Tribulation of Myriad Races

Intense waves of blood aura were undulating somewhere in the Sea of Stars. The blood of an eighth-stage Sunmoon divine was incredibly powerful. Fortunately, Xia Longwu's saber qi was keeping the blood in check. Otherwise, Su Yu would need to put a lot more effort into extracting the blood from the corpse.

"How terrifying. Prefect Xia is scarily strong."

Su Yu was very impressed. Just how strong was Xia Longwu? From what he could see, this eighth-stage Sunmoon seemed to have been killed with a single strike. He also noted that the fatal wound on the Sunmoon's neck was probably much larger previously.

But subsequently, the wound had actually closed by itself. Nevertheless, the process was left incomplete due to the presence of Xia Longwu’s saber qi, leaving a smaller wound on the neck.

If it wasn’t for Xia Longwu’s saber qi, this corpse would eventually return to pristine condition. After all, the corpse of a Sunmoon was powerful enough to do this. This was the terrifying power of a Sunmoon. Or to be precise, this was the terrifying power of an eighth-stage Sunmoon from the divine race.

A Sunmoon was capable of regrowing their body from a drop of blood. But the premise for that was the continued existence of the sea of willpower. Otherwise, the body could regrow, but it would only be an empty shell. And Xia Longwu's saber had directly destroyed the sea of willpower of this Sunmoon.

Carefully, Su Yu stored the blood he extracted in the best jade bottles he had. Each drop was stored in a separate bottle. He even formed a shadow barrier around each bottle with his deceit character to prevent the aura of the blood essence from leaking.

Before long, he was done extracting nine drops of blood essence. The pressure emanated by the corpse had weakened considerably. But there was one problem he had to deal with. The saber qi.

The saber qi had to be removed or it would be too hard for him to explain it when selling the corpse. Anyone would be able to see that this was someone who had died to the Sky Sundering Saber. Was he supposed to convince them that the Sky Sundering Saber existed back then as well? What nonsense was that?

Su Yu felt very helpless. He had to deal with it. He started hesitating. His cultivation of the Sky Sundering Saber was quite deep as well. Would he be able to absorb Xia Longwu's saber qi?

"I guess I can try. After all, I did manage to absorb some of Great Xia King's saber qi previously."

With his Sky Sundering Saber active, he started carefully absorbing the saber qi. With a sudden pop, bloody scars appeared on his skin while his internal organs shook violently. All 144 of his Sky Sundering Saber acupoints activated as he absorbed and processed the saber qi in the corpse.

While absorbing the saber qi, he started tempering his body with it. This was an excellent chance to forge his body. He could also strengthen his Sky Sundering Saber in the process. But even after spending more than ten minutes, he had only managed to deal with a single strand of saber qi. Looking at the remaining saber qi, he felt both joy and helplessness.

The joy came from the fact that he could continue strengthening his body. The helplessness came from the realization that a single strand of Xia Longwu's saber qi could kill him without much trouble.

Fuck!

The gap between them was still too big. The saber qi here had first been weakened by its clash with an eighth-stage Sunmoon before being left to its own devices for more than one year. Even so, it was still so powerful.

Was Prefect Xia really a ninth-stage Sunmoon? Su Yu couldn't help but wonder if that was really the case. Could a ninth-stage Sunmoon be so strong?

That was enlightening. A single strand of saber qi had nearly destroyed his body. One ought to know that his body possessed the strength of about thirty thousand acupoints. How powerful would a swing of Prefect Xia's saber be? It would be unimaginable. In any case, it was unimaginable for Su Yu.

Time passed as he continued absorbing the saber qi and strengthening himself. Gradually, an odd expression appeared on his face. The source qi in the 144 Sky Sundering Saber acupoints in his body had suddenly assumed the shape of a saber.

"What is this?"

Wasn't source qi supposed to be formless? His expression became more and more odd. The saber source qi worked like a seed. With a slight thought from him, a saber attack was released, slicing through the water in front of him and creating a massive opening between the parted water.

"Hmm?"

Su Yu looked surprised. His attack seemed to have grown much stronger than before. He looked at his acupoints again. Sure enough, the source qi in the 144 acupoints had taken the form of a saber.

Suddenly, he thought of something and took out a book. This was the Sky Sundering Saber manual given to him by Marquis Xia back then. And this was a manual written personally by Xia Longwu.

