181: Chapter 181 Despite her unwavering sword intent, Xu Ruyu was ultimately no match for Xiao Nianyin?

The kinetic energy of molecules in the air, the chemical bond energy of the rocks on the ground, the faint body heat dissipated by the Disciples in the distance, and even the energy leakage produced during the operation of the Spirit-Locking Great Array—every "Source Energy" that could be perceived and converted was greedily absorbed and transformed by the Taixu True Qi!

Yet, all of this was not enough to explain what happened next.

The true qualitative change stemmed from that jade pendant.

"Hum—!"

An extremely faint sword hum, yet one that seemed to resound directly within the depths of the Divine Soul, came from the jade pendant on Xu Ruyu's chest!

That was not a sound, but a tremor of "Intent," a resonance of the "Dao"!

On Xu Ruyu's sword fingers, that faint glimmer, which had originally been extremely dim, suddenly brightened tenfold at this moment!

The light was still not blinding, yet it was as solid as if it had substance, as if an invisible sword was slowly condensing its tip out of the Void Realm!

Even more astonishingly, around the light, the air began to show visible distortions and ripples.

This was not caused by spiritual energy fluctuations, but rather... the space itself, under the traction of this embryonic Sword Intent, produced a certain extremely subtle resonance!

"Hmm?!"

Xiao Nianyin, standing suspended in the air, narrowed her ice-blue eyes for the first time in the true sense.

What she felt was no longer just the change in Xu Ruyu's aura, but—a certain more essential "existence" that was awakening within that Qi Refinement Stage Disciple!

"This is... the aura of the Sword Intent Origin?" Xiao Nianyin's heart surged with stormy waves. "No, not just the Sword Intent Origin... within this aura, there is also a trace of... an ancient and familiar 'Dao Rhyme'!"

She suddenly remembered the secret records in the Sect's ancient texts regarding the founding Ancestral Master, Hehuan Fairy—years ago, that legendary woman who entered the Dao through emotion and severed three thousand strands of worldly troubles with a single sword, her Sword Intent's most unique mark was "the sword emerges and the Dao Rhyme follows, like lingering threads of emotion, endless and unbroken"!

"Could it be..." A shocking thought rose in Xiao Nianyin's heart. "That jade pendant on his chest..."

But she had no time to ponder further.

Because Xu Ruyu below had already moved.

No, to be precise, Xu Ruyu had been "pushed."

The Sword Qi in the jade pendant, which had been silent for three hundred years, now, like a sleeping Grandmaster, finally gave a "passive" response after sensing the stimulation of the monstrous killing intent and Saint Realm pressure from the outside world—

It did not directly take over Xu Ruyu's body, but instead used its own extremely pure Sword Intent as the "skeleton," and the Taixu True Qi within Xu Ruyu as the "flesh and blood," forcibly constructing a temporary, crude, yet possessing supreme Sword Dao essence—a "Sword Intent Domain"!

The range of this Domain was extremely small, covering only three feet around Xu Ruyu.

Within the Domain, all energy flow became slow and sluggish, as if time had been stretched.

The Saint Realm pressure and the sealing power of the Spirit-Locking Great Array that were pressing in from all directions were forcibly "analyzed," "dismantled," and "buffered" by that pure Sword Intent when they entered this three-foot Domain!

Xu Ruyu felt as if he had put on an invisible suit of armor.

The armor was very thin and fragile, yet possessed unimaginable "resilience" and "wisdom"—it did not resist all pressure head-on, but skillfully guided, diverted, and neutralized it.

Just like a flexible bamboo, bending and swaying in the storm, yet never breaking.

But the price was also huge.

Xu Ruyu could feel that an extremely fragile connection had been established between himself and the jade pendant.

The Sword Qi in the jade pendant was being consumed at an astonishing speed.

Every time it resisted the Saint Realm pressure, every time it buffered the Formation's blockade, the light of the Sword Qi would dim by a fraction.

And the Taixu True Qi within his own body was flowing away madly like a flood from an opened gate, almost draining every ounce of his strength!

This was drinking poison to quench thirst. This was the last straw grasped in a desperate situation.

This straw might allow him to live a few more breaths, but it could not change the final fate of sinking.

"Interesting." Xiao Nianyin's voice came from the air, carrying a trace of inquiry within its coldness. "It seems that the secrets on you are even more than I imagined."

She did not hesitate any longer, lifting her jade hand gently and pressing it slowly towards the Void Realm below—

"Nine Yang—Burning Heaven!"

