Longevity by Grinding Skills

This time, I must stake it all!

Xu Yunfan turned his head, looking toward the Southern Continent.

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Southern Continent. Wansheng Sword Sect, Megrez Peak.

Deep within his grotto, Han Shi sat cross-legged. The Sword Qi around him surged like a furious tide as he pushed the Thousand Chariots Geng Sea Fury Wave Sword Technique to its absolute limit.

His eyes were crimson, his chest churning with an overwhelming hatred for Xu Yunfan. It was this extreme rage that fueled his Fury Killing Sword Intent, making it ever more fierce and immense.

He was using this very hatred to temper his Fury Killing Sword Intent.

’Xu Yunfan... When my Sword Dao reaches Great Success, I will obliterate you, body and soul, and reclaim my freedom!’

Han Shi roared in his heart as his Sword Embryo thrummed. A vast aura, one that seemed poised to attract the favor of a Dao Fruit, began to brew in the depths of his Sea of Consciousness.

His talent for the Sword Dao was peerless. In less than a century, his Cultivation had already reached Foundation Establishment Perfection.

Moreover, the Celestial Sword Seat he had forged was exceptionally rare.

He was arguably the number one cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm of the Wansheng Sword Sect!

However, at this critical moment...

An irresistible, overriding will erupted like a flood from the depths of his being. It instantly pierced all the defenses of his Heart and Spirit, swiftly taking control of every inch of his flesh, every single one of his thoughts.

The furious hatred on Han Shi’s face instantly froze, replaced by endless horror and disbelief.

"Ah, Han Shi. You’ve had it rough these past few years, haven’t you? Hating me every day has driven you a little mad."

Xu Yunfan’s placid voice, like a heavenly decree, echoed directly in the depths of Han Shi’s Divine Soul, devoid of any emotion.

Horrified, Han Shi’s Divine Soul struggled violently, but it was as if he were sealed in Ten Thousand Years Profound Ice. Even his thoughts grew sluggish.

His heart filled with shock and terror as he finally realized the truth: he had never escaped Xu Yunfan’s control.

He now understood why Xu Yunfan had dared to let him cultivate in the Wansheng Sword Sect, even allowing him to reach Foundation Establishment Perfection.

The connection from the Cloud Scripture Incarnation Technique had never been severed. He was, and always had been, a completely controlled puppet.

His pride in his peerless Sword Dao talent, the True Meaning of Fury Killing he had painstakingly comprehended—it was all a joke before the absolute control Xu Yunfan wielded through the Attribute Panel.

’What... what are you going to do?’

The last remnants of Han Shi’s consciousness posed a weak and desperate question from within the torrent of Xu Yunfan’s will.

Xu Yunfan did not respond.

He controlled Han Shi’s body, making it stand and step out of the grotto.

As daylight spilled in from outside, the expression on Han Shi’s (Xu Yunfan’s) face held not a trace of its former owner’s emotions, only a cold, detached indifference.

He raised his head, looking toward the sky above the Wansheng Sword Sect, a sky that seemed to be shredded to pieces by innumerable sharp Sword Intents.

RUMBLE!

An immense Fury Killing Sword Intent surged into the sky without reservation.

It was even more ferocious and pure than when Han Shi himself channeled it, imbued with a rage that had been forcibly elevated to its absolute limit.

Within his Purple Mansion Sea of Consciousness, the phantom of the Celestial Sword Seat—the embodiment of Han Shi’s entire life’s comprehension of the Sword Dao—trembled violently. Furious Tides churned upon it, and the sharp edge of Geng Metal tore at the fabric of his Sea of Consciousness.

Witnessing this, Han Shi was even more horrified. He never imagined that Xu Yunfan’s execution of the Fury Killing Sword Intent would actually surpass his own.

Xu Yunfan naturally sensed Han Shi’s emotions.

’What a joke.’

’With the Attribute Panel in my possession and the Fury Killing Sword Intent already in my Skill Bar, if I couldn’t even wield this much power, then what would be the point of even aiming for a Golden Core?’

"Just watch. This is how you’re supposed to use the Fury Killing Sword Intent."

With that, Xu Yunfan immediately seized Han Shi’s Divine Soul and absorbed it into the Star Spirit Banner.

’A Divine Soul refined into a Sword Spirit by Sword Intent is a rare treasure. Naturally, it can’t be wasted.’

"Thousand Chariots Fury Sea, Geng Metal Returning Ruins, Annihilation of All Transformations! Beckon!"

Using Han Shi’s mouth, Xu Yunfan let out a cry that resounded throughout heaven and earth.

