Yuan's Ascension

Chapter 625: Life and Death, True Intent (1)

As the blade ray struck, the world seemed to freeze.

A sword strike!! The Snake Ancestor's expression contorted in horror, and it immediately thought of a certain terrifying existence of the immortal race. Is it High Immortal Wu Zong?

If the array was still intact, the Snake Ancestor was confident that they could block her. But now?

"Not good."

"To be able to evade our detection and land a direct hit on Hou Feng?"

"Is Hou Feng the immortal race's true target?" The other High Eldritches fighting the beast arrays were both shocked and confused.

Though they were tasked with guarding him, the Snake Ancestor had never told them their purpose for protecting him, let alone reveal Wu Yuan's true talent.

So in the minds of these High Eldritches, though Hou Feng had decent talent, he would only be a High Eldritch veteran elder at most. Was he really worth the immortal race going to such crazy lengths? Paying such a heavy price?

Die! Eighty years of intelligence gathering, combined with the Mirror of Creation to lock onto the target, all culminates in this moment. We've kept this secret for nearly a century, even hiding it from the Heavenly Masters, all for this final strike to kill Hou Feng. Imperial Majesty Nan You focused intently as the sword descended.

Why did the immortal race wage such a series of risky wars, suffering massive casualties and fighting with reckless abandon throughout the last eighty years? Their goal was to compel the eldritch race to send a significant number of their High Eldritches and Earth Eldritches to Heavenly Pillar Mountain, weakening the defenses around Hou Feng in the process.

Why did they not attempt a direct assassination on Hou Feng? The chances of success were too low. They had only only one opportunity, and they were unwilling to alert their prey. They sought to accomplish everything in one fell swoop.

The eldritch race had never leaked Hou Feng's peerless talent, already maintaining utmost secrecy. Under normal circumstances, if the immortal race didn't have the Mirror of Creation to give them such mysterious warnings, they would never have known.

Apart from the three Imperial Majesties, no one in the immortal race knew that the purpose of the war was to kill Hou Feng until right before the battle started.

This was a game of chess between two great powers.

The eldritch race had already done their best to ensure secrecy and protection; the only thing they hadn't anticipated was that Hou Feng, whose true talent had never been exposed, would exert such great pressure on the three Imperial Majesties of the immortal race, to the extent that they were willing to pay the price of sacrificing half the immortal race in order to slay him.

The eldritch army led by Eldritch Deity Zhu Jiu is likely massacring the denizens of the lower eighteen heavens. A fleeting thought flashed through Imperial Majesty Nan You’s mind.

To ensure the eldritch race wasn't alerted in advance and to lull them into complacency, the three Imperial Majesties hadn't evacuated the immortal race from the lower eighteen heavens beforehand this time round.

The lives of billions of immortal race members were the price they paid to get this far!

This was also why the Snake Ancestor believed that even if they breached the Earth Archeldritch tribe’s defenses, the immortal race would gain nothing.

The destruction of the lower eighteen heavens was equivalent to the eldritch race losing two Archeldritch tribes, five hundred high-tier eldritch tribes, and tens of thousands of mid-tier and low-tier tribes simultaneously.

As long as we succeed, it doesn’t matter if the immortal race perishes. Even if all High Immortals fall, it's worth it. Imperial Majesty Nan You's heart was ice cold.

Even if the immortal race was destroyed, the three Imperial Majesties might still survive. But according to the Mirror of Creation's warnings, if they allowed Hou Feng to grow to maturity, their deaths were certain.

All their schemes and the enormous price paid were all for this single strike.

As long as they could kill Wu Yuan, the three Imperial Majesties of the immortal race felt it was all worth it.

The sword strike was too quick and unpredictable. At this moment, the High Eldritches led by Eldritch Deity Hou Tu were occupied by Imperial Majesty Lei Fu and the others. The Snake Ancestor was trapped by Imperial Majesty Nan You.

No one could save Wu Yuan. He could only rely on himself.

...

This strike could only have been launched from a higher spatial dimension. Otherwise, with my comprehension of the Space Dao, it's impossible I only sensed it an instant in advance. In the moment between life and death, Wu Yuan was shocked, but he didn’t panic.

An attack launched from a higher spatial dimension to a lower one was called a cross-dimensional strike. Such attacks could completely bypass seemingly powerful arrays and ignore aftershocks.

As the Huanggu eldritch race mainly focused on body refining, the defense array of the Earth Archeldritch tribe was far inferior to arrays set up by qi refiners of the same level. This was a weakness of the body refining cultivation system.

Additionally, various sections of the defense array had already been breached by Imperial Majesty Nan You and the immortal race army, naturally allowing this flying sword to penetrate the barrier silently from a higher spatial dimension.

However, physically stepping into a higher spatial dimension was extremely difficult. Many Archimmortals who shattered laws with brute force could only step into the Fragmentary Spatial Layer, and the disturbance that caused was massive. To do so without causing a single stir?

Moving seamlessly through the Fragmentary Spatial Layer requires comprehending the Qiankun Dao to the seventh-level True Intent stage at least; manipulating a weapon within the Fragmentary Spatial Layer requires comprehending the Qiankun Dao to the fourth-level True Intent stage at least. Countless thoughts flashed through Wu Yuan's mind in an instant.

Wu Yuan had obtained many powerful inheritances of the Space Dao. In a flash, he judged that he was facing a terrifying assassin who had comprehended the Qiankun Dao to an extremely high level!

Normally, even a ninth-stage Elysian Field phase cultivator or ordinary Earth Eldritch would certainly die facing this terrifying sword strike.

If Wu Yuan had just arrived at Huanggu, this strike would most definitely kill him.

