Though the sword lights were swift, Yun Che’s Earth Escape technique was even more exquisite. He trailed far behind the hundred cultivators, keeping his distance. The group streaked across the sky and, in mere moments, arrived at the location of the spirit vein.

  Spiritual energy fluctuated violently here. The ground was riddled with craters, severed limbs and broken bodies scattered everywhere. A thick stench of blood drifted through the air with the wind.

  The instant the hundred cultivators arrived, countless Flameburn Kingdom cultivators suddenly appeared from all directions. The battle began at once.

  At the same time, eight massive sword lights, each several meters thick, shot in from afar. An overwhelming aura immediately blanketed the surroundings. Yun Che narrowed his eyes—these eight were all Nascent Soul experts.

  The moment they approached, they were intercepted by Flameburn Kingdom’s patrolling Nascent Soul cultivators. The two sides clashed instantly. Magic treasures and flying swords filled the sky, explosions roaring without end. In that instant, heaven and earth trembled; the winds and clouds changed color.

  Soon after, more waves of hundred-man squads from Xuanwu Kingdom appeared in the distance, flying rapidly into the chaotic melee.

  Yun Che’s gaze turned cold. After observing briefly, his Extreme Divine Sense transformed into a streak of red lightning and leapt from the ground, flashing toward both sides locked in combat.

  A Foundation Establishment disciple from Xuanwu Kingdom had just slain a fifteenth-level Qi Condensation opponent and was about to swing his sword again when a red flash crossed his vision. It felt as though a massive hammer had smashed into his mind. His sight went dark; his divine sense shattered without resistance. His body plummeted from the sky.

  Eight Foundation Establishment cultivators from Xuanwu formed a sword array, trapping a Core Formation expert. But as the red flash passed, all eight trembled slightly. Their expressions froze. Their divine senses were swept away as if crushed by an invisible hand. Their soulless bodies fell from the sky.

  The trapped Core Formation expert was momentarily stunned, but the opportunity before him allowed no hesitation. He immediately charged toward another enemy.

  Meanwhile, a False Core cultivator from Xuanwu, wielding a Nascent Soul–grade flying sword, had already slain several opponents of the same realm. With a sinister grin, he grabbed a female Foundation Establishment cultivator by the throat. With a violent tear, her robes were shredded, revealing the pink undergarment beneath. She screamed in terror, frail and helpless amid the battlefield’s chaos.

  The False Core cultivator licked his lips, lust flickering in his eyes, and began retreating with her in hand. But before he could take more than a few steps, a red flash streaked past. His body trembled; his grip loosened. He dropped from the air like a sack of mud.

  His flying sword, freed from its master’s control, did not halt—instead it shot even faster toward the ground. Just before striking, an arm suddenly emerged from the earth, seized it, and withdrew underground.

  As more and more Foundation Establishment cultivators from Xuanwu inexplicably fell from the sky, their side finally took notice. A purple-robed Core Formation cultivator stared at a certain spot on the ground and pointed with his right hand, transmitting some unknown signal. At once, ten late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators broke away from the battlefield and flew toward the indicated location.

  Yun Che remained calm and turned away, using Earth Escape at a steady pace. One of the ten held a compass, tracking him by the needle’s direction.

  After traveling over ten li, Yun Che stopped. His Extreme Divine Sense spread instantly. Before Foundation Establishment cultivators, Yun Che was sovereign—life and death were his to decide. The ten had no time even to cry out before they collapsed one by one without warning, their divine senses destroyed, their eyes lifeless.

  The simplicity of the mountain village boy was long gone. Mercy had no place in him now. Anyone who obstructed his path could be killed.

  On the battlefield, there was no right or wrong—only survival. The slightest hint of mercy would mean his own death. While the Extreme Realm granted him immense power, it was also quietly reshaping his character. The Extreme Realm allowed no middle ground.

  If one walked the righteous path, one could become a heroic immortal—hating evil, slaying demons.

  If one walked the demonic path, one would become the king of devils—so extreme that even demonic cultivators would fear him.

  Under the nature of the Extreme Realm, there could be no ambiguous morality.

  Yun Che had once wished to become a revered righteous cultivator, to bring honor to his clan and ancestors. But fate was unpredictable. Li Han’s appearance had begun to alter him. That change grew larger and larger, ultimately sowing catastrophic consequences.

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  Honor the clan? The clan was gone. The ancestors were gone. What glory remained?

  The nature of the Extreme Realm twisted his heart—if he could not become a hero admired by ten thousand, then he would become a slaughtering demon feared by ten thousand.

  Indifference filled his eyes. After collecting the storage bags, he did not spare the corpses beneath him a glance. He sank back into the earth, shifted position, and returned toward the battlefield.

  Then he resurfaced again. After pondering briefly while gazing at the battlefield, he took out several spirit stones and set up a formation. One by one, he tossed the ten corpses into it. Each body exploded into blood mist the moment it entered, absorbed by the array.

  When the final corpse detonated, Yun Che bit his fingertip and flicked a drop of blood onto the formation’s spirit stones.

  A wisp of purple qi rose from the formation, circled several times, and slowly dissipated. The spirit stones vanished as well. Without careful inspection, nothing unusual could be detected.

