Thunder Sword Realm—the Thunder Sword itself had become a realm.
Boom!
The sword struck like a bolt of thunderous light. Though only a single strike, the resonating roar made it seem as if the blade carried the weight of an entire world, its awe-inspiring might as profound as the abyss.
Before Han Yi swung his sword, Silver Lake Immortal City had already activated its Sixth-Rank Immortal Formation. But beyond the formation, nearly a hundred Demon Immortals, all colossal apes whose forms shook heaven and earth, stood poised to strike. These were no ordinary Demon Immortals; each was at least a Profound Immortal-class cultivator, and nearly twenty percent had reached the peak of the Profound Immortal Realm.
At the forefront stood three Peak Profound Immortal-level Ape Immortals, clutching Demon Race Talismans that suppressed the Immortal Formation, severing its supply of Immortal Energy. They waited only for the final layer of Immortal Light to shatter before leveling the defiant Immortal City and slaughtering all the human cultivators within.
Just as they were about to breach the formation's last defense and storm the city, a thunderous explosion erupted behind them. They whirled around, their copper bell-like eyes reflecting a lightning-swift streak of light, faster than any sword strike.
No.
That wasn't thunder; it was sword light.
The outermost Profound Immortal Demonic Apes barely had time to grasp this thought before the sword light engulfed them. Unleashing overwhelming destructive power, it effortlessly melted their vaunted Demon Bodies into nothingness.
The sword light swept through without slowing, its speed undiminished.
A Peak Profound Immortal Ape Immortal reacted in a split second, roaring furiously as he thrust his massive golden hammer forward to block the oncoming Sword Light.
Given more time, the Ape Immortal would never have chosen to use his hammer as a shield. Instead, he would have unleashed a devastating blow, crushing everything with his Demonic Power. But the Thunder Sword Light arrived with such overwhelming speed and ferocity that he had no other option.
However...
If his Fourth-Tier Immortal Artifact, the Violet-Gold Heavy Hammer, could just withstand this single strike—buying him even a fraction of a moment's reprieve—he could deploy other techniques to neutralize or even repel the relentless Sword Light.
But in the next instant, he witnessed a horrifying sight: his Fifth-Rank Violet-Gold Heavy Hammer was utterly shattered by the Sword Light, splintering into countless fragments of Immortal Artifact.
"Damn it..."
Before the thought could fully form, and before the fragments could even scatter, a black Sword Light erupted from the destroyed hammer, radiating boundless destruction as it pierced through the Peak Profound Immortal-Class Ape Immortal.
The tide of destruction surged forward with unstoppable force, obliterating everything in its path. Its speed defied comprehension; even ordinary Golden Immortals would have struggled to react.
The truth was, this single sword strike was simply too fast, too ferocious, and too powerful.
Within half a breath, the thunderous sword light that had illuminated the world gradually dissipated.
At that moment, not only did Sound Sage Profound Immortal halt in her tracks, but Xuan Cheng, who had been pursuing her, also stopped. Even the Ape Immortals besieging Silver Lake Immortal City froze mid-assault, as did the Immortals within the Immortal Formation, who had been poised to escape and clash with the Demon Immortals the moment the formation shattered.
Every eye turned to the figure wielding the black sword light, their breaths deliberately slowing, some even holding their breath entirely.
"Fellow Daoist Han..."
"Such power... such power..."
Sound Sage Profound Immortal gazed at Han Yi's surprisingly unimposing figure, her voice distorted and ethereal. With a single glance, she assessed his combat prowess: ordinary Golden Immortal Realm, yet among the very strongest in that realm.
This single sword strike had claimed the lives of thirteen Profound Immortals, including three Peak Profound Immortals.
The sword's terror was unparalleled.
Such power surpassed even her own by a significant margin. It was impossible for someone ranked fifty-seventh on the Profound Immortal Ranking to wield such force—this was power befitting the top ten.
Behind the Sound Sage Profound Immortal, Xuan Cheng's eyes flashed with an eerie light. He had positioned himself behind Han Yi, intending to seize the opportunity to probe Han Yi's Ancient God secrets using an Ancient Demon Secret Technique. However, Han Yi's sword strike was not rooted in the Ancient God System but was pure Immortal Art.
