Overwhelmed by Xu Yunfan’s terrifyingly potent aura, the Imperial Guard, who had surrounded him like a Copper Wall and Iron Wall, involuntarily took step after step back. Their Profound Iron Spear Formation parted on its own to form a path.
Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the ground wherever Xu Yunfan walked. The formless pressure was so intense that even the weapons of these battle-hardened elites began to tremble!
Chen Wei’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the pitch-black Long Spear in his hand so tightly its shaft groaned. Where the spear’s tip pointed down, its three-foot gleam had already blasted a deep crack into the bluestone tiles.
He stared fixedly at Xu Yunfan’s back, veins bulging on his neck, but ultimately, he did not thrust his spear. He couldn’t make a move, nor could he have.
Xu Yunfan’s strength, the sheer density of his aura and the immensity of his True Qi, made his heart pound in his chest.
’He’s stronger than me!’
Reaching the exit, Xu Yunfan paused for a moment and said coldly, "Even without the protection of the Great Zhou Xuanhuang Qi, you are no match for me."
Before Chen Wei could react, Xu Yunfan’s figure vanished without a trace.
Only then did his expression twist into a terrifying, ferocious snarl.
"XU! YUN! FAN!"
With a face twisted like a demon’s, Chen Wei’s furious roar shook the archway of Vermilion Bird Avenue, causing dust to rain down.
-----------------
Finding a tall, deserted tower, Xu Yunfan sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. True Qi swirled around him, the Dragon Scale Armor Leaves on his body rising and falling with the pulse of his energy.
He sank his Heart and Spirit into his body, clearly perceiving his Ten Extremes True Qi surging like a great river. It gushed forth from the Mixed Element True Seed located deep within his flesh and blood, circulating throughout his entire being.
Wherever the True Qi passed, his flesh and skin took on a jade-like sheen. His muscles, bones, and organs hummed in resonance, each circulation in perfect harmony with the rhythm of the cosmos.
This True Qi was wondrously profound.
The Ten Extremes True Qi possessed a multitude of properties, following the path of the Ten Thousand Laws Return to the Stream. Crimson flames burned away impurities, profound ice refined his inner channels, Geng Metal tempered his bones, green wood nourished his organs...
Ten completely distinct types of Powerful Qi, unified under the command of the Mixed Element True Seed, became a seamless whole. During its Circulation of the Heavens, it even began to automatically absorb the surrounding Spiritual Qi.
Xu Yunfan could even "see" that as his True Qi flowed, the opening and closing of his pores created minute ripples in the air. Like a whale swallowing the ocean, he drew all the ambient Spiritual Qi within a thirty-zhang radius into his circulatory cycle.
But...
’Why is this so different from the novels I read in my past life? In those, True Qi traveled through a system of meridians. In this world’s Martial Dao, it flows through flesh and blood.’
By now, Xu Yunfan naturally understood the ultimate expression of the Martial Dao in this world.
This world’s Martial Dao was completely different from the meridian theory of his past life. The Ten Extremes True Qi didn’t follow meridians. Instead, it treated his flesh and skin as its rivers and his muscles, bones, and organs as its mountains, with the organs themselves as the source.
The Mixed Element True Seed acted as a cosmic pivot, forging his own qi and blood together with Spiritual Qi to create True Qi. Every single circulation took place within his flesh and blood.
Xu Yunfan slowly opened his eyes. A golden light seemed to flicker in their depths before instantly vanishing, leaving them profound and dark.
He looked down, gazing at his palm.
His fingers were long and slender, his knuckles well-defined. They appeared no different from an ordinary person’s, yet they had long since transcended the mortal realm.
Golden Muscle and Jade Veins, Mercury Blood and Silver Marrow, the Water and Fire Immortal Robe protecting his body, and Circulation Qi Collection like a whale devouring the ocean...
This physical body had already reached the absolute limit of what the Martial Arts Eight Realms could achieve.
’But now that I’ve cultivated the Martial Dao this far, is there any way to advance further?’
He whispered softly, his fingertips brushing across his chest.
The Dragon Scale Armor Leaves sensed their master’s presence and receded layer by layer like a living thing, revealing the long-dormant Extreme Dao Relic Shell beneath.
He possessed the physique of someone at the Peak of the Nine Realms, and his True Qi was as vast as the ocean, yet he remained unable to shatter that invisible shackle.
’What good would another sixty years of practice do? In the end, a quantitative change could never trigger a qualitative one.’
