Lin Youfa’s palm strike was fierce and sharp; had it landed fully, even a stone would have shattered into pieces, let alone the flesh and blood of Li Yundong.

But as he brought the blow down, murderous intent surged in his heart, and wicked thoughts arose. The Seven Treasures Spirit-Attuned Fan nearby sensed this killing aura rushing towards Li Yundong, and it instantly leaped up, automatically shielding its master.

When Li Yundong was still in school and a freshman challenged him, this Seven Treasures Spirit-Attuned Fan had already leaped out to defend him; how much more so now that Lin Youfa intended to take Li Yundong’s life?

The Seven Treasures Spirit-Attuned Fan snapped open all its leaves with a shua, spinning rapidly like a blur of serrated iron wheels, slicing towards Lin Youfa’s descending palm!

Lin Youfa had never expected the Seven Treasures Spirit-Attuned Fan to defend its master automatically. Caught completely off guard, a searing pain shot up his arm, and his hand was severed, falling onto the ground.

The Seven Treasures Spirit-Attuned Fan, having chopped off Lin Youfa’s arm, did not pause for even a moment. Whirring and humming, it spun furiously toward the rest of Lin Youfa’s body.

Lin Youfa grit his teeth against the excruciating pain, letting out a great roar, and with his remaining hand, he snatched with perfect precision, gripping the rib of the Seven Treasures Spirit-Attuned Fan, halting the terrifying, chain-saw-like edge of the spinning weapon.

But the moment his hand clasped the fan, the leaves immediately sprang out, transforming into countless flying swords that instantly pierced Lin Youfa through and through, turning him into a human pincushion!

Lin Youfa trembled violently, staring in disbelief at the fan-blades embedded in his body. The golden characters etched upon them were instantly soaked in crimson blood, causing countless wailing, resentful ghosts and specters to emanate forth.

These fierce spirits wailed as they burrowed into Lin Youfa’s body. In a short while, they dragged his three hun and seven po souls out of his physical form.

In the circular stone chamber, countless cyan spirits were seen ferociously devouring Lin Youfa’s soul as they tore it apart in mid-air. Lin Youfa let out loud shrieks and howls; soon, his soul was entirely gnawed away. These satiated specters then flooded back into the fan blades of the Seven Treasures Spirit-Attuned Fan.

The fan blades emitted a burst of golden light, automatically extracting themselves from Lin Youfa’s corpse, and then swiftly returned to the central rib structure of the Seven Treasures Spirit-Attuned Fan.

In the blink of an eye, the Seven Treasures Spirit-Attuned Fan had slain Lin Youfa. It thumped once as it fell back to its original spot, utterly motionless.

Li Yundong, having completed the Seventh Revolution, proceeded directly toward the Eighth, completely oblivious to the events unfolding beside him.

His body had been modified by the Primordial Gold Elixir, and he had already successfully established his Foundation. Ziyuan had further aided his cultivation with immortal elixirs, and on top of that, he had absorbed the power of the Heavenly Lightning during his Tribulation. Consequently, the true essence within him was now considerable. Continuing the cultivation of the Nine Revolutions Gold Elixir Art was now like Zhang Wuji learning the Heaven and Earth Great Shift while already mastering the Nine Yang Divine Art—it allowed for unstoppable progress and rapid advancement.

After completing the Seventh Revolution, the five colors on Li Yundong’s face ceased their fluctuation, replaced instead by a deep crimson hue. This was the true inner fire refining the primordial elixir within him. Soon after, Li Yundong easily broke through the Eighth Revolution and entered the final stage of the Ninth Revolution.

While cultivating the Nine Revolutions Gold Elixir Art, Li Yundong felt the inner core in his lower abdomen becoming increasingly vast. When it grew to the size of a fist, it was no longer a perfect sphere but resembled a curled-up infant shape.

Especially upon reaching the Ninth Revolution, this infant began to tremble slightly. Driven by curiosity, Li Yundong directed his inner sight and immediately perceived that his entire consciousness seemed to have possessed this infant. All around was boundless darkness, his whole being feeling imprisoned in a world devoid of knowing, taste, sight, or sound.

Li Yundong had experienced this sensation during his Foundation Establishment, so he was not panicked, relying on his prior experience. With a forceful struggle, his eyes snapped open.

The moment he conceived the thought of opening his eyes, the fist-sized infant mirrored the action, opening its own eyes. Then, with a sudden leap, it sprang forth from his top acupoint, the Baihui.

