Chapter 1099: The Lively Guild

On the previous few floors were the four-headed eight-armed puppets. Even though there was none to be seen on this floor, the black pillar before him should serve a function similar to that of the puppets before.

"Never mind, I'll know once I give it a try..." Sitting on the ground, Zhang Xuan placed his hand on the ground, and a circle of light swiftly shrouded the pillar. Just like before, Zhang Xuan extended his consciousness to the pillar, and he suddenly found himself plunged into a world of absolute darkness.

"Light up!" Knowing that the presence of light within this dark world represented the successful enchantment of the object, Zhang Xuan drove his Heaven's Path Spirit Enchantment Art and tapped on the space ahead of him with his finger.

Weng!

A spark of light came to life, warding off the darkness. However, its radiance was extremely weak, reminiscent of a candlelight flickering in the midst of a powerful gale, on the verge of extinguishing at any moment.

"Hm?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

Previously, as long as he were to drive his Heaven's Path Spirit Enchantment Art, he would have been able to light up the entire world. However, it had only managed to produce a spark of light this time around, and it looked as if it would be extinguished at any moment. This meant that due to certain properties of the artifact, it was much harder to enchant a spirit into it.

"As expected of the 7-star spirit awakener examination. It's indeed much harder than the examinations before..." In face of such a situation, instead of wallowing in his failure, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up in excitement instead.

Honestly speaking, he felt that the previous few examinations were nonsensical. It was so easy that just anyone could clear it with ease. Finally, there was something that was worthy of a challenge!

"I sure would like to see how difficult the 7-star examination will be... Regardless of the cost, I'll definitely be going to light you up today!" With a worthy challenge standing before him, Zhang Xuan's fighting will was stoked.

While other spirit awakeners could only conduct three enchantments within a day before going into a period of long rest, Zhang Xuan found that he wasn't bounded by the same limits. Perhaps it was due to the flawless Heaven's Path Spirit Enchantment Art, or maybe it was simply because his soul was far stronger to his counterparts, he found that he could easily enchant dozens of times in a single day without feeling fatigued.

Thus, he raised his finger and tapped the space in front of him once more.

Yet another spark of light appeared. Just like the one before, it was flickering weakly amidst the darkness, but nevertheless, it still succeeded in driving the darkness slightly further away.

"Merge!" Driving his soul energy, Zhang Xuan brought the two sparks together, and they slowly fused together with one another.

As those two sparks were spirits which he had enchanted into the pillar, it harnessed his will, so it wasn't too difficult for him to merge them together.

But of course, it was also due to the flawless Heaven's Path Spirit Enchantment Art that he was able to produce identical spirits that could be merged together in the first place. While ordinary spirit awakeners could enchant spirits of similar attributes, it was inevitable that the spirits they enchanted would differ slightly from one another due to imperfections.

Naturally, it went without saying that spirits of differing attributes couldn't be merged together. Otherwise, that would be equivalent to creating two wills within a single artifact. The two wills would vie with one another for possession over the artifact, and if things were to go wrong, the weapon could very well be destroyed. Back then, it was due to this problem that the Hongyuan royal family's Bodhi Saint Tree nearly lost its life.

Hu!

The merged spark was significantly brighter than before, lighting up a significant portion of the darkness. While it was still insufficient to drive off the darkness entirely, the spark was no longer at risk of extinguishing soon anymore.

"Indeed, it works!" Zhang Xuan thought in excitement.

It was out of a moment of inspiration that he thought of merging the spirits together, and he hadn't really thought that it would work out so well. Delighted, he continued tapping the space ahead of him.

Hu hu!

Another two sparks appeared, and Zhang Xuan swiftly merged them into the one.

With four sparks merged together, the initial flicker of flame had finally grown into a flame torch. It glowed brilliantly amidst the darkness, bringing light to at least a radius of hundred meters.

"What a massive space..." With enhanced visibility, Zhang Xuan was finally able to get a glimpse into the space he was in.

For the puppets before, the worlds of darkness were only several meters to around a dozen meters in radius. A single spark of light was more than sufficient to light up the entire space. But in the space he was currently in, he had already lit up more than a hundred meters of the area, but the end was still nowhere in sight... Wasn't this weapon a little way too big?

The larger a weapon was, the stronger its spirit had to be in order to sustain it. But... he had already enchanted four spirits, and yet, the end was still nowhere in sight. Wasn't this pillar an extremely fearsome existence?

