Time flowed on.
In the blink of an eye, twelve days had passed—a mere fleeting moment for Archimmortals.
“Hm?” The silver-haired woman suddenly perked up, “Yin He, that little fellow in your camp is about to encounter trouble. Look, judging by his path, he should meet them soon.”
“Indeed. A thousand immortal cultivators working in concert, with a makeshift array. Quite formidable,” Astral Lord Yin He nodded gently.
“You’re not worried?” The silver-haired woman’s surprise was evident in her voice. “Though Wu Yuan is formidable, he’s only cleared level thirteen of the Dark Star. Even a peerless genius who has cleared level fourteen would find it challenging to contend with a thousand immortal cultivators working together.”
Astral Lord Yin He chuckled, “Just watch. At least, it won’t pose any threat to his life.”
“Fair enough,” the silver-haired woman conceded with a nod. “His lifebound spirit beast is a Teng Snake, renowned for its speed. He should be able to escape without issue.”
It wasn’t only the silver-haired woman and Astral Lord Yin He who noticed. With their mental processing speed, the Archimmortals in the observation space could effortlessly monitor over ten thousand light screens simultaneously. Naturally, they all noticed the imminent confrontation between Wu Yuan and the massive army of immortal cultivators.
…
In Bloodforge World 893, Silvermist Division.
Within a passage, halfway up a mountain peak stretching thousands of li high, Wu Yuan sat in lotus position atop a massive boulder.
The opponents I’m encountering are getting progressively stronger. It’s becoming harder to find immortal cultivators working alone. Wu Yuan pondered quietly.
Maintaining his Soul Force for extended periods, combined with continuous combat, was exceedingly taxing on the mind. Thus, whenever Wu Yuan sensed that more than a third of his mental energy had been depleted, he would pause to rest, ensuring he remained at peak combat readiness.
Even when catching a rabbit, a lion uses all its strength.
Though Wu Yuan was confident, considering himself among the top participants in the entire Bloodforge Battlefield, he dared not grow careless.
Twelve days of continuous battle have significantly advanced my comprehension of the Celestial Body Dao, Wu Yuan mused. Indeed, real-world combat is the best teacher.
Each time one engaged in real-world combat and survived, the memories and scars from each battle were permanently etched into one’s mind—an experience that voidrealm duels could never replicate.
At the very least, Wu Yuan had seen tremendous progress in his mastery of the Celestial Body Dao over the last twelve days.
But while the grind of life-or-death battles could unlock a person’s potential, most would eventually succumb to it.
The path to triumph is paved with the bodies of the fallen. Only a few would survive to the end. Strength and luck were both essential.
Blood Devil Tokens. With a thought, Wu Yuan checked his Blood Devil Token ranking within the Bloodforge Immortal Voidrealm:
Blood Devil Tokens: 10223
Rank: 189
I’ve slain over three thousand immortal cultivators, yet still rank in the hundreds?
Such relentless bloodshed had cloaked him in an aura of malevolence.
To kill one is a crime!
To kill ten thousand makes one a hero!
To slaughter nine million, that is to be a hero among heroes.
These immortal cultivators all died by my hands. Wu Yuan reflected. In a worldlet, a Golden Core cultivator could be considered a great expert. Yet here, they fall like weeds.
Such was the harsh reality of the immortal path.
Golden Core phase? Amethyst Cradle phase? Successive generations and billions of lives were but the small price the Bloodforge Devil Hall paid to raise the strong.
Blood mist. His soul phantom residing in his upper dantian lobe gazed up at the towering black pagoda.
After slaughtering thousands of immortal cultivators, an unimaginably dense quantity of blood mist swirled around the black pagoda, emanating a chilling black light.
Still not at the limit? Wu Yuan’s eyes flickered.
Since stepping into the Spiritual Body phase, the blood mist had never reached saturation due to a lack of opponents at the same phase as him. Even the battle with the Huoyan Sect’s army resulted in the deaths of only a few dozen Golden Core cultivators.
Hm? Wu Yuan suddenly looked up, his gaze piercing the distance.
The Bloodforge World was as bright as day. There were no obstructions, allowing Golden Core and Spiritual Body cultivators to see thousands of li into the distance.
Even observing a scene tens of thousands of li away posed little difficulty for them.
As for Wu Yuan? His physique and soul had reached the threshold of the Shambhala phase, allowing him to see even further and with greater clarity.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Over a thousand immortal cultivators had formed a large array hundreds of li in width. Shrouded in a subtle glow, they advanced boldly, making no effort to conceal themselves, radiating sheer arrogance.
So they think their numbers make them invincible? Wu Yuan stood up, a cold glint in his eyes. Over a thousand?
Swoosh! Without hesitation, Wu Yuan took to the skies, his wings flaring as he soared, heading straight for the massive group of immortal cultivators.
Within the Bloodforge Battlefield, Wu Yuan constantly maintained his Beast Fusion state, his speed reaching about two hundred li per second.
“Someone’s coming.”
“He’s fast, heading right for us.”
“Who is he?” Instantly, someone in the group spotted Wu Yuan, raising the alarm.
Everyone turned to look, their speed not faltering in the slightest.
“Kill! It’s a second-tier Bloodforge Seed.” When Wu Yuan was about six hundred li away, they could sense his aura.
“A mere second-tier Bloodforge Seed dares act so conceitedly?”
“Kill him!”
“Yes, let’s kill him and show these so-called geniuses that it’s a fatal mistake to look down on us.” Many of the participants began to shout.
This group was mostly made up of ordinary participants. It was first formed when a few small teams joined forces, but as their numbers grew over time, so did their confidence.
In their view, even if their opponent was a genius, few could withstand the combined assault of over a thousand Golden Core cultivators.
