Chapter 609: Seven Absolute Sabers (I)
Within the endless darkness, black winds howled as the terrifying Wind of Annihilation swept across the land, chilling the souls of all living beings to the bone. Dazzling rays erupted from powerful dharma treasures hidden in the darkness, unleashing devastating attacks upon the surging tide of yao.
Those who dared enter this place were the elite among cultivators, each capable of challenging opponents beyond their own realm. Against the endless flood of yao, they were like wolves charging into a flock of sheep, unstoppable in their advance; like tigers descending the mountain, slaughtering everything in their path.
Yet this was, after all, the demon realm. As the home ground of the yao, the surging tide concealed countless talented five-pattern yao and powerful yao above the six-pattern level. They, too, were the elite among their kind. While the genius cultivators regarded them as prey, these yao likewise viewed the invading cultivators from another world as prey.
"Hehe~."
A seductive laugh drifted from within the yao horde. Several alluring figures clad in revealing pink garments emerged eerily from the darkness, their boneless waists swaying hypnotically. Every one of them looked exactly the same. Wherever one of them appeared, large numbers of yao immediately collapsed around it.
An intelligent yao, hidden among the horde, narrowed its eyes, a dangerous gleam flashing in them as it witnessed the scene. "It's a Heart-Enchanting Fox Yao! Capture her!"
Just as certain special yao races possessed immense value to cultivators, some unique bloodlines, ancient yao, and special clans among cultivators were equally valuable to the yao.
Under the command of that intelligent yao, vast numbers of yao roared and charged toward the Heart-Enchanting Fox Yao. At the same time, the intelligent yao's body flickered slightly. Like a phantom, it merged into the void, about to disappear.
At that moment, a terrifying flash of cold light sliced through the darkness. The yao that was about to vanish into the void suddenly widened its eyes, its body forcibly dragged back into view.
Lin Zheyu looked at the yao corpse on the ground and smiled faintly. "An interesting yao race. It would make an excellent research subject."
With a thought, the yao corpse vanished, stored away inside a special storage pouch reserved for yao specimens. Lin Zheyu raised his head slightly and looked into the dark void not far away. The playful laughter continued to drift into his ears. An amused expression appeared on his face. He had met this Heart-Enchanting Fox Yao before!
Lin Zheyu chuckled with interest. "Hu Xuefei! I didn't expect to run into her here. What a coincidence."
Back when he had first competed for opportunities involving rule fragments, he had crossed paths with this seductive woman of the Heart-Enchanting Fox Yao Clan. At the time, Hu Xuefei's powerful innate divine ability had left Lin Zheyu with few effective ways to deal with her.
Several years had passed since then. Most of the cultivators who had once teamed up with him had already advanced to the Golden Core realm, while Bai Lin was on the verge of breaking through to the Shackles realm.
Yet this woman of the Heart-Enchanting Fox Yao Clan still remained at the Foundation Establishment Realm. Even so, she had become much stronger. Back then, she had only dared hunt yao in the main world and compete for opportunities involving rule fragments.
Now, Hu Xuefei had stepped into the ranks of top-tier geniuses and had begun venturing into the demon realm itself in pursuit of even greater opportunities.
Since fate has brought us together again, I might as well give you a hand.
With a thought, the wings behind Lin Zheyu beat once. His entire body shot forward at astonishing speed, silently racing toward Hu Xuefei's location.
His silver-white saber light radiated a terrifying aura, sending chills through the heart. As Hu Xuefei, who had manifested over a dozen clones and was cheerfully hunting yao, continued her slaughter, a sudden sense of dread inexplicably rose within her.
Not good. A powerful yao is approaching! Hu Xuefei was startled.
The races of the yao were countless and bizarre. Some of the more powerful ones possessed abilities no less formidable than those of the Heart-Enchanting Foxes.
Hu Xuefei hurriedly transmitted her voice. "Hu Qing'er, fall back!"
