The Transmigrator’s Cultivation

Arc 24: Nine Void Battlefield | Chapter 456: Breakthrough

As Yun Lie’s sword soul steadily advanced through the third level of sword soul refinement, climbing bit by bit from one, two, and three points up to nine and ten points, under the relentless assault of the endless demons, his sword soul finally reached the pinnacle of the Third Refinements.

The barrier between the Third and Fourth Refinement seemed ready to break with just a little more pressure.

However, that slight gap would require a great deal of slaughter to close.

Xu Ziqing’s dantian was being pushed to its absolute limit, sharp pain shooting through every meridian as his true essence circulated faster and more urgently.

At that moment, the cracks in the sky suddenly widened!

Several powerful waves of pressure descended upon the vast battlefield, suffocating the soldiers. In an instant, three to five dozen giant bows formed by Yang spirits collapsed! The great demons had appeared

At this point in the battle, the soldiers were utterly exhausted, and the great demons, who had been watching with predatory eyes, could no longer hold back.

Dozens of great demons took their places in different parts of the sky, each exuding immense power. Now that they had gathered, their presence was overwhelming, like mercury spreading or water flooding the battlefield, filling the sky to its limits. The lower and mid-level demons could no longer linger in their presence.

The sight was terrifying enough to make one’s heart tremble.

Even though these shen cultivators had fought countless battles and were already bloodthirsty from the ongoing war, at this moment, they still found it hard to breathe under the overwhelming pressure. Nearly a hundred of them were pierced through by the claws of advanced demons they were fighting in an instant!

Yun Lie’s body swayed, and Xu Ziqing felt a sudden heavy pressure on his back.

Both were almost forced to their knees under the immense weight, but in the next moment, they forced themselves upright through sheer willpower!

It was as if a giant hammer had slammed down on their heads, causing intense pain to shoot through their minds, pounding into their sea of consciousness.

Yun Lie abruptly raised his head. Within his Small Universe, the inverted star river began to rotate and expand, forming a massive, endless vortex like a black hole, drawing in the countless stars around it, linking and pulling them together to create something vast and terrifying.

Within the vortex, the shadow of the sword Dao suddenly collapsed, and a giant black-gold sword stabbed straight through. The tip of the sword pierced through what seemed like a solid barrier, shattering it with the sound of ice cracking, clear and sharp.

Fourth Refinement of the Sword Soul!

More profound mysteries of sword techniques and deeper insights into the sword Dao surged forth like a flood. The trajectory of the stars seemed to glow with endless intricacies…

At the same moment, Xu Ziqing, who had forcibly straightened his back, could no longer hide the pain on his face.

The pain was overwhelming, like the agony of washing the marrow and refining the bones, but a hundred times worse! It felt as though his entire body was being compressed to the point of bursting, only to be immediately reconstructed by another force.

Xu Ziqing let out a low shout, gripping the top-grade spiritual stone even tighter.

The Nascent Soul within his dantian opened its eyes and, with a small breath, drew even more torrents of spiritual energy from the stone. His meridians felt as though they had been shattered countless times, only to be healed again, the pain unbearable, making him wish for death at that moment!

But the compression and circulation of his true essence only sped up. In the Realm of Ten Thousand Woods, the Wood Green Dragon let out a long, defiant roar, shaking the heavens and the earth. The tiny Nascent Soul within Xu Ziqing grew even more defined, its eyes, ears, nose, and mouth becoming clearer. Suddenly, it exhaled a burst of azure energy—

In that instant, the pain vanished completely.

In his dantian, his true essence exploded, then surged like a flood, filling him completely in a single moment.

He had… stepped into the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul.

In the blink of an eye, the demon vines were nourished by true essence, causing the wood energy to flourish and the blood energy to surge. Instantly, they formed a barrier, splitting into two sections, protecting both Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie while dispersing the oppressive aura released by the great demons, preventing it from gathering.

This gave both of them some relief.

Due to his breakthrough, Xu Ziqing’s meridians quickly recovered. Not only did the unbearable pain vanish, but his meridians had also widened by twice their previous size. His dantian, now like an abyss, emanated an unfathomable sense of pressure.

Such changes were undoubtedly pleasing.

However, Xu Ziqing knew that although this was a good thing, it didn’t mean he could be completely at ease.

His progression… had been far too rapid.

He was still under two hundred years old, yet he clearly sensed that after this advancement, his cultivation realm felt surprisingly stable.

Could this be the power of the legendary cultivation method?

After a brief contemplation, Xu Ziqing realized that while it might be partly due to the method, the fierce battles on the battlefield had certainly contributed to his accumulation of experience. The pressure from the great demons may not have made the breakthrough completely effortless, but it had certainly helped push him forward.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

Xu Ziqing then looked towards Yun Lie. Moments ago, he had also sensed a shift in his shixiong’s aura.

With his keen perception, he quickly recognized that Yun Lie had also made a breakthrough—not in cultivation level, but in his sword Dao. For a sword cultivator, the realm of the sword Dao was far more important. As long as their sword Dao advanced, their cultivation would naturally rise as well.

