Immortal of the Ages

Yun Xiao was out of options, and with a sigh of defeat he muttered, "Damn, I'm broke again!"

He was rich one moment, then penniless the next.

"Ah well, easy come, easy go."

Without any True Immortal Jades, Yun Xiao could only ponder the mysteries of the Divine Self Realm for now. Thinking of the fusion of spirit and will, his mind drifted to the Thunder Immortal Formation above his head!

On a whim, Yun Xiao thought, "Let my spirit venture forth again, try to connect with this grand punitive formation."

With that, he closed his eyes. In his Dantian, the miniature spirit sitting on the Sacred Wheel suddenly opened its eyes!

With a thought, the spirit emerged from within Yun Xiao, leaving the cultivation chamber behind.

Looking up, the Thunder Immortal Formation in the dark sky seemed even more magnificent!

Above each person, a colossal pool of thunder weighed down.

"Let's give myself a thunderous leap!" Yun Xiao's spirit soared skyward. Though not as swift as before, he felt the formation's pull.

The process felt incredibly natural! His spirit, suffused enough to let the lightning seep through, transformed into a bolt of electricity, plunging into the Thunder Immortal Formation.

BOOM! Yun Xiao was jolted awake. "That feeling, it's here again..."

It was a sensation of sudden expansiveness, as if his spirit had magnified infinitely, becoming one with the heavens and the earth.

But this time, Yun Xiao had learned to control it, his entire spirit much more relaxed.

"Perceive, control, merge, just don't make a big scene."

With these thoughts, the Thunder Immortal Formation, which was about to form a colossal face from thunderbolts, suddenly dissipated.

To the onlookers, the formation merely shook and then was still.

Yet, Yun Xiao had taken control again! He felt as though he had become a grand formation himself, his eyes immensely vast. Though not visibly manifested, he could see everything within the Thunder Department.

Yun Xiao had a fierce confidence that with but a thought, he could wield the Thunder Immortal Formation to unleash divine thunderbolts, mercilessly smiting his foes.

"It's truly terrifying. With this power at my disposal, no one should think of crossing me." Yun Xiao chuckled to himself.

Simply put, with this ace up his sleeve, Yun Xiao didn't need to cower in the Thunder Department.

And so, he felt his tension ebb away.

Now, using the Thunder Immortal Formation as his eyes, Yun Xiao silently observed the harsh and violent world of thunder before him.

People after people, net after net, smirk after arrogant smirk...

All these wove together the tapestry of the Celestial Court.

"Every face bears a mask of seriousness, but behind each, calculations and flattery lurk." Yun Xiao sneered as he watched.

He found that viewing the myriad faces of the Thunder Department through the eye of the Thunder Immortal Formation greatly benefited the growth of his Worldly Dao Heart.

"This is because, through the eyes of the Thunder Immortal Formation, everyone is real, no mask can cover their filth..."

It was incredibly intriguing!

Yun Xiao's gaze wandered and finally settled back on the Hall of Soaring Thunder and the Eight Symbols Guard Pavilion.

"Jiang Taiping."

He saw an old man with an ashen face standing in his courtyard.

"Eh?" Yun Xiao noticed that the old man was fiddling with a stick the size of a toothpick in his hand.

That stick imparted a sense of incredible weight and stability.

"This is the Boundary Defining Divine Needle!"

A longing surged within Yun Xiao, and the thunder above roared doubly fierce.

"Why not just obliterate him with the formation, and then I can pop next door to take the needle?" Yun Xiao pondered. The temptation was strong, yet he decided against it.

"Last time I killed Lord Lu, and it didn't attract much attention. The folks of the Thunder Department are too shrewd. Killing Jiang Taiping this time, with all victims linked to Sky Soaring City and connected to me, and having shown my face in the formation, would surely cast suspicion my way."

With that, even if Yun Xiao secured the Boundary Defining Divine Needle, his journey through the Celestial Court would likely become fraught with even greater difficulty.

"There's still time, let's wait a bit longer."

Yun Xiao restrained himself. Then, rather than watching Jiang Taiping, he observed the complex society of the Thunder Department a while longer.

Soon, he felt his spirit growing weary. So he descended from the heavens, returning to his physical form. It was then that his eyes slowly opened.

"Right." In the darkness, Yun Xiao summoned the Heaven Burial Sword Soul.

The three-foot blade shone in the darkness, its edge undeniable. A total of 9,999,999 layers of Sword Aura swirled around it like a stormy sea of azure, the sword’s power of death and solemnity reaching its zenith.

"It seems like 10,000,000 layers really is a bottleneck for a Sword Immortal's Sword Aura," Yun Xiao muttered to himself. After hitting this cap a couple days ago, he finally decided to deal with this matter today.

"It’s said that once a Sword Aura reaches 10,000,000 layers, it hits the carrying limit of the Sword Soul. To further strengthen the Sword Soul, there’s only one way: compress these 10,000,000 layers. The people here call it 10,000,000 layers forming a world, meaning to compress the Sword Aura to its limit. And upon reaching that limit, a miniature Sword Aura World is born within the Sword Soul, giving it the power of a whole world."

This was to make the sword a realm!

It sounded like it had a similar meaning to the Heaven Burial Sword Soul, which came from the Divine Continent's Dao Source.

"Of course, mere compression isn’t enough to form a Sword Aura World. The Sword Heart plays a significant role in this process. With the Sword Heart as the core, a Sword Aura World can stabilize."

