Zi Xing of course had undergone a breakthrough in insight.
But never before had any enlightenment been as clear and as effortless as this one—he could grasp whatever problem he wished to comprehend and effortlessly penetrate to its core. The sensation was intoxicating.
He felt his comprehension reach a level he had never imagined. Re-examining his cultivation path, he unexpectedly discovered clear flaws in his foundational approach.
No — these were not simply “clear” flaws;
after his insight improved, he could more easily spot problems.
So he spent half a year retracing and reorganizing his past cultivation path.
From then on, his path smoothed considerably and his future became much clearer.
He then broke through his bottleneck, and within just a few months he consecutively fathomed deeper layers of the Starry Dao Road’s origin. On the Origin Staircase, this manifested as seventy consecutive steps climbed!
When Zi Xing finished his cultivation, his aura had noticeably strengthened!
The moment Zi Xing opened his eyes, a longsword slashed down from midair, imbued with terrifying fluctuations of the Star Laws.
Zi Xing’s expression shifted; instinctively he exerted his full power. Purple Extreme divine light condensed around him and swept toward the longsword.Zi Xing was confident.
The Purple Extreme divine light was already immensely powerful—its burst was more than twice as strong as any he had used before.
This move, if nothing else, would at least seriously injure the Seven Stars Dao Sovereign, if not worse.
However, to Zi Xing’s surprise, the longsword seemed wrapped in an ultimate defensive force. When the Purple Extreme divine light struck it, it was stopped instantly, as if a strong beast had sunk into mud.
The effect of the Great Being’s Form took direct effect on the longsword, completely ignoring Zi Xing’s attack damage.
Zi Xing turned pale with shock and immediately began to dodge repeatedly.
The longsword, as if able to automatically track Zi Xing’s trace, traversed space and accelerated through time—striking Zi Xing’s body at inconceivable speed.
Su Yuan’s Star Laws had already merged with time and space variations; the skill’s velocity was in a different league.
The catastrophic destruction Zi Xing had imagined did not erupt from the longsword. The instant it touched the surface of his body, it automatically dissipated, vanishing from in front of Zi Xing without a trace.
Zi Xing stared back at Su Yuan in dumbfounded confusion, unable to grasp Su Yuan’s meaning.
Su Yuan smiled calmly and said, “Congratulations, fellow cultivator, on the great advancement of your strength. Your comprehension of the laws has ascended another level. Tell me, what do you think of my Enlightenment Great Technique? If you are willing to join the Seven Stars Sect, I can perform this enlightenment technique for you again, raising your strength further. But if you choose to refuse, sorry—this will be the last time.”
Zi Xing’s face changed and his mouth opened slightly, but he did not immediately refuse.
Su Yuan smiled faintly. “I can give you ten thousand years to consider. If you decide to join the Seven Stars Sect, you can come to me anytime.”
Zi Xing’s expression darkened. In that instant he realized he had made a mistake—he should have refused at once. But remembering the effect of that enlightenment, he had hesitated for a moment.
That hesitation undoubtedly revealed his wavering toward the Celestial Court, which obviously was wrong.
“I will not leave the Celestial Court!” Zi Xing immediately declared.
Su Yuan suddenly said with a grin, “Joining the Seven Stars Sect doesn’t conflict with retaining your position in the Celestial Court. You can be a member of the Seven Stars and still continue to acknowledge the Northern Purple Extreme Great Emperor, can’t you?”
Zi Xing fell silent.
At that moment Su Yuan suddenly looked up to the sky and cupped his hands in salute toward the heavens. “Fellow cultivators of the Celestial Court, my Seven Stars Sect throws open its gates. Any cultivator willing to join the Seven Stars Sect will enjoy the enlightenment opportunity just shown to Zi Xing. I guarantee that each person can obtain at least ten such Great Technique enlightenments in a short time, and at intervals thereafter can enjoy this treatment again. If anyone is interested, call on me anytime!”
The Celestial Court—Lingxiao Palace.
The Great Technique practitioners and even the Great Beings seated in the hall had not expected Su Yuan to brazenly make an open recruitment toward them!
This was straight-up poaching—high-level poaching at that!
The scene was absurd, yet all the powerful beings in the hall fell into a strange silence.
Everyone had seen Zi Xing’s exaggerated improvement.
In just a single year his strength had surged and his comprehension of the laws had leapt dozens of origin steps. Such advancement was terrifying.
At Zi Xing’s level, advancing one origin step could take hundreds of millions of years; many cultivators are stuck indefinitely. And yet Zi Xing had crossed nearly eighty origin steps in only a year!
In that moment, the Celestial Court’s powerful gathered there were undeniably tempted.
Golden Star Immortal Emperor spoke up: “Your Majesty Zhuyuan, this man spreads demoralizing talk among the cultivators and sows discord in the Celestial Court. He may have intentions to overturn order. I petition Your Majesty to punish him, bring him back to the Court, and place him under strict watch as an example!”
Golden Star Immortal Emperor’s words shattered the calm in the Celestial Court.
Expressions around the hall shifted. If they could capture the Seven Stars Dao Sovereign and bring him back, wouldn’t they also benefit from the so-called enlightenment technique?
Thus many Great Technique practitioners of Mixed-Origin Golden Immortal rank voiced their agreement.