Xu Ziqing immediately understood that his shixiong had reached the Fourth Refinement of the Sword Soul. After such a brutal battle, both of them had made significant progress, and now the chances of survival seemed much greater…

Afterward, neither Xu Ziqing nor Yun Lie made any further moves.

They knew that with the appearance of the great demons, the battlefield had reached a stage where they could no longer easily intervene.

Suddenly, the shen cultivators at the Entering Tribulation Stage began to move.

In just a breath’s time, behind them appeared strange shen weapons resembling iron carts, akin to ballistae, but with nine holes, looking incredibly fearsome.

As soon as the great demons appeared, the ballistae had already been prepared!

In no time, nine points of light appeared on each cart, followed by an eruption of power!

Arrows shot out in unison, resembling a chain of nine stars, bursting with intense brilliance!

These nine long arrows, like meteors, directly pierced the body of a great demon. The demon let out a thunderous roar as its chest caved in, struck by the arrows, and it howled in fury!

However, despite the nine arrows hitting the same spot, the great demon did not die. But the Entering Tribulation cultivators were not finished.

Each one had a similar ballista before them, firing the same “Nine-Star Chain Arrows.”

Under the relentless barrage of these arrows, the great demon’s chest finally erupted in a burst of blood, and with a tremendous crash, it fell to the ground!

The ground trembled, and the many shen cultivators awoke.

The overwhelming momentum created earlier by the collaboration of the great demons was shattered at this moment.

Even if the great demons numbered in the dozens and were seemingly invincible, what did it matter? In just a single exchange, one had already fallen!

The next moment, battle cries filled the sky, and the soldiers, shaking off their initial shock, began to unleash their full strength again.

At the same time, several shen cultivators at the Tribulation Transformation Stage transformed into blazing lights, charging into the heavens. Almost every one of them engaged with three great demons at once.

Their movements were peculiar, and with each punch, they unleashed blinding bursts of fire and mountain-crushing force, battling the three great demons head-on without being at a disadvantage! As they fought, their bodies expanded, making them appear like towering giants, exuding extreme power!

Xu Ziqing’s pupils suddenly contracted as he looked up.

He had seen how cultivators of the Gathering Origin Stage fought many times, but he had rarely witnessed those at the Entering Tribulation or Tribulation Transformation Stages. Especially for the latter, this was almost the first time. Now that he had the opportunity, he was determined not to miss it.

As he observed, he noticed something.

The shen cultivators at the Tribulation Transformation Stage not only transformed into giants using divine power but also converted their Yang Spirits into protective armor. These transformations were versatile and incredibly powerful. Previously, in the images shown by the giant sun, Xu Ziqing could only see these cultivators as beams of light, unable to discern their true forms. But now, seeing them in combat with the great demons, he began to understand.

If the dazzling light surrounding the shen cultivators of the Enlightenment stage were stripped away, perhaps they too would have this formidable armor?

Reflecting on the ways of immortal cultivators, Xu Ziqing realized that they typically relied on magic garments for protection. Armor, being cumbersome, was rarely used unless it had immense defensive power. Even when armor was forged, it was often heavy and considered an external item.

But shen cultivators were different.

The armor on a shen cultivator’s body was formed from their Yang Spirit, essentially a manifestation of their divine power. Divine power to them was akin to true essence for cultivators. If Xu Ziqing could comprehend something from this and use it as a foundation to refine a technique that condensed his true essence into protective armor… then in future battles, he wouldn’t need to rely on Rongjin to divide his vines for defense. He could direct all his demon vines to attack, enhancing their power, or perhaps avoid using the vines altogether and hone his other techniques.

With this thought, Xu Ziqing focused even more intently on the battle.

On the battlefield, the remaining high-level demons were being successively attacked by the Source Gathering Stage cultivators. As for the great demons in the sky, over a dozen were being held off by the Tribulation Transformation shen cultivators. The remaining twenty or thirty were being restrained by the Tribulation Crossing shen cultivators using their “Nine-Star Chain Arrows,” preventing them from descending to wreak havoc or interfering with the Tribulation Transformation cultivators.

However, each great demon was comparable to a cultivator in the Great Ascension Stage. Although there were many Entering Tribulation cultivators, there were just over a hundred of them, with each group of four or five responsible for one great demon. The power of an Entering Tribulation shen cultivator ranged from the late Nascent Soul Stage to the Spirit Severing Stage, and the gap between them and the great demons was immense! Even with the divine power of the great sun to assist them, they were barely holding on. To actually kill a great demon was incredibly difficult!

Furthermore, if they weren’t careful and allowed a great demon to land on the ground—their arrows would lose much of their effectiveness, and dealing with the demon would become several times more challenging!

Xu Ziqing carefully observed the battle between the Tribulation Transformation shen cultivators and the great demons, marveling at the profoundness of their physical techniques. Each punch seemed to contain a great truth, and with every strike, the patterns on their armor shifted, exuding boundless intricacy.

Delighted by what he was learning, Xu Ziqing mimicked their movements, punching through the air in a series of explosive blows, creating bursts of sound with each strike.

Suddenly, a great demon pierced through the layers of arrows and crashed onto the ground!

Translator: Lynn

Translations are not 100% correct. Please let me know if there are typos/mistakes in the chapter.

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