Demon Slaying Division, Pei Prefecture, Dayu Dynasty.
"Senior Brother Ling Yan should be returning today after passing the Xuan Realm trial, right?"
"Counting the days, it should indeed be within these few days."
"At twenty-two, he took the position of Inspector. Now, three years later, he has entered the third Realm of Martial Arts. His future is truly limitless!"
"Everyone, we can't call him Senior Brother anymore!"
"Why?"
"We have to call him Lord Ling Yan now!"
"Oh, right, right, right!"
While everyone was talking, a young man with a resolute face came to a halt in front of the gates of the Demon Slaying Division.
Though he was dressed plainly, his extraordinary Aura made the two gatekeepers dare not be disrespectful.
"May I ask who Your Excellency is..."
The young man remained expressionless and casually tossed out a medallion.
The two gatekeepers caught it and looked, their faces instantly turning pale with shock.
"We were blind not to recognize you, Lord Inspector. Please forgive us, please forgive us."
"Lord Ling Yan, please, come in quickly!"
Ling Yan nodded, bypassed the two, and headed straight for the side hall of the Demon Slaying Division.
Inside the side hall, a middle-aged man with a gentle face sat in the seat of honor.
He lightly lifted the lid of the teacup beside him, and a faint aroma of tea wafted up.
Ling Yan walked up to the middle-aged man and knelt on one knee in salute. "Master, I have fortunately fulfilled my mission!"
The middle-aged man took a small sip of tea, a gentle smile on his face. "You're back."
"Let me see the target of your trial."
Ling Yan nodded. "Teacher, please follow me to the courtyard."
The middle-aged man raised an eyebrow slightly. Oh, it's a big one!
He stood up and walked to the large courtyard where the Disciples practiced their Martial Arts.
The Disciples, who were practicing fervently, all stopped to salute.
They then saw Ling Yan following behind the middle-aged man.
Their faces immediately lit up with joy!
"Senior Brother Ling Yan is back!"
"What 'Senior Brother Ling Yan'? You should call him Lord Ling Yan now!"
"I see that the Teacher is smiling; Lord Ling Yan must have successfully passed the trial!"
"Hiss—A twenty-five-year-old Xuan Realm Martial Artist! That must rank high even in the entire Dayu Dynasty, right?"
"This time, Lady Miaoyin probably won't reject Lord Ling Yan's pursuit again."
"That's not for certain! Lord Ling Yan is indeed exceptionally gifted, but Lady Miaoyin... she is a true Prodigy!"
The group conversed in low voices as they watched the two pass by, only to see them stop in front of an open space.
"Hmm? Why did Master and Lord Ling Yan stop?"
Just as the words were spoken, everyone heard a loud boom.
The ground shook violently, and dust billowed everywhere.
Everyone closed their eyes as a reflex.
Once the dust slowly cleared, they opened their eyes again to look.
"Holy crap!"
"This is...!"
"A Xu... Xuan Realm Demon King!?"
Everyone was dumbfounded, awestruck by the sight before them, too shocked to speak.
A multi-colored giant snake several stories high lay coiled in a circle, piled in the center of the open space.
Even though it had been dead for some time, one could still feel a terrifying power from its massive body.
The giant snake corpse was covered in hideous and terrifying saber wounds.
Has Senior Brother Ling Yan already grown to such a level?
To even be able to slay a Demon King like this!
The middle-aged man chuckled. "Not bad. It's actually a snake-type Demon King, which is relatively troublesome among those in the Xuan Realm."
Ling Yan bowed. "Master overpraises me; I am still far from it."
But a hint of self-satisfaction still flashed in his eyes.
"Since you're back, continue to perform your duties well. I have secured a mission for you to inspect the subordinate cities."
Ling Yan showed a trace of surprise. "Secured?"
As an Inspector, inspecting subordinate cities was part of his duties; why would it need to be 'secured'?
Furthermore, who was his Master?
He was a figure second only to the Commander of the Pei Prefecture Demon Slaying Division!
For a mission to inspect subordinate cities, would a person of his stature need to fight for it?
"Commander Si values his niece very highly; he's afraid I'll lead her astray!"
The middle-aged man smiled. "I put in quite a bit of effort to get him to agree to let you and Si Miaoyin conduct the inspection together."
Hearing this, the joy on Ling Yan's face could no longer be hidden. "This Disciple thanks Master!"
...
*Puchi—*
The blade was pulled from the demon's body, bringing with it a spray of bright red blood.
The light faded from the eyes of the massive bear demon, and it crashed heavily onto the ground.
[Killed a Level 3 Extreme Realm Bear Demon, obtained 30 Demon value Points!]
"Whew—"
Taking a long breath, Li Xuanxiao turned to look at the ground behind him.
