Yuan’s Ascension

In terms of power, Wu Yuan’s mana body surpassed any single battle array, but many ants could kill an elephant – that was the principle at work here. When the strengths of both sides were comparable, numbers became crucial.

Moreover, although Wu Yuan possessed an Apotheosis root, he was ultimately only a High Immortal. Part three of ‘Genesis Law Sacrifice’ would be difficult to sustain in a prolonged fight.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Wu Yuan’s qi refiner self raised his hand, and nine lifebound flying swords converged, assembling into a nearly transparent Spacetime divine sword.

Infused with mana, the divine sword revealed an incomparable sharpness, its sword qi crisscrossing over nearly ten million li.

Where the sword tip pointed, the faces of over a hundred Astral Lords across several battle arrays paled. Even their Yuan Souls trembled.

Kill! Wu Yuan discerned that the vast, river-like True Domain River Array was doing its best to pressure him. The sword lights of his sword domain could hardly shake this battle array.

He waved his palm, and the Spacetime sword thrust forth.

The nine lifebound flying swords appeared to be mere low-grade celestial artifacts, but in Wu Yuan’s hands, they were far more terrifying than mid-grade celestial artifacts. The soul of Wu Yuan’s qi refiner self was far more powerful than his mana body.

This was the strongest burst of power from Wu Yuan’s qi refiner self.

Whoosh! A million li flashed by in an instant, as the void appeared to twist and overlap! No, in the blink of an eye, the sword domain and the entire expanse of void had returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.

But that incredibly resilient True Domain River Array, reputed to be the best at trapping and binding enemies below the Astral Monarch level, was like a river suddenly cut off by a towering mountain. The entire battle array collapsed with a thunderous boom.

And Astral Lord Yan Yu along with three other Astral Lords who were originally at the center of the battle array, were caught in the wake of this terrifyingly swift sword light, perishing instantly.

“No!”

“Quick, flee!”

“How can his sword strike be this quick?”

“It’s definitely at the Astral Monarch level.” The forms of over thirty Astral Lords, originally shrouded by the battle array, were revealed. They were in complete disarray, fleeing frantically.

However, even Astral Lord Wei Jian and the other quasi-Astral Monarch-level body refiners couldn’t withstand the sword lights of the sword domain. How could a group of qi refiners fare any better?

Shlick! Swish! Sword lights formed by the sword domain howled, effortlessly slaughtering one late-stage Astral Lord powerhouse after another. In the blink of an eye, over twenty Astral Lords had fallen.

Shlick! Once again, a blindingly brilliant light flashed across heaven and earth. The Heavenly Fire Divine Array, which had been struggling to hold on, was pierced through and completely collapsed.

In just one strike, a lifebound Spacetime sword destroyed a powerful battle array.

“Run!” The dozens of Astral Lords within the Heavenly Fire Divine Array felt their hearts quake as they frantically scattered in all directions.

“Kill!” Wu Yuan’s qi refiner self controlled one divine sword to slay enemies, while his mana body exerted all its power to maintain the operation of the sword domain. Nine great flying swords danced, unleashing wave after wave of sharp sword lights, pursuing and striking down the fleeing Astral Lords one by one.

The sword domain was, in essence, a sword array, primarily used to bind and suppress opponents, or to stabilize space to prevent high-dimensional ambushes.

But when the disparity in strength became extreme, even a wisp of sword light automatically generated by the sword domain contained terrifying power.

Wu Yuan’s mana body and qi refiner self, upon unleashing their full power, had both reached the Astral Monarch level. It was equivalent to two Astral Monarchs of one mind working in concert. Naturally, they could easily massacre this group of Astral Lords.

“No!”

“This Ming Jian is clearly only a High Immortal.”

“Too strong, the intelligence was wrong.” These Astral Lords wanted to flee, but faced with those waves of terrifyingly powerful sword lights, they were quickly cut down, withstanding two or three strikes at most.

