Chapter 476: Dragon Gate Shatters
Yun Che found himself in an exceptionally subtle state. He suddenly felt no pain, heard no sound, and everything around him seemed to have disappeared all at once... He felt as if he were floating gently, freely roaming through the boundless void of space. Between heaven and earth, in the midst of chaos, it seemed as if only his own existence remained.
Boundless and gentle, the energy of heaven and earth rushed toward him, wrapping around his entire body, pouring into him, healing all his injuries, restoring his profound force, and tempering his physique. This energy of heaven and earth felt both familiar and unfamiliar, far purer than before... No, to be precise, although it was still the same energy of heaven and earth, it felt as if it belonged to a completely different level!
His consciousness told him: his Great Dao Pagoda Art had broken through yet again!!
And this breakthrough was completely different from his previous ones. The previous breakthroughs could be considered breakthroughs within the same level, but this time, the extraordinary feeling was that of a great realm breakthrough from one level to another, higher level!
Back when he broke through to the third realm of the Great Dao Pagoda Art, Mo Li had told him that every three realms of the Great Dao Pagoda Art marked a watershed; the first three realms could be considered the initial stage, and entering the fourth realm was stepping into the middle stage... and for a mortal body to enter the fourth realm would be more difficult than reaching the heavens.
Yet now, less than three years since his last breakthrough, he had successfully stepped into the fourth realm of the Great Dao Pagoda Art, which Mo Li had said was "more difficult than reaching the heavens"!!
The cultivation of the Great Dao Pagoda Art did not rely on combat, nor did it depend on profound force at all; its advancement mainly depended on insight and understanding. During these eighteen months, Yun Che's Great Dao Pagoda Art had been in operation with every breath, and for more than eighty percent of the time, it was operating at its maximum, ultimate limit, absorbing an incalculable amount of heaven and earth energy.
Subtly and silently, his communication with the power of heaven and earth, as well as his insight into the Great Dao Pagoda, had been continuously deepening, until he finally succeeded in breaking through the bottleneck of the fourth realm and entered an entirely new domain of the Great Dao Pagoda Art.
His body was also reborn under the baptism of the higher-level Great Dao Pagoda Art, and it was an extremely significant transformation.
As Yun Che's Great Dao Pagoda Art broke through, the speed of his injury recovery increased sharply. The wounds on his body healed at a visible rate. Through the healing wounds, Mo Li clearly saw that within his blood... there was clearly a trace of faint gold.
"The fourth realm of the Great Dao Pagoda... the legendary first step toward the 'Sacred Body,' and he accomplished it in less than five years, even faster than my brother..."
Mo Li murmured softly. She was actually a little absent-minded at this moment. Even with her knowledge, she was deeply shocked by Yun Che's breakthrough. For the first three realms, although Yun Che had broken through earlier than her expectations each time, it only surprised her slightly. But this time, her emotions could only be described as "shock." Because the breakthrough to the fourth realm of the Great Dao Pagoda was a completely different concept from the first three... Although his breakthrough was largely related to the eighteen months of hellish space storm tempering, Mo Li knew very well that this was not the only reason. The most important factors were his comprehension and fortune—that is, the affinity and favor of the chaos of heaven and earth toward him. Otherwise, if it were another person with the same physique and strength but relatively ordinary comprehension and fortune, even if they experienced the same space storm for eighteen months, or even eighteen years, a hundred and eighty years, or a thousand eight hundred years, it would be extremely difficult to achieve a breakthrough to the fourth realm of the Great Dao Pagoda.
The fact before her told Mo Li that Yun Che's comprehension and fortune... far exceeded that of her brother.
After two hours, Yun Che's body was fully tempered, and his injuries had healed. He opened his eyes, and in them flashed a clarity that was almost eerie. Feeling the earth-shattering changes in his body, his excitement was difficult to calm.
The improvement in profound force was not too great, but the enhancement of his physical strength shocked him—he estimated it had increased by at least three times! And this three-fold increase referred not only to the toughness of his muscles, but also to the strength of his bones and the endurance of his internal organs.
