Chapter 141 - One Sword Piercing the Divine Dawn!

Yun Xiao was a force that couldn't be deterred. Clearly, Zhao Xuanran had acquired the Cosmic Pagoda, but her destined fate as a mortal, her potential paled in comparison to the earlier candidate, Ye Xingchen.

Yet, Yun Xiao was a stubborn fellow! When he set his mind to something, he didn't believe in limitations. He had the heart of an ordinary man! Tell him ordinary folk couldn't do something, and he'd turn a deaf ear.

So, with unwavering focus, he patiently guided Zhao Xuanran, helping her harness the energy of the first Cosmic Star. He had a plethora of pills at his disposal—Heavenly Origin Pills, Sovereign Dragon Pills, and Immortal Meridian Pills—all to ensure her smooth advancement.

Zhao Xuanran watched his every move, gratitude evident in her eyes.

"Junior Brother Yun, life is fleeting. In another decade, I'll age," she whispered softly.

"Quiet!" Yun Xiao shot her a fierce glare.

"Life and death are fated."

"I'll be the judge of that!" He playfully slapped her on the head. "Stop talking nonsense. Let me guide you."

"Yes..."

When he got fierce, she became meek.

Blue Star watched the entire scene, utterly amazed.

"This nanny-style cultivation! Yun Xiao is mad!" Blue Star mused.

"Is that a good or bad thing?" Red Moon inquired.

"I think... it's good?" Blue Star's gaze was profound. "His humanity is intense. Such fervor is intriguing! I'm eager to see what wonders will emerge when it clashes with the talents of the Creator Immortal."

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"At this rate, the result will be a child, followed by nurturing!" Red Moon chimed in..

And so, they chatted and bantered, observing Yun Xiao as one would a tutor instructing a child.

"Damn, he actually did it?" Blue Star looked on, incredulous, as a sweaty Yun Xiao emerged victorious from his laborious task. Zhao Xuanran had mastered the first level of the Nine Heavens Star Technique, without lifting a finger!

Of the myriad intricate steps involved, Yun Xiao had meticulously overseen each one for her. Boosted by the Heavenly Origin Pills, she even reached the Establishment Origin Core Realm. With her newly enhanced physique, her path to cultivation was bound to be swift.

Beneath the shroud of night, Yun Xiao finally took a moment to really look at the woman before him. The pale luminescence of starlight began to gently caress Zhao Xuanran's already porcelain skin, transforming her very essence. She seemed to shimmer, her beauty becoming almost ethereal—simultaneously bewitching and, oddly enough, comically adorable.

"Junior Brother Yun, does this... does this mean I've succeeded?" Zhao Xuanran asked, sounding as though she'd stepped into an entirely different version of herself.

"Succeeded? Psh, you're just getting started," Yun Xiao replied with a smirk.

"But... how will I continue to cultivate? It's all so complicated," Zhao Xuanran lamented, looking genuinely puzzled.

"Don't you worry about that," Yun Xiao said, wiping sweat from his brow. "I'll figure out the later stages. For now, the first Cosmic Star is enough for you to undergo a profound transformation."

She stood up, twirling before him, her form illuminated by the moonlight like a dazzling constellation brought to life. Her skirt fluttered as she danced. "Do you think I'm beautiful?" she asked hesitantly. She wondered if, having surely encountered many celestial beauties from the Heavenly Realm, Yun Xiao's standards were now impossibly high.

"You're beautiful, alright," he admitted, "but so incredibly daft."

She responded with a playful, knowing smile. "Men seem to like their women a little clueless, don't they?"

This observation caught Yun Xiao off guard. Staring at her, her blend of beauty and silliness strangely enticing, he realized she had a point.

Blue Star interjected, a hint of admiration in its voice, "She sees right through everything. No wonder she's caught his attention."

"It helps that Yun Xiao is so transparent!" Red Moon quipped.

"..." Blue Star rolled its eyes.

Suddenly, Zhao Xuanran began manipulating the Cosmic Pagoda, enlarging it until it stood as tall as a small cottage.

"If ever you come across foes too powerful, dive into this pagoda. And whatever you do, don't show off outside," Yun Xiao cautioned her.

She nodded, still slightly dazed. After entering the tower for a brief moment, she emerged with wide eyes, exclaiming, "Yun Xiao! Time inside the pagoda... it flows differently, faster!"

"Really?" His eyes sparkled with intrigue. Turning to Blue Star, he asked, "Could this be useful in refining the Heavenly Dao Sariras, perhaps increasing its efficiency?"

Blue Star, however, shook its head. "There are different grades to time manipulation. This pagoda's grade isn't sufficient for us."

Red Moon chimed in, "Only the worthless need shortcuts in cultivation. Talent like yours isn't bound by mere time."

"Enough with the flattery." Hearing that, Yun Xiao relinquished the Cosmic Pagoda. Then, he said to Zhao Xuanran "You might want to cultivate inside a bit more. It'll help you progress faster."

"I don’t want it either," Zhao Xuanran said firmly.

"Why?" Yun Xiao looked perplexed.

"Women age rapidly by thirty. I only have eight years left. By the time I grow old, you won't even be twenty." The thought alone caused Zhao Xuanran considerable distress.

Yun Xiao, lost for words, grabbed Zhao Xuanran's shoulders, reassuringly shaking them. "Don't worry, as long as I'm here, you'll live forever young!"

ι══????????══ι?

Back in the Heavenly Realm, in the Dawn Pavilion of the Chen Heavenly Mansion, all was silent. A red dress lay draped over the edge of the bed. A figure on the bed lay motionless with a vacant expression.

