"Heaven Devouring Dragon Art!" the enemy leader roared.
Instantly, a sinister black Qi storm erupted around him, rising like a dark tide and twisting into the form of a colossal black dragon. Its enormous body coiled in the sky, blotting out the sun. The dragon's aura was suffocating, ancient, and tyrannical—it felt as if the world itself bowed in fear before it.
A thunderous ROAR shook the heavens.
The sky trembled, and the ground split. Trees were uprooted and swept into the air like feathers.
The black dragon opened its maw wide, revealing an abyssal void within as if it sought to devour not just Lestes's breakthrough storm, but the entire world.
The beast lunged.
It plunged straight into the swirling Qi storm surrounding Lestes, its jaws devouring the pure spiritual energy with terrifying speed.
Black clouds churned violently. The atmosphere distorted.
But Lestes didn't panic.
His eyes narrowed with calm resolve.
Without hesitation, he urged the HeavenSpan Canon, a divine-level Technique, which Lestes had created based on his previous knowledge and the books he got from the fortune cave.
With the support of Yin-Yang fusion Art, Qi circulation increased several times
HUMM—
A golden brilliance surged from his dantian. His absorption rate skyrocketed, pulling Qi from the surroundings with a force as powerful as a vortex.
Now, the battlefield turned into a clash of wills and foundations.
Two titanic forces vied for control over the same storm of spiritual energy.
The dragon's maw sucked in Qi like an endless vacuum. The enemy leader pushed his cultivation to the limit, channelling the devoured energy into his meridians, refining it with the black Qi of the Heaven Devouring Dragon Art.
His goal was clear: absorb as much as possible and create an unbridgeable gap before Lestes completed his foundation breakthrough.
He gritted his teeth.
"Every breath of Qi I steal weakens him and strengthens me. I'm already at the peak of the mid-Foundation Realm—if I can push just a little further…"
He gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, and pushed his cultivation technique to its absolute limit. The black Qi around him surged wildly as he drew every last ounce of power from the surrounding storm.
This wasn't just about surviving anymore. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Heaven Devouring Dragon Art was known for its cruelty and insatiable hunger—devouring everything from spirit Qi to vitality. But it came with immense risk. Without absolute control, one could end up devouring oneself.
But he no longer cared.
If he could absorb even a fraction more than Lestes,
If he could push his foundation even half a step forward, then this crisis would become a fortune.
Ten years.
That was what this breakthrough storm could grant him.
Ten years of closed-door cultivation, condensed into a single moment.
And ten years… was everything.
Cultivators stuck in the Foundation Realm numbered in the trillions across the Continent. Some never broke through even after centuries of effort. The spiritual bottleneck was cruel; many had to waste lifetimes waiting for a moment of epiphany or a lucky opportunity.
But today, such an opportunity had fallen into his hands.
'As long as I absorb more than him… As long as I gain enough, even if I can't kill him, I still have made money' he thought.
His reasoning wasn't wrong. After all, Lestes had already stepped into the Foundation Realm—and not just that, he was a true prodigy. Killing someone like him wouldn't be easy under normal circumstances. To make matters worse, he also possessed a mysterious and powerful treasure of unknown origin.
The dark dragon snarled as its jaw devoured chunks of the Qi storm. His cultivation base shuddered. His meridians swelled with new energy, threatening to burst.
And yet, he grinned.
"Ten years… No, if I push further—maybe even the Late Foundation Realm. Once I reach it, not even those freaks inside the formation can stop me. I'll grind them into dust, one by one!"
But as he savoured his rising power, he suddenly felt… resistance.
His absorption slowed.
Then faltered.
His pupils shrank.
He looked across the battlefield—and froze.
Lestes was glowing.
Lestes was glowing like a newborn sun.
Golden light surged from every pore of his body, and the violent qi storm that had once threatened to tear him apart now flowed into him like rivers rushing toward the sea. His body stood straight like a divine spear, his long hair dancing wildly in the windless storm.
The Heaven-Span Cannon within his dantian spun madly, devouring the storm's essence. With each pulse, it sent purified energy flooding through his meridians. The bottleneck that had plagued him for so long—early Foundation Realm—shattered like thin glass under a hammer.
Boom!
An explosion of energy blasted outward from Lestes, parting the clouds in the sky. The earth trembled. Mountains in the distance groaned under the pressure. Space itself twisted for a brief moment.
He had broken through.
But it didn't stop there.
As if triggered by a deeper, more ancient power, Lestes's cultivation continued to climb. The residual qi from the storm swirled around him, not in chaos—but in obedience. The Heaven-Span Cannon began to hum, a low celestial sound that resonated with the very fabric of the world.
Down below, inside the formation—
Ning Wan'er, Ling Xing Yue, and Xiao Linger stood frozen, their eyes wide and lips trembling.
