The Road Ahead

Watching this scene, Shen Qingshuang, who stood not far away, felt a tightness in her chest.

She drew a deep breath and let out a long sigh filled with indescribable complexity and sorrow.

Her gaze fell upon the woman curled up at Ye Xuan’s feet, her face filled with foolish delight.

The dignified Supreme Grand Elder of the Hehuan Sect, an unparalleled immortal in the Great Ascension Realm, Ye Qingcheng, whose fury had once sent the entire demonic path trembling…

Now, for the sake of an utterly perfunctory promise that could never possibly be fulfilled, she was willingly staying here as a servant whose life force could be drained at any moment.

No.

As Shen Qingshuang looked at the chain around Ye Qingcheng’s neck and the way she wagged her tail and begged for favor, she silently shook her head.

How could this be called servitude?

Before Ye Xuan, she was not even worthy of being called a servant. She was merely a pitiful plaything who had completely lost even her own soul.

Shen Qingshuang turned her head and looked at Ye Xuan, who had closed his eyes once more. He was as unfathomable as an ancient demon god.

A deeper awe and complete submission arose within her heart. She knew that for the rest of her life, she could only obediently remain his woman. She must never, ever test this man’s limits.

Three months later.

Above the main hall, the dark vortex of devouring that floated in midair had expanded from its original size of several yards to a terrifying scale that blotted out the sky.

It was like a gigantic maw leading to a bottomless abyss, endlessly devouring the ninety-nine supreme-grade divine source spirit veins beneath the Sword God Palace day and night.

The essence of those spirit veins, which previous palace masters had carefully maintained for generations and which took thousands of years to condense even a single drop, was now being torn apart and poured into the body of the black-robed young man below like nothing more than cheap stream water.

The spiritual energy inside the hall had grown so dense that it defied description.

It had even condensed into clouds of multicolored spiritual energy in midair, from which spiritual rain occasionally descended in fine, silken strands.

“Rumble!”

Suddenly, an ominous roar like an ancient azure dragon awakening rang out from within Ye Xuan’s body.

At first, the sound only echoed inside him. But after just a few breaths, it transformed into tangible sound waves that swept through the entire Tai’a Main Hall like a tsunami.

Cracks spread across the supposedly indestructible jade floor tiles like a spiderweb, while the thick golden pillars carved with coiling dragons let out groans of protest under the strain.

Ye Xuan, who sat cross-legged upon the Nine-Dragon Ice Throne, abruptly opened his eyes.

Two beams of profound golden divine light shot from his eyes like solid rays, piercing straight through the void before the hall and exposing the deep, pitch-black currents of chaotic space beyond.

A terrifying pressure, more than ten times greater and more vast than it had been several months ago, erupted from his body like a volcanic explosion!

Under the impact of that peerless pressure, Ye Xuan’s long hair, black as ink, whipped wildly around him, while his profound golden robe snapped in the wind. Ancient, profound demonic runes faintly appeared across his skin, proclaiming the existence of some forbidden power that stood above the Heavenly Dao.

“Whoosh…”

Ye Xuan parted his lips slightly and exhaled a long breath of turbid air. In midair, that breath transformed into a black sword of qi barely a few inches long. It instantly shredded a white jade statue ten yards away into incredibly fine powder.

Late-stage Body Integration!

In just a few short months, he had leapt from the mid-stage of Body Integration to the late stage!

In the corner of the hall, Shen Qingshuang had been silently standing guard. Now, she covered her red lips tightly with both hands, her cold and beautiful eyes filled with undisguised shock and disbelief.

Although she had already formed extremely high expectations regarding Ye Xuan’s monstrous talent, she was still completely dumbfounded by this breakthrough speed, which seemed as easy as drinking water.

One had to understand that the further one advanced along the path of cultivation, the more difficult each step became.

At the Body Integration Realm, advancing by even a single minor stage required not only an enormous accumulation of spiritual energy, but also an exceedingly profound understanding of the laws of heaven and earth and the rules of the Great Dao.

Those prodigious heirs and saintly sons hailed as once-in-ten-thousand-year talents in the Central Continent all needed to spend hundreds or even thousands of years in painstaking cultivation to break through a single stage while in the Body Integration Realm.

