Not far away, Yao Feng stood with his sword in hand, his robe fluttering in the wind. His sharp eyes scanned the surroundings. Since he had agreed to help Fellow Daoist Li keep watch, he was determined to fulfill his duty diligently.
Half a day passed, and the area remained eerily quiet.
This allowed him to relax a little.
It seemed that everyone else had already left. Surely, no one would be foolish enough to disturb Li Xun during his cultivation. After all, Li Xun’s reputation had already been firmly established.
To interfere with his cultivation was no different from courting death.
“That woman earlier... She must be Brother Li’s Dao companion. Only someone like her would be worthy of him,” Yao Feng mused to himself, glancing at Li Xun and then at the nearby formation.
Before beginning her cultivation, Qin Xueyi had set up an illusory formation that blocked all spiritual energy from leaking out and prevented others from spying on them. Despite the formation’s barrier, Yao Feng could still sense faint disturbances.
Within the formation, there seemed to be the roar of an azure dragon, the echo of a white tiger splitting the skies, and faintly, even the cry of a vermilion bird. It was extraordinary.
Even with his experience, Yao Feng couldn’t make sense of it.
The sound of the vermilion bird made sense; after all, Li Xun had gifted its blood to the woman in plain view of everyone. But the roars of the azure dragon and white tiger? What was going on?
Could it be that the woman also possessed the blood of an azure dragon and a white tiger?
The moment this absurd thought crossed his mind, Yao Feng immediately dismissed it.
It was simply too implausible.
Both azure dragons and white tigers were on par with the vermilion bird in terms of strength. Acquiring even a single drop of their blood was a heavenly fortune.
Getting all three? That was beyond comprehension.
“I was considering introducing Brother Li to a couple of female disciples from Spirit Sword Valley, but it seems that’s no longer an option,” Yao Feng sighed, shaking his head helplessly.
In Spirit Sword Valley, there were a few female sword cultivators of exceptional talent. Previously, he had thought that if he could play matchmaker, perhaps Spirit Sword Valley could benefit from the connection.
If they couldn’t recruit Li Xun as a disciple, then making him a son-in-law would still be a way to indirectly strengthen their sect.
But after meeting Qin Xueyi, Yao Feng understood that his idea would remain just that—a fleeting thought.
If he really attempted something , Spirit Sword Valley disciples might find themselves stepping into a deadly formation as soon as they left the sect.
Formation experts were notoriously untouchable in the cultivation world.
Even if their personal combat strength wasn’t particularly impressive, their ability to set up lethal formations meant that anyone daring to provoke them would almost certainly meet their end.
And Qin Xueyi had clearly reached an advanced level of mastery in formations.
By the time she advanced to the Profound Elixir Realm, the formations she casually set up would likely be capable of trapping and killing even mighty cultivators in the Divine Power Realm.
Yao Feng sighed heavily, lamenting Spirit Sword Valley’s lack of such good fortune.
Just as he let out this sigh, his brows furrowed. He detected a faint, unusual aura.
With a soft murmur, Yao Feng turned slowly toward Li Xun’s direction. Unlike Qin Xueyi, Li Xun hadn’t set up any formations while cultivating, so his aura was easily detectable.
“Brother Li’s strength has increased again?”
Yao Feng frowned deeply, his eyes filled with confusion. He could sense that Li Xun’s power was steadily growing.
At first glance, the growth didn’t seem particularly fast. But upon closer thought, it was shockingly rapid!
Because, under normal circumstances, a cultivator’s progress wasn’t visibly noticeable during their cultivation. It often took years—or even decades—for others to perceive a tangible improvement in their strength.
But Li Xun was different. His cultivation was advancing at a rate that was visible to the naked eye!
Based on Yao Feng’s estimation, if this rate of improvement continued, within ten days, Li Xun would likely break through from the late Profound Elixir Realm to its peak.
“Is this... an illusion?”
Yao Feng slapped his own cheek, finding it hard to believe.
How could anyone cultivate this quickly? Advancing an entire minor realm in just ten days?
It was important to note that Li Xun had only been cultivating for two years.
Reaching the middle stage of the Profound Elixir Realm in two years was already extraordinary. But advancing to the peak stage within the same timeframe? That was a completely different level.
Everyone knew that even a small breakthrough in the Profound Elixir Realm could take an ordinary person ten years—or even decades.
Yet Li Xun only needed ten days!
“I didn’t see him take any pills earlier...”
Yao Feng was perplexed.
He noticed the black stone in Li Xun’s hand, but it appeared completely ordinary.
Sweeping it with his spiritual sense, Yao Feng found nothing special about it. It was just a mundane stone, devoid of even the slightest trace of spiritual energy.
With just a glance, he concluded that the stone had nothing to do with Li Xun’s rapid progress.
It had to be Brother Li’s own terrifying talent that was the reason for his astonishing cultivation speed.
As Yao Feng marveled at this, a sudden wave of destruction radiated from Li Xun.
The aura was overwhelming, as though a demonic overlord sat above the heavens, overlooking all living beings.
Boundless divine might surged forth, accompanied by the resonant sound of heavenly laws.
Within a ten-meter radius of Li Xun, all material forms disintegrated into dust and dissolved into nothingness.
It was the ultimate embodiment of destruction—nothing could endure it.
Floating midair, with his black hair billowing, Li Xun exuded a demonic majesty that suppressed everything. Before him, even the three thousand laws seemed to bow.
Destruction had become the sole truth.
In the eyes of ancient powerhouses, the destructive force Li Xun now commanded might still appear immature. But to Yao Feng, it was utterly awe-inspiring.
Yao Feng himself was considered a genius. From a young age, he had cultivated the way of the sword. Two years ago, he had even comprehended sword intent, earning him endless praise from the elders of Spirit Sword Valley.
Everyone called him a sword prodigy.
As he delved deeper into cultivation, Yao Feng learned that concepts like sword intent, blade intent, and spear intent were merely the foundation for comprehending the laws of their respective paths.
Only by first understanding sword intent could one later master the laws of the sword and become a supreme human emperor.
Yet Li Xun had skipped the step of comprehending intent altogether and directly begun grasping laws!
This was something Yao Feng had neither seen nor heard of before.
Even ancient texts made no mention of such a phenomenon.
Could this truly be something achievable at their current level of cultivation?
“So this is what a true genius looks like...”
Yao Feng’s entire body felt numb as he muttered to himself in disbelief.
Today, his horizons had been broadened.
A true peerless prodigy grew in this way: not only breaking through realms but also achieving enlightenment mid-breakthrough.
And not just any enlightenment—Li Xun had comprehended the Law of Destruction!
Such a terrifying law stood on equal footing with the Yin-Yang, Reincarnation, Time, and Space Laws.
While people often claimed that the three thousand Dao had no superior or inferior, certain laws could unleash unimaginable power even with just a sliver of mastery.
This was an undeniable truth.