Chapter 728: Divine Palace Complete, Third Battle Against the Five Dragon Immortals (Combined)

"Roar~"

Hearing that soul-piercing cry, Li Yuan rejoiced greatly; Yu Yu Xuanji set down the Ling Yin he had not yet finished organizing and entered Ru Le Shen Jing.

Beneath the Shan Xuan Teng tree, the Zhu Long rose on its hind legs, roaring to the heavens; its vertical third eye closed, and darkness, like a night curtain, enveloped Ru Le Shen Jing.

Meanwhile, ten suns stretched across the sky; the ten Great Golden Wus flapped their wings and cried out, again showering down ten thousand hectares of Jin Guang.

For a moment, light and dark alternated within Ru Le Shen Jing.

"Finally complete!"

Feeling the changes in the Zhu Long and the Sun Nest, Li Yuan felt joy in his heart.

The path to completing these two True Forms was truly far more difficult than he had imagined; without those two cups of Enlightenment Tea, it might have taken another twenty or thirty years to cultivate them to completion.

"Buzz~"

Between light and dark, beams of radiance rose up and merged into the bodies of the Zhu Long and the Golden Wus; Yu Yu Xuanji, the ten Great Golden Wus flapped their wings and returned to their nest, and all light and darkness dispersed.

Then, two streaks of Golden Nature burst forth from the Zhu Long and the Sun Nest, falling into Li Yuan's palm.

"Boom!"

As the final two wisps of Golden Nature condensed, Li Yuan suddenly felt a transformation in his Three Origins, as if limbs missing for many years had grown back, or as if a blind man had suddenly seen the light.

Even his steady temperament could not suppress the impulse to roar to the heavens.

"Roar~"

All the True Forms cried out loudly, their voices shaking Ru Le Shen Jing.

In that instant, within Li Yuan's perception, his spirit, physique, and even his magic power had all undergone varying degrees of change, as if a dust-covered bright mirror had been cleaned.

A powerful throbbing surged from his heart.

"Forging a Dan for me is merely a matter of a single thought!"

Li Yuan sensed the opportunity to forge a Dan; he perceived with absolute clarity that he would surely forge a First-Rank Longhu Longhu Dadan.

After twenty-one years of seclusion, his foundation had been solidified to the limit; thanks to the nine True Forms, the two Spirit Plants, top-tier magic power, and top-tier Shi Dao Fa, how profound was his reserve?

If he wished, forging a Dan would take only the snap of a finger!

"Hah!"

Suppressing the throbbing in his heart, Li Yuan focused his mind and entered meditation; his consciousness sank into that dark realm, and he infused the two wisps of Golden Nature into his Dao Body.

But to his disappointment, even after nine wisps of Golden Nature were infused, the changes in his Chaos Body remained extremely subtle.

"No wonder I have never heard of anyone using Golden Nature to transform a Dao Body..."

Yet Li Yuan was not disappointed; with the aid of the 'Perception Set', he could vaguely feel that his Dao Body was still accumulating and brewing, and that its transformation was not far off.

Since entering seclusion, he had been altering his innate endowments every day, consuming pills by the cartload and the bushel; naturally, there could be no lack of effect.

"It is time to refine the Golden Nature back."

Li Yuan formed the thought in his heart.

Streaks of Wu Di Fa boiled and burned, intertwining with one another like a Brother Qiao Tianhe hanging down into the darkness; before long, a wisp of Golden Nature had appeared.

For this, he was well-versed.

In no more than a few hours, after consuming forty-nine streaks of Wu Di Fa, Li Yuan had refined back seven wisps of Golden Nature.

"Truly top-tier magic power."

Li Yuan silently praised in his heart.

If this were high-grade magic power, refining back seven wisps of Golden Nature would require nearly six hundred streaks.

However, while top-tier magic power has many benefits, the accumulation of Fa is very slow.

Even with him maximizing his Spirit Pills and cultivating in seclusion day after day, over twenty years he had only accumulated more than twelve hundred streaks of magic power.

This was only because he had drunk two cups of Enlightenment Tea; otherwise, he might not have gathered the eight hundred and ten streaks of magic power required to forge a Jin Dan.

"The accumulation of magic power also affects the rank of the formed Dan, but eight hundred and ten streaks of magic power are enough for me to condense a First-Rank Longhu Longhu Dadan..."

"Enlightenment Tea is after all not a great medicine specifically for nurturing magic power..."

"Without the assistance of a great medicine, refining the Wu Di Fa to full capacity would likely take another hundred years or more."

With thoughts churning in his mind, Li Yuan guided the seven wisps of Golden Nature into his dantian.

"Buzz~"

Within his dantian, the Great Luo Banner was still using Tun Tu Fa to nourish itself, while the Demon-Refining Immortal-Slaying Sword Embryo was still locked in combat with that wisp of Mu Mu Xiantian Origin Sword Qi.

