Yuan’s Ascension

In that moment, High Immortal Pu Guang and the other three Archimmortals all turned to look at Wu Yuan.

"Daoist Pu Guang, my apologies. I truly didn't expect this low-grade celestial artifact to find its way into my hands of its own accord," Wu Yuan grinned as he tucked away the saber-shaped celestial artifact in his palm.

Within the Glacier Domain, numerous artifacts were formed inside the glaciers, ranging from high-grade spirion artifacts to even high-grade celestial artifacts.

Where did these artifacts originate from? Why did they emerge in the Glacier Domain? It had always been a mystery, but after his time in the Spacetime Labyrinth, Wu Yuan now had a theory – perhaps these ‘item drops’ were all casually designed by the Dao Master when he created the Dao Realm.

Spirion equipment and celestial equipment were nothing to a being of the Spacetime Dao Master's caliber.

During the emergence process, these treasures formed in the glaciers could not be stored in storage artifacts, nor could one attempt to claim ownership. This was fundamentally different from areas like the Snow Devil Cave and the Frost Mist Sea.

Just moments ago, as the four powerhouses battled, the treasure had fully emerged, blasted to the side by the residual force of their attacks.

As luck would have it, Wu Yuan had 'picked it up'.

"It found its way into your hands? What utter nonsense," Pu Guang snarled, no longer bothering to conceal his anger. "You clearly manipulated Space and Time to snatch it away."

It was one thing for the low-grade celestial artifact to be knocked aside during the intense battle, but Wu Yuan had indeed seized the opportunity to employ the Moonlight Shadow technique, transforming into a beam of moonlight while simultaneously manipulating the flow of time.

In an instant, he had darted tens of thousands of li from his position, snatching up the treasure. The simultaneous use of Space and Time techniques allowed Wu Yuan to move at an unbelievable speed.

It happened so quickly that the treasure fell into Wu Yuan's hands before High Immortal Pu Guang and the three Archimmortals could even react.

Now, the two sides were separated by tens of thousands of li.

"Such incredible speed."

"This? He’s merely an Earth Immortal?"

"Did he alter the flow of time just now?" The three Archimmortals were shocked.

They had only completed the Seventh Immortal Tribulation, with the strongest among them being merely a third-stage Archimmortal, while the other two were only first-stage Archimmortals. This was why they had the lower hand in the fight against High Immortal Pu Guang.

"You three fools, are you still planning to fight me?" High Immortal Pu Guang's gaze swept over the three Archimmortals.

Then, he turned back to Wu Yuan, barely able to contain his rage. "Ming Jian, I won’t pursue the matter of you deceiving me, but you must hand over that celestial artifact."

"No," Wu Yuan grinned widely: "Since when did the treasures born in the Glacier Domain belong to anyone? Now that it's in my hands, it's naturally mine."

It was indeed an ownerless item, but even if it did have an owner, Wu Yuan wouldn't hesitate to snatch it away if its owner was from the Immortal Court.

The path of immortality was all about seizing opportunities.

The saber-shaped low-grade celestial artifact might appear to be worth at most one or two thousand divine crystals, but on the path of immortality, getting the chance to acquire a great treasure in one fell swoop was a truly rare occurrence.

For most immortal cultivators, the norm was to accumulate wealth slowly over long years.

"Ming Jian, do you truly wish to be my enemy?" High Immortal Pu Guang was struggling to keep his anger in check.

Wu Yuan shook his head slightly, but couldn't be bothered to respond further.

Whoosh! In an instant, Wu Yuan transformed into a streak of light, hurtling towards the distant end of the passageway, having no desire to spend any more time with High Immortal Pu Guang.

His speed was so great that he appeared to practically vanish, reaching a velocity of forty to fifty thousand li per second in the blink of an eye. This kind of instantaneous burst speed was beyond even ordinary Archimmortals.

"You're courting death! Don't blame me for what happens next." High Immortal Pu Guang roared. "I wasn’t intending to kill you."

Suddenly, within this ice crevice a million li wide and tens of millions of li long, enormous blood-colored vines burst out.

