19: The shock brought by the Guandao Sword

Seven figures, like ancient deities, hovered above the Nine Heavens, their vast pressure causing the heavens and earth to lose their color. Mu Qingge's silver hair cascaded like a river of stars from the Nine Heavens, flowing with sacred radiance in the dawn's first light.

She tapped her jade finger lightly, and a brilliance as cold as a wintry moon condensed and extended from her fingertip, eventually transforming into three massive light curtains flowing with Law runes, floating before Lin Yuan like a divine decree.

"By the consensus of the seven halls." Mu Qingge's voice was as clear and cold as ten-thousand-year black ice, piercing through the clouds and resounding throughout the training camp, "Effective immediately, Lin Yuan, you are promoted to the Spirit Martial Hall of the Xuanmu District—a First Sequence core cultivation target!"

The light curtain unfolded like a star map, every character flowing with tangible energy:

Reward points: 300,000!

Saint-tier Cultivation Room access: 5 days!

Star Essence Gold: 1 tael!

The light curtain swirled, transforming into a blood-colored battle map:

【Ancient Battlefield Rules】

Duration: 10 days!

Winner's reward: Extreme Realm Baptism!

Prohibition: Magical Artifacts above the Awakening Realm are forbidden; possession means execution!

The light curtain exploded with a boom, turning into a bronze meteor that landed precisely in Lin Yuan's palm! The token was ancient and thick, with the two characters "Xuanmu" on the front coiled like dragons and snakes, while the back was branded with an abstruse and unfathomable map of the celestial orbits, radiating fluctuations that communicated with the Void Realm!

"Five days from now, at the first quarter of the Chen hour." Mu Qingge waved her moon-white sleeve, causing ripples in space, "Hold this 'Star Orbit Token' and teleport to the Central Star Platform! By then... the Prodigies of the Extreme Realm from all halls of the Xuanxiao Great World... will all gather there!"

"Hehehe..." An old man shrouded in dark purple mist to the side let out a weird laugh like a night owl, his voice sounding like a venomous snake burrowing into the eardrums, "Little guy, in last year's Ancient Battlefield... less than three out of ten crawled out alive... especially those like you... 'Newcomer Kings' who don't know the height of the sky or the depth of the earth..."

"Noisy!" A cold glint flashed in Mu Qingge's eyes, and a streak of moonlight condensed into substance was instantly slashed out! The purple-robed old man's phantom didn't even have time to scream before it was slashed away like a bubble! "Lin Yuan, you have five days, prepare well!" Before the words faded, the power of space enveloped Lin Yuan, instantly sending him back to his exclusive cultivation room.

Inside the room, Lin Yuan pulled up the suffocating exchange light curtain. The top three items were as dazzling as three stars:

【Star Essence Gold (1 tael)】: 200,000 points! Core evolution material for the Eternal Evolution Body! The key medium for the transition from Silver Body to Golden Body!

【Saint-tier Peak · Origin Spirit Technique】: 150,000 points! Cultivation speed +1200%! Origin power purity +100%!

【Heavenly Origin Body Tempering Pill (Pack of 10)】: 100,000 points! Each pill tempers the Physical Body Origin, forcibly raising basic combat power by 1 star! (Usage limit: 10 pills)

"Exchange two portions of Star Essence Gold! Exchange for the Heavenly Origin Body Tempering Pill!" Lin Yuan did not hesitate.

Space rippled like water, and ten dark golden Medicinal Pills the size of dragon eyes, naturally engraved with abstruse pill patterns on the surface and exuding terrifying blood-energy fluctuations, along with two Ores only the size of a fist yet heavy as mountains, flowing with brilliant starlight and immortal golden light, appeared out of thin air!

Lin Yuan opened his mouth and inhaled, and the ten Heavenly Origin Body Tempering Pills shot into his mouth like a string of bullets! The pills melted upon entering his stomach, exploding like ten miniature stars inside his body! The violent torrent of medicinal power instantly overwhelmed his Meridians!

But the Primordial Dao Body's purple-gold dao patterns circulated, acting like the most skilled beast tamer, precisely guiding, tempering, and integrating this destructive energy into every inch of flesh and bone!

【Basic combat power: 130 stars → 140 stars!】

【Warning: The usage limit for Heavenly Origin Body Tempering Pills has been reached!】

Lin Yuan picked up a piece of Star Essence Gold. The moment this supreme treasure containing the Origin of stars touched his skin, the silver patterns on his body surface became like sharks that had smelled blood, instantly "coming alive"!

