Gaze and you will become stronger: starting from Doupo

Jiang Han ignored them and continued walking towards Jin Taijun. The rippled avenue stretched out beneath his feet, each step feeling like it was treading on everyone's hearts.

Jin Taijun lay slumped on the meteorite, watching Jiang Han draw ever closer, fear finally showing in her eyes. She wanted to beg for mercy, but found she didn't even have the strength to speak, and could only watch helplessly as Jiang Han's figure grew larger and larger in her eyes.

Beneath the sky, countless cultivators held their breath, awaiting the final outcome.

This battle not only concerns Jin Taijun's life and death, but also the future order of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. Everyone understands that when Jiang Han's blade falls, an old era will come to a complete end.

“Fellow Daoist Hongjun, that’s enough.” Wang Changsheng looked at the surging two-colored divine light around Jiang Han, his voice filled with undisguised exhaustion. “Jin Taijun is already injured, her primordial spirit is almost collapsing, and even her Dao foundation has cracked. You slapped her three times in front of everyone in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, ruining her million-year reputation. This punishment is enough.”

Zhao Haotian nodded in agreement, his gaze sweeping over Jin Taijun, who lay sprawled on the meteorite like a broken puppet in the distance. A complex expression crossed his brow: "Even if she has a thousand faults, she is still an old general who has guarded the Imperial Pass for millions of years. Now that the border demons are eyeing us covetously, we need capable people. Why must we drive them to extinction?"

The two remained side by side, their figures as upright as peaks, showing no intention of shifting. The aura of the Great Dao around them had subtly increased; Wang Changsheng's sleeves shimmered with sword light, while Zhao Haotian's fingertips were entwined with a faint spatial ripple—clearly, if Jiang Han insisted on making a move, they would not stand idly by.

Jiang Han stopped in his tracks, his once calm and unwavering eyes suddenly flashing with a chilling killing intent, like ice that had never melted. He spoke slowly, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth, carrying an unwavering resolve: "What if I insist on killing her?"

"boom!"

Before he finished speaking, the dual-colored divine light surrounding Jiang Han suddenly surged, the pale golden aura and the blue-green band of faith light intertwining to form a massive net of light that enveloped the entire desolate star field. Wherever the net of light passed, the void groaned under its unbearable weight, and the remaining fragments of stars were instantly crushed into dust as if gripped by an invisible giant hand.

Wang Changsheng and Zhao Haotian's expressions darkened simultaneously. They exchanged a glance, seeing the same determination in each other's eyes. They slowly inhaled, and the supreme blood energy within their bodies began to boil. A blurry phantom of a battle halberd appeared behind Wang Changsheng, while a scroll painting faintly appeared before Zhao Haotian.

“If Fellow Daoist Hongjun insists on this,” Wang Changsheng took a deep breath, his voice carrying a hint of helplessness, but even more so an undeniable firmness, “then we will have no choice but to join forces and have a friendly spar with you.”

"What? You guys want to fight three against one?!"

Just then, a cold snort, like a thunderclap from the heavens, resounded in the center of the battlefield, causing ripples to spread through the void. Meng Tianzheng's figure appeared beside Jiang Han like a ghost. He was clad in black armor, wielding the Heaven-Burning Blade, and surrounded by blazing golden flames. His sharp eyes were fixed on Wang Changsheng and Zhao Haotian, filled with undisguised anger.

"Meng Tianzheng!" Wang Changsheng and Zhao Haotian's expressions immediately turned grim, their brows instantly furrowing with seriousness.

They were not afraid of Jiang Han, but they dared not underestimate Meng Tianzheng. This guardian of the Imperial Pass had fought in over three thousand battles throughout his life, and the murderous aura he had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood was even more formidable than Jin Taijun's Immortal-Slaying Dao Aura. Back then, when the Seven Kings of the Borderlands were wronged, only Meng Tianzheng dared to slam his fist on the table in public and angrily denounce the Jin family for framing him. This courage and strength were enough to make any supreme being wary.

Now that Meng Tianzheng has clearly sided with Jiang Han, the situation has instantly reversed—the original two-on-one situation has become two-on-two. More importantly, Meng Tianzheng's Burning Heaven Blade is a true immortal artifact, its power even slightly inferior to Wang Changsheng's Xuanyuan Battle Halberd.

"This is my business." Jiang Han turned his head, glanced at Meng Tianzheng beside him, nodded slightly, and said in a tone that was completely calm. "Even if all three of them come at me together, I will not take them seriously."

Meng Tianzheng frowned slightly, stepped forward, and whispered, "Fellow Daoist Hongjun, you are unaware of this. Wang Changsheng and Zhao Haotian are different from Jin Taijun; they wield true immortal artifacts. Wang Changsheng's Xuanyuan Halberd was forged by the Wang family immortals during the Immortal Ancient Era using chaotic gold iron that fell in the borderlands. It once pierced through the Dao Fruits of three supreme beings from other realms with a single spear thrust. Zhao Haotian's Ten Realms Diagram is even more bizarre, capable of evolving ten small worlds to trap opponents within them. Back then, the Demon Lord from beyond the realm was trapped by this diagram for a hundred years before being killed by the allied forces..."

