Glancing at the nearly depleted spirit spring below, Lin Xuan sighed with feeling.
He had still underestimated this spirit spring.
He had thought he would be burning incense in gratitude if it let him break through to the King Realm in one go.
Who would have thought... he would reach King Realm First Level Perfection outright!
Of course, his red heavenly destiny, Innate Primordial Sword Physique, and saint-grade cultivation method, the Azure Emperor Scripture, had also played major roles!
And this time, Nangong Yaoyue was no longer his inner demon.
He had let go of that bond between master and disciple.
After examining his current physical condition, Lin Xuan gave a wry smile and glanced at the sky, where the lightning tribulation had already dispersed.
Such a ferocious lightning tribulation-even the lightning tribulation that descended when someone broke through to the Emperor Realm might not possess such might, right?
Once this tribulation appeared, it was not meant to let anyone survive.
Had it been anyone other than Lin Xuan, they would likely have already perished beneath this lightning tribulation.
Even Lin Xuan, possessing the red heavenly destiny Primordial Innate Sword Physique, cultivating the saint-grade Azure Emperor Scripture, and having comprehended fourth-level sword intent, had only barely survived this tribulation under those circumstances...
But put another way, had Lin Xuan not been such a monstrous talent, entering the King Realm with twenty-two Great Daos, he would not have drawn such a terrifying lightning tribulation.
"After the King Realm comes comprehension and Dao integration."
Lin Xuan did know a little about cultivation after reaching the King Realm.
Normally, comprehending one Great Dao allowed someone to advance to the King Realm. This was the most ordinary kind of King Realm cultivator.
Next, they would begin integrating the Great Dao they had comprehended, commonly called Dao integration.
In ancient times, the King Realm had also been called the Dao Integration Realm.
Once they fully integrated one Great Dao, they reached King Realm First Level Perfection. After that, they would begin comprehending a second Great Dao. Successfully comprehending the second Great Dao counted as reaching King Realm Second Layer.
This continued until they had integrated nine Great Daos, reaching King Realm Ninth Level Perfection!
Of course, there was no shortage of geniuses who could comprehend and integrate more than nine Great Daos in the King Realm. Their strength far surpassed that of ordinary cultivators at King Realm Ninth Level Perfection.
Strictly speaking, they belonged to the King Realm, yet also did not.
After all, the King Realm had only nine levels, but they had already integrated and comprehended more than nine Great Daos.
Upon reaching King Realm Ninth Level Perfection, they could begin sensing their lightning tribulations. To break through from the King Realm to the Emperor Realm, they had to survive nine lightning tribulations. These nine lightning tribulations corresponded to the nine Great Daos they had comprehended, and the further they progressed, the more terrifying the tribulations became.
Who knew how many cultivators at King Realm Ninth Level Perfection had perished beneath these nine lightning tribulations.
The road to the Emperor Realm was hard-as hard as ascending to heaven.
This was also why there was not a single Emperor Realm cultivator in the Seven Moon-Reflecting Kingdoms.
However, because Lin Xuan had comprehended twenty-two Great Daos, while other cultivators at King Realm Ninth Level Perfection needed to survive only nine lightning tribulations to advance to the Emperor Realm, Lin Xuan needed to survive twenty-two. That was assuming he did not comprehend and integrate any more Great Daos in the future.
If Lin Xuan comprehended more Great Daos in the future, the number of tribulations he had to undergo would increase further.
"I might as well just bathe in lightning tribulations from now on."
Lin Xuan could not help grumbling.
"I should recover first."
His internal condition was extremely poor now, and he could mobilize only a tiny sliver of spiritual power within him. It would be no exaggeration to say that he currently lacked even the strength to truss a chicken.
Danger lurked everywhere within the Heaven-Burning Mystic Realm. No one knew what they might encounter the next second.
After taking two pills to restore his spiritual power, Lin Xuan looked again at the little that remained of the spirit spring below.
Taking out a small jade bottle, Lin Xuan prepared to collect what little remained of the spirit spring and take it back to bestow upon Su Lianxin.
Although Lin Xuan did not know what this spirit spring was, it had supported his breakthrough to the King Realm-and even to King Realm First Level Perfection. Its preciousness went without saying.
If it were auctioned off, Lin Xuan would not have been surprised in the slightest if it fetched ten million or even more.
This spring was definitely extraordinary. Its value was no less than that of a seventh-tier spiritual treasure. If he bestowed it upon Su Lianxin, he could receive at least an eighth-tier item in return! With good luck, even a ninth-tier item was not impossible!
Ninth tier... that was equivalent to a Thearch Realm sacred treasure!
