Chapter 147: Dragon's Roar Across the Nine Heavens

Page 1 of 3

The Qilin Spirit Control Seal refers to the method of commanding myriad spirits. As for what exactly constitutes these myriad spirits, the Book of Infinite Merits offers no explanation. Gao Wu interpreted “myriad spirits” as living beings—whether birds in flight, beasts on the ground, or perhaps even humans. From a doctrinal standpoint, humans should be excluded, but where would a divine incantation draw distinctions among birds, beasts, and humans? The inability to control humans likely stems from their unique mental faculties, rendering them impervious to such control.

Observing the grievously wounded giant tiger, Gao Wu’s immediate thought was that this creature was a foreign spirit, confined within the secret realm and reduced to nearly mechanical instinct. As the architect of this realm, Hai Wuji would not have designed it casually like a game stage; instead, he preserved the tiger’s combat instincts and left a fragment of its spirit in each level.

Thanks to his enhancement of innate potential and several dozen days of trials in the Nine Limits of the Celestial Extremes, Gao Wu had accumulated considerable experience. Today, a flash of insight illuminated the essence of the giant tiger: foreign spirits are still spirits! And this giant tiger was formidable—it wouldn’t be easily subdued.

Lacking suitable practice targets, Gao Wu resorted to experimenting with the tiger. He had no desire to command it outright; after all, its core was the crystal nucleus hidden deep within the secret realm. Even if he could subdue the tiger, he could not take it outside. As for mastering the Nine Limits of the Celestial Extremes, it held little practical value—it was primarily a test of student aptitude, granting recognition from the academy’s elite upon completion, nothing more.

Cheating to pass was no boon; it would only invite trouble. There was no reason to prevent others from passing either.

The golden spirit seal sank deep into the tiger’s brain. Gao Wu immediately sensed a cluster of spiritual light-consciousness embedded within, with the seal firmly imprinted upon it. The tiger’s consciousness suddenly erupted with fierce hostility, causing the golden seal to tremble on the brink of collapse.

Gao Wu activated two more Qilin Spirit Control Seals, layering three golden seals atop one another. The overlapping seals grew noticeably stronger and more solid. No matter how the tiger’s spirit flared, it could not resist the deepening imprint of the golden seal.

In a blink, the seal was deeply embedded within the core of the tiger’s consciousness, forming a tight bond. Through the Qilin Divine Manifestation, Gao Wu naturally established a connection with the tiger’s mind. This mental link was extraordinarily close, even more direct and intimate than his spiritual resonance with Song Mingyue.

Moreover, the connection was like a chain tethering the tiger. As the wielder of the Qilin Divine Heroic Incantation, Gao Wu now held control over the tiger.

In truth, the giant tiger lacked true intelligence, possessing only rudimentary emotions—anger, irritability, and the like. Through the Spirit Control Seal, Gao Wu could perceive the tiger’s feelings and forcibly manipulate its actions.

The tiger resisted fiercely, making control difficult.

“Roll over,” Gao Wu commanded silently through the seal.

The tiger growled lowly. Though devoid of much intelligence, it instinctively loathed being dominated.

The Qilin Spirit Control Seal contracted and shone, exerting pressure on the tiger’s consciousness. After struggling, the tiger reluctantly obeyed, rolling over once on the ground.

Its massive body resembled a heavy truck; even a simple roll made a formidable impression. It looked anything but cute.

Gao Wu then commanded several more actions. The tiger complied grudgingly, clearly resisting throughout.

Such control consumed little mental energy, and the seal remained stable, suggesting it could endure long-term.

After testing, Gao Wu gained a fundamental understanding of the Qilin Spirit Control Seal.

The good news: it truly could control foreign spirits.

The bad news: control was extremely reluctant.

Even a low-intelligence spirit like the tiger resisted strongly. Without willing cooperation, mastery was of little use.

Page 2 of 3

Gao Wu spent some time controlling the tiger; as time passed, the tiger’s resistance to commands diminished.

He could not tell if this was the seal’s effect or the tiger’s fading instinct to resist.

With so few trials, no solid conclusion could be drawn.

The only certainty was that the seal was effective on foreign spirits. If one could command a powerful foreign spirit as a pet, its practical use aside, it would certainly be impressive.

However, to command such a spirit, one must first defeat it. This meant the spirit could never be too strong, making the effort somewhat pointless.

Would the seal work on humans?

Gao Wu had a strong intuition it could not control humans or life forms with highly developed intelligence.

Only foreign spirits with limited intelligence or low wisdom beasts could be subdued by the seal.

Just as he was about to retract the seal after sufficient experimentation, something felt amiss.

Through the mental connection, he discovered another independent spiritual imprint deep within the tiger’s mind.

This imprint was self-contained, with little connection to the tiger—likely left by an outsider.

Gao Wu’s excitement surged. This was probably the Sword Saint Hai Wuji’s spiritual legacy—a mental inheritance left by the old man!

Though the Spirit Control Seal controlled the tiger, it could not activate this imprint.

“Must I kill this creature to unlock it?” Gao Wu thought without hesitation. While the tiger remained mentally subdued, he drew his sword and struck.

The nine-foot-long Destiny Sword flashed, piercing from the tiger’s eye straight into its brainstem.

The tiger screamed, dissolving into a stream of light, then reformed as a cluster of spiritual light at the central ring.

To Gao Wu’s surprise, the special spiritual imprint did not appear.

“Is my method wrong?” he wondered.

He quickly grasped the key: the independent imprint required a special completion method to activate.