  Finished, Yun Che sank underground once more and headed toward the battlefield.

  The fighting had reached a fever pitch. The Nascent Soul cultivators clashed ever more violently, the area of destruction widening, forcing lower-level cultivators to retreat.

  Then it happened again—Foundation Establishment cultivators from Xuanwu began falling from the sky in succession, smashing into the ground like lumps of flesh.

  As the strange deaths mounted, disorder spread through Xuanwu’s ranks. Flameburn cultivators seized the opportunity and pressed their assault.

  The purple-robed middle-aged man who had earlier ordered Yun Che’s pursuit narrowed his eyes. His gaze swept downward before fixing on a spot. With another point of his finger, a Core Formation cultivator at his side immediately charged out.

  The instant the Core Formation cultivator approached, Yun Che fled underground. With a cold smile, the cultivator pressed his palm downward. The earth caved in with a thunderous roar, forming a giant palm imprint.

  Yun Che burst from the ground and leapt toward the location of the formation.

  The Core Formation cultivator sneered. In his view, Yun Che’s earlier success must have relied on some powerful treasure. With caution, capture would be easy.

  With a flick of his hands, a golden cone spun into existence. After a brief pause, it shot forth like an arrow loosed from a bow. Its speed was so great that ripples formed in the surrounding air.

  Without turning back, Yun Che tossed out the mediocre pill treasure issued by the alliance. It transformed into a silver fist that smashed into the cone.

  Upon collision, the cone spun faster, forcibly drilling through the fist. Its glow dimmed slightly, but its speed did not lessen as it continued straight toward Yun Che.

  At the instant it neared him, Yun Che sank underground once more, repeatedly emerging and submerging until he reached the formation site.

  The Core Formation cultivator followed unhurriedly, his sneer deepening.

  “Cowardly rat,” he mocked loudly. “Is burrowing and ambushing all you can do?”

  Yun Che said nothing. He passed the formation without pause, then suddenly stopped and turned.

  The cultivator had just flown above the formation.

  “Activate,” Yun Che murmured coldly.

  The formation erupted, releasing dense purple mist that enveloped the cultivator completely.

  Yun Che sat cross-legged and swiftly activated the Nascent Soul–grade jade talisman gifted by Yang Sen. A circular ripple spread out, forming a barrier around him. The golden cone struck repeatedly, but the barrier merely trembled without breaking.

  Ignoring the cone, Yun Che released the demonic spirit from his flying sword. The red shadow stared eagerly at the mist, torn between hunger and hesitation.

  Yun Che closed his eyes. Crimson lightning surged from his sea of consciousness, forming a red cloud that burst forth from his body.

  For the first time, his Extreme Divine Sense left him entirely.

  The red cloud transformed into a blade and, dragging the demonic spirit with it, plunged into the purple mist.

  Inside, the Core Formation cultivator sat cross-legged, using a gourd treasure to absorb the mist. Yun Che’s divine sense ignored all defenses and entered his sea of consciousness.

  Within, the cultivator’s divine sense manifested as a giant. Crimson lightning rained down upon it.

  The battle was fierce. Though Yun Che struggled at his current cultivation level, he had prepared for this.

  At his command, the demonic spirit lunged forward. Though smashed apart, it reformed instantly and latched onto the giant, devouring frantically.

  In the end, the giant shrank into a golden strand of consciousness and was completely consumed.

  The demonic spirit rejoiced—but before it could digest, Yun Che’s crimson cloud enveloped it. Under pressure, it unwillingly spat out the refined, ownerless consciousness.

  Yun Che absorbed it.

  Outside, the golden cone dimmed and fell to the ground.

  He dispelled the formation, retrieved the Core Formation cultivator’s body, extracted the Golden Core from the ashes, and swallowed it without hesitation.

  Then he sank a thousand zhang underground to refine it.

  The Golden Core exploded within him, immense spiritual energy flooding his body. Blood streamed from his nose and mouth. He summoned the Heavenly Nether Pearl and entered its space.

  Two months passed inside.

  When he opened his eyes again, he had broken through to the great completion of Foundation Establishment—the False Core realm.

  “Even absorbing just ten percent allowed this breakthrough,” he murmured. “If I face an early Core Formation cultivator again, I can fight without relying on the demonic spirit.”

  Ten days had passed outside.

  He returned to the alliance’s mountain stronghold and reported to Feng Luan and Yang Sen.

  After reviewing his merit token, Yang Sen frowned.

  “Sixty-one Foundation kills. One Core kill. You were mid-Foundation not long ago—how did you reach False Core so quickly? And how did you kill a Core Formation cultivator?”

  Yun Che replied calmly, “He was gravely wounded and fleeing. I seized his Golden Core and used the Evil Demon Sect’s Devouring Art.”

  Yang Sen sensed residual Golden Core energy and believed him.

  Feng Luan handed him the second map.

  “Core kills count as ten. Reach one hundred fifty, and you may claim the third.”

  Just then, a scream pierced the air.

  A battered Nascent Soul hovered above, its spiritual energy leaking uncontrollably.

  “Fellow Daoists… the national sealing array has been broken… the Fire Beasts… are coming…”