Chapter 175 — Possessed by the Sword Spirit

At once, Shi Jin felt as though he had plunged his hand into the sun—an incomparable searing heat, and that burning sensation invaded his entire body in an instant, leaving Shi Jin drenched in sweat in the blink of an eye, his whole body as if soaked through.

And as Shi Jin touched the sword spirit, the sword spirit's power was liberated as well. With a thunderous roar, an immense wave of heat erupted from the sword spirit, and with a "buzz," a terrifying hot wind surged and spread in all directions!

"What—"

Almost in an instant, the students gathered around the altar felt their minds go dizzy, as if suffering heatstroke. By then the entire altar and the surrounding ground had been baked scalding hot, the thick, viscous air seemed to have congealed, and the terrifying oppressive heat left every student present gasping for breath, with a feeling of being unable to move.

"Get back!!!"

The master-level homeroom instructors present had not expected the sword spirit's aura to be so terrifying either, nearly baking this group of students into a faint. At this moment, beads of sweat were streaming down their own heads as well, and they hurriedly organized the students to retreat.

"So hot."

"Even a fire-type elemental life form couldn't possibly reach this temperature."

Quite a few students felt their scalps go numb.

This temperature... transcendent level? Absurd.

But what was even more absurd was everything on the altar. Once they recovered, everyone looked at the altar in disbelief.

At this very moment, the sword spirit seemed draped in the blazing sun, sheathing the blade, as if it could reduce all external things to flying ash in an instant. The altar now was like a scorching hell; even a master-level beastmaster relying solely on themselves would likely find it hard to hold out for long—that was the hottest place of all, like the core of the sun.

As the sword spirit unleashed its aura, and they once again felt that this was a heroic spirit no ordinary beastmaster could master, Director Li, Director He, Instructor Feng, and the others all somewhat regretted not having stopped Shi Jin. How was this a transcendent-level sword spirit...

Theoretically speaking, the burden generated by this sword spirit would likely require a top-tier master to withstand it. But as a blurred figure emerged within the heat waves on the altar, every instructor and every student who had retreated stared wide-eyed in unison.

For at the very core of the heat wave, in the zone of highest temperature, Shi Ying's hand still held steady upon the hilt of the Sword Spirit.

By now the sweat on Shi Ying had been scorched dry, and fiery spiritual energy like that of the sun coiled around his whole body, as though burning away his physical strength and plunging him into the fiercest sea of fire.

Weng!

As Shi Jin exerted his strength, the Sword Spirit planted in the altar shifted ever so slightly.

Drawing looks of utter disbelief from everyone.

How could this be!

Shi Jue had not only endured, he had actually made the Sword Spirit budge?

Was he really human?

The spirit of Mu Huiyin, also upon the altar, betrayed no expression whatsoever, yet inwardly she was astonished that Jue could reach such a level.

Had beast tamers of later generations truly trained their own bodies to such a degree?

When Shi Jin meditated upon the altar to summon her, she could clearly sense Shi Ying's realm. In her own era, even beast tamers with special talents could never have trained their bodies to Shi Tan's level.

Even she, a mixed-blood human, might not match Shi Jin in physique at the same tier.

The Ice Dragon Great General looked again around the altar, at the children still stubbornly holding on, their consciousness seemingly on the verge of blacking out, and then at Shi Jin at the center of the altar.

It seemed that to earn that dragon's recognition, this young beast tamer must be extraordinary in himself.

Like a human-shaped savage beast, his seemingly frail body concealed immense power.

"Holy crap, he's completely fine?"

"How on earth is he holding on like that?" Among the students, Yu Shu, Wang Ling, and the others had never expected to suffer such undeserved calamity outside the altar as well; feeling the might unleashed by the flame Sword Spirit, they felt as though their bodies might burst apart.

That Ice Dragon Great General had not lied... it was utterly unimaginable what it would feel like for such power to arise within a human body. No wonder they needed the strength of ice-type pets to suppress it.

Yet what these students, struggling so hard and unwilling to leave, found hardest to accept was that Shi Jin, at roughly their level, now stood at the very heart of the heat wave and was still slowly drawing out the Sword Spirit! Was this guy not afraid of the heat?

Just what kind of freak was he!

Upon the altar, the Sword Spirit was slowly drawn forth.

During this, Shi Ying's hair and pupils flickered red, and together with the aura around him, he was on the verge of turning from a Super Earthling into a Super Saiyan God. Through this process the Sword Spirit's might kept growing, but Shi Jin, too, gradually began to adapt to the power of the flame Sword Spirit, shifting from a passive position.

"Out!" Shi Jin summoned every ounce of strength in his body, his face twisted and blurred to the extreme by the heat wave, yet still he strained to draw the Sword Spirit. Suddenly, with a booming surge, a still hotter orange flame burst from the Sword Spirit, fire like the blazing sun. In that instant, endless heat, as though summoned by the overlord of flame, converged once more within the Sword Spirit!

Hu hu hu hu hu~~~

Upon the altar, amid dazzling flames wreathed by countless serpents of fire, Shi Jin, both hands drawing the sword, suddenly felt his whole body grow light. After a flicker of flowing light, the Sword Spirit's entire form was directly revealed before Shi Ying's eyes!

Shi Jin held the Sword Spirit, his body still wrapped in solar flame spiritual energy; hair color and pupil color, under the Sword Spirit's possession, had all briefly turned to hues akin to Mu Huiyin's.

In that moment, time itself seemed to stand still.

The students gaped, watching the scene upon the altar in disbelief.

Red hair and red eyes, cloaked in blazing aura, Shi Jin in the posture of a god gave them a feeling that made their very souls tremble.

Was this Shi Jin?

"That's just absurd." Yu Shu's eyes bulged, and he took a step back.

Damn it, he really pulled it out?

This guy really isn't human, is he.

"He—"

"He really is a monster!" Miao Dongdong's eyes went wide as well.

"He pulled it out?"

At this moment, even the masters found it utterly unbelievable.

Watching Shi Jin before them, flames submitting to him, his bearing transformed, people swallowed hard again and again.

"Feels pretty good."

In that instant, Shi Jin gazed blankly at his own hands and at the Sword Spirit he held.

Had he succeeded?

This power...

At this moment, Shi Jin felt as though his very blood had turned to flame. Though the burden was immense, he possessed boundless strength—perhaps enough to finish off the Ginseng Baby with a single sword strike.

[Ginseng Baby: ???]

No—perhaps he could even scorch space itself, and finish off the Bug Baby in one blow.

[Bug Bug: ???]

Beneath the deep, indrawn breaths of everyone present, Shi Jin shifted his gaze toward Mu Huiyin's Heroic Spirit.

So this is the Sword Spirit possession form—truly formidable.

Though it drained his physical stamina enormously, Shi Cen could clearly feel that it had granted him certain other enhancements as well; there was simply no time to explore them now.

"This... ought to count as passing the first trial, wouldn't you say?" Shi Xu said, waiting for Mu Huiyin's Heroic Spirit to respond.