Chapter One Hundred and Nineteen: The Domain

"Sever your arms and destroy your Golden Core, and I may spare your life."

The moment Gao Xuan appeared, the sky suddenly dimmed. He walked through the void, with light trailing behind him like a chase. He wore a long black robe, his dark hair flowing like storm clouds in the wind. A scabbard was partially visible beneath his locks, and the hand gripping his blade was shriveled, aged, and claw-like, reminiscent of a ghost’s. Even from a distance, a sharp, piercing sword intent surged toward the heavens, causing an instinctive sense of unease.

"What a grand entrance," Xu Zhong remarked with a faint smile.

Hearing this, he spoke in turn: "Disperse your spirit, destroy your Golden Core, and I, too, may spare your life."

Su Jie and the others were stunned. After all, they were facing an Essence-Carrying realm practitioner. In this realm, the three souls and seven spirits have fused into a single consciousness—a Spirit—capable of detaching from the physical form and traversing the world. It is a profound metamorphosis of life.

The Essence-Carrying realm involves more than just manipulating natural phenomena. Through the Spirit, one can commune with heaven and earth, extending their reach to form a unique domain. This domain mirrors the practitioner’s inner heart, and within it, all things are subject to their control. This is the embryonic form of the External Scene—the foundation upon which such power is built. Of course, a foundation alone is not enough; it requires endless heavenly treasures. Without the backing of a great family or sect, it is nearly impossible to cultivate an External Scene practitioner. This was precisely why Zhao Tong and the others were willing to follow Gao Wentian.

That inexplicable darkness was likely Gao Xuan’s own power, a domain forged by distorting the fabric of heaven and earth.

"How dare you!" Gao Wentian jumped out, pointing an accusatory finger. "Uncle, there is no need to waste breath on him. Just kill him and be done with it."

*Smack!*

Gao Wentian clutched his face as Gao Xuan withdrew his hand.

"Are you teaching me how to do my job?"

"I... I would not dare, Uncle."

"If you wouldn't dare, then shut your mouth," Gao Xuan seemed to hold no affection for Gao Wentian. "A useless piece of waste, unable to even handle a wounded Essence-Truth practitioner."

*Essence-Truth?* Gao Wentian looked at Xu Zhong with surprise. He had assumed Xu Zhong was at the Essence-Carrying realm, just like his uncle.

"You are very different," Gao Xuan observed. "I can feel it; your Golden Core is unlike any we have ever seen. What a magnificent treasure! It is a pity for such a jewel to be wasted on a mediocre person like you. Only in my hands can it reach its true potential."

As the words fell, Xu Zhong felt the world turn upside down. By the time he regained his footing, darkness had swallowed him whole. In an instant, the world went dim—so dim that even his sight was extinguished. All that remained was a dead, suffocating blackness.

The starry river was veiled by clouds, the moonlight devoured by the dark. In this void, a flash of blade-light, like the dying glow of a sunset, streaked across the sky, setting the heavens ablaze. The crimson light took on an ominous hue within the darkness.

Xu Zhong watched the blade-light and drew a deep breath. He channeled every ounce of strength in his body. Before the strike could reach him, he had already unleashed his sword.

Xu Zhong’s blade tore through the clouds and the darkness, cleaving a rift in the world and letting the light pour back in. It also allowed Su Jie and the others to see inside. A single drop of blood drifted through the domain, radiating immense vitality.

Xu Zhong withdrew his Cloud-Swallowing Sword, flicked his finger against the tip to clear the blood, and scoffed, "The Essence-Carrying realm? Is that all?"

Gao Xuan emerged from the darkness. The blade-light illuminated his face—his features handsome yet demonic, reflecting a state of near-madness. A sword-cut ran across his palm, blood trickling down. He felt no pain, and instead, he struck again.

A screech echoed from the blade, tearing a corner of the domain. The world suddenly brightened, and the blade-qi followed the light, appearing before Xu Zhong in an instant.

Xu Zhong opened his mouth and exhaled the Samadhi True Fire.

It rose like a sun ascending the horizon. Beneath this fire, the blade-light and blade-qi began to sink and burn. In a heartbeat, the blade intent was devoured by the Samadhi True Fire.

"You are going to die!"

The moment he exhaled the fire, Xu Zhong sensed the aura of tribulation. The power of the calamity was slowly corroding his opponent’s vitality. In turn, he used the power of that tribulation to amplify his own sword technique. Yet, this could not mask his own fragility; he was merely a practitioner whose spirit had been ravaged by calamity, clinging to life.

"Tell me, how many decays has your spirit endured?" Xu Zhong looked toward Gao Xuan. Before reaching the External Scene, a spirit must endure heavenly tribulations; once the External Scene is forged, the spirit can hide within it to resist the weight of fate. But the External Scene itself faces the Tribulation of Destruction. This is why practitioners migrate their External Scene into their Inner Scene.

"You talk too much." Gao Xuan’s eyes were cold. His long blade shimmered with a menacing, grotesque luster.

Xu Zhong’s Samadhi True Fire was potent; Gao Xuan’s entire arm had been scorched to a deep red. In the next moment, his pupils bloodshot and his momentum surging like a rainbow, he slashed. The blade-light spanned the sky, traversing three thousand six hundred miles, its power so immense it carved deep furrows into the Du River.

