Comprehending the Cycle Heavenly Art and Grass Character Sword Art! Breaking Through to the Venerable Realm!

By the Willow Tree at the village entrance.

Ye Xuan sat cross-legged, perfectly still, like a sculpture that had stood since time immemorial.

His eyes remained open. Deep within his Double Pupils, Chaos Qi swirled at incredible speed as he frantically deciphered the runes in the inheritance.

First was the Six Paths Samsara Heavenly Art.

It was an ultimate guiding principle for wielding all techniques.

It offered no direct means of attack, but allowed its practitioner to wield multiple treasure arts at once without conflict, while combining their power.

In Ye Xuan's vision, the art took the form of six enormous black holes, slowly rotating.

Each black hole represented a different way to wield power.

"Wielding treasure arts is like commanding an army."

Ye Xuan understood.

The lightning of the Suanni Treasure Art within him, the vitality of the Willow Deity Method, and even the power of Reincarnation from the Cycle Treasure Technique he had just begun learning had once been soldiers fighting on their own.

But under the coordination of the Six Paths Samsara Heavenly Art, they began to form ranks.

Three completely different powers fused perfectly within his body, forming an even more terrifying hybrid divine force.

Next came the Grass Character Sword Art.

This Ten Fierce Treasure Art was brimming with killing intent.

Ye Xuan merely stirred a trace of sword intent, and the bluestone beneath him split silently with a perfectly clean cut.

"A blade of grass can cut down the sun, moon, and stars."

Ye Xuan gazed at the Nine-Leaf Sword Grass swaying in his Consciousness Sea.

It was no ordinary grass. It embodied the very pinnacle of swordsmanship.

He didn't rush to practice sword moves. Instead, he used his Double Pupils to analyze the intent to "cut through everything."

The Innate Human Race's extraordinary comprehension was on full display at that moment.

A Ten Fierce Treasure Art that would take ordinary people decades to grasp was being rapidly unraveled before his eyes.

"Phew—"

Ye Xuan exhaled a breath of stale air.

Aside from studying techniques, he'd had another important task over the past three months: eating.

The rich aroma of meat drifted over Stone Village every day.

It came from the flesh of the Sky Swallowing Sparrow and Qiongqi.

The flesh of these two Venerable Realm Primordial Remnant Species contained enough essence to fill a mobile treasure vault.

Ye Xuan ate over a hundred pounds of Venerable flesh every day.

The moment that violent essence entered his body, his ravenous Innate Dao Body absorbed and refined it.

His accumulation had long since reached its limit.

Array Formation involved carving formations into the body.

But Ye Xuan had made his entire body into a formation. Now it had absorbed enough energy and was about to undergo a qualitative transformation.

"Almost there."

It was midday.

Ye Xuan set down the Mountain Treasure in his hand.

He picked up a golden, glistening piece of roasted Qiongqi leg beside him and devoured it in a few bites.

A surging torrent of essence exploded in his belly.

"Break through!"

Ye Xuan gave a quiet command in his heart.

There was no earth-shaking tribulation, nor any flashy signs.

Everything happened as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

The countless miniature formations within him all lit up at once, then merged together.

A grand, noble aura beyond the ordinary rose from within him.

The Venerable Realm!

This was the pinnacle of power the Eight Lower Realms could contain, a true existence at the very top of the pyramid.

Ye Xuan slowly rose to his feet.

The air around him warped faintly, unable to withstand the pressure he radiated.

He clenched his fist, feeling the power to command heaven and earth.

If he faced the Sky Swallowing Sparrow or Qiongqi again now, he wouldn't need the Willow Deity to intervene. He could pin either of them down with one hand and grind them into the dirt.

"So this is the Venerable Realm."

Ye Xuan's expression was calm. He felt little joy.

For someone with a Double Piercing Gate and Chaos Heavy Pupils,

the Venerable Realm was merely an insignificant starting point.

A commotion rose from nearby.