This time, she had not entered alone but had come together with Hu Qing'er from her clan. The moment her warning was sent, a terrifying silver-white flash sliced eerily through the darkness, streaking toward a location over a hundred meters away from Hu Xuefei's true body.
ROAAAR!
A miserable scream rang out. A gigantic yao over ten meters tall emerged from the darkness, only to be instantly torn apart by the lightning-fast saber light, exploding into chunks of twitching flesh that scattered across the ground.
Hu Xuefei froze for a moment and turned around, staring in disbelief at where the yao had appeared. By the time she looked, even the scattered flesh had already vanished. No matter how carefully she probed, she could detect nothing unusual. Not the slightest trace remained of the expert who had just struck.
Hu Qing'er revealed herself, swallowed nervously, and muttered, "Sister Fei, was that expert just now... one of your friends?"
That aura had been far too powerful—so powerful that it was unbelievable. It was absolutely not a strength that someone at the Foundation Establishment realm could possess.
"I don't know him. But what an intense masculine aura... mhm..."
A rosy flush spread across Hu Xuefei's face. Blinking, she stared at the spot where Lin Zheyu had vanished, her gaze sparkling brightly.
Lin Zheyu could not help but chuckle. "That girl really hasn't changed at all."
He had no intention of revealing himself to exchange greetings. The two of them were not particularly close. They had merely crossed hands briefly years ago.
His figure shifted slightly. Lin Zheyu once again charged toward the nearest six-pattern yao. As the number of yao he slew continued to increase, the aura surrounding him grew ever more terrifying, becoming astonishingly dense.
Time passed slowly. The vast reserves of energy accumulated within his divine repositories granted Lin Zheyu extraordinary endurance. Ever since entering the demon realm, his slaughter had never ceased.
His overwhelming strength had intimidated not only the many genius cultivators present, but even the intelligent yao lurking among the hordes had begun to feel fear.
Outside the region affected by the collision and fusion of the two worlds, several terrifying yao with abyss-like, prison-like auras watched the battle between the foreign lifeforms and the yao, their brows slightly furrowed.
"Have you found that strange foreign lifeform yet?" the leading yao asked calmly.
Beside it stood a bizarre yao with a single eye, resembling a hairless feline beast walking upright. Faint ghostly light swirled within its pupil, and its gaze seemed unfathomably deep.
The one-eyed yao slowly rotated its eye as it said, "We've found him, but tracking his movements is extremely difficult. That foreign genius is incredibly fast. Even among six-pattern yao, he would be considered one of the best. Furthermore, an inexplicable aura surrounds him. I don't know what technique he's using, but it grants him exceptional concealment even within the demon realm. If we want to capture him, we'll have to wait until the destruction aura subsides."
The leading yao said calmly, "Good. Inform Blackmo and have him prepare himself. The moment the destruction aura quiets down, he is to enter immediately and bring that fellow back. You will assist him when the time comes."
The one-eyed yao responded respectfully, "Yes, my lord."
When it raised its head again, its lord had already vanished without a trace.
***
Time gradually flowed on. The turbulent energy of the laws filling the void had peaked. The bloody presence around Lin Zheyu, from slaughtering yao, had grown extremely intense. It became so thick that even he couldn't hide it anymore. The yao nearby sensed this frightening aura and rushed away in all directions, panicking. But how could they truly escape Lin Zheyu?
The wings behind Lin Zheyu beat once after another as his saber unleashed terrifying blade lights as swift as lightning. Like a farmer harvesting chives, he reaped the lives of one yao after another. These yao, whose vitality was astonishingly powerful, were no different from ants before him. Their lives were as worthless as grass.
Lin Zheyu suddenly came to a halt, looked up at the void, and murmured softly, "It's about to end."
His figure shifted and vanished from where he stood, racing toward the node fissure. He was not the only one. Nearly every cultivator who had entered the demon realm made the same decision. Once the two worlds were completely fused and the region stabilized, powerful yao above the six-pattern level might appear. They had to enter the node's rift and leave the demon realm the instant they finished comprehending their rule fragments.