"That's…" Xiao Linger whispered, clutching her chest, "A Perfect Foundation Realm breakthrough?"
Ling Xing Yue's elegant face was filled with disbelief and awe. "It's not just perfect… It's divine," she murmured. "He didn't just break through; he transcended."
The light reflecting off Lestes's body made him appear like a war god descended from the heavens. Ning Wan'er couldn't hold back her tears, this time, not from fear, but from relief, admiration, and pride.
It wasn't just the Foundation Realm anymore.
It was the Perfect Foundation Realm.
The rarest among cultivators. A foundation built not just from raw qi, but from harmony between body, soul, and will. A foundation that could support ascension far beyond the mortal world.
Back in the sky;
Lestes's eyes opened slowly, now glowing faintly with golden runes. His aura had changed—no longer like a storm, but like an unmovable mountain, serene yet vast.
The black dragon above roared again and surged toward him, trying to consume what was left of the storm.
But it was too late.
Lestes raised his hand.
In that moment, time seemed to stand still. The heavens paused.
He clenched his fist and the remaining qi storm collapsed into him, as if reality itself was following his command.
Lestes beckoned his hand, and a qi sword gust out struck the black dragon,
Boom!
The dragon shattered into black mist.
The enemy leader staggered backwards, coughing up blood. His cultivation flickered wildly, unstable, and his foundation cracked.
He had lost the struggle for qi.
But more than that, he had lost the initiative.
Lestes floated in the air, his robes fluttering without wind, radiating an aura that suppressed everything in a hundred-meter radius. He glanced at the enemy leader with eyes like ancient stars.
"Now then," he said calmly, "let's settle this."
The enemy leader's face was pale. His body trembled as he struggled to contain the damage from his failed attempt to devour the qi storm. His black dragon technique had collapsed, and with it, his confidence had fractured.
"How… How can a mere breakthrough be like this? What kind of heaven-defying monster are you!?" he spat, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.
But Lestes said nothing.
Instead, he raised his right hand slowly and pointed.
The air around his finger distorted.
The Sword Shadow that had once saved his companions emerged once more—but now, it wasn't a mere projection.
It was solid.
It floated behind him, humming, resonating with his aura. Its blade shimmered with countless runes, like an ancient artefact awakened from slumber.
The enemy leader's heart skipped a beat.
But Lestes didn't give him more time to think.
With a single thought—
Whoosh!
The sword vanished from his back—and appeared above the enemy leader's head like divine judgment.
Clang!
The enemy leader blocked just in time with his Blade, sparks flying in all directions. But the force sent him flying backwards a hundred meters. Before he could recover, Lestes appeared in front of him mid-air—like a ghost.
Bang!
A punch to the gut.
The enemy leader's organs screamed. He coughed blood again and tried to retaliate.
"Dark Swallowing Fang!" he roared, unleashing a burst of black mist that shot out like arrows.
Lestes raised his hand. A translucent qi shield formed—and absorbed everything. No damage. No cracks.
"You've already lost," Lestes said flatly.
The sword behind him trembled again.
This time, it wasn't just one strike.
It was dozens.
Hundreds. And each sword was accompanied by a prototype 'sword intent', although it was just a prototype, but it
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A storm of sword shadows rained down from above like divine punishment. Each slash cut through the enemy's defence like butter. His armour cracked. His skin split. His blood rained across the battlefield.
The enemy leader roared in desperation, summoning every last bit of dark qi within him.
Due to the forced absorption of the strange black Qi, his strength had increased by leaps and bounds. However, this rapid gain came at a cost—his foundation had become unstable. The black Qi had not yet fully integrated with his own, leaving him unable to control or utilise it properly.
He might have appeared more powerful than Lestes, but that was merely a surface illusion. In reality, their strength was nearly equal. After Lestes's flawless breakthrough into the Foundation Realm, the enemy leader's confidence began to crumble—not just because of the stable foundation Lestes had formed, but also due to something far more terrifying. Lestes had comprehended a prototype of Sword Intent. Even in its nascent form, it imbued his sword with a lethality that could pierce through realms, causing the enemy leader's heart to sink with dread.
But as he raised his blade for one final blow, Lestes reached out—and caught it with two fingers.
Two fingers.
The enemy's eyes widened in utter disbelief.
Crack.
Lestes shattered the Blade like it was dry wood.
Then, a final kick—charged with the power of his new realm—sent the enemy leader crashing into the earth like a meteor.
BOOM!
A massive crater formed, swallowing trees and rock alike.
Silence.
Dust rose into the sky. No movement came from the crater. The entire forest seemed to hold its breath.
Lestes hovered above, calm and expressionless.
He turned and descended slowly, returning to his companions.