Yuan’s Ascension

“Roar~”

"Roar~" Twenty-three thunder beast elites charged forward with thunderous bellows, their already astonishing speed now unleashed to its fullest.

In the twisting mountain range, their burst speed outpaced even Yun Ling and Yun Ya’s.

Though Wu Yuan's clash with Yun Ya and Yun Ling had lasted less than two seconds, it was enough time for these thunder beasts to close the distance of more than a thousand li.

Boom!

Boom! The thunder beasts erupted with power, the massive spines on their backs crackling with energy before unleashing terrifying bolts of lightning.

The lightning wove together like arcane arts cast by multiple qi refiners simultaneously combined in an array. Without pausing or weakening, it formed a net of electricity spanning over a thousand li that crashed down onto Wu Yuan.

A deafening rumble shook the mountain ranges on both sides.

The lightning's range wasn't limited to a thousand li - that was simply the width of the gap between the mountain ranges.

Lightning flashes traveled at the speed of light. While this attack wasn't quite so extreme, it still reached an astounding thirty thousand li per second.

Wu Yuan’s expression shifted slightly. He had no time to dodge and could only react on instinct.

Wu Yuan never imagined that a large group of thunder beast elites could unleash such a special ability. It wasn't mentioned in any of the reports he'd studied.

What Wu Yuan didn't know was that the information provided by the Longstar Immortal Sect to outsiders like him was only general knowledge. The truly valuable intelligence, paid for with countless lives? How could they casually reveal such secrets?

Whoosh~ The lightning net could be considered a super large-scale arcane art, almost resembling a domain.

Unless one could slip into a higher spatial dimension or retreat from the area at extreme speeds, there was no avoiding it!

Only by comprehending the Qiankun Dao to the seventh-level True Intent stage, or fully integrating the Intermediate Laws of the Law of Space to the first-level True Intent stage, can one's physical body enter the Fragmentary Spatial Layer. Wu Yuan knew this well.

Higher spatial dimensions weren't so easily accessed.

Boom! A domain manifested around Wu Yuan, hazy earthy-yellow light intertwining with green as it clashed against the descending lightning.

If this were his qi refiner self, empowered by Amethyst Cradle-level mana, he might have had a chance to withstand it by wielding his flying swords to form a sword domain.

But his body refiner self? With the same level of Dao comprehension but lacking mana reinforcement, the power of his domain was far weaker. This was an innate disadvantage of body refiners.

Rumble~ The net lightning crashed down. Even after being weakened by Wu Yuan's domain, it still struck his towering form.

Crackle~ Electricity danced over Wu Yuan's body. He had equipped battle armor that left only his eyes exposed, with scales covering even his palms and fingers. It was a full set of high-grade spirion armor, infused with vital ether!

And in areas beneath the armor, countless mysterious green Dao patterns appeared on Wu Yuan's skin, seemingly unifying his entire body.

Grand ether art - Great Eldritch Divine Body!

As a true body-type grand ether art, the Great Eldritch Divine Body had two major states.

The first was its normal state, requiring no ether consumption. At the third step of mastery, Wu Yuan's physical body alone approached the strength of second-grade spirit equipment.

The second was its ether-empowered state. When vital ether activated the ether art's Dao patterns, the sturdiness of his physique would skyrocket, fully comparable to first-grade spirit equipment. Truly indestructible!

Of course, while the ether-empowered state granted immense power, it also consumed vital ether rapidly.

Wu Yuan was concurrently employing multiple ether arts at this moment.

The advanced ether art Deity Form, the evolved version of Eldritch Form, could enlarge his body and boost all aspects of his power.

Naturally, advanced ether arts like Deity Form were considered standard techniques among Shambhala cultivators.

Wu Yuan's true core ether art was the Great Eldritch Divine Body.

Body refiners who cultivated different grand ether arts had different combat styles. Without a doubt, Wu Yuan's specialty was: tanking hits!

Hiss~ Boom~ As the violent forks of electricity passed through the high-grade spirion armor, their power was weakened by over ninety percent. The high-grade spirion armor was undamaged. Even an all-out attack from a High Immortal couldn’t easily destroy such an artifact.

Penetrating the armor, the remaining ten percent of power struck Wu Yuan's body. The terrifying impact and corrosive power caused countless cracks to appear throughout his skin. Blood seeped out, and his body appeared on the verge of collapse.

The force sent Wu Yuan flying backward.

Rumble~ Vital ether poured forth from his internal shambhala, quickly stabilizing Wu Yuan's body that had been on the brink of shattering.

What a terrifying impact! Such incredible power. Wu Yuan's heart trembled slightly as he realized he had gotten a bit careless this time.

If he hadn't purchased the high-grade spirion armor, if the Great Eldritch Divine Body hadn’t strengthened his physique sufficiently, if he hadn’t had vast quantities of vital ether to heal his injuries… he would likely have been gravely injured or even dead!

The combined power of that lightning net definitely surpasses a ninth-stage Void Refiner cultivator’s attack. Wu Yuan thought to himself. If I could cultivate the Great Eldritch Divine Body to the fourth step, activating it would make me nearly as tough as a spirion artifact. Then I could have withstood it directly.

This had little to do with Dao comprehension. The gap in foundations was simply too vast, just as a ninth-stage Earth Immortal's power was over ten thousand times that of Wu Yuan's.

Unless he could fully comprehend a Dao, using its power to overwhelm his opponent, even the slightest ripple of excess power from such a being could kill Wu Yuan.

Kill! As Wu Yuan’s vital ether rapidly depleted to heal his wounds, his body remained largely intact. The wings on his back flickered, and he shot forward, turning into a streak of light as he charged toward the thunder beasts leaping at him.