He flipped through the pages, trying to find an explanation for this. What the hell was happening? Abruptly, his vision blurred as he found himself once again brought into the world of a willpower text. One ought to know that he had obtained this manual a long time ago. The willpower on the manual should have dissipated by now. Furthermore, as he grew in strength, the weak willpower text had eventually lost the ability to host his willpower.

"Cloudbreach already?"

The moment Su Yu was brought into the willpower text, Xia Longwu appeared before him. That was a willpower projection. The actual Xia Longwu was not here.

"The saber achieves its form. Breach the clouds, undergo nine transformations..."

Su Yu was greatly surprised. This was actually the second part of the cultivation method. Or to be precise, this was the nine transformation method of the Sky Sundering Saber.

The Sky Sundering Saber he learned did not contain a body forging method. He had thought that the Xia Family had simply not intended to teach him more. But now, he reached a different conclusion. Perhaps the Xia Family had simply not bothered since their original body forging method was not particularly powerful.

Instead, the transformation method was left in this manual. Due to the transformation of his source qi, the manual had actually judged that he was a Cloudbreach. But this wasn't surprising. Su Yu's body was simply far stronger than that of a regular Skysoar. He had yet to think about his nine transformations because he believed that he was still very far away from that.

But in truth, with twenty-eight forgings, his body was far stronger than even someone who had completed thirty-six forgings. And after absorbing some of Xia Longwu's saber qi, even his source qi was starting to change. This was the start of the nine transformations. It was understandable why the manual would misunderstand that he was already a Cloudbreach and ready to learn the nine transformations.

Su Yu's eyes sparkled. So...he could start his nine transformations in advance?

***

At the same time, Xia Longwu, who had just left Liu City, blanked out.

Once again, he looked toward the Sea of Stars. What the hell was happening? Cloudbreach already? Was it physical cultivation? How was it possible for someone to grow so fast?

That brat would aim to complete at least thirty-six body forgings, right? How long had it been? It wouldn't be surprising for the kid's willpower to grow fast. After all, the kid had opened a lot of apertures.

But physical cultivation required one to temper one's body bit by bit. And with how strong Su Yu's body was, his body forging speed would absolutely not be so fast. Even if the kid was given unlimited blood essence of divines and devils, it had only been about five months since the kid reached the Skysoar Realm in physical cultivation. Had the kid completed all his body forgings?

Xia Longwu frowned. Even if the kid was incredibly gifted and given unlimited resources to complete a forging every ten days, the kid wouldn't have been able to complete more than fifteen body forgings in five months, right? What nonsense was this?

"Did he receive a massive reward from the Sunmoon he killed, allowing him to complete his body forging in advance? Is he stopping at thirty-six body forgings?"

Xia Longwu was unsure. It was slightly possible for the kid to complete his forging so fast if it was thirty-six forgings. But it was also quite unlikely. Did the kid stop at twenty-seven forgings?

But after thinking about it, Xia Longwu blanked out again. A different possibility appeared in his mind. Did the kid... enter the transformation stage in advance accidentally after absorbing his saber qi?

That was possible. After all, the kid had taken the corpse out earlier. But...did the kid take the corpse out just to absorb his saber qi? Had the kid gone mad?

Xia Longwu knew very well how powerful his saber qi was. Any carelessness could result in the destruction of the kid's body.

"Yes, we are both Sky Sundering Saber cultivators. But my Sky Sundering Saber is different than your Sky Sundering Saber."

Xia Longwu was quite dumbfounded. Was the kid crazy? For the sake of strength, the kid was taking all sorts of risks. Nothing seemed too dangerous for the kid anymore.

Whatever. So be it. Xia Longwu was too busy to do anything about the kid. If the kid wanted to grow, he had to rely on himself. He wouldn't be able to grow into an expert if he was cared for like a baby.

***

Xia Longwu decided to leave Su Yu to his own devices.

As for Su Yu, his thoughts were far less complicated.

He was busy studying the Xia Family's nine transformation method. The so-called nine transformations was something that would occur when one's body and acupoints were strong enough to change the very nature of one's source qi. Each transformation would further increase the might of one's source qi.

For example, if the damage the source qi could do was valued at 1 before transformation, the value might increase to 1.1 after a single transformation. Or perhaps it could reach 1.2, or even 1.5.