Li Yundong watched in shock as he could see his own cross-legged body from above, as if his soul had left the body. However, quickly scanning his surroundings, he spotted Lin Youfa lying in a pool of blood, and he instantly started.

Startled, the aura of Li Yundong’s physical body instantly scattered, and in a blink, the nascent soul that had departed returned to the body, causing him to open his physical eyes as well.

As Li Yundong opened his eyes, his gaze fixed on Lin Youfa’s corpse, causing him to lapse into a daze. Although he didn't know exactly what had transpired, seeing the Seven Treasures Spirit-Attuned Fan standing nearby like a guard, he could surmise something of the events.

Li Yundong shook his head inwardly, thinking: He brought this upon himself, and death was deserved!

He paid no further attention to Lin Youfa, closed his eyes once more, and attempted to recapture the profound state he had just reached. But now, try as he might, he could not find the sensation of the inner core transforming into a nascent soul.

Li Yundong tried for a while but could not initiate the transformation again, so he gave up, opened his eyes, and stood up. He let out a long breath, dimly realizing that the state he had just achieved seemed to have broken past the realm of the Sixth Heaven of Divine Abilities, entering the Seventh Heaven, the Nascent Soul stage!

However, he couldn't be entirely certain. But he noticed that since mastering the Nine Revolutions Gold Elixir Art, his intrinsic vital energy, the Gold Elixir True Essence, and the Heavenly Lightning Qi had perfectly fused together, becoming a single, inseparable entity. Moreover, the connection between his body's aura and his inner core had become significantly tighter; essence, qi, and blood now flowed ceaselessly, and his overall true essence had greatly increased.

Having achieved success with the Nine Revolutions Gold Elixir Art, Li Yundong rose, bowed respectfully toward the inscriptions carved on the wall, then walked over to the crevice in the wall that Lin Youfa had previously discovered. He took a deep breath, then pushed with both hands!

With that push, the stone door rumbled loudly as Li Yundong slowly forced it open.

After pushing the door open, a narrow and long passage appeared before him, with a faint light visible at the far end.

Li Yundong’s heart jolted. He turned back, retrieved the Seven Treasures Spirit-Attuned Fan, strapped it to his back, and then rapidly moved forward down the passage.

The further he walked, the brighter the light ahead became. When he reached the exit of the cavern, he pushed aside the dense leaves and weeds covering the opening, and an intensely bright light immediately flooded in.

Li Yundong instinctively squinted, using his hand to shield his eyes from the blinding sunlight.

Once he adapted to the glare, Li Yundong noticed that he was positioned on a sheer cliff face halfway up a mountain. All around him grew wild grasses and crooked trees clinging to the rock face. Below, nestled within the jungle, was a Daoist temple from which sounds of fierce shouts and yells could be heard.

Li Yundong’s spirit sharpened: Is this the Fox Zen Sect?

He channeled his true essence, controlling his body as he flew downward. Along the way, he carefully used the cover of the thickets, flying until he reached the roof of the tallest main hall in the temple complex, then cautiously peered down.

He saw that in front of the temple's main hall was an extremely wide plaza, paved with bluestone in the pattern of a Yin-Yang Taiji symbol. In the black and white spots of the Taiji were placed a black and a white tripod, each supported by three legs. Incense curled thickly from the cauldrons, rising in wisps of blue smoke.

Closer to the main hall stood about a dozen men and women clad in Daoist robes, mostly beautiful women with graceful figures. Nearly all of them bore injuries, and they glared with expressions of anger toward a point not far away.

In the center of the field, a woman holding a serrated Vajra wheel was engaged in a fierce battle with a man wielding a steel whip.

Li Yundong scanned the crowd but could not find Su Chan. His heart sank instantly; anxiety and worry gnawed at him, fearing something might have happened to the little girl.

Li Yundong comforted himself inwardly: No way, that little lass is too clever to get into real trouble. If she can’t win, can’t she just run? Besides, her invisibility technique is excellent; she’ll be fine!

As he was trying to reassure himself, he suddenly heard a fierce shout from below. The woman with the Vajra wheel suddenly let go of the weapon in her hand. In a blink, the wheel transformed into countless rows of sharp, serrated chains, lunging toward the cultivator holding the steel whip, as if countless black pythons had engulfed him in an instant!

