One month later.
In the cultivation chamber of the Main Peak in the Guiyuan Spirit Domain.
Yun Heng sat cross-legged on a futon, as the dense spiritual energy around her continuously gathered toward her.
The array patterns in the cultivation chamber glowed faintly, locking the gathered spiritual energy securely inside the room.
No one knew how much time had passed when a slight ripple of spiritual energy suddenly emanated from within Yun Heng.
The cultivation method, which had been running smoothly, suddenly accelerated.
A massive amount of spiritual energy surged into her meridians, ultimately gathering in her dantian.
The aura around Yun Heng steadily climbed along with it.
The barrier of the late stage of the Soul Transformation Realm was finally shattered.
A powerful aura belonging to a cultivator at the peak of the Soul Transformation Realm spread out from her body.
The spiritual energy in the entire cultivation chamber vibrated in response.
Yun Heng slowly opened her eyes.
She continued to circulate the Tianheng Guiyuan Art, re-stabilizing the spiritual energy that was still somewhat unstable after her recent breakthrough.
After several cycles, the aura around Yun Heng gradually stabilized.
Peak of the Soul Transformation Realm.
She had broken through once again.
Aside from her cultivation successfully breaking through to the peak of the Soul Transformation Realm, her progress in cultivating several other techniques had also improved significantly.
The fourth and fifth volumes of the Tianheng Guiyuan Art and the Profound Bone Body-Forging Art had all reached great perfection.
The third and fourth volumes of the Void-Stepping Movement Technique and the Formless Concealment Technique had also reached great perfection.
The fourth and fifth volumes of the Tianheng Sword Art were also at great perfection.
As for the Taiwei Spirit Refinement Art, which specialized in cultivating divine sense, she had also cultivated its first three volumes to the realm of great perfection.
Yun Heng closed her eyes, and her divine sense instantly expanded outward.
Most of the Main Peak's area was enveloped by her divine sense.
The rustling of the wind outside the cultivation chamber, the footsteps of attendants passing by in the distance, and even the soft rustling of the leaves on the spirit trees in the courtyard were all clearly captured by her perception.
Compared to a month ago, the strength of her divine sense had increased significantly.
Yun Heng opened her eyes in satisfaction.
“Host, the match will begin in fifteen minutes.”
The System's voice rang out in her sea of consciousness right on cue.
“Alright.”
She stood up from the futon, and with a slight shift of her mind, she left the Guiyuan Spirit Domain and reappeared in her room in the Wanbao Tower.
Yun Heng quickly left the Wanbao Tower and rushed toward the Five Domains Platform.
By the time she arrived at the Five Domains Platform, the matches had not yet officially begun.
The spectator stands were already packed with people.
As far as the eye could see, there was a dense crowd of cultivators everywhere.
The viewing areas of the various sects, clans, and empires of the Central State were also fully packed, with everyone waiting for the battle for the top four to begin.
Yun Heng entered the competitors' waiting area.
All eight participating cultivators had already arrived.
Yun Heng found a seat and sat down; Xiao Cen was sitting right next to her.
Noticing Yun Heng's arrival, Xiao Cen originally wanted to speak with her.
But the moment she turned her head, she sensed the aura that Yun Heng had not yet fully concealed.
The expression on Xiao Cen's face froze instantly.
She stared at Yun Heng for a few breaths, her eyes widening more and more.
“You...”
“You broke through?!”
Xiao Cen's voice wasn't quiet.
The waiting area was already very quiet, so the moment she uttered those words, almost all the other participating cultivators heard them.
Everyone turned to look at Yun Heng at the same time.
Streams of divine sense and gazes landed on her.
Yun Heng's expression didn't change at all, and her tone was exceptionally calm.
“Yes.”
“I'm at the peak of the Soul Transformation Realm now.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the entire waiting area fell into a brief silence.
The expressions of everyone present changed.
Only a month had passed, yet she had actually broken through again?