“I am not afraid.” Jiang Han raised his hand to interrupt him, his gaze returning to Wang Changsheng and Zhao Haotian, his tone carrying an air of domineering arrogance, “You can just stay aside and watch.”

Looking into Jiang Han's calm and unwavering eyes, Meng Tianzheng opened his mouth, but ultimately let out a sigh: "Fine, then I'll just watch from the sidelines." With that, he swayed and retreated to a huge meteorite in the distance, his Blazing Sky Blade planted diagonally at his feet, his gaze as sharp as a hawk's, locked onto the battlefield, ready to strike at any moment.

Beyond the desolate star field, countless cultivators across the nine heavens and ten earths were in an uproar as they watched the scene in the sky.

"What is this all about? Is Ancestor Hongjun going to take on the three supreme beings of the Imperial Pass all by himself?" Outside the Jin family's cave, the young cultivator carrying a giant sword exclaimed in shock, his hands gripping the hilt tightly until his knuckles turned white.

"Wang Changsheng and Zhao Haotian, have you no shame? You can't beat them, so you join forces? If you're so capable, why don't you fight Hongjun Ancestor one-on-one!" In the Stone Clan's ancestral land, a burly man covered in blue rocks roared and slammed his fist into the ground, causing the entire ancestral land to tremble slightly.

"Who cares how many they fight? Just the sheer audacity of Ancestor Hongjun is enough to resound throughout the Imperial Pass!" In a sect in the lower realm, an old man with white hair stroked his beard, gazing at Jiang Han's figure in the sky, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "In millions of years, no one has dared to challenge the Jin family like this, let alone simultaneously confront the supreme beings of the Wang and Zhao families!"

The discussions swept across the land like a tidal wave, filled with amazement, anger, and awe, but above all, an indescribable anticipation—everyone wanted to know just how powerful this seemingly out-of-the-world "Grandmaster Hongjun" really was.

"I'll fight you to the death!"

Just then, a shrill scream suddenly rang out from a corner of the battlefield. Jin Taijun, who had been on the verge of death, had somehow mustered her last bit of strength. On her battered face, only one bloodshot eye remained, staring intently at Jiang Han's back, her eyes flashing with a mad suicidal rage.

Her golden blood ignited once more, and this time, even her primordial spirit began to emit a faint flame. As it burned, her body strangely floated up, her tattered Taoist robe fluttering in the gale, like a wild beast on the verge of death.

"You're courting death." Jiang Han glanced at her indifferently, his eyes showing no emotion whatsoever.

But at that moment, Wang Changsheng awoke.

He clearly didn't want to give Jiang Han any chance to breathe. Having decided to make a move, he held nothing back. His eyes narrowed, and he began chanting incantations. An ancient and powerful aura erupted from his body—it was the Immortal Dao technique that had shaken the universe since the Immortal Ancient Era, the Calming Chaos Technique!

This technique, hailed as "one of the three strongest sword techniques in history," is said to have been created by the first sword immortal of the Immortal Era. Its purpose is "to pacify the chaotic world and slay demons," and each strike contains the Dao of destruction and rebirth, making its attack power unparalleled and invincible. As the "Pacifying Chaos Technique" was activated, a dazzling golden light suddenly shone between Wang Changsheng's brows. Immediately afterward, a sword embryo, about the length of a palm, slowly flew out. The sword embryo was entirely black, as if carved from the purest black jade. Its surface was devoid of any patterns, yet it exuded an indestructible and sharp aura. Amidst the specks of black light, it seemed capable of severing all laws of the world.

"A sword embryo of the primordial spirit!" Meng Tianzheng's pupils shrank, and he exclaimed in a low voice, "Wang Changsheng actually refined his primordial spirit into a sword embryo! This is the ultimate method for cultivating the primordial spirit!"

The Primordial Spirit Sword Embryo is a natal weapon forged over millions of years, nourished by one's own primordial spirit and supplemented with countless rare and precious materials. Once unleashed, it is equivalent to fighting with one's primordial spirit, possessing immense power but also extreme danger—if the sword embryo is destroyed, the primordial spirit will also shatter.

"Zheng!"

A clear, resonant sword cry echoed throughout the universe, as if countless sword cultivators were chanting scriptures simultaneously. The primordial spirit sword embryo circled in the air, then suddenly transformed into a jet-black streak of light, carrying a sharp whistling sound that tore through everything, and shot towards Jiang Han.

