"Mother!"
"It's Mother! She's come out of seclusion too."
Ye Baifeng and the other two looked delighted.
Meanwhile, Chu Kuangren stepped in front of Lan Yu, shielding her behind him. As he looked at the beautiful woman before him, Great Dao runes flowed through his eyes.
"Li Ruolan, White Cloud Sword Venerable's Dao companion. Cultivation: late-stage Venerable Realm. Practices the Supreme Law, Red Lotus Bright Flame Art..."
The information returned by the Eye of Insight made Chu Kuangren's expression grow grave.
The world only knew that White Cloud City had a White Cloud Sword Venerable.
Yet few knew that White Cloud Sword Venerable's Dao companion was also a Venerable who concealed her true abilities—and was even in the late stage of the Venerable Realm.
She was only a single step away from becoming a Supreme Being.
Li Ruolan glanced at the Third Master of the Ye Family, whose arm had been severed, and her expression instantly darkened. "You dared hurt my son. You all deserve to die!!"
A vast, surging Venerable's pressure bore down on Chu Kuangren and Lan Yu.
Chu Kuangren pushed his spiritual power to its utmost.
All three manifestations of his Daoist Physique erupted!
Only then did he barely withstand the Venerable's might!
This is only her pressure. If she attacked, her power would be hundreds or thousands of times greater! A Venerable truly can't be underestimated.
Chu Kuangren thought to himself.
High in the sky, the Seventh Ancestor was locked in a frenzied battle with White Cloud Sword Venerable.
Seeing Chu Kuangren in danger, his eyes reddened. He swung the Green Vine Sword wildly, trying to break free of White Cloud Sword Venerable.
But White Cloud Sword Venerable only kept him entangled without trying to kill him, making him exceedingly difficult to shake off.
"Seventh Ancestor of Mystic Heaven, once my wife kills Chu Kuangren, we'll join forces and send you off to keep serving as his Dao Protector!"
"Hahaha! Once I obtain the Hongmeng Purple Qi and become a Sage someday, what can your Mystic Heaven Sect do to me, even if it is a Saintly Dao Tradition?"
White Cloud Sword Venerable laughed uproariously, his arrogance blazing.
Provoked by those words, the Seventh Ancestor's Dao heart grew somewhat unsettled.
But just as the situation was gradually turning in favor of White Cloud Sword Venerable and the others, Chu Kuangren suddenly made a move.
He slowly opened his palm. A strand of purple qi rose from it, mysterious Daoist Rhyme spreading as waves of Daoist sounds echoed through the heavens.
"Is this strand of Hongmeng Purple Qi what you want?"
Chu Kuangren asked with a faint smile.
Everyone stopped moving and stared fixedly at that strand of Hongmeng Purple Qi, their eyes filled with boundless fervor and longing.
That was a foundation for becoming a Sage!
Even a Supreme Supreme would flock to it like ducks!
Now, this opportunity lay before all of them.
No one knew what Chu Kuangren meant by taking out the Hongmeng Purple Qi at this moment, but that did nothing to hinder their longing for it.
"That's right! Hurry, hand it over!"
"Chu Kuangren, hand it over, and we can spare your life."
Ye Baifeng and the others spoke excitedly.
"Hongmeng Purple Qi, the foundation for becoming a Sage. But did you know it has another use?" Chu Kuangren asked with a faint smile.
After seeing the Hongmeng Purple Qi, even Li Ruolan could not help becoming intoxicated by the Daoist Rhyme it contained. It took her quite a while to come back to her senses.
"This is bad!" Hearing Chu Kuangren's words, Li Ruolan's expression changed. Terrifying Daoist Rhyme erupted, and she blasted out a palm strike.
Daoist Rhyme intertwined around the palm energy, resembling a vivid red lotus.
It contained the terrifying might of a Venerable!
Even a top-tier Battle King would be killed instantly!
But it was already too late.
Chu Kuangren closed his fingers, crushing the purple qi. Boundless Daoist Rhyme erupted with a roar, and wildly violent spiritual qi swirled around him like a terrifying whirlwind!
The palm energy struck the whirlwind and exploded with a thunderous crash.
