Han Yi was familiar with the True Saint Palace and had studied its various Dao Realms and three Heavenly Venerables. Yet the young man before him was not on any of the lists he had examined.
This meant the youth was either a hidden Heaven's Chosen of the True Saint Palace or a recently risen powerhouse.
Han Yi leaned toward the latter possibility.
The emergence of the Dao Grave crisis would give birth to Calamity-Responding Dao Children, or even a Child of the World, in the Great World. This young man might be such a figure. Ten thousand years ago, he might have been an ordinary Immortal, but now, after ten thousand years, he had ascended to the powerful Dao Fruit Realm.
When Han Yi spoke of "stubborn ignorance," the smile on the young man's face turned even colder.
"Murder demands retribution with one's life."
"Accept your death!"
With a gentle flick of his wrist, the young man swung his flexible sword, unleashing a cascade of silver sword light that filled the heavens and surged toward Han Yi like a torrent.
Han Yi retreated, simultaneously activating the Dao Art of Tracelessness and the Divine Art: Boundless True World. Golden light enveloped his body as he vanished in an instant, employing an escape technique to flee the city.
Behind him, the silver sword light coalesced into a heaven-shaking dragon that lunged forward, but it only bit at a phantom shadow.
The young man, sword in hand, stepped forward. With each stride, a silver light in the shape of a five-pointed star coalesced beneath his foot, supporting his weight. As he advanced, the starlight trails behind him gradually faded.
He was using another Innate Dao Technique. Despite being in the Dao Fruit Realm and employing such a technique, he found to his surprise that the distance between himself and Han Yi wasn't rapidly closing, but rather slowly widening. This furrowed his brow.
"Just the First Step of the Dao Realm, yet he's faster than me?"
"I can't let you live."
With a forceful stomp, the five-pointed star beneath his foot transformed into a silver lotus with seven petals. He placed his foot in the lotus's center.
With his second step, his speed doubled.
At this pace, it took only three breaths for him to significantly close the gap.
Meanwhile, Han Yi, who had just escaped the city using his Escape Technique, had halted in mid-air above a mountain range. He had no intention of truly fleeing. Though the young man posed a significant threat, he wasn't in the External Dao Realm, and Han Yi didn't feel the overwhelming dread that signaled an insurmountable opponent. He had to at least try.
Moreover, if he were to ultimately lose, he had countless methods of escape at his disposal.
Even in the worst-case scenario, his Divine Aperture World housed over three hundred Dao Realm cultivators. Releasing them to either surround and overwhelm or simply delay his opponent would be child's play.
After halting, he waved his hand, summoning six sword artifacts.
These were the six Dao Swords he had brought from the Primordial Great World: Burial of Evil, No Return, Pure Profundity, Nether Abyss, Profound Manifestation, and Ruined Valley.
Recently, he had completed refining Ruined Valley, achieving complete mastery over these six Dao Swords.
With the emerald-green Burial of Evil at the center, the other five Dao Swords surrounded it.
With a thought, the six swords blazed with light, their energies intertwining. In an instant, a wisp of void began to emerge from the Burial of Evil Dao Sword. This wisp of void spread, filling the space between the six swords before rapidly expanding outward. In the blink of an eye, it had formed a void space several kilometers across.
Innate Dao Technique: Void Sword Realm.
The young man who had halted paused, his brow twitching as a solemn expression settled over his face.
"So, you're a Sword Cultivator at the Dao Realm."
"Excellent."
"You're worthy of my serious attention, Li Ye."
The cold and fierce young man, Li Ye of the True Saint Palace, held his silver flexible sword before him, the tip pointing downward. He then clasped both hands around the hilt.
Instantly, ripples began to form around the downward-pointing tip. These silver ripples grew increasingly violent, radiating a powerful Sword Intent.
Li Ye released his grip. The silver flexible sword, as if possessed of its own will, slashed forward.
This was the supreme Sword Dao he cultivated, known as Yama Heaven.
Moreover, the sword in his hand was actually his Dao Fruit. He had condensed his Dao Fruit into a sword, carried it with him at all times, and even used it in Dao Battles without any concern that damaging the sword would weaken his strength.
Han Yi only realized this when Li Ye released the sword.
Han Yi's expression turned grim. The Void Sword Realm, now expanded to cover several miles, shook violently. Six Dao Swords, led by Burial of Evil, merged their Sword Intent to form a massive sword that swept forward.
Simultaneously, strands of Chaos Power surged from the Sword Realm, coalescing around the colossal blade.
The void dissipated, and the Giant Sword whistled through the air.
The Silver Sword clashed against it with a resounding clang.
A peak Dao Fruit-level destructive force tore the surrounding space into a state of deep chaos, devastating everything in its path with overwhelming power.
