Su Xuan Forced to Ascend!

Meanwhile, the battlefield beyond the realm was no less brutal than the one below. Su Xuan held the perimeter alone, a single man with a single saber. The void trembled. Besieged by a horde of cultivators, even Su Xuan began to feel the strain. The battlefield outside the realm was simply too vast, which meant Su Xuan had to fend off attacks from every enemy at every single moment. Not only that, but many of the Immortal Realm cultivators employed venomous tactics, lurking in wait to ambush him and causing no small amount of trouble. By now, both sides had grown far more cautious. Every cultivator Su Xuan caught an opening against failed to survive! Su Xuan's saber was simply too fast. Yet he was heavily wounded, the immortal primal energy within him nearly exhausted. Expended immortal primal energy was difficult to recover, which was why he had not dared to reveal his full strength all these years. His coarse hemp robe was now riddled with slashes, leaving him looking rather battered. Wounds great and small covered his body, too many to count. Even so, more than half of the enemies who had stood before him at the start were gone. The old man merely stood there with saber in hand, swaying slightly as if baiting them to strike. Yet not a single person dared to make a rash move. Nearly everyone who had dared strike at him before was dead. Su Xuan assessed the remaining power within his body and swept his gaze across the crowd before him one by one. It was as though he were taking roll call. That tranquil look made everyone swallow hard in tension. That placid gaze seemed already to pronounce their doom. Anxiety and dread flooded every heart. After fighting for so long, they had not even managed to inflict a grievous injury on this dying old man. Losing over half their number had only depleted nearly half of the elder's energy in their eyes. To kill him... at some point, such words had become impossible to voice. Su Xuan looked back toward the Human Spirit Realm, his gaze resting at last on the young man poised to break through, reluctance in his eyes. Parting his lips, Su Xuan spoke softly. "Guanqi, Grandfather... must go up now." "Slay all enemies before you, ascend with the rest, and be careful, careful, and careful again!" As the words fell, Li Guanqi—in the midst of his breakthrough—shuddered violently and jerked his head up! In that instant, their gazes met across the vast distance. Li Guanqi seemed to see Su Xuan smiling. Boom! An incomparably vast pressure erupted from beyond the realm. A tangled thicket of saber light blossomed across the firmament. The saber light flashed, leaving the void dead silent. His blade slaughtered eighteen immortals; even Golden Immortals met their end! Under the terrifying explosion of immortal primal energy, only severed corpses could be seen raining down from the heavens. Yet violent detonations roared—in their final breath, many of the cultivators battling Su Xuan chose to self-detonate! The self-detonation of true immortals carried power terrifying enough to obliterate the entire Youhuang Realm! Su Xuan sighed helplessly. Shifting through the void, he threw himself in front of the Youhuang Realm and raised a hand to endure the blast head-on. The flesh on Su Xuan's arm dissolved into nothingness. His expression was stern, his eyes fierce. Yet the old man's aura was now exceedingly faint. A muffled groan escaped him, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. The roar of the explosions was deafening, nearly tearing the heavens apart. Yet Su Xuan's body stood firm like a towering mountain. No matter how frantically the force of the self-detonations washed over him, Su Xuan remained unshakable. A few breaths later, Su Xuan stumbled, nearly collapsing to the ground. He vomited mouthful after mouthful of blood, the power inside him plunged into extreme chaos. The Heavenly Dao fell into disarray, shockwaves churned, spiritual light flickered, and rivers and seas surged in reverse. The Youhuang Realm could no longer bear Su Xuan's current power. He had to leave. Su Xuan took a deep breath, raised his shattered saber of immortal primal energy, and slashed fiercely forward! Boom! A golden pillar of light descended from the heavens. Su Xuan stepped slowly into it, transmitting his voice softly to Li Guanqi. "Remember well what Grandfather told you. Remember it, and under no circumstances inquire about me after ascending to the Immortal Realm." Li Guanqi's eyes grew moist as he watched, murmuring under his breath. "Grandfather..." Within the ascension passage, the old man smoothed his disheveled hair. He looked up at the firmament, his gaze somewhat vacant. Suddenly, the old man's aura began to plummet rapidly, falling all the