Chapter 323: Enlightenment of the Divine Countenance, the Slaying Palm Blade Elder

Chapter 323: Enlightenment of the Divine Countenance, the Slaying Palm Blade Elder

Regarding the fifth martial art, Li Xuan had no idea for the time being and could only set it aside temporarily. He turned to the eleventh page of the *Tai Cang Book*, filled with awe.

He had thought that after the tenth page, there would be higher-level heavenly dao laws. But it turned out to be something else entirely.

After memorizing the pattern on the tenth page, it took him five years and he still couldn't completely memorize the eleventh page's pattern.

The pattern was profound and elusive, ever-changing yet eternal.

"I wonder how much time it would take to fully comprehend the *Tai Cang Book*. The person who could record it down must have been incredibly powerful."

Every time he thought of the owner of the *Tai Cang Book*, Li Xuan was awestruck by their strength, which far surpassed his own.

"But one day, I will surpass you."

Li Xuan was full of confidence.

Using the *Tai Cang Book* as a reference, the martial arts he created would eventually surpass that of the book's owner. He also had faith in Xu Yan.

Opening the *Golden Dao Book*, he looked at the information on the tenth page of the *Tai Cang Book*.

*Tai Cang Dao Laws (Partial)

: Establish the Dao Laws of Heaven and Earth, and comprehend the transformations of the Grand Dao!*

*Dao Laws!*

Starting from the tenth page, it introduced the *Tai Cang Dao Laws*, establishing the foundation of heaven and earth!

That was why even with Li Xuan's current realm, memorizing the eleventh page's pattern was so challenging.

"Above the heavenly laws is the dao laws of heaven and earth, which is the true foundation of all things. Establishing the core of heaven and earth, the Breaking Void realm is free from the constraints of heavenly laws, transcending them and forging one's own mighty martial arts path.

"So, for the realm beyond Breaking Void, one must prepare to face the dao laws and touch the foundation of the Grand Dao of Heaven and Earth."

Li Xuan murmured to himself.

He already had a vague idea of the realm beyond Breaking Void and had a general plan in mind.

On Jinhe Lake, the *Changqing Pavilion* flew above the water.

Soon, news spread that the *Changqing Pavilion* had descended upon Jinhe Lake in Dazhou.

Injured prideful geniuses from the *Tianjiao Contest*, as well as those with old wounds, damaged martial arts foundations, or injured divine souls, began to seek medical treatment.

These patients had already prepared their consultation fees and were just waiting for the *Changqing Pavilion* to appear before rushing over for treatment.

After traveling through the Spirit Realm for so long, no one dared to cause trouble at the *Changqing Pavilion*, nor did anyone dare to violate its rules.

Even those who considered themselves powerful did not dare to act recklessly.

As more martial artists came to the *Changqing Pavilion* for treatment, the place became livelier. However, this had nothing to do with Li Xuan, who remained in the pavilion studying the *Tai Cang Dao Laws*.

This time, the *Changqing Pavilion* would stay on Jinhe Lake for more than half a month before leaving for another place.

Su Lingxuan rarely appeared in person to treat patients unless they had peculiar symptoms, severe injuries, and were relatively powerful.

Most of the time, Shi Er, Zhou Ying, and Meng Shushu handled the consultations, or sometimes Yue'er would do so.

With the improved diagnostic spirit tools, even severe and hidden old wounds could be detected, and appropriate pills could be prescribed accordingly.

Yue'er had already reached the peak of the Divine Soul Refining realm, and her divine soul was stronger than that of other martial artists at the same level. This was thanks to Su Lingxuan's research in the field, which allowed her to master a more efficient method of enhancing the divine soul.

Yue'er, with her spiritual body talent, had already started preparing to refine the Heavenly Spirit into her divine soul, ready to step into the realm of the strongest in the Spirit Realm.

An elderly man, bent with age and leaning on a cane, made his way to the *Changqing Pavilion*.

Li Xuan glanced at him and furrowed his brows but did not pay him any further attention.

Within the old man's body lurked a strand of deathly aura, cultivated through a special secret technique and combined with the death aura of his nearly exhausted lifespan.

It could only be used once, and after it was unleashed, the old man would perish.

Even his divine soul was imbued with this deathly aura, indicating that he was one of the death warriors of a transcendent sect.

As for why he had come to the *Changqing Pavilion*, Li Xuan did not care; he would not be able to stir up any trouble.

"Hmm, your symptoms are rather unusual." Shi Er, who was attending to the old man, looked at him in surprise.

"Can it be treated?" The old man asked in a hoarse voice.

"I'm afraid I can't help you. Your situation is too unique, even the diagnostic spirit tool can't detect it. Please wait a moment."

Patients with such unique conditions could only be treated by Su Lingxuan herself.

Zhou Ying informed Su Lingxuan.

"Divine Physician Su, can my illness be cured?" The old man looked at Su Lingxuan with a mixture of tension and hope.

"Your situation is unusual. You don't have much lifespan left, and you'll need lifespan-extending pills. The death aura within your body also needs to be purged.