Fortunately, Wu Yuan's Yuan Soul was already strong enough. Moreover, his comprehension of the Law of Space was very deep, allowing him to sense the danger a split second in advance.

In clashes between powerhouses, life or death was decided in an instant.

Boom! Wu Yuan, who had only been emanating the aura of a ninth-stage Elysian Field cultivator, erupted with power. With a thought, a layer of black battle armor appeared on his body's surface, two black war sabers appeared in his hands, and his vital aura rose sharply.

Three Archeldritch Divine Artifacts were activated, enhancing his power!

Boom! Beneath the black battle armor, countless faint Dao patterns flickered, turning his body incomparably sturdy, like an artifact.

Grand ether art – Great Eldritch Divine Body.

"Life Domain!" Holding two Archeldritch Divine Artifact sabers, a hazy light appeared around Wu Yuan, and vast blade rays spread in all directions, causing his aura to erupt to an unprecedented peak.

Wu Yuan could have employed more ether arts, but unfortunately, there was no time.

He didn’t even have the chance to swing his sabers.

Whoosh~ This strange and hair-raising sword light had already landed, its fearsome power penetrating through the black battle armor and impacting his body.

Cold!

The sword intent within the blade ray was incomparably frigid, causing Wu Yuan's soul to shiver instinctively. This strike also affected the soul.

Wu Yuan was hurled through the air by the devastating blow, spewing mouthfuls of blood. Deep gashes tore across his body, and blood oozed from countless wounds.

The force of the strike was overwhelming.

I estimate the power within this strike has reached the Second Tribulation High Immortal level. Wu Yuan inwardly marveled.

Even with the enhancement of the Archeldritch Divine Artifacts, Wu Yuan had yet to employ his ether arts fully, and had very nearly failed to keep his body from exploding.

In theory, even if his body were to explode, it could be reassembled and healed. But in reality, there would be no time to resist or fight back—it would all be over in an instant.

What a terrifying strike. Wu Yuan was both shocked and relieved. Thank goodness I always carry the Archeldritch Divine Artifacts with me. Fortunately, I placed utmost importance on the 'Great Eldritch Divine Body' ether art, cultivating it consistently.

Self-preservation had always been Wu Yuan’s top priority.

Rumble~ Vital ether frantically repaired the countless injuries he had taken.

This was the advantage of body refiners.

Qi refiners excelled in arrays, equipment forging, pill refining, ranged attacks and many other techniques, truly all-rounders.

Body refiners were only strong in one aspect – direct combat. As long as they weren’t killed in a single strike, it was extremely difficult to kill them.

However, even with the aid of the Archeldritch Divine Artifacts, I’m still far from able to contend with powerful High Immortals. Wu Yuan sighed inwardly.

As he was sent flying, his body began to expand rapidly, with two heads and six arms growing out.

Two advanced ether arts – Three-Headed Eight-Armed Form! Deity Form!

Alongside the two black war sabers he already wielded, six war sabers simultaneously manifested in the grasp of the other six arms, all high-grade spirion artifacts.

These were all artifacts the Snake Ancestor provided Wu Yuan, equipment able to withstand the exertion of his full power.

Boom! Wu Yuan steadied himself in the air, his aura rising to a new peak!

This single clash was like a supernova, its aftershocks radiating for ten thousand li around. Countless halls crumbled into dust, the vast lake exploded, and innumerable buildings and plants were annihilated.

Within the ten thousand li radius, many weak Eldritch Warriors instantly perished. The bodies of relatively strong Eldritch Generals instantly exploded, leaving them gravely wounded. What remained of their bodies quickly rejoined as they fled in terror.

This was a battle at the High Eldritch and High Immortal level, destined to shake heaven and earth.

Silently, a white-robed figure appeared in the void. Her bearing was extraordinary, her killing intent fierce. A trace of shock lingered in her gaze. I failed to assassinate a ninth-stage Elysian Field phase cultivator despite controlling a celestial sword and launching an ambush?

Before this, she hadn't understood why the Imperial Majesties were so adamant about killing Hou Feng.

Now, it was crystal clear to her. If he was already this strong at the ninth-stage Elysian Field phase, what hope would the immortal race have once he broke through to become an Earth Eldritch, or even a High Eldritch?

His aura rivals that of a ninth-stage Earth Eldritch. Are the Archeldritch Divine Artifacts enhancing his power? High Immortal Wu Zong sensed the change in Wu Yuan's aura, her heart filled with shock.

Nevertheless, no matter how formidable you are, you will still die today.

As soon as her first sword strike failed, High Immortal Wu Zong unleashed her full power. To ensure her opponents were not alerted to the assassination attempt, she had only dared to send out a single flying sword.

But now? Having been exposed, she naturally held nothing back.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Eighty spirion flying swords materialized, each emanating an incredibly sharp sword intent.

Together with the initial celestial flying sword, she wielded a total of eighty-one flying swords. They formed an incredibly powerful sword domain, enveloping tens of thousands of li of space.

The more powerful the artifact, the more difficult it was to control. Thus, even for powerful immortals, being able to control a Hundred Swords Array was quite remarkable, with some only able to manipulate nine flying swords.

Boom! Wu Yuan retreated in a flash, instantly darting back over a thousand li, attempting to flee.

Boom! Rumble~ As the sword domain formed, vast swathes of azure light gathered and exerted pressure on Wu Yuan – it was a Tribulation Domain.

Within it, nine flying swords vanished into the void. They had all entered a higher spatial dimension!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! In an instant, these nine flying swords pierced through ten thousand li of space, attacking Wu Yuan from different angles.

An attack launched by a High Immortal from a higher spatial dimension could easily surpass the speed of light upon descending to the Material Spatial Layer!

This is the second time. Wu Yuan's expression was cold as his towering thousand-zhang body moved.