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Shen Duheng stepped forward, sword in hand. "Your opponent is me, don't pick the wrong one!"

Shen Duheng was a born sword cultivator with exceptional talent; otherwise, Ji Li wouldn't have chosen him to possess her body and promoted him to the position of sect leader at such a young age.

A cultivator like Ji Li, whose talent for sword cultivation is somewhat lacking, might not realize just how terrifying a true talent-driven cultivator can be.

Ji Li had been suppressing Shen Duheng for too long with his superior cultivation level, so it was inevitable that he would have the misconception that Shen Duheng was no match for him.

Now that Shen Duheng has undergone Tribulation Transcendence, the gap between their cultivation levels has narrowed from a major realm to a minor realm. With Shan Heyuan's Dantian Small World suppressing them from the side, Ji Li finally realized how vast the difference was between him and Shen Duheng in swordsmanship.

The sword technique "Knowing People" met "Knowing People" with another sword move. Ji Li took three steps back, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

The sword techniques "Seeing the World" met "Seeing the World" again. A small crack appeared on Ji Li's spirit sword, her sternum caved in, and her face turned even paler.

The sword techniques "Brightening and Fading" met "Brightening and Fading" again, and Ji Li could no longer hold back, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Shen Duheng assumed the starting stance for his sword move "Inn": "Let our feud end here. You should have died long ago, if you hadn't possessed someone else's body."

Ji Li gritted her bloodied teeth and laughed out loud, "What? I should have died long ago? It's my own skill that I've survived until now! As for you, what's a few more days of clinging to life? You'll be worn down by this cultivation world sooner or later!"

Shan Heyuan: "Then you don't need to worry about that. A born villain like you shouldn't even have a soul left behind; you shouldn't live to see that day."

Ji Li tried to escape again, but she was firmly fixed in place by the small world and couldn't escape no matter what she did.

Shen Duheng's sword move "Inn" was fully charged and about to strike when Ji Li shouted, "Wait! Sheng Chao and Lin Ji aren't dead! I've locked them up. If you kill me, they'll die too!"

Shen Duheng: "You are far too confident in your ability to manage your subordinates. Who among them can be truly loyal? Once you are dead, someone will naturally report to us their whereabouts."

Shan Heyuan: "Are you saying you would give the order to kill them?"

Before Ji Li could answer, Shan Heyuan continued, "Don't worry, within the domain of my Dantian Small World, nothing can be transmitted out. Your commands, your Spiritual Power, your Dao will all end here; they are safe."

Ji Li: "I surrender! You can't—"

Shen Duheng: "Nothing is impossible."

Shen Duheng raised his sword and executed this earth-shattering move.

This sword move was so powerful, it was like a tsunami crashing down.

Beneath the snow-white sword light, Ji Li was instantly vaporized by the overly domineering move, with only remnants of Spiritual Power proving his presence.

No one expected that Ji Li, who had plagued the cultivation world for thousands of years, would die like this.

He arrived in grandeur and arrogance, but died quietly.

When the sword strike ceased, it was as if the wind had stopped, and the world returned to calm.

However, most of the Zhewu City disappeared, and the land was like plowed land, with even the ruins gone, turning directly into soil.

The remaining half of the city, pieced together on this patch of mud, looks particularly comical.

This doesn't seem like something that exists in reality; it's more like something from a dream.

After confirming that Ji Li completely dead, Shen Duheng staggered, nearly losing his footing due to his severe injuries.

Shan Heyuan reached out a branch and caught him. "Take a rest."

Shen Duheng leaned against the tree trunk. "I never thought we'd actually do it."

Shan Heyuan: "I wasn't surprised by this, but I didn't expect us to do it so easily."

"Thanks to the protection of Heavenly Dao." Shen Duheng turned around, touching the rough tree trunk, "Can you turn back?"

Shan Heyuan: "Not for now. We've entered a rapid growth phase, and I need to maintain this state for now."

