On the arena stage in the Seventy-Two Districts, the once-boisterous dueling grounds had fallen into an eerie silence.
All eyes were drawn to the pillar of Profound Yellow light in the sky that pierced through the heavens.
On the stage where the pillar of light descended, a figure could be faintly seen sitting cross-legged in the void. The Profound Yellow Qi swirling around him grew ever denser, coiling like a dragon-serpent, solidifying but never scattering.
It was Xu Yunfan, undergoing the Profound Yellow Body Cleansing and breaking through to the Ninth Realm!
Even more frightening, the True Qi around him was rapidly manifesting. His Ten Extremes True Qi surged like a mighty river.
Buddhist Golden Marrow, Sword Pavilion Clarity, Taoist Pure Yang, Mysterious Truth Dragon Tiger... The arts of various schools were merging perfectly within his body, transforming into an unprecedented, immense power!
"True Qi... that’s True Qi! Nine Realms Qi Cultivation, a Supreme Grandmaster! How could a Nine Realms Qi Cultivation Supreme Grandmaster be fighting in an arena like this?"
Below the stage, a knowledgeable, older Martial Artist cried out in shock, his voice trembling.
The Ninth Realm was the ultimate state countless Martial Artists dreamed of achieving. Stepping into it meant truly standing at the pinnacle of the Martial Dao, enough to look down upon the Mortal World and even influence a nation’s Destiny!
And yet, Xu Yunfan had shattered his shackles and become a Supreme Grandmaster right before their very eyes!
"Does a man like that have some strange fetish? Why else would he come here to fight in an arena..."
"There must be more to it than we know. Maybe that yellow pillar of light was something he won from the tournament."
However, the instant after his breakthrough...
CLANG!
A piercing sound suddenly tore through the sky!
From the depths of Jade Capital City, in the direction of the Imperial City Department, a jet-black Long Spear shot forth like a meteor streaking toward the sun. It carried a monstrous killing intent as it flew straight for Xu Yunfan!
Nine crimson patterns on the spear’s shaft lit up in succession, unleashing a killing intent so pure it was almost tangible.
This strike was clearly timed to assassinate Xu Yunfan at the very moment of his breakthrough!
"How dare you!!"
As the Long Spear flew, an enraged roar echoed through the heavens, shaking the very sky.
"Insolent!"
A cold shout erupted. At the edge of the stage, the Guardian, Bi Sheng, who had been standing by quietly, snapped his head up as a cold light flared in his eyes.
He didn’t move a muscle, but the rust-spotted Iron Sword in his hand suddenly flew from its sheath!
VMMMM!
The sword hummed like a dragon’s roar. The Rusted Sword met the wind, unleashing a three-inch Sword Aura. The mottled rust on its surface began to glow, faintly revealing a blade beneath that shimmered like a river of stars.
Although the sword had degraded in Tier over the ages, it had once been a Tier Eight Divine Weapon. Now, in Bi Sheng’s hands, a fraction of its former sharpness was finally unleashed!
BOOM!
The sword’s light and the spear’s glow collided in midair, and a terrifying blast of Powerful Qi exploded. For hundreds of feet in every direction, the arena’s stone slabs shattered inch by inch. The spectating Martial Artists were thrown back, and those with weaker Cultivation coughed up blood and staggered to the ground.
"You old dog from the Imperial City Department, you dare interfere in the business of my Taoist Sect?"
Bi Sheng sneered. With a flick of his Iron Sword, he unleashed a Sword Momentum like the cascading Celestial River, aiming it straight at the source of the Long Spear.
"Hmph! You think a mere Tier Seven Divine Weapon—and a degraded one at that—can stop me?"
From the direction of the Imperial City Department, a sinister voice rang out. A black-robed figure then appeared, treading on air. He raised his hand to recall the Divine Spear, its tip aimed directly at Bi Sheng.
"Bi Sheng, you can’t protect him! He tried to steal the Earth Qi of the Great Zhou Dragon Vein. He will surely die. And not only will he die, but your Taoist Sect will suffer for this as well."
This was an attack on the very foundation of the Great Zhou. No one within the Great Zhou establishment could tolerate it.
"Try me."
Bi Sheng grinned, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit. The next instant, his Iron Sword swept through the air, its light streaking like a rainbow as he instantly clashed with the black-robed man.
