Cultivation: When you take things to the extreme

Chapter 705: Chapter 448: Edge_2

Demon Dragon Prince—dead!

At Integration level, death; at Return to Void, complete eradication; only by undergoing Deity Transformation could one glimpse a sliver of hope for survival.

As the clouds of tribulation dispersed and the thunder ceased, a figure flew out—it was an Elder from Demon Dragon Ridge.

His hair hung loose and unkempt, scorched black, with no sign of his clothes remaining, and his entire body was riddled with charred wounds, looking like he could collapse at any moment.

Despite this, he dared not linger and, squeezing out the last of his mana, he mounted his Escape Light and attempted to fly far away into the sky.

But unexpectedly…

“Pfft!!!”

Before the Escape Light could rise, the Sword Light had already arrived. With a single thrust that pierced through the void, the Escape Light shattered, and a charred corpse fell from the sky, crashing into the earth, never to echo with life again.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Witnessing this scene, the live streaming room fell silent, without a word.

Not just the live streaming room, Dry Prosperous Temple at Tan Mountain was also dead quiet.

“Amitabha!”

After a long silence, chants of Buddha’s name began, the Dry Prosperous Monk pressed his palms together, his face full of mournful compassion, “Such is the nature of tribulation. I hope the people of the world will take this as a warning to prevent such tragedy from reoccurring and avoid innocent deaths and injuries!”

Hearing this, the cultivators remained silent, a mix of complex emotions in their hearts.

To face Mundane Tribulation, your chances of survival are one in ten!

Although the nine-tenths odds of death are perilous, there still exists a flicker of hope for survival.

This is exemplified by Demon Dragon Ridge, which under the destructive lightning of Integration and Return to Void tribulations, demonstrated the peril of “nine deaths,” but also saw an Elder at Deity Transformation blessed with enough luck to survive the Heavenly Tribulation. This illustrates the existence of that “one life” opportunity.

Unfortunately, this time, not only was there a Heavenly Tribulation but also a tribulation induced by man, severing that last thread of hope!

This undoubtedly served as a major deterrent for all the great Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands.

A shot across the bow, a lesson to all!

To eliminate the roots, to prevent future troubles!

If you willingly abandon your Blessed Land, avoiding becoming mortal enemies, then you only have to face the Heavenly Tribulation. Although the odds are extremely dangerous, there is still a sliver of hope for survival, and one may indeed make it through.

On the other hand, if you are stubborn and resist to the end, then not only will the Heavenly Tribulation intensify, there will also be a tribulation from others to block, cutting off that last chance of life.

After all, once you’ve become mortal enemies, there’s no reason to let the tiger return to the mountain, to allow escape and possible revenge in the future.

In some matters, either don’t do them at all or carry them through to the bitter end!

That was the attitude they displayed.

In response to this, how will the great Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands react, and what choice will they make?

Just as the cultivators were making wild guesses…

“Whoosh!”

The Sword Light returned, the camera shifted, back to the lone peak, before the white-clothed swordsman.

The swordsman, with his hands behind his back, remained silent, with only the Sword Light flying back to its box, returning things to normal.

“This…”

“Great, great, great master, please accept my bow!”

“I thought Mad God and the Daoist Man were unmatched under heaven, but I didn’t expect someone to surpass them.”

“May I ask for the great master’s name?”

“What about the live streaming, man?”

“Sword Immortal brother, aren’t you live streaming?”

“Let’s be honest, how many of you are there?”

“So this is a Sword Cultivator, indeed as terrifying as imagined!”

“I beg to become your disciple, to learn your techniques; I also want to play with Flying Swords!”

The live streaming room was in chaos, filled with excited and jumbled words from everyone.

The swordsman, however, said nothing. He sheathed his sword, turned around, and walked away, his figure growing distant.

The camera followed suit, moving into the void, where Black Abyss descended, and the Cave Heaven Blessed Lands re-entered the mortal realm.

“Boom!”

In the end, amidst the earth shaking and mountains trembling, all came to a close.

“`

“This…?”

“Don’t, please!”

“How can it be so short?”

“Begging for more updates, boohoo!”

The live broadcast ended, and the mournful voices rose again, but it was to no avail.

Elsewhere, at Demon Dragon Ridge.

With the collapse of the blessed land and the return of the Yuan Spirit, clouds gathered, and rain fell, delivering nourishing rain and celestial dew to the land.

The Taoist children surrounding the Nine Ceremony High Altar sat down to meditate, seizing the opportunity to absorb the essence of the Yuan Spirit.

A few years, though not a long time, saw significant changes. The various birds and beasts that had sought teachings at Fulong Mountain and, with his guidance and diligent practice of the “Supreme Yin Shape-shifting Skills” for several years, finally achieved success. They stepped into the realm of Spirit Monsters, transformed into human forms for cultivation, and even assisted him in conducting the grand celestial ritual.