"Hold on! Don't panic," a small white tiger said with evident worry. "I'll use my heavenly eye to see where he's gone." A white glow appeared, revealing a man and a woman within the mist.

"Uhhh, Chen Xi..." the little white tiger's eyes trembled, "Your red bridal veil hasn’t been removed, but it's turned cuckquean green!" As its words fell, a flurry of electric snakes sparked violently in the room.

"Calm down!" The little tiger's words were interrupted as a white lightning storm swept through.

The figure on the bed was nowhere to be seen! All that remained was a charred red bridal veil, drifting downward.

The little white tiger let out a heavy sigh. "Twice in a row! This boy's arrogance because of his favoritism has led to disaster!" It peered into the distance. Endless thunderbolts roiled on the Heavenly Realm's barrier!

BOOM!

The Heavenly Realm trembled! Many were jolted awake.

"Who dared to breach the Heavenly Realm's barrier with their mortal body?"

A collective gasp echoed. Everyone was astounded.

?ι══????????══ι?

A soft hum echoed, as a petite divine vessel lifted into the air above Azure Spirit. Yun Xiao stood at the bow, his gaze lost in the undulating mountains of Azure Spirit under the cloak of night. Suddenly, the sky overhead trembled with a deafening roar, transforming the inky blackness of night into a startling, radiant day. Startled, Yun Xiao snapped his head upwards.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Dark clouds converged, and countless white serpents of lightning danced in the heavens. A terrifying net of thunder swallowed the vast expanse. Everywhere he looked, all had turned a blinding white.

At the heart of this celestial web of thunder, a woman in a red dress descended. Her hair, free-flowing, resembled white electric dragons dispersing. Lightning raced across her gown and her fair skin. Her eyes, though, were the most captivating, as if they held entire storms within, shining with a light as blinding as the full moon.

"The Goddess of Thunder!" Within Azure Spirit, countless Sword Cultivators awoke, gazing upwards to witness the mythical deity from legends. With reverence and terror, they fell to their knees. The sight was utterly awe-inspiring.

"Divine Dawn Empress!" the elderly man in plain robes aboard the ship cried, dropping to his knees. With a mere point of her finger, she flung the old boatman away, sending him flying away until he was a distant twinkle in the horizon.

Having dealt with the old man, the lightning-wreathed woman in red descended, her gaze icy cold as she looked down upon Yun Xiao. Her eyes, seas of thunder, were filled with boundless fury.

"Was all this really necessary?" Yun Xiao, standing on the now motionless ship, let his once-relaxed face harden with cold determination.

At his words, the woman's brow furrowed in displeasure. With a wave of her hand, thousands of lightning bolts, like electric dragons, struck down.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

All around the Azure Mountains, spanning hundreds of miles, forests, rivers, and wildlife were obliterated under this celestial onslaught. The very ground trembled and sank, plummeting over ten feet! From above, all that remained of the once majestic mountains beneath the ship was a small patch of green, the only sign of life in the desolation.

The multitude of Sword Cultivators stood in stunned silence, gaping at the charred, smoky wasteland surrounding them. An entire mountain range, gone with a mere gesture.

Having laid waste to the mountains, the girl in the red dress entwined in electric serpents fixed her gaze on Yun Xiao. Her voice boomed like thunder, "Do you believe I won't kill her?"

The moment she uttered those words, any vestige of goodwill Yun Xiao had for her vanished.

HUM!

With a flash of lightning, she appeared right in front of him, a mere six inches separating them. Her white electric serpents coalesced, forming a prison of lightning around Yun Xiao.

Directly in front of Yun Xiao's eyes blazed her fiery gaze, awash with torrents of electric light. How could such a being merely exist at the Establishment Wind Fire Tribulation Realm?

"Yun Xiao," she whispered, her voice a thunderclap in his ear, "I've treated you too kindly. Did you think I was easy to toy with?"

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ!

The electric serpents coursed over Yun Xiao's body, causing his flesh to rupture, trails of blood appearing. His face was dewed with minute beads of blood.

"I've never toyed with you," Yun Xiao retorted, his voice chilling, "I only gave you a chance. A chance you wasted.."

"What nonsense are you spewing? You're even joking at a time like this?" The girl in the red dress scoffed.

"You'll see," Yun Xiao whispered, extending the Heaven Burial Sword Soul towards her, stopping just short of her skin. With a swift motion, he slashed downwards.

RIP!

Her red dress sailed into the sky, revealing her electrified and perfect form.

"Damn!" Blue Star exclaimed, but before it could say more, he was snatched and flung sky-high, eventually crashing into a rock.

BOOM!

Looking up, it saw a majestic ship soaring across the stormy skies, its magnificence unparalleled. "This isn’t a honeymoon suite anymore, it’s an entire honeymoon realm" Blue Star remarked, awestruck.

Back on the ship, surrounded by swirling electric serpents, Yun Xiao stared down the girl in the red dress, his spirit soaring. "You're formidable, but on this battlefield, you'll kneel before me."

"I don't think so," she retorted, though she was clearly out of her depth.

"Hehe. If you don't beg for mercy today, I'll take your surname!" Yun Xiao sneered.

"You want my name? Next, do you want me to call you daddy?" she fired back.

"Exactly!"

?ι══????????══ι?

Dawn broke. The ship approached the Heavenly Realm. In a corner, a trembling girl clung to a white tiger, whispering, "Pomelo, I don’t want a second or a third time."

"Why? It went smoothly, didn't it?" the little white tiger asked, puzzled.

"I lost all dignity," she replied, staring blankly at the young man meditating at the prow.

The tiger nodded thoughtfully, "You screamed more last night than in your entire life."

'..." The girl remained silent.