Chapter 257: Chapter 257: Attaining the Dao via Corpse Liberation

The more Xu Yunfan watched, the more alarmed he became. The young man on the high platform was untouched by the surrounding dust, yet he shimmered with a radiant glow.

It was as if...

"He’s breaking out of his cocoon and becoming a butterfly..."

Su Zhenhe exclaimed, a mix of excitement and terror in his voice, "He seems to be releasing his mortal coil to become an Immortal! This is his place of ascension!"

Below, Zhou Tianyan and his group had stopped, their expressions grave as they stared up at the white jade platform, hesitant to advance.

Zhou Tianyan was clad in the Red Flame Pattern Robe of the Jiuyao Sect, the Blazing Fire Saber hanging at his waist. The blade faintly glowed with a dark red, fiery light, clearly poised to strike.

The disciples beside him were also on high alert, their gazes constantly shifting between the man on the platform and their surroundings, clearly wary of the scene before them.

Just then, Zhou Tianyan noticed Xu Yunfan and his companion arrive. His gaze swept over them, pausing on Su Zhenhe before he let out a cold laugh. "And here I was wondering who it was. If it isn’t Fellow Daoist Su of the Profound Daoist Sect. What, has your Profound Daoist Sect come to get a piece of the pie too?"

Su Zhenhe glanced quickly at Xu Yunfan. Seeing that Xu Yunfan remained silent, he stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said with a calm expression, "Senior Brother Zhou, you jest. The opportunities in a Secret Realm belong to the fated. How can we speak of dividing a pie?"

Zhou Tianyan naturally noticed Su Zhenhe’s glance but paid it little mind. He sneered, "With the paltry foundation of your Profound Daoist Sect, you think you’re worthy of speaking about ’fate’? Two thousand years ago, your people died under mysterious circumstances, and now you dare to return and throw your lives away?"

A cold glint flashed in Su Zhenhe’s eyes, but his tone remained placid. "Senior Brother Zhou, you are mistaken. The truth of what happened back then is still unknown. Did the Jiuyao Sect not also lose many masters? That supposed once-in-a-millennium genius of yours fell in there as well, did he not?"

Zhou Tianyan’s expression darkened. Just as he was about to retort, Xu Yunfan suddenly spoke up, "Do any of you recognize the person on the platform?"

Only then did Zhou Tianyan turn his gaze to Xu Yunfan, looking him up and down. When he saw the Dragon Scale Armor Xu Yunfan wore, he noticed the armor pulsing in time with Xu Yunfan’s breathing. A strange light flickered in his eyes. With his level of discernment, how could he not tell? Only living armor would display such a phenomenon.

Living armor was, by its very nature, a type of Divine Weapon.

Moreover, not even his Jiuyao Sect possessed such a suit of full-body armor.

’If I could obtain this Divine Weapon Armor,’ he thought after quickly confirming in his mind that this man was not from any of the Six Great Sects, ’my power would leap several tiers within this Secret Realm.’

Currently, only those at the Outer Three Harmonies realm could enter this Secret Realm. Even if one had a fortuitous breakthrough recently, they would be in the Flesh Refining Realm at most.

He, Zhou Tianyan, was a peerless genius who had already reached the Flesh Refining Realm. He naturally had no reason to fear these two.

"Who are you? What gives you the right to ask about the affairs of my Jiuyao Sect?"

Xu Yunfan was unfazed, merely looking at them indifferently.

"...Aren’t you going to go up and take a look?"

Seeing Xu Yunfan ignore his question and instead ask one of his own, the mockery in Zhou Tianyan’s eyes deepened. He sneered, "What, you don’t even have the courage to state your name and sect? And you dare put on airs before me?"

The Blazing Fire Saber in his hand trembled slightly, crimson Saber Qi coursing along its edge, clearly ready to be unleashed.

Xu Yunfan’s gaze was calm but held a trace of impatience. Still, he maintained a polite facade. ’After all,’ he thought, ’if I misjudge the situation and rush in only to suffer a humiliating defeat, that would be beyond embarrassing.’

He asked politely, "May I ask what your current realm is?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Tianyan glanced again at Su Zhenhe, who stood to the side. ’Su Zhenhe must be the one in charge here,’ he concluded. ’So that’s how it is...’

