Xu Nian's palms covered the powerful Dragon Scale Fist as he struggled to climb upward along the rock wall.
At that moment, he had changed into a set of clean clothes, which of course he had found inside the bones from the depths of the Tianyuan Cold Pool.
He was lucky to find a storage ring and a Qiankun Bag among those piles of bones.
Although there were no treasures in the Qiankun Bag, there were two sets of clean clothes, and the storage ring contained some medicinal herbs and several Jade Bottles.
Xu Nian filled some of these Jade Bottles with Tianyuan Cold Pool water to keep for future use.
It took him six hours to finally climb up from the bottom of the cliff.
The moment Xu Nian's figure emerged from the edge of the cliff, the entire square at Qinglin Academy erupted into chaos.
"Good heavens! What am I seeing?"
"Yes, my eyes must be playing tricks on me. Did someone really climb up from Life-breaking Cliff?"
"You're not seeing things; I saw it too. That person looks like Xu Nian!"
The audience, watching the tenth Xuantian Mirror light up again, were stunned and then the entire place burst into an uproar.
Someone had actually fallen into Life-breaking Cliff and managed to climb back up, a first in the history of Qinglin Academy.
Leng Yanran, sitting high up on the platform with a gloomy expression for the past six days, suddenly lit up with a radiant gleam in her eyes.
Those bright red lips even revealed a fleeting, stunning smile.
Although the smile was brief, it left those fortunate enough to witness it completely mesmerized.
"How did he come out alive? Did he not fall into Life-breaking Cliff?"
"That's impossible, right? If he hadn't fallen into Life-breaking Cliff, then why hadn't he climbed up in six days? Has he been hanging on the cliff all this time?"
Everyone started speculating about Xu Nian's disappearance over the past six days; some insisted he had definitely been down Life-breaking Cliff, while others thought he might have fallen into a cave in the cliff face without actually dropping all the way down.
However, they all agreed on one point: although Xu Nian had climbed up from Life-breaking Cliff, there was no chance he could regain his place in the Academy's competition.
By now, the other nine students had already accumulated many points by killing numerous Exotic Beasts within six days. Even the one in ninth place, Han Xin, had nearly two hundred points, while the leader, Dugu Jingcheng, had reached a staggering eight hundred points.
Xu Nian only had four days left, and catching up with the others in such a short time seemed highly unlikely.
In a moment, Leng Yanran's brows furrowed tightly, but she decided, as long as Xu Nian made it out safely, it didn't matter if he advanced in the competition.
However, Xu Nian's performance soon shocked everyone present.
Inside Jade Cave Heaven, Xu Nian curiously examined a Ninth-star of Star Realm Exotic Beast in front of him.
The beast before him somewhat resembled a monkey, yet it was different; its entire body seemed to be covered with a thick layer of rock, standing three meters tall, looming over Xu Nian from a short distance, salivating from its mouth in a greedy manner.
What intrigued Xu Nian the most was the blue crystal stone embedded in the beast's forehead, seemingly flowing with strange luminescence, indicating some sort of special energy.
"Is this what they call an Exotic Beast? How peculiar!" Xu Nian watched the towering beast before him with a hint of amazement in his eyes.
Previously, to avoid Lin Han's pursuit, he had secretly followed the routes designated by Emperor Ye Tian, all of which avoided the Exotic Beasts, so this was actually the first time Xu Nian had encountered one since entering Jade Cave Heaven.
The monkey-like Exotic Beast seemed impatient, letting out a loud roar at Xu Nian, as if issuing a challenge.
Xu Nian smiled slightly, imitating the monkey-like Exotic Beast and roaring back.
The monkey-like Exotic Beast paused for a second, and then let out two consecutive roars, apparently taking Xu Nian for one of its own kind.
Xu Nian did likewise, calling out a few times.
The exotic beast monkey immediately began dancing around in delight.
To everyone's surprise, it let down its guard, staggered towards Xu Nian, and squatted in front of him, even stretching its head over.
Xu Nian was thrilled to see this, so he grabbed a stone and smashed it onto the monkey exotic beast's head, killing it instantly.
The audience was petrified, staring blankly, before they burst into an uproar.
Seriously? That worked?
Others might spend some effort killing a Nine-star Star Realm exotic beast, but this Xu Nian just imitated a few calls; nobody knows how he deceived the monkey exotic beast into leaning forward, allowing Xu Nian to hit it.
This monkey exotic beast was too naive!
"I know now, he must understand the language of exotic beasts. The beast must have been deceived by him, and that's why it leaned its head forward willingly," a student said seriously.
"Yes, I think so too. How else could the exotic beast lower its guard? Understanding the language of exotic beasts is truly impressive," another person chimed in.
With this, everyone believed it to be true, nodding in agreement, their views of Xu Nian filled with awe and curiosity.
Only Chen Wudi, who had been leaning in the corner and gnawing on a chicken leg, burst into laughter, muttering to himself, "Haha, I knew this kid wouldn't die. He has become so cunning in just a few days, he even guessed right."
In the Jade Cave Heaven, Xu Nian stood beside the dead body of the monkey exotic beast, looking utterly bewildered.
He didn't understand any exotic beast language at all. He was merely teasing the monkey exotic beast, never expecting it to squat in front of him and even lean its head forward.
Since the monkey exotic beast leaned its head forward, how could Xu Nian not strike?
Killing the monkey exotic beast unexpectedly, Xu Nian also felt dazed.
But even if the monkey exotic beast really fought him, it wouldn't have been able to withstand a single punch of his.
At that moment, the blue crystal on the monkey exotic beast's forehead suddenly shattered. A stream of blue light flew out and entered Xu Nian's body.
As this blue light merged with him, Xu Nian felt his body strengthen once again.
"Eh, this blue crystal energy can actually enhance the body? Interesting!" Xu Nian noted the changes in his body, a pleased expression on his face.
Though the stream of light was slight and the enhancement limited, gaining physical strength during combat was definitely an unexpected joy.
Thus, without hesitation, Xu Nian howled and charged towards a group of exotic beasts nearby.
"What... what is he doing? Has he gone mad, charging at a group of exotic beasts!"
The spectators were all shocked by this sight.
The weakest of these exotic beasts were Third-star of Star Realm, with the strongest reaching the Ninth-star of Star Realm, and there were no fewer than a hundred of them. Even Dugu Jingcheng wouldn't dare to recklessly confront such a group.
After all, there is only so much Spiritual Energy one could draw upon, and once it was exhausted, death was certain.
Now, Xu Nian was actually charging towards the group of exotic beasts—was he seeking death?
However, the next moment, everyone was absolutely dumbfounded.
Upon seeing Xu Nian charging into the group of exotic beasts, it was like a wolf entering a flock of sheep.
With one sword strike, he killed an exotic beast, and with the surging sword light, the surrounding beasts continuously fell.
The Ling Feng Sword Technique was continuously executed, and those exotic beasts couldn't get close to Xu Nian. In a blink, seven or eight exotic beasts had fallen.
"This... This is Ninth-star of Star Realm cultivation; he has broken through," someone with sharp eyes immediately exclaimed.
Upon hearing this, everyone else gasped in astonishment.
Xu Nian had just recently made a breakthrough, and now he had advanced again—was advancing as easy as playing for Xu Nian?