The First Venerable of All Paths

"What are you doing?"

"What are you doing?!"

Xiao Jinyu felt a chill run down her spine and wanted to rush over to rescue Fang Xuan.

The Ninth Grade Green Lotus is indeed a top-tier spiritual herb, but the Green Lotus Karmic Fire it generates is enough to burn Fang Xuan to nothingness.

The sword cultivator's skeleton simply raised his hand and flung Xiao Jinyu away.

Just as Xiao Jinyu was about to activate her Yin-Yang Dao Body at all costs to rescue Fang Xuan, the sword cultivator's slender bone finger pointed at her.

"laugh!"

A burst of blue light shot out from the bone finger and pierced directly into Xiao Jinyu's body.

"Boom!"

Xiao Jinyu was struck as if by lightning, her delicate body trembling violently.

The boiling power was suppressed, and the severely injured body was rapidly recovering.

The damaged foundation is also rapidly recovering.

"this......"

Even if Xiao Jinyu was foolish, she knew that the sword cultivator's skeleton was helping her.

Help her heal her injuries, help her restore her foundation, and help her return to the divine realm!

and so.

It has no ill intentions towards itself.

So, it won't harm Fang Xuan?

There was no time to think.

The power within her body was too immense, and Xiao Jinyu needed to devote all her energy to refining it.

After stopping Xiao Jinyu, the sword cultivator's skeleton looked up, his empty eye sockets gazing at the lake surface through the water.

The figure enveloped in red lotus.

Then, it sat cross-legged in the lake, lowered its head, and the flames in its eyes shifted between blue and red, as if it was trying its best to suppress something.

......

Fang Xuan felt his consciousness drifting in a dark and boundless void.

They couldn't find a foothold, and they couldn't see a glimmer of light.

And so, consciousness, like a lonely soul, drifted and drifted.

At this moment, time itself seemed to lose all meaning.

After an unknown amount of time, Fang Xuan felt a burning sensation in his weakened consciousness.

It's very hot and it hurts a lot.

The excruciating pain brought Fang Xuan back to his senses somewhat.

Then, he "saw" a glimmer of light.

The light was cyan, appearing incredibly faint in the dark void.

But Fang Xuan, like a drowning man grasping at a straw, quickly drifted toward the blue light.

Distances that seem endless can be covered in the blink of an eye.

Then, Fang Xuan's consciousness plunged directly into a patch of azure flames.

"it hurts!"

Fang Xuan suddenly woke up and realized that he was indeed in a sea of ​​blue fire.

The clothes had already been burned.

His body was covered in hideous wounds.

Several golden lines emerged from his dantian and circulated throughout his body.

Within the Qi Sea, golden-red flames burned slowly.

Rubbing his aching chest, Fang Xuan struggled to open his eyes and looked around.

All that could be seen was a monotonous flame.

He instinctively raised his arm and grabbed forward.

"call!"

The next instant, the cyan flames surged wildly into Fang Xuan's body.

"The Karmic Fire of the Azure Lotus?"

A thought flashed through Fang Xuan's mind, and he immediately looked shocked.

"What's going on?"

All he remembered was falling into the lake with Xiao Jinyu before he lost consciousness, and then he knew nothing more.

"Never mind, now that I've stumbled upon this, I can't let this opportunity slip by!"

Fang Xuan immediately calmed his mind, sat cross-legged, and began to circulate the "Primordial Chaos Scripture" to absorb and refine the Azure Lotus Karmic Fire.

"Boom!"

As the flames penetrated his body, Fang Xuan's wounds began to heal, scab over, and fall off at a visible speed.

Flesh and blood regenerated, and his aura returned to its peak.

"What terrifying regenerative abilities!"

Fang Xuan clenched his fists, but did not straighten them.

The Azure Lotus Karmic Fire is a flame born from heaven and earth, capable of burning away karma and evil, cleansing the body, and expanding martial meridians.

However, to subdue it, one must find the source of the flame and refine it.

This step is the most difficult.

However, this applies to other people.

Fang Xuan had experience refining the Undying Phoenix Flame, and also possessed the Chaos Sacred Body that controlled the origin of all paths.

A golden-red flame appeared in his eyes, and through the layers of blue flames, he instantly spotted a tiny lotus flower, no bigger than a thumb, slowly rotating not far from him.

The sky full of blue flames was released from this lotus flower.