"Look! Little Dot's about to break through too!"

Ye Xuan turned to look.

A crowd had gathered around the Black Cauldron in the middle of the village.

A blazing fire roared beneath it. What boiled inside wasn't water, but blood, so red it looked almost purple.

It was Qiongqi True Blood Ye Xuan had deliberately saved, mixed with a few Century Spiritual Herbs they'd seized from Bei Village.

The medicinal potency was terrifying.

An ordinary child would have been reduced to ashes the moment they climbed inside.

But the little fellow sitting in the cauldron looked utterly delighted.

Little Shi Hao had his eyes closed, and rays of light streamed from every pore.

Three months had passed, and he'd grown a little taller. He still looked like a child, but his sturdy frame was already like that of a young calf.

He was making his final push.

Blood Moving Realm Extreme!

"Ha!"

Little Shi Hao snapped his eyes open and shouted.

The True Blood in the cauldron exploded, becoming a blood-red dragon that shot into his body.

"Rumble!"

The sound of a mighty river surging echoed from within him.

One arm could wield one hundred and eight thousand jin?

No.

More!

His vital energy continued to rise, breaking straight through the so-called limit of the realm.

One hundred and twenty thousand jin... one hundred and fifty thousand jin...

At last, it stopped at a number that would have left even Primordial Fierce Beasts despairing.

And that wasn't all.

Once his vital energy reached fullness, the next step was to open Cave Heavens.

"Open!"

Little Shi Hao leaped out of the cauldron, floating in midair.

Astonishing energy erupted from his tiny body.

"Buzz!"

The void above his head trembled.

A Cave Heaven shaped like a volcanic crater appeared out of thin air, greedily devouring Heaven and Earth Essence.

Then came the second!

The third!

The fourth!

The fifth!

There was no pause, no arduous accumulation.

It was like a chain of volcanoes erupting one after another.

All five Cave Heavens opened at once!

The five Cave Heavens lined up behind Little Shi Hao like five blazing suns, illuminating all of Stone Village.

Opening five Cave Heavens in one go!

It was unheard of in the cultivation history of the Eight Lower Realms!

"Eek!" (My heavens!)

"Chirp!" (Is that even human?)

Nearby, Furball and Little Red had been chewing on bones. Now they both stared in stunned silence.

The bone fell from Furball's hand. He clutched his head with his little golden paws, his eyes wide as saucers.

He was Zhu Yan, a Primordial exotic beast with an extraordinary natural gift.

But when he'd opened his Cave Heavens, he'd still had to painstakingly open them one at a time!

Even among the First Generations and Heavenly Prides of the Upper Realm, he'd never heard of anyone opening five in one go!

It defied all reason!

Little Red buried his head in his wings, deeply shaken.

He was the mighty Primordial divine bird, the Vermilion Bird, and it had taken him over a century of cultivation to become a Venerable.

And these two?

One had leaped from Array Formation to the Venerable Realm in three months.

The other was a three-year-old toddler who'd opened five Cave Heavens at once.

What kind of monsters lived in Stone Village?

Little Shi Hao landed and drew in the Cave Heavens behind him. His little face was alight with excitement.

"Big Brother! I did it!"

He ran up to Ye Xuan, clearly looking for praise.

Ye Xuan smiled and wiped the blood off his face.

"Not bad. Good enough, I suppose."

If anyone else had heard him, they probably would have been furious.

Opening five Cave Heavens at once was merely good enough?

But to Ye Xuan, the Desolate Heaven Emperor deserved nothing less.

"Alright, go stabilize your realm."

Ye Xuan sent Little Shi Hao away, then turned his gaze to the two "pets" still questioning their place in the world.

When Furball and Little Red saw Ye Xuan looking at them, they immediately stood up straight, putting on their most obedient faces.

Over the past three months, they'd been thoroughly beaten into submission.

It wasn't just the Willow Deity's intimidating presence. It was also the terrifying aura Ye Xuan occasionally revealed.