Eleventh Layer of Profound Opening!

And it would not be a simple breakthrough. Once he broke through, he would most likely cross several minor stages, perhaps even leap straight past early Nirvana and enter the fourth or fifth level of Nirvana.

A tremendous rumbling came from every part of his body. Dragonlike blood Qi surged wildly, and his bones transformed, becoming crystal clear and filled with Dao charm.

Under the oppressive force of his terrifying physical strength, the Bloodline Pagoda twisted. Ten colors blended together, forming a new bloodline manifestation.

The Life and Death Gu had grown four wings, two old and two new, all black. It raced through the sea of blood, leaping for joy.

At the end of the fifth trial of the World Road, the Double Pupils bearer sensed that something beyond his control and expectations had appeared. "He" stood high above all, surpassing every existence throughout the ages and suppressing every living being in the same realm.

"Has a monster among monsters been born?" the Double Pupils bearer murmured, his tone calm and brimming with boundless confidence. "So what? Double Pupils have been invincible since ancient times, and this age is no exception."

At the end of the Lost Sea of Light, two immense, mist-shrouded heavenly gates cut everything off, separating two worlds. For the first time, the man in golden robes halted his advance, his eyes flashing with brilliance.

"This truly is an extraordinary age. A living being has carved out a new path." For the first time since entering the world, Dugu Baitian showed a look of surprise.

As the Heavenly Emperor's own son, he had reached the realm of a Saint in several lifetimes and knew far too much. The world's first emperor, the Indestructible Heavenly Venerable, had created the cultivation system.

In those days, the peak of every realm had been nine, until the Dao Venerable rose, broke the limit in the Qi Sea, and walked the path of ten.

In the ages that followed, supreme heavenly geniuses appeared one after another, breaking the limits in various realms. The first living being in the world to break the limits of six realms was the Heavenly Emperor, who had ushered in the age of the imperial Dao and established the Heavenly Court.

"Has someone taken the path to eleven in the Profound Understanding Realm?" Dugu Baitian whispered, his blood Qi churning. A golden dragon and phoenix appeared above his head, bearing a sword on their backs, a sword of the imperial Dao. This was his bloodline spirit, and also his Dao.

Magnificent and majestic, it suppressed everything!

He had never had an opponent, not in a single realm. His bloodline spirit had stood high above all and suppressed everything since its birth, yet today Dugu Baitian felt something inexplicable: his spirit was afraid, a fear rooted in the very level of its life.

"It isn't the Eleventh Layer of Profound Opening!" Dugu Baitian's expression changed drastically. It was not a breakthrough in cultivation, but a breakthrough in bloodline.

"A tenth-grade bloodline. Such a person exists in this age!" His tone was urgent, his body trembling slightly, not from fear, but excitement: excitement at meeting an opponent, excitement that he could fight to his heart's content in this lifetime.

It was not a false tenth grade, but a complete step across that threshold, a complete tenth color!

He had been alone for too long, lonely for too long. He did not know what it felt like to have an opponent. There was no one before him, and even when he looked back, he could scarcely see anyone else.

The loneliness of one man, the cultivation of one man. Without friends or rivals, he walked forward alone.

The sword of the imperial Dao trembled, its nine colors dazzling. At its tip, the nine colors intertwined. That was his own unique tenth color.

"The tenth trial of the World Road. I'll wait for you there!" Dugu Baitian looked back, his profound gaze piercing through space to meet the eyes of the being with the tenth-grade bloodline.

At the seventh trial of the World Road, Ao Jue stopped in his tracks, sensing something.

"Wait for me, wait for me! I'll find you and drain your blood, little by little!" Ao Jue roared at the sky, his eyes burning with fervor. He licked his lips, seized by an inexplicable thirst.

At that moment, every living being on the World Road sensed it: some supremely powerful shackle had been broken. The stronger the heavenly genius, the more keenly they felt a great mountain appear from nowhere and settle on their shoulders.

Outside the Lone Lamp Pavilion.

Only one person remained waiting. Ten days had disappointed all the others who had waited, and they had all left for other places of opportunity.

Nangong Mengzhu's eyes shifted as a thousand thoughts ran through her mind. That young man was exceedingly powerful, like a riddle, mysterious and unfathomable.

