Yuan's Ascension

Chapter 443: An Astral Lord Descends (2)

The greatest weakness of a qi refiner is his body. As long as I kill his true self, even the Thousand Swords Array will naturally disperse.

Promptly, Wu Yuan changed his tactics. Abandoning his previous tit-for-tat approach, he fortified his defenses. The synergy of his three ether arts combined with his Domain dramatically strengthened his defense.

The black-robed guardian's sword array, once a formidable threat, now seemed to lose its bite. Even with four fire rocs combining their attacks, they failed to breach Wu Yuan's defense.

A flash of killing intent gleamed in the guardian's eyes as he snarled, "Defend all you want. No matter how strong your defense is, can you withstand my attacks?" With a sharp gesture, he commanded, "Kill."

The guardian's strategy was calculated. His Thousand Swords Array drained his mana reserves rapidly, taxing both mind and soul. Unable to gauge Wu Yuan's endurance while confident in his own strength, he chose to intensify his attacks, gambling on overwhelming force.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Two more colossal fire rocs materialized, their piercing shrieks heralding a renewed assault on Wu Yuan's defenses.

As the pressure mounted, Wu Yuan steeled himself. This is the moment of truth.

"Little Black! Now!" Wu Yuan's voice rang out.

In an instant, Little Black's internal ether surged. Obsidian wings, shimmering with power, erupted from Wu Yuan's back. He felt the subtle cadence of Little Black harmonizing with the wind, an exquisite and elegant symphony of power.

Advanced ether art—Realm Crossing!

Just as sword cultivators relied on lifebound flying swords to amplify their attacks, body refiners could harness the might of their spirit beasts. If their spirit beasts were powerful enough, they could play a critical role in battle.

With Beast Fusion complete, Wu Yuan unleashed his strongest outburst.

Seizing the moment when his opponent committed fully to the attack, Wu Yuan sprung his trap. He didn’t wait until his opponent sent all nine fire phoenixes out. That was unrealistic.

"Kill!" Wu Yuan’s form blurred into a whirlwind, streaking across the battlefield with preternatural speed.

A fire phoenix intercepted him, its blazing form a wall of flame.

"Scram!" Wu Yuan roared. A heavy saber materialized in his grasp, its blade cleaving the air with lethal precision.

Rip~ The phoenix's form shattered, its component swords scattering like leaves in a gale. The creature reeled away and plummeted to one side.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Two more strikes followed, swift and merciless. Wu Yuan, his strength fully unleashed, soared like a titanic roc. He dismantled two more phoenixes, evaded a third, and rocketed towards the black-robed guardian.

This was his window of opportunity. Had the guardian maintained a defensive stance with five phoenixes while attacking with four, Wu Yuan's defeat might have been sealed. But the guardian, driven by worry that the Thousand Swords Array might not suffice to subdue Wu Yuan before his mana was drained, had committed fully to an aggressive stance. This gambit had thinned his defenses and left him exposed.

A flicker of shock crossed the guardian's eyes as he attempted to retreat—but his speed was no match for Wu Yuan's furious advance.

Yet, the guardian was not one to yield easily. Fire phoenixes converged from all directions, a last-ditch effort to halt Wu Yuan's charge. If three to five phoenixes worked together, they could gain the upper hand. But one or two alone? They stood no chance.

Wu Yuan's saber and palms shattered their assaults, relentlessly closing the gap.

As defeat loomed, the guardian roared with chilling resolve, "I will not lose, I won't!" A buzzing wave of energy rippled through the air, aimed directly at Wu Yuan's soul—a desperate soul attack.

Boom! The impact was like a colossal hammer smashing down. An ordinary Spiritual Body cultivator would have been paralyzed for a moment. The guardian could then follow up with a relentless attack by the phoenixes, completely entrapping them.

But Wu Yuan's formidable soul, honed further by secret arts, barely trembled. The attack didn’t affect him at all.

"Die!" Wu Yuan's voice thundered as he closed the final distance. His palm swelled immensely, like a mountain casting its shadow over the guardian.

Bang! As the shields serving as the guardian’s last line of defense scattered in disarray, Wu Yuan’s gargantuan palm slammed down, obliterating the black-robed figure on impact.

Level thirteen, cleared!

"Congratulations, Wu Yuan. You have cleared level thirteen. Do you wish to continue?" The star spirit's voice rang out, a newfound warmth coloring its tone.

When speaking to stronger challengers, the Dark Star Spirit's attitude would change.

"No," Wu Yuan replied, knowing his limits. Attempting the fourteenth level would be pure masochism. Besides, Wu Yuan was well aware that this was a real fight without safety measures, caution was paramount.

Hum~ A ripple of invisible energy enveloped Wu Yuan, and he vanished from the battlefield.

...

The news of Wu Yuan's triumph spread like wildfire through the Origin Blood World. The top-tier geniuses were in a frenzy, their shocked exclamations echoing:

"He cleared level thirteen?"

"Good heavens!"

"He really conquered it?"

At this point, there was no longer any need for the Dark Star supervisor to pass on the news. On the Dark Star leaderboard, the latest information about Wu Yuan was already updated.

