"This is bad! I didn't expect that Murong Feng's divine consciousness could actually possess someone — that will drastically extend how long he can survive! This is really bad!"
As the Sword God Valley Ancestor was possessed by Murong Feng's divine consciousness, his cultivation surged from the sixth level of the Heaven Martial Realm to the seventh level in an instant. Zi Ling's delicate face changed dramatically, the fear flickering in her eyes deepening by several shades.
"How can this be? He's only at the seventh level of the Heaven Martial Realm, so why does this pressure feel even more formidable than Murong Feng himself?" Zhang Tianyi furrowed his brow as well.
Although Murong Feng's divine consciousness had disappeared, the aura now radiating from the Sword God Valley Ancestor was even more terrifying than the pressure Murong Feng himself had exerted earlier. This proved one thing — the seventh level of the Heaven Martial Realm was a realm that none of them could contend with at present.
Legend had it that Martial Monarchs possessed the power to destroy heaven and earth, move mountains and fill seas. The Heaven Martial Realm was the closest to the Martial Monarch Realm, and this was precisely why it was so overwhelmingly more powerful than the Spirit Martial, Yuan Martial, and Xuan Martial Realms.
Furthermore, the higher one's level within the Heaven Martial Realm, the closer one stood to the Martial Monarch Realm — and the harder it became to break through.
By the same token, the power gained at each higher level was stronger, more terrifying, and more impossible to surpass.
Every level after the sixth in the Heaven Martial Realm represented an insurmountable barrier. Reaching the seventh level was extraordinarily difficult — countless cultivators were stuck at the sixth level their entire lives, never able to step into the seventh.
As for the eighth and ninth levels, those were even harder. This was the reason why, to this day, no one on the Nine Provinces Continent had managed to enter the Martial Monarch Realm.
If the later levels of the Heaven Martial Realm were this difficult, then how much more impossible was the Martial Monarch Realm?
But there was nothing to be done. The path of martial cultivation was simply like this — the further one went, the harder it became.
Only those with extraordinary talent could cross barrier after barrier, climbing ever higher, until they ultimately became supreme figures who commanded the winds and the rains.
Today, Zhang Tianyi, Chu Feng, and Zi Ling had finally experienced the might of a seventh-level Heaven Martial cultivator. This was indeed a realm they could not hope to match.
"Hahaha! Chu Feng, Zi Ling, Zhang Tianyi — you three were arrogant enough just a moment ago, weren't you? Weren't you threatening to kill this old man? Weren't you threatening to kill my son, to destroy my Murong family, to wipe out my Sword God Valley?"
"What happened now? Why aren't you moving anymore? Where did all that bravado go?" In that moment, the Sword God Valley Ancestor laughed like a villain reveling in his triumph, his eyes brimming with killing intent while a cold, sinister smile hung at the corners of his mouth.
"Old fossil, if you're going to kill me, then kill me. If you're going to carve me up, then carve me up. Spare me the talk."
"You're only able to suppress me because you're borrowing your ancestor's power. Without it, what are you? A fart!"
"You've wasted your years, old man. You've cultivated for nothing all this time, and you call yourself the Sword God Valley Ancestor? I spit on that — you're nothing but a useless old relic." Zhang Tianyi feared nothing, and he hurled insult after insult at the Sword God Valley Ancestor without hesitation.
"You damn brat! You were the loudest with your big talk just now, and you still dare to be defiant? I'll show you defiant." The Sword God Valley Ancestor smiled coldly, clenching his hand as a three-foot blade of light materialized in his palm.
Then, with a swift thrust, the light blade plunged into Zhang Tianyi's chest. With a muffled *thud*, it punched clean through, piercing him from one side to the other.
"Haha, old fossil, is that all you've got? Not thrilling enough, not satisfying enough! If you're going to torture someone, can't you make it more exciting?"
"I'm telling you, you'd better finish me off quick. Because once your ancestor's power fades, I'll make you wish you were dead." Zhang Tianyi's chest had been pierced clean through, yet he didn't scream or cry out — instead, he burst into hearty laughter.
This infuriated the Sword God Valley Ancestor to no end. Gripping the light blade, he pointed it straight at Zhang Tianyi's Dantian, and through gritted teeth snarled: "You little brat, I'll show you how defiant you can be. Right now, I'm going to destroy your cultivation. Let's see how you act tough then!"