Chapter 163: The Wind God's Command Sword and Infusing the Soul into the Pill

Thinking back, he too had once been high-spirited and full of vigor, his momentum unmatched across the entire continent for a time.

Relying on his invincible cultivation at the Great Perfection of the Grand Completion Realm, he had crossed the boundless Boundary Sea, plunging hundreds of thousands of li deep into it. Little did he know back then that he had actually been flirting with the very edge of death.

If he had not retreated in time back then, but instead gritted his teeth and pushed just a little further, would he even exist at this very moment?!

Brother Lu, whose strength far surpassed his own, had encountered such a formidable enemy not far from the edge of the Boundary Sea and shed his blood across those vast waters. Hearing of the tragedy just as the news arrived had broken him out in a cold sweat.

Moreover, according to Uncle Lu, there were monstrous enemies within the Boundary Sea even stronger than Uncle Lu himself, and their numbers were indeterminate...

It could be said that the current Hall Master Ba felt worries and misgivings about the continent-shaking changes prophesied by the Divine Calculator that were not a whit weaker than those of the various profound beast overlords.

"Uncle Lu, if this is truly the case, what do your plans entail?"

"To unite all human and profound beast cultivators above the Tribulation Crossing Realm, and conduct a concentrated exploration of the Boundary Sea."

"Even if we cannot stop it, we must do our utmost to delay it. Eliminate one whenever we find one, and try our hardest not to let the day of the great calamity arrive too early."

"After all... our entire continent is not yet prepared."

Hearing this, Hall Master Ba's mood could be described as heavy in the extreme. How could he not know that they were not prepared? And not only were they unprepared, but their preparations were still far from sufficient.

Yet he raised no objections whatsoever to Uncle Lu's proposal. After all, gathering the continent's strongest to nip the disaster in the bud beforehand could not possibly be wrong.

The only question remaining was whether this incident could truly command the utmost attention of all major forces across the continent. After all, everyone knew the reality of their own household: people's hearts were not united.

As the grief-stricken Hall Master Ba gazed toward the four secretive corners of the continent, such was the thought in his heart.

Understanding this implication, Old Lu could only let out a bitter sigh, knowing full well that those four secluded ancient clans would not easily grant him this face. Otherwise, their subsequent venture would be at least several times easier.

"Countless thunderclouds have now manifested in the skies above the Boundary Seas of all domains. Let us gather at the edge of the Eastern Domain's Boundary Sea in one day's time."

"Very well, this junior will certainly give his all to this matter."

With these words, the bamboo-hatted, white-robed figure of Old Lu dissipated like a mirage, leaving behind only the heavy-hearted Hall Master Ba. As his jaw muscles twitched, he produced an archaic purple dagger-token, upon which only a single character—"Command"—was carved.

Channeling a spell technique into the dagger-token, he watched as it trembled and directly multiplied into hundreds of illusory command swords. From within the chamber, they instantly streaked across the sky toward every direction and domain of the continent. Huge characters of "Command" blazed with dazzling brilliance, projecting supreme majesty and shocking countless human powerhouses along their path.

"What is that?"

"The Wind God's Command Sword?"

"Hiss... I heard our ancestors mention many years ago that anyone sought out by this command sword who dares to refuse its order will be instantly executed on the spot by a faint sliver of the Wind God's power contained within it."

"I heard this token is in the hands of Hall Master Ba, the foremost person on the continent! What on earth has happened to force Hall Master Ba to use this token?"

"You must know, this token can only be used three times in total! Once those three times are up, it will automatically dissipate and vanish from the world forever."

The astonishing manifestation of hundreds of illusory command swords and hundreds of blindingly bright, gigantic characters of "Command" shook the entire human race and all its factions almost instantly. Everyone felt their hearts tighten, gathering in pairs or groups to murmur and speculate.

No sooner said than done, as the command swords continuously accelerated—as if executing endless spatial teleportations—they reached their destinations in the span of a mere cup of tea.

Every human faction and top powerhouse guarded by a Tribulation Crossing Realm expert dropped to one knee with grave expressions, raising their hands high to receive the command.

