Translator: CinderTL
Bathed in the Dao Rhythm radiance of the quasi-Dao Artifact Eternal Light, Li Chunjun consecrated his sword, obliterated his inner Heart Demon, leveled up, and fully restored his condition—all in one seamless motion.
The entire process took less than a minute.
In that brief time, the hundred Heart Demons within the Hong Clan's Lesser Thousand World were still hesitating.
Though some Heart Demons had cautiously begun to approach his position, Li Chunjun's earlier display of ruthless killing methods had deterred them from getting too close. Instead, they remained at a distance, frantically mobilizing Third and Fourth Tier puppets to test his defenses.
However, Li Chunjun had previously purged the surrounding area of Heart Demons. Within a thirty-thousand-li radius of his location, not a single Heart Demon remained alive.
As a result, even if the newly arrived Heart Demons dispatched Fourth-Tier Nascent Soul puppets, these constructs would have to travel at least thirty thousand li to reach him.
Thirty thousand li!
For Primordial Spirit True Monarchs, this distance was trivial—they could cover it in minutes. But for Nascent Soul True Lords, even a two-hour flight at full speed would be considered rapid travel.
This gave Li Chunjun ample time to acclimate to his restored condition.
[Life Level: 34 (185/400,000)]
"As expected, I couldn't refine the Gold Fusion into the Scarlet Sky Sword in one go," Li Chunjun muttered with a hint of regret.
Originally, he hadn't intended to delve too deeply into the power of his Flaming Phoenix Bloodline, fearing it might eventually transform him into an Undying Flaming Phoenix. But now...
It seemed he had no choice but to explore it further.
"To evolve the Scarlet Sky Sword into a Dao Artifact, I need to refine three portions of Seventh-Tier materials into it. To achieve this, I either need to perform six or seven Blood Sacrifices or rely on time. Of course, with enough Seventh-Rank Creation Spirit Liquid, I could shorten the process to eight or ten years, but the cost would likely run into the billions..."
Yes, billions!
Sixth-Rank materials typically cost between one hundred thousand and one million Spirit Crystals.
But Dao Artifact materials...
They started at a billion!
High-demand materials could easily fetch ten billion!
Under these circumstances, most Great Powers who had recently reached the Void Refinement Realm primarily used quasi-Dao Artifacts.
It often took Void Refiners thirty to fifty thousand years to accumulate enough resources for a single Dao Artifact.
And that applied only to those with backing from Great Sects and who were diligent in their cultivation.
It wouldn't be surprising for a Void Refining cultivator without powerful backing, content with their newfound lifespan of 129,600 years, to settle into complacency and never acquire a decent Dao Artifact in their entire life. Many of these cultivators, following conventional paths, might earn only eighty to a hundred thousand Spirit Crystals annually. After deducting living expenses and cultivation costs, they'd be fortunate to save twenty to thirty thousand. To accumulate a hundred million, they'd need four thousand years. Even on the vast scale of a Void Refining cultivator's lifespan, four thousand years is an eternity.
"Wait... a hundred million Spirit Crystals doesn't actually seem like that much to me." Li Chunjun turned his gaze toward the Land of Buried Demons. Each Heart Demon was worth millions of Spirit Crystals!
"However, Heart Demons can only inhabit cultivators, specifically Primordial Spirit True Monarchs or higher. Moreover, a single True Monarch can only contain one for about a year. The logistical costs are immense."
Unless Li Chunjun could confidently transport all the Primordial Spirit True Monarchs back to Human Territory within a year and sell off every Heart Demon they carried, the venture wouldn't be worth the effort.
"A Primordial Spirit True Monarch who has cultivated Mind Power can suppress a Heart Demon for decades, even centuries. Therefore, in the unique environment of the Land of Buried Demons, Heart Demons must be used whenever possible. If they can't be consumed, they can't be taken away. Once they spiral out of control and trigger a Heart Demon Catastrophe, the consequences would be unbearable even for Dharma Aspect-level existences like the Sect Masters."
Li Chunjun pondered this, focusing his Heart-Mind on his current state of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.
His Life Level had reached 34, theoretically equivalent to a Dharma Aspect existence, an Eighth-Tier Life.
But while his essence had reached the Eighth-Tier, his combat prowess...
Barely scraped into the Seventh-Rank.
He was like a young tiger cub, weaker than a gray wolf.
In fact, whether his actual combat power truly qualified as Seventh-Rank would only be proven in a fight against a Seventh-Rank Life.
"The growth in my Essence, Qi, and Spirit has boosted my strength and significantly accelerated the progress of the Heavenly Heart Eternal Method, just as I predicted. My need for Heart Demons has diminished."
Li Chunjun concluded after sensing his inner state.
Unfortunately...
Since reaching Life Level 34, beings at Life Level 27 could no longer provide effective soul energy.
This Life Level corresponded to True Monarchs who had undergone the First to Third Tribulations.
To obtain the 1,200 to 2,800 experience points he now needed, he would have to hunt fully matured Heart Demons that had recovered to High-Rank or even Peak status.
This was due to his exceptionally high Heart Demon experience gain.
A Human True Monarch would likely only gain 1,000 to 2,400 experience points from the same encounters.
"Although Heart Demons grow stronger as they revive, the proportion of High-Rank and Top-Tier Heart Demons remains relatively low, perhaps only ten to twenty percent, given that this process has lasted less than a year..."
Ten to twenty percent!
Even assuming a generous twenty percent, and slightly overestimating the number of Top-Tier Heart Demons among the fully formed ones to average 1,500 experience points per demon, he would still need to eliminate nearly 300 of them to advance his Life Level from 34 to 35.