These vines ranged from over a hundred thousand li long to more than a million li in length. They were densely clustered, almost instantly blocking off most of the passage on both sides, obstructing Wu Yuan's path. Each of these vines emanated an incredibly powerful aura.

This sight caused the three Archimmortals to start in surprise. In their previous clash with High Immortal Pu Guang, they hadn't detected any sign of such a hidden technique.

An array? Wu Yuan's mind raced.

His opponent had apparently laid down some arrays in advance. After accumulating power for so long, these arrays now possessed terrifying might.

Boom! Boom! Boom! The massive vines whistled through the air like giant serpents. Some were rooted in the ice, others directly anchored in the void. They lashed out towards Wu Yuan with terrifying speed, blanketing the sky and covering the earth.

"Such powerful might."

"Such an attack is on par with fourth-stage Archimmortals, even fifth-stage Archimmortals." The three Archimmortals watched in shock.

While each individual vine wasn't particularly strong and posed no threat to them, the sheer number was staggering. The combined force was enough to make even an Archimmortal’s scalp tingle.

"Where did this High Immortal come from? In a one-on-one fight, he could probably kill us. It took our combined efforts just to barely hold him off."

"And that Earth Immortal is even more of a monstrous prodigy. He can actually manipulate Time?"

"Hmm, they seem to know each other." The three Archimmortals exchanged glances, but didn't rashly follow High Immortal Pu Guang's lead.

They all realized that both Wu Yuan and High Immortal Pu Guang were not to be trifled with, and only wished to leave and avoid this conflict.

…

Faced with the all-encompassing vines, Wu Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly, "Sword array, assemble."

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Sword intent erupted from Wu Yuan. Nine celestial swords appeared like nine strands of terrifying thread, weaving through the void, encompassing a region of space hundreds of thousands of li wide.

They burst forth in an instant, clashing with the vines.

In that moment, space itself warped. Those threads of sword light grew blurry and dreamlike, their speed strangely increasing by several times, reaching three to four times the speed of light.

No! It wasn't that their speed had changed, but rather the flow of time around them had altered, causing these swords to accelerate dramatically.

These streaks of sword light were none other than the first step of the Nine Swords of Spacetime – the Sword of Spacetime. A terrifying sword technique that truly combined the Law of Time and the Law of Space.

Swish! Swish! Swish! Like a knife through cucumbers, the nine threads of celestial sword light sliced through the vines.

Some were cut clean in two while others were blocked, their power greatly diminished. They barely slowed Wu Yuan's advance at all.

"What? What kind of sword technique is this? Such a terrifying sword art."

"The mana powering it is weak, yet it possesses an inconceivable might."

"It's beautiful, profound and unfathomable. Even among the sword techniques I've seen executed by Astral Lords, they might not be more profound than this." The three Archimmortals observing from afar were astounded.

An Earth Immortal deploying a sword array that could sweep aside a horde of peak-stage High Immortals?

Is this... the combination of Space and Time? High Immortal Pu Guang's pupils constricted.

The power Wu Yuan displayed was far greater than the rumors suggested. In past intelligence reports, Wu Yuan had never exhibited such a terrifying sword technique.

As the sword struck, all spectators trembled in awe.

Yet Wu Yuan, speeding forward, remained incredibly calm. Once Space and Time were combined, the resulting power was terrifyingly strong.

Over the past decade or so, with his hundreds of years of contemplation into the Law of Time and Law of Space, he had managed to comprehend the first step of the Nine Swords of Spacetime.

Perhaps it wasn't fully mastered or perfected yet, but the profundities contained in just this first step were enough to rival attacks from fifth or sixth stage Archimmortals. It wasn't much weaker than Zhuo Haiyue’s attacks.

I possess a first-degree immortal root, with mana approaching that of a First Tribulation High Immortal.

With nine celestial swords, I can perfectly unleash their power. In terms of raw combat strength, I'm not far behind Zhuo Haiyue, and my sword techniques are even more unpredictable. Wu Yuan was brimming with confidence.

The various teachings of the Spacetime Secret Codex have truly allowed me to fully unleash both the Law of Time and Law of Space.

In the past, Wu Yuan had mostly relied on his Dao comprehension to battle enemies.