In Xuan Cheng's eyes, Han Yi's Sword Dao Immortal Art had already reached the fifth tier. Although he hadn't faced the strike directly, Xuan Cheng instinctively felt that if he had, he would have needed to deploy his most desperate trump cards to withstand it.
"Just as I suspected," Xuan Cheng thought. "Han Yi must be an ancient figure from the Primordial or even Primordial Era who has lived a second life, possibly an Ancient God from the Immeasurable Realm or even the Primordial Ancestor Realm."
This explained how Han Yi had risen from a Qi Refining Realm cultivator to a Veteran Profound Immortal in just a few centuries, and why his combat prowess rivaled that of a Senior Golden Immortal.
Drawing parallels from his own experiences, Xuan Cheng's conviction deepened.
At the opposite end of the swath of destruction unleashed by Han Yi's sword strike, over eighty Demon Immortals radiating intense demonic auras had largely lost their composure. Han Yi's single strike had sent a chill through their bones, nearly freezing them in terror.
However, seven Demon Immortals, their faces alight with excitement, turned from the edge of the Sixth-Rank Immortal Formation and lunged toward Han Yi.
"It's Han Yi, ranked fifty-seventh on the Profound Immortal Ranking!"
"A golden opportunity! Kill him!"
"Kill him, and I'll finally make it onto the Profound Demon Ranking! My Eastern Sacred Ape Clan will gain the Monster Court's favor!"
"Get out of my way! He's mine!"
"Hmph! Kill!"
These seven Ape Demons were all Peak Profound Immortal-Class experts, core members of the Demonic Ape Clan, and destined for greatness.
Their sudden assault on Han Yi stemmed from their recognition of his identity.
The Sui Zhu Immortal Court's three Immortal Rankings were widely known throughout the Great Luo Immortal Realm. While Han Yi's ascent to the True Immortal and Profound Immortal Rankings might draw only passing interest from Golden Immortals and Immortal Monarchs, to Profound Immortals, his achievements were nothing short of legendary.
Other Immortal Court factions, including the Eastern Sovereign Demon Court, maintained similar rankings.
The Eastern Sovereign Demon Court possessed a prized treasure: the Ten Thousand Demons Pagoda. Unlike the Void Tower, its training mechanisms were unique, but it served the same purpose for the Demon Court—a crucible for advancement.
Within the Ten Thousand Demons Pagoda were three ranking lists: the True Demon Ranking, the Profound Demon Ranking, and the Celestial Demon Ranking. These lists corresponded to the True Immortal Ranking, Profound Immortal Ranking, and Golden Immortal Ranking of the Void Tower, respectively.
The Demon Race revered combat prowess, measuring it by battle achievements. Killing Han Yi would grant them a place on the Profound Demon Ranking, a chance to make their names known throughout the Monster Court—a single step to soaring glory.
It was akin to ascending to heaven in a single bound.
As for failure?
Those who dwell on defeat before victory could never become Profound Immortals.
The path to growth for the Demon Race lay in their bloodlines—a path paved with slaughter.
After the sudden surge of seven Peak Ape Demons, the Immortals of the Spirit Origin Dao Field within Silver Lake Immortal City, shielded by a formidable Immortal Formation, watched in exhilaration as Han Yi shattered thirteen Demon Immortals with a single sword strike. Their cheers erupted in a deafening roar.
Above the Immortal City, most veteran True Immortals and Profound Immortals instantly recognized Han Yi's identity from his appearance. Some were affiliated with the Immortal Court, while others belonged solely to the Spirit Origin Dao Field. They had fortified Silver Lake as their stronghold, awaiting reinforcements from the Immortal Court.
Now, with Han Yi leading the charge and Sound Sage and Xuan Cheng following close behind, they knew their perseverance had been justified. The reinforcements from the Sui Zhu Immortal Court had finally arrived.
As the seven Peak Profound Immortal Ape Demons, their demonic auras surging to the heavens, charged toward Han Yi, the onlookers paled and gasped in alarm. However, trapped within the Immortal Formation, which had been reinforced by Demon Race talismans, they couldn't dismantle it, nor dared they risk attempting to do so.