Countless fine silver roots pierced into the Ore, crazily devouring the immortal golden starlight! Unimaginable, excruciating pain accompanied the sacred transformation as it swept through his entire body! The silver patterns were rendered with noble gold edges at a speed visible to the naked eye, his bones emitted a buzzing sound like a dragon's roar, and his muscle density exploded once again!

【Golden Body evolution degree: 0% → 3%!】

【Physical Body combat power increase: 50 stars → 65 stars!】

After exchanging the remaining points for a massive amount of Spiritual Qi crystals, Lin Yuan's figure appeared once again before the tempering tower that symbolized the Peak of Mental Energy.

The one-eyed old man guarding the tower, his only remaining eyeball erupting with shocking brilliance: "Kid! From the sixth floor upwards... that is a meat grinder prepared for the little monsters of the Gathering Origin Realm's Nine Heavens! You..."

"Just as I intended." Lin Yuan's figure had already plunged into the tower gate.

Sixth Floor · Starry Maze!

In the vast starry sky, countless stars operated according to abstruse trajectories, forming a Mental Energy maze capable of trapping anyone in the Gathering Origin Realm! In the center, a bronze ancient book exuding spatial fluctuations floated.

"Time limit: one quarter of an hour, find the true version of the 《Void Spirit Condensation Technique》!" The mechanical voice was cold.

A cold sneer curled the corner of Lin Yuan's mouth, and his 20-star vast Mental Energy swept out like a cosmic storm! In his Sea of Consciousness, the chaos millstone emitted a low rumble, instantly analyzing the trajectories of billions of stars! Three breaths! In just three breaths! His palm seemed to penetrate space, and with extreme precision, he grabbed that true ancient book from a distorted star orbit node!

【Sixth floor cleared! Mental Energy +3 stars!】

Seventh Floor · Blood Soul Battlefield!

Nine Spirit Sense Masters with cold auras and Mental Energy condensed into substance formed a killing formation! Thousands of blades, spears, swords, and halberds condensed from Mental Energy turned into a destructive torrent and swept over! Lin Yuan did not dodge or evade, and his Silver Body, with pale gold patterns flowing on the surface, suddenly lit up! An immortal starlight barrier formed by the power of Star Essence Gold automatically emerged!

"Clang, clang, clang!" All mental attacks struck the barrier, scattering like rain hitting banana leaves!

"Thunder—Sky Breaking!" The purple-gold sword light swept across, and the nine figures melted instantly like snowmen under the sun!

【Seventh floor cleared! Mental Energy +5 stars!】

Eighth Floor · Puppet Battle Formation!

Eighteen bronze Puppets engraved with ancient runes had ghostly blue mental flames dancing in their eye sockets! They stepped in abstruse steps, their Mental Energy resonating, and actually condensed a giant mental axe in the Void Realm that exuded a terrifying 40-star fluctuation, hacking down fiercely!

"Now this is worth seeing." Lin Yuan's eyes narrowed, and for the first time, he actively used the chaos millstone in his Sea of Consciousness for an attack! "Mental · Great Millstone!"

"Hum—!" An invisible but terrifying fluctuation that seemed capable of crushing the heavens swept out! The eighteen Puppets were like being thrown into an invisible chaos millstone, the mental flames in their eyes flickering and wailing crazily, until finally, they extinguished one after another with "puff, puff, puff" sounds, turning into a pile of cold scrap metal!

【Eighth floor cleared! Mental Energy +8 stars!】

Ninth Floor · Heart Demon Battle!

A "mirror image" identical to Lin Yuan's main body, even down to the pale gold patterns flowing on the Silver Body, stood with hands behind its back, a sinister smile on its lips: "Defeat... yourself?"

"Too much nonsense!" The real Lin Yuan didn't give the opponent a chance to build up momentum, and his 36-star vast Mental Energy erupted like a cosmic tide! The chaos millstone in his Sea of Consciousness roared deafeningly!

"Mental Great Millstone! Grind! Grind! Grind!" Three consecutive times! The invisible power of the Chaos grinding was like three world-opening giant hammers, smashing fiercely onto the mirror image!

