A crescent moon hung like a hook atop the Forbidden City.
Xiao Wuchen was slumped on the roof ridge of the Hall of Supreme Harmony with his eyes closed. The Black-Clad Guards were fiercely protecting him, and the remnants of the array he had set up were pulsating wildly. Within his body, the previously crumbling malevolent 'pseudo-golden core' was being forcibly dismantled by a new force.
He had abandoned the shortcut of slaughtering all living beings. At the crossroads of destruction and redemption, he employed the system's ultimate logic to forge his own 'third path'.
Ding! The host refuses to carry out the heinous task of sacrificing a million people. His unwavering will has been detected, triggering the system's underlying evolutionary protocol: Heavenly Transformation.
[Heavenly Transformation]
Principle: Abandoning the absorption of negative emotions from the outside world and instead squeezing out the body's own potential. This is done using the 'Soul-Condensing Stone' as a furnace and extremely yin-like mortal true energy as a guide in order to deeply assimilate the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
Price: The host will experience the agony of 'internal burning', and their body will further detach from the 'mortal body', transforming into an indescribable 'spiritual state'.
"Come on." Xiao Wuchen's lips parted slightly as he exhaled a breath of icy blue, murky air.
He didn't need the lives of those ants; only his unyielding spirit mattered.
With the system command issued, the Soul-Condensing Stone, which was originally embedded in his body, exploded and transformed into countless crystalline threads that instantly wrapped around every meridian in his body.
This was an extremely painful process.
The yin energy of the mortal realm is like ice, while the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is like fire. Under the influence of 'Heaven and Man Transformation', ice and fire intertwine. Xiao Wuchen's body shifts constantly between reality and illusion, his skin gradually becoming transparent. Instead of bright red blood, what flows within is a heavy, dark golden 'semi-spiritual energy', like mercury.
This power transcends the realm of mortal martial arts, yet differs from the spiritual energy of orthodox cultivators. It is colder, sharper and more aggressive.
[Ding! Conversion rate: 40%, 70%, 99%...]
[Realm Breakthrough: The host has crossed the barrier of mortal martial arts and entered the 'Half-Step Core Formation' realm.
[System assessment: The current energy level within the body is equivalent to the 'Early Golden Core Stage' and has extremely strong 'spell-breaking' attributes.
The moment Xiao Wuchen opened his eyes, a visible blue light shot into the sky and shattered the dark clouds.
The black-clad guards outside the hall felt an icy pressure sweep over them and knelt down in unison. This wasn't the oppression of authority, but rather the natural progression of life levels.
'A palm print...' Xiao Guizi looked up in horror, seeing strands of flowing silver light mixed in with Xiao Wuchen's hair. His eyes were as cold as those of a god looking down upon all living beings.
At that moment, outside the Meridian Gate...
The booming sound of Yun Miaozi's Autumn Water Longsword was already close at hand. The "Immortal Master" of the Longevity Sect was hovering in the air on his sword, his face full of arrogant arrogance. 'Xiao Wuchen, you crippled body, why don't you come out and die!'
Xiao Wuchen's figure suddenly vanished from the spot.
The next moment, he appeared directly above the Meridian Gate.
Facing Yun Miaozi's powerful Golden Core strike, which was capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, Xiao Wuchen did not draw his sword. Instead, he merely raised his pale, jade-like right hand, with a faint blue light dancing at his fingertips.
'This mortal realm is indeed too noisy.'
'Heavenly Sword Finger — Boundless Birth and Death!'
This was a strike he had compressed to the extreme using all of his half-step spiritual energy.
However, there was no violent explosion as expected. Yun Miaozi's Autumn Water Sword — hailed as a superior-grade magical weapon — mysteriously froze in mid-air the moment it touched the faint blue light. Then, like weathered, rotten wood, it crumbled inch by inch, turning to dust.
'No! This is impossible! You clearly haven't formed your Golden Core yet, so how can you use the laws?"
Yun Miaozi was terrified for only a second. The faint blue light flowed upwards along the broken sword and pierced his chest. This turned the Golden Core expert into a pool of cold blood mist before his very soul had time to escape.
The emperor slumped onto his dragon throne and watched as the silver-haired figure descended from the sky, his red robes billowing in the wind.