The sword lights generated by the sword domain seemed endless. Moreover, there was still a Spacetime sword controlled by his qi refiner self. Upon meeting its attack, these Astral Lords died at the slightest touch.

In less than half a breath, two battle arrays and seventy-two Astral Lord powerhouses were all slaughtered to the last individual!

…

The Spacetime Immortal Voidrealm had fallen into complete silence. Over a hundred Astral Monarchs watched this scene in stark disbelief.

Even though those fallen Astral Lords had only lost their mana bodies or ether bodies, it was still incredibly frightening. The one who had accomplished all this was merely a High Immortal! No matter how much of a monstrous prodigy he was, he was still just a High Immortal.

“This shouldn’t be possible.”

“Though the power of his sword domain is strong, it’s still barely comprehensible. But how did his attacks suddenly skyrocket to such a terrifying level?” Astral Monarch Jiu Xue stared, extremely anxious.

What he didn’t know was that Wu Yuan could easily perceive Spacetime, effortlessly finding the flaws in each battle array. Moreover, the speed of the Spacetime swords was so extreme that it left those battle arrays no time to protect or shift their array cores.

Most crucially, the power of Wu Yuan’s lifebound flying swords was astonishing, allowing the attacks of his qi refiner self to far surpass those of his mana body.

One strike, one kill!

If Wu Yuan’s mana body, at full power, had just barely reached the threshold of a first-stage Astral Monarch, then the burst power of his qi refiner self approached that of a second-stage Astral Monarch.

The difference in strength is too great, we can’t stop him.

Even the True Domain River Array was breached in one strike. It was the most resilient battle array, how can we possibly encircle and attack now? Astral Monarch Jiu Xue’s heart raced with anxiety.

When the disparity in strength reached a certain point, numbers lost all meaning.

A High Immortal, erupting with Astral Monarch level combat power? In the history of our Dao Realm, there have only been two such cases, and they were both Supreme Geniuses.

If we fail… how will the Sovereign view me? Astral Monarch Jiu Xue was anxious.

He had thought his preparations were more than adequate. After all, before entering the Black Devil Blood Hollow, Wu Yuan had only displayed late-stage Astral Lord-level power. Normally, the leap from late-stage Astral Lord to Astral Monarch level in combat power was an extremely difficult gap to close, even for a monstrous prodigy.

But no matter how much Astral Monarch Jiu Xue refused to believe it, facts were facts.

“Jiu Xue.”Sovereign Mo Lang’s voice echoed throughout the silent temple.

“Sovereign.” Astral Monarch Jiu Xue hastily bowed.

“Order a retreat. The first measure has failed. It’s impossible to defeat Ming Jian with just these Astral Lords,” Sovereign Mo Lang said indifferently. “We would only be throwing away lives if we continued to fight.”

As a Sovereign, he immediately recognized that if the remaining Astral Lords charged in, they would only be sending themselves to their deaths.

“Understood!”

…

“Extraordinary.”

“Master’s strength has undoubtedly reached the Astral Monarch level, comparable to the Sovereign when he was still a High Deity.” Within the Black Devil Blood Hollow, Big Devil and the eight devil marshalls were all incredibly excited as they observed the battle.

Wu Yuan’s display of power was utterly terrifying. From their assessment, Wu Yuan must have cultivated the ‘Black Devil Blood Sacrifice’, but even with such a formidable secret art, one needed sufficient strength to unleash its full potential.

Regardless, it was no small feat for a High Immortal to unleash power at the Astral Monarch level, and that alone was eye-catching enough.

Even a battle array with power nearly at the Astral Monarch level had been pierced and shattered with a single strike. Moreover, Wu Yuan had only been cultivating for a little over two thousand years.

“When the Sovereign was still a High Deity, he didn’t have a formidable secret art like the ‘Black Devil Blood Sacrifice’, only reaching the combat strength of an Astral Monarch at the late-stage High Deity phase.”

“That was due to the Sovereign’s Dao comprehension level.”

