Breakthrough to the Tenth Realm Martial God!

The fist blade trembled lightly, sending back an intense pang of hunger.

Little Black was clearly excited. As an artifact spirit transformed from an Ancient Bloodthirsty Spirit Beast, the cold, deathly aura that had accumulated in this place over a thousand years was simply the perfect appetizer for it.

"Don't rush. I'll take you to eat now."

Su Yueli gripped the fist blade tightly, reined in her blood and qi, and plunged headfirst into the black mist shrouding the core region of the Imperial Mausoleum.

One woman and one blade moved through the densely packed gravestones. After searching for nearly half an hour, the sound of teeth grinding finally came from a pile of rubble ahead.

As the thick fog dispersed, a gigantic beast covered from head to toe in dark cyan scales lay sprawled atop shattered coffin fragments.

It had an enormous crocodile head, yet the body of a ferocious tiger, and its tail was an even sharper bone spike.

An Early Second Realm demon beast—the Armored Crocodile Tiger.

Su Yueli's expression turned grave. There was a difference between immortals and mortals...

An Early Second Realm cultivator did not correspond to the Second Martial Realm. It was a terrifying existence capable of crushing the mortal Eighth and Ninth Realms with ease.

Back then, she had nearly lost half her life killing a Late First Realm Blood-Eyed Wolf. Now that she faced a monster that had risen an entire major realm above that, the pressure was self-evident.

"Roar!"

The Armored Crocodile Tiger sensed the aura of a living person, and its dark yellow vertical pupils locked onto Su Yueli.

With a roar, it kicked up a storm of flying sand and tumbling stones. Its enormous body was actually swift as lightning as it pounced with a momentum capable of toppling mountains and overturning seas.

"Good!"

A fierce light flashed through Su Yueli's eyes. Rather than retreating, she advanced.

The blood and qi of a Seventh Realm grandmaster thundered madly through her body. Sensing its master's fighting intent, Little Black's dark red blood patterns instantly erupted with a bewitching glow.

Fourth Form, River Severing!

Su Yueli threw a punch, her perfected Inch Force slamming into the gigantic claw swiping toward her.

"Boom—!"

The violent aftershock of force directly shook the boulders within several yards into powder.

Yet the body of a Second Realm demon beast was powerful beyond all reason.

Su Yueli only felt an irresistible force rebound into her. Her body scraped across the ground as she was forced back more than ten steps, and sweetness rose in her throat.

The crocodile tiger did not fare much better. Several of the hard scales on its massive claw were forcibly shattered by the Inch Force, driving it into a frenzied rage from the pain.

The battle was utterly brutal.

Not only was the Armored Crocodile Tiger immensely powerful, its long, bone-spiked tail was like a tireless flying sword. A graze meant injury; a hit meant death.

Su Yueli pushed her movement technique to its limits. Amid the dense barrage of attacks, she was like the last flickering candle in the wind, and several bloody wounds deep enough to expose bone soon appeared across her body.

At this moment, the gap between mortal martial artists and the cultivation realm was laid bare beyond doubt.

And this was only a Second Realm demon beast that knew no spells and relied solely on its instincts and physical body to fight.

If it had been a cultivator of the same realm, sacrificing a few powerful magical treasures and using several profound cultivation arts, a martial artist would likely not even have the chance to get close before being killed outright.

"Clang!"

Another head-on collision.

Blood spilled from the corner of Su Yueli's mouth, and the blood and qi protecting her body showed faint signs of collapse.

Just as the crocodile tiger opened its blood basin of a maw, attempting to swallow her whole in that life-or-death instant, the ruthlessness in Su Yueli's eyes surged.

At the cost of having a chunk of flesh torn from her left shoulder by the crocodile tiger's fangs, she changed her right hand from a fist to a palm and, borrowing the sharpness of the Heaven-Tier weapon, viciously stabbed at the beast's dark yellow vertical pupil!

Little Black was incomparably sharp. No matter how astonishing a Second Realm demon beast's defenses were, its eye remained a fatal weakness.

The barbed blade at the front of the fist blade sank to its base into the crocodile tiger's brain. Perfected Inch Force followed Little Black's edge and detonated explosively within the beast's skull.

The enormous body of the Armored Crocodile Tiger stiffened violently, then crashed down with a thunderous boom, sending dust billowing into the sky.

"Phew... phew..."

Su Yueli collapsed to her knees in a pool of blood, her face deathly pale.

She was covered in blood. The wounds on her left shoulder, chest, and abdomen were deep, and she had no idea how many ribs had been broken.

