Jiang Cheng speculated with some malice, could it be that he's summoning the Three-Eyed Tiger again this time?
"Host has obtained the Divine-grade Spirit Platform, suppressing all Spirit Platforms below the divine level!"
"Host's cultivation has been elevated to the Spirit Platform Realm Fourth Layer!"
"Host has achieved the Seventh Layer of the Water Cold Heart Technique!"
"Host has automatically comprehended the fifth floor of the Spirit Platform Illusion!"
"Host has automatically comprehended the Dark Spring Sealing Flame Sword's Eighth Layer!"
"Host is about to resurrect!"
Ah, huh?
Brother Cheng could hardly resist laughing up to the sky, finally being able to enhance his power directly once again.
He was currently at the Soul Splitting Eighth Layer, and this time he advanced eight small realms at once.
The spiritual power required for each small realm in the Spirit Platform Realm is far greater than that for the entire progression from Soul Splitting First to Tenth Layers combined.
This saved him numerous troubles.
Moreover, cultivation techniques, Soul Capturing Techniques, and swordsmanship all upgraded several layers out of thin air.
Normally, these would require additional hard work and years upon years.
At this moment, he felt as if he had been in the Spirit Platform Realm for hundreds of years, fully comprehending the divine secret techniques of the Spirit Platform Sixth Layer.
The Spirit Platform Illusion was the secret technique that Duanmu Pool used when he descended upon the Feixian Sect last time.
Cultivating to the first layer allows one to entrust the divine soul onto the spirit platform, using it to protect and nurture the divine soul.
The second floor enables you to activate the spirit platform, carrying the divine soul across thousands of miles away from the body.
The third floor develops the spirit platform's mighty power to directly attack distant opponents.
Duanmu Pool at the time was actually at this realm.
And now, Jiang Cheng had reached the Fourth Layer.
In this realm, the divine soul on the spirit platform grows to the size of the original body, with power magnified over tenfold.
Furthermore, during divine soul attacks, unique secret techniques can be formed with the spirit platform, unlike the straightforward and shallow assaults of the third floor.
Not to mention, his spirit platform is of the divine-grade.
The moment a spirit platform is nurtured into existence, it comes with a grade distinction.
Duanmu Pool's spirit platform was only of the lowest mortal grade, while the highest quality within the Duanmu Family was owned by the patriarch, Duanmu Hong, reaching the profound grade.
Above the profound grade lies the saint grade, which simply doesn't exist in the entire Qinglan Prefecture.
Not to mention the even higher immortal and divine grades.
When spirit platforms clash, high-grade ones naturally suppress those of lower grade.
Unless the opponent's spirit platform secret techniques are significantly higher in realm, equal-grade spirit platforms are virtually invincible.
Of course, the greatest advantage of a high-quality spirit platform is the faster cultivation speed of the divine soul.
Divine-grade spirit platforms allow cultivation hundreds of times faster than mortal ones.
Where lifting Duanmu Pool's divine soul by one realm might take a hundred years, Jiang Cheng would only need two or three months.
If word of this spirit platform got out, countless heads of sacred lands beyond the region would scramble to take him in as a disciple.
After all, divine-grade spirit platforms are extraordinarily rare.
Some sacred lands have endured for tens of thousands of years without fostering such a monstrous prodigy at this level.
Also, the Dark Spring Sealing Flame Sword and Water Cold Heart Technique boast quality several tiers above the Extreme Moon Sect's Crescent Moon Swordsmanship and Moon Observation Heart Method.
The swordsmanship power and cultivation speed have been massively enhanced.
With such a tremendous boost in power, Jiang Cheng felt incredibly pleased, finally free from others instantly seeing through him and dismissively remarking that he was just a mere Soul Splitting Realm weakling.
Well, to be fair, the Soul Splitting Realm already counted as high-end combat power in Qinglan Prefecture, but he always ended up wiping out entire families.
With the Spirit Platform Sixth Layer, he finally had some credibility.
Clang!
Brother Cheng drew his sword and looked around, feeling bewildered.
No targets!
According to 'proper procedures,' shouldn't he slay his opponent once resurrected?
Yet now, who knows where the enemy went; how can he slay someone he can't even find?
"Well, the system wouldn't make an enemy stay put waiting for me to slay them."
"Come to think of it, I should thank that person for killing me once."
"Otherwise, where would I have garnered so much gain?"
After a brief moment of disappointment, he turned to delight, having quite a large heart.
"Hey buddy, why don't you come out and let me stab you as a thank-you gift!"
After tidying himself up a bit, he continued heading toward the Red Sun Sect.
With his power surging, his flying speed increased sharply, becoming several times faster than before.
He boldly flew along, his style now even more flamboyant.
After slaying Jiang Cheng, Duanmu Hong returned to the Duanmu Family as quickly as possible.
"Big brother!"
"The patriarch's returned!"
"Congratulations on a triumphant return, ridding the Duanmu Family of a formidable foe!"
Upon his arrival, the elders of the clan gathered around like welcoming a victorious hero coming back home.
"Hmm!"
Duanmu Hong responded indifferently and went straight to the family ancestral temple.
Then, he set forth his cultivation techniques, stretching his arms.
A small blood-red dagger floated up from his back, slowly flying to the jade frame at the center of the ancestral temple.
All the elders fell silent, intensely staring at the flying dagger!
This was the Duanmu Family's treasured artifact, the Tier Seven Spiritual Artifact Blood Transformation Blade. It was rumored that an ancestor of the Duanmu Family obtained it from a secret realm in Feiyun State a thousand years ago.
The Blood Transformation Blade held immense power, helping the Duanmu Family withstand numerous crises over the millennium, making it a family heirloom.
Yet, possibly due to some damage before it was acquired by an ancestor of the Duanmu Family, the spiritual artifact suffers some loss each time it is used.
The Duanmu Family has kept a secret that when they first obtained the Blood Transformation Blade, it was actually a Tier Eight Spiritual Artifact, but it has gradually diminished to Tier Seven over the years.
Therefore, they would never use it unless facing a major crisis.
"If I'd known that kid was genuinely so weak, there was no need to employ the Blood Transformation Blade this time!"
"Indeed, our spirit platform could have just wiped him out directly."
"Without the protection of the Tiger Demon, he is nothing."
Even though they had slain Jiang Cheng, everyone felt it was a bit of an overkill, using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
Duanmu Hong had a similar sentiment; the battle was too effortless.
If he'd known from the start he was just a weakling, why the tension and the long wait hidden in the mountains?
"Well, when Feixian Sect is annihilated, and Ji Linghan is captured, the depletion of the Blood Transformation Blade will barely be worth it."
The elders prepared eagerly, sharpening their knives.
At this moment, a young trusted clansman suddenly rushed in.
"Patriarch, elders..."
Duanmu Hong frowned with displeasure.
"Such imprudence, what decorum is this?"
The trusted clansman promptly apologized and hastily said, "That Jiang Cheng isn't dead; he's still alive."
"What did you say?"
Duanmu Hong wondered if he had misheard.
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
The other elders also expressed disbelief.
But within just a few dozen seconds, they were forced to believe it.
A Transmission Spirit Artifact image came through, sent back by a Duanmu Family scout posted somewhere.
And in that monotonous image, aside from the vast sky, there was a person flying at high speed.
With a flying posture as flamboyant as possible, who else could it be but Jiang Cheng?
"This, how is this possible?"
"How can he still be alive?"
"I personally killed him, utterly certain he was dead!"