Chapter 1281: The Frightening Wu Yuan (1)

"It's Wu Yuan.”

"I sensed that we were approaching him earlier; the heavy distortions in spacetime were unmistakable. Here he comes."

True Saint Mo Xiong and True Saint Kong Zhu watched with growing dread as Wu Yuan streaked toward them like a bolt of lightning. Panic flickered in their eyes.

In truth, neither of them were weak; both ranked among the top 300 of the True Saint Rankings. True Saint Mo Xiong was a Full True Saint. True Saint Kong Zhu, though slightly less powerful, excelled in physical defense and movement techniques, making him extraordinarily difficult to kill.

These strengths had fueled their courage to charge boldly into the fray. But things had not gone according to plan. They had intended to join the collective siege against Wu Yuan. Instead, they had encountered him first, alone and vulnerable.

To flee meant more than losing face; it meant surrendering all hope of claiming the Chaos Jade Crystal. For relatively weak True Saints like them, keeping up with the Crystal was essential. Once they fell behind, their chances evaporated completely.

"Let's fight with everything we have," Mo Xiong decided, resolution hardening his features.

Kong Zhu nodded. "Fighting for our lives is fighting against destiny itself. At worst, we die and await resurrection."

In that instant, their fighting spirits surged like twin infernos.

True Saints might possess great power, but they remained beings of emotion—they laughed in joy, raged in anger, and wept in sorrow like any mortal. What separated them was their unbreakable will. Once committed, they would hold their course until death itself.

Whoosh!

True Saint Mo Xiong swept his hand through the air, and nine massive arms manifested from his body, generating a vast swirling torrent. This massive vortex surged toward Wu Yuan.

"Divine Light," intoned True Saint Kong Zhu. Countless streams of brilliant light erupted around him, subtly warping spacetime. Over a thousand identical silhouettes blossomed from his form, making it impossible to distinguish the true body from the clones.

Wu Yuan assessed his opponents with cool calculation.

These two True Saints aren't worth my full strength.

After recognizing them, he didn't draw his Creation Heavenly Saber.

Yet Wu Yuan was far from careless. Over countless eons of cultivation, any True Saint could be hiding tremendous latent power, as True Saint Luo Quan had proven. Wu Yuan maintained his full defensive posture, channeling the maximum power of his Robe of Creation.

Chiaroscuro Domain.

The void trembled. Streams of black and white qi erupted with Wu Yuan at their center, spreading across hundreds of millions of li. These energies coalesced rapidly, forming a powerful domain that swept outward in all directions.

Wu Yuan hadn’t had time to further refine this domain secret technique. Among True Saints, its profoundness would normally be considered merely decent, far from the limit of the True Saint level. Yet now, empowered by the insights of his self-created Dao, its strength had multiplied exponentially. Like a mortal martial artist whose ordinary techniques become extraordinary when their physical power doubled, Wu Yuan's ether body’s domain was now elevated to new heights.

Using raw power to overcome technical limitations, Wu Yuan's Chiaroscuro Domain now approached the might of his Golden Lotus Domain, though with reduced range and less sophisticated transformations.

Rumble!

The intertwining streams of black and white qi collapsed the surrounding spacetime with a deafening roar. Like a colossal millstone of contrasting energies, the domain ground inexorably toward the two True Saints.

Boom!

The giant vortex unleashed by True Saint Mo Xiong, a small-scale domain technique, shattered instantly under the pressure. Mo Xiong staggered backward as if he were a mere mortal swept into a raging flood.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The myriad divine lights cast by True Saint Kong Zhu dissipated. His countless clones shattered in sequence, leaving only his vulnerable true body exposed.

"What?" gasped True Saint Mo Xiong, disbelief etched across his face.

"How can Wu Yuan's domain possess such power?" True Saint Kong Zhu's voice trembled. "It rivals True Saint Ming Jian's level!"

Throughout the boundless cosmic sea, the capabilities of powerful True Saints were exhaustively studied and documented. Wu Yuan's strengths were well-known: exceptional close combat skills, and formidable physical and soul defenses. His sealing techniques and domain arts were decent, but nothing approaching top-tier.

Yet here he was, sweeping aside two True Saints with a domain that could rank among the strongest cast by True Saints. Only Cloud Saint and True Saint Ming Jian were widely acknowledged to possess more powerful domains.

"Run!"

"Let's go!" Panic overwhelmed True Saint Mo Xiong and True Saint Kong Zhu. All courage to face Wu Yuan had evaporated.

