“He's changed…” muttered the gray-robed man.

Three days were just a blink of an eye to him. The moment he saw Lin Xun recovering, he noticed right away the drastic change in the latter’s aura.

It was an aura of creation and growth, a vibrant and flourishing power that had appeared in Lin Xun's will and gave him the presence of a Creator. It was as if he could deduce thousands of rules and principles with a single thought of his mind!

The gray-robed old man still found it hard to believe that a young man who hadn't even stepped into the Emperor Stage yet could possibly master such a terrifying willpower.

This was the very first unfathomable freak he had encountered in his cultivation life, who had simply shattered his previous view of supreme quasi-Emperors!

Lin Xun, on the other hand, was perceiving the changes within himself.

The last three days had allowed him to refine the pure power once belonging to the cauldron will force, elevating both his mind and will to an unprecedented level.

The most astonishing change had occurred in his mind-sea, where his spirit dharma form had metamorphosed into a divine spirit will that took the shape of a great dao furnace.

In his spirit, the will had transformed into a furnace!

Meanwhile, within his heart, an abyss-like orifice had appeared.

His heart power had transformed into an abyss!

This struck Lin Xun dumb, sending him into a trance.

A divine spirit will was something unique to the Emperor Stage. Only by setting foot on the supreme Emperor path would one be able to condense a Will Dharma Form!

An example of that was the thirty-six fragments of will in the Dao Forbidden Tract. Left behind by primeval experts, they had survived the erosion of time until very recently.

If those will forces hadn’t been trapped in the force field, then their instincts might have even been awakened, and they might come to life again!

This was the amazing ability of divine spirit wills.

In short, those fragments of will had belonged to the Will Dharma Forms of those powerful primeval experts!

Yet, Lin Xun, who was still a step away from the Emperor Stage, had already developed a Will Dharma Form in his mind-sea.

On top of that, it was a furnace that encompassed all heavenly dao paths and had the might to suppress everything!

Lin Xun had never heard of any quasi-Emperor who was capable of doing this.

His case undoubtedly could be called unprecedented and unique in all heavens!

At the same time, Lin Xun was also surprised by the great abyss vision in his heart that represented the heart's power.

The heart orifice was the root, the origin of one’s dao heart. It was the most mysterious place in a cultivator.

Unlike the Will Dharma Form, it was unheard of that any cultivator’s heart orifice could condense a vision! At least Lin Xun had never heard of one.

“Is it because of the realization I had on ‘creating something out of nothing’?” Lin Xun had a vague guess, but he didn’t dare to be sure.

Taking a deep breath, he shook off those thoughts. “No matter what, the training here has perfected my mindset and willpower. I’m afraid that further advancement will only be possible when I become an Emperor…”

While pondering, Lin Xun turned toward the distance and asked with a smile, “Senior, is it possible for me to enter the ninth level yet?”

The gray-robed man quickly waved his hand. “Don't call me ‘Senior,’ just address me as your equal. My dharma name is Spirit Martial, and everyone calls me Spirit Martial Battle Emperor.”

After a pause, he continued, “Don’t be in a rush to leave for the ninth floor, my little friend. It holds a different mechanism, and if you don’t mind, then I could tell you about it.”

Of course Lin Xun didn't mind. He cheerfully agreed.

Spirit Martial Battle Emperor invited Lin Xun to sit on the ground, handed him a jug of wine, and sighed, “Your performance has been an eye-opener for me. Even thinking about it now makes my heart drum, and it’s hard to stay calm.”

Lin Xun keenly sensed the drastic change in Spirit Martial Battle Emperor’s attitude toward him. The old man no longer carried the stern, majestic bearing of an Emperor expert, and had instead become amiable and full of zeal. He also did not hide his appreciation for Lin Xun that overflowed between his words.

“You flatter me, Dao Brother.” Lin Xun accepted the wine jug and, with a smile, started drinking with Spirit Martial Battle Emperor. Since the other party didn’t want to be addressed as a senior, then ‘dao brother’ it was, for that was the kind of respect he deserved.

Soon, Lin Xun learned that several thousand years ago, the ninth level of Dark Hidden Purgatory had undergone a shocking change, which was the sudden emergence of an extremely bizarre forbidden zone filled with lightning and thunder.

Upon its appearance, all the fiend spirits in the ninth level had died overnight for some unknown reason!

Generally speaking, only Emperor experts had the strength to enter the ninth floor because no fiend spirits there possessed spirit and battle power lower than the Emperor Stage.

Yet, a whole bunch of such powerful beings had dropped dead. The uncanny turn of events had naturally caught the attention of Fog Obscured Alms and Copper Sparrow House.

At the time, Spirit Martial Battle Emperor and a group of Emperor experts had teamed up and gone there in an attempt to investigate the incident.

However, upon approaching the bizarre lightning forbidden zone, the entire team had been blocked outside by a terrifying pressure, unable to move an inch further.

It had taken a long period of observation for Spirit Martial Battle Emperor and the group to figure out something: a spirit entity, who possessed supreme intelligence, had likely been born within that forbidden zone!

Moreover, unlike the fiend spirits in Dark Hidden Purgatory, this spirit entity had shown no intention to harm cultivators. It had always been dormant in the depths of the lightning forbidden zone, seemingly very mysterious and low-key.