The rank of this wisp of Origin Sword Qi was too high; even after twenty years, only a very small portion had been worn away.

Yet even that very small portion had brought immense benefits to the Demon-Refining Sword Embryo.

【Demon-Refining Immortal-Slaying Sword Embryo (Tier 11)】

Normally, the Demon-Refining Sword Embryo would only truly be born after Li Yuan forged a First-Rank Longhu Longhu Dadan; only after forging the sword and sharpening its edge could it advance.

But now, thanks to that wisp of Origin Sword Qi from the Nine Extreme Heavens, this Sword Embryo had clearly advanced in tier, and had already half-stepped into the realm of Supreme Spiritual Treasures!

"Truly the Origin Sword Qi of a cultivator on the verge of Ba Jing; if fully digested, when the Demon-Refining Sword is born, it will surely advance to the Divine Treasure tier!"

After focusing his perception for a moment, Li Yuan shifted his thought, and the seven wisps of Golden Nature merged into the Demon-Refining Sword Embryo.

Only the sound of 'buzz' was heard; on the pure black blade of the Demon-Refining Sword Embryo, fine golden patterns suddenly appeared, flowing and intertwining until they covered the entire blade!

"Ahhh~"

Li Yuan's spirit trembled; he felt that sword cry was like a dragon's roar.

After the nine wisps of Golden Nature transformed it, the Demon-Refining Sword Embryo underwent a sudden change; it was seen shaking violently, soaring and running within his dantian, greedily absorbing Wu Di Fa.

Before long, accompanied by another dragon-roar-like sword cry, the Demon-Refining Sword Embryo clearly advanced in tier once more!

【Demon-Refining Immortal-Slaying Sword Embryo (Tier 12)】

"Supreme Spiritual Treasure!"

Li Yuan focused his perception on the changes in the Demon-Refining Sword Embryo.

Not only did its rank rise, but the sword embryo's ferocity also diminished considerably, its spiritual nature growing stronger.

If another swordsman had been in his place, they would have needed to slowly breathe and exhale, focusing their spirit to perceive—but Li Yuan's heart naturally surged with the post-upgrade information of the Demon-Refining Sword Embryo.

【……Nine strands of golden essence have refined the Demon-Refining Sword Embryo, stained with the Dao Lord's aura, and nourished by the primordial sword qi of the Primordial……】

【Spiritual nature arises, ferocity recedes—it now possesses a trace of 'Primordial Nature'……】

"Primordial Nature!"

Li Yuan's heart trembled.

In the over twenty years since returning from the Sword Realm to Huishan, he visited the Scripture Pavilion daily, reading countless cultivation texts, miscellaneous books, biographies, travelogues, and reflections.

Primordial Number is the ultimate transcendence of a spiritual treasure.

A spiritual treasure that attains the Primordial Number is, in essence, "one with the Dao, truly real!"

"No wonder, when I first forged the golden essence, my master gave me distant guidance…"

Li Yuan's heart swelled with excitement.

Nine strands of golden essence—first refining the Chaotic Body, then the Demon-Refining Sword—his use of golden essence had reached its utmost extreme!

"True transmission is never just one phrase; what seems like a single phrase often holds the blood and sweat of countless generations of ancestors. Not to mention the application of golden essence—"

"Without my master's guidance, I would never have thought of it!"

Li Yuan felt deeply moved.

The cultivation path is one forged generation after generation by cultivators; even world-shattering geniuses, without prior guidance, inevitably stray and stumble.

When he first entered the Dao, no one guided him—he couldn't even forge magic power for three years.

Joining Mount Mount Dongxuan was, for him, truly a dragon returning to the sea!

"Stay humble. Stay calm."

Silently grateful for his master's guidance, Li Yuan slowly opened his eyes.

It was the hour of day-night transition; the celestial realm had no sun or moon, but the horizon had already turned white. Li Yuan rose to his full height and stepped out of the bamboo pavilion.

Today, his Divine Palace was complete—he would reward himself.

"Squeak~"

Preparing the spiritual feast, Li Yuan invited the Mirage Infant; the little rat also crawled out of its burrow, shaking its body to transform into a chubby, clumsy little fatty.

Over twenty years later, the Mirage Infant had returned to the He Yi Jing and cultivated forty-two layers of Mirage Dragon magic power; his Divine Palace's First Heaven was now complete, and he was beginning to visualize his second true form.

The little rat's progress was unremarkable—even after being touched by the Dao Lord, he still hovered at the edge of He Yi Jing, unable to condense a true form, let alone forge magic power.

Li Yuan didn't care; to him, the little rat was Fayin Fayin Tongzi, not a Dao Soldier—his realm meant nothing.

