72: Chapter 72 Breaking Through to the Sect Realm in Five Days! Devouring Eternity!
"Lin Yuan."
Just as Lin Yuan's hand was about to touch the cold, rough stone door, a clear and calm call came from behind him.
The Azure Nether Sword Emperor had called out to stop him.
Lin Yuan paused his steps but did not turn around.
Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss's burly frame remained seated by the stone table. In his dark yellow eyes, Lin Yuan's thin but upright back was reflected, filled with complexity.
The Azure Nether Sword Emperor slowly walked up behind Lin Yuan and stood side by side with him, similarly gazing at the stone door that exuded an aura of ancient desolation.
He didn't waste any words and simply flicked his finger.
A simple ring carved entirely from verdant wood traced a precise arc and came to a steady halt right before Lin Yuan's eyes.
The ring had no ornate decorations, only the warm, natural grain of the wood itself.
"Take it."
The Azure Nether Sword Emperor's tone was as flat as ever.
"This ring is named 'Azure Nether'. Inside, I have prepared one million Top-grade Spirit Crystals."
One million!
Top-grade Spirit Crystals!
Lin Yuan's breathing hitched for a moment.
The so-called "massive" amount of spirit stones the Long Clan had sent was laughably small compared to this million.
Lin Yuan reached out and caught the green wooden ring between two fingers.
It felt warm to the touch, and a calming power seeped through his fingertips.
He didn't say thank you, simply waiting quietly for what came next.
"In addition," the Azure Nether Sword Emperor paused and tapped the ring lightly with his finger, "I have also sealed a wisp of my divine sense within this ring."
"In a moment of crisis, activate it."
"It can unleash a full-power strike from me."
A full-power strike from an Emperor Realm Expert!
This was the true value of the ring.
An ultimate trump card sufficient to walk unchallenged anywhere in the Yan Country, an amulet capable of slaying an Emperor Realm and repelling an Emperor Realm!
Lin Yuan finally turned his head and gave the Azure Nether Sword Emperor a deep look.
He saw pure appreciation and expectation in the depths of the other man's calm eyes.
No control, no schemes.
Only the most sincere hopes of an elder for a junior.
Lin Yuan slipped the ring onto his finger; it was neither too large nor too small, a perfect fit.
He looked down at the simple ring and said in a low voice, "I won't use it lightly."
"As you wish."
The Azure Nether Sword Emperor didn't care.
He turned around and looked back toward the distant horizon, where clouds had gathered once again at some unknown point.
"The demons on the eastern front are rioting, and Yan Tianjin has already rushed there."
"It is time for me to depart as well."
His words were light, yet they carried an unquestionable decisiveness.
"After I leave, do not leave Yuanwu Academy easily. If you have confusion in your martial cultivation, you may consult Emperor Mountain Sinking."
"Though he has lost his cultivation, his vision and knowledge are unrivaled in Yan Country."
Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss, who had been silent, merely gave a heavy harrumph, which served as his tacit agreement.
The Azure Nether Sword Emperor took one last look at Lin Yuan.
"Your path is correct."
"Keep walking it."
As his voice fell, he stayed no longer. Taking a step forward, his form transformed into a streak of azure sword light, soaring into the sky and vanishing past the horizon in an instant.
He came without a sound and left without a trace.
The back mountain returned to a dead silence once more.
Only the mountain-like figure of Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss and the solitary Lin Yuan standing before the stone door remained.
Lin Yuan rubbed the azure nether ring on his finger, feeling the vast energy and the peerlessly sharp sword intent contained within.
He did not delay for even a single second longer.
He extended his right hand, pressed it heavily against the stone door, and released the true essence within his body!
Rumble—!
Amidst a harsh grinding sound, the incredibly heavy stone door slowly opened inward, leaving a gap just wide enough for one person to pass.
Endless darkness and chilling primeval hostile energy poured frantically out of the crack!
Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Yuan stepped inside.
As his figure was swallowed by the darkness, the stone door slammed shut again, sealing everything away.
The back mountain returned to a dead silence once more.
Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss gazed at the closed stone door for a long time before letting out a complex sigh.
...
Ancient Desolate Secret Realm.
Lin Yuan's figure moved rapidly through the darkness.