In the Soul Transformation Realm, breaking through even a single minor realm required a vast amount of time.
The closer one got to the higher realms, the slower their cultivation speed became.
Many cultivators remained stuck at the late stage of the Soul Transformation Realm for decades, or even over a hundred years, unable to step into the peak of the Soul Transformation Realm.
What kind of cultivation speed was this?
When she was still at the late stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, she already possessed the strength to suppress the other participating cultivators.
Now that she had broken through to the peak of the Soul Transformation Realm, who could possibly stand against her?
Xie Wujiu was sitting to the right behind Yun Heng.
Hearing the words “peak of the Soul Transformation Realm,” his heart skipped a beat.
How could this be?
A twenty-five-year-old at the late stage of the Soul Transformation Realm was already enough to shock the entire Taiyan Continent.
Now, before the Five Domains Prodigy Gathering had even concluded, Yun Heng had actually broken through to the peak of the Soul Transformation Realm.
Xie Wujiu had originally prepared himself to fight with everything he had.
Over the past month, he had been continuously comprehending the second sword intent he had just obtained, making some progress in both his cultivation and his sword techniques.
Yet when Yun Heng appeared once more, he realized that the gap between them had not narrowed at all, but had instead grown even wider.
With his current strength, did he really stand a chance of winning?
Not far away, the look in Ye Zezhi's eyes as she watched Yun Heng also shifted.
For the first time, a visible ripple of emotion appeared on her face.
Before this, she had still held a sliver of hope in her heart.
She had cultivated for much longer than Yun Heng, possessed far more combat experience, and her cultivation at the late stage of the Soul Transformation Realm had been polished over many years, giving her an incredibly solid foundation.
Even if Yun Heng had many hidden cards, she might not have been entirely without a fighting chance.
But now, Yun Heng had broken through.
Between the late stage of the Soul Transformation Realm and the peak of the Soul Transformation Realm, there was now an additional layer of difference in cultivation.
Defeating Yun Heng had become even more difficult.
It took Xiao Cen quite a while to finally snap out of her shock.
Looking at Yun Heng's calm expression, she didn't know what to say for a moment.
Just how on earth did this person cultivate?
Just as the atmosphere in the waiting area was becoming somewhat strange, the voice-amplifying array on the main stage suddenly lit up.
Gong Yiding stepped out from behind the main stage.
Upon seeing her appearance, warm applause and cheers immediately erupted from the spectator stands.
The battle for the top four, which everyone had waited a whole month for, was finally about to officially begin.
“We've finally made it!”
An excited spectator slapped his thigh.
“This past month has been such a painful wait.”
The person next to him nodded in deep agreement.
“Tell me about it. I've been looking forward to the matches starting every single day.”
“Later, because I felt time was passing too slowly, I simply went into closed-door cultivation for a month. I just came out today, just in time for the matches.”
On the other side, someone lowered their voice and asked the people around them in a secretive manner, “Have you guys placed your bets yet?”
“Wanbao Tower has officially opened the betting pools starting from the quarterfinals.”
“From today onward, you can place individual bets on every subsequent match.”
The person next to him immediately replied, “Of course I did.”
“I bet on the top four being Yun Heng, Ye Zezhi, Bai Chu'an, and Yu Chengge.”
Just as he finished speaking, another cultivator shook his head.
“That's not right.”
“I think Xiao Cen will win.”
Someone else chimed in.
“I bet on Xiao Cen as well.”
“But that matchup is indeed the hardest to predict. The odds given by Wanbao Tower are very close too.”
As they were discussing the outcomes of each matchup, someone suddenly said, “Speaking of odds, when I went to Wanbao Tower yesterday, I saw that Yun Heng's odds of winning were actually only 1 to 1.01!”
The surrounding people fell somewhat silent upon hearing this figure.
“That low?”
“That's way too exaggerated.”
The speaker slapped his thigh.
“It's low, but even with your eyes closed, you'd know that Yun Heng is definitely going to win this match.”
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