Translator: CinderTL
"Pursue him!"
One Void Refining Cultivator, a hint of fear in his eyes, spoke hesitantly: "Senior Brother Mo He, Li Chunjun is already gravely wounded and can't escape far. Once Senior Brother True Martial arrives with reinforcements to surround him, he'll be trapped like a bird in a cage. We've already endured a bloody battle and are severely depleted of Primal Qi..."
"Have you forgotten!? Li Chunjun possesses the Flaming Phoenix Bloodline! We can't give him a moment's respite! Even if we can't kill him, we must stay on his heels, driving him relentlessly. If he gets a chance to rest and undergo Nirvana Rebirth, then uses his Void Law advantage to outmaneuver us, how much more will we have to sacrifice to finally kill him!?"
Mo He roared, issuing the order: "Strike while he's down! Li Chunjun must die today!"
Flaming Phoenix Bloodline!
These words sent a chill down the spines of the Void Refining Cultivators.
As native cultivators of the Profound Yellow Great World who had once clashed with the Taixu Sword Sect, they were intimately familiar with the power of the Flaming Phoenix Bloodline's Nirvana Rebirth.
No matter how severe the injuries, a single Nirvana could restore them to pristine condition.
If Li Chunjun truly had the chance to undergo Rebirth Through Fire...
His condition would be fully restored.
Once his condition was restored...
They weren't worried about Wu Ji Sect losing the battle, but they feared they wouldn't be able to subdue him quickly enough. He might escape the Star Abyss, or reinforcements from the Profound Yellow Sect might arrive and evacuate him.
After all, Li Chunjun was no longer a lone wolf.
With the Profound Yellow Sect backing him, killing him now would require a full-scale war to completely subjugate the sect.
For a moment, even though the Void Refining cultivators were already terrified of Li Chunjun's power, they could only grit their teeth and obey Mo He's orders.
"Then pursue him!"
"Senior Brother Gui Xing's forces are right behind us. If we can hold him off just a little longer, victory will ultimately be ours..."
The two men forced themselves to speak.
The other two were deeply reluctant, but the Wu Ji Sect's bounty on Li Chunjun kept them from giving up.
Otherwise, they would face severe punishment from their sect.
And their ultimate fate...
Might not be any better than the near-certain death they risked by pursuing Li Chunjun.
On the other side, Li Chunjun manipulated the Void, rapidly distancing himself from Mo He and the others.
"Truly brutal," he muttered, assessing his injuries with genuine feeling. Yet not a trace of fear crossed his face.
"This way, they'll truly believe I'm at the end of my rope."
He paused, then corrected himself. "Wait... I am actually at the end of my rope. This couldn't be more real!"
Even a Dao Unification Realm expert examining his condition would conclude his injuries were severe, requiring years to recover.
But...
He glanced at the status of the Human Emperor Banner.
[Life Level: 37 (699345/700000)]
Through his selective killing, his experience points had precisely reached the critical threshold for leveling up.
"Perfect timing! My mastery of the Scarlet Sky Sword and Dharma Manifestation Armament still isn't enough for true integration, and I haven't yet laid the foundation for forging a Dharma Aspect. This time... it's just right! It's enough to take a firm step forward in the crucial stage of building my Dharma Aspect foundation!"
Li Chunjun immediately prepared to condense his Essence Blood to temper the Scarlet Sky Sword and Dharma Manifestation Armament.
But after only a moment, he sensed something.
Several streaks of light were once again pursuing him from afar.
Though still some distance away, they were relentlessly tracking his movements.
In his current weakened state, shaking them off completely wouldn't be easy.
"Looks like I can't exhaust all my Essence Blood. Safety comes first."
He maintained his cautious approach.
In this world, disappointment is the norm, and perfection is a rarity.
Moreover, by performing a Blood Sacrifice while retaining a certain level of power, it would be easier for Mo He and the others pursuing him to confirm his condition.
"Not just that... it would be best to use a secret art to disguise it, pretending I used a Forbidden Art that burns Qi and can't be sustained for long. This way, the Void Refining cultivators from the Wu Ji Sect and Heavenly Palace who come to reinforce them won't give up halfway when they see my sudden recovery."
Thoughts raced through his mind.
Thanks to Liu Yu's offer to let him choose any Cultivation Technique, he quickly thought of a secret art.
Derived from "Ultimate Sublimation," it was called the "True Spirit Incineration" technique.
It used the Mental Power Fire to ignite all of one's Qi and physical body, ensuring that as long as the mind remained unextinguished, the True Fire would never die, burning oneself completely to ash.
This was a truly one-way secret art, with no chance of survival.
Mastering this secret art would naturally require some effort, but with the Mental Power Fire at his disposal, Li Chunjun believed it wouldn't be difficult to simulate this obscure dao technique—one that others might recognize—and mislead them into making the desired assumptions.
With this thought in mind, Li Chunjun once again stirred the Void Mysteries, casting Void Bridge. After completing a round of Void Travel, he immediately employed the Essence Blood Sword Sacrifice Technique to refine the Scarlet Sky Sword.
Simultaneously, as he performed the Essence Blood Sword Sacrifice, he consumed a Void Dao Pill!
By carefully controlling the pill's absorption rate, he rapidly replenished the remaining six hundred or so points of experience he needed.