The Giant Sword shattered, splitting into its six constituent Dao Swords, which flew back to Han Yi. The most fierce among them, the No Return Dao Sword, bore a new crack along its blade, emitting a low, mournful hum.
Meanwhile, the Silver Sword retreated to Li Ye, its silver blade rippling with lingering waves of energy.
This clash revealed Han Yi to be slightly weaker, as one of his Dao Swords had been damaged, while Li Ye's sword remained unscathed.
Of course, this was merely a probing strike, not a display of their full strength.
Li Ye gripped the Silver Sword again, his smile fading. Narrowing his eyes, he said, "Chaos Power. Your sword formation can actually wield Chaos Power? That's unexpected."
"However, with this alone, you can't kill Senior Brother Wanchao. Unleash your full strength. If this sword contains only this fragment of Chaos Power, you'll undoubtedly perish."
Having spoken, Li Ye dissolved the Silver Sword into a liquid that seeped back into his body.
Or rather, he had drawn the Dao Fruit into his body.
Immediately, an immensely profound Sword Intent began radiating from him. Centered around him, darkness began to surge forth.
This was darkness of the Great Dao level. Even within the Dao Realm, one would be unable to see their own hand before their face, and even Dao Consciousness perception would be suppressed to the immediate vicinity of the body.
The darkness spread with terrifying speed. In the blink of an eye, it enveloped everything within thousands of miles, including Han Yi.
Simultaneously, a silver-black sword rose above Li Ye's head. This sword, a seamless fusion of silver and black, radiated a perfect sense of unity.
The Sword Shadow flashed through the darkness, streaking directly toward the darkness-shrouded Han Yi.
Meanwhile, Li Ye remained motionless, his eyes tightly closed, as if his very soul had departed his body.
On the other side, Han Yi's heart trembled violently. He sensed a fatal crisis, a danger so profound it felt as if he were facing an expert of the External Dao.
In truth, his intuition wasn't wrong.
At that moment, Li Ye was using a special secret method to fuse the Silver Sword Dao Fruit with his Dao Soul, transforming it into a Heretical Dharma Manifestation.
A Heretical Dharma Manifestation refers to a powerful, specialized manifestation created by a cultivator in the Dao Fruit Realm. By fusing their Dao Fruit and Dao Soul into a single entity, they form this extraordinary manifestation. The silver-black longsword that appeared above Li Ye's head and lunged at Han Yi was precisely such a Heretical Dharma Manifestation.
In other words, through a secret method, Li Ye had temporarily elevated himself from the Dao Fruit Realm to the External Dao Realm.
This was the root cause of Han Yi's sudden surge of crisis and the pounding in his heart.
Darkness enveloped the scene as danger loomed. In the blink of an eye, Han Yi retracted his six Dao Swords. With a flicker of motion, he transformed into a towering hundred-zhang giant, radiating divine light and exuding overwhelming Divine Might. A Divine Spear materialized in his hand—the Yueguang Divine Spear.
With a thrust, the spear cast dazzling golden light that tore through the darkness, revealing the rapidly approaching silver-black Sword Shadow.
The next instant—
Boom!
An immense force surged back through the spear tip, nearly causing it to slip from his grasp. Blood dripped from his palms as the shockwave reverberated through his Divine Body, sending his divine blood surging wildly.
Han Yi's expression drastically changed. For the first time, his Yueguang Divine Spear failed to slay his opponent, and instead, the massive recoil force injured him.
He retreated rapidly, turning back to sweep the Dark with a final strike before escaping.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the silver-black longsword shattered upon colliding with the Yueguang Divine Spear. It quickly reformed and returned to Li Ye at an even faster speed, merging into his body.
Instantly, Li Ye's closed eyes snapped open, his face paling instantly, and the light in his eyes dimmed.
His aura plummeted, dropping from the External Dao Realm all the way down to the Dao Fruit Realm, and continued falling until it stabilized at the first step of the Dao Realm.
"A Heavenly Venerable Ancient Artifact?" Li Ye gasped in shock, his face pale with horror. Without hesitation, he turned and fled.
His Heretical Dharma Manifestation had been damaged, leaving him severely injured, his cultivation realm shattered, and his strength reduced to less than a third of its original power. He was no longer capable of fighting.
He hadn't anticipated that Han Yi's trump card would be a Heavenly Venerable Ancient Artifact. Even though only a fraction of its power was unleashed, the damage it inflicted was catastrophic.
Behind him, the darkness, devoid of source, gradually dissipated.
In the distance, Han Yi suppressed the agitation caused by his Divine Blood, sheathed the Yueguang Divine Spear, and switched to the Taosi Divine Axe. With a flash of movement, he unleashed both Dao Techniques and Divine Arts, launching a lethal assault on Li Ye.