The moment their hands touched the command sword, the will it carried was instantly transmitted into the minds of all the powerhouses, after which the command sword dissolved and melted into their palms like shooting stars.

Every single powerhouse knew in their hearts that the command sword had not truly disappeared, but had instead embedded itself somewhere within their bodies. If any of them dared to disobey its orders, they would instantly be reduced to ashes on the spot.

Therefore, every single powerhouse who received the command immediately summoned their foundational spirit treasures—excluding those sects without a spirit treasure to suppress their heritage.

They then set off on their journeys, speeding onward toward the edge of the Eastern Domain's Boundary Sea.

Even Nangong Hongbo of the Misty Sect was no exception. Stroking his brand-new spirit treasure, the Five Spirits Bracelet, he soared into the sky.

The Great Perfection realm ancestor of the Asura Mansion, Mansion Master Xiu Binggan, and the deputy mansion master of the Tribulation Crossing Realm also departed at terrifying speed, carrying a municipal spirit treasure along with another unfathomable spirit treasure whose aura had never before been revealed...

On one hand, this was due to the urging of the command sword; on the other hand, they were also intensely curious at heart about why Hall Master Ba had rashly invoked it. Hall Master Ba would never act so recklessly for trivial matters, so they decided to go and see for themselves first.

Top-tier experts swarmed out in full force. This scene, repeatedly manifesting across various domains, once again shook the entire human race of the continent.

Meanwhile, Old Lu, who had already returned to the Profound Beast Forest, watched the Wind God's Command Sword emerge from the direction of Hall Master Ba's domain. He nodded with a gratified expression, then let out a heaven-shaking roar. Once again, all profound beast powerhouses of the sixth rank and above materialized as shadows and gathered together in orderly formation.

With Old Lu taking the lead, a majestic and mighty force of nearly six hundred terrifying Great Demons surged through the sky, roaring wrathfully as they too headed toward the Eastern Domain's Boundary Sea.

...

Beneath the crimson sky, countless groups—some traveling alone, others in company—galloped forward without concealing their auras in the slightest. They kicked up astonishing sonic booms, leaving ripples of space in their wake. Amidst continuous roars and an unstoppable momentum, they all raced at full speed toward the Eastern Domain's Boundary Sea.

Not only countless human cultivators, but even vast multitudes of ordinary mortals were engaged in heated discussions. Even the usually tranquil Profound Beast Forest and the Boundless Forests sprawling across various domains were in a state of restless agitation.

Fatty Gu, stationed within the thick fog training grounds, could not see the events unfolding beyond the mist, but none of this escaped the perception of his master, Old Man Qin.

"Kid, you can set your mind at ease now. Nearly all the top brass of both the human race and the profound beasts have mobilized en masse, pointing their swords straight at the Boundary Sea."

"That's good. It seems Grandpa Lu truly takes this matter seriously. That old man is truly decisive and swift in his actions."

Hearing this, Fatty Gu sighed deeply. At the same time, a certain sense of oppression in his heart instantly vanished like smoke, leaving his whole body feeling inexplicably light.

Concurrently, he also knew that he needed to break through in his cultivation as quickly as possible. Otherwise, if a true war broke out, with his current strength, he would still be nothing more than cannon fodder.

"Sister Xinyrou, continue! Your little brother has already pulled ahead of you, you know."

"Hmph, you're celebrating too early. Just watch how your sister overtakes you again."

Still stubborn and competitive, Lü Xinyrou had already been anxious and indignant at seeing Fatty Gu surpass her. Hearing these words from him now, her delicate, fairy-like face tightened, and she once again exerted her strength to catch up.

Fatty Gu was now less than ten meters away from completing the hundred-meter goal, but every step forward was arduous, his young face flushed crimson.

Every time he lifted his foot to take a step, it felt as though he were being suppressed by thousands of tons of immense force, causing the muscles all over Fatty Gu's body to tremble and spasm incessantly.

Even so, he gritted his teeth and stubbornly persisted. Countless blood spots had even begun to form and ooze out through his normally healthy skin—the result of his internal blood qi having nowhere to vent under the crushing pressure.

Though his physical body could still endure being suppressed to this degree, what Fatty Gu found most difficult to bear were his Dantian and his sea of consciousness.

