The spiritual sea had changed from a liquid to a gaseous state. In fact, the change was not too great, because they were both like water. But this process of transformation was on the contrary too precious for Xu Sanshi. This also meant that he could gradually go and better control his own spiritual power, and could gradually master the way of fusing his spiritual power with his own soul skills, instead of blindly and simply fusing with the aura of reigning over the world. This would also make his comprehension on the spiritual level more profound, thus possessing an even stronger control.
Tang Wutong had gone for less than half a shichen (one hour) and had returned, once again returning to Xu Sanshi's side. Just as he was preparing to stay here and wait with him all along... Xu Sanshi's body moved, and the purple in his eyes also then gradually faded.
A puff of a faint, white mist had suddenly emanated from Xu Sanshi's body. The mountain wind was biting, yet it could not blow away this layer of mist that was emanating from his body. The white mist slowly floated upwards and had condensed into shape at the top of his head, transforming into a pure white, large flower. Xu Sanshi raised his head slightly and took a deep breath. The large, white flower had once again transformed into a ball of an airflow and had entered through his nose.
"Hey!" Xu Sanshi suddenly glared and shouted loudly. In an instant, another puff of a black light mist had spread out from his body.
In the process of this black light mist spreading, whether it was the Tang Wutong by his side or the gray-clothed people who were guarding the surroundings, they all clearly felt their spirits go into a trance for a moment. Everything around them seemed to become unclear.
Raising his head, he looked at the rolling sea of clouds above his head from afar. Xu Sanshi's two pupils widened. A purple-gold light had flashed and disappeared. This time, no light had been sprayed out. It was just that his Purple Demon Eyes had purely changed its color for a moment. However, in the distant sky, within the sea of clouds, a huge vortex had suddenly appeared. The vortex was rapidly rotating, and even the surrounding clouds and mist had fiercely surged with it. It had lasted for a full ten seconds or so before it had been once again swallowed by the large patch of the sea of clouds.
"Mmm..." Xu Sanshi came back to his senses, his eyes full of a look of joy. This one epiphany had undoubtedly made his control of his own spiritual power take another step forward. It was of great benefit to his cultivation. The improvement of his spiritual control meant that his ability to control his soul power with his spiritual power would also be improved. A good control would naturally also have an impact on his cultivation speed.
When he was surprised to find these gray-clothed people by his side, he immediately sensed that these people were all looking at him with the eyes of someone looking at a monster. It was clear that they simply did not understand what had happened to Xu Sanshi.
"Third Brother, are you alright?" Tang Wutong's voice had made the vigilance that Xu Sanshi had just raised be suppressed.
"I'm fine. I seem to have suddenly figured something out. It seems to be the epiphany that Elder Mu had spoken of," Xu Sanshi scratched his head and said with some embarrassment.
Tang Wutong said with annoyance, "You still have the face to say it? This one epiphany of yours was no big deal, but it made me so nervous. Fortunately, the time was not too long."
Xu Sanshi laughed and said, "When an opportunity comes, you always have to seize it. Sorry, sorry. Are these your family?" As he spoke, he pointed at the surrounding gray-clothed people.
Tang Wutong nodded and said, "Yes!" He turned to the gray-clothed people and said, "Everyone has worked hard. You can go back."
"Yes," only then had the gray-clothed people spoken for the first time. Their voices were neat and uniform. Nor had anyone asked more. Every single one of them appeared to be very respectful to Tang Wutong. They all soared up and, in a flash, had disappeared in the clouds and mist.
Looking at the speed they had displayed, Xu Sanshi was truly greatly shocked. He had discovered that the cultivation of these gray-clothed people was probably at least at the Soul King level and above. The one after another of a vigorous posture, it could be seen that their cultivation was profound. And it was by no means the kind of a superficial and insubstantial soul power that the Sun Moon Empire's soul tool masters had improved with a special method.
Tang Wutong smiled faintly and said, "If you have any questions, you'll naturally know once you reach my home. Let's go." As she spoke, she was the first to take flight, ascending along the steep mountain path.