Fortunately, she was the one who had won in the end.

This extreme tug-of-war at death's edge—if not for Little Black, which had advanced into a Heaven-Tier divine weapon, breaking through its defenses at the critical moment, the one lying here as dinner ingredients today would definitely have been her.

Just as Su Yueli braced herself to collect the demon blood, she lowered her head and realized something was wrong.

The dark red blood patterns on the fist blade in her right hand were writhing violently like veins. The Armored Crocodile Tiger's enormous, pure Second Realm demon blood was being madly devoured by Little Black at a visible rate.

In mere moments, the faint glow emanating from Little Black had brightened considerably, and even its aura seemed to have strengthened slightly.

Su Yueli first nodded in satisfaction, then suddenly realized what was happening. Her beautiful eyes widened.

"No! You attention-seeking little brat! Leave some for me!"

She was covered in wounds and urgently needed this Second Realm demon blood to heal and break through. Yet this little fellow, relying on the convenience of being an artifact spirit, had directly started stealing her kill and force-feeding itself.

Hearing its master's angry scolding, Little Black trembled somewhat guiltily. Only then did it reluctantly stop, leaving Su Yueli about a small half of the pure blood and qi.

Su Yueli speechlessly knocked on the fist blade, thoroughly helpless.

From that day onward, Su Yueli and Little Black completely began a frenzied cultivation routine within this core mausoleum.

Cultivating, searching for Second Realm demon beasts, fighting until gravely wounded, dividing the demon blood to heal—the cycle repeated without end.

Seasons turned, and the plants among the tombs withered and flourished for thirty years.

Cultivation knew no passing years. In this silent forbidden land of a fallen kingdom, thirty years were no more than the flick of a finger.

Before an unnamed desolate grave in the deepest part of the core region.

Su Yueli stood quietly. Thirty years had left no trace upon her face, yet her eyes had settled into stillness like a pool of dead water.

Slowly raising her right hand, Su Yueli did not circulate any blood and qi. She merely threw a casual punch forward.

"Boom!"

The empty air ahead actually let out a dull explosive roar beneath that punch. A visible shockwave spread outward in a fan shape, forcibly sweeping away the black mist that had lingered for a thousand years within a hundred yards and creating a zone of absolute vacuum.

Force penetrated the void; greatness returned to simplicity.

The Tenth Realm of Martial Dao—the Martial God Realm.

In truth, Su Yueli had reached the ultimate realm of mortal martial artists several years ago, piled there by the flesh and blood of countless Second Realm demon beasts.

Yet after that, no matter how she trained, the blood and qi within her seemed to have crashed into an impassable iron wall of heavenly law.

The road ahead had ended.

For mortal martial arts, the Tenth Realm was the endpoint.

Beyond it, there were simply no tracks to follow.

No matter how refined she made her fist techniques, without the immortal spiritual roots of a cultivator, she ultimately could not draw spiritual qi into her body and shatter the chasm separating mortals from immortals.

Su Yueli sighed helplessly. No wonder cultivators who stood high above regarded martial artists as ants. The upper limit of this path had truly been locked down tight.

"Buzz~"

Sensing its master's dejection, the fist blade on her right hand gently rubbed against her wrist.

After devouring demon beast blood essence for thirty years, Little Black's dark red blood patterns had turned into ancient dark gold, and its aura had become obscure and terrifying.

It had gone from being a Lower-Grade Heaven Tier weapon back then to lazily evolving all the way into a Heaven-Tier Mid-Grade weapon.

"Alright, I know you're impressive now."

Little Black's antics tugged a smile from Su Yueli. She flicked the blade with her finger, her expression filled with affection.

Over these past decades, it was fortunate that Little Black had accompanied her. Otherwise, it would have been far too dull.

She then turned around and directed her gaze toward the outline of the distant gates.

Within these ancient ruins of a kingdom where daylight never reached, she had hidden away for a full thirty-five years.

By now, the Second Realm demon beasts in the outer region, inner region, and core region had all been completely exterminated by her and Little Black.

If she continued to remain here in seclusion, she would gain nothing but wasted lifespan.

With cultivation at the Martial God Realm, paired with Little Black, a Heaven-Tier Mid-Grade evolving divine weapon.

Though she still could not contend with those cultivation masters whose hands could reach the heavens, when facing mortal forces, she now possessed absolute self-preservation and the capital to flip the table.

"Pang Family..."

Su Yueli gripped the fist blade tightly. No longer lingering, she took Little Black and walked toward the gates of the forbidden land, which had been sealed in dust for thirty-five years.