When Mo He, who had been relentlessly pursuing him, finally caught up, he witnessed this scene of Li Chunjun's Essence Qi fading.
Whoosh!
The Void flickered.
Li Chunjun seemed to summon his last reserves of strength to dispel the Void fluctuations, once again launching himself into the distance using Void Bridge.
Seeing this, Mo He, who had rushed to the scene, couldn't help but reveal a look of wild joy in his eyes. "His Qi is scattered, his Qi and Blood are failing—he's finished!"
At the same time, he immediately used his Message Jade Talisman to relay the situation to Gui Xing, who was leading a group of pursuers: "Major Merit is within our grasp! This is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity. If we miss it, whether we can kill Li Chunjun in the future will become entirely uncertain."
A response from Gui Xing quickly appeared in the communication artifact: "Hahaha, someone in my team is skilled in simulation and deduction. We've already calculated Li Chunjun's escape route based on his direction. We've split into two groups: one, led by the nine Elders who excel in speed and possess a Flying Dao Artifact, will circle ahead to delay and intercept him. The other group, including us, will rendezvous with you to deliver the fatal blow!"
"Split into two groups?" Mo He was slightly taken aback. Li Chunjun's strength instinctively made him feel this tactic was somewhat risky.
But recalling the scene of Li Chunjun's Qi and Blood fading and Qi dissipating... he suppressed the lingering worry that had just surfaced in his heart, yet still cautioned, "Li Chunjun is no pushover! A cornered beast fights most fiercely! The nine Elders must not advance recklessly. Their sole task is to stall him until we all arrive. With the combined might of twenty-four Void Refining cultivators, we can crush him like dry weeds, minimizing our losses!"
"I will remind them!" Gui Xing replied solemnly.
On the other side, after completing another Void Travel, Li Chunjun slowed his pace slightly.
He needed some time to experience the numerous changes brought by his recent upgrade.
Increased foundation, enhanced Mind Power, and improvements in his Essence, Qi, and Spirit had led to a comprehensive surge in his Dao Cultivation and Qi.
Li Chunjun estimated that his Dao Cultivation and Qi had now skyrocketed to nearly thirty thousand years' worth!
Especially...
With his Life Level rising, the Destruction Dao Body and Void Dao Body he was cultivating seemed to have sprouted new shoots.
Although it would still take time to fully complete the process of Reversing the Acquired to Attain the Innate, these changes were immediately apparent to him, still at the Void Refinement Realm.
"The Void Law feels... more intimate..."
Li Chunjun waved his hand lightly.
A Sword Qi quickly condensed at his fingertips.
The Sword Qi stirred the Void, radiating strands of destructive energy. Its power...
Had increased by at least thirty percent compared to when he was at level 37!
"How could it be so much?!"
Even Li Chunjun himself was startled by this effect!
It meant that with his Dao Cultivation and Qi now barely reaching thirty thousand years' worth, he could unleash combat power equivalent to nearly forty thousand years' worth!
What astonishing growth!
The advantage of a Top-Tier Dharma Manifestation over an ordinary one is only about fifty percent.
And the advantage of a Top-Tier Dharma Manifestation over a Superior one is actually just thirty to forty percent!
But he soon realized the reason for such unexpectedly rapid growth.
"The Destruction Dao Body and Void Dao Body are undergoing an Innate transformation! And an Innate Dao Body... is on par with Dao Unification!"
Even though his Destruction Dao Body and Void Dao Body had only transformed slightly, equivalent to one-thousandth or one ten-thousandth of an Innate Dao Body, it was still...
a Dao Unification Realm essence!
One-thousandth or one ten-thousandth of the power of a Dao Unification Dao Venerable, unleashed within a mere Void Refining cultivator, was truly terrifying!
It was like a Void Refining cultivator with billions of Spirit Crystals to their name casually spending hundreds of thousands on a single meal—an amount that a Core Formation cultivator might never earn in their entire lifetime.
"Though I'm still far from becoming a true Innate Divine Being, I should be considered a 'Special Life' at this stage."
He understood this clearly.
Furthermore...
The transformation of his Void Dao Body and Destruction Dao Body had increased his affinity with Law Mysteries, dramatically reducing the difficulty of forming his Dharma Manifestation.
The success rate also increased dramatically.
"I'm ninety percent certain my Void Storm Dharma Aspect can be forged in a single step, and the forging time can be reduced from the previous century or decades to less than ten years."
Forging a Dharma Aspect within ten years!
With a ninety percent chance of success in a single attempt, avoiding any waste of resources...
For any Cultivator currently refining a Dharma Aspect, this probability was nothing short of having one foot already through the Great Gate of the Dharma Aspect.
The Dharma Aspect was within reach!
His Life Level was also rising again...
"Ascension to Immortality is getting closer!" Li Chunjun murmured to himself.
His eyes held a stubborn determination that no words, external events, or objects could shake.
After a moment, he glanced back at the values displayed on the Human Emperor Banner:
[Life Level: 38 (21/800000)]
"I can go even faster!" he muttered, as if encouraging himself or sharing his thoughts with someone.
For he was currently in the Star Abyss...
And being hunted by hundreds of Void Refining Cultivators dispatched by two Council-level Powers, a number that was likely to grow into the thousands soon.
(End of the Chapter)
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