Longevity by Grinding Skills

Xu Yunfan’s final, long-brewing gamble erupted.

His Martial Dao vital energy raged like a dragon. The flames of fury in his Divine Soul, ignited by the Hundred Desires Secret Skill, blazed. The pure essence of the Wansheng of Fury Killing Sword Intent, which Clone Han Shi had comprehended and the Attribute Panel had refined to perfection.

In a crucible of ultimate rage and mortal peril, Xu Yunfan forcibly fused these three elements with his life’s entire Cultivation. He channeled them into a single, climactic strike that surpassed all his previous efforts.

Xu Yunfan raised the crack-covered True Martial Sword.

Thousand Chariots Geng Sea Fury Wave Sword Technique, Fury Killing Sword Intent.

The cracked True Martial Sword in his hand let out a wail, unable to bear the strain. Its simple, ancient blade was instantly covered by an eerie Sword Aura, crimson as blood and entwined with Purple Gold Thunder Light.

There was no profound Sword Technique, only the most direct, primal downward chop.

BOOM!!!

The Platinum Sword Line, representing Ye Yuan’s lifelong comprehension of the Sword Dao and his will of No Return, violently collided with the torrent of Fury Killing Sword Intent that Xu Yunfan had formed by drawing upon his Martial Dao vital energy, the Hundred Desires Secret Skill, and the essence of his clone’s Sword Dao.

Time seemed to freeze in that instant.

Blood instantly streamed from Xu Yunfan’s nose and mouth, his eyes turning crimson. Under the shockwave from the terrifying clash of wills, his formidable Divine Sky Dao Body developed spiderweb cracks like fine porcelain, and a mist of blood erupted from all the acupoints on his body!

Ye Yuan was not faring well either. The Fury Killing Sword Intent had annihilated his ultimate sword strike, and before he could muster new strength, the fearless, suicidal assault of the Star Monarchs in the All Heaven Star Formation tore through his defenses.

Just as he raised his sword to block, the phantom of a Giant Fist wreathed in Evil Qi slammed into his back. It was Sun Yue.

His Sword Robe tore, and blood spurted into the air.

The Three-Pointed Double-Edged Saber, the Fire-tipped Spear, even the Heaven-Shaking Rod...

The many Star Monarchs, transformed from Banner Spirits and empowered by the All Heaven Star Formation, unleashed their killing blows simultaneously.

In that instant, Xu Yunfan’s explosive Fury Killing Sword Intent shot toward the heavens. With tyrannical and absolute dominance, it brutally tore apart the Platinum Sword Line of No Return that symbolized the pinnacle of Ye Yuan’s Sword Dao.

RRRIP!!

The faint but clear sound of tearing silk echoed across the East Sea.

The platinum thread, condensed from Fierce Sword Intent, shattered inch by inch.

The remnant Fury Killing Sword Intent, carrying all of Xu Yunfan’s unyielding will and wild fury, shot through the newly opened channel. It ignored the pure white Forbidden Realm, which was rapidly dimming as it shattered, and slammed viciously into Ye Yuan’s grievously wounded body, already suffering from the backlash of his own Sword Intent and the Star Monarchs’ attacks.

Ye Yuan’s body suddenly stiffened. The burning fierceness and resolve in his eyes froze.

The last of the glow on his Returning Steel Sword completely faded. The cracked blade let out a soft, mournful cry and broke apart, piece by piece.

The remaining force of the impact sent his massive body flying. His Protective Sword Qi dissipated, and he crashed heavily onto the sea, whose waters were suppressed by the Star Array, kicking up a thousand-foot-high murky wave.

The pure white Forbidden Realm collapsed and dissipated.

Beneath the lingering Starlight of the battered Star Array, only a dead silence remained.

Ye Yuan lay in the frigid seawater, his Vitality flickering out like a candle in the wind. His body grew cold, his Divine Soul a dwindling flame.

An Elder of the Wansheng Sword Sect’s Phecda Peak, a powerhouse who had half a foot in the Golden Core Realm, had been slain on this very spot. He had fallen to the combined force of the All Heaven Star Formation and Xu Yunfan’s Fury Killing Sword Intent. This attack fused the Triple Secret Technique with an extremely obsessive yet majestically violent Sword Intent, which had first been comprehended by his Clone Han Shi.

Xu Yunfan gasped for breath, forcefully suppressing the surging turmoil in his vital energy and the excruciating pain in his Divine Soul.

Without hesitation, he used his Divine Sense to channel the last of the Grand Array’s power, imprisoning Ye Yuan’s dissipating soul. With a flick of the Star Spirit Banner, he pulled Ye Yuan inside it.

A Sword Cultivator at Foundation Establishment Perfection who had comprehended Sword Intent and manifested an Anomaly was a perfect candidate for a Banner Spirit within the Star Spirit Banner, as their Divine Soul had already been cultivated into a form of Sword Intent itself.

