent recovery and breakthroughs within ten days, were undoubtedly connected to the boy named Yun Xiao.

After all, achieving a breakthrough in the Heavenly Realm with some methods would surely ignite excitement and admiration, as every cultivator on the Continent harbored a strong ambition to climb higher levels.

Previously, even at the Earth Rank Third Realm, breaking through a small realm could take months or even years, yet now Yun Xiao only needed to perform some methods to let one achieve breakthroughs in the Heavenly Rank Realm.

What an enviable ability this is, even though everyone could see Yun Xiao’s dazed state. His ability to aid in breakthroughs, compared to his formidable fighting power, undoubtedly made him more captivating.

Meanwhile, many Meridian Refining Masters who participated in the Meridian Refining Conference thought about how Qingmu Wu broke through to the Early Stage of Lingyun Realm too—another credit that goes to that boy.

All these realizations turned Yun Xiao into a hot commodity in everyone’s eyes. They all planned that if they could survive the ordeal of the Holy Grade Heavenly Spirit, they must stick around Lianyun Mountain to obtain an elixir that boosts their strength.

In fact, everyone guessed correctly; whether Lu Yanji or Xue Tianao achieved their breakthrough was undeniably related to Yun Xiao.

Lu Yanji was compelled by some meridian array Yun Xiao used to stimulate and thoroughly arouse the hidden Lu family bloodline within him.

With the strength of the Lu family bloodline, it wasn’t difficult for Lu Yanji to break through from the Early Stage to the Middle Stage of the Heavenly Realm, even without fully triggering it.

As for Xue Tianao’s breakthrough at this moment, the situation was much more complicated, with the main reason being the many drops of essence blood Yun Xiao implanted in him.

After Yun Xiao’s reincarnation, his body underwent significant changes, with many aspects still unclear even to Little Five, who claimed to be a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon.

When that special essence blood of Yun Xiao merged into Xue Tianao’s bloodline, it not only restored his severed meridians but also triggered an unknown fusion transformation.

It was precisely this transformation that allowed Xue Tianao to break through directly from the Peak of Lingyun Realm to the Early Stage of Heavenly Realm upon full recovery, a causation that Yun Xiao might not easily explain once he wakes up.

Three waves of energy erupted from different places, two of which were the breakthroughs of Lu Yanji and Xue Tianao, while the other was triggered by the Holy Grade Heavenly Spirit outside.

The two sides seemed to be engaged in a tug-of-war, where whoever succeeded first might be the ultimate victor. At this moment, all the observing human cultivators’ hearts tightened.

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

Just as everyone silently prayed for the two human experts to complete their breakthroughs sooner, the space of the Refining Treasure Hall suddenly started to tremble violently.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Even the air seemed to manifest countless cracks—an omen of the special space about to shatter, causing everyone’s hearts to sink instantly to the bottom.

"In the end, it couldn’t hold!"

Qian Sanyuan, the most familiar with the Refining Treasure Hall, naturally understood what this situation signified, voicing his lament before taking a step forward.

"The space is tearing apart; everyone, get ready!"

With a grave expression, Qian Sanyuan shouted loudly, and the entire space shattered like a mirror, with everyone except Yun Xiao being transported out of the Refining Treasure Hall.

No matter how you look at it, the Refining Treasure Hall was still a Space Divine Artifact. Once its defensive energy was breached, apart from Yun Xiao, the owner, no one could remain inside.

Of course, part of the reason was Yun Xiao’s current special state; had he been conscious enough to reinforce the Artifact Heart, the Refining Treasure Hall might have held on for a few more days.

Unfortunately, by a twist of fate, the defensive energy of the Refining Treasure Hall was ultimately exhausted by the Holy Grade Heavenly Spirit. What fate awaits these human cultivators?