"No—!!" The mirror image let out an unwilling roar, its body cracking inch by inch like shattered porcelain! When it completely dissipated, the entire ninth-floor space was covered in spiderweb-like spatial cracks, on the verge of collapse!

【Ninth floor cleared! Mental Energy +14 stars!】

【Current Mental Energy: 50 stars!】

【Warning: The tenth floor requires 100 stars of Mental Energy to unlock! Involves a qualitative change in Spirit Refining! Beyond current Realm reach!】

When he stepped out of the Mental Energy tempering tower, the setting sun was like blood, dyeing the sea of clouds into a burning golden-red. Lin Yuan looked up toward the end of the firmament—there, the boundless Void Realm energy was surging and roaring like a boiling angry sea! That was the precursor to the end of the world... the opening of the Ancient Battlefield!

He stroked the First Sequence "Star Orbit Token" on his waist that symbolized supreme glory and responsibility, feeling the surging power in his body like a dormant prehistoric beast. Five days later, when billions of Extreme Realm Prodigies gather at the Central Star Platform...

In this Xuanxiao Great World, who will dominate the rise and fall?!

The sunset's afterglow shone through the mysterious window, casting golden streaks in the room. Lin Yuan sat cross-legged, and before him, a massive light curtain condensed from his 50-star vast Mental Energy floated quietly. On the light curtain, a torrent of cold and precise data flowed, surging and combining with his thoughts, emitting subtle spatial ripples like the whispers of Laws.

【Current Ultimate Status Panel】

Realm: Awakening Realm · Above Extreme Realm!

Basic combat power: 140 stars (1 star = 10,000 basic combat power units)

Mental Energy: 50 stars (1 star = 10,000 mental strength units)

Comprehensive combat power assessment: 609 stars

Remaining evolution points: 6233

Core Cultivation Technique:

《Supreme Spirit Shining Technique》 (Transcendent): Cultivation speed +2000%! Origin power purity +300%! Spiritual Qi capacity limit +500%!

《Nine Revolutions Battle Soul Technique》 (Transcendent): combat power increase 80%! Combat instinct reaches the Realm of divine enlightenment!

Chaos Visualization Technique》 (Introductory): Mental Energy purity +300%! Derived ability: 【Mental Great Millstone】 (Daily limit: 3 times)

Innate Ability:

Primordial Dao Body (0.1% Awakening degree); Lightning Origin (Advanced); Eternal Evolution Body · Golden Body (3%): Physical Body combat power increase: 65 stars! Physical defense +300%! Recovery speed +600%! Energy absorption efficiency +100%!

Combat Skills:

Purple Heaven Startling Thunder Sword (Transcendent): combat power increase 60%!

Sky Wandering Steps (Major Achievement): Movement speed +200%!

Mental Great Millstone: Chaos grinding kill! 3 times daily! Certain kill for targets with Mental Energy below 40 stars!

Special Items: fate dice (Remaining rolls: 2); dao observing sword (Status: Not activated); Ancient Battlefield · Star Orbit Token

Lin Yuan's gaze was like the most precise scanner, flowing rapidly over the light curtain, analyzing every possibility of improvement:

Golden Body evolution: Consume evolution points to force advancement! 6000 evolution points can increase 12% → reach 15%! Estimated Physical Body increase: 65 stars → 125 stars!

dao observing sword comprehension: The power contained within this sword is as obscure as the abyss, perceiving its grade... suspected to be at the same level as the fate dice! If it can be activated...

fate dice: Cooldown passed! 2 rolls remaining! Can it bring about a qualitative change?

"System! Consume 6000 evolution points, evolve Golden Body!" Lin Yuan's will was like iron!

"Boom—!!!"

In an instant, the Void Realm in the cultivation room shook! In the dark, it was as if a long river leading to the Origin of blood energy had been opened! Endless, pure to the extreme golden blood energy, guided by the mysterious power of the evolution points, ignored spatial barriers and turned into a tangible golden torrent, roaring into Lin Yuan's body!

His bones emitted a dense sound like popping beans, and on the surface of his skin, the pale gold patterns that had originally only outlined a prototype were, as if drawn by a divine pen, crazily spreading, intertwining, and deepening at a speed visible to the naked eye! A more ancient, more immortal aura permeated from him!