In short, the Sword Heart and Sword Aura became a Sword World!

"This Sword Aura World, commonly referred to as a Sword Prison, turns 10,000,000 layers into a prison of Sword Aura, deeply integrating with the Sword Soul and vastly increasing its lethality."

Yun Xiao was naturally anxious about creating a Sword Prison. On one hand, there had been no increase in the strength of his Sword Soul for a long time.

On the other hand, although Yun Xiao had yet to encounter a Sword Immortal with a Sword Prison, he anticipated that such opponents would likely appear in the sixth round of the selection battle!

"Of the 288 contenders, there are 103 Sword Immortals, and it's said that 98 possess a Sword Prison."

With those odds, encountering a Sword Cultivator almost certainly meant facing a Sword Prison!

Yun Xiao truly wished to forge a Sword Prison tonight, to avoid future disadvantages in this aspect.

But the problem was, the key to forming the Sword Prison wasn't in himself alone; it required an external force for aid!

This external force was known as the Sword Suppression Gate.

Reportedly, it was a fusion of a celestial tool and formation, employing the immutability of the tool and the overwhelming power of the formation. Under its oppression, the Sword Soul and Sword Aura could potentially break through the critical point and condense into a world.

"The Sword Suppression Gate is quite rare, even Sky Soaring City lacks one."

Meaning, the Sword Cultivators of Sky Soaring City had to borrow a Sword Suppression Gate from the Thunder Department.

It was said that there were nine Sword Suppression Gates in the Thunder Department, each controlled by various top Immortal officials and powers.

The Cao Immortal Manor didn't possess one.

However, Lightning Lord Bo Hong's Grand Firmament Academy possessed one, of not insignificant quality, and since it was used by the young, it had a high success rate.

"Looking at it now, it seems there’s no chance for me to use any of these nine gates?" Yun Xiao mused.

"Initially, Old Cao might have been able to pull some strings for you, but you blew your social capital last night," Blue Star chortled.

"A misstep. I'll be more cautious next time," Yun Xiao admitted.

Blue Star and Red Moon both rolled their eyes. "Sure, we'll believe it when we see it!"

"Indeed, if I could do it over, I’d still say what I said," Yun Xiao declared.

Now, both reaching the Divine Self Realm and the Sword Prison were challenges!

"This needs to be resolved tonight."

As Yun Xiao pondered his options, Jiang Haiyan and Jiang Heqing arrived at his door.

Under the night sky, their graceful figures—one charmingly cute, the other mature and austere—created a strikingly beautiful scene.

"Something the matter?" Yun Xiao asked.

"I have an invitation for you," Jiang Haiyan said softly.

"Bring it here."

With a gesture from Yun Xiao, a luxuriously golden-white invitation flew from Jiang Haiyan’s hand to his.

Yun Xiao opened it and read.

"Grand Firmament Academy's Azure Sky Banquet? Tonight? And I’m invited?" Yun Xiao smirked after reading.

"Maybe because you passed five rounds, you're automatically on the invite list?" Jiang Heqing speculated curiously.

"The Azure Sky Banquet is indeed a gathering for young talents, hosted by the Grand Firmament Academy... I've heard that all 288 contenders are indeed invited," Jiang Haiyan explained.

"If it's not a special invitation, then it's hardly exciting," Yun Xiao remarked, setting the invitation aside with little interest.

However, in that moment of disregard, Yun Xiao noticed on the cover of the invitation a symbol of dual concentric circles, resembling a circular character.

"This symbol?" Yun Xiao remembered; wasn't this the mark of the Primordial Ruins crafted by the Three Immortals?

"That represents the Sword Suppression Gate," Jiang Haiyan kindly clarified, seeing his puzzled look. "The Grand Firmament Academy's Sword Suppression Gate is quite famous, so they use it as their emblem. Tonight’s Azure Sky Banquet will be held beneath it."

"Oh..." Yun Xiao picked up the invitation again, his eyes intently studying the circular symbol, and mused softly, "You think, me being such a focal figure at this banquet, if I ask to use their Sword Suppression Gate, would they entertain my request?"

Jiang Haiyan pursed her lips, replying, "Theoretically, as a young prodigy and the foster son of a Rank 3 Heavenly Officer, the Grand Firmament Academy should agree."

"The problem isn’t theory. The entire Grand Firmament Academy despises me now, and my foster father doesn't seem too happy with me either." Yun Xiao chuckled, shaking his head.

"Then don’t go," Jiang Heqing suggested dismissively. "It’s fine, no one will think you're afraid. In fact, you actually turning up would create a stir instead."

"Really?" Yun Xiao considered, his gaze shifting over the invitation. Finally, he laughed. "What a pickle!"

"So?" Jiang Haiyan watched him with a smile.

"It makes me want to go even more!"

What was there to fear? General Cao hadn’t openly turned against him just yet. So, Yun Xiao planned to make use of his status to its fullest.

"Let’s go stir up some more trouble for Old Cao," Yun Xiao said gleefully.

"Ah, such talent." Blue Star chuckled.

And so, as dusk settled, Yun Xiao strolled out of the Hall of Soaring Thunder. He was accompanied by a pair of beauties, each arm wrapped around a slender waist. Amid curious glances, the three headed toward the direction of the Grand Firmament Academy.

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