"The treatment is not cheap. I'll give you a list of the items needed for the treatment. As long as you can find them, your illness can be cured, and your lifespan can be extended by a hundred years." Su Lingxuan said calmly.

"Really?" The old man was thrilled.

"Can my lifespan really be extended by a hundred years?"

Su Lingxuan handed him the list of items needed for the treatment and said, "Of course, it's just a matter of refining a lifespan-extending pill. It's a small problem."

"Wonderful! Wonderful! I can continue living!" The old man was overjoyed, and his suppressed death aura seemed to spiral out of control, turning his hands grayish-black. He reached out to take the treatment list, his excitement causing him to stand up abruptly.

*Boom!*

At that moment, the old man's eyes turned cold and fierce as he unleashed a terrifying death aura that transformed into ghostly claws, striking towards Su Lingxuan.

From such a close distance, the sudden attack would definitely inflict severe damage!

And once the death aura entered her body, even the Divine Physician Su would undoubtedly perish, only prolonging her life for a short while.

However, to his shock, a faint azure light appeared on Su Lingxuan, who remained seated, calmly observing him.

The deathly attack seemed to meet its bane as it continuously dissipated upon touching the azure light.

"Impossible!" The old man exclaimed in horror.

"Is it the Thousand Martial Arts Hall or the Thundercloud Villa?" Su Lingxuan asked as if she had expected this, then shook her head. "It's unlikely to be Thundercloud Villa. So, it must be the Thousand Martial Arts Hall. Back then, an elder from the Thousand Martial Arts Hall was injured by my junior brother's formation, damaging his foundation. He wanted me to treat him, but I refused.

"So, is this their revenge? If I don't treat their people, they won't allow other martial artists to receive treatment either?"

The old man's expression changed as he realized that Fang Hao was Su Lingxuan's junior brother.

They were from the same sect!

Just then, he saw Su Lingxuan reach out and grab his head.

*Pu!*

He felt his consciousness being pulled out, his divine soul seemingly extracted, and the death aura converging towards Su Lingxuan's palm. At that moment, his consciousness crumbled and dissipated.

In Su Lingxuan's hand appeared a ball of death aura.

"What a wonderful thing. I must research how this death aura was cultivated." Su Lingxuan's face lit up with excitement.

The task of attending to patients was left to Shi Er and the others, while she happily returned to the pavilion to study the ball of death aura.

This assassination attempt caused no waves, and Shi Er and the others didn't mind, as they considered it a minor incident.

...

In Dazhou, on a steep mountain, Xu Yan stood on a large stone at the peak, as if waiting for someone.

Some of these tombs harbored residual souls, but there was something unusual about them; they didn't seem like remnants of Lingyu warriors' divine souls.

They carried a sinister aura and seemed quite ferocious.

There once was a prominent family in the Great River State that unearthed a grand tomb within a mountain. However, what they found inside was a powerful corpse demon, which nearly led to the family's destruction.

Xu Yan stumbled upon this incident by chance and was astonished by what he saw. He took action and exterminated the corpse demon.

Half a year ago, he encountered an unusual warrior whose strength was formidable and somewhat bizarre. It was only after Xu Yan killed him that he discovered this warrior was possessed by an unknown residual soul that had taken over his physical body.

"It seems like there are tombs everywhere in the Great River State. Every mountain seems to be a grave, burying warriors beneath its soil."

Xu Yan pondered to himself.

The Great River State was chaotic and treacherous, full of ambushes and schemes. The mountains themselves harbored unknown dangers, but to Xu Yan, these years had brought him significant gains in strength and enlightenment in the martial path.

Now, he had reached the pinnacle of the Divine Origin Realm.

"I wonder if there's a tomb beneath this mountain as well?"

Xu Yan glanced at the perilous mountain before him and mused.

"As for the martial art of the Divine Countenance Realm, I'm just a step away from complete enlightenment."

Xu Yan muttered to himself as he waited for someone.

After this battle, he would thoroughly comprehend the martial art of the Divine Countenance Realm.

"Xu Yan, I've finally found you!"

A cold and murderous voice echoed through the air.

Xu Yan revealed a smile. "I've been waiting for you for a long time."

The Elder of the Thousand Martial Arts Hall, renowned for his blade, was taken aback. "You intentionally leaked your whereabouts to me?"

"Of course!" Xu Yan replied as he turned to face the elder. This formidable figure from the Thousand Martial Arts Hall had cultivated the aura of the heavenly dao laws, and it wasn't just a single strand.

"Are you seeking death, or are you so confident that you believe you can escape from my grasp?" The Blade Elder's gaze swept the surroundings, his divine soul searching inch by inch, but he found no signs of any ambush.

"I'm here to kill you," Xu Yan said, his eyes fixed on the blade in the elder's hand. Although it was considered a divine artifact, it was clearly not as powerful as the Cold Reclusive Blade.

Xu Yan casually tossed the Cold Reclusive Blade back to the Blade Elder. "Here, take your blade back. Now, show me what you've got. Let's see the strength of the Thousand Martial Arts Hall's most powerful warrior."

The Blade Elder furrowed his brow. Xu Yan was returning the Cold Reclusive Blade to him?

