Chapter 690: The Celestial Dao and the Fat Rat

Chapter 690: Chapter 690: The Celestial Dao and the Fat Rat

Using the Supreme Technique from the *Divine Sky Nine Heavens Profound Vault Undying True Scripture*, he drew upon the Destruction Thunderbolt power of his own Divine Sky Dao Fruit. It was like a billion Purple Gold Thunder Hammers, repeatedly forging and tempering that mass of crimson Origin.

Each strike of the Thunderbolt triggered an even more violent resistance from the Dao Fruit. Pure Yang Fire Power, like crimson magma, erupted and clashed fiercely with the Purple Gold Thunder Light, only to be forcibly constrained and fused under the Profound Vault Undying’s Dao Rhyme.

The process was exceptionally perilous. The slightest misstep would result in a backlash from the Dao Fruit, incinerating his Grotto Heaven.

His left arm’s Anger Aspect held the Star Spirit Banner. Within it, the long-since meticulously extracted Great Brightness Authority shone brightly, forming a resilient, harmonizing barrier. This barrier continuously pacified the destructive energy torrents caused by the clashing Thunder Fire, while simultaneously absorbing the essence of Earth Fire to replenish his energy.

Profound Light flowed from the fingertips of his right arm’s Ice Desert Aspect as it formed the Linn Character Seal, entering the Linn Character State. With the state of Supreme Forgetting Emotions, it precisely controlled the output of every strand of Magical Power and the landing point of each Thunderbolt, ensuring the refining process continued in a state of controlled frenzy.

The entire Earth Vein Space was illuminated in a bizarre and motley light. The roar of interweaving Thunder Fire was incessant, day and night, as if a new star was being forged.

The sooner he refined it, the sooner he could rest easy.

Xu Yunfan, naturally, would not hold back.

Meanwhile, within the Aitira Realm, the flames of war had spread from the scorched earth of the West Field to the ruins of Broken Divine Countries scattered across the Aitela Continent.

Under the clandestine guidance of Zhang Ziyang, the native Taiyi the Celestial Lord of Salvation and Relief, the Primordial Sect disciples led by Lu Chuan relied on the increasingly perfected All Heaven Shifting Array to engage in countless bloody tug-of-wars with the Wansheng Sword Sect invaders.

As for why this realm had the utterly incongruous divine position of Taiyi the Celestial Lord of Salvation and Relief, Lu Chuan claimed ignorance. All he knew was that he was to follow the True Monarch’s instructions.

He didn’t ask, didn’t say—he just went at it with everything he had.

This time, the Wansheng Sword Sect used disciples from Arctic Peak as their main vanguard. Among them, a Foundation Establishment Perfection Sword Cultivator named Ling Jue was particularly eye-catching.

Ling Jue was tall and slender, his face as stern and cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice. His platinum sword robe was immaculate.

His aura was truly heavy and condensed. As he walked, his steps seemed to land on frozen time itself, and the surrounding scenery appeared to slow down slightly just by his presence.

The Sword Intent he nurtured was precisely the "Eternal Firm Sword Domain," derived from the Eternal Celestial Light True Monarch’s peak-suppressing ultimate skill, the *Celestial Light Eternal Firm Sword Manual*.

This Sword Intent didn’t pursue ultimate sharpness or destruction, but rather, stasis.

Once the Sword Domain was unfurled, the space-time within a hundred-zhang radius would seem to be plunged into viscous amber. The air would solidify like iron, light would flow sluggishly, and an opponent’s every move—even the flow of their thoughts and the circulation of their Magical Power—would become incredibly difficult, as if the slow-motion button had been pressed.

Yet Ling Jue himself moved normally within this stagnant domain. The slender sword in his hand, named Cold Abyss, transformed into streaks of platinum light that froze time, precisely striking at the openings his opponents revealed due to their sluggishness.

Lu Chuan and his group attempted to encircle and kill him several times, but they suffered great losses every time they stepped into the Eternal Firm Sword Domain. With their movements slowed, Ling Jue easily broke their formations, and they lost several Foundation Establishment Daoist Masters.

If Zhang Ziyang hadn’t used the power of the Incense Fire Divine Dao at a critical moment to interfere by invoking the Aitira Realm’s remnant Celestial Dao Rules, slightly disrupting the Sword Domain, Lu Chuan would have likely paid an even greater price.

Seated on Divine Sky Peak refining the Dao Fruit, Xu Yunfan’s Divine Thought would occasionally sweep across the Aitira battlefield. He gave Ling Jue’s performance nothing more than an indifferent glance.