"Well, I haven't thought that the 7-star spirit awakener examination would be so difficult. However, I don't believe that I won't be able to light it up with my strength!" Seeing that even a torch of flame was sufficient to light up the entire world, Zhang Xuan began feeling a little competitive.

As one who cultivated the Heaven's Path Spirit Enchantment Art, if he couldn't clear the examination, wouldn't he be letting down the Library of Heaven's Path in his mind?

"Continue!"

Driving his soul energy swiftly, Zhang Xuan tapped on the area before him and produced several more sparks of light. However, the consecutive enchantments had expended quite a bit of his strength, causing his face to pale from weakness.

Even though his soul was much stronger than an average person, there was still a limit to how much he could bear. If he were to overexert himself, it could potentially create grievous damage to his soul.

Hu hu hu!

Fusing all of the sparks together, it didn't take long for the torch of flames to turn into a bonfire. The area shrouded by light expanded amidst the world of darkness, but there was still no sign of reaching the ends.

Until the world was fully lit up, the enchantment couldn't be considered a success.

"Forget it, I'll go all out!" Gritting his teeth tightly, Zhang Xuan continued the process frenziedly.

After fusing thirty-two sparks together, the bonfire finally turned into something that was reminiscent of a blazing sea of flames or a searing sun, illuminating the surroundings.

Hong long long!

The space trembled, and finally, Zhang Xuan was finally able to see the ends of the space.

To his astonishment, the consciousness of the artifact actually extended for several kilometers! It was no wonder why it was so difficult to enchant a spirit into it.

Having finally succeeded, Zhang Xuan felt a feeling of weakness consuming his body. At the same time, he couldn't help but feel deeply intrigued.

Having cultivated the Heaven's Path Spirit Enchantment Art, his comprehension of spirit enchantment had reached 7-star pinnacle, and his skills could possibly be on par with even 8-star primary spirit awakeners. He was certain that Vice Guild Leader Xu and the others weren't able to match up to him in terms of efficiency in enchanting.

Considering how he had nearly tired himself to death before clearing the examination... did they really clear the same examination as well?

Wasn't it a little too hard for a 7-star spirit awakener?

...

In a vast room in the Spirit Awakener Guild, three ladies were seated together. They were the most three most influential figures in the guild, Vice Guild Leader Xu, Vice Guild Leader Chen, and Guild Leader Ruan.

"Xu Ying, what happened? You should know that the Twin Bandits of the Northern Meadows aren't opponents whom we can afford to provoke. The Flitting Earth Bandit Dao Kou might not be much, but the Sky Bearing Bandit Cang Xu is not an enemy we can defeat! If they were to come after us, we will have to owe the Master Teacher Pavilion yet another favor..." Guild Leader Ruan said with a frown.

Dao Kou had come to have his disciple's soul enchanted so as to push for a breakthrough to Primordial Spirit realm, only to end up being pummeled unconscious instead... It was after hearing that news that Guild Leader Ruan hurriedly called for an urgent meeting with the two vice guild leaders.

If the Twin Bandits of the Northern Meadows were reasonable individuals, they wouldn't have been so fearful of them either. There were none in Qingyuan City who were unaware of their callousness and lawlessness. If they were to attempt to get back at them for this matter, given the limited strength the Spirit Awakener Guild wielded, they might find themselves in a helpless position.

By then, they would have no choice but to turn to the Master Teacher Pavilion for help.

"It's actually like this..." Vice Guild Leader Xu swiftly went through the matter concerning Zhang Xuan.

"You are saying that... the fellow could very well be a combat master?" Guild Leader Ruan contemplated for a moment before nodding in agreement. "It would be best if that's the case. No matter how arrogant the Twin Bandits are, they wouldn't dare to challenge the Combat Master Hall!"

Putting aside that the Combat Master Hall was considered as a subsidiary of the Master teacher Pavilion, just the sheer amount of experts they had in their midst was sufficient to deter any occupation from offending them.

"If the Sky Bearing Bandit Cang Xu were to come and attempt to get even with us, you must have sure to push all the blame to that fellow. Don't bring unnecessary trouble into our Spirit Awakener Guild. We are only a supporting occupation, we don't have the strength to get involved in such conflicts." Guild Leader Ruan instructed.

As spirit awakeners devoted their efforts to cultivating their soul so as to further their spirit enchantment abilities, they tend to be relatively weaker as compared to their counterparts of other occupations. As a result, they had no choice but to avoid conflicts as far as they could.

