Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor

"Little Five!"

Feeling the Chongxiao Stairs closing in from behind, Yun Xiao made a decisive decision and shouted deep in his heart, which might have been his last trump card.

As Yun Xiao’s shout resounded in his heart, the golden snake worm Little Five seemed to be prepared, perhaps realizing the danger Yun Xiao faced, so without any hesitation, it unleashed its power.

Swish swish swish...

Endless golden light emanated from the golden snake worm Little Five, illuminating every part of Yun Xiao’s body, wrapping him in a faint layer of golden glow.

Especially Yun Xiao’s black eyes, which instantly glowed with golden light. However, contrasting with the brilliance in his eyes, his exposed cheeks and hands turned a deep crimson.

The blood vessels on Yun Xiao’s cheeks and hands bulged, as if they might burst open at any moment. This was a manifestation of Little Five’s power channeled into him, even causing his consciousness to become slightly blurred.

Boom!

In merely two more breaths, Yun Xiao had just activated the Ancestor Vein power, raising his Meridian Qi to the Heavenly Realm Middle Stage. He then broke through two more realms, reaching the Heavenly Realm Peak level.

Even Yun Xiao himself couldn’t understand why, despite Little Five’s physical strength not being formidable, lending that power to him erupted with such immense force.

He knew the Heavenly Realm was the final major rank in the Heavenly Rank Third Realm, and for ordinary people to advance one small realm, it wasn’t impossible to cultivate for decades or a century.

But for Yun Xiao, activating a few strands of Ancestor Vein power could elevate one small realm, and now borrowing Little Five’s strength, he forcibly broke through to the Heavenly Realm Peak.

This was the last trump card Yun Xiao could think of to counter that Half-step Holy Spirit. He knew if he didn’t employ such methods, his fate might either be death or being thrust into the Chongxiao Stairs, wandering aimlessly for decades or a century like those before, unable to find an exit.

"Stop for me!"

Feeling the overwhelming power that seemed ready to burst his body apart, Yun Xiao’s throat moved, emitting a deep roar. Surprisingly, his body came to a halt, just a foot away from the Chongxiao Stairs.

At this moment, Yun Xiao’s hands, with bulging veins, grasped the edge of the white heavenly ladder, momentarily locking him in a standoff with the Half-step Holy Spirit elder.

"What’s going on here?"

In that moment, as they were quite a distance apart, the Half-step Holy Spirit elder, noticing his heavenly ladder coming to a halt, had a look of astonishment flash across his face.

"Huh? He actually reached the Heavenly Realm Peak?!"

However, being a Half-step Holy Spirit expert, and having inherited the guardian’s memories from the past, he quickly sensed that Yun Xiao’s aura was vastly different from before.

Previously, when Yun Xiao activated the Ancestor Vein power to elevate his Meridian Qi cultivation by one small realm, it already baffled the Half-step Holy Spirit. Now, he couldn’t fathom how this outcome occurred.

Even as a Strange Spirit, he knew how arduous it was for human cultivators to advance one small realm in the Heavenly Realm. Why did it seem as simple as eating or drinking for this human teenager?

"Break!"

Just as the Half-step Holy Spirit’s thoughts were spinning, Yun Xiao erupted with a loud shout. The previously overpowering white heavenly ladder was twisted by him into a braid.

Whoosh!

Of course, becoming a braid was a mere instant, and in the next moment, with the eruption of Yun Xiao’s arms’ ferocious power, the long white heavenly ladder was twisted until it burst apart, transforming into countless energy fragments.

Having reached the Heavenly Realm Peak, Yun Xiao had greatly narrowed the gap between him and the Half-step Holy Spirit. After all, the Half-step Holy Spirit still belonged to the Heavenly Rank Third Realm and hadn’t broken through to the true Holy Spirit level.

As for the so-called space power, it was merely the Half-step Holy Spirit’s inherited talent secret method from being a space artifact, the Chongxiao Stairs.

As long as he’s not a true Holy Spirit expert, Yun Xiao had no regard for him. He had already decided to seize this opportunity to utterly annihilate this harmful Half-step Holy Spirit.

Recognizing the Half-step Holy Spirit’s nature, Yun Xiao could imagine how many powerful cultivators from the Tenglong Continent seeking the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud had suffered in the past decades or centuries.

Those human experts within the Chongxiao Stairs likely had no idea they’d been tricked by this Half-step Holy Spirit, endlessly searching for an exit.

To restore the Chongxiao Stairs, it would require erasing the Half-step Holy Spirit’s spiritual wisdom. Based on Yun Xiao’s understanding of Strange Spirits, he knew that having possessed the guardian, the Half-step Holy Spirit’s body should lack a Spirit Crystal.

However, this didn’t deter Yun Xiao’s resolve to erase its spiritual wisdom. Having reached the Heavenly Realm Peak, he had the confidence, igniting his fighting spirit and exuding a powerful aura.

"Humph, do you really think that by using some means to break through to the peak of the Heavenly Realm, you can be my match?"

