Yuan’s Ascension

Whoosh! Wu Yuan turned to see the five Archimmortals gathered in one place millions of li away, forming a rather powerful array that resembled a massive water sphere.

The sphere, spanning over ten thousand li in diameter, enveloped the five Archimmortals within its protective embrace. Its surface shimmered with cascading layers of rippling water, brimming with unfathomable profundities.

"Hei You has fallen."

"It was only his mana body, but it will still take a hundred thousand years to nurture a new one. This High Deity is truly ruthless."

"His strength is also terrifying."

"Where did this High Deity come from? With such power, he'd likely rank in the top ten among immortal cultivators across the entire macrocosm."

"We've formed the Water Element Heavenly Array. With this in conjunction with the array in outer space, blocking him shouldn't be difficult." The five Archimmortals communicated with each other, feeling some of their initial fear melt away.

When Wu Yuan had unleashed his power and mercilessly killed Hei Yuan earlier, it had frightened them as well.

Though it was only a mana body, the loss of a mana body was still a great price for an Archimmortal to pay. Not only did they lose some artifacts, but more importantly, they couldn't act without risk for the next one hundred thousand years.

If they chose to spend their wealth to create a new one quickly? The Immortal Life Pills used by Archimmortals and Archdeities were worth a million divine crystals each. Ordinary Archimmortals were unwilling to pay such a massive price.

"Should we let him go?" Archimmortal Yu Zhou asked, "With such great strength, his background must be formidable. It would be best not to offend him."

The other High Immortals also seemed to be considering this.

“We've already offended him," Archimmortal Wu Hai shook his head. "I've already reported the situation to Astral Lord Bai Hai." [1]

"The Astral Lord is already on his way," Archimmortal Wu Hai said gravely. "He has given strict orders—we must ensure he does not escape."

Astral Lord Bai Hai? Archimmortal Yu Zhou and the others were startled.

The six major immortal sects of the White Sea Immortal Continent were each led by an Astral Lord, but the strongest was undoubtedly the Astral Lord Bai Hai. He was a ninth-stage Archimmortal. Even the immortal continent was named after him.

…

In outer space, Wu Yuan and the Archimmortals within the enormous water sphere faced each other from afar.

"Sir, your strength is truly astonishing. To unleash power rivaling an Astral Lord while only a High Deity is truly admirable.

But taking a life is crossing the line." Archimmortal Wu Hai's voice rang out again: "An Astral Lord from our six major immortal sects will soon arrive via teleportation array. Once he’s here, you will surely be captured.

If you surrender now and hand over the treasures, perhaps you may still have a chance to leave safely." Archimmortal Wu Hai's voice rang out loud and clear.

Even now, he was still thinking about the Astral Monarch's treasures.

"Astral Lord? You six major immortal sects sure have a big reputation. Your strength may be lacking, but your tongues are quite sharp." Wu Yuan's gaze was frosty. "Fine, let’s see whether you’re able to delay until your Astral Lord arrives."

Astral Lord? Wu Yuan wasn't confident that he could face one yet.

The Saint Prohibition Art wasn't suited for prolonged battles. If he were to truly fight an Astral Lord, the chances of defeat were extremely high.

But the array's range was too vast, taking him at least ten breaths to fly out from his current position. In that time, the Astral Lord might arrive through the teleportation array.

Teleportation arrays transported individuals through a higher spatial dimension, allowing them to reach their destinations extremely quickly.

Wu Yuan had no desire to face an Astral Lord.

From the moment Wu Yuan entered the array, to their exchange, to Wu Yuan killing the black-robed Archimmortal, only three or four breaths had passed in total.

Hearing the other party’s words, Wu Yuan instantly understood that there was only one path he could take—kill all these Archimmortals.

Such a vast array requires Archimmortal-level mana to activate. Though I don't know who the array commander is, as long as I kill all these Archimmortals, the array will naturally collapse. Wu Yuan's mind was clear. As long as I'm fast enough, even if the Astral Lord comes to save them, he'll be too late.

Boom! Wu Yuan's form flickered, his wings vibrating as he transformed into a streak of light, charging toward the distant giant water sphere.

Archimmortal Wu Hai, who was inside the Water Element Heavenly Array, revealed a smile when he saw this. Haha, he's fallen for it. He actually thinks he can breach my array?

His words had been meant to provoke Wu Yuan. If Wu Yuan focused solely on escaping, the Astral Lord might not arrive before Wu Yuan left the array's range. But if Wu Yuan wasted time attacking the array, then the Astral Lord would definitely make it in time.

"Water Element!" Though confident, Archimmortal Wu Hai didn't dare be careless. He led the other four Archimmortals, casting another powerful water arcane art and integrating it with the defense array.

"We can definitely block him."

"It's foolproof."

"The Water Element Heavenly Array alone should already be enough to block him." Archimmortal Yu Zhou and the others were also full of confidence.

To be precise, they had confidence in Archimmortal Wu Hai. Archimmortal Wu Hai was a fifth-stage Archimmortal.

How cautious. Wu Yuan's perception was extraordinary. He could naturally sense the formidable nature of the water sphere before him.

If my ether body were here alone, or I hadn't obtained Astral Monarch Wan Lei's treasure, I might indeed be unable to deal with you.

Unfortunately for you…

Whoosh! Suddenly, another towering figure tens of thousands of zhangs tall appeared beside Wu Yuan. He wore the same battle armor, and his vital aura was equally boundless.

Nine arms, nine sabers. There was only one difference—among the nine battle sabers in his hands, one was an almost transparent azure saber. At first glance, the saber seemed ordinary, its aura completely concealed.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Slash! Two Wu Yuans erupted with power simultaneously, unleashing eighteen dazzling blade rays that illuminated outer space, slashing forth with savage intensity.

