Chapter 1427 - Second-Level Void Realm

The heavens had already acknowledged the Heretic Blade, so he no longer needed to worry about any tribulation arising during its reforging.

When the black tortoise's shell finally cracked, waves of power surged into it as a terrifying energy erupted from within. The resulting shockwave made the entire blacksmithing chamber groan and shudder, as though it could collapse at any moment.

The elders in charge of maintaining the blacksmithing chambers stared in disbelief, utterly stunned by Liu Wuxie's forging methods.

"This brat can even control the power of the Earth Immortal Realm..." the elders said, shaking their heads and reinforcing the spiritual array.

Each Quasi-Immortal Rune inside the black tortoise's shell proved even more potent than the ones within the Undying Chessboard. Then, an even more shocking scene appeared before Liu Wuxie's eyes as he discovered a complete immortal rune.

Back on the True Martial Star, Liu Wuxie had also encountered immortal runes, but most of those were incomplete or severely damaged. Although he could still strengthen his cultivation by absorbing them, they could not compare in the slightest to a complete immortal rune.

When he drew the complete immortal rune from the black tortoise's shell, it took the form of a golden tortoise hovering in mid-air, radiating a terrifying aura.

The pressure it emanated was so overwhelming that Liu Wuxie had to retreat a few steps, unable to withstand the oppressive force released by the golden rune.

"What a powerful immortal rune! This is perfect! With this, I can make my breakthrough to the second-level Void Realm, and my mythical arts will become even more powerful," Liu Wuxie murmured and summoned the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, allowing it to devour the golden rune to send it into the desolate world.

The desolate world's structure had grown significantly sturdier after absorbing immortal energy, but it had yet to give birth to immortal runes of its own. Even so, its reinforced framework could now bear the power of a complete immortal rune.

Once the immortal rune fused into the desolate world, a deafening rumble erupted as a violent power swept across it, threatening to tear the entire world apart.

The crystalline wall trembled under the impact while hundreds of strands of immortal energy surged forth, coiling around the immortal rune and slowly breaking it down.

The immortal rune that flooded every corner of the desolate world dispelled that sense of suffocation. The most visible change appeared in Liu Wuxie's true essence, which began to shimmer with a faint golden luster as it slowly evolved toward immortal energy.

Only immortal energy could sustain the execution of immortal arts. Liu Wuxie had grasped many immortal arts in his past life as an Immortal Emperor, but without immortal energy, he couldn't manifest any of them.

During his battle with Song Siqi, he had briefly used immortal energy to inscribe a sword rune, allowing him to defeat his opponent. Although that sword rune was not itself an immortal art, the power it contained was still unimaginable.

Now, with a complete immortal rune and a few hundred strands of immortal energy at his disposal, Liu Wuxie intended to evolve one of his mythical arts into the level of an immortal art. However, accomplishing that was no simple task, and no one could complete it in a short span of time.

He did not rush. Liu Wuxie already had a clear goal in mind; he only needed to advance toward it one steady step at a time.

As he devoured the immortal rune, his aura rose once more. He had recently broken through to the first-level Void Realm, but now, he stood on the verge of another breakthrough.

All the energy he had obtained from the Undying Chessboard had merged into the desolate world, and under the stimulation of the immortal rune, it began to circulate through his limbs, nourishing every inch of his body.

More importantly, a new sequence representing an immortal rune appeared upon the Heavenly Dao Book.

The most direct result was the explosive growth of his primordial spirit. It became sheathed in a faint golden glow, as though the immortal rune itself had wrapped around it.

At this point, even a soul attack from an Earth Immortal would fail to wound him.

"Time to make my breakthrough," Liu Wuxie said. Reforging the Heretic Blade would go even more smoothly if he first advanced to the second-level Void Realm.

The gateway to the second-level Void Realm opened up, and Liu Wuxie no longer needed to shatter it forcefully. This was thanks to the power of an immortal rune.

A boundless surge of energy erupted from his body, and all the blacksmithing materials in the chamber dissolved at once. The Heretic Blade devoured them, and a faint radiance began to spread across its surface.