Xu Yunfan glanced at the nearby battle between Bi Sheng and a Ninth Realm expert from the Imperial City Department, an old man who looked like his teeth were about to fall out. Seeing that Bi Sheng was handling the fight with ease, he turned his attention away.
The Martial Dao of this world was divided into Nine Realms.
The first eight realms were the mortal path of tempering the flesh, refining one’s qi and blood, and opening the meridians.
A Martial Artist who reached this stage could already shatter mountains, split stones, and walk on water. Some, like Dugu Jiu, could even use various Secret Martial Arts and treasures to extend their lives by hundreds of years, reaching a state unimaginable to ordinary people.
However, the Ninth Realm was a heavenly chasm.
Those who stepped into this realm generated their own True Qi and could command the Power of Heaven and Earth with a mere gesture. They were truly Extraordinary, having transcended the mortal coil.
Strangely, however, from ancient times to the present, all Cultivation Methods for realms beyond the Ninth seemed to have been erased by an invisible hand, leaving behind only fragmented legends.
Ancient records told of someone who broke the shackles of the Ninth Realm, liquefying their True Qi to form a Golden Core. But as for the specific Cultivation Method, not a single word remained.
Stone carvings in a Secret Realm revealed that ancient masters could draw upon Starlight to temper their bodies, but the method had long since been lost.
Others speculated that a vaster world might lie beyond the Ninth Realm, but all who attempted to explore it either died inexplicably or vanished without a trace...
It was as if some unseen existence had deliberately sealed off this Heaven-Reaching Path.
Now, as Xu Yunfan broke through to the Ninth Realm with the power of the Ten Thousand Laws Return to the Stream, the Ten Extremes True Qi manifesting around him seemed to faintly touch upon that long-sealed, forbidden domain.
Bi Yuan had gone to great lengths, using the Great Zhou Dragon Qi to forge an unparalleled foundation for him. The resulting Ten Extremes True Qi was nothing short of perfect.
Even Dugu Jiu, if he were here, could only admit his own inferiority.
But as for how to nurture this True Qi going forward, there were no known methods beyond endlessly circulating it through his body and absorbing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to strengthen it.
He looked up at Bi Sheng and the top expert from the Imperial City Department. The aftershocks from the clash between the two Ninth Realm masters reverberated throughout the entire Jade Capital City!
Meanwhile, in the center of the arena, Xu Yunfan’s breakthrough was still underway. Wreathed in Ten Extremes True Qi, his aura continued to climb slowly under the constant infusion of Profound Yellow Qi...
The most shocked of all was Dugu Jiu, hidden in the shadows.
This peerless Swordsman, who had once subdued the Imperial City with a single strike, was now questioning his very existence. His conviction in the Martial Dao was on the verge of shattering.
’Ten Extremes of Truth? The Martial Dao I have spent nearly a century trying to deduce... he achieved it so easily...’
He couldn’t help but look toward the Great Zhou Dragon Vein, which was being forcefully drained.
’Of course, that’s it. Without such a mystical technique, how could one possibly forge a flawless Purified Ninth Realm...’
Dugu Jiu’s eyes flickered with a newfound caution.
The Taoist Sect had existed for far longer than the other five great Sects of the Great Zhou.
No one knew what other secrets it held.
Xu Yunfan slowly opened his eyes.
As a golden light pulsed in his eyes, the surrounding rubble instantly vaporized.
He suddenly understood why Bi Yuan had wanted him to come to the Seventy-Two Districts.
This seemingly simple arena was the very Dragon Eye of the Jade Capital Earth Vein’s Kan Li Dragon Transformation Array!
Furthermore, once it was triggered, the Great Zhou couldn’t even stop the ongoing imperial examinations. If they tried to forcibly interrupt it, this already dying True Dragon would be completely finished off, and the Great Zhou’s decline would become irreversible.
The nation’s demise would only be a matter of time. Without the constant nourishment of the Dragon Qi, that Female Witch wouldn’t stand for it either.
All he had to do now was keep winning. By using his victories to build momentum, he could naturally rip the Great Zhou Dragon Qi from that Female Witch’s grasp.
It was a truly vicious scheme, a move to obstruct another’s path to power. Even though Xu Yunfan was the beneficiary, he couldn’t help but feel a chill creep into his heart.
(Sorry, everyone. Something came up today and caused a delay. I’ll work harder tomorrow!)