After ten days, Fu Yuan's presence had grown completely steady, no longer violent, his Spiritual Qi contained within.

Above his head floated the bloodline cauldron born from his second awakening, resplendent in ten colors, ancient and imposing.

I broke past the ninth grade of bloodlines and surpassed every sage who came before me. The Tenth Layer of Mystical Passage is the end, but it isn't my end! Fu Yuan shouted in his heart. Again and again, he suppressed the impulse toward Nirvana through life and death, seeking to break past the Tenth Layer of Mystical Passage and enter the realm of eleven.

Yet he failed again and again. Twice he could not suppress it and broke through to the Nirvana Realm. Twice he cut down his own cultivation and returned to the Tenth Layer of Mystical Passage.

"Break!" Fu Yuan shouted. The blood Qi throughout his body circulated, his Qi Sea surged, his spirit platform shook, and his bloodline cauldron rocked as he charged once more at the Eleventh Layer of Profound Opening.

Pressure swept over him like a tide. Heaven and earth would not permit him to carve out a new path. Fu Yuan coughed up blood, his body unsteady as the power of heaven and earth poured down upon him.

He sought to walk a path the ancient sages had never walked, to open a way none of the emperors had ever opened. Heaven and earth would not permit it, nor would the great Dao. An unknown, mighty power crossed time and space, descending from the present world upon the World Road, and the pressure grew ever more terrifying.

It was as though a boundless great world and an endless, vast starry sky were bearing down on him. His Double Pupils opened and closed as the power of chaos surged. His Immortal Bone shone brilliantly, and the Dao principles of creation spread forth.

In an instant, Fu Yuan became a figure drenched in blood. Blood poured wildly not just from his seven orifices, but from every part of his body, pale gold and red blood gushing out in streams.

The Dao principles of creation pouring from his Immortal Bone frantically repaired Fu Yuan's body, but it was useless, a single hair from nine oxen.

Fu Yuan coughed up great mouthfuls of blood. Fine cracks began to appear across his body, growing more and more numerous, like a piece of porcelain on the verge of shattering.

"Open!" Fu Yuan roared. He had already sensed the path to eleven, just one step away. His Myriad Tribulations Indestructible Physique activated fully, and a vision of chaos splitting open the heavens unfolded.

Chaos Qi poured out wildly, seeking to conceal the workings of heaven and hide Fu Yuan's body in pursuit of a sliver of survival.

The two spirits, devil and god, merged into Fu Yuan's body, the three bodies becoming one. The ten-colored bloodline cauldron trembled, resisting the terrifying pressure.

But it was useless. Heaven, earth, and the great Dao would not allow him to succeed. The bloodline cauldron was crushed, his spirit platform fractured, and his Qi Sea dried up. Fu Yuan was like a lamp whose oil had run dry.

Even the Life-Bound Gu in the sea of blood sensed the danger. It darted about in alarm, all four wings beating as it sought a way to survive. The suffocating sense of death plunged even it into endless fear.

His flesh began to fall away, the exquisite porcelain began to crumble, his Double Pupils were covered in blood, and even his Immortal Bone began to dim. How could a mere Profound Understanding Realm cultivator shake the great Dao of heaven and earth? Even against the barest strand of it, he could not.

At this most perilous moment, Fu Yuan had only to abandon his attempt to reach the Eleventh Layer of Profound Opening and break into the Nirvana Realm, and the pressure would vanish in an instant. But he would not accept it; he would not accept giving up like this.

At the crucial moment, the Zhe Secret began to work. Fu Yuan's ruined body began to recover, his exhausted Qi Sea filled once more, his shattered spirit platform returned to its original state, and the crushed bloodline cauldron blazed with light, its ten colors dazzling.

The Creation Qi pouring from his Immortal Bone mingled with the Chaos Qi derived from the vision of chaos splitting open the heavens, and together they resisted heaven and earth.

His Double Pupils opened and closed as profound runes intertwined. Fu Yuan bellowed and roared at the heavens without cease!

Boom!

Not just the World Road, but the present world shook violently. Whether they were lofty Saints or cultivators who had just entered Profound Opening, their Bloodline Pagodas trembled incessantly, their bloodline power growing unstable, stirred by an unknown, mysterious force.

"A living being has walked the path to the Eleventh Layer of Profound Opening!" the Tribulation Sword's master exclaimed!