The wave patterns covering the Flying Hammer’s surface writhed as if alive. Dark golden True Qi condensed on the hammer’s head, forming the phantom of a ferocious giant whale. Its maw gaped open, poised to devour everything in its path.
With every inch the hammer advanced, the True Qi enveloping it transformed.
First, it boiled like raging flames, then condensed like biting frost, and finally twisted into a spiraling torrent of air.
The low whistle began as a roll of muffled thunder, but by the time the Flying Hammer was halfway to its target, it had become a deafening roar. Even the Spirit-Suppressing Jade Pillars surrounding the Martial Arts Arena shuddered violently.
This strike was no longer the work of a mortal. It was like a meteor from the heavens, imbued with ten completely different cosmic powers, vowing to pulverize the enemy ahead—and the very space around them—into dust!
BANG!
Ci’e’s Dragon-Suppressing Seal was struck with perfect accuracy by the Flying Hammer.
The supreme treasure, a gift from the Empress herself, exploded into a cloud of jade dust on the spot. The backlash sent blood gushing from all seven of Ci’e’s orifices.
Even more terrifying, the Flying Hammer’s momentum was unspent. It continued on to smash the spectator stands thirty zhang away into rubble!
"Demon!"
Ci Ku struggled to his feet and slashed with his saber, its blade igniting with a ghastly green Ghost Fire fueled by his own sacrificed Life Essence Blood.
This slash had already transcended the bounds of mere Martial Arts. Before the blade even arrived, Xu Yunfan’s shadow began to twist on its own, as if it were about to be torn apart by the sheer intent of the attack.
A cold glint flashed in Xu Yunfan’s eyes. The muscles in his right arm tensed abruptly, and the Mountain-Suppressing Sea Hammer in his hand hummed and trembled. Layers of Earth Vein Power burst forth, shimmering as a black light across the Heavy Hammer’s surface.
Facing Ci Ku’s incoming Profound Yin Soul Slaying Saber, he did not dodge. Instead, he sank into a low horse stance as his Ten Extremes True Qi surged from his body like a furious tide, pouring entirely into the hammer!
"Mountain-Suppressing Vast Sea, Sea and Sky in One Line!"
Under the assault of the berserk True Qi, the twelve cloud patterns on the hammer’s head were forced apart as if by an unseen giant hand, emitting a piercing screech of twisting metal.
The cloud patterns didn’t just split—under Xu Yunfan’s mountain-shattering, peak-sundering brute force, they were transformed into blades of ultimate sharpness!
There were no fancy tricks to this strike—it was a pure application of absolute power, violently altering the very structure of the Mountain-Suppressing Sea Hammer.
The hammer was no longer a hammer. Under Xu Yunfan’s terrifying power, it had become a vicious weapon capable of grinding anything to pieces!
The moment the Sword Wheel clashed with the Demon Saber, Ci Ku was horrified to find he had struck what felt like an abyss ten thousand zhang deep.
The Nine Nether Ghost Fire clinging to the saber’s blade was extinguished by the Heavy Hammer’s Power of Shaking Mountains and Suppressing Seas, melting away like remnant snow. The terrifying force that erupted vibrated at a dreadful frequency, tearing the web of the old monk’s thumb further open with every impact.
CRACK!
A grating, shattering sound echoed throughout the arena.
The Profound Yin Soul Slaying Saber snapped into three pieces. Under the grinding power of the Sword Wheel, Ci Ku’s right arm, along with half his shoulder, was pulverized into a mist of blood.
As the old monk staggered back, he saw Xu Yunfan raising the recalled Mountain-Suppressing Sea Hammer high. The Gang Qi gathering on its head had already materialized into the phantom of a mountain.
The first hammer!
It fell like a falling star crashing to earth.
The Vajra Seal that Ci Ku hastily formed shattered like paper. The muffled thud of his chest caving in made the faces of the spectators in the front rows drain of color.
The second hammer!
The spinning left hammer struck Ci Nan on the skull.
The monk, a practitioner of the Vajra Indestructible technique, didn’t even have time to scream. His head burst like a watermelon, and his headless body knelt, still frozen in its sealing posture.
The moment Ci’e turned to flee, Xu Yunfan had already taken the Sky-Sundering Cloud-Piercing Bow from his back.
He didn’t even nock an arrow. He simply drew the bowstring to a full moon, and as his Ten Extremes True Qi surged wildly, a Triangular Armor-Piercing Arrow condensed at his fingertips.
This scene made the hearts of everyone in the audience tremble with fear.
"Qi Condensation and Transformation!?"
The lips of the green-robed Daoist from the Profound Daoist Sect trembled slightly, his eyes filled with utter disbelief.