Of course, Zhuo Haiyue might have also made gains in the Spacetime Labyrinth, so it was hard to say how strong she was now.

…

Whoosh! Wielding all nine celestial swords simultaneously was Wu Yuan's limit. Even with his extraordinarily powerful soul, the burden was still immense.

Cutting through vine after vine as he swept forward, Wu Yuan transformed into a streak of light, reaching the speed of light as he rushed into the distance.

Boom! Out of nowhere, an invisible wave enveloped Wu Yuan, instantly causing his speed to plummet.

Looking back, he saw High Immortal Pu Guang, whose speed had also increased to a terrifying degree, now surrounded by layer upon layer of bizarre light. These rays of light stretched across hundreds of thousands of li, faintly enclosing Wu Yuan.

A binding-type secret art? Wu Yuan instantly deduced.

While High Immortal Pu Guang might not be a peerless genius like Nie Zhen, he likely wasn't far behind His Highness Li Xuan of the Hundred Mysteries Palace. His Dao comprehension rivaled that of an Astral Lord, and his direct combat power was on par with a fourth-stage Archimmortal.

More crucially, from Wu Yuan's knowledge, he had comprehended the Law of True Domain to an extremely high level, at least reaching the seventh-level True Intent stage.

The combination of the Law of True Domain and the Law of Wood allowed him to excel in binding and domain techniques.

Since his mana capacity far surpassed Wu Yuan's, Wu Yuan couldn’t break free easily.

Among the eight million imprint bearers on the Spacetime Island, High Immortal Pu Guang easily ranked in the top ten when it came to binding techniques.

"Ming Jian, a typical fifth-stage or sixth-stage Archimmortal might not be able to deal with you, but I happen to be your perfect counter," High Immortal Pu Guang growled, his voice low and menacing.

Confidence radiated from every fiber of his being.

The distance between the two rapidly diminished.

"That Earth Immortal is in grave danger."

"He's formidable, true, but that High Immortal's mana is overwhelmingly superior in quantity and quality. In a direct confrontation, the Earth Immortal will be annihilated in a single move." The three observing Archimmortals exchanged their assessments.

No matter how extraordinary one might be, with such a vast disparity in both Dao comprehension and mana, destruction was inevitable.

Whoosh! At that very moment, Wu Yuan’s silhouette suddenly and inexplicably split into nine distinct figures. These nine Wu Yuans didn't scatter far, remaining in relatively close proximity.

Simultaneously, the terrifying binding force that had been focused solely on Wu Yuan was divided, with each figure bearing only one-ninth of the original power!

With a burst of speed, the nine Wu Yuans accelerated, swiftly reaching light speed. Concurrently, the flow of time around them warped, suddenly increasing severalfold.

Their velocity continued to climb. In a matter of seconds, Wu Yuan had broken free of the vines’ range, rapidly widening the gap between himself and High Immortal Pu Guang.

"What in the world?"

"Nine figures, all of them real? I can't distinguish the original at all!" The three Archimmortals watched, their eyes wide with disbelief.

What kind of secret art is this? High Immortal Pu Guang was equally stunned.

With his binding secret art still in effect, he could clearly sense that the space and time surrounding those nine figures had been bizarrely interwoven. It was impossible to identify the true body.

Little did they know, this was the extraordinary power of ‘Moonlight Shadow’. By simultaneously incorporating the Laws of Space and Time, it wasn't mere duplication. Rather, it was Wu Yuan's true body being projected and segmented across spacetime—each figure both real and illusory.

When mastered to its pinnacle, not only could it neutralize binding secret arts, but even the most enigmatic karmic attacks could be greatly diminished by the core abilities of the technique.

This was truly worthy of being called an ultimate combat technique created by the Spacetime Dao Master!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Wu Yuan's speed showed no signs of abating. The further the distance between them grew, the weaker High Immortal Pu Guang's binding secret art became.

In the end, High Immortal Pu Guang could only watch helplessly as Wu Yuan escaped further and further, until he vanished into a crevasse, leaving no traces.

This Ming Jian... he's far too terrifying. High Immortal Pu Guang halted his pursuit, a flicker of wariness dancing in his eyes.