Their intelligence had failed them catastrophically. How could Wu Yuan's strength have transformed so dramatically in mere thousands of years? It defied all logic.

Unfortunately, crushed beneath the weight of his domain and ensnared in countless streams of black and white qi, their movement slowed to a pitiful crawl, barely ten times the speed of light. Meanwhile Wu Yuan was hundreds of times faster.

Wu Yuan overtook them in a flash.

"Die," he said simply, his gaze cold. A flood of blade rays erupted from him without hesitation or mercy.

Ordinarily, when traversing the Tenth Chaos Void, Wu Yuan avoided needless bloodshed. Even when encountering Immortal Court powerhouses, he typically refrained from conflict. But now, a different imperative drove him: without slaughter, how could he establish the necessary fear to keep others at bay?

Bang! Bang! Bang!

In the lightning-fast exchanges that followed, True Saint Mo Xiong and True Saint Kong Zhu defended desperately, summoning every technique at their disposal.

Suppressed by Wu Yuan's overwhelming domain, their strength diminished sharply. Though Wu Yuan deliberately concealed his true capabilities, the might of his self-created Dao leaked through, making his attacks vastly more powerful than before.

After only a few dozen clashes, both True Saints perished completely, leaving only scattered treasures behind.

Full True Saint?

Wu Yuan mused, his fighting spirit boiling with an uncontrollable killing intent.

I can still slaughter them at will. I held back previously because I had yet to be truly invincible and needed to guard against other powerhouses.

Now, looking across the entire Tenth Chaos Void, which True Saint can stop me?

Without realizing it, Wu Yuan's mindset had shifted profoundly. Not long ago, he had planned to conceal his strength, only revealing his full power when the Chaos Nucleus emerged. But after effortlessly dispatching these two True Saints, he realized something: there was no longer any need to hide.

Let's fight!

His fighting spirit radiated like a newborn star.

The weak avoid battle, but the strong treat combat as tempering fire. I seek to create a Dao Zenithel ultimate technique, and combat is the best teacher. Even if I obtain the Chaos Nucleus, can it guarantee that my body refiner self will take the fourth step? Of course not.

Wu Yuan finally recognized his misplaced priorities.

Pursuing the Chaos Jade Crystals and Chaos Nucleus is merely a means to raise my strength.

Seizing these treasures might empower him, but battle would forge him.

Cloud Saint? True Saint Luo Quan?

Wu Yuan turned suddenly, his senses detecting those two powerful figures rapidly approaching, their auras pulsing with immense power.

I'll use you to temper my Dao!

With a thunderous boom, Wu Yuan soared upward, charging directly toward Cloud Saint's position.

...

Wu Yuan's effortless slaughter of True Saint Mo Xiong and True Saint Kong Zhu sent waves of fear through the approaching True Saints. Even the countless observers watching from the voidrealm stood stunned and silent.

"When did his domain become so formidable?"

"Did he make a breakthrough in his self-created Dao? Or cultivate some new secret art?"

"It's unclear. The power of his saber techniques has increased, but not as dramatically as his domain."

The True Saint community buzzed with speculation. Wu Yuan had already been terrifying before, his attacks devastatingly strong, and his defenses nearly impenetrable. But now with his domain reaching such levels? He seemed to have no weaknesses.

"Forget it," muttered one True Saint who had been rushing toward the conflict.

"We can't compete," agreed another.

"Let's not throw away our lives," suggested a third as many of the previously frenzied True Saints sobered, growing hesitant and contemplating retreat.

They had charged forward earlier, believing they had a chance to seize the treasure without risking their lives. But the deaths of Mo Xiong and Kong Zhu had revealed Wu Yuan's merciless resolve.

If they besieged him recklessly, they might force him to surrender the Chaos Jade Crystal. But at what cost? How many would fall in the attempt? And those who died would inevitably be the weaker ones like them.

Within moments, numerous True Saints withdrew from the pursuit. Still, more than half continued their advance, surging toward Wu Yuan like an unstoppable tidal wave.

...

"True Saint Wu Yuan's strength has risen again?"

"Amazing! Haha!"

"The number one genius since the Primordium!"

"True Saint Wu Yuan has likely taken the fourth step!" The Eldritch Court True Saints could barely contain their excitement, many howling with delight at this development.

...

Yet the True Saints participating in the battle maintained their composure.

"Has True Saint Wu Yuan taken the fourth step?"

"It's possible.”