As her words fell, the heavens and earth suddenly changed!

Around Xiao Nianyin, the aura that was originally as cold as moonlight instantly vanished!

Replacing it was a tyrannical, scorching, and terrifying True Intent capable of burning through the eight wildernesses and six unions!

What she Cultivated was never any ice-type Cultivation Technique!

But rather the Hehuan Sect's supreme secret transmission, the most Yang and most rigid, tyrannically peerless—Mystic Maidens Sun-Stealing Art!

This technique steals the Pure Yang Qi of heaven and earth, refining it for one's own use. When Cultivated to the depths, with a single thought, one can trigger the Great Sun True Fire, burning mountains and boiling seas!

The cold aura Xiao Nianyin had displayed before was merely a disguise to conceal the essence of her Cultivation Technique!

Now that she had made a slight move, the true power of her Cultivation Technique was finally revealed!

"Rumble—!!!"

In the sky, it seemed as if nine invisible great suns appeared simultaneously!

Endless light and heat erupted from Xiao Nianyin's palm. That was not fire, but something purer and more violent than fire—Pure Yang True Intent!

Wherever the True Intent passed, the air no longer froze, but was instantly heated to a terrifyingly high temperature!

Light twisted and refracted, forming patches of scorching mirages!

The space emitted a "crackling" explosive sound, as if it could not withstand such extreme high temperature and was about to be forcibly melted through and collapsed!

On the ground of the Law Execution Platform, the thick bluestone slabs, the moment the Pure Yang True Intent swept down, did not turn into powder, but directly melted and vaporized!

The silicates in the rocks directly decomposed under the temperature of hundreds of millions of degrees, turning into crimson lava, only to be completely evaporated in the next moment, leaving behind a bottomless, terrifying deep pit with edges showing a vitrified luster!

The Pure Yang True Intent continued to penetrate downward, deep into the ground for dozens of feet. Wherever it passed, the soil vitrified, groundwater instantly boiled and evaporated, and deep rock layers melted and flowed!

This was no longer a simple spell attack, but a Law suppression containing the Saint Realm Cultivator's comprehension of the "Pure Yang Law"!

The most Yang and most rigid, burning everything!

Facing such an attack, any Golden Core Cultivator, even the top-tier Golden Core Peak, would be burned into nothingness by this tyrannical Pure Yang True Intent, body and Divine Soul alike, the moment they made contact!

And at this moment, this terrifying True Intent capable of burning the sky and boiling the seas was pressing down directly towards Xu Ruyu!

"Ssh—!"

The three-foot Sword Intent Domain around Xu Ruyu, the moment it made contact with the Pure Yang True Intent, emitted a harsh sound like a red-hot iron block being submerged in cold water!

It was not pierced through, but rather... "burned" and "refined"!

The power of the Saint Realm Pure Yang Law had essentially surpassed the category of ordinary energy.

It represented the authority of the "Yang" aspect within the heaven and earth Dao, the most rigid and intense, burning everything!

Although the Sword Qi in the jade pendant contained supreme Sword Dao True Intent, its attributes leaned towards the flexible and feminine Dao of "lingering emotional threads," which was precisely countered by this tyrannical Pure Yang!

Moreover, having been worn down by three hundred years of time, it no longer possessed the power of its former glory.

More importantly, Xu Ruyu, who was driving this Sword Qi, had cultivation that was too weak, far too weak!

Just like a child, even if holding a divine weapon, he could not swing a sword capable of severing mountains and rivers.

The Sword Intent Domain began to tremble and distort violently!

At the edge of the Domain, those originally invisible "Sword Intent barriers," under the burning of the Pure Yang True Intent, revealed crimson cracks.

Within the cracks, the golden-red Pure Yang True Fire encroached inward like a poisonous snake, and wherever it passed, the lingering Sword Intent, like spring snow meeting the scorching sun, rapidly melted and dissipated!

"Pfft—!"

Xu Ruyu spat out a mouthful of blood. The moment the blood left his body, it was directly vaporized under the terrifying high temperature, turning into a wisp of crimson blood mist and dissipating into nothingness!

His skin began to crack and char, his hair curled, and a burnt smell wafted out.

The three-foot Sword Intent Domain around him shrank and dimmed at a visible speed!

The Sword Qi in the jade pendant was being consumed madly, and the Taixu True Qi was nearly exhausted!

Death was close at hand!