Yuan's Ascension

Chapter 516: Transformation In Power (1)

"Eldritch-Immortal Battlefield 36?" High Immortal Nan Yin furrowed his brow slightly, "In the entire macrocosm, there are fifty-four Eldritch-Immortal Battlefields in total. Out of them, thirty-six are entry-level battlefields. Number thirty-six is one of the most dangerous."

A smile crept onto Wu Yuan's face.

That's right! The long war waged between the Cang Feng Eldritch World and Voltari Temple saw no signs of slowing down, with countless immortal cultivators killing each other.

During the decisive battle a hundred thousand years ago, countless immortal continents were transformed into battlefields. However, on most days, there were usually only fifty-four active Eldritch-Immortal Battlefields.

There was one high-level battlefield, seventeen mid-level battlefields, and thirty-six entry-level battlefields.

In terms of danger level, the mid-level battlefields were comparable to the Blood Mountain Plane where the cultivators of the Eternal Sun Immortal Nation often ventured on expeditions. For an ordinary Earth Immortal or Earth Eldritch, it was extremely dangerous.

As for the high-level battlefield? That was the greatest battlefield of the macrocosm, and the most intense one.

According to Wu Yuan's knowledge, Senior Brother Jiang Huan was invincible on the high-level battlefield, claiming the lives of more than one Archimmortal.

"Master, the entry-level battlefield is restricted to those at a maximum cultivation level of the ninth-stage Amethyst Cradle phase," Wu Yuan smiled, "Even if many break through to the Void Refiner/Elysian Field phase after entering the battlefield, their overall strength won't be too outrageous."

"Although I just broke through, I believe my Dao comprehension level places me in the top tier of the entire macrocosm," Wu Yuan grinned.

High Immortal Nan Yin offered a helpless smile.

Indeed, Wu Yuan just broke through and still couldn’t compare to the top Amethyst Cradle geniuses who had been cultivating for hundreds of years in the seven major factions. But at least, he was comparable to the top-tier Amethyst Cradle cultivators in typical immortal continents and even immortal nations.

Furthermore, the Eldritch-Immortal Battlefield wasn’t a place meant for showdowns between geniuses, but a gathering of trillions of immortal cultivators taking part in trials. The probability of actually encountering a super genius was rather low.

"It’s still dangerous," High Immortal Nan Yin warned.

"Master," Wu Yuan smiled, "Expeditions are inherently risky. If there's no danger, how can I strive to improve myself? How can I break through life's limits?"

High Immortal Nan Yin sighed inwardly.

How could he not understand? He too, had braved through the same perils, experiencing numerous brushes with death to gain his current strength.

Yet, when it came to his only direct disciple, he was instinctively filled with worry. After all, Wu Yuan, despite his frightening talent, was still too green, having only cultivated for a few decades. There were too many dangers that could pose a threat to him.

"Alright! My disciple, since you've made up your mind, your master will no longer dissuade you. The path from novice to maturity inevitably involves life and death. How can one see a rainbow without weathering a storm?" High Immortal Nan Yin said softly.

"Regarding the treasures for upgrading your lifebound flying swords, I will arrange for someone to deliver them to you soon. However, when you reach the ninth-stage Amethyst Cradle phase, remember to visit me. I have some instructions for you."

"Understood. Then, I'll take my leave first." Wu Yuan bowed respectfully, then quickly left the residence via the teleportation array.

Sensing Wu Yuan depart, High Immortal Nan Yin shook his head slightly, sighing inwardly.

Sigh! He hasn't even left yet, but I’m already filled with worry.

...

Upon returning to his own residence, Wu Yuan continued cultivating with the divine crystal elixir.

Boom! The influx of purified spiritual qi transformed into rolling waves of essentia, expanding the amethyst cradle lake within him in width and depth.

The pool of amethyst cradle mana that Wu Yuan could manipulate also grew increasingly large.

"Fourth-stage Amethyst Cradle phase achieved. Continue." Wu Yuan muttered under his breath.

