Seeking the Supreme Bodhi

Shen Qingshuang froze.

She stared at Ye Xuan in a daze, her face filled with utter disbelief.

The Sword Immortal Dao Fruit was not the strongest?

That was the ultimate Great Dao focused entirely on slaughter, after all! Apart from the legendary, utterly unattainable Creation Dao Fruit and Time Dao Fruit that no one had ever managed to condense, what else could possibly be more powerful than the Sword Immortal Dao Fruit?

Ye Xuan slowly stood up, releasing Shen Qingshuang's hand. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, walked to the edge of the throne, and looked down over the entire empty great hall.

"At the end of the day, the Sword Dao is nothing more than the pinnacle of techniques."

Ye Xuan's voice was low and resounding:

"Sharp as a sword is, it can slash through ten thousand laws, but it cannot sever the flow of the long river of time, cannot cut through the karmic cycle of all the myriad worlds, and even less can it break free from the shackles the vast Heavenly Dao places on all living beings."

"Sword cultivators are, after all, nothing but a sharp blade under the Heavenly Dao's control."

Ye Xuan spun around sharply, his dark golden eyes burning with madness and ambition that blazed like two scorching suns.

"I, Ye Xuan, have been through ten thousand cycles of reincarnation, endured endless betrayals and despair. How could I ever be willing to be nothing more than a blade at the mercy of the Heavenly Dao?"

"Now that I have been reborn, now that I possess the most tyrannical Devouring Demon Art in this world, now that I retain the memories of ten thousand lifetimes..."

Ye Xuan's right hand clenched tightly in the void, as if he was holding the entire world in his palm. His voice boomed like thunder from the nine heavens, exploding across the great hall.

"I am destined to walk a path no ordinary person could ever imagine!"

"I do not seek to be invincible within the rules set by the Heavenly Dao. What I seek is to leap beyond the Three Realms, to exist outside the Five Elements. I want to control the rules, even... devour the Heavenly Dao itself!"

"For that reason, the Dao Fruit I will condense will be unimaginably extraordinary!"

"It will never be limited to a single Sword Dao, or a single Demon Dao. It will fuse the most primordial powers of all the myriad worlds, be it time, space, reincarnation, chaos, or destruction..."

"What I intend to condense is a supreme Dao Fruit capable of crushing through eternity and suppressing all the myriad worlds under the heavens!"

Ye Xuan's words were like a cataclysmic storm, crashing violently against the very foundations of Shen Qingshuang's understanding.

Shen Qingshuang was completely speechless.

She knelt motionless on the spot, looking up at the overwhelmingly domineering man before her who seemed no different from a demon god, her mind going entirely blank.

Arrogant.

This was far too arrogant!

Yet as she met Ye Xuan's unshakable gaze, and felt the terrifying demonic might radiating off him that seemed capable of devouring everything, Shen Qingshuang could not bring herself to think for even a moment that he was spouting empty boasts.

It felt as if... he really could pull it off.

Shen Qingshuang said nothing.

She stood quietly in place, watching the man who seemed to gaze down upon the entire universe, her heart swelling with indescribable shock, bitterness, and a deep sense of inadequacy.

She had already reached the peak of the Great Vehicle realm, only one single step away from the legendary True Immortal realm.

Yet that seemingly trivial step had blocked countless outstanding, heaven-defying prodigies across all of ancient and modern history.

The reason was simple.

To break through from the Great Vehicle realm to True Immortal, one had to condense a Dao Fruit.

This required not just an immense amount of immortal spiritual qi, but also a level of near-obsessive comprehension and devotion to one's own path that bordered on oneness with the Dao.

Shen Qingshuang had cultivated for eight thousand years, with the Sword Dao as her primary path.

The only Dao Fruit she could possibly hope to condense, and the most promising one by far, was a Sword Immortal Dao Fruit.

Before she met Ye Xuan, she had always regarded condensing the Sword Immortal Dao Fruit as the highest lifelong pursuit of her faith, the supreme capital that would let her stand head and shoulders above her peers and ascend to immortality in broad daylight.

But now.

That highest goal she had been so proud of and struggled so arduously to reach had been dismissed by Ye Xuan as nothing special, a low-grade choice not even worth mentioning.

This massive gap in perspective made Shen Qingshuang keenly aware of the chasm between her and Ye Xuan, a divide as vast as that between cloud and mud, as unfathomable to a summer insect that could never understand what ice was.

"This servant is foolish..."

Shen Qingshuang lowered her head and gave a bitter, weary smile, her voice laced with complete submission and humility.

"My husband is a divine dragon from the highest heavens. How could the likes of this lowly frog at the bottom of a well ever presume to guess at your ambitions? My vision is far too narrow to even offer you suggestions."

Seeing Shen Qingshuang so thoroughly shaken, yet all the more obedient out of reverence, the icy harshness in Ye Xuan's eyes softened just a little.

He stepped in front of her, extended a long, slender finger, and gently lifted her stunningly beautiful, cool chin.

"There is no need to belittle yourself."

Ye Xuan looked down at her, his tone carrying a hint of patronizing comfort.

"The Sword Immortal Dao Fruit is indeed the best possible outcome for you. Your talent, while far inferior to mine, is passable enough in the lands of Central Province."

"When you have served me well enough to please me, I might, on a whim, deign to give you a few pointers. Helping you condense the Sword Immortal Dao Fruit you have dreamed of and guiding you into the True Immortal realm is no difficult feat for me."

At those words, which felt like a divine blessing bestowed upon her, Shen Qingshuang's entire body trembled.

Help her condense the Sword Immortal Dao Fruit?

Guide her to the True Immortal realm?

For any great cultivator stuck at the peak of the Great Vehicle realm, that was a promise enough to drive them mad with desire!

If anyone else had said such a thing, Shen Qingshuang would have scoffed and dismissed them as a lunatic. But coming from Ye Xuan, she believed every single word without the slightest doubt.

Because this man before her truly possessed the monstrous foundation to defy all common sense and turn fate against the heavens.

"Thank you for your great grace, husband!"

Shen Qingshuang's eyes instantly reddened. Without hesitation, her knees buckled, and she prostrated herself fully at Ye Xuan's feet, pressing her noble, exquisite cheek firmly against his boot. Her voice quivered with overwhelming excitement.

"From this day on, my life, my body, all belong only to you, husband! Qingshuang is willing to be the most humble servant at your side for all eternity, if only I may stay by your side and follow in your footsteps forever!"

Watching Shen Qingshuang cast aside the last of her dignity as a top-tier Great Vehicle realm powerhouse, prostrating at his feet like a fanatical worshipper, overwhelmed with gratitude, Ye Xuan savored the absolute feeling of being in control.

He stroked her soft, flowing hair casually, as if he was petting a gentle, noble Persian cat.

"Rise."

Ye Xuan spoke faintly, his gaze turning profound once more.

"Though I have not yet fully settled on exactly what forbidden Dao Fruit I will condense, I can vaguely sense that to reach the perfect outcome I envision, the meager resources of the Sword Immortal Palace, and even Ye Qingcheng's origin power, are far from sufficient."

"I need much more."