This made sense.

Dean An valued him greatly; if the Nine Limits concealed hidden benefits, there was no reason to keep them secret.

An independent spiritual imprint could not possess intelligence or awareness of the outside world.

The only possibility was that it related to the tiger’s state and could be triggered by feedback during the trial.

The most likely scenario was completing the trial within a certain time limit.

Simply put, the less source energy consumed by the foreign spirits, the easier it was to activate the spiritual imprint. Or perhaps the nine tigers were originally one entity, with total energy consumption determining activation.

The ninth-level tiger’s death had not triggered any passive alarms. Apparently, such matters required the challenger’s own reporting.

This made Gao Wu’s task easier.

He checked the time; it was nearly five in the afternoon. He decided to try again tomorrow.

Upon leaving, Gao Wu chatted casually with Yang Tielin, who had no idea Gao Wu had already passed the trial.

The next day, Gao Wu arrived early.

Determined to pass swiftly, he unleashed all his skills.

Within ten minutes, he reached the ninth level. Even with his powerful physique, he had to pause to catch his breath and restore source energy and mental strength.

At the fifteenth minute, Gao Wu’s sword pierced the tiger’s throat, the nine-foot blade driving through its brainstem, ending it completely.

The tiger dissolved into spiritual light, leaving behind a glowing blue orb at the site.

Page 3 of 3

Gao Wu’s heart leapt—sure enough, rapid completion was key to receiving rewards.

Without hesitation, he used spiritual power to awaken the blue light. Suddenly, a roar of tiger and dragon echoed deep within his mind…

After a moment, Gao Wu regained clarity. As he had predicted, this was a small boon left by Sword Saint Hai Wuji for those who completed quickly.

The spiritual imprint inheritance was the Tiger Roar Thunder Sound Sphere, the tiger’s innate divine ability analyzed and transformed into a spiritual legacy by the Sword Saint.

In essence, the Sword Saint refined the Tiger Roar Thunder Sound Sphere into a secret art corresponding to the Twelve Divine Manifestations.

No matter which cultivation path one followed, this secret art could be learned.

Previously, Gao Wu could only cultivate the Tiger Roar Thunder Sound Sphere.

Now, with a twenty-point innate potential, his prospects were vastly improved.

Upon receiving the spiritual imprint inheritance, Gao Wu immediately extracted a technique compatible with the Dragon Form Nine Transformations, integrating it into the Dragon Roar Nine Heavens variation.

Dragon Roar Nine Heavens primarily utilizes breath and voice to resonate and refine body and mind, purifying source energy.

All Twelve Divine Manifestations possess similar techniques, differing only in name, visualization of the divine form, and subtle nuances of breath and voice.

The Sword Saint’s inheritance was clever but not overly profound; in terms of tier, it surpassed Lu Yuan’s “Regret of the Arrogant Dragon” slightly, but not by much.

By integrating the Sword Saint’s legacy, Gao Wu elevated the secret art of Dragon Roar Nine Heavens several levels.

No matter how high his innate potential, cultivation of secret arts must proceed step by step. Moreover, the Dragon Form Nine Transformations he learned were themselves somewhat rudimentary.

Because of his rapid progress, the original Dragon Form Nine Transformations appeared coarse. Having planned to apprentice under Lu Yuan, he had not sought other martial masters.

Suddenly acquiring a superior Dragon Roar Nine Heavens legacy was immensely helpful.

Still, Gao Wu felt a slight disappointment that the Sword Saint left only a single secret art not of very high level.

This time, Gao Wu did not inform Yang Tielin about passing the trial. Instead, he remained in the secret realm for most of the day, refining the Dragon Form Nine Transformations, leaving only in the afternoon.

That evening, Gao Wu resumed spiritual resonance with Song Mingyue.

As the dragon and serpent intertwined, Gao Wu sensed Song Mingyue’s Cold Nether Sky Serpent evolving daily, making clear progress every day.

Within the spiritual world, the white serpent grew larger daily. Though not physically real, it manifested spiritual power. Its growth symbolized the continuous increase of spiritual energy.

After an afternoon of cultivating the Dragon Form Nine Transformations, especially Dragon Roar Nine Heavens, Gao Wu attained deep comprehension.

At this moment, resonating with Song Mingyue’s Cold Nether Sky Serpent naturally sparked inspiration. The Azure Dragon entwined with the white serpent suddenly lifted its head to issue a long chant.

The Azure Dragon was not a true dragon; its chant was a spiritual resonance. The white serpent trembled in response, its white scales humming softly.

Dragon roar and serpent cry merged, deepening their spiritual resonance, even synchronizing Gao Wu’s and Song Mingyue’s source energy.

Suddenly, a tremor struck Gao Wu’s brow, opening an invisible channel. The void-space source energy flowed steadily toward his third eye, guided by the spiritual vibrations.

The third acupoint was rapidly forming.

Gao Wu remained calm. With his enhanced innate potential, he was but one step away from consolidating this third acupoint. Having just acquired the Sword Saint’s inheritance and resonating with Song Mingyue, opening it was inevitable.

He neither rejoiced nor worried, silently initiating the Dragon Roar Nine Heavens transformation to vibrate his form and spirit, agitating source energy to harmonize body and mind through resonance.

Previously, he understood these transformations but could not execute them. Today, he adjusted effortlessly, achieving optimal state.

The true delight came from Song Mingyue’s Cold Nether Sky Serpent. Through silent dragon roar resonance, he gained her spiritual support, perfecting the acupoint in his brow.

Page 3 of 3