Wherever it passed, the heavens surged, chaos erupted, and countless tiny fragments of space flew like snowflakes. Destructive energy swept across the sky and the earth, and even the meteorite under Meng Tianzheng's feet in the distance developed dense cracks on its surface under the impact of this energy.

Jiang Han remained unfazed. He formed a mysterious hand seal with his right hand, and a pale golden aura and a blue-green band of faith light rapidly intertwined in his palm, instantly condensing into a two-colored Dao flower. The Dao flower slowly bloomed, its petals layered upon each other, each petal flowing with Dao runes, exuding an aura that was both domineering and gentle.

"clang--!"

A deafening metallic explosion resounded through the desolate star field, like thousands of giant bells tolling simultaneously. The two-colored Dao Flower and the Primordial Spirit Sword Embryo collided fiercely, the pitch-black sword light and the two-colored divine light intertwining and colliding, bursting forth with dazzling light.

Countless cultivators felt excruciating pain in their eardrums, and their spiritual energy surged uncontrollably within them. Those with weaker cultivation even coughed up blood. They saw that the indestructible primordial spirit sword embryo was actually blasted away by the impact of the two-colored Dao flower, and the dark light on the sword body dimmed by three-tenths.

Wang Changsheng's body trembled violently, his face paling instantly, and a barely perceptible trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. He clutched his chest, a deep look of astonishment in his eyes—when he had been watching the battle, he had only felt that Jiang Han's divine power was strange, but now, having fought him personally, he truly experienced the terrifying power of those two forces: the power of the Tremor was like a leech, almost shattering his primordial spirit through the resonance transmitted from the sword embryo; the power of faith, on the other hand, was gentle yet resilient, like millions of fine needles, constantly eroding the sharpness of his sword embryo.

"Die to me!"

Just then, Jin Taijun suddenly burst into a maniacal laugh, sharp and piercing, filled with smugness. Taking advantage of the moment when Jiang Han and Wang Changsheng were fighting, she had already silently circled around to Jiang Han's back, no more than ten feet away.

Between her hands, a divine spear formed entirely of golden flames had taken shape. The spear was about three zhang long, its tip gleaming with destructive light, and its body was wrapped with countless runes created from burning essence blood. The aura it emitted was even more terrifying than the previous "Star Pointing Finger"—this was a killing move she had condensed by burning the last 30% of her primordial spirit power, a desperate gamble, hoping only to pierce Jiang Han's body.

"Be careful!" Meng Tianzheng couldn't help but warn from a distance, the Burning Sky Blade in his hand already glowing with a blazing red light.

Jiang Han remained unmoved, seemingly completely unaware of the deadly threat behind him.

As the divine spear in Jin Taijun's hand was about to pierce Jiang Han's back, countless cultivators' hearts were in their throats, and some of the more timid ones had even closed their eyes.

But just as the divine spear was less than three feet away from Jiang Han, a sudden change occurred!
Another "Jiang Han" slowly emerged from Jiang Han's body!
This "Jiang Han" was exactly the same as the original, also dressed in a black robe, surrounded by a pale gold and blue-green divine light, and even the indifference in his eyes was identical. He was directly facing Jin Taijun, as if he had been standing there from the very beginning.

"An external body?!" Wang Changsheng and Zhao Haotian exclaimed in unison, their eyes filled with disbelief.

The ability to create an external body is a common supernatural power among those at the Supreme Realm, but an ordinary external body is merely formed from primordial energy, with power at most only thirty percent of the original body. However, this "Jiang Han" before them possessed an aura identical to the original, even down to the slightest difference in the flow of the two-colored divine light—this was no ordinary external body, but clearly another Jiang Han with full combat power!

Before Jin Taijun could react, the second "Jiang Han" had already stepped forward, and the two-colored Dao flower in his palm struck the divine spear first.

"Crack!"

With a crisp cracking sound, the divine spear that had gathered the last of Jin Taijun's primordial spirit power shattered inch by inch from the tip, like fragile glass. The golden flames quickly extinguished, turning into specks of sparks that dissipated into the void.

"No—!" Jin Taijun let out a desperate wail.

The second "Jiang Han" gave her no chance to breathe. He instantly closed in, his left hand reaching out like an iron clamp and grabbing Jin Taijun's neck. Jin Taijun felt an irresistible force coming at her, her divine power instantly imprisoned, and even her primordial spirit could not move. She could only be lifted high like a chick.

Immediately afterwards, the second "Jiang Han" raised his right hand, slapping it towards Jin Taijun's already battered and broken face with a whistling sound.

"Snapped!"

"Crack! Crack!"

"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

The crisp sound of slapping, like a dense drumbeat, resounded throughout the heavens and the earth.

Each slap carried a resonant force and the oppressive power of faith. Jin Taijun's head swayed from side to side like a rattle-drum, golden blood mixed with shattered bone fragments splattering everywhere. Her teeth, already knocked out by the previous blows, now only emitted mournful "hoarse" sounds. (End of Chapter)