Chapter 796 - 665: Emperor Tianwu, Breakthrough (2)
At this moment, the First Prince lowered his head and remained silent, not even allowing Marshal Liu to see his gaze.
But those eyes were filled with uncontrollable anger and resentment, his hands clenched tightly as if ready to explode at any moment.
Seeing this, Marshal Liu sighed and shook his head, saying, "Your Highness, sometimes your composure is still not deep enough. I hope you can stabilize your emotions a bit and carefully consider what mistakes you made today, so you won’t repeat the same errors next time."
The First Prince calmed his mood, raised his head and stood up, saying, "Uncle Liu, I understand. I won’t do these things again, I have other matters to attend to, so I will leave now."
He chose not to linger any longer because if he stayed, he wasn’t sure what he might do.
Soon, the First Prince left the room, leaving only Marshal Liu inside.
Marshal Liu gazed at the First Prince’s back, for some reason, a thought suddenly emerged in his mind.
This thought naturally pertained to the First Prince.
He felt that he might have overestimated the First Prince in the past; if such a character were to ascend to the position of Crown Prince, there would likely be considerable trouble afterward.
Marshal Liu sighed deeply and, helplessly, said, "Forget it, I’ll continue to observe him in the ordinary way. But if he continues to remain obstinate, I won’t bother with him anymore."
Thinking of this, Marshal Liu did not dwell further, and picked up the thick dossiers beside him to read.
Even while stationed at the border, he had many official duties to handle.
As for other matters, including those mentioned by Qin An, there were professionals tasked with investigating them.
...
As time passed, days flew by in the blink of an eye.
During this time, Qin An had been consistently training his proficiency in the dancer and healer professions.
He traveled daily between his room and the military camp, treating soldiers’ injuries while returning to his room to practice the dancer’s proficiency.
Despite his diligence in these few short days, the increase in proficiency was still minimal.
However, through this period, Qin An didn’t relax. While seizing the time to train proficiency, he also focused on checking if there were any issues with the dragon vein.
Regrettably, since the slight disappearance of the dragon vein last time, there were no further disappearances.
Although puzzled, Qin An did not let down his guard.
Meanwhile, there was still no news from Marshal Liu.
Qin An knew that in such circumstances, it was indeed extremely difficult to investigate the news of remnants from the previous dynasty.
He also did not compel Marshal Liu.
At this moment, in a secret place far from the border, Emperor Tianwu was situated in a mysterious space.
This space was half filled with thriving vitality, as though being within it would bring immense comfort, while the other half resembled hell, littered with ruins.
Wherever one looked, mountains of corpses and seas of blood formed a scene.
At this moment, Emperor Tianwu was honing himself in the Life and Death Realm, using its terror to break through to the next level.
He had to undergo not only life but also death, repeatedly switching between the two states, toggling hundreds of times each day.
Each switch would bring him endless pain, as though thousands of needles pierced into his flesh.
This was the terrifying aspect of the Life and Death Realm.
To leverage this realm for breakthrough, a price must be paid; any carelessness could lead to immediate death.
Emperor Tianwu did not know exactly how many times he experienced this, holding a long sword in hand, harnessing the Massacre Formation, he constantly relied on remnants from the previous dynasty outside this space to serve as his backup energy.
Without these, he might have failed long ago, possibly trapped forever within the Life and Death Realm, unable to escape.
But now, Emperor Tianwu was just a step away from breaking through to the next level.
This step was like a vast chasm, requiring endless time to blend.
Emperor Tianwu opened his eyes, his left eye radiated golden light, while his right eye was ashen, symbolizing life and death respectively.
"It can’t go on like this. If it depends on time to blend, I wouldn’t need to rely on the Life and Death Realm."
He was just a step away, but if blending this step still required time, then Emperor Tianwu might as well abandon the Life and Death Realm.
Emperor Tianwu took a deep breath, thoughts raced in his mind, and then he made a decision.
He suddenly raised the treasure sword in his hand and fiercely stabbed it into his chest.
The sword pierced into his flesh, bringing intense pain as the tip sliced through skin and muscle.
"Since the realm cannot stimulate my potential, let me experience a real life and death struggle."
A gleam of madness flashed in Emperor Tianwu’s eyes.
He had no choice; having reached this scenario, he must break through, failure meant death— merely a matter of sooner or later.
If death was needed for stimulation, then he would truly experience it, rather than rely on illusions presented by the Life and Death Realm.
As the sword pierced the chest, the feeling of death gradually spread, eroding the vitality within him like a small ship sailing on the ocean, suddenly met with mighty storms, ready to capsize at any moment.
Emperor Tianwu clenched his teeth, resisting the encroaching death with all his might.
He felt the life force within himself swiftly dissipate at a visible speed.
At the same time, space within the Life and Death Realm began to change, the scene representing life gradually wilting, as though being devoured by death entirely.
Emperor Tianwu’s gaze became vacant and uncertain, amid this terrifying crisis of life and death, he felt his whole body immersed in pain and numbness.
"I cannot die!"
"I must become the Emperor of the Great Zhou Country!"
"I want to take the world!"
"I want to make Daqian Kingdom perish in despair!"
A trace of firm determination exploded in Emperor Tianwu’s eyes, he suddenly raised his hand and stabbed at the major acupoints around his body.
These acupoints were all fatal points.
Since the aura of death was plentiful enough, let it be so abundant that it transforms into its peak, converting death to life.
When the feeling of death grew stronger and reached its peak, Emperor Tianwu suddenly spread his arms.
He felt within this extreme moment of death, a hint of life was rippling.
And the Massacre Formation on the treasure sword was spreading at a visible speed, bringing endless vitality.
Life and death interchangeably, in front of extreme death, life became exceptionally precious, sweeping over death like wildfire, obliterating all traces of demise.
In just a few breaths, where Emperor Tianwu seemed like rotten wood, he burst forth with intense vitality.
The aura from his body continuously surged throughout his limbs and bones.
A sound akin to an egg shell breaking was heard, and the formidable Perfection aura suddenly expanded.
Emperor Tianwu shouted: "Break!"
Just one word, yet it brought boundless power.
The treasure sword shattered with a bang, turned into countless fragments that merged into his body, the Massacre Formation also integrated throughout Emperor Tianwu’s whole being.
Emperor Tianwu opened his eyes, clenched his fist: "I have finally stepped into the Celestial Human Realm!"
At this moment, he understood his situation.
He had reconstructed life force through the treasure sword, merging it within, becoming one with the Unity Formation.
Leveraging this opportunity, he successfully achieved the Celestial Human Realm, reaching the most elite level in the world.
The space within the Life and Death Realm shattered explosively, Emperor Tianwu returned to the outside world, standing atop the throne.
A faint aura swept past, all remnants from the previous dynasty and the Demonic Tail God in presence felt this aura and fearfully knelt.
"Greetings, Your Majesty! Congratulations on breaking through to the Celestial Human Realm, achieving unparalleled power!"
There was excitement in their eyes, along with a trace of fervent zeal.
From now on, there was finally the eligibility to counterbalance Daqian Kingdom.
Emperor Tianwu’s lips curled with a cold smile, waving his arm, his tone was chilling to the core, yet his words were filled with a murderous spirit.
"Immediately muster the troops! I will personally lead the assault on Daqian Kingdom’s borders! I want to return all the suffering the Great Zhou Country has endured to Daqian Kingdom, making them feel what despair truly is!"