Yuan's Ascension

Chapter 751: One Strike To Kill Those Below Astral Lord

These Archimmortals barely have any treasures. How poor. Altogether, they're not even worth 100,000 divine crystals. Wu Yuan examined his recent spoils.

With his current strength, he no longer thought much of such treasures.

Hmm, this Li Xuan’s treasures aren’t half bad... The total value is actually close to a million divine crystals? Wu Yuan was slightly surprised.

His Highness Li Xuan's strength was only around the fourth-stage Archimmortal level. Yet he had this many treasures? Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Unbeknownst to Wu Yuan, Li Xuan was regarded with quite some importance by the upper echelons of the Hundred Mysteries Palace. He had brought many treasures with him when embarking on his expedition, and due to his confidence, had never returned in all these years.

Little did he expect, it all became a dowry for Wu Yuan.

Killing His Highness Li Xuan stirred not the slightest ripple of excitement in Wu Yuan's heart. From the day he crystallized Spacetime True Intent, killing such enemies was destined to be effortless.

There's no need to use my trump cards to kill a fourth-stage Archimmortal. Wu Yuan thought to himself. When my mana body kills enemies, the Genesis Power generated all goes to the true self. The Genesis Divine Pillar carried by the mana body can't be replenished.

Indeed, from the start to the end of the battle just now, Wu Yuan hadn't employed ‘Genesis Law Sacrifice’. He had relied entirely on his own strength to kill His Highness Li Xuan.

A battle with dimensional differences is indeed one-sided. Wu Yuan mused. This battle counts as my first one since crystallizing Spacetime True Intent. I didn't expect that when it would be so terrifying once applied.

When the body refiner self fought, he could only employ the Law of Space or Law of Time, and only use them as auxiliary techniques.

It was only when his mana body fought that Wu Yuan truly realized the terrifying nature of the Spacetime Dao.

I used my full power in that sword strike just now, yet its might only reached the fourth-stage Archimmortal level. In fact, it wasn't even as strong as Li Xuan's technique.

That was right! In terms of the power of their techniques, Wu Yuan was inferior to Li Xuan. But in a life-and-death battle, Wu Yuan only needed one strike to kill him.

Why? It was a cross-dimensional strike!

When fighting in the Material Spatial Layer, I can send my sword into the Turbulent Spatial Layer with a single thought. Once it descends, it’s equivalent to an attack hundreds of millions of times the speed of light, even faster than a soul attack. Wu Yuan shook his head slightly. It can also avoid all obstacles in its way.

During the battle just now, the three Archimmortals had formed an array, and Archimmortal Li Xuan had summoned numerous artifacts, putting up a mighty defense.

If it were his body refiner self, he would have to employ the Saint Prohibition Art, overwhelming the opponent's defenses with sheer power.

But Wu Yuan's mana body didn't need to. With a thought, he could direct the sword array to descend within a hundred meters of the enemy or even closer.

For battles at the Archimmortal level, a hundred meters between combatants was equivalent to a blade already piercing through the flesh in battles between mortals, with only a hair's breadth left before reaching the heart.

So, even though his technique's power seemed inferior to his opponent's, Wu Yuan could still kill His Highness Li Xuan in one move. The other had no possibility of defending at all.

It’s just like no matter how many, how tall, or how thick the walls built on the ground, they cannot stop someone who can fly. Wu Yuan thought to himself.

This was a cross-dimensional strike.

This is probably why among the many Greater Laws, Time is acknowledged as the top and Space is second. Wu Yuan now understood.

But because the Law of Time was so profound, the vast majority of cultivators encountered more Astral Lords of Space, Astral Monarchs of Space, and so on.

Moreover, Wu Yuan knew that the full terror of the Law of Time could only be unleashed once it was fully comprehended.

This was also the reason why figures like Astral Lords of Space and Astral Monarchs of Space had such high status and were so difficult to deal with. Just by being able to access one dimension higher than cultivators of the same level, there was already a distinct difference in their abilities.

In terms of direct combat power, my qi refiner self isn’t as strong as my body refiner self.

Among the many Great Daos’ True Intents, only the Creation True Intent can upgrade the roots of cultivators at the Divided Soul/Dharma Body phase to the Apotheosis degree. This is a characteristic of the essence of the Creation Great Dao.

But my body refiner self can't hold a candle to my qi refiner self's unpredictability in combat. Wu Yuan was quite satisfied. Previously, it took my body refiner self and ether body quite a while to kill those few Archimmortals from the White Sea Immortal Continent.

If my qi refiner self were there, it could slaughter them all in an instant without even needing to unleash ‘Genesis Law Sacrifice’, relying solely on its own power.

The more he cultivated, the more Wu Yuan understood what the Creation Emissary had said back then.

The Great Daos were eternal, they all contained inconceivable power, and comprehending different Great Daos led to vastly different areas of expertise.