His soul now was extraordinarily strong, fully capable of channeling different quantities of essentia to cultivate numerous aspects.

The Dark Earth Sword Array is my main attack technique. But in the Eldritch-Immortal Battlefield, powerhouses are plentiful. Large groups of powerhouses will gather, launching joint offensive assaults. Wu Yuan knew this very clearly.

Hence, I should now focus on cultivating the Star Ruins Sword Codex and the Extended Life Sword Codex. Survival is paramount.

Furthermore, to conceal my identity during battle, the Longevity Dao should form the core of my techniques, supplemented by the Celestial Body Dao.

Just as Wu Yuan was deep in thought, a strand of Wu Yuan's consciousness in the Dragon Star Immortal Voidrealm received a message from the Sect Spirit.

"Amethyst Cradle Hereditary disciple Li Xia, the sect's veteran elders have decided to grant you a status equivalent to a sect elder. From today onwards, you may freely access all sect teachings, secret codices, and secret arts. You are no longer required to redeem them with dragon crystals."

The message was succinct, yet its meaning was profound.

Did Master help me? I don't need dragon crystals anymore? A smile blossomed on Wu Yuan’s face. That's good. From here on out, I can freely learn all these teachings and secret codices from the sect.

Wu Yuan understood the reason for this.

The sect introduced dragon crystals to encourage disciples to take risks and discourage them from slacking off. But for Wu Yuan who was under the tutelage of an Eldritch Sovereign, these restrictions no longer held much significance. The teachings he could learn through the Origin Eldritch Field were even more precious and superior.

Besides, the Dragon Star Immortal Voidrealm’s coverage only spanned the spacetime territory of one immortal continent. Once he ventured to the distant Eldritch-Immortal Battlefield 36, he would be unable to learn secret arts through the Dragon Star Immortal Voidrealm.

Even though located in a higher void dimension, the projection range of an Archimmortal’s Voidspace can only extend to the size of a single immortal continent. Wu Yuan had finally understood how voidrealms were constructed.

The source of it all was a Voidspace. The underlying principles were incredibly complex. Yet, the actual operation was not difficult. By following the detailed process, one could construct it.

Wu Yuan himself could also build a small, simple voidrealm based on his own Voidspace, which could cover a range of tens of millions of li.

Once I leave the sect, I won't be able to study the sect's secret arts. So, I should pick and choose carefully now, and try to memorize as much as I can. Wu Yuan flashed a grin.

He redeemed the complete teachings of the ‘Extended Life Sword Codex’, ‘Star Ruins Sword Codex’, ‘Dark Earth Sword Codex’, ‘Sword Soul Sourcelight’ and others, memorizing them along with many other sword arts, saber codexes, and so on.

Being greedy and biting off more than one can chew would naturally lead to issues down the line. Thus, Wu Yuan did not actually cultivate all the sword arts and sword codexes. Most of what he had redeemed was only for reference.

‘Archimmortal Array Scrolls’, ‘Divine Treasure Identifier’, ‘Crystal Search Mountain River Methodology’, ‘Devil Worm Cultivation Codex’, ‘Ten Thousand Puppets Mind Control Methodology’ and more than a dozen auxiliary law codices were also redeemed by Wu Yuan, who spared a bit of his attention to study them.

One need not master these supplementary techniques when on expeditions, but one could not be completely ignorant of them.

Take arrays for example. When faced with a super large-scale array, one didn’t need to understand it thoroughly, but if one couldn’t even discern its grade, that was dangerous.

Arrays are actually quite interesting. Wu Yuan murmured, immersed in the study of arrays.

In essence, arrays involved borrowing heaven and earth’s power, combining it with the geography of mountains and rivers, Dao patterns, and so on, and then unleashing terrifying power.

Wu Yuan's understanding of the Dao was deep enough, so it wasn’t difficult for him to learn some ordinary arrays. Theoretically, if one had the Dao comprehension insights of an Astral Lord or Archimmortal, one could easily set up formidable arrays. This is the advantage of reaching a higher cultivation phase.

...

