A stone wall, which had clearly endured countless storms, stood before a young man clad in green robes.

The young man in green stared fixedly at the stone wall for a long time, seeming as if he were gleaning some profound insight from it.

"So this is what the so-called Cāncān Transformation truly is." Lu Yuan nodded, now having fully grasped the meaning of Cāncān Transformation.

Cāncān: A creature with a sheep's body, eyes beneath its armpits, tiger teeth, and human claws, possessing a large head and an enormous mouth. It is exceedingly gluttonous, devouring anything it encounters.

The Cāncān Transformation, however, involves absorbing the balancing force of the Heavenly Laws.

A cultivator at the fourth level of the Great Dao Realm, upon achieving the Unification of Laws after balancing numerous principles, generates a force of equilibrium. The Cāncān Transformation is the process of absorbing this balancing force for one's own use. Once enough balancing force has been absorbed, one can coalesce their various ancient talismans into one, achieving the Unification of Laws, thereby reaching the Fourth Great Dao Realm: the State of Unified Laws.

Lu Yuan sat cross-legged before the stone wall, beginning his practice according to the inscriptions carved upon it.

“……In the Qiong Chamber, the Eight Primes converge; the Lady of the Mud Pill stands centered. Changgu and Xuanxiang circle and imitate the Ba; the Six Dragons scatter and fly, difficult to distinguish…”, the vital energy within his body circulated ceaselessly, the cloud-elemental force turning slowly. Aided by the experience left by the Second Generation Patriarch, mastering this stage was not difficult. In truth, the reason Second Generation Patriarch Fang Yun left the cultivation method for the Ninth Transformation of the Cloud Dragon here, rather than making it public, was because he felt this method—directly absorbing the balancing force of others—was somewhat unorthodox and slightly insidious; thus, he did not wish it to be widely propagated. Within the Chuyun Sword Array were various sword moves, some of which tested the mind; if one’s heart was dark, they would likely never reach this place.

"Though this somewhat insidious technique allows for rapid advancement to the fourth level of the Great Dao Realm, using it against righteous cultivators would mean abandoning the principles of the Huashan Sect." These were the words left behind by the Second Generation Patriarch, Fang Yun.

Lu Yuan certainly had no intention of using this cultivation method against righteous individuals.

At this moment, the vital energy inside his body surged and flowed, circulating according to the method inscribed on the wall. After an unknown period, feeling the constant recirculation of his inner power, and after yet more time passed, a phantom image of a strange beast gradually coalesced behind Lu Yuan. As time wore on, this phantom image became increasingly real, finally manifesting as a beast with tiger teeth, human claws, a sheep’s body, and a wolf’s head—the Cāncān.

The Cāncān Transformation was finally achieved.

Lu Yuan exhaled a breath; this white vapor seemed to transform into shapes of strange beasts as it escaped—one moment like a Yazí, the next like a Jiāotú, then a Bì’àn, with various different monstrous forms appearing within the single plume of Lu Yuan's breath.

This was the Ninth Transformation of the Cloud Dragon.

Only one transformation remained—the Cloud Dragon Transformation—to complete the Ten Transformations of the Cloud Dragon, thereby gaining the strength of a single Dragon and ascending to the level of Grandmaster.

In the State of Jin, the highest echelon was the Grandmaster Realm.

It seemed he was about to stand at this pinnacle position of the Grandmaster Realm.

For a moment, Lu Yuan’s thoughts drifted, as if he were back when he first entered Huashan with his master. Back then, he could never have imagined standing at the absolute apex of the Jin State’s cultivation world. Although he had not yet reached the peak, he was now charging toward it.

After emerging from the Chuyun Sword Array, the New Year was fast approaching.

The New Year—the most significant day of the year.

Though the demonic tide raged outside, even in the direst circumstances, one must look toward the light.

Only by looking toward the light could one appreciate its beauty.

