Chapter 712: Hong Tan Leaves Seclusion (1)

Immortal blood essence!

That was something he had never used before. Before long, he contacted Zhu Tiandao and made his request. If Great Ming couldn't provide any, they could have a talk with Great Qin and get some from them.

Just like that, March arrived.

The War Shrine and Knowledge Seeking Realm had been busy. The eight families had deployed eight Sunmoons and started attacking some strongholds of the cult. They were also on the hunt for the Six-Winged Divine Sect.

Meanwhile, the War Shrine was searching through certain areas, with the Strength Guard deployed toward the wilderness. Countless cultists were killed as a result of this search. As a response, the cult was forced to start shrinking its scope of operation.

They no longer dared to do anything major in the Human Realm. Thus, almost the entire Human Realm was calm and peaceful by the time March arrived. Great Xia was the sole exception to this.

When March arrived, the sun and the moon hanging in the sky of Great Xia started changing colors. This was an omen that a new Sunmoon was going to appear. This breakthrough was creating quite a spectacle.

Jin Yuhui had not created such a big scene during his breakthrough, but that was because his breakthrough wasn't a complete one. Meanwhile, a complete breakthrough was happening in Great Xia. Very few individuals had managed to step into the Sunmoon Realm in recent decades.

***

Great Xia Cultural Research Academy.

Grotto District.

Two half-moons hung in the sky above. One was larger than the other. This signified that instead of one, two Sunmoons were going to emerge. It was likely that Hong Tan and Zhou Mingren were both on the verge of breaking through.

Decades had passed since Great Xia Cultural Research Academy last produced a Sunmoon. Today, they were going to produce two of them at once, reversing the declining momentum of the academy.

But no joy could be seen in the students and teachers of the academy.

One of the two was Hong Tan. But of the members of his multiple character faction, Su Yu had left, Chen Yong had gone missing, and Wu Jia had been cooped indoors for a very long time. One could say that the multiple character faction had ceased to exist in Great Xia.

The other was Zhou Mingren. His student, Zhou Pingsheng, was dead. Multiple elders of his single character faction were dead as well. And several elders had been punished with three familial exterminations.

If it was any other time, the emergence of two new Sunmoons was something that would be widely celebrated. But today, the academy was enveloped in a suffocating atmosphere. The two were still unaware of what had happened during their seclusion.

What would happen if they learned of everything that had happened? Would the two newly advanced Sunmoons fight it out with each other right after leaving seclusion?

One elder after another had arrived at the Grotto District. There were even several Sunmoons there. People like Administrator Hu, Ji Hong, and the newly returned Yuan Qingdong were present. The generals of the army were also there. All in all, four Sunmoons had arrived.

A short while later, Wu Yuehua's mother, the old madam of the Wu Family arrived. Next, the mount of the second principal was invited over as well. At this point, six Sunmoons had arrived.

The two resplendent half-moons continued flickering in the sky.

Administrator Hu lamented, "It definitely isn't easy for these two to enter the Sunmoon Realm. Both of them are very capable."

This is an age where only the best of the best could enter the Sunmoon Realm. Fifty years prior, the difficulty of reaching the Sunmoon Realm was much lower.

Even someone like Jin Yuhui had only been able to complete his breakthrough after fusing eight characters into a single system. If it was fifty years prior, Jin Yuhui would have been able to enter the Sunmoon Realm easily with his talent and strength. He only seemed so weak because his opponent was Zhu Tiandao, a ninth-stage Sunmoon.

The others remained silent as Administrator Hu spoke. But they all agreed that these two were very capable. However, it might not necessarily be a good thing for these two to complete their advancement at the same time.

Boom!

Suddenly, a large amount of source qi converged in the area.

The old man, who was the human form of the second principal's mount, coughed and said, "Open the Source Qi Secret Grotto."

Old Nie, who was in charge of guarding the Source Qi Secret Grotto, did not hesitate and waved his hand, sending a mirror into the sky. Next, a large amount of source qi surged out of the mirror before turning into source qi liquid. The source qi liquid turned into a rain of source qi that converged on a certain area in the Grotto District.

The old man stomped his crutch on the ground and said, "Open the Willpower Grotto."

