Storm City

Feeling the excruciating pain burrowing into his marrow and soul, Jun Wudao trembled and convulsed all over.

Ravaging! Scouring! Destroying!

All manner of indescribable pain assailed him. His body's senses gradually went numb, and at that moment, Jun Wudao could barely endure it.

Fortunately, in the next instant, accompanied by the system's mechanical electronic voice, everything ended.

"Ding! 10,000 Annihilation Points consumed. The True Self Eternal Forbidden Canon has advanced to the entry stage of the first level: Blood Severing."

"Huff, huff, huff... System! Are you fucking sure this is an advancement? Not an attempt to kill me?"

Hearing the system's mechanical electronic notification, Jun Wudao panted heavily and furiously demanded answers in his mind.

What bullshit about severing every part of the body and cutting off karma!

This was clearly trying to kill him.

The first level of the True Self Eternal Forbidden Canon covered blood, flesh, tendons, bones, and skin, and this was merely Blood Severing, the entry stage of the first level.

Blood Severing alone had nearly taken his life. Wouldn't the flesh, tendons, bones, and skin that followed send him, Jun Wudao, straight into reincarnation?

That feeling of ravaging, scouring destruction burrowing into his marrow and soul was truly unforgettable.

"Ding! It is an advancement. Only by severing your karmic ties with heaven and earth can you escape their constraints and stand apart from the myriad heavens of chaos, Master."

The system explained.

"Since I've now severed all the blood throughout my body, does that mean I don't have a single drop left?"

As Jun Wudao spoke, he raised his right hand and circulated spiritual power to slash open his palm.

Sure enough!

No blood flowed out.

"Ding! You have merely severed the karmic connection between your blood and heaven and earth, Master. It is not that you have no blood, but that your blood has transcended heaven and earth."

"Your blood is now pure blood, Master. It has transcended heaven and earth and become Blood of the True Self, containing neither karma nor any substance of heaven and earth. All it contains is pure blood, unconstrained by heaven and earth. Even if the myriad heavens collapse into oblivion, your Blood of the True Self will still endure in this world!"

The system explained.

"You make it sound so profound. Why can't I feel anything at all?"

After hearing the system's explanation, Jun Wudao sensed his entire body again, but still could not feel the slightest trace, as though he had no blood whatsoever.

This was evident from Jun Wudao's deathly pale face. There was not even the faintest hint of blood in it. Like a corpse, he was pale and colorless!

"Your blood has transcended heaven and earth, Master, but your flesh, tendons, bones, skin, five senses, six consciousnesses, and so forth have not."

"In other words, you currently exist within heaven and earth, Master, while your blood already exists beyond them. Naturally, you cannot perceive what lies beyond heaven and earth."

The system explained.

Although Jun Wudao still did not fully understand after hearing the system's explanation, he grasped the general idea.

Simply put, my blood and I aren't on the same level anymore?

He sensed his body once more. He truly found nothing special about it. Apart from being unable to sense his blood Qi, there was no particularly significant effect!

Withdrawing his attention, Jun Wudao glanced over his own disheveled appearance. His tattered robes were covered in bright red bloodstains, particularly conspicuous over his heart, where Su Fan's sword had once pierced him.

He simply did not know why he had survived! Perhaps the system had brought him back to life? Jun Wudao could think of no other reason! Shaking his head, he slowly stood and murmured:

"I really am a mess. I'd better take a bath first."

With that,

he strode away.

The Nine Nether Rebirth Boat traversed dimensional space at an incomparably fast speed.

Hum...

Chaotic spatial undercurrents overflowed everywhere around it, continually spilling outward like stars clustering around the moon.

Standing at the bow of the Nine Nether Rebirth Boat, the holy white immortal skull continually erupted with light more dazzling than the blazing sun, tearing through space as it advanced.

Vast spatial fluctuations poured madly to either side like waves upon the sea.

As though it had come from the depths of nothingness, the Nine Nether Rebirth Boat traversed the alternate dimension just like that.

Time passed.

Qingzhou, Desolate Domain.

Storm City.

An unremarkable little city on Qingzhou's boundless land, it was extremely prosperous despite its remote location.

The city had a long and ancient history, its streets crisscrossing throughout. Millions of cultivators inhabited it, and even at night, traffic streamed endlessly beneath brilliant lights.

Storm City had more factions than could be counted. The most flourishing was the Su Lineage, followed by the Liu Lineage and the Zhao Lineage.

Moonlight Restaurant.

"Su Jie! I heard your cousin Su Fan went alone to Jun Prefecture a few days ago to take revenge on the Jun Clan, one of the five pinnacle factions?"

In an exquisitely elegant private room, a young man in luxurious brocade robes casually questioned the man sitting opposite him.

His name was Zhao Hai, and he was a disciple of the Zhao Lineage, one of Storm City's three great lineages.

"The battle's already over, and you've only just heard?"

The young man named Su Jie glanced at Zhao Hai, raised his wine cup, and drained it in one gulp as he spoke.

"Haha... What's so strange about that? Jun Prefecture is at least hundreds of millions of li from our Qingzhou, isn't it? If word of this hadn't spread everywhere, I might not even have heard about it yet!"

Zhao Hai rolled his eyes at Su Jie and took a sip of wine with a laugh, then continued, smiling, "How did it turn out? Seeing how calm you are, don't tell me your cousin Su Fan won?"

"A costly victory, that's all!"

Hearing this, Su Jie could not help puffing out his chest. A trace of pride appeared on his face as he looked at Zhao Hai and spoke mildly.

"Gasp! He's that formidable? Your cousin Su Fan really has grown fast. Just think, three years ago, we were still competing together for first place in the martial tournament of Storm City's three great lineages."

"Now I've only just broken through to the Late Spirit Gathering Realm, while he's already stepped onto the pinnacle stage of the Desolate Domain. I truly can't even see his back anymore."

Zhao Hai could not help sighing.

"How could we compare ourselves to a freak like him? He's a true dragon of the nine heavens, while we barely qualify as heavenly geniuses... All right, why talk about him? Hahaha! Come... Drink! Drink! Neither of us goes home sober tonight!"

Su Jie raised his wine cup and laughed.

"Haha... All right! Neither of us goes home sober tonight. Come! Let me congratulate your Su Lineage in advance on joining the Desolate Domain's five great factions."

Zhao Hai laughed heartily, likewise raising the wine cup in his hand as he declared loudly.

Just then.

Riiip-

The void above Storm City was suddenly torn open by an unknown force. The tremendous sound rang out over the entire city like thunder shaking the nine heavens.

In an instant.

A dark warship measuring tens of millions of zhang slowly sailed out of a spatial rift stretching untold tens of thousands of li, surging spatial power swirling in every direction.

The enormous dark warship seemed to have fused with space, exuding harmony and naturalness, as though what surrounded it was not the void, but flowing water carrying a ferry.

The enormous dark warship hovered above Storm City, its appearance coming into view before every cultivator in the city.

Eerie!

Evil!

Ominous!

Its entire body was dark.

It was shaped like a long shuttle.