Generally, each transformation would increase the source qi's strength by about ten percent. Of course, there were also people who would receive a pitifully low amount of growth after each transformation.

For example, someone with only thirty-six acupoints, nine body forgings, and the weakest of cultivation methods. It wouldn't be surprising to see someone like that gaining only five percent of strength per transformation after stepping into the Cloudbreach Realm.

Su Yu couldn't even be bothered to consider the strength of such Cloudbreaches. Why? Because they were simply not strong. But he still thought about it out of curiosity. Through his calculation, he noted that a cultivator with thirty-six acupoints would only have the strength of around fifty or sixty acupoints at the ninth-stage Infinite Strength Realm.

After undergoing nine body forgings to become a ninth-stage Skysoar, someone like that would only have the strength of about 120 acupoints. Sure, as a Skysoar, one would probably be able to gain additional sources of strength. Thus, Su Yu decided to be kind and assume that this person had the strength of 150 acupoints.

After reaching the Cloudbreach Realm, that person would receive a boost of around five percent per transformation. And after nine transformations...wow. That was so pitiful.

Someone like that would only have the strength of around two hundred acupoints as a ninth-stage Cloudbreach.

Su Yu wondered if there was really such a weak Cloudbreach in existence. That was so weak it was ridiculous. Of course, his calculation wasn't too accurate. He had neglected the boost one would receive after each breakthrough. But that was because he was so strong that the boost seemed negligible for him.

If there was really such a Cloudbreach in existence, that Cloudbreach would more likely to have the strength of around three to five hundred acupoints. Theoretically, such a ninth-stage Cloudbreach could exist.

But Su Yu did not think that it was very likely for someone like that to actually exist. Could someone cultivating the weakest of cultivation methods at each stage of cultivation even reach the Cloudbreach Realm?

If someone was capable of reaching the Cloudbreach Realm even with the worst cultivation methods available, that would only mean that this person was decently talented. In such a situation, why wouldn't this person switch to a better cultivation method?

Even his old man was starting to open more acupoints. His old man was also in the process of switching to a different body forging method. Otherwise, he would remain a warrior with only thirty-six acupoints.

"Such a person probably doesn't exist, right?"

Su Yu was feeling quite doubtful. For example, in the human realm, those with thirty-six acupoints would try to open more acupoints or pick a cultivation method with eighteen body forgings after reaching a certain level in cultivation.

In any case, he had never seen a ninth-stage Cloudbreach with only the strength of a few hundred acupoints.

Soon, Su Yu tossed the matter to the back of his mind. He reminded himself to never kill someone like that if he did encounter one. That was such a unique existence. He should keep such existence around and look at them in admiration instead. He started thinking about the XIa Family's nine transformation method again.

The nine transformations of source qi usually required the assistance of some external items to aid with the process. For example, the fruits from the ancient dragonblood tree could serve as this item. Or it could be any other treasure. Essentially, the process of nine transformations was the same as the process of gestation and rebirth.

With Xia Longwu's saber qi as the aide, Su Yu's source qi had entered the gestation process. It had yet to undergo rebirth. The saber-shaped source qi in his 144 acupoints could still be considered seeds.

After the gestation was completed, the seeds would break apart as the source qi returned to its original form. But it would improve greatly in quality. All geniuses would use a powerful item as the base for each transformation.

Su Yu had accidentally started the process with Xia Longwu's saber qi. Not everyone was capable of using Xia Longwu's saber qi as the base. For example, if Xia Huyou tried doing the same upon reaching the first-stage Cloudbreach Realm, his entire body would have been sliced apart before he could even finish absorbing the saber qi. Just remember the damage Su Yu's body suffered despite having the strength of a third-stage Mountainsea.

The saber qi wouldn't leave someone completely unharmed just because one cultivated the same method. Someone like that would face a weakened saber qi instead of receiving full immunity.

If not for the fact that Su Yu was facing a weakened saber qi, he would probably have a hard time withstanding it even with a body at the strength of a Sunmoon.

"In that case, Perfect Xia's saber qi is acting as the base for my first transformation." Su Yu muttered, "This must be a powerful base, right?"

That was what he believed. Xia Longwu was such a powerful person. How would his saber qi be a weak base? After completing the transformation, would his 144 acupoints grow much stronger than before?