’You have successfully slain a Sword Cultivator at Foundation Establishment Perfection. Your Daoist Cultivation has deepened.’

Glancing at the message from the Attribute Panel in his vision, Xu Yunfan sighed in relief.

Ever since the Daoist Cultivation stat had appeared on his Attribute Panel, every increase—despite his True Scripture Cultivation having already reached Perfection—still caused his Magical Power and Dharma Body to slowly improve.

His Daoist Cultivation was now at 768 points. Xu Yunfan was certain that once it reached one thousand, his Fruit Position would successfully take root.

Just killing Ye Yuan, a Sword Cultivator at Foundation Establishment Perfection, had given him a full thirty points of Daoist Cultivation. That was no small feat.

He put away the Star Spirit Banner, and the boundless starlight that had blotted out the sun and sky vanished in an instant. The heavens above the East Sea were clear once more. Only the lingering aura of the Divine Sky Thunderbolt sizzled in the sea breeze, carrying the scorching heat and burnt smell of the great battle.

Xu Yunfan stood in midair and slowly exhaled a breath of Dirt Qi.

Below his feet, the vast amount of seawater that had been frozen solid under the pressure of his immense Magical Power—influenced by the Supreme Yin and Cold Kui Water Essence Qi—was slowly melting and pouring back into the massive crater.

The withdrawal of the All Heaven Star Formation also removed the immense pressure that had been exerted on the entire sea region.

With a slight shift of his thoughts, an invisible hand of Magical Power reached out and pulled Ye Xuan, who was trapped in a nearby cage of water vapor, through the air to his side.

The eyes of this Female Cultivator from the Wansheng Sword Sect still held the immense shock and sorrow of having witnessed her clan uncle, Ye Yuan, be ground into nothingness within the starlight.

He already had the coordinates from Lu Chuan and had confirmed they were genuine. But Ye Xuan possessed firsthand intelligence, and he would, of course, need to find a suitable place to interrogate her.

Immediately after, a slew of notifications about his increased Daoist Cultivation popped up on his Attribute Panel.

He didn’t even have a chance to look at the flood of information that had just appeared.

But the very instant he pulled Ye Xuan to his side, an indescribable pressure suddenly descended.

It wasn’t a Magic attack or an eruption of aura. It was as if the very space Xu Yunfan occupied had been instantly sucked into a vacuum. All free-flowing energy, stray fluctuations of Magical Power, and even the sound of air currents fell into absolute stasis and silence.

Then, a figure appeared without any warning right in front of Xu Yunfan.

He seemed to be imprinted directly onto that frozen space, as if he were a part of the void itself.

The newcomer had a simple, ancient-looking face, his age impossible to discern. He wore a Profound Daoist Robe embroidered with an Anomaly of flowing rivers and rising and falling mountains and seas. Pure Qi suffused his body, and as his deep eyes opened and closed, a profound Dao Rhyme, like that of suns and moons sinking, seemed to flow from them.

This person was none other than Pure Source, Wondrous Way, and the Mandate of the Mysterious Vault True Monarch, one of the Golden Core True Monarchs of the Primordial Sect.

He was also the backer Xu Yunfan had aligned himself with.

"This disciple greets True Monarch Qing Yuan."

Xu Yunfan’s heart leaped. He never expected True Monarch Qing Yuan to suddenly pop up.

’Talk about scaring a man to death!’

On the surface, however, he maintained the respect befitting a disciple, bowing in greeting. His movements were slightly stiff.

Under the suppression of the other’s formless domain, even raising a hand felt sluggish and heavy.

He deliberately revealed a trace of post-battle weakness, his aura still unsettled, and took the opportunity to ask, "True Monarch, to what do I owe the honor of your presence in the East Sea? Do you have any instructions?"

True Monarch Qing Yuan did not immediately answer Xu Yunfan’s question.

His eyes fell upon Xu Yunfan, slowly piercing through the purple light of the Thunder Patterns on the surface of his Divine Sky Dao Body. It was as if he were scanning his very soul’s Origin, down to every inch of his Elixir Field Purple Mansion.

Finally, his gaze settled on Xu Yunfan’s almost imperceptible movement to shield the Star Spirit Banner hidden in his sleeve. His tone carried a sigh of someone who had seen through everything.

"So that’s how it is... During the collapse of the Celestial Realm, the Taiyin Profound Mirror Dao Fruit that vanished without a trace from the Celestial Emperor Daoist Palace... it has been in your hands all along."

WHUM!

Xu Yunfan’s Heart and Spirit trembled violently. His entire body’s vital energy and Magical Power instantly, instinctively threatened to boil over and explode. A single sentence had triggered all his defensive mechanisms.