"I've found you."

Fang Xuan smiled calmly and reached out to grab.

"Whoosh!"

The blue lotus flower flashed, managing to evade Fang Xuan's grasp.

"Can they escape?"

Fang Xuan snorted coldly and pointed forward.

A chilling sword aura erupted, striking the blue lotus with lightning speed.

The green lotus trembled violently, and even more terrifying flames swept out, causing the temperature to rise sharply.

But Fang Xuan seemed completely oblivious, disappearing from the spot and appearing right on the path Lotus had taken to escape.

"Go!"

Fang Xuan clasped his hands together, perfectly enveloping the lotus flower.

"Finally caught you."

Looking at the blue lotus struggling on his fingertips, Fang Xuan smiled brightly.

Immediately afterwards, Fang Xuan opened his mouth wide and swallowed the blue lotus directly into his stomach.

"Boom!"

It was like swallowing a piece of magma; the terrifying heat erupted within his body, causing the veins on Fang Xuan's body to bulge and his recently healed flesh to burst open once more.

The blood that had just flowed out was incinerated by the blue lava.

"Refine!"

Fang Xuan's eyes widened in anger, and he activated his cultivation technique, fully unleashing his Chaotic Sacred Body.

The cyan magma that was wreaking havoc inside the body seemed to be suppressed by some force, and began to cool down and restrain its power.

Even with its weakened power, Fang Xuan could not withstand it.

Fang Xuan remained calm, but instead used the power of the Chaos Sacred Body to guide the Chaos Origin and refine the Azure Lotus Karmic Fire.

The process is very slow.

However, the power of the Azure Lotus Karmic Fire gradually became gentler.

until.......

The cyan flames circulated along the meridians before rushing into the dantian, leaving a cyan pattern on it.

"It's done!"

Fang Xuan suddenly opened his eyes, his face filled with ecstatic joy.

He flipped his hand over: "Show it!"

A wisp of green light appeared in his palm, transforming into the shape of a flame.

The flames were a clear, translucent blue, like the most perfect porcelain in the world, dazzling and mesmerizing.

Seeing this, Fang Xuan grinned.

Although the newly refined Azure Lotus Karmic Fire is still very weak, it can be continuously nurtured and strengthened within the dantian.

After putting away the Azure Lotus Karmic Flame, Fang Xuan began to look forward to it.

Fang Xuan was not kept waiting for long.

Then, cyan patterns began to appear on Fang Xuan's body.

The Azure Lotus Karmic Fire began to cleanse Fang Xuan's Dao body.

When the cyan patterns turned golden, Fang Xuan's Chaotic Saint Body was further enhanced.

"Click!"

A sound like porcelain shattering came from within his body, and Fang Xuan's cultivation level broke through from the eighth level of the Qi Gathering Realm to the ninth level.

This isn't the end; it's still being improved.

It only stopped when they reached the peak of the ninth level of the Qi Gathering Realm.

It's not that we can't continue to break through, but that we don't have enough energy.

"As expected, the Chaos Saint Body requires far too much energy to break through."

Fang Xuan felt somewhat regretful.

With his current physical strength, he is fully capable of pushing his cultivation to the Condensation Realm.

"Energy, we need more power!"

Fang Xuan would not be content if he stopped at the ninth level of the Qi Gathering Realm.

With a wave of his hand, the spirit stones, magical stones, and various pills in his storage ring appeared before his eyes.

These were all resources he obtained by exchanging items from the treasure troves of the Wen and Ming families.

This is all for this moment.

"Refine!"

The Azure Lotus Karmic Fire reappeared, refining these elemental stones and spirit stones into pure energy, which was then absorbed into the body.

His cultivation level continued to improve.

After all the resources were absorbed, Fang Xuan's cultivation level only rose to the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm.

He's just one step away from reaching the Condensation Realm.

"No way?"

Looking at the various resources that had been completely used up, Fang Xuan's face fell.

With so many resources, I only improved my cultivation level by a little bit.

Then, wouldn't the energy required for the Condensation Realm, Divine Intent Realm, and even higher realms be even more terrifying?

Just as Fang Xuan was feeling utterly dejected, an even more powerful and purer energy began to merge into his body.

"This is......"

Fang Xuan was startled and looked down.

He discovered that this power came from the lotus platform beneath him...

