Crossing Over: The Strongest Mage

Yan Huo had a question in his mind, and he decided to confirm it by checking Fox White's dantian. Yan Huo slowly released his soul power, penetrating through Fox White's body and reaching his dantian.

**"Huh! Just as I guessed, in my master's dantian, there's only a spiritual ball, and there's no golden ball or anything like that. It seems that the golden ball in my body must be formed by the Nine-Five Dragon Qi."** Yan Huo released his grip on Fox White, then began using his soul power to slowly push the golden ball outside of his dantian's spiritual ball.

As the golden ball floated, an immense true force began to leak from Yan Huo's body, like a giant dragon breaking out of its shell. The massive power of the golden core kept pounding on the cave's walls. The mountain began to shake violently.

**"You fool! Stop it! Do you want to collapse the cave?"** Fox White shouted in panic. The powerful air current from Yan Huo almost blew him away, but luckily, he managed to hold on to the ground with his claws, preventing himself from being swept away.

**"Master, can you now tell what my cultivation level is?"** Yan Huo continued to circulate his true power and asked.

**"It's... it's early Golden Core! Early Golden Core!"** Fox White called out in shock and disbelief.

After receiving confirmation, Yan Huo stopped circulating his true power. The golden ball slowly returned to the spiritual ball inside his dantian, and the mountain cave finally returned to calm.

**"Next time, could you check the surroundings before showing off your strength? I, Fox White, am not ready to be buried alive by the whole mountain."** Fox White slumped to the ground, panting heavily as he grumbled.

**"Hehe! Got it, Master!"** Yan Huo said with a smile, feeling in high spirits. Now, he finally understood his own situation. He could control his cultivation level. Whenever he wanted, he could display the strength of a Golden Core cultivator, but if he didn't need it, his level would remain low. All of this was thanks to the mysterious golden ball formed by the Nine-Five Dragon Qi inside him.

**"The Nine-Five Dragon Qi! Looks like it really isn't without its advantages."** Yan Huo thought to himself. The enemy wouldn't know his true cultivation level, and if they underestimated him, he could strike them unexpectedly.

**"Alright, quickly clean up this place. Afterward, let's go into the stone tower and continue cultivating!"** Yan Huo ordered. He was now eager to continue his training.

**"I don't want to..."** Fox White said, but when he saw the serious look in Yan Huo's eyes, he didn't dare to finish the sentence and agreed obediently.

**"Little brat, just because you have some strength now, you think you're invincible. Wait until I reach the Golden Core stage. You'll see how you suffer. For now, I'll bear with it."** Fox White mumbled inwardly, though he still couldn't help but feel alarmed by Yan Huo's progress. His growth rate was extraordinary, and he couldn't underestimate him.

The ** Escape Heaven's Five Elemental Array** is a complex array system, divided into the categories of **"Confining Arrays"** and **"Killing Arrays"**, each with five hundred volumes. The **Confining Arrays** include five types: **Hidden, Bewildering, Mysterious, Illusion, and Separation**, while the **Killing Arrays** consist of four types: **Wind, Fire, Thunder, and Lightning**.

The **Hidden Array** is the simplest among them, and even someone at the entry level of cultivation (Entry to Dao stage) can use it, though its effectiveness increases with higher cultivation. With Yan Huo's current Golden Core stage, he could use this array to hide the entire Yanshan Mountain. If used on himself, no one below his cultivation level would be able to detect him. This made the Hidden Array an excellent escape tool, but Yan Huo didn't plan to rely on running away all the time. Therefore, he decided to begin practicing the **Bewildering Array**, the second array in the **Confining Arrays**.

The **Bewildering Array** consists of fifty volumes. As the name suggests, it is an array designed to confuse the enemy and trap them inside, making it impossible for them to escape. The first forty-nine volumes are commentaries on the array's principles and mental methods, while the last volume contains the thirty-six hand seals required for the array. Each hand seal must be remembered using soul power; it is impossible to memorize them using just mental effort. Every hand seal must be engraved into the depths of one's soul. When needed, the thirty-six hand seals must be executed in one fluid motion, with soul power mixed with one's true energy to activate the array.

In combat, this array tests one's understanding of the array through soul power. Enemies won't wait for you to slowly form the array. At first, Yan Huo was fooled. He originally thought that his super memory would be enough to remember the hand seals just by looking at the patterns in the volumes. However, by the end of the first year, he realized he could only remember the first five hand seals.

**"Looks like I really do need to rely on soul power to memorize them,"** Yan Huo sighed. For a beginner, using soul power to memorize the hand seals was quite difficult. Yan Huo spent a full four years just to memorize all thirty-six hand seals.

Memorizing them was one thing, but actually using them was another. It took Yan Huo a whole month to use soul power mixed with his true energy to form the first hand seal. Then, one by one, he worked through the second, third, and so on. Although the time to perform each seal gradually shortened, it still took him a full year to complete all thirty-six hand seals. Training soul power was many times more difficult than cultivating true energy. The process could be described as mentally exhausting, and there were several times when, halfway through forming a hand seal, Yan Huo almost gave up.

But in the end, driven by his perseverance, he managed to push through. If he had given up, his progress in soul cultivation would have suffered greatly.

Years passed, and from the time he brought Fox White into the stone tower until now, Yan Huo had spent another twelve years inside. Every day, he sat in meditation, studying the arrays left by Chongyangzi. Fox White didn't slack off either. Whether it was because he was stimulated by Yan Huo's progress or because of his own desire to improve, Fox White also trained diligently every day. Yan Huo had now spent a total of twenty-two years in the stone tower. Including his original age, Yan Huo was now about forty years old, a middle-aged man by human standards.

However, for a cultivator, a few decades were nothing. With his current level of cultivation, Yan Huo could easily live for a thousand years. Time left no marks on his face. Moreover, in the outside world, only eleven months had passed.

**"Junior brother! Remember, once you pass two more realms, you'll face the third tribulation. You can't afford to be careless,"** Fox White, dressed in white and exuding a graceful aura, said as he walked beside Yan Huo. After spending so many years with Yan Huo, Fox White had now reached the late stage of the **Hua Dan** realm. Whether it was due to his breakthrough or because of the twelve years of hard cultivation, Fox White's demeanor had changed. Now, when he spoke, he sounded far more scholarly and refined.