He stared intently at the True Qi flowing around Xu Yunfan’s body. It was no longer the formless Gang Qi of an ordinary Nine Realms Qi Cultivation practitioner. It was nearly solid, a materialized presence. Upon reaching the stage of Qi Condensation and Transformation, one’s True Qi could form its own Martial Dao manifestations.
At one moment it rose like blazing flames, the next it condensed like biting frost. It could even transform into the shape of a dragon or the shadow of a sword in an instant, holding its form without dissipating, just like a living creature!
This was the state of "Qi Condensation and Transformation," a realm only Nine Realms Qi Cultivation Grandmasters could even begin to touch!
For ordinary Martial Artists, even after stepping into the Ninth Realm and achieving True Transformation, their True Qi would merely become denser and sharper. But Xu Yunfan had already transcended that level entirely.
His Ten Extremes True Qi seemed to possess a spiritual nature of its own. Without any need for deliberate control, it could evolve into all manner of forms.
Every wisp of his True Qi moved as an extension of his will, capable of being both hard and soft. When hard, it was comparable to the edge of a Divine Weapon; when soft, it flowed like water, seeping through any opening.
What was even more frightening was that these transformed manifestations of True Qi were not merely for show.
The green-robed Daoist was horrified. The masters from the Five Great Sects around him naturally had extraordinary insight as well. They too could see what was happening, and their faces were etched with shock and horror.
They subconsciously exchanged glances, and a heavy feeling settled in their hearts.
Throughout history, every single person who achieved "Qi Condensation and Transformation" was a figure of astonishing, peerless talent.
Reaching this realm meant a Martial Artist’s control over their True Qi had reached the Transformation Realm, and their every move wielded immense power.
For an ordinary Ninth Realm master to face such an existence was like a toddler with a Wooden Sword challenging a battle-hardened veteran. They weren’t even in the same league!
But what terrified him to the core was that he could vaguely perceive ten completely different Martial Daos flowing within Xu Yunfan’s transformed True Qi. He could even see traces of his own Profound Daoist Sect’s Dragon and Tiger Pill Qi.
This was clearly the "Ten Thousand Laws Return to the Stream" Anomaly, a phenomenon that could only manifest after pushing the Ten Extremes Martial Arts to its absolute limit!
"Dugu Jiu..."
The Profound Daoist Sect’s green-robed Daoist had an exceptionally grim expression.
The tall emissary from Penglai Pavilion couldn’t help but shrink back into his cloak.
TWANG!
The vibration of the bowstring caused every fragile object within a hundred-zhang radius to shatter simultaneously.
The instant the True Qi arrow left the string, it plowed a vacuum tunnel through the air that was visible to the naked eye.
Ci’e, who had just leaped into midair, suddenly froze. A transparent, bowl-sized hole appeared in his chest. The aftershock from the arrow’s qi even caused a corner tower of the Imperial City, three hundred paces away, to collapse!
The spectator stands were as silent as a tomb.
The Profound Yellow Chain that had been binding Xu Yunfan suddenly turned illusory and was absorbed back into his body, replenishing his consumed Ten Extremes True Qi and even causing his total reserves to rise another level.
The Nine Nether Cold Iron Chain in the Penglai Pavilion emissary’s hands had, at some point, snapped into several pieces. The teeth of this worldly, experienced emissary were now chattering.
’That wasn’t Archery at all,’ he thought. ’It was the ultimate form of violence, born from True Qi condensed to its absolute limit!’
When the dust settled, Xu Yunfan stood with one foot on the fragments of the Dragon-Suppressing Seal, his twin hammers held inverted and dripping with blood.
He swept his gaze over the crowd, who were all silent as winter cicadas, and let out a soft chuckle. "Anyone else wish to discuss the ’Trinity’?"
His voice wasn’t loud, yet it caused the Supervision Bronze Bell nearby to ring on its own, ceaselessly.
At this point, Xu Yunfan glanced at the several notification messages that had appeared in his vision.
’You have successfully slain the monks Ci Ku, Ci Nan, and Ci’e. Your Ten Extremes Martial Arts has grown more profound...’
Xu Yunfan read this and couldn’t help but feel a bit resigned. ’Although the Ten Extremes Martial Arts follows the path of the Ten Thousand Laws Return to the Stream, there’s still no good method for circulating Qi after the Ninth Realm.’
’All I can do is repeatedly cleanse my body with True Qi, pushing its growth to the absolute limit, and then use the most primitive method of letting the physical body nourish the growth of the spirit.’
’The Martial Dao has methods for condensing the spirit, but it can’t strengthen the Divine Soul or improve one’s mental acuity and intelligence. This just goes to show how precious the Linn Character Technique truly is.’
(One more Chapter to come, still writing.)