At this moment, Zhurong’s body was gradually becoming distinct; at least the upper half was fully formed. However, contrary to Ye Jingyu’s imagination, he was not depicted standing astride twin fire dragons with fire snakes adorning his ears. Instead, he appeared as a robust man sporting a long, red beard. Indeed, the fire snakes remained looped around his ears, but once his feet fully materialized, the two fire dragons vanished, replaced instead by two fiery crimson divine dragon tattoos that had appeared on his arms.

Seeing Zhurong finally condense his true form, Ye Jingyu’s face broke into a broad smile. Finally, finally, the true form had truly been manifested—the Fire God, Zhurong.

A sweep of his divine sense revealed that the strength of this Zhurong true body was solidly above the Venerable (Zun) level. This filled Ye Jingyu’s heart with immense joy. Before even fully condensing his true form, he could handle ordinary Venerable masters. Now that the true form was out, wouldn't his power increase exponentially? At the very least, at the very least, he wouldn't need to divert his own strength anymore, right?

"Weak, too weak. How can this body be so weak?" Zhurong, however, glanced at his own form and complained with clear dissatisfaction. Compared to his former true body, this physical shell was like the difference between mud and clouds—simply incomparable. It was far too weak, too weak. It seemed that if he wanted to recover his true strength, he would still need continuous, arduous cultivation.

Though this fleshly body had reached the Venerable realm, it attracted no Heavenly Tribulation. This was solely because Zhurong was a figure from the Primordial Era, even a predecessor to the Haotian God. Never mind that the formation of Heavenly Dao rules had been broken; even if it hadn't, it simply wouldn't target him. He himself was the supreme rule of fire and thus required no tempering from the Heavenly Tribulation.

Regarding Zhurong's words, Liang Xiaoke and Ye Jingyu chose to simply ignore them. Venerable-level power, and he called it weak? How were others supposed to survive? Of course, recalling Zhurong’s formidable reputation in the Primordial Era, they managed to accept it. But precisely because of this, both men felt a wave of longing: if they truly recovered their original powers, just how strong would they become?

At this moment, Xuanyuan Jing showed no intention of leaving. He didn't even seem to notice the oppressive might emanating from Zhurong’s condensed true form; his gaze remained fixed upon that mass of black mist.

Ye Jingyu naturally shifted his focus back to the swirling black mist. He saw the various seals on the Heaven-Overturning Seal (Fantian Yin) emitting golden light, recognizing that the Seal was undergoing refinement. However, it seemed to be encountering some sort of obstruction, preventing its complete reformation, which made him feel a touch of confusion.

Just as Ye Jingyu prepared to step forward and spur it on with his vital blood essence, a streak of purple light suddenly pierced the sky, shooting directly out of the black mist and arriving precisely into Xuanyuan Jing's hand.

It was a sword—an ancient and magnificent purple longsword. An aura of absolute supreme power radiated from the blade; it was undoubtedly on the same tier as the Eastern Emperor Bell (Donghuang Zhong).

Ye Jingyu, Liang Xiaoke, Xue Wuqing, and even Zhurong felt their eyes light up. This sword must be an Innate Supreme Treasure? It must have burst forth from the Haotian Tower, right? They had never heard of the Haotian Great Emperor using a sword. Could it have been his personal sidearm? But the potent aura emanating from this sword suggested it was far beyond that of an ordinary companion weapon.

Ye Jingyu even suspected that the immense power of the Haotian Tower stemmed entirely from this treasured sword housed within it.

However, it was clear that Xuanyuan Jing understood this place was not safe to linger in. Upon acquiring this sword, his entire being transformed into a purple ray of light and vanished without a trace.

"Th-that... that appears to be... the Xuanyuan Sword..." Only after Xuanyuan Jing had completely disappeared did Zhurong murmur, his mouth barely moving. As his true form coalesced, much of his memory had returned. And when he uttered those three words, the expressions of Liang Xiaoke and Ye Jingyu dramatically shifted.

The Xuanyuan Sword...

The sharp sword of the Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor from the Primordial Era? The Xuanyuan Sword, which symbolized ultimate power?

How could the Xuanyuan Sword be inside the Haotian Tower? Could it be...

An extremely absurd and audacious idea formed in the minds of Ye Jingyu and Liang Xiaoke: could the Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor be the Haotian Great Emperor?

The more they considered it, the stronger the possibility seemed. In the Primordial Era, Gongsun Xuanyuan decisively defeated Chiyou at Zhuolu and became the Lord of the Three Realms, but after that, all news of him ceased, and instead, the Haotian Great Emperor appeared.

And the Haotian Great Emperor was inherently of the Shaman (Wu) Tribe, yet he cultivated Immortal Arts. Doesn't this perfectly describe the Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor? He was also originally of the Wu Tribe, later becoming a disciple of Guangchengzi, cultivating Immortal Arts. Furthermore, many of the Wu Tribe remained in the mortal realm at that time; for someone of Wu Tribe origin, like him, who had mastered Immortal Arts, to become the Lord of the Three Realms was indeed the best possible outcome.

Connecting all these points, they had almost deduced the truth of the matter. However, they couldn't fathom: if the Xuanyuan Emperor was the Haotian Great Emperor, where did he go in the end? It seemed he had vanished entirely after the Battle of Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen)?

A profound mystery settled in the minds of Ye Jingyu and the others. But clearly, this was not the moment to ponder such questions. After the Xuanyuan Sword erupted from the black mist, the speed at which the Heaven-Overturning Seal reformed increased dramatically; it was nearly done reconstructing.

Ordinarily, given the rank of the Xuanyuan Sword, it would have been sufficient to absorb the remnants of the Heaven-Overturning Seal and the Haotian Tower. But perhaps sensing that this was Guangchengzi’s personal artifact, it refrained from absorption. This, however, benefited Ye Jingyu. He spat out a stream of blood, and a ball of Raging Fire erupted from his fingertips, completely re-smelting the Heaven-Overturning Seal anew.

Thunderbolts flickered across the sky, and countless bolts of lightning plunged down, striking into the mass of black mist. Finally, they began to slowly condense. The surrounding powers of Wind, Water, Earth, and Fire, along with the might of Thunder, continually converged within it. After a full fifteen minutes, a great seal, shimmering with electric light all over its surface, appeared before Ye Jingyu.

The moment this great seal took shape, Ye Jingyu felt an undeniable sense of connection through his bloodline—this was truly his own artifact.

This process of destruction followed by rebirth not only eliminated all previous cracks in the Heaven-Overturning Seal but also infused it with the element of lightning. Its power had more than doubled. Ye Jingyu could now boldly wield this Heaven-Defying grade artifact...

Just then, a buzzing sound echoed once more within Ye Jingyu’s Sea of Consciousness. The ancient sword, which had been in constant contention with the Eastern Emperor Bell, finally quieted down. A subtle aura transmitted into Ye Jingyu’s mind, causing his expression to shift drastically. It... it was actually that sword?

That legendary, supremely ferocious sword—the super-malevolent sword that had supposedly slain countless immortals and gods—the Immortal-Slaying Sword (Zhu Xian Jian)!

A note for the readers: There will be another update this afternoon!

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