And during that process, they would face countless instances of backlash from their Dao hearts and tribulations caused by inner demons. The slightest carelessness could result in the destruction of both body and soul.

But what about Ye Xuan?

A few months!

It had only taken him a few short months!

There had been no bottleneck, no inner demons, and not even the slightest sign of disordered aura.

With effortless ease, he had crossed an insurmountable chasm that countless cultivators could only dream of overcoming!

Shen Qingshuang drew a deep breath and forcibly calmed her heart, which was pounding like a war drum in her chest.

She stepped forward on her long, shapely legs, her slender waist swaying gracefully. Carrying a cup of warm immortal spring water that had been prepared long ago, she walked toward Ye Xuan like an obedient spirit cat.

She knelt beside the throne and offered him the immortal spring water. At the same time, she took out a soft, spotless silk handkerchief woven from snow silkworm thread and gently wiped Ye Xuan’s forehead, though there was not actually a trace of sweat upon it.

“Your cultivation speed is truly astonishing, husband…”

There was undisguised admiration and awe in Shen Qingshuang’s voice. As she gazed at Ye Xuan’s flawless, divine-like face, she gave a wry smile and said:

“To break through from the mid-stage of Body Integration to the late stage in just a few months… If those self-proclaimed prodigies of the Central Continent learned of this, I’m afraid every one of them would be so ashamed that they would cripple their own cultivation on the spot.”

Hearing Shen Qingshuang’s heartfelt astonishment, Ye Xuan’s expression remained unusually calm. His eyes did not even ripple with the slightest hint of excitement over his breakthrough in cultivation.

He accepted the immortal spring water she offered and took a shallow sip before casually setting the jade cup aside.

Then he reached out with his slender fingers and lightly pinched Shen Qingshuang’s beautiful cheek.

“There’s no need to make such a fuss,” he said indifferently.

“I’m not cultivating. I’m rebuilding my cultivation.”

Ye Xuan’s gaze pierced through the dome of the main hall, and his voice carried the indifference of one who had endured countless ages:

“For ordinary cultivators, cultivation is like groping through the darkness. Every breakthrough requires them to find a direction and shatter the bottlenecks that bind them. But for me…”

“This body of mine is merely a vast lake that has dried up. The realm of my soul and my understanding of the Great Dao, accumulated through countless reincarnations, have long since become an ocean.”

Ye Xuan lowered his head slightly and looked into Shen Qingshuang’s eyes, which were filled with shock. His tone was calm yet domineering.

“I have no bottlenecks. All I need is enough spiritual energy to fill this lake.”

“As long as I have sufficient resources, even if you asked me to ascend on the spot, nothing could stop me.”

After hearing Ye Xuan’s explanation, Shen Qingshuang was completely stunned.

She nodded blankly. Although she understood the reason, her face was still filled with shock and bitterness.

Rebuilding his cultivation?

Who in this world could have an experience as terrifying as his? Who could possess the memories and Dao heart accumulated through countless reincarnations?

This cultivation method that towers over all rules, as if it were born with the sight of the heavens, does not belong to the mortal realm at all.

Shen Qingshuang lowered her head, gazing at her own slightly trembling hands, a whirl of conflicting emotions surging through her chest.

She used to be the esteemed matriarch of the Sword God Palace, a great power at the Great Ascension stage, an existence that looked down on all living beings. Yet now, before this man, the cultivation base and natural talent she had once taken such pride in seemed as ridiculous as an infant's.

She finally realized that being able to submit to him, to become his personal servant girl, was never a humiliation at all, but a climb up the social ladder, a tremendous stroke of fate that most could never hope for.

Just as Shen Qingshuang was secretly shocked, her state of mind undergoing a subtle transformation.

Ye Xuan did not remain immersed in the joy of his cultivation breakthrough.

He leaned lazily against his throne, his fingers tapping gently on the armrest carved from ten thousand-year-old ice.

Tap... tap... tap...

The crisp tapping sound echoed through the great hall.

Ye Xuan suddenly stopped his movements and let out a long, rare sigh laced with a hint of confusion and heaviness.

Shen Qingshuang lifted her head immediately at the sound, staring at Ye Xuan with a face full of puzzlement.