But this mana body of mine is not invincible. My mana body doesn't have a high-grade Dao Instrument, nor does it carry a lifebound flying sword. Even if I unleash Genesis Law Sacrifice, its direct combat power would only be comparable to a sixth-stage Archimmortal. Wu Yuan had a very clear understanding of his abilities.

When facing an Astral Lord, I'd have to retreat.

Astral Lords have huge mana capacities. Although they can't break through to the Turbulent Spatial Layer, they can seal the surrounding space, preventing the free contraction and expansion between spatial dimensions in the range of effect. Wu Yuan shook his head slightly.

This was the essential difference between Astral Lords and ordinary Archimmortals. Astral Monarchs could often kill ordinary Archimmortals in one move whether they were first-stage Archimmortals or sixth-stage Archimmortals. But killing an Astral Lord often required more effort, and this was the reason why.

I'm far from the level of a real Astral Monarch. But when it comes to dealing with those below the Astral Lord level, there's not much difference between me and an Astral Monarch in a sense. Wu Yuan was quite confident.

The Genesis Divine Pillar should be saved for crucial moments. Wu Yuan smiled. Let’s see who can force me to go all out.

Or rather, I'm very curious to see how many individuals in the Snowlight Mist Realm can withstand one sword strike from me.

Whoosh~ The space around Wu Yuan distorted, and he instantly vanished from this dark space, once again entering the Turbulent Spatial Layer.

Peace returned to this expanse of space. No one could have imagined that several Archimmortal-level existences had just died here without a sound.

...

The Hundred Mysteries Palace headquarters occupied a vast expanse of spacetime, within which was a sprawling complex of halls.

Among them was a hall named Li Xuan Hall. Many maidservants and manservants came and went from it, bearing proud expressions. For they served none other than one of the top-tier geniuses of this generation in the entire Hundred Mysteries Palace – His Highness Li Xuan.

On ordinary days, Archimmortals would occasionally come to visit him.

Archimmortals! In the world outside, many High Immortals couldn't even catch a glimpse of one, yet they came specifically to pay respects to their young master who hadn't even ascended to Archimmortality.

Inside the hall, two Archimmortals were in the midst of conversing with His Highness Li Xuan.

Suddenly, a flash of shock and anger crossed His Highness Li Xuan's face. "Damn it, how is this possible!" His expression soon morphed into pain.

"What's wrong?"

"Your Highness Li Xuan." The two Archimmortals were startled, thinking that His Highness Li Xuan had suffered some kind of attack.

But this was the Hundred Mysteries Palace headquarters, with layers upon layers of restrictions. What kind of figure could attack His Highness Li Xuan without a sound?

"No one is attacking me. It's my mana body, it has perished." His Highness Li Xuan said in a low, grating voice. His face was slightly contorted, his eyes revealing a hint of astonishment.

"Your mana body perished?"

"Perished?" The two Archimmortals exchanged glances. Though still shocked, they were no longer as panicked.

When embarking on expeditions, the deaths of mana bodies was a common occurrence.

They had lost no less than ten mana bodies each.

"Fellow Daoists, I won’t be able to continue our discussion today. I have urgent matters to consult my Master about," His Highness Li Xuan's expression had returned to calm.

"Alright."

"If Your Highness has matters to attend to, please don't let us keep you waiting." The two Archimmortals hurriedly stood up to take their leave, and His Highness Li Xuan rose to see them off.

His consciousness had already entered the Spacetime Immortal Voidrealm, arriving at a special plane belonging to the Hundred Mysteries Palace.

Moments later, in the largest hall within this special plane.

"Master, this is what happened." His Highness Li Xuan said respectfully. He had already recounted the entire battle process in detail. He had also projected all the images from his memories.

Within the hall was a figure in azure robes, his Astral Monarch master.

For peerless geniuses like him who were destined to become Astral Lords, many Astral Monarchs were willing to take them as disciples.

“What a terrifying sword strike. From the images alone, it's impossible to evaluate the profoundness of the technique. But according to what you said, it was undetectable. The power of his sword wasn't too outrageous, only at the fourth-stage Archimmortal level, yet it ignored the defenses of your immortal treasure," the azure-robed Astral Monarch said slowly.

"Combined with the final result... Hmm, I believe it was a cross-dimensional strike!"

"Master, I also considered this possibility," His Highness Li Xuan said. "But the area I was in was the Hundred Gales Domain, where the Fragmentary Spatial Layer is completely sealed off."

"Who said anything about the Fragmentary Spatial Layer?" The azure-robed Astral Monarch shook his head. "It was the Turbulent Spatial Layer. His sword was launched from the Turbulent Spatial Layer, that's why it was so terrifying."

His Highness Li Xuan’s eyes widened. The Turbulent Spatial Layer?

"Master, are you saying that this Ming Jian's insights into the Space Dao rival those of an Astral Lord?" His Highness Li Xuan asked.

"No! They rival an Astral Monarch of Space," the blue-robed Astral Monarch said softly. "His mana is weak, yet he can perform at this level. It must be the comprehension of an Astral Monarch of Space.

The Spacetime Island truly has too many monstrous prodigies. First Zhuo Haiyue, and now Ming Jian."

