Longevity by Grinding Skills

The white jade palm that had appeared so abruptly was not large; its five fingers, spread wide, were just big enough to cover the back of Xu Yunfan’s head.

It was now just inches from the back of his head, and the shadow of death instantly fell over him.

A jolt went through Xu Yunfan. The dozen or so warning Arrays he had laid out collapsed silently, layer by layer, like foam bubbles.

Golden Core Magical Power was, by its very nature, beyond the conventional.

’True Monarch Qing Yuan really did have another trick up his sleeve. Or rather, he’s just a damn animal.’

’A Golden Core Cultivator stooping to a sneak attack... and his chosen Imagery is supposedly the King’s Dao, of all things.’

Just as the white jade palm was about to breach the three-foot radius around Xu Yunfan, a frigid voice seemed to detonate from the deepest void, carrying an absolute will to annihilate all calamities.

"Sword Two: Tribulation Destruction!"

The second of the two Golden Core Sword Intents remaining within Xu Yunfan’s body erupted.

This Tribulation Destruction Sword Intent was not dazzlingly brilliant or overwhelmingly powerful. Instead, it was a streak of bleak, gray light, condensed to its absolute limit, containing the pure, destructive will to annihilate all disasters and sweep away every obstacle.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a tearing sensation that made one’s Divine Soul tremble, as if their very Origin was being erased.

The white jade palm, now inches away, suddenly turned illusory. Like a reflection cast into the void, it instantly collapsed and dissipated.

Three hundred miles away, True Monarch Qing Yuan, who was in the process of gathering his scattered Immortal Palace Pure Qi, let out a pained and incredulous roar. He looked down to see that his wrist had been clean severed by that one strike of Sword Intent.

Severed at the wrist.

"XU YUNFAN!!"

The roar was filled with bone-deep hatred and rage, far surpassing the fury he had felt when injured by Sword One.

The two consecutive eruptions of Pure Yang Sword Intent from Xu Yunfan were like two resounding slaps across the face of this Primordial Sect True Monarch.

This last strike, Sword Two: Tribulation Destruction, had not only foiled his ambush but had also branded the word "incompetent" upon his face.

’He’d resorted to a sneak attack and still couldn’t handle a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator?’

’What a complete joke.’

’If word of this got out, how could he ever show his face again?’

Xu Yunfan felt the immense pressure that had nearly frozen his Divine Soul suddenly lighten.

His suppressed heart began to pound wildly.

Forcibly suppressing the churning in his blood and the searing, tearing pain, he whipped his head around to meet True Monarch Qing Yuan’s eyes, which looked as if they were about to spew tangible flames of fury.

The hem of the True Monarch’s once-magnificent Daoist robe had long since been torn open in several deep gashes by the residual Sword Qi. His protective barrier of Immortal Palace Pure Qi had been completely obliterated by the assault of Sword One: Shattering Illusion, and now he could only rely on what little remained to barely cling to his body, concealing the wounds on his Dharma Body carved by the Sword Intent.

The violent tremors in his Grotto Heaven made True Monarch Qing Yuan’s aura extremely unstable, and his lofty, immortal air was completely gone.

’So, this is all a Golden Core True Monarch amounts to?’

True Monarch Qing Yuan stared daggers at Xu Yunfan, the killing intent in his eyes nearly solidifying into icicles that could pierce this Foundation Establishment ant through and through.

"Xu Yunfan, you are good! Very good!"

Every word seemed to be forced through gritted teeth. "I will remember what happened today! And I will make you suffer for it."

After a pause, True Monarch Qing Yuan’s tone shifted to one of genuine surprise.

"You actually managed to detect my ambush?"

He truly hadn’t expected Xu Yunfan to see through his sneak attack.

Golden Core and Foundation Establishment were as different as clouds and mud.

Strictly speaking, a Golden Core cultivator was a true Immortal, while a Foundation Establishment cultivator was little more than a mortal too weak to even tie up a chicken.

The gap between them was too vast to put into words.

And yet, Xu Yunfan had somehow used one trump card after another to survive until this very moment.

The corner of Xu Yunfan’s mouth twitched into an almost imperceptible smirk, pulling at his internal injuries, but his eyes were terrifyingly bright.

His Adam’s apple bobbed. His voice was slightly hoarse and not loud, but it carried clearly to True Monarch Qing Yuan’s ears.

"Calm your anger, True Monarch. This disciple was merely repaying you in kind—an eye for an eye. We’re all from the Primordial Sect. You, of all people, should know exactly what we’re all like, shouldn’t you?"