The eight golden cores within Fatty Gu's Dantian were currently trembling violently, as if they were beginning to reach their limit. Though they had not cracked, Fatty Gu had a premonition that if he did not take prompt measures and allowed this to continue, his golden cores would inevitably be completely ruined.

At the same time, within his sea of consciousness, the sea of soul power surged turbulently without a single calm spot. Huge waves splashed upward, crashing blindly in all directions and producing countless explosive booms.

The spiritual power whirlpool above the sea of soul power also emitted a gear-grinding, deafening roar. Every single rotation was countless times more laborious than usual, moving at a snail's pace.

Knowing that he was fast approaching his limit, Fatty Gu gritted his teeth, tightly guarded his pristine spiritual altar, and began to draw out his soul power thread by thread, slowly channeling it toward the eight golden cores within his Dantian.

He had no idea whether doing this was right or wrong, but an ethereal voice seemed to be endlessly telling him deep within his mind that this was feasible.

Therefore, with no other distracting thoughts, Fatty Gu could only harden his scalp and take action.

Dozens of breaths later, eight strands of divided soul power—totaling eight in all—finally managed to stealthily descend outside the eight golden cores. Under Fatty Gu's deliberate manipulation, they began trying to merge into the golden cores.

Yet every time a strand of divided soul power attempted to press against the rapidly vibrating golden cores, it was ruthlessly and violently repelled. With each repulsion, Fatty Gu's soul body felt as though it were being pierced by needles, wracked with intense pain.

After trying this no less than dozens of times, Fatty Gu was drenched in cold sweat from the pain, his body swaying unsteadily as he teetered on the verge of collapse.

Lü Xinyrou, who had advanced another two meters behind him, also seemed finally exhausted. Her lovely face turned pale and bloodless, and her delicate body convulsed as she slumped to the ground. The moment she fell unconscious, milky-white mist around her body transformed into trickling spiritual fluid that seeped into her skin.

Of course, Fatty Gu paid no attention to this—or rather, he had neither the spare capacity nor the ability to care about external matters.

In his Dantian, the eight strands of divided soul power seemed to have locked into a stubborn contest with the eight golden cores: the more you try to repel me, the more desperately I will cling to you.

Time flew by while feeling as slow as passing years. At this point, Fatty Gu could no longer keep track of how many times his divided soul power had launched charges.

Just as Fatty Gu was growing increasingly feeble, he finally caught a glimpse of hope for success. The distance by which the divided soul power was repelled grew smaller and smaller. In other words, in the confrontation between the divided soul power and the golden cores, the soul strands were gradually gaining the upper hand.

Another dozens of breaths later, the eight strands of divided soul power, acting like eight ribbons, finally managed to firmly adhere one end of themselves to the eight spherical golden cores.

Even as their ribbon-like bodies were shaken and tossed constantly by the vibrations, they still desperately coiled themselves around the eight golden cores, reclaiming territory like an expanding frontier, their progress growing increasingly effective.

During this process, his once pristine spiritual altar gradually plunged into chaos. The single spark of clear soul fire that Fatty Gu desperately guarded flickered like a weak candlelight, fighting for its life against complete extinction.

After another grueling dozens of breaths, the eight ribbons of divided soul power finally accomplished their mission, completely and tightly wrapping the eight golden cores within them. Even the frequency of their violent tremors began to gradually subside.

"Hah!"

"It—it finally worked."

Sighing twice in his heart, Fatty Gu finally caught his breath and began controlling the eight strands of divided soul power to infiltrate the interior of the eight golden cores wrapped within them.

With every fraction of a percent they penetrated, Fatty Gu could clearly perceive his strength advancing by a notch.

Until all the divided soul power completely merged into the golden cores, seemingly becoming an integral part of them, Fatty Gu felt as though his eight golden cores had suddenly come alive, beginning to generate sentience—a sensation both miraculous and indescribable.

"Kid, why must every single time you cultivate turn into such a life-and-death, heart-stopping ordeal?!"

"Old man, spare me the sarcasm. Do you really think this kid *wanted* it to be like this?"

......