"In any case, his strength has grown considerably, making it far more difficult to snatch the Chaos Jade Crystal from him." More than ten True Saints, all ranked among the top hundred, communicated silently with one another.

He didn't flee? He's taking the initiative to charge toward me?

Cloud Saint frowned slightly, troubled by this unexpected development.

This Wu Yuan is truly mad. However, the more reckless one is, the quicker they fall.

Cloud Saint instinctively doubted that Wu Yuan had achieved a breakthrough. His cultivation period was too short.

The transition from True Saint to Dao Zenithel represented a fundamental transformation in the order of life itself. Throughout the ages, countless prodigies, those who stepped into eternity through their own power, and Legends of the River had all remained trapped at this threshold.

In Cloud Saint's estimation, Wu Yuan had only recently reached the limit of the True Saint stage. Even as a Dao Master, surely he would still need treasures like the Chaos Jade Crystal and Chaos Nucleus to achieve such a rapid breakthrough?

He's charging toward Cloud Saint?

True Saint Luo Quan remained unruffled.

Very well. Whether he's broken through or not, a conflict between us is inevitable.

He transmitted a message: "Little Yu, prepare to make your move."

"Yes, Dear," came the immediate response.

...

Wu Yuan charged forward relentlessly, refusing to retreat. His vast Chiaroscuro Domain swept in all directions, shattering warped spacetime and suppressing numerous True Saints caught in its range. Nothing could impede his advance.

For weaker True Saints who crossed his path, Wu Yuan struck without hesitation. Those too distant to immediately threaten him, he ignored.

"We cannot stop him.”

"True Saint Wu Yuan's domain is too powerful. We have no means to surround and attack him.” The True Saints lamented.

This was the strength of domain techniques—they granted absolute control over the battlefield, creating an overwhelming advantage for their caster.

This same advantage had caused many True Saints to abandon their pursuit during the first Chaos Jade Crystal incident, when Wu Yuan's mana body had revealed its strength. The domain's superiority simply couldn't be countered.

And now, Wu Yuan's ether body alone nearly possessed the combat power of his previous mana and ether bodies combined, perhaps even exceeding it.

In mere moments, Wu Yuan had charged past dozens of True Saints, drawing closer to Cloud Saint.

Hmm?

Wu Yuan narrowed his eyes at a figure maintaining remarkable speed despite the suppression of his domain.

To move so swiftly within my domain...It must be True Saint Chen Xing.

He immediately recognized the figure in star-patterned robes wielding an ornate battle spear. Despite ranking 54th on the True Saint Rankings, True Saint Chen Xing had dared to attack alone, suggesting he possessed formidable trump cards.

“Fellow Daoist Wu Yuan, stop!” The commanding voice of True Saint Chen Xing thundered across the void. His form was immense and resembled a colossal star. Countless arms formed of concentrated starlight extended from his radiant body, each gripping a gleaming battle spear.

As a naturally-born eternal lifeform, True Saint Chen Xing possessed a far tougher physique compared to ordinary beings. His form, now encased in battle armor, presented a nearly impenetrable defense. While he harbored no illusions about defeating Wu Yuan outright, he believed he could at least impede his advance without risking his life.

"Starlight!" he roared.

With fluid precision, he hurled three silver battle spears toward his opponent. The weapons sliced through the void, shattering spacetime. Each spear multiplied into countless spear lights, all converging on Wu Yuan.

Wu Yuan responded without hesitation. The Xiantian Instrument saber vanished from his grasp, replaced by the Creation Heavenly Saber. All restraints abandoned, his nine arms moved in harmony, channeling the complete might of his fully mastered Eternal Matter Body and the boundless ether flowing through his Eternal Psyche.

The air trembled as he struck. Nine dazzling blade rays erupted from his weapon, so brilliant they eclipsed all other light in the infinite void. Where his saber passed, spacetime itself seemed to dissolve into nothingness.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The collision reverberated through the void. Wu Yuan's nine blade rays, like storms of concentrated destruction rending the universe, crashed against True Saint Chen Xing's spears with overwhelming force. The impact unleashed a heart-stopping shockwave that rippled through spacetime.

This power...!

True Saint Chen Xing's eyes widened in horrified realization as the force engulfed him.

His arms of starlight shattered like glass, the three battle spears torn from his grip and scattered to the void. Lingering blade rays slashed across his massive form, sending him hurtling backward as his vital aura plummeted. The exchange had been utterly one-sided.

Meanwhile, Wu Yuan stood unmoved—a million-li tall figure resembling a primeval war god, his saber poised.