The eighteen blade rays seemed to merge into one. One blade ray in particular warped the very space it passed through, even creating a visible rift – its raw power had shattered the boundaries between spatial dimensions.

Astral Lord level! Indeed, after wielding the Hundred Stars Saber, Wu Yuan's maximum combat strength had reached the seventh-stage Archimmortal level.

The leap from third-stage to fourth-stage Archimmortal-level was a major breakthrough. Similarly, sixth-stage to seventh-stage Archimmortal-level was a qualitative transformation.

"No!"

"Two of them? His true self is here too? Both his true self and ether body ventured here?"

"This is bad!" The five Archimmortals who had been brimming with confidence that they could block the attack, were taken aback when they saw another Wu Yuan appear.

And when they witnessed the blade rays overlapping, especially that one blade ray that caused the spatial dimension boundary to warp and distort, they fell into utter despair. This power was undoubtedly at the Astral Lord level.

Blade rays crisscrossed through space! In an instant, they sliced through the massive water sphere. The surface currents of the sphere surged and roiled, desperately attempting to weaken the blade rays' power.

Schlick! The entire water sphere violently collapsed as the particularly powerful blade ray, imbued with Astral Lord-level power, cleaved straight through Archimmortal Wu Hai's body.

Me? No, spare me... The thought of begging for mercy had barely flickered through Wu Hai's mind before his immortal body was annihilated, perishing!

All that remained was a set of silver battle armor and several storage artifacts.

"No!"

"Run!"

"Quick, flee!" The remaining Archimmortals fled in panic and terror, desperately scattering in all directions.

"Flee? Die, all of you." Wu Yuan's body refiner self and ether body split off simultaneously, swinging their sabers as they gave chase.

Whoosh! Whoosh! As several blade rays streaked across the sky, the four remaining Archimmortals perished one after another. None could withstand even a single saber strike.

This expanse of outer space fell utterly silent. Only a few remnant artifacts floated in the void.

Hum~ The instant Wu Hai perished, the massive array spanning millions of li began to collapse and dissipate. Wu Yuan smiled as he observed it. Just as expected.

As long as the array completely dispersed and the spatial restriction was lifted, he would be able to enter the Fragmentary Spatial Layer.

Whoosh! Whoosh! With a thought, Wu Yuan swiftly collected the many artifacts left behind by the five Archimmortals, and then began to examine them.

This Archimmortal only had treasures worth tens of thousands of divine crystals? So poor.

This one's a bit better, but still not even a hundred thousand divine crystals... this one too, they're all paupers. Wu Yuan silently complained.

Of course, Wu Yuan wasn't too surprised. Ordinary Archimmortals usually only equipped their mana bodies with artifacts worth tens of thousands of divine crystals when venturing forth. They would only bring truly valuable treasures for important missions.

Hmm? A glint of astonishment flashed in Wu Yuan's eyes. This? Something's not right, could it be...?

As soon as Wu Yuan inspected the artifacts left behind by Archimmortal Wu Hai, he sensed something amiss.

There was actually a large pile of celestial equipment, along with numerous metals and materials, spiritual plants, medicinal pills, and the like, in vast quantities. A rough estimate put the overall value at over six million divine crystals!

Could it be that the fifth-stage Archimmortal from earlier was actually his true self, not a mana body? Wu Yuan could hardly believe it.

But, there was no other explanation. Why would an Archimmortal's mana body carry so many treasures?

Wu Yuan's guess was correct. Archimmortal Wu Hai's true self had indeed been killed in the earlier battle. His mana body had perished not long ago and he hadn't had time to nurture a new one yet.

Why would his true self come here? Wu Yuan was puzzled. Normally, Archimmortals wouldn't risk their true selves on such expeditions.

What Wu Yuan didn't realize was that under normal circumstances, monstrous prodigies like him wouldn’t appear in the Thunder Marsh World. In Archimmortal Wu Hai's view, this trip to the Thunder Marsh World should have been completely safe.

Who cares if it was his true self or not. I’ve already killed him. Wu Yuan didn’t feel the slightest bit of fear.

At worst, he'd offended a few Astral Lords. Furthermore, they were all from the Greenridge Immortal World lineage. What was there to be afraid of?

From collecting the treasures to roughly examining them, barely a second had passed. By now, the array had completely dissipated.

Wu Yuan could now cross into the higher spatial dimension.

"Please hold on, Fellow Daoist." A deep voice hundreds of millions of miles away, instantly resounded in Wu Yuan's mind.

Boom! The next moment, a black-armored figure radiating a powerful aura instantly appeared ten million li away.

He was traversing the higher spatial dimension, rapidly closing in on Wu Yuan.

The black-armored figure's gaze was cold, revealing a hint of undisguised killing intent.

Ninth-stage Archimmortal. Astral Lord Bai Hai? Wu Yuan instantly understood who the newcomer was from their vital aura and attire: the number one expert of the White Sea Immortal Continent – Astral Lord Bai Hai.

He sure arrived quickly.

Time to go. Wu Yuan took a step forward, the surrounding space distorting as he entered the Fragmentary Spatial Layer. Here, countless spatial fragments surged chaotically.

The instant Wu Yuan entered the higher dimension, the black-armored figure also appeared out of thin air, merely a thousand li away from him.

Even without mastery of the Law of Space, an Astral Lord could move swiftly through the Fragmentary Spatial Layer by brute force alone.

"Stay." A bewitching voice suddenly resonated deep within Wu Yuan's mind, causing his body to waver involuntarily.

It was a soul attack from a late-stage Astral Lord!

1. Bai Hai = White Sea ☜