To reach that quota, he would need to sift through 1,500 Heart Demons.
"Though it's a daunting number, the resilience granted by my Heavenly Heart Eternal Method, combined with the purification of corruption that accompanies Life Level advancements, makes achieving this goal within the Land of Buried Demons far from hopeless."
Moreover, while newly revived ordinary fully formed Heart Demons no longer provided experience points, their mind-tempering effects persisted.
By the time he had extinguished a thousand Heart Demons and raised his Life Level to 35, his Heavenly Heart Eternal Method would inevitably reach the Fourth Layer.
At that point...
Once he had fully comprehended all 1,024 variations of the Spatial Laws Mysteries, his advancement to the Void Refinement Realm would become a natural progression.
"The Mysteries of the Spatial Laws..."
Li Chunjun's thoughts raced until he suddenly realized something.
"Essence, Qi, Spirit, and even Mind Power are only being enhanced on their existing foundations. The true, immediate growth comes from the Void Dao Body and the Destruction Dao Body!"
Concentrating intently, he sensed the profound mysteries of these two laws laid out before him as clearly as answers to an exam. He simply had to copy them down.
After only a brief period of contemplation, his comprehension of Void Mysteries surged to 108, instantly matching Li Hentian, the top-ranked prodigy on the Star Brilliance List. Given more time to consolidate his understanding, surpassing this Heavenly Palace prodigy would be effortless.
"If I were to face the Thunder Tribulation again now, directly confronting the mysteries of the Laws of Heaven and Earth... I could comprehend virtually every mystery they reveal!" Li Chunjun realized.
Though this breakthrough was limited to the Void Law and Destruction Dao, the Thunder Tribulation would eliminate all barriers to comprehending these two laws.
"Priorities first. I must eliminate these Heart Demons," Li Chunjun thought, sweeping his surroundings with his Divine Sense.
Li Chunjun's feigned vulnerability seemed to have worked.
The Heart Demons, initially panicked by his swift slaughter of fifty-two of their kind and desperate to flee, abruptly halted their retreat.
Although the direct lineage elites of the Hong Clan's Lesser Thousand World had been annihilated, a vast number of collateral descendants still survived. The Heart Demons were reluctant to abandon their efforts to corrupt these remaining Hong Clan members.
In this tense standoff, the Heart Demons maintained a wary distance, poised for immediate retreat, while hastily mobilizing puppets from all directions to probe Li Chunjun's position.
Sensing their intentions, Li Chunjun wasted no time. His powerful Heart-Mind rapidly merged with the World Will.
In the next instant, the Scarlet Sky Sword struck again, its brilliance surpassing even its previous display.
As the Heart Demons slowly tightened their encirclement, closing to within fifty thousand kilometers, the Void Dao patterns on the Scarlet Sky Sword activated. With a single dimensional shift, the blade traversed the vast expanse, unleashing carnage among the gathered demons.
This sudden massacre sent the cautiously advancing Heart Demons into utter terror. Abandoning all hope of survival, they fled the Lesser Thousand World at breakneck speed.
Amid the chaos, some Heart Demons initially suspected Li Chunjun was bluffing, hoping to scare them off.
However, as the Scarlet Sky Sword swiftly annihilated over twenty Heart Demons—half of them High-Rank, including one that had regained its peak strength—the remaining demons abandoned all hope.
"Vile human!"
"It's a trap! Flee! Retreat!"
"The human is weakening! Attack now! Kill him, and all life in this Lesser Thousand World will become our prey!"
Countless chaotic waves of Divine Sense and Mind Power erupted from the Heart Demon hosts.
Nearby Heart Demons fled as fast as their hosts' bodies could carry them.
To minimize their chances of being targeted by the Scarlet Sky Sword, they frantically sent messages to their "allies," spreading the news of the human cultivator's imminent collapse.
Their only hope was to lure more Heart Demons to the chaos, creating enough confusion for them to slip away during the retreat.
Even those Heart Demons who had just flown from the Jade Hill Clan's Lesser Thousand World, covering vast distances, joined the panicked flight.
They bitterly regretted not finding stronger hosts that could have carried them faster.
In this dire situation, Li Chunjun merged his consciousness with the World Will. First, he nearly eradicated all the Heart Demons within the Lesser Thousand World. Then, fueled by the momentum of his slaughter, he surged beyond its borders.
Outside the Lesser Thousand World, Yu Jin and dozens of Primordial Spirit True Monarchs aboard the Silver Leaf were desperately intercepting the Heart Demon hosts trying to flee.
Initially, these hosts had been overwhelming Yu Jin and his companions. But with Li Chunjun's swift arrival, the battle swiftly turned into a one-sided slaughter.
Wherever the Scarlet Sky Sword struck, no Primordial Spirit True Monarch could withstand even a single exchange.
The spectacle shook Yu Jin and the other True Monarchs to their very cores.
Under Li Chunjun's relentless assault, the Heart Demon hosts Yu Jin and his companions had struggled to contain were swiftly dispatched. Their resident Heart Demons were forcibly dragged into Li Chunjun's spiritual world, where they were simultaneously suppressed and refined.
This terrifying scene made the Heart Demons themselves question who the true fiend really was.
The entire battle, including the pursuit beyond the Lesser Thousand World, lasted less than an hour.
Of the nearly two hundred Heart Demons within the Hong Clan's Lesser Thousand World, the majority perished.
Fewer than thirty percent managed to escape into the starry sky.
(End of the Chapter)
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