Flames blazed fiercely upon the Shadowless Sword. What had initially been only a thin layer of fire covering the blade had now surged over a foot high. Li Mu's skin, too, shifted from crimson to dark red, while tiny sparks hidden beneath it flickered as though they had come alive.
Just as he had resolved to stake everything on this, the Golden Vortex within Li Mu's fire-filled dantian began spinning faster and faster under the urging of the Innate Art. The Pure Yang Core concealed within the vortex was directly crushed by the immense pressure. Boundless Pure Yang power burst forth like a mountain flood, surging through every meridian and flooding every corner of his body.
This was a move that sought life through death, a choice to smash the cauldrons and sink the boats. Li Mu had already proven that the Golden Vortex's previous rate of stripping away the Pure Yang Core was insufficient to support him in defeating the Ice Serpent Beast Soul, which was likewise using every trick up its sleeve. Moreover, the Pure Yang power he had obtained through pills would only last so long. He held no advantage in a battle of attrition. Once the Pure Yang Core was exhausted, he would face nothing but slaughter.
During this battle, Li Mu had also wondered whether he could achieve a breakthrough in the midst of combat like Hao Meng. Yet after several attempts, he found that he still could not unleash the fourth form of the Li Family Sword Style—Sword Intent Horizontal and Vertical. Even after taking Immortal Grade Pills, even with such vast power available within his body, he still felt as though a veil lay between himself and that fourth sword form. It was within reach, yet he simply could not break through.
The same was true for the Innate Art. Over the past half year, he had been searching for a way to enter its second layer. This mysterious technique, passed down through the Li family to this day, had reached the Perfection of its first layer almost as soon as he began cultivating after transmigrating, as though it had been tailor-made for him as a qi-refining method. Yet he had never expected the second layer to be like a heavenly chasm, one he could not cross no matter how long he tried.
The stagnation of both his martial techniques and cultivation method had kept Li Mu from breaking through into the Core Formation Realm. It had nearly become a sickness of the heart. As time passed, the more anxiously he sought a breakthrough, the less he could grasp the essentials of the next layer of the techniques and martial skills he cultivated. Round and round it went, a vicious cycle. If this continued, even the root of cultivation—his Dao heart—might be affected.
This was also why Li Mu had wanted to seek a breakthrough through the art of alchemy: to break free from the shackles imposed by his two cultivation methods, find another path, and improve his control over Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi, thereby achieving breakthroughs in both the Innate Art and the Li Family Sword Style.
But attempts at such breakthroughs required time, and Li Mu had no time left.
He drove the Innate Art to its utmost limit. By gathering a vast amount of Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi, Li Mu directly crushed the Pure Yang Core, which was still half its former size. The power that erupted instantly rammed madly into the meridians throughout his body, while pain surged toward him like a tidal wave. The agony of his meridians seeming about to burst exceeded anything Li Mu had imagined.
"Fuck! They say childbirth is the most painful experience in the world. I wonder if what I'm going through right now can give it a run for its money."
Li Mu, nearly knocked unconscious by the pain, forcibly kept his mind awake. As the Pure Yang power erupted, he felt as though he possessed strength unlike anything he had ever known. Along with it came the return of his confidence, of that conviction to charge forward without fear and remain undefeated in every battle.
"After shattering the Pure Yang Core, I can probably hold on for at most ten breaths. Perhaps this will be my final strike in this world."
Feeling the explosive energy within him, Li Mu looked at the enemy before him with incomparably firm eyes. If he truly could only streak through this world like a meteor, then let that fleeting brilliance shine all the brighter.
As Li Mu unleashed his sword techniques with all his strength, the flaming Shadowless Sword carved trails of fiery sword phantoms through the night. A thrust, a slash, a chop. Li Mu was utterly focused. The immense flames and sword intent drove the Beast Armor back step by step, while the Frost Armor covering it seemed close to its limit. Dense cracks like a spiderweb spread over its entire body, and the Ice Serpent was struggling bitterly to hold on.
"Nine breaths, eight breaths, seven breaths... Not enough, still not enough. This power can't defeat it in one blow. There's no time!"
The Ice Serpent's cunning gave Li Mu a splitting headache. This demon beast had seen through his sudden burst of power and abandoned every means of attack, concentrating nearly all its frost energy into the armor's defenses. So long as the Beast Armor endured Li Mu's explosive period, victory would come easily.
"Let's risk it! Succeed, or die trying!"
With the medicinal effect about to fade, Li Mu's eyes nearly split open in fury. He roared and stepped forward, the Shadowless Sword in his hand shifting endlessly. Powerful sword intent, wrapped in rolling flames, completely sealed off this patch of heaven and earth. He was forcibly unleashing the fourth form of the Li Family Sword Style across realms—Sword Intent Horizontal and Vertical.
At this moment, Li Mu's heart was crystal clear, free of all stray thoughts. There was only one thought in his mind: this sword strike had to succeed. All his power and conviction poured forth without reservation through this sword. Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi intertwined with fire elements, erupting with unimaginable might.
This was the fourth form of the Li Family Sword Style, yet it was also Sword Intent Horizontal and Vertical that belonged to Li Mu alone. This strike, unleashed with Pure Yang power as its medium, illuminated the entire forest like a startled swan. It swept away the darkness and gloom in an instant, and completely swallowed the terrified Ice Serpent Beast Armor.
Within the blazing flames, the Frost Armor melted away continuously. The Ice Serpent tried to draw in frost elements to repair its armor, only to discover that there were no frost elements left in this patch of heaven and earth. Li Mu's sword had actually sealed off the entire space. At last, the Pure Yang flames broke through the armor's defenses. How could the Beast Armor's ordinary human body withstand such terrifying heat? Accompanied by a miserable howl, the once-arrogant Beast Tamer and the Ice Serpent's Beast Soul were reduced to ashes together.
"Huff... huff..."
After unleashing that earth-shattering sword strike, Li Mu felt every scrap of energy in his body had been drained away. At that very moment, the effects of the Immortal Grade Pure Yang Sky Burning Pill were also exhausted. An immense sense of emptiness and burning swept through every cell in his body. Without the medicine's protection, without the support of Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi, his frail body could not possibly endure the remaining Pure Yang power.
"No wonder they say only cultivators of the Nascent Soul Realm can take Immortal Grade Pills. This residual power is simply not something someone like me, who hasn't even reached the Core Formation Realm, can endure."
Watching the Beast Armor's corpse scatter in the forest breeze before him, Li Mu's consciousness could finally no longer remain clear. His entire body collapsed to the ground, and his skin began taking on an abnormal reddish-brown color. This was the side effect of overusing Pure Yang power. With his body now battered beyond repair, he could not resist the backlash of this power at all.
The aura of life began to disperse, and the scene before his eyes slowly blurred.
"Fuck, so this is how my life ends."
After a self-mocking remark, Li Mu's consciousness completely sank, and endless darkness swept toward him.
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