His Highness Li Xuan fell silent.

Zhuo Haiyue? He had heard of her. When he first learned of her abilities, he was shocked. He had never seen such an earth-shattering peerless genius before. And now, another one named Ming Jian had appeared, equally terrifying.

The most crucial point was: it appeared he had formed grudges with both of them.

Realizing this, His Highness Li Xuan, who was usually quite arrogant, couldn't help but shudder inwardly.

But soon, he relaxed slightly. Fortunately, they were only members of the Spacetime Island.

"Li Xuan, let this matter rest here," the blue-robed Astral Monarch suddenly spoke. "The other Spacetime Island imprint bearers are one thing. Even if they're monstrous prodigies, most aren't truly skilled in Spacetime, and will eventually leave. But this Ming Jian is special."

"Special?" His Highness Li Xuan was taken aback.

"Yes." The blue-robed Astral Monarch nodded. "The purpose of the Spacetime Island is to select super geniuses skilled in Spacetime. Don't provoke him again. It's best if you don't venture out at all.

You've undergone plenty of tempering over these years. Focus on cultivation for a while."

"Understood," His Highness Li Xuan responded respectfully. Even though he was worried and uneasy, he could only set it aside for now.

"Furthermore, don't spread news of this battle."

"Disciple understands," Li Xuan quickly replied. "I've already sent messages to the other Archimmortals."

...

In a treacherous, ice-cold exploration site within the Snowlight Mist Realm.

"Hmm?"

"What's that fluctuation?"

"It's... Ming Jian! It's Ming Jian!" Three Archimmortals and one Archdeity simultaneously sensed a white-robed figure suddenly appearing not far away, rapidly approaching them.

Among the four Archimmortals/Archdeities, the Archdeity had once pursued Wu Yuan and saw him from afar, so he instantly recognized him.

"Is he the one who acquired the Black Devil Star, an ultimate treasure worth billions of divine crystals?" One of the Archimmortals revealed a greedy expression.

"Calm down. This is definitely his mana body. The Black Devil Star has long been taken back to the Spacetime Island," another Archimmortal said.

"How arrogant, charging straight at us. Did he know we were here from the start?"

"He's so monstrous, we shouldn't offend him." The Archimmortals and Archdeity communicated, each with their own opinions.

They had joined forces to explore this place, but weren’t too close.

"Ming Jian, stop!" That Archdeity suddenly flew out, speaking in a low voice, "We don't want to offend you. Don't force our hand."

"I'm here for you alone," Wu Yuan fixed his ice-cold gaze on the distant black-armored Archdeity. "Back then, you joined the hunt for me."

The black-armored Archdeity's expression changed slightly. He had indeed pursued Wu Yuan back then, but they had only caught a glimpse of each other from afar. How could he remember that?

"You three." Wu Yuan's gaze swept over the other three Archimmortals. "I have no grudge against you, and I'm too lazy to kill you. Get out of the way."

The three Archimmortals were originally hoping to avoid offending Wu Yuan, but his words angered them.

They could all see that Wu Yuan was merely an Earth Immortal. An Earth Immortal dared to speak with such disrespect to them, a group of Archimmortals and Archdeities?

But in the next instant, the three Archimmortals witnessed a scene they would never forget.

Whoosh! Two divine swords appeared out of thin air, piercing through the black-armored Archdeity's head and torso, instantly tearing his body apart.

It was too fast.

No! It could no longer be described as fast, but rather as if space itself had been torn open.

Boom!

“No! Sir Ming Jian, spare me! Please!" The black-armored Archdeity's desperate plea echoed through the air.

"With your death, this karmic debt will be settled!" Wu Yuan's voice was cold and merciless.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Two Spacetime sword arrays interwove, and in less than half a breath, they utterly annihilated this Archdeity, leaving not even a shred of flesh or soul fragment.

He was dead!

Wu Yuan waved his hand, putting away various treasures, and glanced at the three distant Archimmortals.

Hum~ He vanished from the spot.

"How terrifying!"

"His swords seemed to appear out of nowhere, impossible to defend against."

"He killed Qu Wei just like that? He was a third-stage Archdeity!" The three Archimmortals were utterly shocked.

"Is he really an Earth Immortal?"

"Can an Earth Immortal be so unbelievably powerful?" The three Archimmortals felt a trace of lingering fear, glad they hadn't been too impulsive earlier.

...

Next! Wu Yuan, guided by his karmic perception, continued to hunt down his next target.

Archdeities are harder to kill than Archimmortals. Wu Yuan realized.

And so, Wu Yuan went on a mad killing spree in the Snowlight Mist Realm.

At his speed, it didn’t take long for him to traverse the length of the Snowlight Mist Realm. Therefore, while pursuing one karmic thread, he would often sense other enemies he had grudges with.

Once he encountered them, Wu Yuan would usually strike immediately once he confirmed the target.

In just three short days, over two hundred Archimmortals and Archdeities fell by Wu Yuan's hand.