In his eyes, although this young man’s Sword Intent had grasped some of the essence of the Celestial Light Eternal Firm and walked the path of freezing space-time, and while his potential seemed astounding, he had in fact already reached its end.

’He is merely walking the old path of the Eternal Celestial Light.’

Xu Yunfan’s thoughts stirred, but he made no move to intervene.

’If Lu Chuan gets himself killed so easily, then he isn’t worthy of my attention.’

’As long as Celestial Light True Monarch lives, his Dao blocks the way forward. No matter how talented this Ling Jue is, this is as far as he goes. His Sword Intent, however strong, is ultimately an imitation. It lacks the True Intent of Dao vindication, and he can never ascend to the rank of True Monarch by this path.’

This was the cruel truth of the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm: a Dao Fruit was unique. Once a predecessor occupied it, those who came later would never have a chance to rise unless they could either forge a new path or shatter the one before them.

No matter how stunning Ling Jue’s Eternal Firm Sword Domain was, he could not escape the cage drawn by the Celestial Light True Monarch.

Ten years passed amidst the roar of refining the Dao Fruit and the smoke of war within the realm.

The shifting tides of the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm seemed to have nothing to do with him. As a True Monarch, he naturally sat high above in the Nine Heavens, qualified to be free from worldly cages and their messy affairs.

When the last trace of violent Origin within the Light-Leaving Flame Burning Red Sun Dao Fruit was completely subdued, transforming into a docile yet majestic stream of Crimson Flowing Fire and perfectly merging into the core of Xu Yunfan’s Purple Gold Golden Core in his Dantian, blending seamlessly with the Divine Sky Thunderbolt and the Profound Vault Undying’s Dao Rhyme, an unprecedentedly vast power instantly filled his entire body.

On his Attribute Panel, the Daoist Cultivation Value skyrocketed, stopping steadily at 2000.

However, the very instant this power reached its zenith, a strange change occurred.

The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi that had been naturally gathering around Xu Yunfan suddenly began to avoid him, as if it had encountered an invisible barrier.

The Gang Wind that had been howling atop Divine Sky Peak fell instantly silent, and the sea of clouds froze in place.

A cold and vast sense of rejection, originating from this very world, descended silently like an invisible shackle.

He felt as if he had been isolated by the entire Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm, becoming a lone island in a vast ocean.

He looked up at the sky. Though it was clear for ten thousand miles, he could faintly feel an extremely suppressive, destructive aura brewing and circling in the Nine Heavens above. It was as if a billion invisible gazes, filled with disgust and judgment, had locked onto him.

It wasn’t hostility directed at an individual, but rather a rejection born from the world’s own instincts—the kind of conspicuous mark placed on a giant rat.

Having excessively taken from the world’s Origin without providing any substantial feedback, he was now faintly regarded by the realm’s Celestial Dao as a parasite that needed to be eliminated.

If he went any further, it would likely no longer be mere rejection, but a direct descent of destructive heavenly retribution, placing him on a blacklist.

’So that’s how it is...’

Purple Gold Thunder Light flashed in Xu Yunfan’s eyes. He instantly understood why old-timer True Monarchs like True Monarch Pu Du and True Monarch Dong Ming sometimes seemed so constrained, and also why those True Monarchs so often spoke of Merit.

The weight of those two words in this realm was not some empty, ethereal concept; it was the key to canceling out the "giant rat" label and maintaining a harmonious coexistence with the world.

Plundering was necessary for survival, but if one only took and never gave back, one would eventually be rejected by heaven and earth.

A Cultivator’s goal was indeed to transcend heaven and earth, to live in defiance of them.

But before one had the power to do so, it was naturally necessary to maintain a good relationship, wasn’t it?

As his thoughts raced, Xu Yunfan naturally spotted an excellent opportunity.

Successfully sacrificing the Aitira Realm to the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm would be the perfect chance to acquire a massive amount of worldly Merit and wash away his label.

’Can’t have a red-name tag!’

The time had come.

Xu Yunfan’s gaze was like lightning as it pierced through the endless void, locking onto the Aitira Realm.

At that moment, a Divine Thought message from Zhang Ziyang arrived.

"Yunfan, the remaining Divine Spirits in the Aitira Realm have all been purged or suppressed. The Incense Fire Wish Power network now covers the West Field and thirty percent of the Broken Divine Countries. My Dao Foundation is stable; I only await the opportune moment to receive a Taihua Fruit Position."