A smirk appeared on his face. He lifted his head proudly as his qi and blood surged. His robes billowed without a wind, and a sharp aura erupted from him. "Great Success in the Flesh Refining Realm, just one step away from Blood Exchange! Well? Scared now?"

The Jiuyao Sect disciples beside him also sneered, clearly believing Xu Yunfan was just asking to be humiliated.

"The Flesh Refining Realm..."

Xu Yunfan repeated the words under his breath. His expression finally relaxed, and a flicker of relief crossed his eyes. ’If that’s all it is, then this will be simple.’

Beside him, Su Zhenhe had already taken several silent steps back.

’I still can’t see through Xu Yunfan,’ he thought. ’But one thing is certain: he likes to overwhelm his opponents with sheer power and never puts himself at a disadvantage.’

Before his words had even faded, Xu Yunfan’s figure erupted forward!

BOOM!

The leaves of the Dragon Scale Armor pulsed, releasing a searing blast of air. Like a streak of fire, Xu Yunfan instantly closed the distance and appeared before Zhou Tianyan.

Zhou Tianyan’s pupils shrank. He hastily brought his saber up to block, but Xu Yunfan’s strike carried the might of a Thousand Jin Power. The Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace, wrapped in ferocious Strength, smashed down violently on the Red Fire Saber!

CLANG!

The sound of metal striking metal echoed through the grand hall. Zhou Tianyan felt an irresistible, immense force slam into him. The webbing between his thumb and forefinger split open instantly, and the Red Fire Saber was nearly torn from his grasp!

His Red Fire Saber was no weaker than the Nine-Burning Saber that had opened the hall doors, and it even surpassed it in its ’Zhen’ aspect, which could dissipate the force of an enemy’s attack. But even so, he still found it impossible to withstand the blow.

Zhou Tianyan staggered back several steps, his eyes filled with disbelief. "You...!"

Xu Yunfan gave him no chance to catch his breath. His figure blurred like a phantom and closed in again. The Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace swept out, the Golden Marrow sloshing within it as Powerful Qi surged from his palm. The crimson flames on the mace flared, resembling a fiery dragon roaring as it lunged for a bite!

Zhou Tianyan gritted his teeth and swung his saber to meet the attack, but Xu Yunfan’s assault was too ferocious. Each blow contained the might of a Thousand Jin Power, sending his qi and blood into turmoil and making his arm go numb.

He was utterly horrified. ’This level of power... I’ve only ever felt it from a Grandmaster at the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm—from my own master.’

Xu Yunfan remained expressionless. ’Even though he has a Divine Weapon, he’s just too weak,’ he thought. ’If I had used my full strength just now, holding nothing back, a single strike from the Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace would have pounded him into a charred corpse.’

BAM! BAM! BAM!

After three consecutive strikes from the heavy mace, Zhou Tianyan could finally hold on no longer. His Red Fire Saber was sent flying, and he was thrown backward, crashing heavily against a palace pillar as a trickle of blood escaped his lips.

He was a mix of fury and astonishment, a sliver of fear creeping into his heart. He instinctively touched the Treasure Armor on his chest. ’If not for this armor,’ he realized, ’the force of that last strike would have been enough to tear my body in two.’

"Impossible! That’s absolutely impossible!"

His master had calculated it perfectly: only Martial Artists whose Martial Arts Realm was at the level of the Outer Three Harmonies could enter this Little Heaven and Earth Secret Realm!

Zhou Tianyan whipped his head around to his disciples, who were still standing there stunned, and roared, "What are you gawking at? Get him!"

The Jiuyao Sect disciples finally snapped out of their daze, drawing their sabers and swarming forward to attack.

However, Xu Yunfan just gave a cold laugh. The leaves of his Dragon Scale Armor suddenly flared out as Pure Yang Inner Breath surged forth with his Strength, forming a Qi Armor around his body that deflected all the incoming Saber Qi.

His figure flashed, like a tiger pouncing on a flock of sheep. The Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace swept and chopped, each blow landing precisely on the weak point of an opponent’s weapon. In just a few breaths’ time, the Jiuyao Sect disciples were all disarmed, crying out in pain as they collapsed to the ground.

Xu Yunfan didn’t hesitate for a moment. ’I have to spare their lives,’ he thought, ’but I can’t let them get away completely unscathed.’