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Late at night, in the mountainous wilderness.
Pu Hongqian and Pu Huai were placing a formation. Pu Surong, A’Leng, and Ruo Huan watched and waited from not far away.
“Auntie, unless I’m mistaken, when we head back and the clan’s old-timers learn that we lost the Baleful Metal Gourd, they’ll be sure to punish us…” Ruo Huan sighed.
The Baleful Metal Gourd was a treasure their clan had passed down for generations, and it was extraordinarily powerful. Although it wasn’t an Imperial-level treasure, it could threaten the lives of Spiritual Revolution cultivators!
“If they punish us, I’ll take full responsibility for what happened.” Pu Surong couldn’t help but sigh. “What really upsets me is that the curtains will open on the clan’s centennial ceremony in just six months. If Qingyuan can’t participate, she’ll no longer be qualified to become the holy maiden…”
Ruo Huan’s eyes flashed. “Don’t worry, auntie. The Azure Continent will soon welcome an unprecedented Radiant Epoch. When we return and share this news with the clan, I’m sure those old-timers will give in to the temptation. When the time comes, we can borrow their power to reclaim the Baleful Metal Gourd and bring Little Sister Qingyuan back to the clan with us.”
Pu Surong nodded. “That’s the only move we have left.”
“Surong, we can leave now. All we have to do is circulate this formation, and we can connect with the clan’s transmission formation. The power of the Purple Moon Divine Teapot will guide our departure,” Pu Hongqian’s voice emanated from not far away.
A completed mysterious formation lay before them.
“Alright, let’s go back!” Pu Surong didn’t hesitate. She led A’Leng and Ruo Huan directly over.
Boom!
A moment later, a pillar of light manifested from the formation soared into the firmament, carving a massive rift in the skies.
Waves of spatial power ran rampant deep within the chasm, but before long, a half-foot, purple teapot appeared, glittering like the moon. It was swathed in a terrifying, supreme aura, and it forcefully suppressed the surging fluctuations of spatial power.
The Purple Moon Divine Teapot!
This was the supreme treasure of the Purple Moon Foxes, an Imperial-level divine artifact!
When Pu Surong and her companions saw it, they hurtled toward it. Before long, they’d disappeared into the depths of the rift.
Immediately afterward, the Purple Moon Divne Teapot flew after them, and the rift vanished from the sky.
……
Although they stood above the rest, the top seven ancient factions weren’t the only ones to have survived the thirty thousand years of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness.
Gu Cangning, Zeng Pu, Chi Jiansu, Dou Kou, and other such prominent geniuses were monsters of the ancient era too, and all of them hailed from different factions.
Bluecloud Tower was an ancient faction too.
Furthermore, they were the ones who compiled and published the famous Ranking of Stars.
Beneath the same night sky. Bluecloud Tower.
A group of old people conversed around a furnace.
All of them looked puzzled, as if they’d encountered an enormously difficult problem.
“During Su Yi’s disappearance, we mistakenly believed he was still in the Gathering Stars Realm, which was why we never included him in the rankings,” said a short, fat elder with a bitter laugh. “Who’d have thought that just a few months later, he’d step into the Spiritual Manifestation Realm, and moreover, that he’d possess the heaven-defying strength to slay Spiritual Revolution cultivators?"
“Huan Tianxu’s group had all suffered the corrosive effects of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness. Although their cultivation was in the Spiritual Revolution Realm, they were about as weak as Spiritual Revolution Realm cultivators get,” a thin elder said gravely. “Still, killing five Spiritual Revolution cultivators by himself means that Su Yi would have been a peerless, monstrous genius even thirty thousand years ago, the type that might only show up once in a million years. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to place him at the top of the Ranking of Stars.”
The short, plump elder shook his head. “That wouldn’t be appropriate. Shen Suiyun has already entered the Spiritual Incarnation Realm. His accumulated foundations are terrifying, and his talent is exceptional. When he proved his Dao and entered the Spiritual Incarnation Realm, he provoked an unmatched strange phenomenon. With his current abilities, he could have defeated Huan Tianxu and his allies too.”