Zhuyuan Great Emperor watched the image in the Lingxiao Mirror with interest, looking at Su Yuan who was facing the sky.
“I had planned to use a Great Being of the Demon Realm to probe this man’s depths, but the situation has changed.”
He spoke to a nearby Great Being: “Yuan Shui Heavenly Venerable, please act—take him back to the Celestial Court.”
Yuan Shui Heavenly Venerable was robed in blue, a refined middle-aged man in demeanor. On hearing Zhuyuan Great Emperor’s order he nodded: “I will go at once.”
Zhuyuan Great Emperor’s expression was calm as he awaited good news.
Su Yuan had seen this scene too.
So his main body instantly vanished from the Big Dipper and teleported to some corner of the Underworld, leaving behind only a clone at the original location.
In the next moment, Yuan Shui Heavenly Venerable appeared above Su Yuan’s head. He produced a jade bottle in midair; the bottle mouth faced Su Yuan, inhaled deeply, and unleashed an incredible suction!
“Great Being’s Form! Ignore damage!”
Su Yuan immediately activated the tag Great Being’s Form.
His body rooted in place as if fused to the ground, almost entirely resisting Yuan Shui Heavenly Venerable’s treasure’s suction.
Surprise flickered in Yuan Shui Heavenly Venerable’s eyes.
Seizing the opportunity, Su Yuan spoke: “What is the Celestial Court’s intention? Such domineering conduct is unbecoming of a major force. A Great Being personally seizing someone—how does the Court, who prides itself on justice, reconcile this?”
Yuan Shui Heavenly Venerable replied coldly, “You used demonic arts to deceive the ministers and disrupt the Court’s order. Zhuyuan Great Emperor has ordered your arrest. The procedure is proper—if you have grievances, present them in the Lingxiao Hall; for now, come back with me.”
Su Yuan shook his head: “I do not wish to.”
“You don’t get to choose!” Yuan Shui Heavenly Venerable said matter-of-factly.
Su Yuan’s body shimmered as he triggered spatial teleportation.
“Return!”
Yuan Shui Heavenly Venerable waved nonchalantly. The clone Su Yuan had just teleported away reappeared on the spot.
That teleport wasn’t the tag World Traveler; it was just Su Yuan manipulating Spatial Law. Unsurprisingly, Yuan Shui Heavenly Venerable, a Mixed-Origin Great Luo Golden Immortal, directly reversed it.
“So powerful!”
This was Su Yuan’s first real battle with a Mixed-Origin Great Luo Golden Immortal—or rather, it wasn’t a fight. The adversary had not even tried; with a casual move he had performed an all-around crushing victory.
Su Yuan’s body instantly became a streak of light and merged into the Big Dipper behind him.
Under Su Yuan’s control, the entire Big Dipper began to spin rapidly.
Yuan Shui Heavenly Venerable’s eyes narrowed.
Each star of the Big Dipper equated to a Mixed-Origin Tao Fruit, and the entire Big Dipper’s rank equaled half a step toward Mixed-Origin status.
With the authority of Big Dipper Supreme, Su Yuan drove the Big Dipper—effectively raising his realm to half-step Mixed-Origin Great Luo Golden Immortal!
Using this as a foundation, Su Yuan unleashed a devastating beam of stellar light!
Yuan Shui Heavenly Venerable sighed: “Under the Mixed-Origin, all are ants! Even if you are the reincarnation of a Great Being, you are not one now—what’s the use of struggling?”
He raised his palm and the jade bottle in his hand released a water kingdom a light-year in diameter.
Inside that water kingdom, the star-light pillar crawled forward like a snail—unable to approach Yuan Shui Heavenly Venerable at all.
Zi Xing watching beside him gasped: “A Mixed-Origin Origin Domain!”
Within that water-origin domain even Space Law yielded; all laws were suppressed.
Su Yuan himself did not suffer the domain’s suppression, but his outgoing attack could not withstand its pressure.
The attack he launched could not even touch the hem of the Mixed-Origin Great Luo Golden Immortal’s robe, let alone inflict damage!
The gap between a Mixed-Origin Great Luo Golden Immortal and realms below was unimaginably great.
Yuan Shui Heavenly Venerable noticed Su Yuan withstand the water-kingdom’s suppression and praised, “Clever technique!”
Zi Xing widened his eyes—he heard a Great Being praise someone’s method. It overturned his understanding.
Su Yuan frowned, thinking about how to deal with a Mixed-Origin Great Luo Golden Immortal.
But Yuan Shui Heavenly Venerable was done playing. He manipulated the water-bottle treasure and magnified it to a size larger than the entire Big Dipper!
Before Su Yuan could react, the water bottle swallowed the whole Big Dipper, then shook, releasing the Big Dipper back into cosmic motion.
Su Yuan’s clone had already been trapped inside the bottle.
This sky-swallowing maneuver left Su Yuan in awe—his clone being captured was inevitable.
Yuan Shui Heavenly Venerable nodded in satisfaction and then took a step, disappearing from the spot.
Zi Xing recovered and straightened, excited: “The Seven Stars Dao Sovereign has been taken back to the Celestial Court. Will I be able to experience that enlightenment Great Technique again?”
With that thought he hurried back to the Court.