“Roar~”

"Roar~" These thunder beast elites, more intelligent than their ordinary counterparts, seemed slightly surprised. They hadn't expected their overwhelming assault to fail to kill a single Shambhala cultivator. Yet, they did not feel fear.

In an instant, the two sides clashed. The thunder beasts had the advantage of greater numbers and raw power.

Wu Yuan countered with superior defense and elusive movement skill!

Clang! Clang!

Whoosh! Unleashing his full might, Wu Yuan's combat power soared to terrifying heights, surpassing even a ninth-stage Elysian Field cultivator!

This was combined with the Starsunder Saber Art, a dual offensive and defensive technique.

Blade rays flashed through the air. In the narrow canyon, it seemed as if multiple phantoms of Wu Yuan appeared. In their wake, thunder beasts fell with anguished roars!

His saber was like a star, heavy and boundless! His saber was like lightning, shifting like mist!

After nearly ten breaths of furious combat, the canyon finally fell silent. The surroundings were in utter disarray, all twenty-three thunder beast elites slain.

Wu Yuan let out a long breath, his gaze sweeping over the corpse-strewn ground as he shook his head slightly. These thunder beast elites are truly a frenzied bunch.

Wu Yuan was certain that if it had been a seventh or eighth-stage Void Refiner cultivator suddenly ambushed by so many thunder beast elites in such a confined space, death would have been inevitable!

It was worth noting that among these twenty-three thunder beast elites, the two strongest possessed base power comparable to Wu Yuan in his burst state.

Cultivating the Great Eldritch Divine Body grand ether art was the right choice. Wu Yuan mused. At any time, survival must always be the top priority.

Only by living could one have a future and hope.

Whoosh~ Swoosh!

With a thought from Wu Yuan, crystalline stones flew out from the bodies of the thunder beast elites. These crystals were larger and more rounded, radiating a stronger aura overall.

Second-grade Thunder Beast Stones. Wu Yuan noted mentally.

With a wave of his hand, he collected all the Thunder Beast Stones.

Visibly, the robust, massive corpses of the thunder beast elites began to dissolve one by one.

I still don't understand how it works. Wu Yuan shook his head slightly.

Then, his gaze swept through the depths of the dark canyon, a flicker of wariness in his eyes. So many thunder beast elites gathered together... According to the intelligence reports, there's a high probability a Thunder Beast King is controlling them.

Is there a Thunder Beast King in this passageway of the Inner Region?

A Thunder Beast King possessed strength rivaling an Earth Immortal! Unless he used his trump card, Shadow Moon, against such a powerful entity, Wu Yuan wasn't sure he could escape with his life.

Let’s take a detour! Wu Yuan made a snap decision, immediately backtracking. He was unwilling to provoke such a terrifying existence.

He could still reach the stone wall Dao patterns in Area 3 of the Inner Region by crossing other mountain ranges.

…

Wu Yuan continued his journey alone. First, he examined the numerous treasures left behind by Yun Ya and Yun Ling. There were no rare artifacts, and the total value was estimated to be less than a billion catties of ethercrystal.

This was typical. Ordinary Void Refiner Eminences generally possessed wealth amounting to only a few hundred million catties of ethercrystal.

I was somewhat naive this time. Wu Yuan reflected as he traveled.

Despite having absolute confidence in his abilities, a mistake was a mistake, no matter the circumstances.

In life and one's endeavors, one must have the courage to face their own errors. No matter how strong or self-assured, one must always be wary of unexpected pitfalls.

While I may not actively harm others, I must guard against those who wish me harm. Wu Yuan mused to himself as he flew through a mountain range, entering another passageway.

…

Within his internal shambhala, Wu Yuan's soul essence hovered high above in the sky.

Rumble~ Surging vital ether began to infiltrate the twenty-three second-grade Thunder Beast Stones at an alarming rate.

A single second-grade Thunder Beast Stone was worth at least ten million catties of ethercrystal. Yet Wu Yuan paid no heed to their value, focused solely on unraveling the fundamental profundities within these stones.

Though resilient, even these second-grade Thunder Beast Stones couldn't withstand such a relentless assault.

Merely an hour later, a series of explosions rumbled as all twenty-three Thunder Beast Stones shattered simultaneously. Waves of electricity rolled in all directions, only to be suppressed by the vast ocean of vital ether.

Within his internal shambhala, Wu Yuan feared nothing, not even an Earth Immortal – though of course, no Earth Immortal could enter this space.

Soon, Wu Yuan neutralized the electric power from the Thunder Beast Stones. When the electricity dissipated, twenty-three Dao pattern diagrams were revealed!

This? Wu Yuan was stunned.

Each set of Dao pattern diagrams was clearly incomplete.

However, the Dao pattern diagrams of the second-grade Thunder Beast Stones are tens of thousands of times more complex and complete than those from the third-grade stones. Wu Yuan realized with immense joy.

With a thought, a massive image was projected in his internal shambhala, stretching a hundred li high, intricate beyond measure.

It was the Thunder Beast Diagram Wu Yuan had previously copied from the stone wall. The image however, lacked spiritual resonance and contained no trace of Dao fluctuation, limiting its usefulness.

But now, with another thought from Wu Yuan, the twenty-three incomplete Thunder Beast Dao pattern diagrams flew out.

Astonishingly, thirteen of these diagrams perfectly overlapped with small sections of the massive Thunder Beast Diagram!

Haha, excellent!

Wonderful, my hypothesis was indeed correct. Wu Yuan's eyes glimmered with excitement.