Then, Yun Tianheng suppressed his amazement and took a deep breath, his expression turning solemn.
With a wave of his sleeve, a giant medicine cauldron shimmering with a deep blue luster crashed down into the courtyard.
Immediately after, he took out various Grade Six and Grade Seven auxiliary medicinal herbs from his storage ring.
To refine this supreme, miraculous pill, he had emptied a significant portion of his accumulated savings.
“Boom!”
Crimson spiritual fire of heaven and earth gushed from Yun Tianheng's palm, completely enveloping the medicine cauldron.
Refining a Grade Eight Pill was no small matter.
In an instant, the medicinal power surged violently, and waves of fire baked the void until it warped slightly. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth within a radius of several li began to gather toward the secluded residence, surrounded by divine light.
Seeing that Yun Tianheng was already fully focused and immersed in refining the pill, Su Yueli did not disturb him further. She patted Han Yu's shoulder and led her away to the peak of a mountain outside the secluded residence to guard him.
The mountain wind howled, rustling their robes.
Han Yu's beautiful eyes stared at the divine light rising into the sky from the secluded residence, her heart churning with emotion.
She remembered how, back in Luochuan City, a mere Second Realm cultivator could force all the martial artists in Luochuan City to submit.
She could not help but ask in a soft voice, “Master... everyone says that the immortal path is the true orthodox path of heaven and earth, allowing one to fly on swords and seek longevity. Meanwhile, we martial artists can only reach the Tenth Realm even if we give it our all. Is the martial path really weaker than the immortal path?”
Su Yueli stood by the edge of the cliff before sitting down cross-legged, her expression calm. “The martial path is not inferior to the immortal path. The world believes the Tenth Realm is the end of the martial path only because no one has ever paved the way before.”
Han Yu was taken aback and blinked. “Could there be... even higher realms above the Tenth Realm?”
“Of course there are.”
Su Yueli turned her head to look at her and explained slowly, “After the Tenth Realm is the Eleventh Realm, Delusion Breaker, where one's blood qi is as vast as the ocean, allowing one to tear spells apart with bare hands. The Twelfth Realm, Heaven-Shaking, can shatter a ten-thousand-zhang-tall mountain with a single punch. The Thirteenth Realm, Myriad Tribulations, achieves physical sainthood, exerting a pressure that dominates heaven and earth.”
Hearing these unheard-of realms, Han Yu sucked in a cold breath, deeply shocked.
These had never been recorded in the history of the world's martial path!
The young girl swallowed hard, looking at Su Yueli with eyes full of adoration, and cried out in surprise, “Master... you have actually reached the Thirteenth Realm, Myriad Tribulations! No wonder those high-and-mighty immortals couldn't even withstand a single wave of your pressure!”
Aside from her excitement, Han Yu was also a little curious. “Master, what about above the Thirteenth Realm? Are there Fourteenth and Fifteenth Realms?”
“The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Realms...”
Su Yueli shook her head slightly, the vicissitudes of time swirling in her cold eyes. “Even I have not reached that stage yet. The road ahead is long, and I still need to explore it.”
Han Yu clicked her tongue in amazement.
If the Thirteenth Realm could already easily suppress Twelfth Realm powerhouses, how terrifying would the higher realms be?
“Master, how long did it take you... to cultivate to the Thirteenth Realm?” Han Yu asked softly.
Su Yueli fell into contemplation, her thoughts drifting back to that small mountain peak from a very, very long time ago.
It should have been several hundred years...
Su Yueli sighed softly, feeling a touch of sorrow. “Back then, my master, Lu Chen, once said that if a martial artist's strength could break through the limits of their lifespan, they would not be inferior to immortals. Their only shortcoming is their inability to achieve longevity.”
“Without the accumulation of endless years, no matter how great one's talent, the physical body would have decayed long ago. It would be absolutely impossible to break through the barriers and reach this step today.”
A mortal's lifespan was only a hundred years. How could they possibly temper their blood qi to a heaven-defying degree in just a few decades?
The difficulty of the martial path lay in its brief lifespan.
Su Yueli looked down at her fair, clean palm, her gaze suddenly becoming incredibly determined. “Therefore, the path I walk is not just for myself. One day, I will make it possible for all martial artists in the world to extend their lifespans, allowing their martial power to break through faster and higher... No longer will they be ants that the immortals can crush at will.”
Looking at her master's peerless and independent profile, Han Yu's small face was filled with shock and adoration, her eyes shining as if filled with bright stars.
She nodded heavily, her tone filled with absolute conviction. “Master will definitely be able to do it! When that time comes, all the martial artists in the world will bow and thank you!”
Su Yueli smiled and said nothing more.
Han Yu still had a long way to go, but she lacked the longevity that Su Yueli possessed. Perhaps Su Yueli needed to find a way to speed up her progress.
As for the Martial Soul method...
Su Yueli closed her eyes and examined the Martial Soul inside her body, feeling a bit puzzled.
A normal cultivator's Law of Heaven and Earth merely projected an illusory figure using spiritual power to boost damage, and it did not possess independent consciousness.
Yet her Martial Soul was quite strange; it had its own consciousness and was continuously growing larger.
“It truly is strange.”
Su Yueli muttered to herself, “Could it be some kind of clone type?”
...
This wait lasted from dawn until dusk.
The sky gradually darkened as night fell over the land.
Standing on the mountain peak, Su Yueli gazed into the distance toward the secluded residence.
The firelight in the courtyard had already condensed to the extreme, and the exotic fragrance was so thick it had almost turned into a physical, colorful mist. Clearly, the refinement had reached the critical final moment of forming the pill.
However, in the next instant!
“Rumble—!!”
The originally clear night sky suddenly underwent a drastic change!
Towering dark clouds rolled in frantically from all directions, completely blotting out the sky.
Within the dark clouds, silver-white lightning danced like wild serpents, emitting a world-destroying pressure!
Inside the secluded residence, Yun Tianheng's face changed drastically. Cold sweat poured down his forehead, and his eyes were filled with shock and despair.
Atop the mountain peak, Su Yueli also frowned slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in her beautiful eyes. “Pill lightning...”
She had originally thought this was just an ordinary Grade Eight Pill. After all, unlike the spiritual energy pills used by cultivators, what she needed was merely something to strengthen her blood qi.
But she had not expected that, with the support of a heaven-defying material like the Myriad Tribulations Blood-Washing Vine, Yun Tianheng would perform beyond his limits, actually refining a peak Grade Eight miraculous pill that approached the Heaven-grade Grade Nine!
When a pill's completion defied heaven, it was bound to attract a lightning tribulation!
The power of this tribulation lightning was majestic. Forget about the heavily injured Yun Tianheng—even an ordinary Twelfth Realm cultivator attempting to withstand it by force would likely be blasted into ashes!
“Yu'er, back away.”
Su Yueli made a prompt decision and instructed.
Before her voice could fade, she lightly stamped her foot. Like a rainbow soaring against the sky, she instantly flew through the air, standing proudly in the void above the secluded residence, directly beneath the tribulation clouds!
Peak blood qi erupted from her body with a bang, forcefully pushing back the pressure of the tribulation clouds filling the sky!
Su Yueli glanced down at the pale-faced Yun Tianheng. Her voice carried clearly through the rumbling thunder, echoing between heaven and earth:
“Master Yun, focus on refining the pill with peace of mind.”
“Leave this mere pill lightning to me.”
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