Brother Who Determines the Fate of the Nation: My Great Emperor's Cultivation Level Exposed by

The light on the communication jade slip flashed three times before going out, and Su Xuan didn't rush to answer it.

He opened his eyes only after the four elements of spiritual energy had completed their final cycle in his dantian and the four colors of light—water, fire, metal, and wood—had returned to their proper positions.

ten years.

He had lost count of how many times the sky outside the Alchemy Peak had changed, and he was too lazy to count.

Su Xuan stood up, his joints cracking, and the spiritual energy flowing through the meridians of his Asura Divine Body was three times faster than it had been ten years ago.

He had already suppressed the compatibility of the Four Symbols Formation in his dantian to the extreme, and every bit of spiritual energy was so pure that it contained no impurities whatsoever.

He raised his right hand, his two fingers together.

The speed at which the Gengjin sword energy took shape at the fingertips was invisible to the naked eye. Before the white-gold sharp light had fully condensed, a black iron target stone used for training three zhang away had already silently shattered into dust.

Having mastered all four of the most powerful killing techniques to perfection, any one of them would be enough to crush a cultivator of the same level ten times over.

With all four attacks combined, he was confident he could kill a peak Golden Core cultivator within three breaths.

Su Xuan withdrew his finger, his gaze sweeping over the supplies on the three walls in the corner of the secret room, his face expressionless.

Ten years of preparation is enough.

Blue Star, Dragon Kingdom Live Stream Room.

The timeline on the screen was spinning rapidly, and the scenes of sunrise and sunset were compressed into frames of flickering light and shadow.

The timer in the upper left corner jumps from one year to three years, five years, eight years, and ten years.

The comments were sparse.

"Ten years! That's enough time for me to go to university, graduate, find a job, get married, and have children. Su Shen just sat there refining pills for ten years."

"Time in the cultivation world is ridiculous. Ten years pass in the blink of an eye. I would have gone crazy if that were me."

"Whether you're crazy or not is unimportant. What's important is what Su Shen has done in the past ten years. Did you guys see that hint about mastering the Four Great Divine Powers?"

"I saw it. The description of tearing through the void with a raised hand makes me reasonably suspect that Su Shen's current combat power is beyond what can be explained by the Golden Core stage."

"I believe someone in the late Foundation Establishment stage can defeat a Nascent Soul cultivator."

"The most terrifying description is the Asura God Body, where the physical body withstands a full-force attack from a Golden Core magic weapon? Is this a human or a magic weapon?"

The images on the sky continued to shift, with Su Xuan sitting in front of the alchemy furnace, adding spiritual herbs, controlling the heat, and collecting the pills day after day, just as he had done for ten years.

In the scene, Su Xuan stands up and stretches his shoulders and neck. There is no trace of the ten years of sitting in seclusion on him. His figure under the gray robe is more refined than it was ten years ago, and there is a layer of composure in his eyes after years of reflection.

On the screen, the scene shifts to the Vajra Sect's council hall.

The Nascent Soul Ancestor stood in front of the palace gate. When Su Xuan passed by, the Ancestor took a half step to the side and nodded slightly in greeting.

This detail was extremely small, but all the elders present saw it, and the expressions on each of their faces were quite subtle.

A disciple in the late Foundation Establishment stage made a Nascent Soul ancestor give way.

The Blue Star live stream chat exploded again.

"A Nascent Soul cultivator making way for a Foundation Establishment disciple—is the seniority system in the cultivation world just for show?"

"It's not a matter of seniority, it's a matter of value. Su Shen is now the lifeblood of the Vajra Sect's elixirs. No matter how strong the ancestor is, he still needs to consume elixirs."

"That's the power of a monopoly. Once you control irreplaceable resources, everyone, no matter how high their status, has to treat you with respect."

"Su Shen's past ten years may seem uneventful, but he has been accumulating potential energy with each step. Once he gathers all five elements and forms his core, all of this accumulation will come to fruition."

"I'm just missing an earth-elemental sacred artifact. It's been ten years and there's still no news. I'm so anxious!"

Alchemy Peak, Secret Chamber.

Su Xuan sat back on the futon, and the four elements of spiritual energy automatically circulated for a full cycle. The Four Symbols Formation in his dantian was so stable that he didn't need to pay attention to control it.

Ten years, ten thousand simulations.

