Immortal-Exterminating Divine Venerable

'This time, the Bloodthirsty Divine Sword slaughtered a full twenty-one Void Immortal Realm powerhouses. The power it fed back is only a tenth of the total, but it's still an incredible amount.'

Sensing this energy, Yang Xiao felt a mix of joy and sorrow.

'He was happy because this power was so immense. If I were an ordinary Martial Cultivator, I could probably ascend directly to the Peak of the Great Divine Power Realm by fully absorbing it.'

'With the Heart of Time I've condensed, even stepping into the Demigod Realm wouldn't be a problem.'

'But tragically, I'm not an ordinary person.'

'My Heaven and Earth Origin Flame needs Yin Spirit Fire to advance, so I can't absorb this immense power at all.'

'It seems the only option is to let my Golden Roc True Body have it. Thankfully, the Golden Roc True Body possesses divine power; otherwise, it probably couldn't absorb this much energy either.'

With a helpless sigh, Yang Xiao fused the power into his Golden Roc True Body.

The moment it fused...

The Golden Roc True Body, which had already reached the Peak of the Seventh Layer of the Great Divine Power Realm, instantly broke through again. It reached the Eighth Layer, and then the Ninth.

It only stopped when it reached the Peak of the Great Divine Power Realm.

At the same time, Yang Xiao could sense the Golden Roc True Body's bottleneck.

If he could just break through this bottleneck, his Golden Roc True Body would step into the Demigod Realm.

At that point, Yang Xiao's power would soar once again.

'I still have too few Golden Roc Secret Patterns. To get my Golden Roc True Body to the Demigod Realm, I'll probably need to comprehend nine layers of Golden Roc Secret Patterns and condense a special Golden Roc Secret Pattern Heart. Even so, this is more than enough for now.'

Indeed, it was enough.

With his Golden Roc True Body at the Peak of the Great Divine Power Realm, Yang Xiao could now contend with ordinary Void Immortals.

He could come and go as he pleased.

'Even a hundred more people like Ye Donghuang would pose little threat to me now.'

'And with the Bloodthirsty Divine Sword... With this combination, I'd dare to take on even a newly ascended True God. If I threw caution to the wind and exhausted all my Spiritual Power, it might not even be impossible to slay a True God.'

At this thought, Yang Xiao licked his lips, his eyes glinting with boundless killing intent and self-confidence.

He had already made his decision.

'As soon as I get out of the Profound Sun Secret Realm, I'm going to find that so-called Vast Heaven Immortal Lord.'

'And kill him!'

'Let's see if the Profound Sun Continent can produce another True Immortal then!'

'But for now, I should check on Lingxi.'

He turned around.

Yang Xiao put away the Bloodthirsty Divine Sword.

It was only then that he realized how exhausted his mind felt.

'Clearly, even though my power has increased dramatically, wielding a Divine Soldier like that is still too much of a strain.'

However, that wasn't what surprised him.

It was Yue Lingxi.

'What's gotten into this girl? Why is she looking at me like that? And why is she coming over here... with that frenzied look on her face...?'

Yang Xiao froze.

Because as he turned, Yue Lingxi was staring at him with a look of pure adoration.

"Lord Xiao, you're amazing!"

Then, before Yang Xiao could even react, Yue Lingxi let out a joyful cry and threw her arms around him.

As Yue Lingxi held him, her aura and his completely intertwined.

Their auras fused, blending together.

More deeply than ever before.

It was as if their two auras had become one in that instant.

What surprised Yang Xiao even more...

...was that the Taiyin Fire from within Yue Lingxi's body, cultivated from the Power of Taiyin, actually entered his own body and fused with his Heaven and Earth Origin Flame.

Just a moment ago, Yang Xiao had been lamenting the loss of that vast well of power.

Now, he instantly felt his Heaven and Earth Origin Fire break through.

The Green Flame Second Revolution Realm.

Its gates instantly swung open to him.

At the same time, as their auras continued to merge, the True Greater Yang Fire within Yang Xiao's body began to rise continuously.

His own aura followed suit.

His power, originally at the Peak of a Tier Two Martial Saint, instantly broke through to Tier Three, then Tier Four.

His aura climbed all the way to that of a Tier Four Peak Martial Saint before it finally stopped.

Then, it too poured into the Heaven and Earth Origin Flame.

A massive amount of Essence Qi was generated.

And it was being produced in an endless stream.

This stunned Yang Xiao.

'The amount of Essence Qi produced by the Heaven and Earth Origin Flame has always been finite. Although it varies slightly based on the energy available... a situation like this... where it's producing several, even ten times more than it did at the Green Flame Realm First Revolution... should be completely impossible.'

And yet.

It was happening.

And it felt completely natural.

It was as if he and Yue Lingxi were a match made in heaven. Even a domineering flame like the True Greater Yang Fire began to change after merging with the Power of Taiyin.

The four different Secret Patterns fused completely into one.

At the same time, a new kind of Secret Pattern was born.

This Secret Pattern was similar to the Power of Taiyin, yet different, possessing a profoundly all-encompassing nature.

To Yang Xiao, it felt harmonious, perfectly harmonious, like the union of heaven and earth, yin and yang.

Intertwined.

It allowed the True Greater Yang Fire to better integrate the four Secret Patterns—Star, Nine Yang, Fire Essence, and Greater Yang—unlike before, where the Greater Yang pattern was dominant and the other three were merely supplementary.

The sensation was profoundly mystical.

And incredibly pleasant.

It went on and on.

An unknown amount of time passed.

Suddenly, Yue Lingxi pushed him away.

Only then did Yang Xiao snap out of his trance.

He glanced instinctively at Yue Lingxi. Her face was flushed red; she had obviously come to her senses.

She had become shy.

Just as he was about to take the initiative...

...Yang Xiao noticed the Jade Talisman at her waist.

His heart jolted.

'No. Her origins are a mystery. I can't take things further with her right now. Besides, she's clearly after Junior Brother Xuan Yang's legacy. The likelihood that she's an enemy, not a friend, is extremely high. I can't do this. If we truly are enemies, it won't just be painful for me—she'll be devastated and won't know what to do.'

As Yang Xiao thought of this, a sudden, inexplicable pang of pain shot through his heart.

When Yue Lingxi received no response from Yang Xiao, she couldn't help but slowly raise her head.

She saw the sorrow on his face.

Her own spirits couldn't help but fall.

The two of them now felt an ever-growing sense of connection, as if their hearts could read each other.

And this only made Yang Xiao even more afraid to get closer to Yue Lingxi.

He took an almost deliberate step back.

That single step sent Yue Lingxi's already low spirits plummeting to rock bottom.

"There's nothing stopping us from exploring this Secret Realm now," Yang Xiao said, forcing a smile. "Don't you still have a mission? Shall we go complete it?"

"Mm,"

Yue Lingxi nodded.

She was just as docile as she had been when she was injured, when Yang Xiao had promised to avenge her.

But they both knew.

A distance had grown between them.

But while these two were tormenting each other over the matters of the heart, the entire Profound Sun Continent was struck by a world-shaking tremor.

The four Domain Lords of the Eastern, Southern, Northern, and Western Domains had all died on the same day.

At the same time, the Sect Leaders of the Zhenyou Immortal Sect and the Golden Sun Immortal Sect—two of the Ten Great Immortal Sects—had also perished.

Along with them were twenty other Void Immortal Level powerhouses.

A total of twenty-six Void Immortal Powerhouses had fallen on the very same day. In that instant, the entire Profound Sun Continent trembled—a violent, cataclysmic shock.