"So, you are desperate to use my Golden Core to alleviate your own tribulation." Xu Zhong saw through his intentions. Seeing the strike coming, he showed no fear or panic. "It is a pity you chose the wrong target."

Xu Zhong spat out his Sword Pellet.

In an instant, seven hundred and twenty flying swords erupted like a crimson mist. They wove together, forming a formation of extreme sharpness. Xu Zhong activated the Yin-Yang Sword Formation.

"Invert the Yin, Reverse the Yang!"

Instantly, Yin and Yang flipped, the heavens and earth turned upside down. The strike, aimed directly at Xu Zhong’s head, was deflected by the formation and plummeted into a distant mountain. With a thunderous roar, the peak was cleaved in two and pulverized into dust.

"Yin-Yang as the Anvil!"

The formation shifted, becoming square like a seal. The flying swords, acting like coiled dragons, spat blade-qi that swept across the field with unstoppable force. They circled above Gao Xuan and descended.

Under the crushing weight of the Yin-Yang Anvil, Gao Xuan’s bones groaned. Xu Zhong pressed the attack, shifting the formation again. In a flash, the swords merged into a single, colossal blade, descending with such immense power that it threatened to annihilate everything. Even Gao Wentian and the others outside the domain felt a bone-deep terror.

This was Xu Zhong’s true strength. A single sword strike could not unleash his full potential; only the combined formation could. Of course, all of this was done without even needing to manifest his Golden Core Dao Tree.

Gao Xuan felt the massive sword descending like the arrival of purple clouds from the east. He reached out, manifesting a Yin-Yang millstone, clashing against the formation. Then, he struck with his blade once more.

The light was soul-stealing, as if ten thousand stars had fallen and been condensed into a single line. The air around the Du River echoed with the sound of a tsunami. Within his vision, there was nothing but overwhelming blade-light and qi. This power shattered Xu Zhong’s formation. The seven hundred and twenty swords were scattered, engulfing Xu Zhong in an attempt to erase him. Many stone mountains in the distance were sheared off, and the waters of the Du River were evaporated into mist.

Xu Zhong stood amidst the storm of light. The swords chimed repeatedly, their shadows weaving through the chaos, slicing the blade-light into thirty-six thousand fragments. Blade-light and sword-shadows intersected; myriad illusions scattered like clouds as the forces collided.

Xu Zhong stepped in the Seven-Star pattern, resisting Gao Xuan’s might. Then, he saw Gao Xuan take a step forward. The entire domain pressed down upon him. Within this space, his own power became like a rootless tree, forcibly suppressed within his body, unable to flow. With every step Gao Xuan took, the domain grew stronger.

"A spirit?"

He realized that what Gao Xuan had projected into the domain was not his physical body, but his Spirit. Even as a spirit, he could wield power and cast spells.

"Primordial One-Qi Heavenly Gang Slash!"

The Spirit unleashed the blade technique. One strike forward, like the light of the Primordial, cleaving chaos to give birth to the world. This primordial energy transformed into a waterfall thousands of feet long, cascading from the sky and swirling above Xu Zhong, intent on extinguishing his spirit and burying his body.

Xu Zhong’s expression remained unchanged.

"Let me show you my Golden Core!"

Xu Zhong exhaled, and the Golden Core Dao Tree emerged. Initially only the size of a palm, it met the wind and grew monstrously, towering over him. He grasped the tree and swept it forward. In an instant, the blade-light Gao Xuan had unleashed was ground into dust.

Gao Xuan’s brow twitched. The quality of that Golden Core was so high that even without being fueled by magic, it possessed terrifying power. This power struck fear into his spirit. In a panic, his spirit tried to wrap itself in the domain and retreat into his physical body.

But Xu Zhong would not allow it. Feeling his magic reconverging, he poured it into the Dao Tree. A moment later, he swung the tree downward, slamming it into Gao Xuan’s spirit and his physical body.

The spirit tried to dodge, but the body, now vacant, could not move. In an instant, the physical form was smashed into a pulp, scattered across the ground. With nowhere left to flee, the spirit rushed straight toward Xu Zhong’s glabella.

"Right on time!"

Xu Zhong opened his Niwan Palace to let him in. Gao Xuan crossed the threshold—the gateway formed by the fusion of the Heaven’s Gate, the Hundred Meetings, and the Jade Pillow acupoints—and plunged into the depths of Xu Zhong's mind.

But as soon as he stepped inside, he was struck with horror. Towering pillars stood in the thousands, each radiating terrifying power, suppressing a peerless demon. Above them, thirty-three layers of thunderclouds manifested, concealing the dread power of calamity. He had only to glance at them before the energy leaking from the clouds struck him, and he perished instantly.

Xu Zhong felt the movement within his Niwan. Under Gao Wentian’s expectant gaze, he swung the Golden Core Dao Tree toward him. In the next moment, Gao Wentian’s body was also shattered, scattered across the earth.

Xu Zhong returned to the boat, looking at the stunned, disbelieving Su Jie. "Weren't you going to take me to the shore? Why haven't you started the boat yet?"