“Master relies on powerful secret arts to achieve this level of strength, but his cultivation time has been incredibly brief. After cultivating for hundreds of thousands of years, he will surely outshine even the Sovereign back then.” The Big Devil and the eight devil marshalls were all quite expectant.

They had waited for countless years, all in anticipation of the day when they could follow a powerful master and once again conquer heaven and earth.

And Wu Yuan had already shown this potential.

“Hmm, these powerhouses from the Myriad Waves Palace are beginning to retreat,” Astral Monarch Second Devil suddenly said.

…

“Retreat!”

“Flee, quickly escape.” The battle arrays were disassembled one after another.

The dozens of Astral Lords emerging from each battle array transformed into streaks of light, rushing into the distance.

Forming battle arrays might increase their speed somewhat, but in the eyes of these Astral Lords, it made them too large a target. If Wu Yuan were to pursue and attack, a single sword strike could breach an entire battle array. His sword domain could then follow up by killing dozens in an instant.

But with hundreds of Astral Lords scattering and fleeing, Wu Yuan could only ‘slowly’ hunt them down one by one, reducing his killing efficiency. In this way, each Astral Lord would have a greater chance of escaping.

Although those who participated in the battle were all mana bodies or ether bodies of Astral Lords, they still carried many treasures with them. Moreover, even if their mana bodies and ether bodies perished, the price they would pay was not small. Who would willingly suffer such a loss?

“Spatial array, compress.” Astral Monarch Jiu Xue issued another command, and immediately, ripples appeared throughout the void.

The massive array covering the vast expanse began to shrink, and nearly a hundred Astral Lords of Space appeared.

They were scattered throughout the void, maintaining the enormous array that encompassed one billion li of space.

This super large array’s function was simply isolation, and many powerhouses could jointly operate it. It did not possess the defensive or offensive capabilities of a battle array.

Whoosh~ Boom! Invisible waves of spatial pressure swept forth, sharply reducing Wu Yuan’s speed.

Targeting me with spatial pressure? disassembleing your battle arrays? You’re simply courting death! Wu Yuan’s eyes turned frosty.

His temperament, charitably described, was to repay grudges. Less charitably, one might say he was vindictive, never striking without cause, but showing no mercy once he did.

Since the Myriad Waves Palace dared to hunt him, naturally, Wu Yuan would show no mercy.

If these Myriad Waves Palace Astral Lords hadn’t disassembled their battle arrays, Wu Yuan’s mana body and true self would have to unite as one, as his mana body’s offensive power wasn’t enough to quickly dismantle a battle array alone.

But these Myriad Waves Palace Astral Lords actually dared to forgo their battle arrays?

Boom! Boom! Wu Yuan’s figure split into two.

One Wu Yuan formed a powerful sword domain, while the other controlled a Spacetime divine sword, sending it slashing through the void.

Each headed in a different direction, butchering the multitude of fleeing Astral Lords.

Following this, both Wu Yuan’s qi refiner self and mana body each manifested nine lifelike phantoms. With the power of ‘Moonlight Shadow’, they easily broke free from the spatial array’s pressure.

He was too fast.

Wu Yuan couldn’t enter higher spatial dimensions, but with time acceleration, he easily reached ten times the speed of light, several times faster than the other Astral Lords.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Sword lights flickered, slicing across the sky.

Astral Lords fell one after another.

Archimmortals, no matter their strength—even those nearing the Astral Monarch level—were slain by a single sword strike.

Archdeities, with their formidable vitality, could typically endure two or three strikes, allowing them to survive a little longer.

“The spatial array’s pressure has no effect on him at all?” The nearly one hundred Astral Lords of Space looked at each other in dismay.

Wu Yuan seemed to have no weaknesses, giving them a massive headache.

“Such terrifying speed.”

“He’s killing too quickly.” These frantically fleeing Astral Lords were completely terrified.

Seeing one companion after another dying, anyone would be incredibly panicked and frightened.

“What, two Ming Jians? Both his true self and mana body are here? No wonder his power is so terrifying.” Even Astral Monarch Jiu Xue was shocked.