This sword strike had not only shattered the Immortal Master, but also severed the last backbone of the Great Qian imperial power.
Xiao Wuchen slowly stepped into the Golden Palace. With each step he took, the spiritual pressure emanating from him caused a crack to appear in the golden pillars.
'Emperor,' Xiao Wuchen's voice echoed in the empty hall, carrying an inhuman weight. 'I can sit upon this empire, but I despise this mortal's throne.'
He looked up into the higher void. He knew that Yun Miaozi's death was only the beginning and that the old monsters lurking in the mountains and rivers would soon catch wind of the "Celestial Being's Transformation".
[Ding! System task update: multiple high-energy life forms detected, converging on the capital. Main quest activated: Bloodbath of the Immortal Alliance, Forging the Demon Palace.
Inside the Golden Palace, the smoke from the battle had cleared, and the silence was so profound that the sound of a pin dropping could be heard.
Xiao Wuchen stood on top of the ruins with the 'Sword of Life and Death' in his hand, which trembled slightly as if yearning for the blood of the strong. As the semi-spiritual energy of the 'Celestial Transformation' within him fully stabilised, his previously restless demonic thoughts miraculously subsided, replaced by a cold, all-seeing detachment. 'Is this the end of the mortal path?'
Xiao Wuchen looked down at his palm, where a faint, dark golden light flowed beneath his pale skin. Standing before the corpse of Yun Miaozi, a Golden Core cultivator, he slowly closed his eyes.
At that moment, his sea of consciousness was no longer a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, but a void of darkness. At the centre of this darkness, a black lotus flower formed from jet-black sword intent was quietly blooming.
This was the ultimate form of the Sword of Life and Death: 'The Flower Blooms to Reveal the Buddha.'
This was not Buddhist compassion, but destructive Zen born from the ultimate yin and yang and slaughter. When the flowers bloom, the causes and effects of all beings are revealed; when the flowers fall, all things return to silence. This technique transcends the mortal realm and touches upon the profound and mysterious 'Daoist principles'.
[Ding! Ultimate Data Statistics:]
Realm: Peak of the Mortal Path / Half-Step Core Formation (conversion rate: 100%).
Combat Power: Invincible in the mortal realm and capable of defeating late-stage Golden Core cultivators.
Sword Intent: Flowers Bloom to Reveal the Buddha
Divine Essence Level: Touched the Edge of the Laws
Xiao Wuchen turned around, his frost-white hair fluttering in the wind.
The Great Qian Emperor slumped on the dragon throne, already terrified and soiling himself. Looking into Xiao Wuchen's cold, emotionless eyes, he screamed, "Xiao Qing, I know I was wrong! I'll give you half of this empire — no, I'll give you all of it!"
'The empire?' A mocking smile played on Xiao Wuchen's lips.
With a casual wave of his hand, a burst of energy sliced off the emperor's crown and shattered a corner of the dragon throne — the symbol of supreme power.
'In the eyes of mortals, this is the Heavenly Ascension Platform, but to me, it is merely the first stepping stone on the path to immortality.'
He turned, his voice echoing throughout the imperial city as he addressed the trembling officials kneeling in the hall. 'From this day forth, the Great Qian Dynasty shall be renamed "Shura". I care not who is emperor; I only wish for all the spiritual herbs and mineral veins of this world to belong to the Xiao family.'
Just then, an extremely cold aura rose from the depths of the palace in the capital, clashing with Xiao Wuchen's sword energy.
'Wuchen, you have indeed surprised me somewhat.'
The Chief Evil-Repelling Steward's voice echoed like a ghost in everyone's ears: 'Born of celestial beings, your sword possesses divine essence... Your life was incomplete, yet you have truly cultivated this heaven-defying power. Alas, the pinnacle of the mortal path is ultimately mortal.'
Xiao Wuchen's figure flashed and he stood on top of the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City, looking towards the eerie palace.
'Bixie, you've guarded the Great Qian Dynasty for two hundred years. Were you protecting imperial power, or that last vestige of your desire for immortality?'
Xiao Wuchen slowly raised his longsword, its blade pointing towards the ground. His voice pierced the depths of the underworld.
'Today, with this ultimate strike on the mortal path, I will sever your will and my last remaining mortal ties. Three days later, at the summit of Fallen Dragon Valley, we will confront our fate."