He had completed thirteen levels, leaving his peers in the dust. Even Bai Li and Shui Heng, previously hailed as peerless geniuses, had only managed to clear level eleven. The gap between them was startlingly large.

...

In a special space within the Bloodforge Immortal Voidrealm.

Thirty-odd High Immortals watched the projection in awe. Wu Yuan's ability to withstand the guardian's soul attack and vanquish him in one fell swoop left them astounded.

He withstood it directly? Just how powerful was his soul?

One had to understand that the biggest difference between the challengers and the guardians lay in their foundation.

If the difference in mana capacity was large, it often meant that the gap in soul power would be equally vast. A strong Dao comprehension aptitude didn’t necessarily correlate with the strength of one’s soul.

"Such a powerful soul at only fifty years old? Unbelievable!"

“The Dao he comprehends should be the Celestial Body Dao, and his understanding of its profundities is not shallow. For his age, it's nothing short of miraculous."

"Heaven-defying talent."

"A second-degree immortal root, a powerful soul, and outstanding Dao comprehension. He's virtually flawless—an almost perfect body refiner." These High Immortals were thoroughly impressed by Wu Yuan's performance.

In spite of their lifespans measured in tens or hundreds of thousands of years, they had never witnessed such raw potential. None could even come close.

The only ones who could surpass him were some monstrous prodigies eons ago that existed only in literature and myths.

In theory, even with Wu Yuan's strength, it would be difficult for him to rank within the top hundred of the Silvermist Division.

After all, the entire Silvermist Division encompassed thousands of second-tier divisions, teeming with geniuses. Among them were dozens who had conquered level fourteen of the Dark Star, and even more who had cleared level thirteen.

Wu Yuan could be said to have barely scraped through level thirteen.

However, in terms of age, each and every one of these prodigious talents who had conquered levels thirteen and fourteen of the Dark Star was older than Wu Yuan.

"Wu Yuan is the youngest among this batch of Golden Core and Spiritual Body cultivators in the entire Silvermist division to pass level thirteen."

"The youngest."

"Nevertheless, while his abilities still fall short, he can still earn the title of Bloodforge Marquis. At least, as long as he's cautious, the odds of him dying in the Bloodforge Battle are quite low." These High Immortals all had high clearance levels and were able to access some information from the Silvermist Division. They quickly drew their conclusions.

For ordinary Golden Core cultivators, the Bloodforge Battle was a nightmare; a bloody free-for-all involving countless Golden Core cultivators from billions of worlds.

But for a peerless genius like Wu Yuan? The risk of death was significantly lower.

"What a pity!" High Immortal Wu Tian suddenly lamented in a loud voice, shaking his head in regret.

"What pity?"

"Wu Tian, Wu Yuan is already in your camp, what is there to lament about?" The High Immortals in the temple were bewildered, all somewhat puzzled.

"I just find it a shame that Wu Yuan has only cultivated for fifty years. If he participated in the battle at the age of 150, now that would have been something." A look of unwillingness rose on High Immortal Wu Tian’s face. "Then perhaps, a Bloodforge King would be born."

There was half a breath of silence.

"Wu Tian, you're pushing it too far!"

"Screw you!"

"Damn you Wu Tian, I’ve seen some shameless people, but none can compare to you." The High Immortals all laughed and gave him a mock scolding.

Hum~ Just then, the grand throne at the end of the temple suddenly shone with brilliant light. Countless points of light converged, forming a towering, indistinct figure.

The figure’s face was blurry, but their aura was immense.

The dozens of High Immortals teasing Wu Tian immediately turned serious, standing up in unison and bowing respectfully. "Greetings, Astral Lord."

Astral Lord! A great Astral Lord had arrived.

“I have just received news that another peerless genius with hope of taking the Bloodforge King has emerged within my Redmoon Division.” The booming voice of the hazy figure echoed throughout the great hall.

All the High Immortals listened.

"Astral Lord," High Immortal Wu Tian suppressed his excitement and respectfully reported, "This genius, named Wu Yuan, is a candidate I have selected."

"Well done." The hazy figure peered down, "I will soon descend from the Silvermist Division to bring this Wu Yuan to the Astral Lord Hall."

"A talent that appears once every ten million years is worth my descent."

"Understood." Many High Immortals respectfully bowed.

With that, the hazy figure disappeared.

A moment later, the hall boiled over with excitement.

"Heavens, the Astral Lord will descend!"

"Over the hundreds of thousands of years I’ve lived, I have never seen the Astral Lord. He will be personally making a trip from the Silvermist Division?"

"The great Astral Lord is said to be an existence that stands at the pinnacle of Archimmortals."

"It is said that more than one Archimmortal has fallen at the hands of the Astral Lord."

"It's said that the Astral Lord is comparable with Archimmortal Redmoon in terms of age," these High Immortals buzzed with excitement.

With their high standing in the Redmoon Division, they had all encountered Archimmortals. There was more than one Archimmortal in the Redmoon Division.

But an Astral Lord? They were not worthy of meeting one. All Astral Lords were Archimmortals; but most Archimmortals were not qualified to be called Astral Lords.

"Astral Lord."

"This Wu Yuan truly is my lucky star. Thanks to him, I’m able to meet an Astral Lord?" High Immortal Wu Tian's eyes sparkled.