Few stars were visible through the boughs canopied above them, and though the moon shone brightly,
it was still dark beneath the trees. The night was bitterly cold. And everyone huddled around the fires
for warmth, except for one man.
In his tent, Austin sat cross-legged in meditation. The cold did not bother him and, though his breath
steamed in the biting air, he focused on the task at hand. His consciousness wandered back into his
Soul Sea.
His spiritual sense had improved by five times, and Austin planned to cultivate the fourth level of the
Spiritual Sense Flying Needle.
Austin knew that the power of his spiritual sense far outstripped that of the Sky Realm warriors. But he
had no idea of just exactly how strong his spiritual sense was.
Regardless, he believed that it was strong enough for him to accomplish the fourth stage of the
Spiritual Sense Flying Needle.
After slowly diving deeper into his Soul Sea, Austin began following the instructions for the fourth stage
of the Spiritual Sense Flying Needle. He began to use his power of spiritual sense to refine the Flying
Needle.
One Spiritual Sense Flying Needle. Two Spiritual Sense Flying Needles...
The Spiritual Sense Flying Needles arose one after another in his Soul Sea.
The speed with which he refined the Spiritual Sense Flying Needles this time was faster than ever.
After about two hours of meditation, ten Spiritual Sense Flying Needles were refined in his Soul Sea.
In addition to the ten Spiritual Sense Flying Needles he had previously refined, Austin now had twenty
Spiritual Sense Flying Needles at his disposal.
And finally Austin could cease the cultivation of the Spiritual Sense Flying Needle, which was a martial
arts skill concerning the cultivation of spiritual sense. He had now mastered all the stages in this skill.
At the same time, Austin made the twenty Spiritual Sense Flying Needles gather around him. He
trained them to move and swirl in the sky according to his command. After a short while, Austin had
become much more skillful at manipulating them. It became as easy as using his arms and fingers, and
felt like second nature to him.
One could imagine that if these twenty Spiritual Sense Flying Needles were to simultaneously attack a
warrior's Soul Sea, even if he was a very strong warrior, say an opponent of the premium stage of
Mysterious Realm, he would be greatly harmed.
If the twenty Spiritual Sense Flying Needles ever attacked an Earth Realm warrior's Soul Sea, and the
warrior turned out to be weak in strength, that warrior's Soul Sea might be immediately destroyed and
he would become a moron!
Spiritual sense related marital arts skills were so powerful precisely because they came in insubstantial
forms. The opponent usually had no time to dodge attacks from such skills as they couldn't see the
attack coming. And when they finally realized what had happened, the harm was already done.
The Spiritual Sense Flying Needle was one of Austin's most powerful skills.
Exhausted after accomplishing the cultivation and refinement of the Spiritual Sense Flying Needles,
Austin fell asleep without even taking off his clothes. Contented with his progress he slept well that
night.
He woke up early the next morning as the first rays of light appeared with dawn's breaking.
Everyone else, Dewey, Maria, Iris, and Anna also arose early.
They had all come to the Mysterious Nether World with the purpose of exploring wondrous lands,
improving their skills, and hunting treasures. No one would waste time on too much sleep.
After Austin packed his tent into his Space Ring, his spiritual sense detected that the royal group had
started employing their bodily movement skills and were flashing to the mountain top.
Austin immediately shared this information with his companions. They set off, secretly following behind
the group.
The twenty-odd young cultivators from the royal house were all exceptionally well-developed in their
strengths. Over half of that group were at the Mysterious Realm of vital energy.
Most of the warriors in the Violet Orchid Empire would be easily overwhelmed if they confronted such a
group.
Dewey, Maria, and the two nuns knew that the group which advanced ahead of them were all royal
warriors, and they took extreme care with every step not to attract the attention of the preceding group.
Austin was different, as he was not afraid of common Mysterious Realm cultivators. But with the help of
the spiritual sense, he could feel that there were two streams of strong energy waves undulating from
the royal group.
Austin could tell that these two cultivators were powerful figures to be reckoned with. Even he himself
might not be able to defeat them.
It seemed that the royal house was the most powerful force in the Violet Orchid Empire. Its solid
foundation gave it an advantage and it was able to cultivate young warriors who would reach high
levels in the martial arts.
Earlier, Austin had planned to ignore all the other groups and directly go to the top of the mountain
where he would force his way into the Emperor Library.
However, after sensing the powerful strengths of this royal group, he decided to change the plan. He
would secretly follow behind them at first, and then decide what to do once their destination was
revealed.
After half an hour, Austin and his companions finally reached the top of the mountain.
At the top, an ancient square came into view.
The square was paved with vivid blue stones. It appeared as if the place had existed for thousands of
years. At the end of the square stood a three-layered palace, which looked both magnificent and regal.
It exuded a special aura of eternity which permeated the air, making people look at it in awe.
The doors of the palace were firmly closed. They could see four huge shadows at the doors, two by
each side. Upon closer examination, they found that the shadows were four sculptures. Each of them
was three meters high and in the shape of a warrior. They looked strong, and every warrior sculpture
had a saber tied at their waist.
There was a painted sign hanging above the door, which read, "Emperor Library". The words were
beautifully written in a kind of ancient styled calligraphy.
Looking at the words on the board, everyone was thrilled, and their eyes glinted with excitement. The
building was the Emperor Library, where sixth and even seventh grade martial arts skills manuals were
housed.
Austin and the group with him hid behind an ancient tree, the trunk of which was so thick that it would
take at least four or five people to encircle it with their arms.
At that moment, the twenty-odd warriors from the royal house stood in a line, side by side in front of the
palace. Austin noticed that Philip was among the group. Obviously, Philip had also come.
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