Xu Sanshi did not dare to be negligent and followed closely behind her. Stepping into the clouds and mist, Tang Wutong had proactively held Xu Sanshi's hand and had said, "I'll pull you along. It's easy to get lost in the mist. This is a defensive line of the Clear Sky Sect! If you're not careful, you'll fall off a cliff."
Hearing him say this, Xu Sanshi was immediately a little unconvinced. He had just had an epiphany about his spiritual power and was precisely at a time when his confidence was extremely strong. He had immediately displayed his own spiritual perception and had tried to get a glimpse of the surrounding terrain.
This one perception of his was no big deal. In an instant, he had been startled. Because he was shocked to find that in his own spiritual perception, everything around was empty. He actually couldn't sense anything. He couldn't even detect himself and Tang Wutong. It was as if the two of them were completely suspended in the clouds. However, they were clearly on solid ground, stepping on the mountain!
"How can this be?" Xu Sanshi said in surprise.
Tang Wutong said, "It's a secret. Let's go," under his pull, Xu Sanshi could only follow closely behind him. The road under his feet was not flat. It was full of rocks. There was simply no pure road. If not for Tang Wutong leading the way, in the situation where there was no spiritual detection's guidance, Xu Sanshi would really have had a problem.
"Tang Wutong! If we were to directly fly over from the sky, would that be okay? The clouds of your family seem to be very strange!"
Tang Wutong laughed and said, "It's okay. Actually, only the clouds and mist around the main peak will have some special effects. But in this patch of clouds and mist, there lives a kind of a bird-type soul beast, with the title of 'assassin in the clouds'. Among them are not a few at the ten-thousand-year level. And they are in a flock. To want to fly over is also not easy."
Xu Sanshi let out a bitter laugh. "I suddenly regret coming with you a little. Is this your home? It's simply a dragon's pool and a tiger's den!"
Tang Wutong said with a smile, "You'd better watch what you say. If my First Uncle and Second Uncle were to hear this, you won't have it easy."
"First Uncle? Second Uncle?" Xu Sanshi said in surprise. "Could it be that you don't live with your parents?"
"I also don't know where my father is now. My First Uncle and Second Uncle are both my father's elder brothers. However, I haven't seen my father and mother for a long, long time. When I ask my two uncles about them, they just say that my father was pushed out by a bad guy and had gone to another place..." Speaking of this, her voice was a little choked.
Hearing the choke in Tang Wutong's voice, Xu Sanshi hurriedly held her hand tightly. "Wutong! Uncle and auntie will surely be fine! Don't you think blindly!"
"Mmm," Tang Wutong replied softly. Her originally good mood of returning home seemed to have been affected quite a bit.
Finally, the view before their eyes had suddenly opened up. The surrounding clouds and mist had changed from being suspended above their heads to being stepped on under their feet.
Standing above the sea of clouds, the feeling was different again. Just about three hundred meters above their heads, suspended on the mountain peak above this sea of clouds, was a majestic castle. The gray castle was full of a simple and unadorned aura, with a great momentum of being at the very top. In this drifting of the sea of clouds, in this place where the mountain was so steep, Xu Sanshi was completely unable to imagine how this castle had been built.
Back then, when the academy had been forced to move to the capital of the Sun Moon Empire, Mingdu, he had been shocked by the buildings there. It could be said that the buildings there were a symbol of the technological progress of the Sun Moon Empire. It also represented the power of the Sun Moon Empire in the application of soul tools.
But the huge castle before his eyes, which was built on the peak of a mountain, could on the contrary only be described as a miracle. Even with the development of soul tools to the point where they had already begun to change a country, to want to build such a castle on such a steep mountain was also almost impossible. But the facts were before his eyes, and Xu Sanshi had no choice but to believe it.
Under Tang Wutong's lead, the two continued to climb. A height of several hundred meters was nothing. In a short while's time, they had finally climbed to the top of the mountain and had also arrived before the miraculous ancient castle.
On the top of the mountain, the mountain wind was even more biting. It also carried a thick humidity. But no matter how the mountain wind blew, the castle that was standing proudly in the center of the mountaintop was on the contrary unmoving.
On the arched main gate of the castle were three large characters: "Clear Sky Castle."
"Please," Tang Wutong made a "please" gesture to Xu Sanshi. Looking at his surprised appearance, a trace of a proud smile couldn't help but be revealed on her face.