Amid the billowing dust, no one could make out Chu Kuangren's condition, but they could feel a terrifying Daoist Rhyme rising without cease.
"What's happening?"
"This Daoist Rhyme—what did he do?"
The dust dispersed, revealing Chu Kuangren. Mysterious radiance flowed over him, immensely powerful Daoist Rhyme coursed around his body, and his cultivation continued to rise.
Nascent Soul Realm, Void Insight Realm, Battle King Realm...
"What have you done?!" High in the sky, White Cloud Sword Venerable roared, veins bulging on his forehead and his eyes bloodshot.
Clearly, this Supreme Supreme was furious.
More furious than ever before!
And mingled with that fury was grief!
He was not the only one.
Li Ruolan, Ye Baifeng, and the others also stared at Chu Kuangren in utter fury, as though he had done something unforgivable.
"He actually absorbed the purple qi as a tonic to temporarily raise his cultivation!" Even the Seventh Ancestor could not help feeling some regret.
As everyone knew, Hongmeng Purple Qi was the foundation for becoming a Sage. With careful comprehension, one could even use it to become a Sage without undergoing a tribulation.
But beyond that, Hongmeng Purple Qi had another use: it could greatly raise a cultivator's cultivation for a short time.
Compared to its first use, however, this second use seemed utterly insignificant. Almost no one would do such a thing.
That would truly be a wanton squandering of heaven's treasures.
Compared to becoming a Sage, what did a temporary rise in cultivation amount to?
Over time, everyone had unconsciously forgotten that Hongmeng Purple Qi had this use. Now, Chu Kuangren had reminded them.
He had used up a strand of Hongmeng Purple Qi right before their eyes!
"Bastard! You bastard!"
"That was a foundation for becoming a Sage! Used properly, it could make someone a Sage! Yet he used it to forcibly raise his cultivation for a moment's satisfaction, and that cultivation won't even last!"
"What a wanton squandering of heaven's treasures!"
Everyone's eyes reddened with fury, and they could not help cursing aloud.
A foundation for becoming a Sage had been wasted right before them. It dealt an unprecedented blow to their Dao hearts!
But Chu Kuangren paid no attention to their reactions.
He was immersed in the vast wealth of insights brought by the Hongmeng Purple Qi, feeling only Daoist sounds echoing in his ears as all manner of mysteries emerged.
These mysteries were even more intense than when he had created his own Sage King Law.
Moreover, with the purple qi's help, the spiritual power within him soared wildly, soon reaching the peak of the Battle King Realm!
No one knew how much stronger the Three Great Dao Body Phenomena had become.
"Bastard! I'll burn you to ashes!"
With the Hongmeng Purple Qi destroyed, Li Ruolan's expression was exceedingly ugly.
In her rage, Li Ruolan mobilized her spiritual power. Terrifying Daoist Rhyme surged out, forming a red lotus woven from flames that shot forward.
This strike carried a Venerable's might!
Holding the Kunwu Sword, Chu Kuangren swung his arm and slashed.
Heaven-Slaying Sword-Drawing Art erupted!
A terrifying sword light, countless times stronger than before, enveloped heaven and earth. Before it, the red lotus looked especially small and delicate.
In the blink of an eye, the red lotus shattered!
The sword strike blasted Li Ruolan backward!
"How is that possible?!"
Ye Baifeng and the others paled in shock.
Even if he had used Hongmeng Purple Qi and raised his cultivation to the peak of the Battle King Realm, how could Chu Kuangren possibly force Li Ruolan back with a single sword strike?
The gulf between a Battle King and a Venerable was like that between heaven and earth.
"Right now, you feel far too weak to me. No, perhaps it's that I'm far too strong now," Chu Kuangren said calmly as he looked at Li Ruolan.
Earlier, he had felt that a Venerable's might was incomparably vast.
But now, it was nothing more than this.
"But I feel I can become even stronger!" The corners of Chu Kuangren's lips rose. The Hongmeng Purple Qi had yet to take full effect!
Hearing this, Li Ruolan's beautiful face paled with fright.
He could already force her back and injure her with one sword strike. If he grew any stronger, wouldn't he be able to crush her with a casual move?
"This is bad! He's about to break through to the Venerable Realm!!"
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