Chapter 241 - 240: Domain of the Absolute Monarch (2)
Lin Yuan felt a sudden, immense gravitational pull on the Primordial Sovereign Sword. The domain was actively attempting to rip the weapon from his grasp and force it into the swirling tornado to serve the Guardian.
"He is trying to pull my hair!" Ling Xi screamed in profound indignation. "I will not submit to a rusted ghost! Anchor me, Lin Yuan!"
Lin Yuan’s deep purple eyes turned completely frigid. He tightened his grip on the hilt, his knuckles turning white. He channeled the absolute totality of his Unshaken Stage might, grounding his physical and spiritual connection to the blade.
"A true sovereign," Lin Yuan spoke, his voice cutting through the deafening roar of the swirling swords, "does not demand that weapons bow to him."
Lin Yuan raised his free hand, pointing his index and middle fingers toward the dying sun.
"A true sovereign," Lin Yuan continued, his tone carrying the weight of his foundation, "is the weapon."
He activated the supreme divine skill: [Myriad Swords Return to the Sect].
The golden-purple mist of his Dao Intent erupted from his body, expanding outward in a massive storm that violently clashed against the boundaries of the Guardian’s domain.
Lin Yuan did not attempt to wrestle control of the rusted swords from the Guardian. He forged his own.
From the void of his Qi, thousands upon thousands of flying swords condensed into physical existence. They were not made of iron or steel; they were forged from pure, liquid rain, crackling lightning, and rebirth essence. They illuminated the blood-red sky with a terrifying, divine brilliance.
The fifth floor was instantly divided into two absolute forces: a tornado of ancient iron commanded by a Seventh Step phantom, and a storm of divine blades commanded by Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan swung the Primordial Sovereign Sword forward.
"Return them to the dust," Lin Yuan commanded.
The clash was monolithic. The two massive sword formations collided in the center of the ashen plateau. The sound of tens of thousands of blades shattering simultaneously was enough to permanently deafen a Nascent Soul cultivator.
The rusted iron of the Guardian’s domain was shredded by the sheer superiority of Lin Yuan’s blades. The sky rained molten slag and fractured steel.
The Phantom Guardian, realizing its domain was being dismantled, abandoned the area-of-effect suppression. It ripped its massive greatsword from the earth and charged.
Its speed was incomprehensible, a blur of red cloaks and lethal intent. It closed the distance in a moment, bringing the greatsword down in a vertical, world-splitting arc that carried the absolute, unmitigated might of the Sovereign Stage.
Lin Yuan did not use the Immortal Cloud Step to dodge. He met the charge head-on.
He gripped his sword with both hands and activated the [Army-Breaking Art]. But instead of releasing the art as a wide, horizontal wave to clear a battlefield, his comprehension allowed him to hyper-compress the entire momentum of an army-breaking strike into a single, infinitesimal point on the edge of his blade.
The swords collided.
KA-BOOOOM!
A shockwave of pure, destructive energy exploded outward, vaporizing the surrounding ash and carving a massive, smoking crater into the plateau.
The Primordial Sovereign Sword, fueled by hyper-compressed momentum and indestructible physical strength, bit deeply into the Guardian’s greatsword.
For a terrifying, drawn-out second, the two blades ground against each other, showering the combatants in brilliant sparks.
Then, the Guardian’s greatsword fractured.
The crack raced up the center of the massive blade, glowing with unstable energy, before the entire weapon violently shattered into a thousand pieces.
The Guardian staggered forward, its primary weapon destroyed, its domain broken.
Lin Yuan did not offer a moment of respite. He stepped inside the Guardian’s ruined guard, bringing his blade around in a flawless, horizontal executioner’s arc.
The Primordial Sovereign Sword cleanly decapitated the Sovereign phantom.
The Guardian’s headless body stood for a fraction of a second before dissolving entirely into a shower of pale, silver sparks. The rusted swords littering the plateau instantly turned to dust, blowing away in the harsh wind.
Lin Yuan lowered his sword, his chest heaving slightly for the first time since he had entered the pagoda. The Sovereign Stage was a profound plateau of power; overcoming had required flawless execution.
The eclipsing sun above him shattered, revealing a staircase of swirling, blood-red mist leading to the sixth floor.
Lin Yuan wiped a smudge of ash from his cheek and began the climb.
MERIT RANKINGS (CURRENT)
1. Xuan Mingzhe (Xuan Province) - 7100 Merits
2. Jiang Wan (Jiang Province) - 5830 Merits
3. Ye Ao (Ye Province) - 5800 Merits
4. Feng Yao (Feng Province) - 5700 Merits
5. Lin Yuan (Zhao Province) - 5610 Merits
6. Ling Chuan (Ling Province) - 4660 Merits
...
"Five thousand six hundred and ten!"
The Grand Court was no longer just shouting; the spectators were engaging in frantic whispers, staring at the monolith as if it were an artifact of demonic origin.
"The fifth floor," an elder from a neutral province murmured, his eyes wide, completely drained of arrogance. "The fifth floor houses a Sovereign Guardian. A Seventh Step phantom. Lin Yuan is an Early-Stage cultivator. He has bridged a literal, uncrossable gap of cultivation. He just executed a Sovereign."
In the Xuan Province pavilion, the elders were sweating heavily. Xuan Mingzhe was still in the lead, sitting comfortably at 7100 merits, having cleared the sixth floor. But the gap was no longer expanding; the anomaly was matching their prodigy’s pace.
"He is keeping pace!" a Jiang sword-master noted, his voice laced with genuine respect. "Jiang Wan, Ye Ao, Feng Yao, and Lin Yuan... they are all in the fifth-floor completion bracket. The Lower Division rat is not falling behind. He is maintaining the exact same velocity as the absolute apex of the Central Continent."
Lord Zhao Shenming crossed his arms, leaning back against a stone pillar in the Zhao pavilion. A cold, predatory smile stretched across his scarred face. "Did you truly believe the Unshaken Stage was his limit? Daoist Lin does not have limits. He only has targets."
Bai Qingyue watched the numbers, her hands resting quietly in her lap. Fifth place, she thought. Keep going my Love.
But the next floor was the true filter.
Lin Yuan stepped through the blood-red mist and emerged onto the sixth floor.