In her impression, this man was always domineering, cold, and calculated every move without a hitch, as if nothing in the world could ever trouble him.

"Husband, what is wrong?" Shen Qingshuang asked softly. "Your cultivation has greatly advanced, could there be something weighing on your mind?"

Ye Xuan's brows furrowed, and in his eyes, deep as an abyss, flickered an extremely complex glint.

"The rise in my cultivation level is nothing more than a natural, effortless progression for me, not worth mentioning."

Ye Xuan straightened up, a look of confusion in his eyes as he stared at his own palm, where a black vortex was tangling and clashing fiercely with a sharp sword qi.

"What troubles me most right now is the path I should take next."

"This will determine the Dao Fruit I will achieve in the future."

At the mention of the words "Dao Fruit", Shen Qingshuang's heart jolted sharply, and an extremely solemn look appeared on her stunning face.

Dao Fruit!

It was the most sacred, supreme existence in the cultivation world.

The Great Ascension stage earned its practitioners the title of "Great Power" from the world, but it was already the limit for mortal cultivation.

If one wanted to truly shed their mortal flesh and body, break the shackles of this world, and step into the legendary True Immortal realm that enjoyed the same lifespan as the heavens, they had to take that most crucial step, which was harder to achieve than scaling the sky.

That step was to condense one's Dao Fruit.

A Dao Fruit was not spiritual energy, not a cultivation technique, and far from some sort of magical treasure.

It was the culmination of a cultivator's entire life of cultivation, a tangible manifestation of one's understanding of a certain heavenly law pushed to the extreme, to the point where they could even tower over that very law.

Only by condensing one's own unique Dao Fruit, fusing one's essence, energy, and spirit completely with the great Dao of the heavens, could one summon the Heavenly Tribulation of Ascension, cast off their mortal shell, and attain the rank of True Immortal.

If the progress from the Integration stage to the Great Ascension stage was the accumulation of quantitative change, then condensing a Dao Fruit was a complete, total qualitative leap.

As a peak Great Ascension stage cultivator, Shen Qingshuang naturally understood just how difficult it was to condense a Dao Fruit.

But Ye Xuan was only at the late Integration stage!

He was actually starting to consider the matter of condensing a Dao Fruit right now?

This far-sighted vision and ambition once again filled Shen Qingshuang with a deep sense of powerlessness.

Yet seeing Ye Xuan tangled in his thoughts, Shen Qingshuang could not help but speak up, saying hurriedly,

"Husband, your natural talent is unmatched through all ages. Especially your talent in the sword path!"

A fanatical glint shone in Shen Qingshuang's eyes. She had witnessed Ye Xuan draw his sword with her own eyes. That sharpness, that dominance, that aura of one sword breaking all laws—even she, the matriarch of the Sword God Palace, had to admit she paled in comparison.

"Your talent in the sword path is in no way inferior to Sword Sovereign's! In fact, it surpasses his!"

Shen Qingshuang grabbed Ye Xuan's hand excitedly, her tone full of hope.

"You can totally walk the path of a pure Sword Immortal!"

"The sword path governs slaughter, and breaks through all laws! With your natural endowment and foundation, once you become a True Immortal, your Dao Fruit will definitely be the Sword Immortal Dao Fruit, whose destructive power is terrifying! At that time, no one, whether in this lower realm or the lofty Immortal Realm, will be able to block a single strike of your sword!"

In Shen Qingshuang's mind, the Sword Immortal Dao Fruit was already the top, most desirable ultimate Dao Fruit in this world.

One sword to break all laws, one sword to slay the stars! What a thrill! What dominance!

However, in the face of this rousing description from Shen Qingshuang, Ye Xuan's expression remained calm. He looked at Shen Qingshuang's face, brimming with anticipation, and slowly shook his head.

"Sword Immortal Dao Fruit?"

Ye Xuan let out a soft chuckle, a laugh that carried the loneliness and disdain of a supreme being looking down on ants.

"The Sword Immortal Dao Fruit is indeed powerful, truly worthy of being called the number one in slaughter."

Ye Xuan held Shen Qingshuang's hand back, his gaze profound as he said,

"But it is not the strongest."