Speaking of this, Spirit Martial Battle Emperor revealed a strange expression. “Later, someone among us spotted the figure of a small tree deep inside that forbidden zone of lightning. It was only three feet tall and bright red like blood. Its bark had an obscure, metallic shine. Its branches were bare, resembling swords and knives…

“Unfortunately, that figure appeared for a brief moment and has never been seen again since, but we all reckoned that little tree was likely to be the spirit entity with supreme intelligence!”

Hearing this, a bold idea popped up in Lin Xun's mind.

A small, blood-red tree? Could it be the Sacred Kunwu Tree?

The thought of this stirred Lin Xun's emotion.

Legend had it that the Sacred Kunwu Tree had a trunk like pure red copper, and branches and leaves like godly, dangling blades. Its body contained the innate chaos fire essence, so its presence would always be accompanied by thunder, lightning, and fire!

Those were some of the information that the Old Bronze Tree, who was currently imprisoned in the Dao Endless Pagoda, had told Lin Xun.

Only an Emperor fiend spirit who was transformed from a root of the Sacred Kunwu Tree like that would know the most about the Sacred Kunwu Tree!

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Not paying attention to Lin Xun’s reaction, Spirit Martial Battle Emperor went on, “Little friend, it’s not that I don’t advise you to go there, but the ninth floor has long been devoid of fiend spirits. With only a lightning forbidden zone, it has nothing that can help you train.

“As for the tenth floor, it already belongs to the category of the lower nine levels. The heavenly Law Power in those floors prevents entry from anyone below the Emperor Stage.”

The implication was already obvious: Dark Hidden Purgatory was no longer a suitable place for the current Lin Xun to train in, so it was time for him to leave.

“Dao Brother, I still would like to take a look at the ninth floor,” said Lin Xun who had already jumped to his feet. “Even if it's not for the sake of cultivating, I can still open my eyes by witnessing that lightning-filled forbidden zone.”

Spirit Martial Battle Emperor was stunned. Then, he smiled and said, “Not willing to leave like this?”

Lin Xun shook his head. “It’s not that extreme.”

Then, he bid farewell, but as he was leaving, Spirit Martial Battle Emperor couldn't help but ask, “Little friend, wait. I want to know, your current cultivation should be enough, but why haven’t you certified your Emperor dao?”

This was also the biggest question he had wanted to ask Lin Xun.

“I don't think it's enough. I don’t feel like I have reached the limit of this stage yet…”

As these words drifted into his ears, Lin Xun had already disappeared.

Spirit Martial Battle Emperor sank into contemplation, and only after a long time did he sigh with emotions.

His cultivation is enough to let him cross the insurmountable gap to kill Emperor opponents, yet that…is still not enough?

A steel mind and willpower that allows him to demolish the Dao Forbidden Tract…are still not enough?

“This lad is truly a one-in-a-trillion demon!”

Spirit Martial Battle Emperor watched Lin Xun's figure blur into the horizon. Then, after some thought, he took out a message jade slip and sent out the news of Lin Xun’s defeating the big cauldron will force and destroying the Dao Forbidden Tract.

……

Outside Dark Hidden Purgatory.

The drunkard, Big Yellow, and Qing Ying all stared blankly after reading the latest update on Lin Xun. The room fell eerily silent.

After a long time, Big Yellow wailed as if its family had gone missing, “How could our lord’s record be broken by that kid? Can someone please tell me that this is not real?”

The dog’s face was plastered with a grim, grudging expression. It looked utterly devastated.

The drunkard and Qing Ying exchanged a glance and proceeded to ignore the yellow fellow who seemed to have lost its mind.

“I think the Lord will definitely give him his approval after this,” declared the drunkard.

“Is his approval needed when this is already the undeniable truth?” said Qing Ying with an excited heart that could not calm down.

The drunkard gave it a thought before deciding that his lord needed to be informed of this kind of sky-breaking, earth-shaking event as soon as possible.

However, he was stopped by a worried Big Yellow. “Are you crazy? The Lord is such a proud person. He will feel very uncomfortable if he finds out!”

“That kid is the Lord's junior brother. In my opinion, he would only be proud of him.” With that, the drunkard sent out the news.

“I’m finished! If our lord is upset, he will definitely take it out on me… This kind of thing has played out too often in the past,” wailed Big Yellow.

The drunkard man couldn't help but comment, “Don't worry, his lordship will definitely not stew you…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Big Yellow had bared its teeth and pounced at him with a growl.

……

“Three months. He broke all your records back then. He defeated that big cauldron and cleared your shame. If you were to see that junior brother of yours now, could you still act so cocky?”

Such was Xi’s remark after reading the news, her words like a knife.

Sitting opposite her, Zhong Qiu was silent.

Xi inserted another blade, “It’s understandable, though. Who wouldn’t be discomfited when all of their past records were broken? You don’t have to hold it in. Whatever is bugging you, might as well let me hear it.”

Zhong Qiu finally spoke, “You really want to?”

Xi nodded.

Zhong Qiu suddenly burst out laughing with great vigor. He laughed so hard that the area trembled, and the mountains shook…

Caught off guard, Xi was flabbergasted.

“This…is what I have to say,” said Zhong Qiu, who then laughed again, “Hahahahahahahahaha…”

His laughter was ever as proud as it could be.

However, this time it was his youngest junior brother that he was proud of.