Yuan’s Ascension

"Hmm?"

"What's happening?" Yun Ya and Wu Yuan, with their incredibly keen senses, immediately detected something amiss and halted.

Whoosh! Yun Ling darted upward, soaring a hundred li into the sky in a flash. From that vantage point, she could see far into the distance.

Upon realizing what lay ahead, all color drained from her face, her voice distorting to a shriek: "Run!"

Boom! Without hesitation, Yun Ling's body shimmered with golden light as she unleashed her full power, transforming into a golden streak that shot back towards her companions.

"This is bad!"

"Let's go!" Though Wu Yuan and Yun Ya didn't understand what was happening yet, they didn't hesitate to transform into streaks of light themselves.

They dashed forward, following Yun Ling's lead.

Wu Yuan even grew to a height of a hundred zhangs, a pair of wings materializing on his back. His speed skyrocketed to an astonishing level, barely slower than Yun Ya. This display of speed caused even Yun Ling to show a hint of surprise.

It was worth noting that Yun Ya was a fourth-stage Void Refiner cultivator, while Yun Ling was at the fifth stage.

Whoosh! Whoosh! The three of them unleashed their burst state, each flash of movement carrying them over a thousand li. However, the winding canyon passages, even at their widest, were barely more than a thousand li across, preventing them from reaching their maximum speed.

When it came to movement skill, there were two types of speed: One was maximum speed, which required time for acceleration to build up and could only be achieved in straight-line flight. The other was instantaneous burst speed in complex terrain.

Clearly, the second type of speed was much slower than the first.

But the thunder beasts, born in the Thunder Marsh World, were perfectly adapted to this environment. Their body structures were ideally suited for exerting power in these particular conditions, allowing them to reach terrifying speeds.

"Roar!"

Boom! Boom!

In just two breaths, the earth trembled as Wu Yuan, Yun Ling, and Yun Ya caught sight of the massive thunder beasts roaring and charging towards them. Their bodies flickered with lightning, like giant thunderbolts given form. There were more than twenty of them!

The distance between the two groups rapidly shrank.

"They're thunder beast elites."

"So many?" The expressions of Yun Ling and Yun Ya turned extremely grim, beads of cold sweat forming.

A thunder beast elite's basic strength was comparable to a sixth-stage Elysian Field cultivator at least, though they were significantly weaker in other aspects. However, their overall combat strength was still on par with a true second or third-stage Elysian Field cultivator.

If there were only three to five of them, Yun Ling and Yun Ya might have stood a chance while working together. But with dozens charging at them in unison? The beasts could easily tear the two humans apart, even if it cost them half their numbers.

Is there a thunder beast king guiding them? Wu Yuan's mind flashed with a hint of vigilance.

Logically speaking, there shouldn't be so many thunder beast elites gathered in one place. According to intelligence reports, while these beasts had low intelligence, they were quite combative amongst themselves.

Dealing with these thunder beast elites wouldn't be difficult, but it would require unleashing our full strength. Wu Yuan thought, appearing panicked but actually remaining calm inside.

He was considering whether he should help Yun Ling and Yun Ya escape first. If they continued being pursued like this, all three of them would eventually be caught.

Of course, Wu Yuan had another option—using the Law of Space to escape.

If he employed the Law of Space in conjunction with Little Black's wings, Wu Yuan's speed would increase dramatically, enough to outpace these thunder beast elites.

However, that would mean certain death for Yun Ling and Yun Ya.

Whoosh~ Without warning, Yun Ya, who had been flying a hundred li ahead of Wu Yuan, suddenly sent out a green streak of light toward him.

It was too close! Too sudden!

The green light instantly expanded, transforming into a large net-like structure that enveloped Wu Yuan, intending to trap him!

However, as if he had foreseen it, Wu Yuan suddenly spun with a ghost-like agility, evading the net that sought to restrain him.

Swish~ Swish~ Almost simultaneously, a series of massive green vines erupted from the ground. Initially thin, they swelled to enormous proportions in the blink of an eye, then began coiling towards Wu Yuan like giant snakes.

The net and vines struck in perfect unison. Wu Yuan dodged the first attack but couldn't escape the second. Several vines wrapped around his muscular legs, causing his speed to plummet.

And behind him, the sky-darkening horde of thunder beasts howled as they closed in.

"Yun Ya!" Wu Yuan's gaze turned ice-cold, his voice filled with murderous intent as he stared at the rapidly fleeing Yun Ya and Yun Ling.

Indeed, they had only gotten acquainted recently. But throughout their journey, Wu Yuan had grown quite fond of Yun Ya and Yun Ling, this mutually supportive and deeply affectionate Dao companion couple.

Moreover, Wu Yuan had confidence in his strength, thus he took a risk and grouped up with them.

"Shadow Blade, if you must blame someone, blame your own stupidity!" Yun Ya's Soul Force transmission was bitingly cold. He glanced back at Wu Yuan. "Did you really think we helped you along the way because we liked you? How naive!

You are nothing more than a decoy, a human shield if we encounter danger!"

"Shadow Blade, if you want to live, go battle those thunder beasts!" Yun Ling's voice also rang out, tinged with cruelty.

Given how practiced their actions were, this Dao companion couple had clearly done this sort of thing before.

