A little over half a month later, in the central area of Fenggu, Wang Zhong stood motionless at the core of Fenggu, the very center covered by the formation.
Sharp wind blades, capable of cleaving metal and jade, slashed towards Wang Zhong one after another. A month ago, Wang Zhong would have retreated immediately. But times had changed.
As the wind blades approached, Wang Zhong made no move, remaining still. Yet, as they struck him, something peculiar happened.
Wang Zhong's body seemed to become as soft and boneless as water. The wind blades, instead of cutting him, sank deeply into his flesh. With a slight shift of his body, he redirected the blades, guiding them towards empty space where they clashed violently with other wind blades and dissipated.
The intense explosions triggered all the wind blades in the core area. They erupted at this moment, swirling wildly through the air.
Waves of sonic booms echoed, making the already chaotic wind blades even more frenzied. One after another, they mindlessly attacked the stationary Wang Zhong.
Just then, Wang Zhong's eyes snapped open. He looked at the incoming wind blades surrounding him and let out a soft chuckle.
"Now, these can't hurt me anymore."
His hands shot out, grasping two approaching wind blades. His body, as if weightless, retreated rapidly, pulled by the wind blades. With a slight swing of his arms, the blades grazed past his sides.
Amidst the chaos, a wind blade struck Wang Zhong's back. To his surprise, his body, just like before, slid forward, carried by the impact.
After sliding a distance, he twisted his body slightly, and the wind blade grazed past his side.
At this moment, Wang Zhong, amidst the sky full of wind blades, was like a feather with no weight, drifting with the wind. Countless wind blades struck him, only to be gently deflected.
This continued for a long time. Carried aloft by the wind blades, Wang Zhong yawned lightly.
"This is getting a bit boring. My training in Fenggu ends here."
As these words left his lips, Wang Zhong's body underwent an astonishing transformation. If he had been a feather before, he was now tempered steel.
His body plummeted downwards, slamming heavily onto the ground. His muscles bulged fiercely. Though merely flesh and blood, the wind blades that could cleave metal and jade now emitted a metallic clang upon striking Wang Zhong.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
One by one, the wind blades shattered the moment they touched Wang Zhong.
Under this onslaught, the wind blades in the core area dwindled. Within ten breaths, only a few scattered wind blades roamed around Wang Zhong.
He let out a gentle sigh of turbid air, looking at his body, which was unblemished except for his clothes. A wide, joyful grin spread across his face.
"I don't know what true mastery of Bajiquan feels like yet."
"But I believe that the strength I've shown at this stage can be considered an introduction!"
"Haha."
Filled with joy, Wang Zhong walked out whistling, his hands behind his head.
"Next stop, Yandi!"
Wang Zhong's voice carried outwards with the howling wind, quickly to be shredded by the gale.
About an hour after Wang Zhong left, a tall, slender man suddenly arrived at Fenggu.
If Wang Zhong were present, he would have recognized this person as the third-ranked student in the third year, Dian Hao.
Dian Hao surveyed the ceaselessly howling wind around him with a solemn expression. Then, he summoned his martial soul.
It was a colossal, ink-black scythe, nearly as tall as a person. The blade alone was a formidable two meters long, while the exaggerated handle stretched to an astonishing four meters.
It was difficult to imagine how its wielder could swing such a massive scythe.
The moment the scythe appeared in his hand, a peculiar power enveloped Dian Hao. As he stepped into Fenggu, the howling winds that struck him strangely vanished!
This allowed Dian Hao to easily reach the formation at Fenggu. He looked at the thin barrier, invisible to Wang Zhong, and murmured, "Storm Blades, the condensed form of wind's power within Fenggu. I wonder how many I can withstand this time."
"Thirty, forty, or perhaps fifty!"
He exhaled heavily, gripping the wind-breaking scythe, his face a mask of concentration as he cautiously stepped inside.
However, what shocked Dian Hao immensely was that the wind blades at the core of Fenggu, which even he couldn't withstand more than fifty of, were now almost entirely depleted.
He stared at the few scattered remnants of the storm blades around him, his face contorted in utter disbelief.
"How is this possible!!!"
"Who possesses such power to shatter almost all the storm blades here!"
This reality sent his heart pounding. He knew that even as a top-tier wind-elemental martial soul user, he couldn't endure more than fifty storm blades.
And this was the core of Fenggu, where the storm blades numbered in the hundreds, if not thousands. Each time he entered, he could only stay for a very short duration, relying on the quality of his martial soul.
"Did one of the teachers come here?"
He touched the crater left by Wang Zhong's impact, his brow furrowed.
From this single crater, he could easily deduce that the individual had endured the entire core's worth of storm blades with their physical body alone. It sent shivers down his spine.
"Could it be a teacher from the fifth year, or perhaps a senior from the fifth year?"
Dian Hao speculated, but quickly dismissed the thought.
"No student from the fifth year exists."
This was because no one could ascend to the fifth year under such harsh conditions. A Soul King under the age of twenty was unthinkable, even for him, the third-ranked third-year.
After all, he was already nineteen this year. Even Yu Feixue and Lu Xiaoshuang, considered the most talented among them, were eighteen.
"If not a student, then it must be a teacher."
"This extreme, brutal method is likely the work of that teacher from Class A of the fourth year, the level 81 Soul Douluo with the Mountain-Splitting Demonic Bear martial soul, nicknamed 'Earth Ripper', Teacher Yue Shan."
Recalling this name, Dian Hao sighed. It made sense. If a teacher had been here, then everything was explainable.
Shaking his head, Dian Hao retracted his martial soul and said with a hint of disappointment.
"It seems I can't train today. I'll have to wait another month."
The storm blades in the core area of Fenggu were condensed by a formation. As long as Fenggu remained intact, the storm blades would be generated endlessly. However, the formation had certain limitations. To prevent an excessive number of storm blades from hindering student training, the formation only replenished them once a month.
Furthermore, it would stop replenishing once a certain quantity was reached.
"Really, why would a Soul Douluo like him cultivate in this small Fenggu?"
"Is this place even useful to him!"
Dian Hao grumbled, then dejectedly walked out of the formation.