【Golden Body: 3% → 15%!】

【Physical Body combat power increase: 65 stars → 125 stars!】

(Remaining evolution points: 233)

"dao observing sword..." Lin Yuan's gaze fell on the seemingly simple and unadorned long sword beside him. He stretched out his right hand, and his 50-star vast Mental Energy no longer tested, but like a breached star river, poured into the sword body without reservation!

"Hum—!"

The dao observing sword emitted an extremely faint tremor, and on the sword body, those ancient and mottled patterns seemed to light up with a trace of imperceptible gray light. However, Lin Yuan's Mental Energy torrent, which was enough to shake mountains, poured into the sword body like a clay ox entering the sea, failing to even stir up a ripple! Deep inside the sword body, it was as if it were a chaotic dead sea that had been silent for billions of years!

【dao observing sword comprehension: Failed!】

【Warning: Activating basic functions requires a minimum of 1000 stars of Mental Energy!】

【Hint: Permanently consume 100 stars of Mental Energy to forcibly comprehend 1% of a random Law!】

Lin Yuan slowly withdrew his palm, a trace of numbing sensation from the erosion still remaining on his fingertips. A flash of gravity crossed his eyes, but more of it was the clarity of confirmation. "As expected... the level of power involved in this sword is no longer in the category of 'Realm', but... touches upon 'Dao' and 'Law'! Even if it is only one-billionth of a Law fragment..." He stroked the sword body, "It is enough to make me... have a trump card to subvert the battle situation in that Ancient Battlefield!"

"It seems this sword Opportunity still needs to wait." Lin Yuan's gaze turned to the fate dice quietly floating in the air, the hexahedron exuding an alluring and mysterious luster. "Then now... it's your turn!"

The dice were thrown by an invisible force, spinning rapidly in mid-air, with abstruse runes of different colors lighting up on the six sides in sequence:

1 point: Random equipment evolution

2 points: Physical Body strengthening

3 points: Mental Energy improvement

4 points: Unlocked by 10 rolls

5 points: Unlocked by 20 rolls

6 points: Unlocked by 30 rolls

【First roll: 3 points (Mental Energy improvement)!】

"Hum—!"

The Void Realm above Lin Yuan's head suddenly twisted! A brilliant star river composed purely of azure Mental Energy Origin, like a river from the Nine Heavens pouring backward, roared into his crown chakra!

In his Sea of Consciousness, the Mental Energy that was originally as vast as a liquid nebula expanded in volume like a balloon being blown up! The chaos millstone emitted a joyful roar, greedily devouring this extremely pure Origin power, its efficiency in grinding and purifying skyrocketing!

【Mental Energy permanently improved: 50 stars → 70 stars!】

Enduring the slight dizziness brought by the expansion of his Sea of Consciousness, Lin Yuan did not stop for a second, and the fate dice spun again!

【Second roll: 2 points (Physical Body strengthening)!】

"Boom—!!!"

Golden divine light ten times stronger than before, like the first ray of sunlight opening the heavens and earth, completely submerged the entire cultivation room! Lin Yuan's Golden Body seemed to turn into a bottomless black hole, crazily devouring this immortal golden brilliance from the gift of fate!

The pale gold patterns on his skin surface spread, intertwined, and deepened at an unprecedented speed, finally outlining a complete celestial star map on his body surface that seemed to contain the supreme truths of star birth and destruction!

His bone density exploded once again, emitting a clear sound like jade chimes! Between his muscle fibers, what flowed was no longer a halo, but tangible energy like molten gold!

【Golden Body: 15% → 30%!】

【Physical Body combat power increase: 125 stars → 200 stars!】

When the last trace of golden brilliance merged into his body, Lin Yuan slowly stood up. At this moment, pale gold divine brilliance flowed around him, every inch of his skin was imprinted with star dao patterns, and 70 stars of Mental Energy circled in the room like an invisible cosmic storm! With every movement, space emitted a faint sound of distortion under the unbearable pressure!

"Power... is still not enough!" He gripped the cold hilt of the dao observing sword, his gaze piercing through the walls of the cultivation room, as if he saw the boiling Void Realm battlefield, "70 stars of Mental Energy... only 30 stars away from the 100-star threshold to leverage Laws! If I can before that..."

He took a step forward, and space rippled slightly beneath his feet.

"The five-day period... must be a race against time!" Lin Yuan's figure disappeared at the door of the cultivation room, leaving only a resolute whisper echoing:

"Hall Master Mu... must still have places that can allow me... to go further!"