Indeed, I was naive, too compassionate. Wu Yuan's eyes radiated an icy indifference. It had been a very long time since he had wanted to kill someone this badly.

These two made his stomach churn with disgust. The last person Wu Yuan had felt such a strong urge to kill was Jin Quan.

Boom! A terrifying pressure suddenly erupted, and hazy earthy yellow and green lights overlapped, forming an invisible blade that instantly cut through the vines entangling him.

"Roar!" At this moment, the dozens of thunder beasts were within a hundred li of Wu Yuan. He could feel their surging lightning aura even without turning to look.

Wu Yuan stomped fiercely on the air, causing ripples to spread through space itself. Then, the pair of skeletal wings on his back trembled slightly, moving as smoothly as a fish's fins in water.

True Domain! Qiankun! He fully unleashed the profundities of these two Intermediate Laws.

Whoosh! In an instant, Wu Yuan darted away like a fish through water, covering over a thousand li in a single flash. His speed surpassed that of the thunder beast horde by twofold!!

The Teng Snake was naturally adept at Wind and Space!

When Wu Yuan activated his Beast Fusion state, his body refiner self's mastery of the Law of Space far surpassed that of his qi refiner self.

A thunderous boom echoed as Wu Yuan exploded into motion, his eyes locked on his targets with a single, murderous thought — kill!

…

Yun Ya and Yun Ling continued their desperate flight, their faces etched with glee.

"Ling’er, who would have thought this Shadow Blade was so capable? He bought us time to escape," Yun Ya transmitted. "Pity he's such a fool."

"Indeed, a complete imbecile," Yun Ling agreed. "That Zang Xin from before was much cleverer, yet we still killed him. With Shadow Blade's strength and vitality as a body refiner, he should be able to hold them off for..."

The pair was ruthless to the core. They had no qualms about betraying even their own senior brothers, let alone a temporary ally like Wu Yuan.

Suddenly, Yun Ya's smirk vanished. "No! Shadow Blade - he's catching up. His speed is terrifying!"

Yun Ling had already noticed. A ghostly figure was closing in at an impossible pace. Yet they couldn’t detect any spatial fluctuations even with their Soul Force extended.

"How can a Shambhala cultivator move so quickly?" Yun Ling's eyes widened in disbelief.

Seven hundred li. Six hundred. Three hundred. Wu Yuan closed in relentlessly, his aura overwhelming and his gaze as cold as ice.

"Even if you're Autumn Lake Hall's greatest monstrous prodigy, even if you have an ultimate treasure, you're still dead!" Yun Ya snarled.

As a Void Refiner Eminence, he acted decisively. With a gesture, countless vines erupted outward, expanding to cover everything in hundreds of li and enveloping Wu Yuan.

"Die!" Yun Ling unleashed her own attack. Over a dozen streaks of light sliced through the air, homing in on Wu Yuan's massive head.

For Shambhala cultivators, their bodies were not yet fully merged with their souls, and were unable to regenerate from a single drop of blood like Elysian Field cultivators.

In their minds, Wu Yuan merely relied on some secret treasure or hidden trump card for his terrifying speed. But in a direct confrontation? They likely outmatched him.

Their assumption wasn't entirely wrong; in the vast Greenridge Immortal World, perhaps only one or two hundred monstrous prodigies at the Shambhala phase could challenge a mid-stage Void Refiner cultivator.

And in the entirety of the Greenridge Immortal World, there were over ten million immortal continents. The odds of encountering such an individual were infinitesimally small.

Unfortunately for them, they had stumbled upon someone who could be considered the most powerful Shambhala cultivator in the entire macrocosm!

Whoosh! Eight arms sprouted from Wu Yuan's thousand-zhang form, each grasping a gleaming battle saber.

Advanced ether art — Three-Headed Eight-Armed Form!

In the next instant, eight dazzling blade rays erupted, as brilliant as supernovas, illuminating the entire world.

Starsunder Saber Technique — Scorching Sun!

The saber technique was imbued with the True Intent of Celestial Body and Longevity.

Rip~ The blade rays tore through the tangle of vines, reducing them to nothing more than fragments.

In a blur of motion, Wu Yuan broke through the large-scale arcane art, appearing before Yun Ya's horrified face.

"You? No, please—" Yun Ya's expression twisted in terror.

The already fearsome blade rays now carried a hint of the Law of Space’s profundities. Following the spatial traces, they struck with unparalleled speed and force, cleaving Yun Ya's body in two and slicing through his fleeing soul essence.

Yun Ya was dead!

Having lost their master, the power of the once-mighty vines diminished.

A symphony of clashing metal rang out as Wu Yuan's blade rays met Yun Ling's sword lights, sending the flying swords spinning away.

With another burst of speed, he closed in on Yun Ling.

"Daoist Shadow Blade, spare me, I'll do anything you—" Yun Ling's expression turned pitiable, a hint of coquettishness in her voice.

The blade ray flashed, reducing her body to bloody mist.

"My mercy isn't born of foolishness. It stems from my ability to revoke it at will," Wu Yuan's eyes glinted coldly as he collected their treasures.

His gaze shifted towards the horde of roaring, thunder beast elites charging towards him.

This time, Wu Yuan stood his ground.