He had walked through every path of the five elements in his mind: water generates wood, wood generates fire, fire generates earth, earth generates metal, metal generates water, and how to establish the great cycle of mutual generation of the five elements in the dantian.

How to resolve the backlash caused by the collision of the five elements of spiritual power, how much spiritual power reserve is needed at the moment of core formation, and what grade of auxiliary pills are required.

Everything has been calculated.

We can refine auxiliary pills, have enough resources, and have sufficient means to protect ourselves.

All is ready except for the opportunity.

The core of thick earth.

Ten years have passed, and he has asked more than forty people. He has sent people to inquire about several abyssal rift valleys in the Eastern Wilderness, but not a single clue has been confirmed.

There's no use in rushing.

Su Xuan closed his eyes, his breathing long and steady, and every muscle fiber of his Asura Divine Body slowly tightened under the influence of spiritual power.

His physical strength had reached an absurd level. A few days ago, he used a Golden Core level spiritual weapon from his alchemy room to slash his own arm with all his might, leaving only a white mark without even breaking the skin.

A physical body at the late Foundation Establishment stage is impervious to damage from Golden Core cultivators and magical artifacts.

These ten years have not been in vain.

Suddenly, a rapid surge of spiritual energy came from outside the cave, and the sound of air being torn apart grew louder and louder as it approached.

Su Xuan opened his eyes.

A crimson jade slip flew in through a gap in the cave's array and hovered in front of him.

It is engraved with the Second Elder's exclusive spiritual power mark, and the light on its surface flashes at an extremely high frequency, urgent.

Su Xuan reached out and took the jade slip into his palm, probing it with his divine sense.

The Second Elder's spiritual imprint, urgent.

Su Xuan crushed the outer shell of the communication jade slip, and the moment his divine sense probed into it, a large amount of information flooded into his mind.

On the eastern border, a massive beast tide, a once-in-a-century event, is occurring.

The Phoenix Dynasty mobilized 300,000 troops to guard the southern front, and 70% of the high-end combat power of the entire Eastern Wilderness was drawn away within three days.

But what truly caught Su Xuan's attention was the third piece of information.

Thunder City is in grave danger.

Thunder City has been riddled with holes by the beast tide. Three layers of the city's defensive formation have been broken, and more than half of its high-level combat power has been lost. The city lord personally sent a letter requesting assistance to the Vajra Sect Master's desk.

Su Xuan's gaze shifted to the last one.

The leader of the beast tide attacking Thunder City, an earth-type demon king, a rock-horned dragon, in the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

This demon contains an ancient earth-elemental sacred object, the core of thick earth.

Su Xuan's finger stopped on the jade slip fragment, and for the first time in ten years, his breathing rhythm changed.

The core of thick earth.

The last piece.

He stood up, and the speed of his Asura Divine Body's spiritual power circulation suddenly increased by a level, causing the air in the secret room to rush outwards.

All the preparations accumulated over ten years of seclusion found their purpose at this moment.

Less than half an hour later, the council bell in the Zongwu Hall rang.

All elders were urgently assembled.

When Su Xuan arrived, the main hall was already more than half full. The twelve elders stood on both sides, and the sect leader sat on the high platform. A huge topographical map was spread out on the table in front of him. The location of Thunder City was marked by spiritual energy, and red lights flashed.

"Everyone has seen the news," the sect leader said, his voice not loud, but his spiritual pressure filled the entire hall.

"The price offered by Thunder City is 800,000 high-grade spirit stones plus the mining rights to three fourth-grade spirit veins, on the condition that my Vajra Sect sends troops to arrive within seven days."

A buzzing sound arose in the hall.

"Eight hundred thousand spirit stones? When did Thunder City become so generous?"

"They've been pushed to the limit. The city is about to be breached. They have no choice but to be generous."

The First Elder stepped out from the side, his voice steady: "Sect Master, the leader of the beast tide is a Rock Horned Flood Dragon in the early Nascent Soul stage. I can suppress it, but I need at least two Golden Core Peak cultivators to help restrain the other high-level demonic beasts. In addition, the logistical supply line must be guaranteed."

The sect leader nodded: "The Grand Elder will lead the team, with Elder Zhao and Elder Sun accompanying him. In addition, 120 elite inner disciples and 10 true disciples will be dispatched."

"There's one more question," the Second Elder said slowly.