‘Soulshake Seal’ was a technique to coalesce the user’s soul into a massive seal, which would be ruthlessly slammed into the enemy’s soul, causing their soul to wobble and thus interfering with their ability to cast arcane arts or manipulate flying swords.

‘Soul-extinguishing Needle’ was a technique to refine the user’s soul into a needle, aimed to annihilate the enemy's soul directly, achieving a silent and stealthy kill.

Wu Yuan obtained these two soul techniques.

These two soul attack techniques were widely practiced in many large sects, and were not difficult to cultivate.

However, being widely practiced and easy to cultivate didn’t mean they are weak. On the contrary, if these two soul attack techniques were cultivated to a profound degree, their power could reach terrifying levels.

If I continue to cultivate peacefully in the sect, I don't have to practice these offensive techniques, but in the world outside, they are indispensable. Wu Yuan cultivated with utmost seriousness.

His goal was just to make some progress. His powerful soul was comparable to a Void Refiner Eminence’s. Once he employed Soulshake Seal, even with just a rudimentary grasp of the technique, Wu Yuan believed even a ninth-stage Amethyst Cradle cultivator would be affected, making it a key technique in group battles.

However, Wu Yuan focused far more on the ‘Sword Soul Sourcelight’ technique compared to the two soul attack techniques.

This soul defense technique was something he began practicing soon after joining the sect. It was divided into nine source realms, to which he devoted himself to cultivating.

Time passed. When Wu Yuan advanced to the seventh-stage Amethyst Cradle phase, he finally cultivated ‘Sword Soul Sourcelight’ to the fourth source realm.

Fourth source realm, I can easily withstand a soul attack from an ordinary Void Refiner Eminence. Wu Yuan mused inwardly.

Theoretically, with his Dao comprehension and soul, he could cultivate to the fifth source realm.

However, even though sudden epiphanies and rapid breakthroughs may occur when comprehending the Dao, the practice of secret arts required one to decipher countless Dao cryptic patterns and accumulate their profundities, a task of constant grinding.

Wu Yuan wouldn’t be able to reach the fifth source realm of Sword Soul Sourcelight in a short time.

It’s enough. In the entry-level Eldritch-Immortal Battlefield, the chance of encountering an Earth Immortal-level soul attack is very low. Wu Yuan thought, not too worried.

...

At this moment, the Dragon Treasure Tower sent over large batches of treasures successively, all precious items for upgrading lifebound flying swords.

It was obvious that they were all instructed to be delivered by his master, High Immortal Nan Yin.

Refine them! Refine them! Wu Yuan started upgrading his lifebound flying swords without any hesitation.

His lifebound flying swords were bottomless pits when it came to money. For ordinary sword cultivators that only had one or two lifebound flying swords and did not seek to maximize the future potential of their swords, they could generally manage to finance their swords’ upgrades until the Golden Core phase.

But upon reaching the Amethyst Cradle phase, this grew increasingly difficult. After all, a single first-grade flying sword already possessed terrifying power and was incredibly expensive. Even the most common one would cost millions of catties of ethercrystal to purchase.

As for lifebound flying swords? To upgrade a single one to first grade, the minimum cost was tens of millions of catties of ethercrystal, and saving on costs meant limiting the sword's potential.

And for someone like Wu Yuan?

Nine swords! The total value of the treasures Master has sent likely exceeds 600 billion catties of ethercrystal. Wu Yuan marveled quietly. And that's not even counting that precious withered branch treasure from before.

The cost was unimaginably high! The path to becoming the strongest sword cultivator was paved with wealth.

Only a powerful High Immortal like Nan Yin would be willing to pay such a price for his only direct disciple. Normal Earth Immortals were reluctant to do so for their disciples, unable to afford it.

I will not let my master down. Wu Yuan vowed, throwing himself into cultivation, feverishly refining the treasures and upgrading his lifebound flying swords.

Third-grade spirit flying sword, second-grade spirit flying sword... his nine lifebound flying swords became increasingly powerful, inching towards first-grade spirit flying swords.