Shen Suiyun!
He was the monster of the ancient era solidly in first place on the Ranking of Stars.
He was the sword chief of his generation at Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain, the leading figure among their legacy disciples!
His position was so lofty that even the sect’s old-timers had to treat him with respect!
Between now and when Bluecloud Tower first published the Ranking of Stars, they’d adjusted the rankings several times.
However, every time, Shen Suiyun kept his spot at the top. No one could shake his position!
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If that were all, it’d be one thing.
However, not long ago, Shen Suiyun broke into the Spiritual Incarnation Realm.
This presented a difficult problem for Bluecloud Tower. Who should take first place on the Ranking of Stars? Su Yi, or Shen Suiyun?
The old-timers pondered and talked it over repeatedly, but in the end, they couldn’t reach an agreement.
It was then that the leader of Bluecloud Tower spoke up for the first time. “Back in the Glittering Ghost Domain, Su Yi cut down Chu Yunke, and he killed Nie Wanzhi outside Nine Tripod City, as well as numerous other Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain experts.”
“I dare say with certainty that as a disciple of Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain, Shen Suiyun is sure to challenge Su Yi when he learns of this!”
The tower master was a thin man in Confucian robes. He wore a lotus crown, and he had the air of an immortal.
“Let’s wait to release an updated Ranking of Stars. It won’t be too late to adjust them after Su Yi and Shen Suiyun have fought.”
The leader of Bluecloud Tower had made his decision. The others nodded in response.
It was the only option available to them.
“I just hope that their battle takes place before the onset of the Radiant Epoch. Afterward…” The tower leader couldn’t help but grimace. “Updating the Ranking of Stars will become increasingly difficult.”
Everyone looked at each other. All of them looked helpless.
It was true. When the Radiant Epoch arrived, countless dazzling and terrifying figures would arise!
When the time came, the balance of power would shift, and the top monsters of the ancient era would rapidly transform and grow their cultivation bases.
That would naturally mean enormous, shocking changes to their rankings, too!
……
The fifteenth day of the third month.
Nine Tripod City, Azurecloud Court.
It was a bright, clear day, and a gentle spring breeze blew past.
Wisps of golden sword light revolved in the air, rising like the tide, soaring like cranes, and darting about like fish. They were a dazzling sight.
The flecks of sword light clustered, and wherever they passed, they left spider-web-like cracks in the air, which produced dense wails as it collapsed.
Afterward, the rain of golden sword light instantly fused, forming a three-foot streak of sword qi which revolved overhead, whooshed through the air, and landed in the Baleful Metal Gourd Su Yi carried.
He sat in his wicker chair, examining the gourd, a hint of satisfaction on his face.
This Xiantian Spirit Treasure was enormously powerful, and with just a little further refining, he could activate its baleful metal qi to slay his opponents. It was enough to threaten the lives of Spiritual Revolution experts.
“What a wondrous treasure!” Wen Xinzhao exclaimed. She looked charming and graceful beneath the springtime sunlight.
“You can have it,” said Su Yi. He casually tossed it to her.
“Uh….” Wen Xinzhao was flabbergasted. “You’re giving it to me?”
“I said that when you stepped into the Spiritual Manifestation Realm, I’d help you refine your Natal Spirit Treasure. You can use the Baleful Metal Gourd to refine a Sword-Nourishing Gourd,” said Su Yi.
“I already erased the seal emblazoned within the gourd. Once you step into the Spirit Dao, you can refine this treasure within your Grand Dao Spirit Palace.”
He then rose to his feet and headed back to his room. “Use this time to calm your heart and cultivate. You’re already at the peak of the Gathering Stars Realm, and with your accumulations, you’ll be able to enter Spiritual Manifestation the day the Radiant Epoch arrives.”