Under the intense scrutiny of the crowd, Han Yi gripped the Burial Path Dragon God Sword and exhaled softly. With that breath, all extraneous thoughts momentarily vanished from his mind.
His eyes shimmered with divine light, no longer the familiar dual silver-fire hues, but a single, resplendent crimson gold.
Having broken through to the Supreme Truth Realm as an Ancient God, Han Yi found the Ancient Flame Moon God's Nine Transformations increasingly inadequate for his strategic needs. He began shifting his focus to the Ten Thousand Realms Fate Unification Divine Canon.
This Divine Canon was divided into four Ancient God tiers: Knowing Destiny, Fortune Cultivation, Realm Unification, and Myriad Paths. According to Ancient God Yang, the Canon's founder, each tier could theoretically unlock nine Divine Arts. Knowing Destiny corresponded to Ancient Gods in the Primordial and Supreme Truth Realms.
Only by reaching the peak of the Supreme Truth Realm could one access Fortune Cultivation.
Han Yi was currently at the initial stage of the Supreme Truth Realm. The Divine Arts he had comprehended from the Ten Thousand Realms Fate Unification Divine Canon were already present in the Inheritance bestowed upon him by Ancient God Yang. However, he had devoted relatively little time to studying the Canon, so he had only mastered six Divine Arts thus far.
The dazzling golden light in his eyes was one such Divine Art—a pupil technique.
This pupil technique far surpassed the Silverfire Dual Pupils from the Ancient Flame Moon God's Nine Transformations. It could not only pierce through illusions to perceive reality but also trace the threads of causality within its divine radiance, revealing flaws and vulnerabilities in Fate itself—the very roots of mortality.
This Divine Art was named the Golden Pupils of the Dao of Fate.
To deduce Fate through the Dao, to fathom destiny through the Dao.
Under the gaze of his golden pupils, the aura of the seven Ape Demons charging toward him stirred no emotion within him. Though formidable, these demons were merely at the Peak Profound Immortal stage, at best reaching the limits of that realm. They might barely survive an encounter with an ordinary Golden Immortal, placing them around the hundredth position on the Profound Immortal Ranking in the Void Tower—hovering between making the list and being left out.
Han Yi glanced briefly at the advancing Ape Demons before following the mystical guidance of his golden pupils, tilting his head to gaze into the high heavens.
The first to react was the Sound Sage Profound Immortal, who had arrived right after Han Yi. Ranked sixth on the Profound Immortal Ranking, she had personally slain ordinary Golden Immortals and was the strongest Immortal present, aside from Han Yi himself.
She abruptly looked up, unleashing an invisible wave of energy that instantly returned feedback. Three Demon Immortals were hovering in the sky, a hundred thousand zhang (three hundred thousand feet) above.
The central figure among these Demon Immortals made the Sound Sage Profound Immortal's expression darken.
"Yuan Jingtian."
"How could it be him?"
Before she could finish speaking, Han Yi, at the heart of the battlefield, had already withdrawn his gaze, his expression slightly grave.
If the Sound Sage recognized the three Demon Immortals high above, Han Yi certainly did as well.
Of the three Demon Immortals, only the central figure was an Ape Demon. While the two flanking him were also Demon Immortals, they were not of the ape lineage.
The Ape Demon being flanked stood only three zhang (ten feet) tall, his demonic aura subdued and his appearance unremarkable. He might not have stood out among the Demon Race, but his status within their hierarchy was far from ordinary.
This Ape Demon, named Yuan Jingtian, was a direct descendant of the Great Sage Demonic Ape and deeply favored by him. Ranked second on the Eastern Sovereign Demon Court's Profound Demon Ranking, he possessed terrifying power, having once slain a veteran Golden Immortal while only at the Peak Profound Immortal Realm.
Faced with such a glorious record, his status as the Great Sage's descendant seemed almost secondary.
"Yuan Jingtian," Han Yi thought to himself, his gaze deepening with surging battle intent.
He watched the seven Peak Profound Immortals rushing toward him. With a wave of his hand, his Fifth-Rank Burial Path Dragon God Sword trembled slightly, and nine more Immortal Swords materialized—three Fourth-Rank and six Third-Tier. Vast Sword Intent surged from the blades, intertwining to instantly form a Sword Realm.