’Above the Ninth Realm... Land Immortals...’
Xu Yunfan’s gaze sharpened as his fingertips unconsciously caressed the delicate, smooth texture of the Relic Shell’s surface.
’How did those legendary beings cross that great chasm? How did they push a Mortal Body to a higher plane of existence?’
’Unfortunately, I can’t leave Jade Capital City right now. If I did, not only would I ruin the grand plan for the city, but I would also suffer a backlash from the Profound Yellow Qi.’
’Otherwise, I would fly back to the Taoist Sect and ask Master Bi Yuan how one is supposed to practice cultivation in the Ninth Realm.’
At this thought, an idea struck Xu Yunfan. He reached behind him and opened the hatch on his Profound Steel Mechanism Box, where the Ginseng Child was imprisoned.
POP!
A shiny, bald head shot out. The Ginseng Child, all of its Ginseng Roots plucked clean, stared with wide eyes and let out a series of sharp squeaks, like a wildcat that just had its tail stepped on.
Its indignant display seemed to vent all the resentment it had built up from being plucked bald over the last few days.
Xu Yunfan’s expression remained unchanged, treating the noise as mere background ambiance. He habitually curled his fingers, about to pluck a Ginseng Root as usual, when his hand suddenly froze.
His fingertips hovered over the Ginseng Child’s glistening head, finding no purchase.
’The Ginseng Roots... are all gone?’
He raised an eyebrow, a rare flicker of astonishment on his face.
His eyes drifted down to the Ginseng Child, his gaze slowly turning dangerous.
’I wonder... with my current strength as a Nine Realms Qi Cultivation Supreme Grandmaster, if I could handle swallowing this Ginseng Child whole.’
The Ginseng Child had keen senses and naturally felt Xu Yunfan’s dangerous stare. Its squeaking stopped abruptly as it retracted its head, hiding back inside the Mechanical Box and refusing to peek out again.
’No.’ Xu Yunfan dismissed the idea for now. He still needed to finalize matters concerning the imperial examinations. If he rashly devoured the creature and something unexpected happened, it would only create unnecessary complications.
’That old man, Bi Sheng, should have left the city by now.’
’For the moment, there’s nothing else to worry about.’
After silently practicing the Linn Character Technique for a while, Xu Yunfan grew restless. He stood up, walked to the railing of the tower, and quietly watched as Jade Capital City was gradually enveloped in darkness.
’Wait!’
Xu Yunfan tapped the Profound Steel Mechanism Box at his waist. A mechanism clicked open, and a Jade Scroll popped out from a hidden compartment.
He plucked out the Jade Scroll he had obtained from Jiaang Xu. It was the color of pure, creamy-white jade, its surface engraved with subtle, star-like patterns.
Based on the experience from his past life, Xu Yunfan was almost certain this Jade Scroll was something extraordinary. When he first acquired it, he hadn’t yet condensed any True Qi in his body. He wondered what would happen now.
He channeled a few wisps of True Qi from his fingertips, attempting to infuse them into the Jade Scroll.
VMMMM!
A low hum suddenly vibrated through the air. The ancient Jade Scroll began to emit a faint glow, but nothing else happened.
Xu Yunfan’s brow furrowed. Realization dawned on him. He pressed the Jade Scroll to the spot between his eyebrows and once again channeled his True Qi into it.
His Ten Extremes True Qi rushed in like a torrent.
In that instant, a scene exploded before his eyes.
After a long while, Xu Yunfan slowly opened his eyes, his expression a mixture of joy, shock, and utter bewilderment.
Inside the Jade Scroll was a Cultivation Technique, the "Heart Sutra of Nirvana Dust"!
A genuine Foundation Establishment True Method!
But in Xu Yunfan’s eyes, it was undoubtedly a Demon Heart Scripture.
"To sever the seven emotions is to flick away dust; to extinguish the six desires is to brush away sand."
This was a technique that traded the annihilation of one’s humanity and emotions for a qualitative transformation of one’s Spiritual Power. Upon reaching Great Success, it would forge an eternal foundation. A Cultivator who mastered it would be wreathed in a "Nirvana Dao Rhyme," and any ordinary Cultivator who met their gaze would suffer a collapse of their Dao Heart. It was an incredibly potent technique.
Xu Yunfan contemplated the "Heart Sutra of Nirvana Dust" that the Jade Scroll had transmitted into his mind, his brow slowly furrowing.