Lin Zheyu found a flat area and settled down. With a thought, a formation plate flew out of his storage pouch. Vast amounts of energy poured into it. Using the formation plate as the core formation eye, he quickly established a powerful defensive formation around himself.
Not long after the formation was completed, a mysterious and profound aura descended from above, enveloping every cultivator within the region. This was the protection granted by the Heavenly Dao's will.
The immense aura accumulating around Lin Zheyu, as vast as an ocean, suddenly surged. It condensed into a gigantic vortex of energy. The vortex rapidly collapsed and transformed, becoming an ultimate sphere of energy. The sphere quickly contracted into a single point, then expanded at extreme speed before bursting apart like a bubble.
In that instant, Lin Zheyu sensed an incomparably rich aura of Dao resonance. His spirit and spiritual soul trembled slightly. Vast rule power flowed into his body and projected into his sea of consciousness, where it condensed at the center into a flawless diamond-shaped crystal. This was the rule fragment.
Sensing the powerful Dao resonance emanating from the diamond-shaped crystal, a smile appeared on Lin Zheyu's face. "The Dao resonance contained within this fragment seems far stronger than the previous ones."
Like the fragments he had obtained before, this rule fragment contained the power of spatial laws. No matter how many times a cultivator encountered opportunities involving rule fragments, every fragment they obtained contained only a single type of rule power. This appeared to be a restriction imposed by the Heavenly Dao.
Let's see how effective it is.
His golden soul form drifted toward the diamond-shaped crystal and enveloped it completely.
Lin Zheyu flipped his right hand, and two large storage pouches, each with a capacity of one hundred cubic meters, floated into his grasp.
Inside these storage pouches were the bodies of numerous ordinary yao above the six-pattern level that he had just slain. Yao, below the six-pattern level, possessed energy of insufficient purity and was unqualified to serve as an energy source for Lin Zheyu's cultivation using Origin Force.
There was also another storage pouch specifically for storing yao corpses. It contained rare yao that Lin Zheyu believed possessed immense value for research and understanding.
He extended both of his hands into separate storage pouches, immersing them within the flesh essence of the six-pattern yao.
Use 10 units of Origin Force to cultivate the Seven Absolute Sabers.
As the thought was transmitted, vast amounts of mysterious energy surged forth from the depths of his body. It swept through the storage pouches, drawing the energy contained within the flesh and blood of the yao into his body. His spirit blurred for an instant before entering the consciousness space, where endless cultivation began once more.
The Seven Absolute Sabers was a technique that Lin Zheyu had created himself by combining his martial knowledge with the power of spatial laws. In its early stages, its strength relied primarily on the profundities of the saber art itself.
However, as the Seven Absolute Sabers advanced, each successive stage became increasingly dependent on Lin Zheyu's understanding of spatial laws. This was also why the technique had remained stalled at the fifth stage and had seen almost no improvement over the past two years.
***
Within the demon realm, black winds howled endlessly. After the vast destruction aura gradually subsided, a yao with a ferocious canine head approached from outside the region and came to stand beside the one-eyed yao.
The black dog-headed yao glanced at the one-eyed yao beside it and said calmly, "Cecil, where is he?"
Cecil rotated its lone eye as it replied in an even tone, "Wait. The heavenly secrets are in disarray right now, and the surrounding aura remains turbulent. I can't see through it clearly."
Blackmo said indifferently, "Hurry as much as possible. Once they finish their comprehension and cross through the space-time rift, it'll be too late to hunt them down."
"Don't worry. There's still time." Cecil's voice remained utterly emotionless. The ghostly light within its eye seemed to form a deep and endless vortex.
While Cecil searched for Lin Zheyu's location, Blackmo twisted its body slightly and parted its jaws, revealing rows of vicious fangs. Demon essence surged through its body as a greedy, hungry look appeared in its eyes.
According to their lord, this mysterious foreign expert possessed extraordinary strength and astonishing talent. If Blackmo could swallow such a peerless prodigy whole and savor his flesh...
The mere thought of it was enough to make drool gather at the corners of its mouth.