This Ten-Sword Sword Realm, encompassing Third-Tier, Fourth-Rank, and Fifth-Rank Immortal Swords, enveloped the seven Ape Demons in an instant. A violent tide of sword light rolled over them, accompanied by explosive blasts, furious roars, and piercing screams that abruptly faded into the silent void of Gui Xu.
"Good."
A voice descended from the heavens, followed even faster by an Ape Immortal draped in a black cloak. Two figures, like loyal guards, trailed closely behind as they landed.
"The Sui Zhu Immortal Court has truly not disappointed by producing a Profound Immortal of your caliber."
"I was originally waiting for Murong Wuxiang to appear, but instead, I found you."
"Killing you on this trip wouldn't be a complete waste after all."
Yuan Jingtian showed no concern for the deaths of his fellow Ape Demons. His black eyes, fixed on Han Yi, finally flickered with a hint of emotion—the interest of a seasoned hunter who had finally discovered prey worthy of his attention.
His words remained arrogantly confident, as if certain he could crush Han Yi beneath his palm with a single strike.
However, those familiar with Yuan Jingtian, the rising star of the Demon Race, would find nothing surprising in his arrogance.
Yuan Jingtian hadn't always been known by that name. His original name had long been forgotten. Before his rise to prominence, he was just another unremarkable Ape Demon.
Though a direct descendant of the Demonic Ape Clan and the Great Sage Demonic Ape himself—whose direct descendants numbered over a million by the second generation alone—Yuan Jingtian's diluted bloodline left him with unremarkable innate talent. According to the Demon Race's traditional hierarchy, his death at the hands of even a lower-ranked demon would have caused barely a ripple.
But fifteen hundred years ago, after ascending to the Golden Core Stage as a Demon Cultivator, Yuan Jingtian began to reveal his true potential. His meteoric rise saw him exterminate the demon clans that had once oppressed him, leaving all who witnessed it in awe.
From the Golden Core Stage onward, Yuan Jingtian advanced with unstoppable momentum, his combat prowess ferocious and unparalleled. Even as a Demigod, he defied expectations by defeating a Demon Immortal in battle, earning widespread renown.
After surviving the Immortal Tribulation and achieving the True Demon physique, he discarded his original name entirely, renaming himself "Heaven-Shaking."
Becoming a Demon Immortal did not slow his frenzied progress; instead, he grew even more relentless. Within three hundred years, he reached the Profound Immortal Realm, and within six hundred, he ascended to its peak, wielding combat strength rivaling that of a Senior Golden Immortal.
Rumor had it that he could ascend to the Golden Immortal Realm at any moment, but he deliberately suppressed his cultivation to pursue a mysterious opportunity accessible only to those in the Profound Immortal Realm.
Moreover, statistics revealed an astonishing truth: since the Golden Core Stage, every public confrontation involving Yuan Jingtian had ended in his opponent's death. To this day, he remained undefeated—a flawless record.
Thus, when Yuan Jingtian descended from the sky, stood before Han Yi, and declared that killing Han Yi would be a worthwhile achievement, the entire arena fell into a deathly silence.
Behind Yuan Jingtian, the Profound Immortals of the Demonic Ape Clan bowed their heads slightly in reverence, a flicker of fear in their eyes.
Further back, behind the Immortal Formation that had barely stabilized after the recent turmoil, the Immortals of Silver Lake Immortal City were gripped by despair. Having resolved to defend their city, they had learned from Immortals fleeing other fallen cities that even a Sixth-Rank Immortal Formation was no match for this ferocious ape of the Demon Race.
Behind Han Yi, Yin Sheng's expression changed drastically. After a moment's hesitation, she stepped forward resolutely instead of retreating. Behind her, a nine-colored screen materialized—a Fifth-Rank Immortal Artifact she reserved as her last resort, only to be used in life-or-death situations. Activating it now signaled her conviction that they faced mortal peril.
Daoist Xuan Cheng, also behind Han Yi, remained motionless. His gaze shifted from Yuan Jingtian to Han Yi, burning with intense fervor.