I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

Qin Yuan swung his bone blade, severing Iron Hand's head. He hung the head on the flagpole; Iron Hand's eyes were still open, and his mouth was still agape. Qin Yuan turned and left.

The allied forces, numbering five hundred, suffered heavy casualties, their leader killed, and their morale utterly collapsed. The remaining cultivators scrambled to escape, trampling and killing countless others. Qin Yuan showed them no mercy. He pursued them for a hundred miles, his bone blade slaying over a hundred men. The fleeing cultivators cried out for their parents, some even kneeling and begging for mercy, but Qin Yuan killed them all without hesitation. He didn't stop, he didn't look back, he only killed.

The news spread to all the major sects, shocking the entire realm. The name "Bone Blade Qin Yuan" resounded throughout the Chaotic Origin Realm overnight. Some cultivators called him "the number one person below the Origin Emperor." Qin Yuan remained expressionless upon hearing this title. He returned to the mine and continued mining Origin Crystals. No one dared to disturb him. He unearthed a top-grade Origin Crystal, the size of a fist, completely transparent, with golden light flowing within. Holding it in his hand, he felt an immense power.

The three sects, angered by the defeat of the allied forces, simultaneously launched an attack on Qin Yuan. Their combined strength of eight hundred men was unmatched below the Origin Emperor realm. Qin Yuan took the initiative, attacking the nearest sect first. He stormed into the sect's gates, his bone blade sweeping across, disciples falling like wheat. The sect leader was convening a meeting of elders in the council hall when Qin Yuan burst in, his bone blade piercing the sect leader's heart. The sect leader slid off his chair, blood splattering everywhere.

The second group fled upon hearing the news. Qin Yuan pursued them, fighting his way from the foot of the mountain to its summit. He cleaved the stone tablet at the mountain gate in two with a single stroke, and split the plaque in the main hall in half. The sect leader knelt before the ancestral statue, begging for mercy, but Qin Yuan's bone blade pierced the back of his head. Not a single one was spared.

The Third Sect assembled its full strength and deployed its forces in front of the mountain gate. The formation was layered upon layered, shields like mountains, spears like a forest. Qin Yuan charged into the formation alone. His bone blade transformed into a long whip, sweeping away dozens of people with a single strike. Shields shattered, spears broke, and people were sent flying, crashing into the mountain gate, causing it to collapse. The Third Sect Master tried to escape, fleeing through a secret passage in the back mountain. Qin Yuan's bone blade flew out, slipping from his hand, spinning as it passed through the passage, piercing the Sect Master's back. The Sect Master lay prone in the passage, his fingers still crawling forward, advancing three feet before stopping.

Qin Yuan stood atop the ruins of the Third Sect's mountain gate, holding three sect leaders' heads in his hands. The blood from the heads was still wet, dripping onto the ground. The cultivators watching from afar retreated hastily. No one dared approach.

News of the three sects' destruction spread throughout the Chaos Origin Realm, and no one dared to challenge Qin Yuan anymore. Within a hundred miles of his mine, not a single cultivator dared to approach. Qin Yuan's title was officially established as "Bone Blade Origin Emperor"—although he wasn't yet an Origin Emperor, everyone believed he possessed Origin Emperor-level combat power. The spies of the Myriad Paths Origin Sect monitored him from afar, not daring to get close. Qin Yuan knew someone was watching him, but ignored them.

Under the tempering of a large amount of Origin Crystals, Qin Yuan's cultivation finally broke through to the half-step Chaos Origin Emperor level. His aura surged, and the bone blade on his left arm grew longer, from one zhang to one and a half zhang. He refined top-grade Origin Crystals, and the spiritual power within his body began to transform into Origin Power. The transformation process was painful; the spiritual power boiled in his meridians, which felt like they were being burned. He bit down on a wooden stick, which broke in half, so he replaced it with another. Wood chips mixed with blood filled his mouth, which he swallowed.

Qin Yuan opened his eyes, a golden light flashing within them. He stood up, swung his bone blade, and a section of a distant mountain peak was cleaved away. The upper half of the mountain slid down and crashed to the ground with a deafening roar. A slight smile played on Qin Yuan's lips.