The expert in charge of guarding the Willpower Grotto burned a large amount of riversand to create a portal in the air. Through the portal, a large amount of willpower surged out. The old man looked at the Sunmoons and said, "Everyone, lend me a hand. Seal the area to prevent anyone from making trouble during this crucial process."

The Sunmoons said nothing and vanished into thin air. Each of them picked a direction to guard.

The old man spoke yet again, "All students at the ninth-stage Infinite Strength Realm and peak Mental Tempering Stage, gather up. Borrow the Light of Sunmoon to open your acupoints or apertures. You are lucky to encounter the breakthroughs of two Sunmoons at the same time."

With that, numerous students and teachers arrived. The students were all at the peak Infinite Strength Realm or Mental Tempering Stage. They looked incomparably excited.

A few elders looked at the old man anxiously. One of them spoke through voice transmission, "Senior Dragon, there are so many students here. What if those two start fighting right after coming out of exclusion?"

"Don't worry about it."

The old man did not seem worried. Seeing that, the others had nothing else to say. This old man was a seventh-stage Sunmoon, the mount of the second principal. He was also a dragon, one of the strongest races in existence.

His actual combat strength was comparable to that of a regular eighth or ninth-stage Sunmoon. Since he insisted that it would be fine, the others said nothing. This old dragon had the strength to suppress everything that might happen here.

In fact, this old man was the main reason why the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy still occupied such a high position despite the fact that Wan Tiansheng was publicly known as someone below the Sunmoon Realm.

Wan Tiansheng had since entered seclusion with Yuan Qingdong running the academy on his behalf. However, the conflict between the single and multiple character factions had worsened. Thus, the mount of the second principal would show up every now and then to deter all troublemakers.

Everyone calmed down and waited in silence. They were assured by the fact that apart from the second principal's mount, Administrator Hu was also there. They didn't know his exact strength, but they knew that he was very strong. The last time he fought, he had unleashed the strength of a fifth or sixth-stage Sunmoon. But nobody knew for sure if that was really his cultivation level.

After all, even General Zhao, someone publicly known as a peak Mountainsea, was actually a fifth-stage Sunmoon. In that case, how strong would Old Hu, who was publicly known as a Sunmoon, be?

With these two here, they would be able to suppress all disturbances even if Hong Tan and Zhou Mingren decided to fight. As they waited, the source qi and willpower in the air became thicker and thicker.

Both the Source Qi Secret Grotto and Willpower Grotto were supplying a large amount of energy for this breakthrough. In fact, this was what the academy had stockpiled to assist any potential Sunmoon during their breakthrough.

Since it had been many years since one of them attempted a breakthrough into the Sunmoon Realm, the accumulated resources had been left untouched for a very long time. The two half-moons shone brighter and brighter, to the point not even the sun in the sky could outshine their splendor. Abruptly, a sword and a shield appeared in the sky.

"Hong Tan is breaking through!"

They were looking at the character technique of Hong Tan. The sword and shield were growing strong at a rapid pace. This was an advancement of characters.

Rumble!

As more and more source qi gathered around the character technique, it started emanating a pressure that everyone in the area could feel. This breakthrough was truly creating a big ruckus. Before long, even those from about a dozen kilometers away could hear the rumble in the sky and feel the sense that something was going to leave its cocoon.

Right at that moment, the half-moon representing Hong Tan in the sky shattered into pieces. The breakthrough had not failed. From the shattered half-moon, a large amount of source qi liquid and willpower emerged. This was a reward from nature itself to assist one in completing the breakthrough.

Hong Tan was near the end of the breakthrough. Something like this did not happen during Jin Yuhui's breakthrough as he had not prepared enough for his breakthrough. The sword and shield in the sky continued growing stronger.

Abruptly, a loud rumble rang out.

The plants in the area started growing wildly. The sunlight coming from the sky seemed to grow even brighter and warmer. The very air carried the smell of spring. The surrounding students sank into a state of contemplation as strands of willpower and source qi started flowing toward their bodies.

Even the leftover intent and energy from the breakthrough of a Sunmoon were extremely beneficial for these students. The bodies of numerous students started crackling as acupoints and apertures were opened.

Then, a massive sun appeared in the sky alongside a towering stone pillar. Additionally, gigantic waves covered the sky. Those were Zhou Mingren's characters.

Zhou Mingren's main character was the sun character, represented by the sun in the sky.

Boom!

Zhou Mingren was about to complete his breakthrough as well.