Longevity by Grinding Skills

After all, it wasn’t a Spiritual Treasure, so it fell short when faced with such terrifying Profound Light.

The fact that it could perform Breaking the Boundary and travel through the void was a testament to Xu Yunfan’s masterful skill in Artifact Refining.

It was impossible to say how much time had passed—it could have been an instant or an agonizing eternity—when the Void Crossing Boat suddenly shuddered, passing through an invisible barrier.

The scene before his eyes suddenly opened up, revealing a completely different world.

A rich scent of flora washed over him, carrying a wild, primal vitality.

Sunlight filtered through the canopy of towering ancient trees, forming mottled pillars of light.

The energy here was extremely abundant, but it wasn’t the pure and gentle Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi of the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm. Instead, it possessed a crude, primal, and even somewhat violent nature—a chaotic and untamable mix of elemental energies.

Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, Xu Yunfan suddenly spat out a mouthful of dark blood.

Directly clashing with a Golden Core True Monarch, wielding three streams of Sword Intent, and then piloting the Void Crossing Boat across the Boundary Sea while constantly dodging the Chaos Birth and Death Profound Light—each action had taken a tremendous toll. To have endured this long already placed him above ninety-nine percent of all cultivators at his Realm.

He was now a spent force.

He quickly sat down cross-legged, heedless of his surroundings. He immediately began circulating the *Divine Sky Nine Heavens Profound Vault Undying True Scripture*, forcibly squeezing out the potential of his Dao Body and drawing upon the remaining Starlight Power in his Star Spirit Banner to heal himself. Faint, purple-gold lightning flickered weakly around his body.

Although the world’s energy was chaotic, he had already formed a Grotto Heaven Embryo. With a slight rotation, the Grotto Heaven absorbed the mixed elemental energies, filtering them into the purest essence, which then flowed into his Dharma Body.

It gradually restored his body and replenished his depleted Magical Power.

As for Ye Xuan, she had been unceremoniously placed under a Sealing technique by Xu Yunfan in a corner of the Void Crossing Boat. Unable to move, she could only watch.

Just then, a faint fluctuation registered in his Divine Thought.

The Martial Arts Celestial Eye on Xu Yunfan’s brow instinctively opened and closed, a golden glint flashing for but an instant.

His brow furrowed. Fighting through the discomfort, he forced himself to stand and swept his Divine Thought toward the depths of the forest below.

Three hundred li away, a middle-aged, blond-haired, blue-eyed man in heavy, cracked Plated Armor lay slumped against a giant tree, his breathing faint. The strong stench of blood on him had attracted numerous lurkers from the shadows.

’Western Barbarians?’

Xu Yunfan’s eyebrow twitched. The man’s attire, the faint Extraordinary aura he exuded, and the chaotic mix of elemental energies saturating the world all reminded him of the worlds of sword and Magic described in the web novels of his past life.

’I’ll need to learn the basics of this world from this person. I can’t just go in blind.’

His figure flickered, and in the blink of an eye, he reappeared three hundred li away.

The dying knight seemed to sense the gaze descending from above. He struggled to lift his head, his blurry vision catching sight of Xu Yunfan’s elegant, robed figure—and the enormous dark shadow looming further behind.

His lips trembled as he used his final ounce of strength to cry out.

"Look out!"

The instant he cried out, a low rumble and the sound of splintering wood filled the air. A ferocious Demon Beast, shaped like a boar but as massive as a small hill, smashed through a tree that would take several people to encircle and charged toward Xu Yunfan’s back, bringing with it a putrid stench.

Its spear-like tusks glinted with a sinister light, and its coarse bristles stood on end, crackling with explosive energy.

Xu Yunfan didn’t even turn his head.

His Divine Thought had already enveloped the area. At his peak, a Demon Beast like this wouldn’t even qualify as an ant to him.

Even though he was currently severely injured and weak, he still possessed the standing of a Late-Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The remaining Divine Sky Magical Power in his body surged, creating a faint sound of wind and thunder as he casually flicked his wide sleeve backward.

There was no earth-shattering bang, only a dull thud.

The hill-sized Demon Beast froze mid-charge, as if struck by an invisible sledgehammer. Then, it was sent flying backward even faster than it had come.

CRASH!

The beast’s massive body slammed heavily into a cliff face hundreds of meters away. The rock wall instantly cracked and caved in, forming a huge crater.

Amidst the billowing dust, the Demon Beast lay embedded at the bottom of the crater, its bones and tendons shattered, killed on the spot.

Its vaunted strength and meager energy were pathetically fragile before a casual strike from a Foundation Establishment Cultivator wielding Dao Foundation Divine Techniques.

"Hm?!"

Xu Yunfan glanced up at the sky. With a flicker of thought, he cast the Triple Cause and Effect Secret Technique to conceal himself, then rapidly dissipated his Magical Power to stir the chaotic energies in the air.

The next instant, an incredibly subtle ripple of energy swept in from the distance. It scanned the forest several times before gradually dissipating, having found nothing.

’There are powerful beings in this world.’

Xu Yunfan wasn’t surprised. Though this world’s energy was chaotic, it was incredibly abundant. It was only natural for it to produce powerful Extraordinary beings.

Having confirmed that his presence was not exposed and having swatted away the troublesome beast, Xu Yunfan turned his attention back to the dying foreign knight.

The man had clearly witnessed the casual, effortless strike. His blue eyes now held a mixture of terror and a final, desperate plea.

Xu Yunfan’s expression was unruffled.

’This world has life. This person might be able to provide information about the environment, potential dangers, and even energy sources.’

His figure flickered, and he appeared beside the knight.

He shrank the Void Crossing Boat and tucked it into his sleeve. Ye Xuan, contained within, remained sealed in a corner of the Star Spirit Banner.

Xu Yunfan knelt, ignoring the knight’s wary gaze. A dark, eerie red light glowed from his right hand—it was the Soul Searching and Soul Stealing Secret Technique, a specialty of Hundred Desires Peak.

’The *Heaven and Earth Interchange Yin Yang Separation and Reunion Scripture* isn’t just for mastering the Dual Cultivation Method,’ he thought. ’It allows for physical union, spiritual union, and even union with all of creation. However, I must be careful not to draw on my Magical Power or use abilities completely alien to this world, or I risk being detected. Right now, I’m an unregistered entity—an Outer Realm Evil Demon. Not only will the natives of this world be hostile, but even its Celestial Dao will reject me. This was a matter the cultivators of the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm, especially those from the Three Great Sects, were all too familiar with. World Heaven invasions were a regular occurrence, and everyone had developed their own distinct methods for handling them.’

When the knight saw the strange, iridescent light glowing from Xu Yunfan’s hand, his heart sank.

The black-haired, black-eyed man before him was clearly no saint.

"Don’t..."

The knight let out a desperate cry, but his grievously injured body was incapable of resistance.

Xu Yunfan’s finger, glowing with a bone-chilling Spiritual Light, touched the knight’s forehead.

The Soul Search technique wasn’t foolproof; information could be damaged if the target resisted mentally or possessed a unique soul. But this was Xu Yunfan. With his Attribute Panel, the success rate was naturally ninety-nine percent.

And that was being modest.

’What I want is a basic overview of this world, its threats, and any potential resource locations. The man was kind enough to warn me, so I won’t treat him unfairly. Afterward, I’ll just draw on some of this world’s plant Essence Qi to heal him.’

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

As his fingertip made contact with the center of the knight’s brow, Xu Yunfan’s Divine Thought plunged into the man’s Sea of Consciousness.