Strike while he's ill, take his life.
Having revealed the Yueguang Divine Spear, failing to kill his opponent would undoubtedly invite even greater complications. Moreover, he intended to uncover why the True Saint Palace had been relentlessly tracking this young man.
Otherwise, the next adversary to arrive might be an absolute External Dao cultivator, or even someone from the Dao Harmonization Realm.
He could severely wound this youth with the Yueguang Divine Spear, but facing a true External Dao cultivator would be a far different scenario. Even if he could injure such an opponent, they would still possess formidable counterattack capabilities. Though his cultivation had advanced significantly, he could only unleash Yueguang four times at most.
In that situation, even with the Yueguang Divine Spear in hand, he would be the first to collapse and flee.
Severely wounding this youth was already pushing his limits.
As the chase continued, blood splattered across the ground, and both combatants' auras gradually weakened. This drew the attention of some Dao Fruit Realm cultivators who had sensed the aura of a Dao Realm battle from the nearby city. Now, they eagerly watched, itching to join the fray.
Han Yi also sensed these fluctuating auras, but he felt no fear. Even without relying on Yueguang or Taosi, armed with his Void Sword Realm and several Dao Swords, he could slaughter ordinary Dao Fruit Realm cultivators.
His speed was incredible, but Li Ye, ahead of him, was fighting for his life. Enveloped in Silver Light, he fled like lightning, his severely injured body somehow managing to keep pace with Han Yi.
However, with each passing breath, Li Ye's face grew increasingly pale, drained of all color. This proved that, in his severely injured state, forcing himself to maintain such speed was becoming unsustainable.
Nevertheless, the True Saint Palace's camp was nearby. Even if he had to grit his teeth, he had to hold on.
After half an incense stick's time, a sudden glint of survival flashed in Li Ye's eyes, but then darkness engulfed him as he plummeted from the sky.
Han Yi was about to seize the opportunity to finish him off with Sword Flight when his expression abruptly changed. A terrifying aura had appeared ahead—a vast and ethereal presence that he vaguely recognized from his earlier encounter near the Fire Hell Chaos Ruins.
It was none other than the aura of the True Saint Palace's Second Palace Master.
"Heavenly Venerable!"
He gasped and turned to flee, not daring to waste even a moment to kill the enemy within reach.
A kshana—a fleeting moment—could mean the difference between life and death.
But how could he possibly escape in the presence of the Heavenly Venerable?
A streak of azure light shot toward Han Yi from afar, reaching him in an instant. It was no tangible form, merely a spirit light released with a finger snap.
Yet this mere spirit light filled Han Yi with overwhelming terror—the kind of primal fear one feels on the brink of life and death.
His eyes widened in fury, and he roared, burning through his remaining 27,000 Life Seeds without hesitation.
Simultaneously, he channeled every ounce of his divine power, Immortal Power, and even the long-dormant Demonic Power he hadn't used in millennia. All of this energy converged in his hands and surged into the Yueguang Divine Spear.
Whoosh!
In that instant, he felt his hands swelling. Even the enhanced physical strength granted by his Chaos Divine Clan lineage couldn't contain this surge. It felt as if his hands were about to explode.
The sheer magnitude of this energy was overwhelming, like a volcanic eruption or a raging sea, surging with unstoppable force.
In the next moment, all the energy surged into the Yueguang Divine Spear. The Divine Spear began to grow, transforming into a colossal gilded True Body that stretched from heaven to earth.
Its grandeur and majesty were something Han Yi had witnessed only once before, in the Divine Power World of the Great Luo Immortal Realm.
At the same time, the streak of Spirit Light struck the Divine Venerable Ancient Artifact.
Boom!
Immeasurable light, immeasurable might, and immeasurable destructive power flooded Han Yi's vision, a terrifying force that hurled him skyward.
At the heart of the destruction, the streak of Spirit Light was shattered by the explosive Divine Might of the Yueguang Divine Spear.
"Huh?!"
A voice of surprise echoed from afar, drawing closer.
This time, it wasn't a flicker of Spirit Light, but a massive arm spanning across vast distances—the same colossal limb Han Yi had seen outside the Fire Hell Chaos Ruins.
Just as the arm moved to seize the Yueguang, the Divine Spear suddenly shrank, cleaved through the void, and landed beside Han Yi, who was being battered by the lingering shockwaves, repeatedly thrown into the air and coughing blood.
The Divine Weapon, possessing a spirit, naturally refused to be violated.
High above, the arm stretched forward again, preparing to strike down. In the eyes of the Heavenly Venerable, Han Yi, still only at the First Step of the Dao Realm, was no more than an ant—easily crushed.
Han Yi looked up, his expression not one of terror, but relief.
For above him, a figure with white eyebrows and flowing robes had suddenly materialized.