The increase in physical strength also meant that his overall combat power had surged by a considerable margin.
"Mo Li, I..."
"Hmph, at least you didn't disappoint me too much." Mo Li's voice carried a clear snort, but there was... a tremor almost never heard before. Obviously, her mood was far from as calm as her tone suggested.
"Hehe." Yun Che grinned. His excitement calmed down as quickly as possible. He turned his gaze to the stone door that now had a white mark from his earlier strike, and his emotions became even more turbulent: "Mo Li, do you think... now that I'm stronger, the possibility of blasting open this stone door has increased a lot?"
"Why don't you just try and find out?"
"Mm!" Yun Che nodded heavily and strode up to the stone door. This time, he did not rush to strike with his sword. Instead, he reached out his hand and touched the stone door, feeling its cold and heavy texture. This stone door was the only exit from this sealed space. Over the past eighteen months, he had attempted to blast it many times, but not only had he failed to damage it, he hadn't even made it vibrate more violently. Instead, each time he was heavily injured by the backlash and spat blood... Of course, those "many times" were in the first few months; later, he had even given up trying.
He had always known that although this stone door was heavy, it was not indestructible. It was just that his own strength was far from enough. Perhaps he would never be able to reach that level of power...
But now it was different!
Standing before the stone door, he slowly exhaled. Then, his eyes half-closed, his right hand suddenly punched the stone door!
Bam!!
Accompanied by a dull impact sound, an extremely faint noise came from the stone door—at the spot where Yun Che's fist had struck, a white speck about the size of a grain of rice appeared. Although tiny, it was like a glaring needle piercing Yun Che's eyes, causing the blood throughout his body to boil completely.
Indeed! Now, I can already damage this stone door! This means that the stone door is not indestructible. Now, I have the ability to cause damage to it, even if it's only such a minor scratch.
Moreover, just now, it wasn't even his full power!
"Oh." Mo Li's gaze also fell on the white speck, but besides a faint sound, she showed no particular emotion.
"Maybe I really can blast this stone door open bit by bit." Yun Che said excitedly. With the space storm ceasing and his power skyrocketing, and now seeing hope of escaping this place, Yun Che couldn't help but be excited. He stretched out his hand, and Dragon Gate flew back into his grip. He grasped Dragon Gate with both hands, confidence shining in his eyes.
"Purgatory!"
A faint profound light lit up on Yun Che's body. His aura instantly turned violent, and in his eyes, a blood-red glow appeared. The Phoenix Flame also surged, quickly spreading to cover the entire blade of Dragon Gate. The "Purgatory" state was activated. Although his body still felt somewhat heavy, it was completely different from the previous feeling of having a mountain on his back, with his internal organs almost shattering. He believed that if his profound force broke through to the King Xuan realm, he might be able to maintain this state at any time without any pressure, just like "Evil Soul" and "Heart Incineration."
"This time, I'll definitely blast a small gap!" Yun Che growled with confidence. "One small gap each time, and one day, I'll blast a large gap big enough for me to get out!"
As his voice fell, Yun Che's aura had swelled to its peak. He let out a loud roar, and with Phoenix Flame blazing around Dragon Gate, he struck down with all his might...
"Annihilation of Heaven and Earth!!"
BOOM!!!!!!!
The space around the stone door completely collapsed, and the entire world seemed to tremble. Yun Che had prepared himself to withstand the enormous backlash. At the moment Dragon Gate collided with the stone door, his arms went numb instantly, and at the same time, he suddenly felt an abnormal lightness in his hands...
CLANG............
The violent force and air currents reversed and slammed fiercely into Yun Che, causing him to spit out a large mouthful of blood. His back slammed heavily against the wall behind him again, much harder than before. Dragon Gate was also knocked out of his hand once more, but this time, Dragon Gate had broken into two pieces, flying in two different directions.
In the distorted space, a long, mournful dragon roar echoed...
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[Actually... in the original setting, Dragon Gate was supposed to be cut by Ye Xinghan using Sun Moon Calamity. But in the chapter where Yun Che was pushed to the brink by Ye Xinghan, I actually forgot about that!! So I had to break it here...]