"No matter what the battle, I must not be blinded by confidence. Before considering victory, I should consider the possibility of defeat." After Qin Yun entered Green Touring Palace, his strength had increased by leap and bounds. He was becoming more and more spirited.

On his mission to kill Old Fiend Fire Puppet, although he ultimately killed Demon King Prestige Goat, Old Fiend Fire Puppet had escaped.

In his battle with Bear Mountain, he had just barely knocked him away.

Clearly, there were forever infinite possibilities when it came to true combat.

"Junior Brother Qin, your flying sword arts are truly impressive."

"Junior Brother Qin, you managed to defeat Senior Brother Bear Mountain after just over ten years of being in Green Touring Palace. Impressive."

"Junior Brother Qin…"

Several Green Touring Palace disciples came forward to congratulate him.

Among them were officials in the Heavenly Courts. Some were hegemons of their dominions, others had established their own sects, while others were subordinates of mighty figures…

But at that moment, all of them were the same in that they were rather friendly. There even some who had never interacted with Qin Yun before that came over to exchange a few words to acquaint themselves with him!

In the Three Realms…

Strength was ultimately the most important thing!

Qin Yun was an Essence Soul sword immortal. His two great divine powers were rather impressive, and the might of his flying sword was able to repress Bear Mountain. Anyone could tell that, although Qin Yun would find it increasingly difficult to raise his strength in time to come, the moment he broke through, he could even threaten mighty figures in a way or two!

…

"Senior Brother Sa, should we go meet Junior Brother Qin?" said an azure-robed Daoist with a smile. A distance away, Qin Yun was busy socializing with his fellow disciples.

"I"m already contented. It"s time to return," said the white-robed Senior Brother Sa Xu.

"You aren"t going over?" The azure-robed Daoist was surprised.

"There"s no need to." Senior Brother Sa Xu directly flew away as the azure-robed Daoist followed immediately. "By the way, Senior Brother Sa, what do you think of Junior Brother Qin?"

"He"s not bad. However, it will be difficult for him to have another sharp increase in strength," said Sa Xu indifferently. "There are two evident paths for him. One, he creates a Skyimmortal Dharmic formulation for the sword immortal lineage. That will raise his Dharmic powers to the ninth firmament Skyimmortal. This will be the most obvious increase in strength, something that will allow him to match mighty figures. Second, he could focus on cultivating in divine powers. Essence Soul Earth Immortals who wish to become famous in the Three Realms can only rely on divine powers due to their inferior Dharmic powers! If he gains phenomenal success in the divine powers… I won"t dare to say he can match mighty figures, but it wouldn"t be a problem for him to escape with his life after trading nearly a hundred blows with mighty figures. That would already enough for him to reign supreme in the Three Realms. But both of these two paths are extremely difficult."

"I heard that his two great divine powers were the great divine powers of the ancient Heavenly Thearch," said the azure-robed Daoist immediately. "If he cultivates them to the perfected state, he will even be able to kill mighty figures. Even the combined forces of about ten mighty figures can be trapped with the Heavenly Cycle Stellar Realm."

"However, ever since the Ancient Heavenly Courts was destroyed, no one has been able to cultivate it to perfection," said Sa Xu.

"That"s true," said the azure-robed Daoist. "However, Junior Brother Qin managed to attain initial success after cultivating the two great divine powers for about ten plus years. If he continues at that rate…"

"He might have chance of gaining phenomenal success, but as for perfection? I think it"s something that can wait until he attains a Golden Immortal Dao fruit." Sa Xu smiled as he flew out of the void with the azure-robed Daoist in tow. There were few Green Touring Palace disciples that dared converse with Sa Xu for such a long time.

Senior Brother Sa Xu was extremely powerful.

He had a high standing in the Three Realms as well. The Heavenly Courts had even repeatedly invited him to be a high official in the Heavenly Courts!

However, Sa Xu was just too arrogant! He had a bad temper!

Few fellow disciples could catch his eye to the point of him making the effort to engage with them. Over time, ordinary Green Touring Palace disciples learned to keep a respectable distance from him.

******

"Junior Brother Qin, congratulations." The three pig demon brothers came forward on their own accord.

"Senior Brothers," greeted Qin Yun politely.

"Junior Brother Qin, you sure have broadened our horizons." The eldest was very humble as he chuckled and said, "You were able to modify the Five Directions Sword Mountain from Eldest Senior Brother"s Five Directions Sword Sutra but still produce such astonis.h.i.+ng strength. I"m truly impressed."

Mastering it was very difficult.

Modifying it while maintaining its strength was even harder.

"I"m impressed as well." The youngest brother was most unctuous. He immediately said, "That fellow Bear Mountain is silly. Those demons with heinous sins may not be fiendcelestials, but they are almost no different from one. They deserve death. Killing them can even brighten the light providence s.h.i.+nes on us demons! The reputation of us demons is largely sullied by these demons who have committed heinous sins. I, on the other hand, have always been aligned with good."

"This I know. Who in Green Touring Palace doesn"t know about your trio"s reputation?" said Qin Yun with a smile.

The pig demon trio"s old nest was in the Heavenly realm.