By now, the energy stored in the black tortoise's shell had almost been exhausted, and the Heretic Blade's artifact spirit stirred awake, taking shape as a golden divine dragon.

He had already given the Heavenly Dragon Seal to Qiao Bian. As a true descendant of the dragon clan, Qiao Bian could unleash its full potential, and it would have been a waste to keep it in his own hands.

When his true essence flowed back into the desolate world, its color deepened further, gradually edging toward a pure gold.

At this stage, Liu Wuxie was confident that by the time he broke through to the Earth Immortal Realm, his true essence would have fully evolved into immortal energy.

Once that happened, he would be able to execute immortal arts freely, and even cultivators at the Heaven Gaze Realm would probably not be his match.

He took out a hundred astral crystals and tossed them into the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron. The energy within them melted into a glittering silver river that poured endlessly into the desolate world.

Under the immortal rune's transformation, the desolate world continued to expand while his true essence grew increasingly potent. The speed at which his true essence increased had reached a bottleneck, however, and pushing it higher would not be easy.

Next, Liu Wuxie would need to refine its purity, bringing it closer to the level of immortal energy. Simply increasing the quantity of true essence would not substantially raise his combat strength.

His breakthrough lasted for over a day before his cultivation finally stabilized. After the Heretic Blade absorbed the energy from the black tortoise's shell, it began to manifest laws belonging to the Earth Immortal Realm.

The phantom of a divine dragon hovered in front of the Heretic Blade. When Liu Wuxie's eyes snapped open, the divine dragon swam forward and coiled affectionately around his head. This divine dragon was the Heretic Blade's artifact spirit, formed from a strand of Liu Wuxie's own soul.

The Heretic Blade could now comprehend his will with a single thought, allowing him to control it with pure intent. As he began to inscribe in mid-air, countless seals flew into the Heretic Blade, and its aura surged higher and higher.

Liu Wuxie had long since refined the Earth Immortal Realm's laws that had once slumbered in the desolate world. With the aid of those laws, he now understood how to inscribe them himself.

As Earth Immortal Realm's laws flowed into the Heretic Blade, the blade's aura climbed even further. Thick leaden clouds gathered above the blacksmithing chamber, pressing down like a mountain, but no lightning tribulation appeared.

"What the hell is Liu Wuxie forging in the chamber to cause such a terrifying phenomenon?" many elders muttered as they rushed out, all of them alarmed by what they were sensing. They all fixed their gazes in the direction of the blacksmithing chamber.

Just then, a dragon's roar burst out from the artifact spirit, unleashing a terrifying wave of power that blew the chamber doors open.

The artifact spirit then transformed into a dragon-shaped aura and tore straight through the heavy clouds above.

With that, the refinement of the Heretic Blade finally came to an end. Liu Wuxie reached out, and the Heretic Blade dropped neatly into his palm.

The instant his fingers closed around the hilt, he felt a profound sense of unity with the weapon, as if it were an extension of his very being. When he gave it a casual swing, the surrounding space silently fractured and collapsed.

"Good. With this, the power of the Heaven-Severing Strike will be even more powerful, and it will be enough to cut down experts at the second-level Earth Immortal Realm," Liu Wuxie murmured.

He sheathed the Heretic Blade, knowing he still had many matters to attend to. After a few days of recuperation, Gu Yu had largely recovered from his injuries with the aid of the Heavenly Dragon Sect's healing pills.

"Let's return to the Heavenly Dao Society," he said.

Several days had passed since the apprenticeship ceremony, and the members of the Heavenly Dao Society had been anxiously awaiting his return. However, Liu Wuxie had spent those days reforging the Heretic Blade and hadn't had time to return.

Traveling together with Gu Yu, the two of them left the Heavenly Dragon Sect. By slipping directly through space, they reached the Heavenly Dao Society's territory within an hour.

They had already completed the stronghold, though it had deviated from its original blueprint and expanded to twice its intended size. All of this was thanks to the giant clan, whose efforts had greatly accelerated the construction.

