Chapter 511: Ding Spirit

Tianyuan City.

Inside the cave dwelling.

Fang Xing expressionlessly pulled out a ten-thousand-year spiritual herb and tossed it into the Wan Hua Ding.

Breaking through to the Great Ascension realm is a heavenly chasm for any cultivator, no less daunting than a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate.

Besides, if his condition deteriorates after the breakthrough, he'll need some pills to restore his state.

He still had some ten-thousand-year herbs left, so he planned to refine several kinds of pills rumored to greatly aid Great Ascension cultivators in recovering their spiritual power and healing injuries.

Even if he didn't use them, preparing in advance was certainly correct.

Without exaggeration, this cultivation avatar of Fang Xing's power had been built up entirely by pills!

Thus, in pill-refining techniques, he was utterly at ease—now undoubtedly a master rare in the cultivation world.

Even refining pills for the Great Ascension realm, he remained utterly confident.

Fang Xing continuously controlled the flame, and the Wan Hua Spiritual Flame within the cauldron responded to his will as if it were an extension of his own limbs.

When the entire chamber filled with the scent of pills, he unleashed a series of pill-retrieval incantations—then suddenly his expression changed: "Huh?"

The Wan Hua Ding, once lifeless, suddenly roared to life!

An unusual vibration emerged, causing several pills already formed inside the furnace to instantly spoil.

Fang Xing paid no attention to those ruined pills; he cast a spell, shrinking the Wan Hua Ding and holding it in his hand: "Old friend… what are you sensing?"

Over the years, he had partially subjugated the Wan Hua Ding; now, through its body, he faintly sensed a call coming from a certain direction.

"Could this be… the Ding Spirit?"

Fang Xing's gaze grew profound.

The Wan Hua Ding was incomplete—missing only its Ding Spirit, which he had long suspected had been taken to the Upper Realm.

But he had assumed it was in the Demon Realm or the Beast Realm… never imagined it was right here in the Spirit Realm!

"No!"

"With the three realms converging now, could demons or beasts have brought the Ding Spirit ahead into the Spirit Realm?"

Fang Xing held the Wan Hua Ding and sensed again—then a cold expression surfaced on his face: "It's still moving toward me… truly bold."

The innate instinct of a celestial treasure yearned for wholeness!

Thus, not only could the Ding's body sense the Ding Spirit, but the Ding Spirit could sense the Ding's body too!

…

"That direction… is Tianyuan City?"

Tian Ge stared at the "Demon Spirit Ding" in his hand, a look of astonishment crossing his face: "This artifact is said to originate from the Lower Realm… so another part has been brought to the Upper Realm? Ha! What a gift—if I hold a complete celestial treasure, wouldn't that surpass blood-sacrificing several Combiner cultivators?"

Moreover, Tianyuan City is a cultivator-free city—no Great Ascension cultivator exists there!

—Fang Xing's whereabouts, due to how humiliating the truth would be, remain a top secret known only to a handful of human high-ranking officials.

Tian Ge, of course, had no knowledge of this.

He immediately turned his demonic light and headed for Tianyuan City.

…

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The Demon Light technique was extremely fast, but halfway there, Tian Ge suddenly stopped, his expression strange: "It's out… and coming from my direction? Ha! Does this human cultivator think he can kill me and steal the treasure?"

"Go!"

Yet he wasn't foolish—he bit down on a finger, chewed fiercely, then spat it out.

The clump of flesh rapidly multiplied into a winged, giant eye demon that flew toward Fang Xing's location.

Through this technique, he could see and feel everything the demon eye saw!

Perfect for checking if it was a trap!

Toward Tianyuan City.

Fang Xing floated slowly, carefully controlling his speed, afraid that moving too fast would scare the opponent away.

After an indeterminate time, his vision shifted—he spotted a winged eye demon.

"Hmm, clever enough…"

In the Void, the Ragged Iron Sword suddenly appeared and pierced the eye demon with a single strike.

"No!"

At the same moment, Tian Ge's face turned pale: "That man… he's the ascended cultivator rumored to have shattered the Nine Fragrance Palace's sealing!"

His face hardened; a black "Great Teleportation Talisman" materialized in his hand. He bit his tongue, spat a mouthful of essence blood onto it, and unleashed it at all costs.

But the next instant, Fang Xing—having already calculated the distance and pinpointed his location—teleported directly before Tian Ge.

"What?"

Tian Ge's eyes bulged—he simply could not fathom how an enemy so far away had instantly appeared before him!

Fang Xing smiled lightly: "Playing teleportation tricks on me?"

Between teleports, there must be a brief interval—and his current teleportation has a limit.

That's why he slowly closed the distance, striking only when he was certain.

Otherwise, Tian Ge might have escaped during the gaps between his teleports by activating the Great Teleportation Talisman.

But now, Fang Xing simply reached out and grabbed.

His fingers turned ethereal, piercing through the Void Layer, the Illusory Layer… and directly touching the spatial coordinate pre-set by the talisman.

Spatial force surged, annihilating that coordinate.

Whoosh!

The Great Teleportation Talisman, wrapped in essence blood, ignited spontaneously—and nothing happened…

Tian Ge stood frozen, nearly convinced the Demon Ancestor had deliberately tricked him—his life-saving artifact was fake!