Before his voice had even finished echoing through the air, Su Yi disappeared from view.
Wen Xinzhao stood there in a daze, and her hands silently clenched the Baleful Metal Gourd. She murmured, “Brother Su, I definitely won’t disappoint you…”
A wave of warmth coursed through her heart.
Meanwhile, Su Yi sat cross-legged in his room, the air around his lean figure permeated with the Dao Intent of Genesis.
Just last night, his cultivation reached the mid-stage Spiritual Manifestation Realm, and he achieved mastery over the subtleties of the Mysterious Truths of Genesis. He was now at the level of small success.
“It’s only by tempering my Genesis Dao Intent to the pinnacle of perfection that I can use its power to sense the Dao Intents of the Supreme Palace and Void Cosmos within the Sword of the Nine Hells.
“Given my powers of comprehension, reaching full mastery of the Dao Intent of Genesis will take another two months at the very least,” Su Yi pondered as he cultivated.
The Supreme Palace and the Void Cosmos!
Even prior to his reincarnation, he’d already decided to master three Grand Dao Mysterious Truths upon entering the Spirit Dao: Genesis, the Supreme Palace, and the Void Cosmos!
In doing so, he could undergo an extreme metamorphosis of the Spirit Dao and condense an all-new Spirit Dao Mysterious Truth!
This Spirit Dao Mysterious Truth was called the Apex of Genesis.
The start of genesis, the apex of the spirit. The Apex of Genesis is realized, and the Grand Dao returns to its origins!
Throughout the long history of the Wilds, no one had ever condensed this Mysterious Truth.
This was because it originated from a hint and trace of enlightenment he’d obtained from the nine-layered Divine Chains sealed by the Sword of the Nine Hells.
In other words, condensing the Mysterious Truths of the Apex of Genesis required starting from the Sword of the Nine Hells.
Because he’d started preparing for this long before he reincarnated, the Mysterious Truths of the Supreme Palace and Void Cosmos had long since been sealed within the Sword of the NIne Hells.
There was nothing for it; both were extremely rare, supreme Mysterious Truths of the Spirit Dao. There was no way to master them simply through meditation and contemplation.
Su Yi naturally didn’t need to worry about that now.
“When I’m not helping the Xia Emperor repair the Nine Tripod Suppression Barrier Formation, I’ll have to seize the time before the onset of the Radiant Epoch to increase my cultivation to the late-stage Spiritual Manifestation Realm.”
“That will be enough to seize good fortune during the descent of the Radiant Epoch, enabling me to break smoothly into the Spiritual Incarnation Realm and refine a perfect Grand Dao Spirit Incarnation!”
The Spiritual Incarnation Realm was the second realm of the Spirit Dao.
In this realm, cultivators could create a Grand Dao Spirit Incarnation within their Grand Dao Spirit Palace. Thus, it was known as the Spiritual Incarnation Realm.
The mightier the Grand Dao Spirit Incarnation, the firmer your foundations in the Grand Dao, and the stronger you were.
......
As dusk fell, a middle-aged man with graying temples arrived outside Nine Tripod City’s gates on the back of a donkey.
“Look! On the tenth day of the third lunar month, Banished Immortal Su defeated five Spiritual Revolution cultivators at this very spot, destroying the alliance of five ancient factions! Their battle shook heaven and earth. Few such battles have ever occurred; it was enough to go down in history!”
“And I was fortunate enough to have witnessed this unmatched grand battle with my own eyes. Everyone, if you want to hear about it, I wouldn’t mind describing it to you.” A cultivator stood near the city gates, talking up a storm. He was practically frothing at the mouth.
Numerous people had gathered around him, all of them listening intently.
“In the Great Zhou he’s ‘Imperial Preceptor Su,’ but in the Great Xia, he’s become ‘Fallen Immortal Su’? Interesting,” the long-robed middle-aged man muttered to himself. He hopped off the donkey’s back and approached the speaker.