During this New Year's observance, Lu Yuan, as the Supreme Sect Master of Huashan, delivered a speech. Ordinarily, such a speech was a mere formality, but Lu Yuan intended to depart from convention this time: "Indeed, the State of Jin is facing extreme hardship right now—and Huashan is facing unprecedented difficulty. We stand on the very precipice of annihilation." The elders and disciples of Huashan, who had been waiting for the usual platitudes, were stunned into silence by these words. Under such circumstances, shouldn't he be delivering hollow reassurances about the lack of danger? Who would dare speak so bluntly of being on the verge of annihilation? Even Immortal Zixia whispered a telepathic reminder to Lu Yuan.

But Lu Yuan paid it no mind: "Yet, so what? Huashan, five thousand years of Huashan, possesses five thousand years of culture, backbone, and integrity. In Huashan's history, we have faced the brink of destruction four times: the era of the Second Generation, the Fifth Generation, the Seventh Generation, and now this time."

"The first three times, we made Huashan rise again. Why can't we do so this time?"

"The spirit of Huashan is the spirit of unceasing self-improvement."

"The spirit of Huashan is the spirit of never admitting defeat."

"Huashan grew mighty under the hands of our predecessors; under our care, we must also carry Huashan to greater glory. What is this current storm?"

"If we fail now, how shall we face the ancestors of Huashan? Furthermore, every one of you has loved ones, friends—do you intend to let them all fall into the hands of the fiends?" Lu Yuan roared.

"Come... come..." came the powerful roars.

On the first day after the New Year, Lu Yuan visited his home. Because the rampant demonic calamity had forced his family to move from Donglin Town to Huashan, bringing along more than nine hundred thousand people. Upon arriving home, Lu Yuan naturally received a torrent of compliments. The young lad from Donglin Town had become the supreme leader of the Immortal Sect—what a monumental change. Those flattering him were numerous, but Lu Yuan was long accustomed to such praise and remained indifferent. He simply ate a meal and concluded the visit.

Simplicity is truth.

As Lu Yuan ate this plain, belated family reunion dinner in his new home, a message arrived via a flying sword—a sword transmission! It was extremely urgent.

Lu Yuan immediately unfolded the letter and paused, momentarily stunned.

The letter contained only five characters: The Heaven-Sovereign Alliance attacks.

Lu Yuan had long anticipated that the Heaven-Sovereign Alliance would eventually strike, certainly before he underwent the Hundred Kingdoms assessment. He never expected it to be now. Had Ren Du managed to repair the debilitating backlash from his Blood Refining Great Law so quickly? It didn't matter now; the final great battle in the State of Jin was finally upon them. Ren Du could be held off by Martial Ancestor Uncle Zhou, but the others would have to be handled by him.

The only chance now lay in utilizing the Cāncān Transformation during the battle to absorb the balancing force of the opponents' Fourth Great Dao Realm Laws, thereby helping himself reach the Fourth Great Dao Realm. If successful, he could confront the Heaven-Sovereign Alliance, and single-handedly holding off everyone in the Alliance except Ren Du would not be an unimaginable miracle.

For the sake of Huashan, he would risk it all this time.

With a wave of his hand, Lu Yuan took flight on his sword. He didn't need to pinpoint a location; he could sense the fluctuations of vital energy across all of Huashan—where major battles involving Great Dao Realm experts were occurring, how could he not know?

Huashan's protective formation, the Sun-Facing Jade Maiden Cloud-Mist Purple Haze Array, had already been breached by the Alliance's Formation Grandmaster, Zhang Xuxuan, leaving a gap large enough for one person to pass through.

This hole, capable of admitting only one person, stretched fifty zhang long.

And now, the members of the Heaven-Sovereign Alliance and Huashan were locked in attack and defense along the lines of this breach.

The Huashan Protective Array required an enormous supply of spirit stones to maintain indefinitely. Someone had detected the massive influx of Heaven-Sovereign Alliance forces, prompting them to activate the array. Through the protective formation, one could see the figures of those who had come to attack—the famous figures naturally included the core members of the Heaven-Sovereign Alliance.