Xu Sanshi said with a smile, "Although I am unwilling to admit it, I have to say that I have been stunned. My darling, you have really given me a big, big surprise!"
Tang Wutong was immediately shy and said, "You are the first person I have brought back. My home usually has no guests."
Xu Sanshi said with a low laugh, "Your family can't have guests. Just with that terrifying sea of clouds, they also can't have any, right?"
"Who said my family can't have guests!" Just at this time, a loud and powerful voice sounded from within the castle.
Xu Sanshi was startled. A tall figure had already come out to meet them from within the castle.
It was a very majestic, middle-aged strong man. He had a head of fine, short hair like steel needles. His appearance was dignified. His resolute face was as if carved by a knife and an axe. It was just a little pale. A pair of comical panda eyes were on the contrary brownish-yellow, with a faint golden light flashing. A long, gray robe simply could not completely cover his bulging, strong muscles. It was just that his body was covered in bruises, and there were also no small number of claw marks. It was clear that a certain bear had not been merciful to this one.
The moment he had appeared, Xu Sanshi had immediately felt a heaven-shaking pressure rush towards his face. It was just that this fellow's image was really not very good.
The middle-aged strong man's gaze had also at the first moment landed on Xu Sanshi's body. What he had brought was not just a pressure in terms of momentum. It was actually at the same time accompanied by a terrifying soul power pressure. Xu Sanshi only felt that the vast power was completely about to crush him.
Under the sudden surprise, Xu Sanshi had immediately completed his Xuanwu possession. A layer of a black, hazy mist had emanated from his body, shrouding his entire body within, as if he had in an instant turned into a black person. What was even more strange was that in the black light, one could vaguely see the surging, brown airflow that was rushing at him, like a monstrous wave hitting the shore. And the black light that Xu Sanshi himself had emanated had on the contrary made him as steady as a rock. Although his body was trembling slightly, in the end he had still withstood the pressure.
Fortunately, this pressure had not lasted for too long. After just a short two or three seconds, it had already ended. But just these short two or three seconds had on the contrary left a layer of fine beads of sweat on Xu Sanshi's back. He knew very well that even with all his current cultivation, in front of this kind of pressure, he would absolutely not be able to last for a minute.
What a terrifying strength this must be to be able to produce such a powerful pressure! For a time, Xu Sanshi couldn't help but be horrified in his heart. Looking at the middle-aged man before him, his eyes couldn't help but have an extra bit of apprehension and worry.
Tang Wutong was somewhat resentfully glaring at the middle-aged man and said, "Second Uncle, what are you doing? We've just come back, and you're bullying my boyfriend."
The middle-aged man laughed and said, "Who asked him to say that our family has no guests just now? Little fellow, it's not that we don't have guests here. It's that there are not many who have the qualification to enter our Clear Sky Castle. Mmm, with your age, and this kind of a soul power cultivation, you absolutely have this qualification. To think that back then... ahem! Alright, no more nonsense. Come on in, all of you!"
Xu Sanshi hurriedly and respectfully said, "Senior, hello, hello. This is a small token of this junior's sincerity. Please accept it," from the middle-aged man's words, he could tell that the other party was by no means as young as he looked on the surface. At the same time, he did not forget to take out a box of a precious spirit medicine from his family that was specially used to warm the meridians and to activate and dissolve bruises from his storage soul tool and handed it over.
Tang Wutong tugged at the corner of his clothes and said, "Third Brother, this is my Second Uncle. You can just follow me and call him 'Second Uncle'."
The middle-aged man casually took Xu Sanshi's things and, in passing, shot Tang Wutong a glare. He said, "It's still a little early to call me 'Second Uncle' now. You, this little fellow, are on the contrary a little discerning. My surname is Tai. You should still address me as 'Uncle'!"
Hearing this, Tang Wutong couldn't help but look at the middle-aged man with a huff. But her Second Uncle, on the contrary, ignored him and was the first to enter the castle.
Xu Sanshi had not sensed any hostility from this Uncle Tai. But he could deeply feel the other party's pride. It was very clear that the other party had not yet completely acknowledged him—