This voice contained Xu Yunfan’s own understanding of the Sword Dao, which, after being perfectly refined and optimized by the Attribute Panel’s analysis of the Fury Killing Sword Intent, instantly drew the attention of a compatible Dao Fruit from the unseen ether.

From deep within the firmament of the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm, a vast, profound will, carrying an aura of endless destruction and the Returning Ruins, was abruptly stirred.

It was like the endless Abyss of the Ruins hidden beneath the Nine Netherworld, which swallows all waters. It radiated a pressure that made the hearts of the innumerable Sword Cultivators in the Wansheng Sword Sect palpitate, yet it was also filled with an ultimate temptation.

The Cangming Gui Xu Dao Fruit!

Among the one hundred and eight Heavenly Spirits and Earth Evil Dao Fruits in the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm, this one ranked near the top of the Earth Evil echelon.

Its Controller would command all the waters of the world, able to transform Furious Tides into swords and bring about the Annihilation of All Transformations, consigning all things to the Returning Ruins.

Even in the Wansheng Sword Sect, it was considered an Upper Grade Dao Fruit.

The Dao Fruit’s gaze instantly locked onto the figure on Megrez Peak in the Wansheng Sword Sect, the one who had unleashed the Sword Intent of a raging, stormy sea.

Han Shi.

An intangible opportunity for Dao Attainment began to slowly descend, rapidly spreading throughout heaven and earth.

The entire Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm shook.

This momentous presence was naturally felt.

Someone is attempting to claim a Golden Attainment Fruit Position!

In some unknown corner, a low grumble was heard.

’Even in this day and age, there are still hot-headed fools?’

After all, the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm was controlled by numerous Golden Core True Monarchs. The paths of advancement were sealed shut, and anyone who dared to attempt to attain a Daoist Golden Core usually died a gruesome death.

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At the very same moment that Han Shi (Xu Yunfan) drew forth the Cangming Dao Fruit, tens of thousands of miles away in the Eastern Wilderness of the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm...

...a grand ritual was underway at a site constructed by the Puchen Pure Land, a place designed to receive a Dao Fruit.

Beneath a Bodhi Holy Tree shrouded in seven-colored Glazed Buddha Light, a massive ritual to receive the Zizai King Buddha Fruit Position was reaching its most critical juncture.

Buddhist Chanting shook the heavens and Buddha Lotuses bloomed everywhere. The Magical Power of countless eminent monks and Dharma Guardian Vajras converged into a golden torrent, lifting a dazzling, embryonic Buddha Fruit that radiated infinite light, infinite life, and infinite wisdom. It ascended slowly, attempting to merge completely with the Celestial Dao Laws of the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm.

The Wisdom Sun Bodhisattva sat upon a lotus throne, their expression solemn and majestic. Their vast Buddha Power enveloped the entire area, suppressing any external demonic influence to ensure the ritual proceeded smoothly.

Although they had not yet officially begun the reception, the Puchen Pure Land was prepared to seize the opportunity and complete the process in an instant.

And that opportunity was precisely the window when the attention of both the Wansheng Sword Sect and the Primordial Sect was diverted.

According to the Wisdom Sun Bodhisattva’s calculations, this opportunity would arrive soon, and the Earthly Buddha Country would be at hand.

However, just as this grand convergence of power reached its zenith...

KRA-KOOM!

Without any warning, a bank of purple-gold thunderclouds materialized from thin air, covering nearly half the Puchen Pure Land.

The clouds contained no ordinary lightning, but rather innumerable Divine Sky Thunderbolts woven into runes of destruction. At the heart of these runes, a magnificent, though indistinct, image began to manifest—one that radiated an aura capable of annihilating the Ten Thousand Laws and embodying the immortal essence of the heavens.

Xu Yunfan’s true body had, at some unknown point, slipped unnoticed into the ruins of a shattered mountain range at the edge of the ritual grounds.

He no longer suppressed his aura. Ninety-nine strands of Immortal Golden Nature swirled like ninety-nine roaring Purple Gold Divine Dragons within his Grotto Heaven Embryo as he pushed the Divine Sky Nine Heavens Profound Vault Undying True Scripture to an unprecedented limit.

"Divine Sky Yuqing, Nine Heavens Profound Vault! Ten Thousand Transformations Core, Thunder Proves Me!"

Xu Yunfan’s voice was not loud, yet it was like a decree from the Nine Heavens Thunder God himself, piercing through the pervasive Buddhist Chanting to clearly brand itself upon the Laws of Heaven and Earth.

What he was summoning was none other than one of the top ten Celestial Spirits among the one hundred and eight Dao Fruits of the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm—a Supreme Dao Fruit.

The Divine Sky Yuqing Nine Heavens Profound Vault Ten Thousand Transformations Undying Dao Fruit!