Just as the Ling Shu Fayin Tongzi, whether in the Magic Realm or the Magic Heaven, what difference did it make to the Dao Lord?

After the feast, Li Yuan went to the Qi-Collecting Terrace.

The two gourd Dao Soldiers were still inhaling and exhaling the Nine Mist Qi; upon seeing Li Yuan, they were both delighted.

Thanks to the Wu Di Fa and daily demon-slaying and demon-refining, these two little gourds had become Fourth Realm Dao Soldiers; eighty-one gourd sword qi had merged into one, exceedingly sharp.

"Huh!"

With a flick of his fingers, Li Yuan bestowed a strand of Wu Di Fa upon each little gourd, then sat cross-legged, gently plucking his bead chain, releasing the White Bone Demon and the Zhen Fa Dao Soldier.

Compared to his cultivation and spells, his Dao Soldiers' progress was also substantial.

Now, the Zhen Fa Dao Soldier numbered exactly one hundred and eight—all Fourth Realm—acquired bit by bit over these years.

The White Bone Demons had multiplied too: besides the core one hundred and eight Fourth Realm ones, there were three hundred and sixty Third Realm demons, arranged in formation, sufficient to suppress and slay ordinary Fourth Realm cultivators.

With these Dao Soldiers, many Fourth Realm demon lords drawn in during Li Yuan's earlier demon-refining never even got the chance to face him.

"Refine the Law!"

Li Yuan clutched the Tong Shi Ball, closed his eyes, and entered meditation, continuing his Palace Refinement.

In his mind, he adjusted his cultivation plan.

His true form was complete, the nine strands of golden essence were sufficient—he fully met the conditions for advancing to the Fourth Realm and could forge the Longhu Longhu Dadan at any moment.

"Before forging the Longhu Longhu Dadan, I must fight the Five Dragon Immortal again!"

Li Yuan's thoughts churned—he had gathered all the divine patterns of the Origin God Fist, only missing the most core 'Origin' pattern.

Before reaching the Fourth Realm, he absolutely must obtain it!

After advancing to the Fourth Realm and entering the Zang Guan Mi Jing, he would likely face a fully perfected Fourth Realm White Robe Five Dragon Immortal.

Just thinking of it made his scalp tingle.

"Then there's the Sword Realm."

Li Yuan subtly sensed the Tai Xu Wan Xiang.

Twenty years had passed; more and more Third Realm cultivators had entered the Sword Realm, and the cities on the Sword God Continent had grown to over a thousand, even cultivators crossing hundreds of portal gates had arrived.

The Sword Lord's legacy, the supreme Dao Treasures with potential for Primordial Number—even to a Dao Lord, these were highly tempting, let alone other cultivators?

Cultivators from over a hundred realms gathered together, among them countless prodigies and geniuses; every year or half-year, someone broke into the tenth level.

Li Yuan was paying attention to this too.

Ding Ding Yunjie and Xu Xu Xunyi from Zi Wei Fa Jie, Lu Yue and Han Han Qiwei from Bei Dou Fa Jie, You Xuanjing Daozi from Dashan Xuan Fa Jie…

"Sixteen cultivators have broken into the tenth level of the Sword Realm. Mu Mu Xiantian, no wonder he's the Grand Elder of Tai Shan Xuan Sword Sect—he remains undefeated since Jiuyun Ji."

Li Yuan browsed the Tai Xu Wan Xiang.

As more cultivators ascended the Sword Realm, the reputations of its guardians grew ever greater—and the greatest of them all was undoubtedly Mu Mu Xiantian.

This Grand Elder of the Tai Shan Xuan Sword Sect stood like a dam across Jianghe, breaking countless prodigies.

Li Yuan wasn't particularly surprised.

More than twenty years ago, Mu Mu Xiantian could match him evenly in normal state, four to six.

The vast majority of Third Realm cultivators, unless using forbidden methods like Lie Shen Dan, could never break into the eleventh level of the Sword Realm.

But...

"Eventually someone will consume the forbidden pill; even if not, with targeted cultivation methods like Xu Xu Xunyi's, within years or decades, someone will surely break into the Sword Realm's eleventh level."

Li Yuan understood perfectly.

The temptation of the Dao Lord's legacy and the supreme Dao treasure is too great—certainly some sects or sacred grounds will deliberately cultivate third-stage disciples to attempt the trial.

Eventually, a cultivator will break into the eleventh level through sheer strength; if they then consume the forbidden pill, it's not impossible they could reach his presence."

"Xu Xu Xunyi and the others must have forbidden techniques—they simply aren't using them, likely to save them for me..."

Li Yuan had already prepared to send Ying Mo Shen upon his return from the mysterious exploration, to carry a thread of his qi to the Sword Realm and update his status.

Surely Tai Shan Xuan Tong Tian Sword would not refuse.