The Myriad Paths Origin Sect could no longer remain passive. They dispatched their personal disciple, Chi Yue, a first-level Chaos Origin Emperor. Chi Yue was a woman in red, with long hair reaching her waist and a cold, beautiful face. She came before Qin Yuan alone, without bringing a single soldier.

"Are you Bone Blade Qin Yuan?" she asked.

Qin Yuan nodded.

"Join the Myriad Paths Origin Sect, or die."

Qin Yuan said, "Many people have said this."

Akatsuki laughed. "They're dead. I won't."

She struck out with a palm. The source energy was as heavy as a mountain—not spiritual energy, but source energy, a hundred times more condensed than spiritual energy. Even before the palm wind arrived, the pressure was already there, and the ground beneath Qin Yuan's feet sank half a foot. Qin Yuan used his bone blade to block, the blade colliding with the palm print. Qin Yuan was blasted dozens of feet away, crashing to the ground, cracks appearing on the bone blade. The cracks extended from the tip to the base of the blade, like a spider web.

Qin Yuan coughed up blood, his left arm hanging limply, the bone blade almost broken. Chi Yue looked at him. "You're too weak. Below the Origin Emperor, you're ultimately just an ant."

Qin Yuan gritted his teeth, his fighting spirit undiminished. He rose from the ground, gripping the bone blade tightly in his left hand. The cracks on the blade were healing—not healing, but black lines spreading from Qin Yuan's arm to the bone blade, filling the cracks. The bone blade grew darker and shinier.

Chi Yue frowned slightly. "Your bone blade... has the aura of a Source Emperor?"

Qin Yuan remained silent. He charged towards Chi Yue, his bone blade aimed at her throat.

Chi Yue dodged to the side, the bone blade grazing her ear and shaving off a few strands of hair. She slapped Qin Yuan in the chest with her backhand, sending him flying again, crashing into the stone wall of the mine. The wall collapsed, burying him in rubble.

Chi Yue didn't give chase. She stood at a distance, looking at the pile of rubble. "Aren't you dead yet?"

The pile of rubble shifted. Qin Yuan crawled out, covered in blood. The bones in his left arm, from shoulder to elbow, were riddled with cracks, broken in several places, and the bone was crooked. But he still held the bone blade in his hand.

Chi Yue looked into his eyes. There was no fear, no despair in those eyes, only something she had never seen before—not fighting spirit, not killing intent, but an indifference. Indifferent to life and death, indifferent to victory or defeat, indifferent to whether he could still stand. He simply wanted to fight. To fight to the very last breath.

Chi Yue withdrew her hand. "You're quite interesting. I won't kill you." She turned and left. "But you won't live long. The Myriad Paths Origin Sect won't let you go."

Qin Yuan watched her departing figure but didn't chase after her. He sat on the ground and realigned the bone in his left arm. The bone was crooked, so he used his right hand—he didn't have a right hand—his right shoulder to brace the bone, and with a forceful push, the bone snapped and straightened. He gritted his teeth, sweat dripping from his forehead onto the ground.

He stood up and walked deeper into the mine. The source crystals glowed in the darkness, golden like stars. He sat down and began refining them. There were even stronger enemies yet. He needed to break through faster.

The news spread throughout the Chaotic Origin Realm. Bone Blade Qin Yuan had defeated Chi Yue, a direct disciple of the Myriad Paths Origin Sect, achieving instant fame. Cultivators spread the word; some pounded tables in taverns, some smashed cups at tea stalls, and some whispered among themselves on the roadside, afraid of being overheard by the Myriad Paths Origin Sect. But everyone knew one name—Qin Yuan. The number one person below the Origin Emperor.

The Sect Master of the Myriad Paths Origin Sect was drinking tea when he heard the news. He put down his teacup; the cup didn't break, but the tabletop cracked. He glanced at Chi Yue, who was kneeling below. "You retreated a half-step Origin Emperor?" Chi Yue's head was lowered, his severed arm wrapped in bandages. "He didn't retreat. He's injured," the Sect Master said. "You lost an arm, and he's alive. You call that an injury? You retreated him."