"When a large army goes on an expedition, casualties are inevitable, and the number of alchemists accompanying the army is essential. Last time, during the battle with Qingmu Valley, the supply of pills was cut off, which almost led to a major disaster."

All eyes turned to the gray-robed youth standing at the end.

Before anyone could speak, Su Xuan stepped out of the queue.

"This disciple volunteered to join the army."

The sect leader looked at him but did not answer immediately.

The Grand Elder frowned: "You are a core member of the Pill Hall. What if something goes wrong..."

"Don't worry, Elder. I will only be responsible for refining pills and supplying medicine. I will not go to the front line." Su Xuan's tone was so calm that no emotion could be detected.

The sect leader remained silent for three breaths before speaking: "Granted. However, you will travel with the central army and are not allowed to leave the group without permission."

"Yes"

After the meeting, Su Xuan did not return to his cave dwelling, but went directly to the secret techniques area on the east side of the sect's collection pavilion.

He found what he was looking for on the fourth shelf: an ancient parchment scroll with four faded characters written on the cover: "Heavenly Secret Disguise Technique".

Advanced secret techniques can completely alter a person's appearance, physique, and aura fluctuations at the bone structure level, lasting for several months. Unless a powerful expert at the late Nascent Soul stage or above deliberately uses their divine sense to deeply scan, it is absolutely impossible to detect.

The Lord of Thunder City has met him.

Su Xuan returned to the secret chamber, unfolded the ancient scroll, and studied it line by line.

Three hours later, he stood in front of the bronze mirror, his hands forming a mudra, and spiritual energy flowed into his facial bones and skin tissue along a specific path.

The bones cracked, the cheekbones receded, the jawline lengthened, and the brow ridges lowered, reshaping the entire face in a mere fifteen minutes. The texture of the skin also changed; the once firm skin loosened, fine lines appeared at the corners of the eyes, the lips thinned, and the complexion became sallow.

The bronze mirror reflected a gaunt middle-aged man with high cheekbones and deep-set eyes, looking like a wandering cultivator who spent most of his time traveling. He bore no resemblance whatsoever to the gray-robed youth from before.

The atmosphere changed too.

The unique fluctuations of the Asura Divine Body were concealed by the secret technique layer, and the texture of the released spiritual energy changed from sharp to soft, like that of an ordinary late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator alchemist.

Su Xuan looked at himself in the bronze mirror for three breaths, then withdrew his hand with satisfaction.

He couldn't even recognize himself.

The images on the sky continued to move forward.

Vajra Sect, Front Mountain Square.

Three days later, the army was fully assembled.

One hundred and twenty elite inner disciples lined up in front, ten true disciples in the middle, the Grand Elder leading three Golden Core elders to bring up the rear, and the logistics and supply team in the center, with pills, spirit stones, array plates, and talismans piled up on six ironwood carts pulled by spirit beasts.

Su Xuan stood next to the third cart, having changed into a gray-brown robe for a rogue cultivator. He carried an old alchemy furnace on his back, and blended into the crowd, making him inconspicuous.

Zhou Yuan glanced at him as he passed by, almost not recognizing him. He took three steps, then turned back and whispered, "Su..."

"Call him Chen Sanren." Su Xuan's voice also changed, becoming hoarse and deep, with the smell of an old smoker.

Zhou Yuan paused for a moment, then wisely shut up and quickly returned to his team.

The sect leader stood in front of the mountain gate, watching the army depart. He took one last look at the gaunt figure in the central army and said something to the second elder beside him.

"Keep an eye on him, don't let him cause any major trouble."

The Second Elder stroked his beard and smiled: "Sect Master, don't worry, he's more shrewd than any of us."

The army took off, and more than a hundred streaks of light broke through the clouds, speeding towards the eastern border.

Su Xuan mingled in the central command tent, his gaunt face fluttering in the wind as the hem of his robes billowed.

His gaze pierced through the sea of ​​clouds, looking towards the southeast.

There, Thunder City awaits, along with an earth-elemental demon king at the early Nascent Soul stage.

And the core of thick earth within its body is also waiting.

Su Xuan's withered face was expressionless, but deep in his eyes, something was burning very slowly.

ten years.

It's time to close the net.

The curtain of the central command tent was lifted by the wind, revealing half of the profile of the gaunt figure inside, and a barely perceptible curve at the corner of his mouth.