The surrounding hostile energy no longer affected him in the slightest; instead, it became the favorite "food" of the guixu black lotus within his sea of vegetation grotto-heaven.
He did not stop at the periphery, heading straight for the deepest part of the secret realm—the edge of the core zone that even the Azure Nether Sword Emperor had warned him not to approach lightly.
That was the place where the hostile energy and power of the entire secret realm were at their most violent and chaotic.
It was also the best place for his secluded cultivation to charge into the Sect Realm!
Soon, a massive underground cavern appeared before him.
A thick layer of purple-black hostile energy crystals had condensed on the stone walls of the cavern.
The energy concentration here was more than a hundred times that of the periphery!
Lin Yuan walked to the center of the cave and sat cross-legged.
Without any hesitation, he moved his divine sense.
Clatter!
The Ten-thousand-year Dragon Blood Grass sent by Long Zhongshan, along with a mountain-like pile of top-grade spirit stones, instantly poured out of his storage space, forming a small hill in front of him.
The rich dragon blood aura intertwined with the pure spiritual energy, making the energy in the entire cavern even more violent.
After doing all this, Lin Yuan slowly closed his eyes.
In the next moment, the sea of vegetation grotto-heaven within him roared into operation!
A bizarre lotus flower, entirely pitch-black with petals inlaid with dark gold, slowly emerged from his dantian's sea of qi.
The guixu black lotus!
At the heart of the lotus, that speck of pale fire began to expand at a terrifying speed!
The moment it touched this flame, the priceless Ten-thousand-year Dragon Blood Grass began to decompose and dissolve, transforming into the purest life energy and dragon blood essence, which was frantically drawn into Lin Yuan's body!
The mountain of top-grade spirit stones didn't even go through the process of shattering; they directly turned into torrents of pure energy and were swallowed whole!
But it still wasn't enough!
Far from enough!
With another thought from Lin Yuan, the devouring power of the guixu black lotus was completely unleashed!
The primeval hostile energy in the entire cavern, and even within a radius of thousands of meters outside, received the call of doomsday!
They transformed into visible black tornadoes, frantically converging toward Lin Yuan's location, forming a massive energy vortex!
Lin Yuan's body was currently at the very center of the vortex.
He had become a true black hole!
Frantically devouring and squeezing every bit of energy in the vicinity!
Dragon Blood Fruit, top-grade spirit stones, primeval hostile energy...
Everything was ruthlessly decomposed and converted before the guixu black lotus, then poured into Lin Yuan's limbs and bones in an almost barbaric manner!
His meridians were tearing inch by inch, only to be instantly healed under the almost cheating recovery power of the Immortal Blood Begonia!
His physical body hovered frantically on the brink of collapse; every shattering was accompanied by an even more powerful reorganization!
This method of cultivation wasn't cultivation at all—it was suicide!
If it were anyone else, even an Emperor Realm Expert, attempting this would only result in being blown apart into a mist of blood by the violent energy!
But Lin Yuan could!
He possessed the perfect conversion of the guixu black lotus and the infinite restoration of the Immortal Blood Begonia!
Pain had long been completely ignored by his iron-like will.
There was only one thought in his mind.
Become stronger!
Become stronger!
Faster! Stronger!
Time lost its meaning during this almost demonic state of secluded cultivation.
One day.
Three days.
The fifth day of seclusion.
From deep within Lin Yuan, who had been sitting as still as a statue, a low rumble suddenly sounded!
Boom—!
Lin Yuan's body shook violently.
The ceaselessly flowing liquid true essence within him was compressed to the extreme at this moment. All his energy and all his martial insights converged frantically toward a single point at the center of his dantian's sea of qi!
Crack!
A crisp sound, like some sort of barrier being completely shattered, rang out from the depths of his soul.
The fence of the Heaven Realm was completely trampled and crushed by him at this moment in the most violent and overbearing manner!
The liquefied true essence condensed into the first Martial Dao Golden Core, as brilliant as a star!
Sect Realm!
One-star!
Success!
In the dead silent cavern, Lin Yuan's eyes, which had been closed for five days, suddenly snapped open.
In those eyes, there was no joy after the breakthrough, no hint of light.
There was only a bottomless, extreme pitch-blackness that seemed to devour the eternal heavens...