’After all, there’s a reason the Primordial Sect is also called the Primordial Demon Sect.’

’It’s a name they’ve earned through their actions.’

’The moment True Monarch Qing Yuan left, I naturally laid out nearly a hundred interlocking Arrays, keeping a dozen Array Discs on me ready to activate at a moment’s notice. It was all to guard against this exact kind of stunt.’

’After all, the people in this Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm really have no sense of honor.’

’They especially love to go smurfing in the Newbie Village to crush rookies.’

Hearing this, True Monarch Qing Yuan’s ancient, dignified face went rigid for a moment before contorting with an even deeper fury.

A dignified Golden Core True Monarch, being openly mocked by a mere Foundation Establishment Cultivator, and he couldn’t even refute it.

The Cold Pool in the depths of his eyes froze over completely.

Xu Yunfan, however, showed no hesitation or delay.

’Once gone, there is no return. A fight to the death. Sword Three: No Return!’

He chanted silently in his mind.

’This sword... a gift from Ancestral Master Chunyang.’

The instant his Divine Thought triggered it, the dormant Sword Seal deep within his Purple Mansion erupted with a cold light.

The Sword Intent rose from the sea of his marrow. There was no brilliant sword rainbow, only a single, fine line of platinum-white light that split the sky.

It was shaped like an icicle condensed enough to pierce the Nine Netherworld. Everywhere its trajectory passed, space silently collapsed, and light, dust, and even stray Spiritual Qi were all devoured, creating a corridor of absolute, annihilating void.

This was the No Return Sword Intent, refined from Lv Chunyang’s own Mid-Stage Golden Core Daoist Cultivation. It severed the cycle of life and death, cutting off all paths of retreat for the Ten Thousand Laws.

The Sword Intent rose from Xu Yunfan’s body, carrying with it an infinitely tragic aura. It was an intent of certain death, existing only to slay the enemy. The stance of Heaven and Earth Return Together, contained within the sword light was enough to strike terror into any heart.

Lv Chunyang was, after all, the leading Sword Cultivator of the Wansheng Sword Sect, having already reached the Mid-Stage Golden Core realm. Even if this was just a trace of his Dao Rhyme branded into the Sword Intent, when amplified and unleashed by the Grand Array, it was enough to make an Early-Stage Golden Core cultivator like him feel the chilling breath of doom.

Before the sword light even arrived, True Monarch Qing Yuan could already feel the foundations of his Grotto Heaven shaking violently.

Years ago, when Ancestral Master Chunyang had used this sword to pierce the Dharma Body of the Primordial Sect’s True Monarch Divine Sky Nine Heavens, he had used this very Sword Intent to bore through the Grotto Heaven and annihilate the Divine Soul.

An attack that led to his utter demise.

How could he not be terrified?

True Monarch Qing Yuan’s expression changed drastically. He truly hadn’t anticipated that Pure Yang True Monarch would be so shameless as to leave Xu Yunfan with a full three strikes of Sword Intent!

"Hah!"

No longer daring to hold anything back, True Monarch Qing Yuan frantically channeled the "Qiankun Pure Qi Mysterious Dao True Skill."

In an instant, his Grotto Heaven projected itself, and the phantom image of the Pure Source Immortal Palace forcibly manifested behind him.

Then, the Immortal Palace Pure Qi surged forth like a bursting dam, and the majestic Imagery of the King’s Dao rushed to meet the killing blow, carrying the might to suppress the heavens.

BOOOOOM!

It was like two worlds colliding.

The sword light and the majestic Pure Qi clashed violently, erupting with an eardrum-shattering roar. A raging storm of energy instantly blasted away and vaporized the seawater for dozens of miles around, forming an enormous, vacuumous crater.

The Immortal Palace Pure Qi swirled and manifested madly, only to rapidly collapse and disperse. The majestic Imagery that True Monarch Qing Yuan had condensed began to tremble and keen, as if in agony.

Although the No Return sword light’s power was rapidly diminishing under the layers of Pure Qi, its annihilating True Intent of no return still ruthlessly pierced into the Immortal Palace Grotto Heaven, which was already shaking ceaselessly from the blow of the Illusion-Breaking Sword Intent.

"Pfft!"

True Monarch Qing Yuan’s face went as white as paper as he violently spat out a large mouthful of pale golden blood containing his very Origin.

The Grotto Heaven projection behind him flickered and swayed violently, as if it might shatter and retreat into his body at any moment, while his own aura plummeted drastically.