Though they were just assistants, without much merit, they contributed effort. This celestial rain was now their reward, sufficient to advance their cultivation further, take on more responsibilities, and face more challenging situations.

This was one of the reasons he attacked the Cave Heaven Blessed Lands—nothing was faster for advancement than conquering mountains and demolishing temples at this critical juncture.

The disciples focused wholly, absorbing every drop of the celestial rain and dew.

Xu Yang sat atop the altar, but he did not partake in the practice; instead, he raised a hand and beckoned.

“Whoosh!”

With a gesture, a spirit light tore through the sky and arrived before him, transforming into a certain object—it was an ordinary-looking sword box.

No sooner had the sword box returned than a golden light appeared in the void—actual physical merit energy—which landed on the cultivator’s body.

Xu Yang held the sword box in silence, channeling all the celestial merit he had earned from his conquest into the box, nurturing the Xuanyuan Sword within.

Years prior, he had inherited Fulong Mountain’s legacy and faced two developmental choices: forge Xuanyuan or assemble a Mecha.

In the end, he chose the former because, in an era of Demon Catastrophe, abundant celestial merit was available, the perfect time to forge Xuanyuan.

Spiritual Treasures, one could forge any time.

Mecha, one could assemble anytime.

But Xuanyuan, if missed, would indeed be lost forever.

Weighing the benefits, Xu Yang invested all the Spiritual Objects from Fulong Mountain into forging Xuanyuan, and after several years, he finally nurtured a Spirit Sword, an embryonic Spiritual Treasure-grade Xuanyuan Sword.

This Spiritual Treasure-grade embryonic Xuanyuan Sword, while formidable, was not yet the true Xuanyuan—for it lacked the crucial infusion of celestial merit.

Now, Xu Yang was about to complete this final step, infusing all the merit gained from annihilating Demon Dragon Ridge into the box, nurturing the embryonic Xuanyuan Sword, striving to hasten its completion.

As for increasing his cultivation… using merit to elevate cultivation felt akin to squandering heaven’s gifts, especially at this juncture, when his cultivation was so modest. It could be rebuilt on its own; there was no need to accelerate with merit.

Only when reaching the realm of Tribulation Transcendence would the cost-benefit ratio of using merit to boost cultivation outweigh forging Xuanyuan.

“Hum!”

Xu Yang sat on the altar; the sword box lay horizontal on his lap, vibrating slightly as it absorbed the merit, undergoing a profound transformation within.

While experiencing this, Xu Yang looked into the distance at Demon Dragon Ridge, merging with the world once more, and began absorbing the rain and celestial dew to restore his nearly depleted mana and true essence.

This battle had been immensely draining!

Several years flashed by; he hadn’t broken through to a new realm and remained at the Golden Core cultivation. He had not forged any mighty assets like a Spirit-Treasure Mech Armor.

With that in mind, how could he slay Long Yi, a grand cultivator of Deity Transformation, along with an entire group of Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators from Demon Dragon Ridge, with a single stroke?

He relied on his old tactics, Heavenly Thunder Endowment and the enhancement of Taoism!

While during the live broadcast, the Flying Sword seemed to be wielded by the “White-robed Swordsman,” in truth, there was no White-robed Swordsman—being only at Golden Core, he was not capable of creating a doppelganger.

This “White-robed Swordsman” was Taiyi’s creation, a virtual image with no real presence. In reality, there was only a sword box while he, from the Nine Ceremony High Altar, drew upon Heavenly Thunder and Taoist empowerment to temporarily raise his mana.

A temporary mana boost of just one tier—the Nascent Soul Realm.

That alone was enough. With his proficiency in the Heavenly Sword art, wielding the Spiritual-Treasure-grade Xuanyuan embryonic sword with Nascent Soul mana, it was easy to slay a Deity Transformation Demon Jiao like Long Yi, entirely without suspense.

It simply consumed more resources, which meant that after annihilating all the cultivators at Demon Dragon Ridge, his mana was nearly spent.

Why bother creating an alternative persona, the “White-robed Swordsman”?@@novelbin@@

Firstly, it was to produce a “show effect” to enhance the impact of the live broadcast.

Secondly, it was the usual trick of flaunting imaginary power—waving the big banner.

His strategy of attacking various Great Cavern Heavens had already begun.

This was an outrageous venture bound to provoke strong opposition from many factions.

So, he needed a sword, one specifically designed for conquest—invincible and unopposed!

Only then could he deter various forces and fulfill the grand plan of “breaking through mountains and temples to restore the world.”

That was the significance of the appearance of the “White-robed Swordsman”—even beyond the impact of Martial Frenzied Rascal and Mingxiao Tao. With absolute invincible power and a ruthless approach, he was set to drive the progression of an entire era.

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