Even taking a step back, if he received only an eighth-tier item in return, that would still be a treasure equivalent to the Venerable grade!
However, just as Lin Xuan took out the small jade bottle and prepared to collect the spirit spring, several sounds of rushing air rang out in succession. Several figures arrived in an instant, appearing within Lin Xuan's field of vision.
Lin Xuan frowned.
There were four of them, two men and two women. Including Lin Xuan and the demonic shadow clone behind him, there were currently six people here.
All four possessed considerable strength. Every one of them was in the King Realm.
Lin Xuan's earlier breakthrough had caused such a tremendous commotion that everyone who saw it thought a supreme treasure had emerged. Not only had these people been the closest, but they were also all King Realm experts capable of flying through the air, so naturally they had arrived ahead of everyone else.
When they saw the spirit spring below, radiating exceptionally dense spiritual power, a flash of burning desire crossed each of their eyes.
"This is..."
Although none of them recognized this spring, its extraordinarily dense fluctuations of spiritual power were enough to tell them how precious it was.
"We've struck it rich!"
Lin Xuan raised his brows slightly. At some point, the demonic shadow clone had appeared behind him.
Lin Xuan had just survived that utterly terrifying lightning tribulation, and his internal condition was dreadful. It would be no exaggeration to say that he lacked even the strength to truss a chicken. Fortunately, he was not without a fallback: Heavenly Demon Shadow!
Although the demonic shadow clone behind him possessed only twenty percent of Lin Xuan's combat strength before his breakthrough, when he had been at Tribulation Realm Ninth Level, it was enough to deal with some ordinary King Realm cultivators.
As for why the demonic shadow clone possessed only twenty percent of Lin Xuan's combat strength at Tribulation Realm Ninth Level?
That was because the demonic shadow clone had not yet had time to be "updated"...
Lin Xuan had only just broken through, and his spiritual power was completely exhausted. He could not use Heavenly Demon Shadow at all. The Heavenly Demon Shadow behind him had been formed before he broke through to the King Realm. Its combat strength was based on Lin Xuan before his breakthrough, not his current self.
Although everyone before him was in the King Realm, they were all only around King Realm First Layer and posed no threat to Lin Xuan.
It was just that...
The commotion from his earlier breakthrough had been far too great. Anyone who saw it would likely mistake it for the emergence of a precious treasure. These people would certainly not be the only ones coming; the others were simply farther away and had yet to arrive.
Lin Xuan could still control the situation before him, but that might not remain true in a little while.
Of course, Lin Xuan was not panicking. His spiritual power and injuries were slowly recovering. He only needed to wait until he gathered a sliver of spiritual power to "update" his demonic shadow clone...
Then, never mind a few cultivators at the first or second level of the King Realm-even against those above King Realm Fifth Level, Lin Xuan would have no fear!
Although he did not know how strong he was at his peak now, one thing was certain: ordinary cultivators at the third or fourth level of the King Realm were no different from ants in his eyes.
Even against experts at King Realm Fifth Level or higher, Lin Xuan had complete confidence that he could fight them, or even defeat them!
This was confidence born of absolute strength.
King Realm First Level Perfection, twenty-two Great Daos comprehended, one Great Dao integrated, plus the Innate Primordial Sword Physique and fourth-level sword intent-Lin Xuan scarcely dared imagine how terrifying his current strength was!
"I'll take thirty percent of this spring. None of you should have any objections, should you?"
The alluring woman among the two men and two women narrowed her eyes and spoke slowly.
As she spoke, the pressure from her body erupted!
Boom-!
"King Realm First Level Perfection!"
Feeling the strength of that pressure, the other three exchanged glances and made their decision, tacitly accepting the thirty percent the alluring woman demanded.
"I want twenty percent."
"I'll take twenty percent too!"
The other two men spoke at the same time. Although their presences were weaker than the alluring woman's, they were not far behind.
That left only thirty percent. The alluring woman and the two men turned their gazes toward the demonic shadow clone beside Lin Xuan, whose face was obscured by its black robes, and the final woman in purple.
As for Lin Xuan, he was naturally ignored. His presence was extremely weak now, and they had likely taken him for a junior of the black-robed figure-the demonic shadow clone.
"How about the two of you split the remaining thirty percent?"
The alluring woman spoke first. None of them were fools, and that was precisely why they had not come to blows over the treasure.
Once they began fighting over the spirit spring, by the time the others arrived, they likely would not get even ten percent.
The woman in purple nodded. Her strength was slightly inferior to that of the alluring woman and the two men, so taking five percent less was no great matter.
"Sorry, I disagree."
Lin Xuan was not angry at being ignored by them. Instead, he shrugged and took a step forward.