"The Nine-Rank Green Lotus—it's the power of the Nine-Rank Green Lotus!"

Fang Xuan's face lit up with joy.

He almost forgot.

The birth of the Azure Lotus Karmic Fire can only be achieved by relying on the Ninth Grade Azure Lotus.

The Nine-Grade Green Lotus is a top-tier medicinal herb in the world.

Even the great emperors were eager to possess this ninth-grade green lotus.

The energy of the Ninth-Grade Green Lotus was far more terrifying than Fang Xuan had imagined.

The Yuan energy within his body is increasing.

The golden patterns on its body also continued to increase.

The potential of the Chaos Holy Body is being rapidly developed.

Fang Xuan's physical body continued to improve.

"Boom!"

Until a certain moment, a booming sound came from Fang Xuan's sea of ​​consciousness.

A surge of powerful energy erupted from my limbs and bones, coursing through my entire body.

Physical body, breaking through to the Condensation Realm!

The barrier that had been preventing his cultivation from improving was easily shattered, allowing Fang Xuan to successfully enter the Condensation Realm.

However, the energy of the Ninth-Grade Green Lotus continued to penetrate Fang Xuan's body.

This time, however, it didn't help Fang Xuan improve his cultivation; instead, it frantically gathered into his sword bones.

It merged into that rice-grain-sized green seed.

Like rain after a long drought.

The rice-grain-sized seeds begin to grow, plump up, and crack open.

Fuzzy vines emerged from it, climbed up the sword bone, and finally wrapped around it.

A green bud sprouted from the vine and began to actively absorb the energy of the ninth-grade green lotus.

"Buzz!"

The sword bone trembled slightly, and a surging, turbulent azure sword light emanated from the flower bud.

The swords gleamed menacingly, their cries echoing through the air.

Suddenly, Fang Xuan seemed to realize something.

He changed the hand seals, and his technique changed to the operation mode of "Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Void Technique".

"The Void holds ten thousand swords, and the swords are contained within the vast emptiness..."

The blue flower buds grew fuller and fuller, as if something was about to be born from them.

But for some reason, Fang Xuan always felt that something was still missing.

Deep at the bottom of the lake.

The instant Fang Xuan refined the Azure Lotus Karmic Fire, the sword cultivator's skeleton suddenly raised its head, and a blue light burst forth from its empty eye sockets, as scorching as the sun.

It... is excited.

When the seed within Fang Xuan's sword bone grows strong and matures, it will bloom into a flower bud.

It... is waiting.

However, the ninth-grade green lotus had very little energy left, and what it was waiting for had not yet appeared.

The blue light in his eyes slowly faded.

Is it going to fail again?

Just then, the lake water beside them churned, and a powerful force erupted.

The evolution of Yin and Yang, and the clear distinction between black and white.

A fair and delicate body, as white as jade, stood quietly in the lake.

"ugly......"

Just as Xiao Jinyu was about to speak, the sword cultivator's skeleton grabbed at her again.

A force that Xiao Jinyu could not resist bound her and then threw her toward the figure enveloped in cyan energy.

Not only that.

The Yin and Yang forces, which had been under control, slowly began to be released.

Xiao Jinyu's eyes became confused and unfocused, then hardened.

"Fine, I'll consider it a debt I owe you."

She stopped resisting and instead opened her arms to embrace the equally naked body.

The interaction of Yin and Yang gives rise to the universe.

The sword cultivator nodded, satisfied.

But the next moment, the lake water parted, and a sinister figure stood high in the sky.

Those eerie, crimson eyes stared intently at it and at the two intertwined bodies.

"Qinghe, you've indeed broken free from control!"

Xie Gui's angry voice came from high above, filled with icy killing intent.

"It's a pity you gave all your inheritance to that brat!"

With a swift movement, Xie Gui condensed gray energy into a long spear and hurled it down at the sword cultivator's skeleton.

"Spear of Evil Spirits, kill!"

Originally the remains of the sword cultivator Qinghe Shangren, his body surged with azure sword energy as he ripped off a rib and unleashed a single sword strike.

The sword parted the lake water, knocking the spear away.

Master Qinghe rushed towards Xie Gui like a streak of light.

Ribs like swords, cleaving through the void.

It glanced back at the figure gradually being engulfed by the blue light, its empty eyes flickering with blue flames.

"Little fellow, don't disappoint this old man."