“Everyone, heed my command. Do not leave the range of the large array. Form smaller arrays and attack!” The man at the forefront, dressed in black robes, issued an order. He was the commander of this force and also its strongest member.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Golden Core cultivators could communicate at lightning speed. In a blink, over a thousand immortal cultivators rapidly split up and assembled nine arrays that took the form of massive beasts. All of them were covered in a purple luminescent glow.
The nine beasts were spaced a hundred li apart, connected by a faint, intangible link, forming an even stronger array.
“Aaaawooo~”
“Kill!” Six of the beasts, some resembling rocs, some like divine dragons, and others like black tortoises, glowed as they charged toward Wu Yuan from various directions. The remaining three beasts took a rear position, launching a combined soul attack.
No matter how peerless a genius you are, how strong can your soul be? Each array is formed by over a hundred immortal cultivators, and their combined soul attack is more terrifying than that of a typical Amethyst Cradle cultivator. The black-robed leader was filled with confidence.
Buzz~
Whoosh~
Boom~ The three soul attacks instantly invaded Wu Yuan’s upper dantian lobe from a thousand li away.
But how strong was Wu Yuan’s soul? Furthermore, he cultivated ‘Sword Soul Sourcelight’. He withstood all the attacks, only trembling slightly.
Soul attack? Wu Yuan’s eyes turned icy. Of all things, he feared soul attacks the least.
Even if he encountered an overwhelmingly powerful soul attack, he had the black pagoda as his final defense.
“Not good.”
“He endured it?”
“He’s unharmed?” The three beasts that had launched the soul attack all paled, sensing that something was amiss.
This opponent’s soul was so formidable, yet he dared to charge right at them—could he possibly be weak?
Let’s do this. Wu Yuan confronted the first enemy, a beast resembling a roc. Without hesitation, he unleashed his full power.
Boom! Wu Yuan transformed into a hundred-zhang tall giant with four arms, holding a saber in each hand.
The four sabers were all third-grade spirit weapons, meticulously selected by Wu Yuan from his spoils of war during the last ten days of relentless slaughter. Out of all the loot he had obtained, these were the most compatible weapons for him.
“Starsunder!” With a single swing, he executed the first move of the Starsunder Saber Codex, the most fundamental yet the single most powerful one in terms of burst power and penetrability.
Swish! The blade ray tore through the sky, resonating with the fluctuations of the Celestial Body Dao, its speed and power escalating to terrifying levels.
“Roar!” The roc clawed fiercely at Wu Yuan, the attack sharp and deadly.
Rip! In a single exchange, the head of the colossal roc was slashed off its body, the two halves falling to the ground, the residual force from the blade ray annihilated dozens of Golden Core cultivators within the array.
“Ah!”
“Run!”
“It’s a first-tier Bloodforge Seed.” The surviving Golden Core cultivators from the roc array fled in panic as dread gnawed at their insides. It had only taken two strikes—one to parry the claw and another to penetrate the roc’s most vulnerable point, tearing through their array.
“Kill!” Wu Yuan swung his four sabers.
Boom! Blade rays slashed through the sky, slicing apart two more colossal beasts, the arrays collapsing with a thunderous crash.
“Your arrays are too weak,” Wu Yuan snorted, rampaging through the army of immortal cultivators.
A massacre ensued!
As each blade ray lit up, Wu Yuan’s Blood Devil Token count skyrocketed, and blood mist poured out of the black pagoda.
“Run!”
“Quick, run, it’s a first-tier Bloodforge Seed.”
“It’s the type with a chance to break into the top hundred.”
“We can’t block him.” The once imposing army of immortal cultivators quickly disbanded, fleeing in all directions.
Too strong! The power of that saber technique… The black-robed youth at the forefront stared fixedly at Wu Yuan, his blood running cold with terror.
Saber technique, wings… It’s Wu Yuan. But didn’t they say he only cleared level thirteen of the Dark Star?
Such power, he’s definitely capable of clearing level fourteen.
Run! The black-robed youth began to flee for his life.
“Did I say you could leave?” Wu Yuan brandished his sabers. With a flap of his wings, his speed soared to its peak, shooting straight toward the black-robed youth.
Wu Yuan had long noticed that this army was led by the black-robed youth, whose vital aura was noticeably stronger than the others.
…
“So strong.”
“He could break into the top hundred.”
“He has the strength to clear the level fourteen of the Dark Star. Wu Yuan is truly formidable. His talent is terrifying.” Within the observation space of the Bloodforge Immortal Voidrealm, thousands of Archimmortals from the Silvermist Division all took notice of Wu Yuan’s eruption of power.
Though a total of eight hundred cultivators would earn the title of Golden Core Bloodforge Marquis, their strengths varied greatly.
Could the cultivator ranked 2nd and the one ranked 800th truly be considered equals?
Level fourteen of the Dark Star was the threshold. Ranking in the top hundred of the first stage was a benchmark.
Generally, the few dozen first-tier Bloodforge Seeds from the Silvermist Division, combined with the top-tier geniuses among the hundreds of thousands of participants from the immortal nation, made up over a hundred top-tier geniuses, all capable of clearing level fourteen of the Dark Star.
Wu Yuan had previously drawn attention mainly because of his young age. But when it came to his actual strength, few Archimmortals believed Wu Yuan could break into the top hundred rank during the first stage.
Most only estimated that he might break into the top hundred in the second stage given his talent.
But with this outburst, Wu Yuan was immediately acknowledged by all Archimmortals as someone belonging to the highest tier of strength among the participants.
Excellent. Astral Lord Yin He broke into a smile. So he was hiding his strength all along? This rascal.
With such strength, combined with his talent, could it be… he truly has a chance at claiming the Bloodforge King title?