What sort of place was the Heavenly realm?

That was the core region of the Three Realms. The Heavenly Courts and the Western Paradise"s Mt. Numinous were there. It was a place filled with experts and people of all sorts of natures. By surviving in the Three Realms, the pig demon trio was more aware than most of how they should act to live longer.

After a while spent handling the numerous fellow disciples, Qin Yun and Ancestral Master Zhang flew out of the void together.

"Qin Yun," Ancestral Master Zhang said with a smile. "You were previously an itinerant cultivator and could only cultivate by trial and error. I long guessed that you would soar the moment you entered Green Touring Palace. Still, I never expected you to come this far after cultivating for ten plus years in Green Touring Palace."

"It will be harder to raise my strength to the next level," said Qin Yun with a smile.

…

"Senior Brother Bear Mountain, that Qin Yun only barely managed to injure you. That bit of injury is nothing worth mentioning to you. If this was a life-and-death battle, perhaps the one who ultimately lost would have been him."

"Yes, Senior Brother Bear Mountain now has a secondary focus on battle magi body-tempering. His body is so powerful that no one can do a thing about him if they aren"t mighty figures." Several of the demon disciples followed Bear Mountain while expressing their disgruntlement.

However, Bear Mountain remained calm. He glanced at the few demons beside him with his calm eyes.

The demons felt their hearts skip a beat when swept by that gaze.

"I, Bear Mountain, am not a sore loser!" Bear Mountain said in a deep voice.

He did not care about merit or sin.

He paid more attention to strength! He believed that everything depended on one"s fists!

Back when the Ancient Heavenly Courts fell, his opinion was that the Ancient Heavenly Courts was not strong enough to prevent its destruction. If one had the power to suppress the Three Realms, one would naturally rule over it.

He had been filled with confidence, but at the instant he was sent off the Dao Exchange Platform… he was shocked deep down despite only having negligible injuries.

Qin Yun was only an Essence Soul sword immortal!

How long had he cultivated? Yet, he was already able to repress him?

What right did he have to feel complacent about mastering the battle magi body-tempering?

"Your Highness…"

"I"m still not strong enough."

Bear Mountain said silently, "I"m still too weak. But at least in this territory of the Effulgent dominion, I, Bear Mountain, will definitely protect our demons" standing."

******

News of this battle did not spread wildly in the Three Realms. After all, it was only a battle at the ninth firmament Skyimmortal level.

But the battle still had great influence in the Effulgent dominion.

Although Bear Mountain was defeated, he became more famous. Everyone now knew that this Demon King Bear Mountain had mastered a battle magi body tempering Dharmic formulation. His body was now even more terrifying.

As for Qin Yun"s fame, it was even more astonis.h.i.+ng. An Essence Soul sword immortal had cultivated for such a short period of time, but was strong enough to repress Bear Mountain! The momentum of his rise left many people who paid attention to him astounded.

…

Tenebrous Fiend world.

This was a Small World where the highest leader of the Effulgent dominion"s fiendish way, Fiend Supremacy, resided in. Fiend Supremacy"s strength matched that of mighty figures and since he was in a Small World, mighty figures could not descend down into it with their true bodies. In addition, the construction of the Tenebrous Fiend world had been done with the help of Ancestral Fiends. Several Ancestral Fiends had made efforts to ensure the Tenebrous Fiend world was an impregnable world.

It was tens, if not a hundred times, more terrifying than Yellow-robed Supremacy"s Skywolf world.

After all, Skywolf world was mainly built with Yellow-robed Supremacy"s strength, while Tenebrous Fiend world had been established with the help of several fiendish mighty figures.

A large number of Skyfiends resided in here.

For instance, Roc Fiend, Old Fiend Fire Puppet, and others had fled back to this world. Empyrean Lord Kuifu had similarly fled back here.

"What?"

Kuifu sat cross-legged in a dark cave abode which had black mist emanating his surroundings.

"Brother Kuifu, the news isn"t wrong. Demon King Bear Mountain had indeed mastered a battle magi body tempering Dharmic formulation, greatly improving his strength! As for Qin Yun, he was even more impressive. His Intrinsic Flying Sword cast a move from the Five Directions Sword Sutra, throwing Demon King Bear Mountain off of the Dao Exchange Platform," an incorporeal figure beside him said.

"Help me gather more detailed information of Qin Yun and Daoist Divine Firmament," instructed Kuifu.

"Yes, yes. I"ll definitely do my best," said the incorporeal figure fawningly before it dissipated.

Kuifu"s expression turned darker and colder.

"Darn it."

"I thought this Qin Yun only became more powerful because of his two great divine powers. I never imagined his flying sword arts to become even more powerful. He"s stronger than when he defeated Roc Fiend and Old Fiend Fire Puppet."

"Daoist Divine Firmament is already a tough one. Now, there"s the addition of Qin Yun. It"s getting more and more difficult for me to conquer the Great Chang world."

Kuifu narrowed his eyes. "I"m the only one who knows of the secret of the Great Chang world. It will eventually fall into my hands."

Following that, he closed his eyes and continued cultivating.

(End of Volume)