It was already filled with countless demon corpses.
After leaving Ning'an City, he had been searching everywhere for demons to slay.
Along the way, his Demon value Points had been rapidly increasing.
Today, he had even directly destroyed a bear demon nest, slaying all the demons there!
He opened his personal panel.
[Host: Li Xuanxiao]
[Realm: Level 8 Extreme Realm]
[Cultivation Technique: Evergreen Art (Transcendent), Extreme - Myriad Manifestations Purple Extreme Art (Perfection)]
[Martial Arts: Spirit Condensing Slash (Transcendent), Nine Steps of the Soaring Eagle (Transcendent), Ten Thousand Blades Annihilation Saber (Transcendent), Extreme - Heart Method of Undying Silence (Major Achievement)]
[Demon value Points: 475]
If it were before, Li Xuanxiao would definitely feel like he had struck it rich.
But after upgrading Extreme Realm Martial Arts and techniques a few times, he understood that 400+ Demon value Points could really be spent in a matter of minutes.
Raising the Myriad Manifestations Purple Extreme Art from Minor Achievement to Major Achievement, and then to Perfection, had cost him a total of 120 Demon value Points.
Now, wanting to upgrade from Perfection to Transcendent, he didn't know how much it would cost.
The speed of earning simply couldn't keep up with the speed of spending!
Over this past month, he had almost completely cleared out all the demons around Ning'an City.
Countless demons had died at his hands, but unfortunately, most were small demons of the Strength Realm, only contributing single-digit Demon value Points.
Out of options, he had to go deeper, finally encountering an Extreme Realm bear demon today!
It really had to be Extreme Realm kills; one was better than six!
Li Xuanxiao shook the blood off the blade and sheathed his saber.
He continued to allocate points.
[Consumed 180 Demon value Points, Myriad Manifestations Purple Extreme Art has reached Transcendent!]
Seeing this System notification, the corner of Li Xuanxiao's mouth twitched slightly.
A single upgrade instantly wiped out 180 of his Demon value Points; he would have to kill at least six Extreme Realm demons to earn that back.
But the Realm increase brought by the technique upgrade made him feel a lot better.
At the same time the Myriad Manifestations Purple Extreme Art reached Transcendent, his cultivation also reached the Peak of the Extreme Realm!
The cost was truly high, but the leveling speed was also truly fast!
In less than a month, he had gone from an Extreme Realm newbie to a veteran at the Late Stage of the Extreme Realm.
If this speed of Realm improvement were known, it would probably shock the entire Dayu Dynasty!
"Dammit, just a little bit more..."
Li Xuanxiao, however, was not quite satisfied; this Myriad Manifestations Purple Extreme Art really wasn't that great of an Extreme Realm technique.
At the level of the Extreme Realm, it was probably comparable to the Evergreen Art in the Strength Realm.
But thinking about it, that was normal; after all, it was something Wang Debiao had obtained while traveling the Jianghu.
Being able to obtain an Extreme Realm technique was already a sign of great Luck.
There was nothing to be picky about.
Looking at the remaining Demon value Points in his hand, Li Xuanxiao simply decided to go all the way.
Allocate all points!
[Consumed 80 Demon value Points, Heart Method of Undying Silence has entered the Perfection Realm!]
[Consumed 180 Demon value Points, Heart Method of Undying Silence has reached Transcendent!]
In an instant, another 260 Demon value Points was deducted.
His Demon value Points instantly shrank to just 35 points.
But in return, all of his Martial Arts and techniques had reached the highest Realm.
His OCD was satisfied!
Hmm?
Something seems wrong?
Li Xuanxiao felt his body undergoing some kind of mysterious change.
A profound and mysterious Aura gradually emanated from his body!
"This is..."
After a moment's thought, a bold guess arose in his heart.
"Is this... stepping into the Xuan Realm!?"
Li Xuanxiao was both bewildered and pleasantly surprised, but he quickly calmed his emotions.
He pondered what had caused such a change.
After thinking it over, there could only be one reason—
The Heart Method of Undying Silence reaching Transcendent!
He hadn't expected this martial art, which had always lacked a presence, to give him such an enormous surprise at this moment.
Once a Cultivation Technique or martial art reaches Transcendent, it will undergo a mutation.
This kind of mutation is more obvious in combat-oriented Martial Arts.
But for a martial art like the Heart Method of Undying Silence, which is more auxiliary and internal, it is very subtle.
After reaching Transcendent, the Heart Method of Undying Silence must have undergone some kind of mutation that Li Xuanxiao was unaware of.
And under this mutation, the beginning of a Realm breakthrough was triggered!
Li Xuanxiao's face lit up with joy; truly, after the mountains and rivers end, a new path appears!
He was finally about to step into the third Realm of Martial Arts!