way back to the Heavenly Immortal realm! Su Xuan gathered a cluster of spiritual light in his palm and gently pushed it into the void. Whoosh! A sphere of light the size of a steamed bun instantly pierced through the thunderfire domain and surged into the space between Li Guanqi's brows! Li Guanqi stiffened, as though struck by lightning! "This is..." "The Golden Immortal power Grandfather scattered into the Youhuang Realm earlier!" This power was equivalent to a third of Su Xuan's total might. Su Xuan sat cross-legged in the ascension passage, grinning broadly. Pulling out his pipe, he puffed away. Amidst the curling smoke, the old man whispered softly. "Grandfather promised... Grandfather would leave everything to you..." The cultivators of the Seventh Domain also noticed the ascension passage deep within the firmament. Wen Guyan held his sword in one hand, his expression solemn, and dropped to one knee, shouting at the top of his lungs. "Wen Guyan respectfully sends off the Realm Lord upon his ascension!" "We respectfully send off the Realm Lord upon his ascension!" "Respectfully sending off the Realm Lord! Ascension!" Hope. In their eyes, this sight was hope itself. Su Xuan had ascended to the Immortal Realm, and the Human-Immortal Realm Barrier was no more! The immortals beyond the realm had all been slain—how could such a sight not inspire their spirits? Su Xuan looked toward the Seventh Domain, feeling the immense pulling force, and said softly: "Suppressing the Youhuang Realm for ten thousand years was never my wish." "Today... the great Dao of ascension lies right before you!" "Everyone, fight with all your might, and ascend in broad daylight!" As the words fell, Su Xuan's figure transformed into a streak of light, rocketing straight toward the pinnacle of the firmament's void! Li Guanqi's heart felt hollow as he stared blankly at the scene. Between his brows, within his spiritual terrace, that cluster of spiritual power was held firmly in place by sealing power. Whenever Li Guanqi wished, he could absorb this purest of power at any moment. And this power was enough for him to break through to the Mystic Immortal realm even in this Human Spirit Realm, devoid of immortal qi! Boom! The heavenly flames dispersed, and Li Guanqi's realm firmly settled at the mid Ascension Realm. Li Guanqi looked around with a chilling gaze, his eyes narrowing as he spoke in a frigid voice. "Go and die..." A ringing sword chime sounded. His scale-covered hand tightly gripped the hilt, and Red Lotus erupted with piercing wails of blade intent. Boom! "Hidden Dragon Sword!" His figure flashed forward, the sword light illuminating the firmament. The terrifying sword qi ripped the entire domain wide open! A single sword strike shook heaven and earth. The sword light swept across the void, carrying unmatched destructive power. Li Guanqi's strength was multiplying rapidly compared to before. The remaining six cultivators desperately pooled their strength to resist, but their attacks and barriers appeared utterly laughable to Li Guanqi. Magic treasures shattered, flesh disintegrated, and their severed bodies burst into clouds of blood mist. Just as Li Guanqi breathed a sigh of relief, the moment the domain dissolved... Suddenly! Several sharp beams of sword light shot out from the void! Li Guanqi's gaze sharpened. Forcibly breaking off his strike, he spun around to parry! Clang! A pale, gaunt white-robed man holding a sharp blade burst out from the void! The clash of blades threw off a shower of sparks. The immense force slammed Li Guanqi from the sky down toward the earth! "To think a rift could still be forced open..." "Searched for ages. What a pain." Thud! Li Guanqi slowly climbed to his feet from the shattered wreckage. The man stood in midair, looking down with disdain, showing no urge to strike down the weak. Dragging the two barely surviving Ascension Realm cultivators from earlier in his grip, he murmured: "The Heavenly Dao rules in this spiritual realm are rather chaotic. Quite a nuisance..." The young man looked down, clenched his fist, and muttered with a frown: "Only at the peak of the Ascension Realm... That'll do." If Li Guanqi's sword strike earlier had not been interrupted... None of those seven would have survived! Yet now... "Who are you?" Whoosh! Li Guanqi flashed before the young man, speaking in a chilling voice. Yet the man showed no intention of answering. Reaching out, he plucked silver threads from the void. With a gentle vibration, space instantly fractured! Immediately, twenty to thirty more figures leapt out! Every one of them wore a light-blue robe embroidered with intricate patterns. The young man pointed indifferently toward the battlefield below and said softly: "Slaughter them."