It seemed that sensing the battle intent emanating from the youth in coarse clothing, the Half-step Holy Spirit let out a cold snort, clearly not believing he would lose to a human youth.

"I wonder how long you can maintain such a state?"

The Half-step Holy Spirit, who had seized the body of the human guardian, was evidently not foolish. From Yun Xiao’s condition, he already saw some clues, and this statement revealed the true situation of Yun Xiao at that moment.

Indeed, Yun Xiao could significantly improve his strength by borrowing the power of Golden Snake Worm Xiao Wu, but each time he borrowed the power, it caused severe aftereffects for both him and Xiao Wu. Especially during the weakness period after it ended, he might not even be able to move his body.

"It’s enough to deal with you!"

At this moment, Yun Xiao was poised to strike since the arrow was already on the bowstring. Although he knew full well the severe aftereffects of borrowing Xiao Wu’s power, if he didn’t deal with that guy first, what awaited him would still be death and destruction.

Moreover, it seemed that this place was also subjected to some sort of restraint by the Half-step Holy Spirit, making it impossible for Yun Xiao to see the Chongxiao River in any direction. Hastily retreating might lead him into the Half-step Holy Spirit’s trap.

Whoosh!

As Yun Xiao’s cold voice fell, the next moment, his Thunder Wings flapped behind him, allowing him to appear beside the Half-step Holy Spirit at an incredibly fast speed.

A streak of black light slashed down swiftly, and it turned out the Dragon Taming Sword had returned to Yun Xiao’s hand at some unknown time. This supreme Divine Artifact, which was indestructible, was always the best method to deal with Strange Spirit Experts.

Upon recognizing the seemingly inconspicuous wooden sword to be an Ancient Divine Artifact, the Half-step Holy Spirit wouldn’t dare let his body touch it. He knew that a careless mistake might result in him facing the same fate as the previous Water Attribute Heavenly Spirit.

"Ascend the ladder!"

This is, after all, a Strange Spirit Expert of Half-step Holy Spirit level, not one to be easily suppressed by Yun Xiao. He let out a cold command, and then a gusting wind seemed to come from beneath Yun Xiao’s feet.

When Yun Xiao looked down, he saw yet another white ladder appearing as if it sprang from underground, hurtling towards the soles of his feet with tremendous speed.

Having witnessed the power of the Heavenly Ladder earlier, Yun Xiao dared not let his guard down. With a slight movement of his body, he managed to dodge the rising white heavenly ladder.

Whoosh!

Amongst the flickering white light, a white heavenly ladder soared skyward between Yun Xiao and the Half-step Holy Spirit, yet stopped instantly upon reaching a certain height.

"Ladder Formation!"

Another stern shout came from the Half-step Holy Spirit’s mouth, then the white heavenly ladder flickered with white light, splitting into two, then four, quickly becoming a sky full of ladder shadows.

Moreover, Yun Xiao could sense clearly that there seemed to be some profound connection between these ladder shadows. Combined with the shouted command from the Half-step Holy Spirit’s mouth, Yun Xiao could imagine that this must be an incredibly powerful Heavenly Rank Array.

At this moment, Yun Xiao’s heart couldn’t help but feel a sense of bizarreness. After all, the array formation was a specialty of human cultivators, most Strange Spirit Experts, even Holy Spirit Experts, wouldn’t know it.

Yet he encountered an You He and a Half-step Holy Spirit, both of whom were array formation masters. The once Thousand Stars Blood Gathering Array had left even Yun Xiao feeling extremely troubled.

However, Yun Xiao could guess that both You He and this Half-step Holy Spirit should have inherited the array formation arts from human cultivators’ minds.

It could be concluded that the human Chongxiao Stairs guardian seized by the Half-step Holy Spirit must have been an outstanding Heavenly Rank Advanced Array Master before his death, with achievements in array formation far surpassing those of Ling Kong Island’s Island Master Li Yunfan.

Swish, swish, swish...

Countless white ladder shadows swept across the sky, enveloping Yun Xiao completely in an instant. Sensing the extreme danger, Yun Xiao immediately made a decision.

"Ten Thousand Sword Domain!"

As Yun Xiao’s thoughts settled, he threw the Dragon Taming Sword in his hand skyward. Immediately, countless Dragon Taming Sword shadows, like the previous ladder shadows, appeared within the Ladder Formation.

Amidst the swirling white light, strands of black light erupted, and the Ten Thousand Sword Domain formed by these Dragon Taming Sword shadows turned out to be far more formidable than the singular Ladder Formation.

"This is... a domain? Impossible!"

Always confident, the Half-step Holy Spirit’s expression finally changed upon seeing the black light emanating from the Ladder Formation, letting out an incredulous roar.

This was because the Half-step Holy Spirit clearly knew that, apart from some Strange Spirits cultivated from special objects, human or Vein Demon cultivators could not possibly possess a domain before reaching the Holy Rank Third Realm.