Shi Mulan exclaimed softly, "Divine ability!"

The way she looked at Lin Zheyu changed completely.

The divine abilities awakened by opening the divine repository were remarkably similar to the innate divine abilities of ancient yaos, each possessing wondrous powers. This was one of the few aspects of Immortal Martial Cultivation that made immortal cultivators envious. Yet envy was one thing. Very few were willing to actually cultivate the martial path alongside their Immortal Dao.

It required immense time and vitality to retrace the martial cultivation path, to temper it into one's bones, push the body to its limits, and then surpass those limits. The cost in effort and time was beyond imagination. Even among a vast population, the chance of reaching the Martial Innate realm through martial cultivation was likely less than one in ten thousand. And even then, so-called Martial Innate realm experts were still inferior to Foundation Establishment realm cultivators.

After reaching the Martial Innate realm, a martial artist would have to switch to the Immortal Dao and break through to the Foundation Establishment realm before gaining comparable strength. Alternatively, they could continue along the Immortal Martial Cultivation path and open the divine repository. In the current era, those qualified to cultivate the Immortal Dao generally possessed above-average aptitude, and it took at most sixty years to reach the Foundation Establishment realm.

Only a fool would return to the martial path, and only those with poor or nonexistent aptitude for immortality, or those who had lost all hope of advancing, would consider trying martial cultivation.

"Incredible!" Lei Yongtao suddenly exclaimed in admiration.

Bai Lin and Lin Zheyu had only been probing each other at first, but the clash quickly intensified. Most of the time, Bai Lin was the one attacking, while Lin Zheyu remained rooted in place, handling the attacks with ease and still having energy to spare.

"This is nothing. He even forced me out of my earth escape techniques with brute force," Tu Yuan said with a curl of his lips.

If Lin Zheyu had not shaken him out of his earth escape techniques with sheer strength, even Ji Zitong would not have been able to bind him so easily with her dharma artifact rope.

"He's that fierce?" Lei Yongtao said in surprise.

He had seen how formidable Tu Yuan's earth escape techniques were. Even he would need secret arts and dharma artifacts to cause Tu Yuan the slightest trouble.

"His perception is incredibly sharp. He can accurately track my movements and the traces of my earth escape techniques. Otherwise, no matter how strong his brute force is, he wouldn't be able to force me out of it. That's why I suspect he has opened the spirit divine repository and awakened a special divine ability," Tu Yuan said.

Though unwilling to admit it, he could not deny Lin Zheyu's strength.

Dull impacts rang out continuously. Fighting Bai Lin felt rather boring to Lin Zheyu, since he lacked the flashy techniques of immortal cultivators.

In strength, Bai Lin was inferior. In perception and reaction, he was also inferior. Lin Zheyu didn't even really need to utilize his monstrous defense.

Soon, Bai Lin's burly figure was sent flying backward and slammed heavily into the ground.

So strong! I can't even tell what fighting style he's using. Where did this guy come from?

Bai Lin was secretly shocked.

He slammed his right hand against the ground and leaped back to his feet, battle intent surging within him. As one of the top figures in the Martial Alliance, a martial artist chosen to cooperate with these talented immortal cultivators, Bai Lin's strength went far beyond this. He took a deep breath. His blood qi churned. Muscles across his body swelled and collided, crackling sounds echoing from within. At the same time, his momentum rose steadily. An invisible, terrifying aura spread outward, forcing even the surrounding demonic qi to retreat.

"Hm?"

Lin Zheyu looked at Bai Lin, who had suddenly grown thirty to forty centimeters taller, and a trace of curiosity finally appeared in his eyes.

Now this is more like it!

Lin Zheyu observed Bai Lin's transformation and guessed inwardly, Is this the power of a divine repository?

From Bai Lin, he sensed an incomparably terrifying surge of life force. Endless vitality poured out continuously from his dantian. That immense power forcibly expanded Bai Lin's body, making him even more massive and imposing.

"Be careful, Fellow Daoist Xiao," Bai Lin said calmly.

As his words fell, he stamped his foot. A violent burst of air exploded around him, and his body shot forward like a terrifying cannonball toward Lin Zheyu.

"Wow, he's reaching close to seven times the speed of sound. Interesting," Lin Zheyu said with a faint smile.

Martial cultivation in this world truly could not be underestimated. Before cultivating the Primordial Golden Body, Lin Zheyu's limit had only been around eight times the speed of sound, and even that had required the combined effects of multiple body-refining techniques, powerful true origin far beyond true strength, and his extraordinary physique. The difficulty of reaching such a level was almost unimaginable.

Yet Bai Lin, as a martial artist, could approach seven times the speed of sound purely through martial cultivation. This made Lin Zheyu realize that the Immortal Martial Cultivation path was far more formidable than he had previously thought.

"I'm sensing more than one source of energy... Two endless sources of energy? Has he opened two divine repositories? If opening two already grants this level of strength, then if all three great divine repositories are opened..."

Lin Zheyu looked at Bai Lin, who seemed almost berserk, and his eyes burned with excitement. He had yet to open even a single spirit divine repository. Once he did, his strength would undergo a massive leap.

"I should get on good terms with this guy. I'd better not injure him too much," Lin Zheyu muttered inwardly.

Bai Lin was from the Martial Alliance. If he could befriend him and use that connection to enter the Martial Alliance, it would be ideal.

A sharp gale tore through the air. Bai Lin's speed was almost inconceivable. In the blink of an eye, he was already before Lin Zheyu, a scorching aura rushing forward with his fist.

Lin Zheyu shifted slightly, narrowly avoiding Bai Lin's ferocious punch. At the same time, his right leg shot out. A terrifying force struck Bai Lin's abdomen. His expression changed as he staggered back, stamping more than a dozen deep footprints into the ground before finally stopping.

"He blocked it so easily!" Bai Lin's expression turned grave as he muttered, "I refuse to believe it!"

Bai Lin gritted his teeth and began to change his tactics. Lin Zheyu's previous strike had caused him little harm, barely more than a scratch. After opening the essence and qi divine repository and the essence origin divine repository, a martial artist's physique became unbelievably strong—nearly comparable to yaos. Even torn limbs or gutted wounds could recover in moments. His vitality was terrifying.

Even so, Bai Lin still felt a tremendous threat from Lin Zheyu. Facing him, he had a constant sense of being seen through, as if no matter from where he attacked or what martial technique he used, Lin Zheyu could see through it at a glance. It reminded him of the frustration he had once felt before breaking through to the Grandmaster realm, when facing experts who possessed a Grandmaster Domain.