"If you're seeking death, I'll grant your wish!"

The Blade Elder gripped the Cold Reclusive Blade, and blade qi soared into the sky, sending a chilling aura in all directions. The might of the divine artifact was undeniable, far surpassing Wu Yuan's previous display.

Xu Yan's confidence made the Blade Elder cautious. He remembered how Xu Yan had seemed arrogant in front of the Thousand Martial Arts Hall's mountain gate, but in the end, he had proven that his arrogance was justified.

Now, after a few years, Xu Yan's strength had undoubtedly increased, which explained his confidence.

The Blade Elder sneered inwardly. Xu Yan was too arrogant. Did he really think that just because he possessed the Cold Reclusive Blade, a divine artifact, he could rival any other peak warrior?

"Show me what you've got!" Xu Yan said as he waved his hand, transforming his divine origin into a sword that he held in his hand.

"Die!" The Blade Elder slashed with his blade, sending a piercingly cold and fierce attack toward Xu Yan.

Boom! Xu Yan's sword clashed with the blade, but only briefly, as he quickly leaped into the air, evading the full force of the blade's edge.

He carefully observed the might of the Blade Elder's attack and the process of how he had condensed the aura of the heavenly dao laws.

Boom!

The perilous mountain peak was instantly cleaved in two by the blade qi.

"Kill!" The Blade Elder's aura surged as he channeled his blade, and three profound auras entwined around him, as if merging with the heavens and the earth. The mighty power of the heavens continuously poured into the Cold Reclusive Blade.

At this moment, the Blade Elder displayed the true strength of a peak warrior in the Lingyu realm.

Boom!

The intense battle caused the mountain peaks to continuously collapse and disintegrate into dust.

Xu Yan, on the other hand, continued to strike with his sword, each strike like a small boat drifting in raging waves, seemingly on the verge of capsizing at any moment.

The Blade Elder's gaze sharpened as he felt a sense of shock. Although Xu Yan seemed to be at a disadvantage and appeared to be barely holding on, he never truly fell into a dangerous situation.

This meant that the battle was still within Xu Yan's control.

With this realization, the Blade Elder's expression turned cold. He drew out another divine artifact, a long blade, and held it in his hand.

Wielding both blades, he channeled the mighty power of the heavens into blade light that swept across the battlefield, engulfing Xu Yan within it.

"Xu Yan, you are indeed strong, but your arrogance knows no bounds. Do you truly believe that I, as the Blade Elder of the Thousand Martial Arts Hall, am no different from any other peak warrior?" The Blade Elder sneered.

A radiant light emerged from within his body and merged into the divine artifacts. The three profound auras seemed to completely merge with the heavens and the earth at this moment.

An even more powerful force from the heavens poured into the two divine artifacts, doubling their might.

"So this is what it means to condense the power of the heavenly dao laws? It's only a small amount, and it seems rather crude. Even if one breaks through to the next realm, it's merely about refining the heavenly dao laws into one's body.

"Although one can utilize the power of the heavenly dao laws, they are still bound by those laws and cannot control them at will.

"The Divine Countenance Realm is about mastering the heavenly dao laws and becoming one with them, transcending and controlling those laws. I think I've finally gained some enlightenment in this regard."

Xu Yan paid no heed to the Blade Elder's increasingly ferocious attacks.

He manifested the image of mountains and rivers, incorporating all the attacks within it as he carefully observed and comprehended the cultivation direction of the Lingyu realm's martial path, studying how the Blade Elder had condensed the power of the heavenly dao laws.

As the battle intensified, Xu Yan continued to strike with his sword, still like that small boat in the raging waves, and the image of mountains and rivers he had manifested had already collapsed several times.

Yet, he remained unfazed.

Boom!

The Blade Elder's attacks grew stronger as the battle raged on. It seemed that with each strike, the power of the heavenly dao laws accumulated, causing the might of the divine artifacts to increase steadily.

It was as if, once the power of the heavenly dao laws reached its peak, it would truly explode with devastating force.

"Xu Yan, die!"

At a certain moment, the Blade Elder's gaze turned as sharp as his blade, and he merged his two blades into one, slashing downward with tremendous force.

In that instant, the power of the heavenly dao laws in the air reached its limit, and as the blades descended, a terrifying blade light slashed down from the sky.

The blade light seemed to come from the heavens themselves, aiming to annihilate Xu Yan completely!

"It's time to end this!"

Xu Yan exhaled, as he had almost completely comprehended the martial art of the Divine Countenance Realm.

He slashed with his sword, and although the sword intent was invisible, it carried a force of destruction. The mountains and rivers transformed into a thunderous sword that fell silently.

The Blade Elder was stunned, as he felt a strong sense of crisis to his life.

The blade light collapsed under the might of Xu Yan's sword, and before the Blade Elder could react, a gentle breeze suddenly swept across his body.

In the instant that the breeze passed, a terrifying killing intent ravaged his divine soul, causing it to shatter, his physical body to fragment, and his consciousness to dissipate.

The Blade Elder of the Thousand Martial Arts Hall had fallen!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end