But he had no time to rage; a blade of light had already descended before his eyes.

It was all one word—fast. Not merely swift as lightning, but the blade tip already pressed against his forehead!

Had the Void Flying Sword Art been able to penetrate this demon's body, Fang Xing wouldn't have minded using an "Internal Sword Explosion Technique!"

"Ahh!"

Tian Ge's eyes turned blood-red; black scales erupted across his forehead.

Simultaneously, countless black scales burst from his body, forming a terrifying, demon-charged demonic armor.

Hiss!

The ultra-condensed sword qi erupted, barely piercing the demonic armor, then slashed across his nose bridge, lips, leaving a bloody line across his chest…

It felt as if another inch deeper would split him open.

Yet, it fell just short.

Tian Ge retreated dozens of miles—only then did Fang Xing's calm voice reach his ears: "You're impressive… your physique is nearly Great Ascension-tier… otherwise, that one sword would've killed you."

Fang Xing had to admit one thing: his combat power had surged beyond his current realm.

This was, of course, due to his true body's existence.

Precisely because of that, tools like the Ragged Iron Sword and Zi Qing Divine Flame seemed somewhat inadequate.

In truth, these two techniques were already among the deadliest in the Combiner realm.

"If you, demon, survive, you'll surely ascend to Great Ascension."

Fang Xing did not hesitate to praise a foe who could survive his sword strike.

"You're merely a Combiner peak cultivator."

Tian Ge roared, forming hand seals; dark light surged, forming twelve black coffins.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The black coffins exploded one after another, revealing twelve corpse warriors—ferocious demonic corpses.

Simultaneously, he cast a spell upon the Demon Spirit Ding, overturning it; a sea of blood engulfed ten thousand li in every direction.

The blood sea and demonic corpses intertwined, forming a demonic array.

"Demon Blood Transformation, One Slash to Steal Life."

Tian Ge muttered incantations, reaching into the Demon Spirit Ding to draw forth a dark red demonic blade.

Countless ancient seal characters appeared, swirling around him and the blade, their power reaching Great Ascension levels!

"Wan Hua Ding… the power of creation isn't used this way."

Fang Xing shook his head and swept his sleeve.

Xiong Xiong!

Zi Qing Divine Flame surged violently, burning through the blood sea, carving out a barren white zone within the endless crimson.

Then, twelve Zi Qing fire dragons emerged, lunging at the hidden demonic corpses within the blood sea.

The Ragged Iron Sword roared, flying into his hand, unleashing an unimaginably brilliant sword light to meet the demonic blade.

Clang!

Blade and sword light clashed; the shockwave shattered the space for ten thousand li around them.

Then, Fang Xing's sword light shifted—on its tip, a lotus bloomed.

One Sword, One Lotus.

Though ethereal, the lotus shimmered with gold and silver hues, blending space and time with a hint of spatial-temporal fusion.

"This is…"

Watching his Demon Blood Transformation blade shattered, Tian Ge's face paled: "No!"

But in an instant, that sword lotus landed on him and slowly bloomed.

Amid the ripples of the River of Time, it seemed to accelerate the flow of time upon his body; the wound left by that sword cut began to rapidly deteriorate and expand…

Puff!

A severed head fell from midair.

Fang Xing retracted the rusted iron sword and murmured, "A formidable demon, capable of grappling with a Great Ascension elder…"

Yet under his sword art fueled by the Time-Space Lotus, it still met its end—body and soul utterly annihilated!

With its master dead, the sea of blood and demonic corpses froze in place.

A mournful cry echoed through the air as the 'Demonic Spirit Cauldron' plummeted, caught neatly in Fang Xing's hand.

"Using demonic arts to forge a cauldron spirit? And deliberately crafting a demonic cauldron?"

He shook his head and opened his mouth.

A thread of purple-and-green flame descended onto the Demonic Spirit Cauldron; the Purple-Green Divine Flame instantly engulfed it, blazing fiercely.

At the same time, a blade of light retracted, bringing with it the demon's storage artifact.

Fang Xing took it, swept it with his spiritual sense, and suddenly froze—pulling out a string of blood-red fate tablets.

Several of them were extraordinary, unmistakably belonging to Combiner cultivators.

"So many humans secretly pledged loyalty to the demons? And had their souls split and forbidden seals implanted?"

"Never mind. Cowards who fear death exist everywhere—it's no great matter. I'll leave it to Ji Ru Zong and the others to handle."

Fang Xing sighed, then continued inventorying the other spoils.

About a stick of incense later, the purple-and-green flames above slowly faded, revealing a faint, ethereal silhouette of a cauldron.

The cauldron was bronze in hue, yet its surface still shimmered with streaks of bloodlight.

"What a waste—thankfully, the Ten-Thousand Transformations Spirit Flame can purify the blood-offering energy…"

Fang Xing withdrew the Ten-Thousand Transformations Cauldron; its spirit immediately rushed forth, merging with the cauldron, triggering an inexplicable transformation.

"Good. The Ten-Thousand Transformations Cauldron's underlying law is profound—it's a vital component of the 'Creation Dao.' Once completed, it will be a top-tier Imperial Weapon."

Such an Imperial Weapon is still a treasure even to a Law Lord!

(End of Chapter)