The fact that the two of them are alive is a blessing in itself. Shen Duheng had no other desires. He patted the tree trunk and said, "If you can't, then you can't. I'll stay here with you."

The battle with Ji Li had taken a huge toll on the two of them. After confirming their safety, Shan Heyuan sent a message to Realm Spirit and the others, asking them to rescue Lin Ji and Sheng Chao. He also instructed Jiang Zhi and Li Jian to continue leading the team to cultivate Wunuo Grain.

Perhaps there will be a way to solve the growing crisis of the cultivation world in the future, but right now the most important thing is to let more people survive.

After doing all this, Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng, one on a tree and one on a tree, huddled together and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

They expended too much energy fighting Ji Li, and their injuries were quite severe; they need a period of rest and recuperation.

They rested for more than fifty days.

Because Shan Heyuan's Dantian Small World had merged with the outside world, half of Zhewu City had become his domain. No one else could break through his domain to get in front of them. For the past half month, their lives had been extremely peaceful.

Shan Heyuan woke up first.

When he woke up, he was still growing in Zhewu City in the form of a giant tree.

He has now grown to over 300 meters tall, and from high above, one can see the distant horizon.

It was only now that Shan Heyuan realized once again that even though the cultivation world was a vast world, it was still essentially a single planet.

Perhaps Earth has developed a technological civilization, while the cultivation world has developed a cultivation civilization. If both civilizations are advanced enough, they might even meet in the real world.

Who knows?

Shan Heyuan thought that the world might not be what he understood at all, and that cultivation civilization and technological civilization might not be in conflict.

What is the reality? We'll probably only know after he ascends to immortality.

When he woke up, he found all sorts of people stationed outside the domain, including the seven top sects, including Sword Reverence Sect.

Despite Ji Li's chaotic actions, Sword Reverence Sect maintained a certain degree of stability and was not pushed out of power. This was probably because, strictly speaking, Ji Li and Shen Duheng were also members of the Sword Reverence Sect. Unless they explicitly expressed their dislike, no one would dare to the Sword Reverence Sect.

Not only were people from various sects present, but Lin Ji and Sheng Chao were also there.

The two were previously imprisoned in a secret realm, but were rescued after Ji Li's death and are now being brought outside the realm.

Looking at the familiar or unfamiliar people outside the domain, Shan Heyuan felt a sense of warmth.

The cultivation world has not perished, but they have survived.

Very nice.

"Senior!"

"Senior Shan!"

"Grandmaster!"

People outside noticed he was awake and called out to him.

"Senior, we brought a large quantity of Fertilizer Pill with us. Do you think we can use them?"

"Senior Shan, these are the spiritual herbs and pills we prepared. Time is a bit tight, so we've sent the first batch over. We're currently arranging the second batch, which should arrive in a few days."

"Grandmaster, we've brought most of the sect's resources with us. Is there anything else you need? We'll figure something out when we get back."

Shan Heyuan transformed into Heaven-Supporting Tree, and all the top sects placed their future hopes on him, hoping that he could ascend as soon as possible, break the status quo of the cultivation world, and restore the Heavenly Dao.

Everyone had their own ideas, but surprisingly, they reached a consensus at this moment.

Without any hesitation, Shan Heyuan grabbed all the Fertilizer Pill and spiritual herbs and put them into his domain. "Thank you all for your hard work. I need more Spiritual Power, the more the better."

Shan Heyuan can now sense that with enough Spiritual Power, he can grow without any bottlenecks.

More accurately, so far, he hasn't felt any bottleneck at all.

He wanted to take a gamble and see if he could truly grow into Heaven-Supporting Tree and create a crack in the "shell" outside the cultivation world.

In this situation, he needs sufficient resources to strive for growth and further development.

Since that's the case, there's no need to be polite with the various sects in the cultivation world.

The supplies sent by various sects have all been refined and are extremely easy to convert into Spiritual Power.