The news of Liu Wuxie's return sent a wave of excitement through the entire Heavenly Dao Society. Members hurried back in groups to report the information they had gathered over the past few days.

Mu Tianli spent fifteen minutes detailing the Heavenly Dao Society's accomplishments for the past month.

After listening to the report, Liu Wuxie nodded in satisfaction. Their progress had far exceeded his expectations. Everyone had been working hard over the last few days, and their cultivation had undergone drastic changes.

Under Luo Hai's guidance, the cultivation levels of their members had risen rapidly, and they even had cultivators who had reached the Primal Origin Realm. What surprised Liu Wuxie the most, though, was that Luo Hai himself had broken through to the Earth Immortal Realm.

When Liu Wuxie first arrived in Mount Dragon City, he guided Luo Hai in the cultivation of soul energy. At that time, he had estimated that it would take one or two years for Luo Hai to reach the Earth Immortal Realm, yet Luo Hai had managed it half a year ahead of that estimate.

With an expert at the Earth Immortal Realm among their ranks, the Heavenly Dao Society's foundation grew even more solid, making it comparable to that of a minor sect.

"Master, the sales of our pills and talismans are terrible. We only managed to sell three pills and one talisman. As for the spiritual array compass, we didn't even sell a single one," Bi Gongyu said with his brows locked together.

Their pills targeted the lower end of the market. In theory, they ought to have been very popular, especially given how many low-level cultivators lived in the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain.

However, the Heavenly Dao Society had almost no reputation to speak of, and it was understandable that no one trusted their products. In contrast, the pills of the first-tier sects had been circulating on the market for hundreds of thousands of years, and breaking that kind of monopoly was no simple task.

Without sales, they had no fresh resources coming in, and they would merely burn through their stockpiled reserves at this rate.

Liu Wuxie felt no surprise at this result. In fact, it would have been suspicious if their pills had sold too well.

"No hurry. What the Heavenly Dao Society lacks now is an opportunity to make an impact," Liu Wuxie replied, telling Bi Gongyu not to pressure himself. This was only the first step, and if they tried to leap too far too fast, they would damage their foundation instead.

Bi Gongyu relaxed somewhat after hearing Liu Wuxie's words.

Even with everyone's attempts to console themselves, the mood still sagged. It would not be easy to create an impact strong enough to spread their reputation.

After all, the first-tier sects had spent countless years building the prestige they enjoyed today.

"Wuxie, we have an opportunity to make an impact," Luo Hai said, rising to his feet, his eyes bright. Ever since he regained his sight, he had found a new lease on life.

"Speak," Liu Wuxie said, motioning for Luo Hai to continue.

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Everyone turned their attention to him in curiosity. Aside from Luo Hai, no one understood the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain's affairs as thoroughly as he did.

Over the years, the old man had traveled across the astral domain with Xiao Luo, visiting countless planets and meeting all sorts of people. In terms of knowledge and experience regarding the astral domain, even Liu Wuxie couldn't compare.

Most of Liu Wuxie's information came from books, but the situation in the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain changed by the day. Many of the texts collected by the Heavenly Dragon Sect were already several hundred years out of date.

"Nightmare City," Luo Hai said.

Liu Wuxie frowned the moment he heard the name. It struck him as very familiar, yet he couldn't immediately recall where he had seen it before.

"What is that place?" He Yingwu asked. He had followed Old Blindie for the past six months, but he had never once heard of Nightmare City.

"It's an unowned city, but it's bustling with people every eighth month of the year with countless cultivators heading there," Luo Hai explained.

A particular book surfaced in Liu Wuxie's memory, one that contained detailed records about Nightmare City. He tapped his finger lightly on the table and sank into deep thought. No one disturbed him, knowing that he had to have remembered something important.

Time ticked by, and only after five whole minutes did Liu Wuxie finally open his eyes.

"Senior Luo is right. Nightmare City is our best chance, and there's still another month before it opens. Before that, we have to wipe out the Sky Cloud Star and the Tranquil Meteor Star," Liu Wuxie said, laying out the Heavenly Dao Society's plan for the next month.