The Sole Emperor Ren Du, the Bracelet-Blooming Fang Xie, the Wife-Slaying, Dao-Seeking Jing Huanzhen, the Speed Apex Crimson Winged Demon King, the Ten Thousand Miles Ice Shield Purple Scale Demon King, the Destiny Calculator Yuan Ling Immortal, the Heartless, Soulless Old Man Tian Chou, Formation Grandmaster Zhang Xuxuan, South Sea Single Sword Qiao Feidu, Broken Blade Zuo Heng, and so on. Behind them followed countless demons and monsters, likely numbering in the tens of thousands.

The Heaven-Sovereign Alliance had come in full force.

Ren Du had always viewed Huashan as his primary adversary. Though Huashan was in decline now, it had always produced geniuses. Yan Cangtian of the past still left Ren Du feeling the chill of the sword’s glint, and now, with Zhou Qingxuan, and Lu Yuan who was guaranteed to grow if he survived, the Heaven-Sovereign Alliance was determined to extinguish Huashan.

On Huashan’s side, every single expert at or above the Great Dao Realm had gathered.

However, in this brutal conflict, thus far, the goal had been to defend that breach and prevent the Heaven-Sovereign Alliance forces from penetrating deep into Huashan. Achieving this objective was proving incredibly difficult; of the eight experts at the Fifth Level of the Great Dao Realm, five were already severely wounded. In the direct confrontations between masters, the Heaven-Sovereign Alliance held a massive advantage, while Huashan was at a significant disadvantage.

Presently, only three Great Dao Realm experts remained largely uninjured: Immortal Yuanyang, Immortal Zixia, and King Wanqing. All others had suffered grievous wounds.

The current situation was extremely unfavorable for Huashan.

This breach would likely not hold for much longer.

If the breach fell, the strength of the Heaven-Sovereign Alliance would pour into the heart of Huashan, and the tens of thousands of elders and disciples would likely be slaughtered. Huashan was facing a crisis of life and death. King Wanqing roared, "I will go!" But his effort was short-lived; he was struck down and gravely wounded by Immortal Yuan Ling.

"Master, your techniques were thoroughly researched by me long ago," Immortal Yuan Ling sneered. Yuan Ling Immortal was also at the Fifth Level of the Great Dao Realm. He should have possessed the strength of the Fourth Level, but after defeating Immortal Yuanyang and resolving years of internal conflict, his vital energy had surged upward by another level under these circumstances, allowing him to now injure his master, King Wanqing.

King Wanqing was defeated.

But the hearts of the Huashan contingent grew cold.

Now, the Heaven-Sovereign Alliance still possessed many formidable experts. Immortal Yuan Ling was just one of them. Huashan only had two viable fighters remaining: Immortal Zixia and Immortal Yuanyang. Was Huashan truly destined to be destroyed today?

Unwillingness!

Five thousand years of Huashan! Unwillingness to be wiped out!

But unwillingness to be destroyed was meaningless against an absolute disparity in strength; only annihilation remained.

Bracelet-Blooming Fang Xie, Wife-Slaying, Dao-Seeking Jing Huanzhen, Speed Apex Crimson Winged Demon King, Ten Thousand Miles Ice Shield Purple Scale Demon King, Destiny Calculator Yuan Ling Immortal, Heartless, Soulless Old Man Tian Chou, Formation Grandmaster Zhang Xuxuan, South Sea Single Sword Qiao Feidu, Broken Blade Zuo Heng—all of these were at the Fifth or Sixth Level of the Great Dao Realm.

Who could possibly stop them!

Was there no hope left for Huashan?

"Who can stop our Heaven-Sovereign Alliance army? Huashan will be destroyed," Broken Blade Zuo Heng laughed arrogantly.

"I will stop you all," a steady voice rang out.