Li Yundong watched as bursts of firelight and a dense clatter of colliding metal sounded from within that swirling mass of black steel storm. Even with his eyesight, Li Yundong could not discern what was happening inside.

This lasted for about three seconds before the sharp, serrated chains suddenly retracted, merging back into a single Vajra wheel in a flash. It hovered beside the woman, humming menacingly, exuding an aura of cold, sharp power.

Li Yundong looked at the cultivator who had been holding the steel whip before her. The steel whip was now pitted and covered in notches from the saw-like edges, and his body was a mass of bloody gore, completely mangled and reduced to a crimson figure.

The cultivator staggered for a moment before collapsing with a thud. Soon after, his Yin Spirit flew out of the ruined flesh, pointing at the woman and cursing furiously: "Ye Yu, you demoness, how dare you destroy my physical body!"

Ye Yu sneered, snapping back angrily, "If you’re not satisfied, come fight again!"

The cultivator’s face was etched with terror, and he could only mutter curses before falling back into the crowd, not daring to accept the challenge again.

Only then did Li Yundong notice that standing near Ye Yu were dense ranks of people—perhaps over a hundred in total. Some wore Daoist robes, others ordinary clothing, and some wore long gowns and jackets, each brandishing different weapons.

Two young men quickly rushed out from this crowd and dragged the corpse of the recently slain cultivator to the rear of the formation. As the corpse was pulled past, the surrounding cultivators parted, whispering amongst themselves, "Heh, who would have thought, even the Quanzhen Dragon Gate Sect isn't all that impressive!"

"Right, to die so miserably, tsk tsk, such a disgrace to the Six Sects!"

"Enough. The Quanzhen Dragon Gate Sect had some prestige when Qiu Chuji was in charge, but under Yin Zhiping and Li Zhichang, they’ve gone downhill generation after generation!"

The members of the Quanzhen Dragon Gate Sect, hearing themselves mocked by other sects, had some hot-tempered individuals shout back fiercely, "What nonsense are you spewing? Do you think your Golden Elixir Sect is so great? You only have Zhang Boduan and Bai Yuchan to rely on! Who else has made a name for themselves since? If you’re not satisfied, come and fight instead of just yapping there! And you, Donghua Sect, what garbage are you spouting? Ning Quanzhen died nearly a thousand years ago, and we haven’t seen any promising disciples from your ranks—what right do you have to speak so condescendingly!"

The Golden Elixir Sect members, having their faces pointed at and cursed, immediately retorted without restraint, "You thieves from the Quanzhen Dragon Gate Sect, what did you say!"

The Donghua Sect members also exploded in rage, shouting back, "How dare you insult the founding ancestors of my sect! I’m not finished with you!"

As the argument escalated, just as these cultivators seemed on the verge of internal conflict, a young man in the center suddenly shouted loudly, "Gentlemen, please remain calm!"

The man’s voice was clear and resonant, and his opening words instantly silenced the noise of the crowd, clearly indicating a cultivation level far superior to the others.

Once he spoke, the other sects fell silent. A man from the Quanzhen Dragon Gate Sect then spoke loudly, "Venerable Zhang, you are the youngest son of the Orthodox Unity Sect Leader, and the Orthodox Unity Sect leads all cultivation sects in the world. Please speak justly. In this encirclement of the Fox Zen Sect, our Quanzhen Dragon Gate Sect provided both men and money. Even the body of our Twelfth Junior Brother was just destroyed, yet we are met with such criticism—is this fair or not!"

After he finished speaking, the cultivators from the other sects began to clamor again, and the scene descended back into chaos.

Zhang Tianhe raised both hands, gesturing for quiet, and the cultivators immediately hushed again.

Li Yundong observed this and thought inwardly: This man carries considerable authority; having an extraordinary father certainly makes a difference.

His gaze swept over Zhang Tianhe. The man was tall and slender, with handsome, dashing features. When some of the female cultivators in the group looked at him, their eyes held expressions of admiration and affection.

Li Yundong shifted his gaze beside Zhang Tianhe and instantly spotted two familiar figures standing within the crowd. One had peerless beauty, her hair tied in a high ponytail, revealing a smooth forehead. Her eyes were sharp and brilliant, suggesting a clever, discerning nature and an innate pride—it was Ruan Hongling.

Standing next to Ruan Hongling was a woman wearing a long purple robe. She was statuesque, standing out among the crowd like a crane among chickens—it was Ziyuan!