To be honest, if not for the order established by the Master Teacher Pavilion, there would probably have been many who would attempt to kidnap spirit awakeners for the valuable ability they possessed. They wouldn't have been able to run such a lucrative business without any fear.

It was precisely for this reason that Spirit Awakener Guilds would only be established in places where the Master Teacher Pavilion held dominant power. They would avoid anywhere aside from those places so as to avoid unneeded trouble.

"Alright." Understanding the position they were in, Vice Guild Leader Xu nodded in agreement. Suddenly, a thought came to her mind, and she asked, "Right, the young man hasn't left yet. He said that he wishes to learn the art of spirit enchantment, and he's currently reading in the library."

"He's reading in the library? A man wants to learn spirit enchantment?" Guild Leader Ruan frowned.

It was not that Guild Leader Ruan was looking down on men, but spirit enchantment required very precise control which ladies were more apt at. As a result, there were very few men within the Spirit Awakener Guild.

"I've already dispatched my student to check on him to see if he's really studying. I think my student should be returning anytime now..." Vice Guild Leader Xu shared the same views as Guild Leader Ruan. She didn't think that it was likely that Zhang Xuan would successfully become a spirit awakener either. Six hours had passed, and the other party should have already noticed it was futile and gave up by now. Yet, he was still within the library. Thus, she couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive.

Jiya!

Right after speaking those words, a young lady suddenly barged into the room.

It was Vice Guild Leader Xu's student, a 6-star spirit awakener.

"How is it? Is that lad really studying?" Seeing that her student had returned, Vice Guild Leader Xu asked with a smile.

"Reporting to Guild Leader Ruan, teacher, and Vice Guild Leader Chen, not only has he been studying within this period of time... he has even taken the spirit awakener examination as well..." the young lady recalled what she had just seen, and a look of disbelief surfaced on her face.

"He has taken the spirit awakener examination?" VIce Guild Leader Xu frowned. "It doesn't seem like he knows much about the occupation the previous time I saw him... In just six hours after he started studying, he's already attempted the 4-star spirit awakener examination?"

In her previous encounter with Zhang Xuan, she could tell that the latter knew next to nothing about spirit awakeners. Yet, in such a state, he still dared to take the spirit awakener examination? You must be joking!

"He... Not only did he take the examination, he even succeeded in bringing the puppet that stands by the corner to life! The puppet is currently running around chaotically, and our sisters are trying our best to suppress it at the moment..." the young lady quickly replied.

"The puppet is running around chaotically? That can't be!"

This time, it was Guild Leader Ruan's turn to be perplexed. She turned to the young lady and asked, "One just has to successfully enchant two hands and one head of the puppet in order to clear the examination, so even if he were to successfully enchant the puppet, limited by its other body parts, it still shouldn't be able to move... How could it possibly be running around chaotically?"

"He... He enchanted all four heads and eight arms of the puppet, bringing its entire spirit to life!" With quivering lips, the young lady also looked as if she could hardly believe what she had just said either.

"He managed to bring its entire spirit to life?" Shocked by what they had just heard, the three of them stood up simultaneously.

Due to the limitations of the human soul, it was a nigh impossible feat to enchant a spirit which was capable of moving four heads simultaneously... Putting everything aside, even 7-star spirit awakeners like them couldn't dream of pulling something of that sort off. Yet, a fellow who knew nothing at all a moment ago managed to accomplish it just by reading a few hours of books?

"Just to confirm, you are saying that he managed to fully awaken the 4-star puppet?" Vice Guild Leader Xu asked anxiously.

If that was truly the case, the young man might very well be an extraordinarily talented spirit awakener!

"He didn't just awaken the 4-star puppet... the 5-star and 6-star puppets, he has awakened those too! Currently, he is on the fourth floor of the library, seated before a pillar at the corner of the wall. I'm not too sure what he's doing at the moment either..." the young lady said.

"You are saying that he managed to awaken the 5-star and 6-star puppet too?"

The bodies of the three of them jolted from shock.

A short moment later, Guild Leader Ruan frowned, "The 7-star puppet is spoiled, and as there hasn't been anyone qualified to take the 7-star spirit awakener examination in recent years, we haven't had it fixed yet. That pillar there should be the main pillar supporting our entire guild building. However, it isn't an artifact, so it shouldn't be possible to enchant a spirit into it. So, what could he be attempting to do..."

Boom!

Before Guild Leader Ruan could finish her words, the entire guild suddenly shook intensely.

Following which, an elder rushed into the room with a ghastly pale face.

"Bad news, guild leader! Our guild... has come to life!"