Chapter 1946 - Profound Immortal Realm

With success slipping beyond reach, the other divine steeds withdrew from the race.

Another clash between the Mou Clan and the Yu Clan left both vessels badly damaged and sent them plunging from the sky. While crossing the thunderclouds, the Nanmen Clan's Skybreaker Wasp suffered a fresh disaster. The breach Liu Wuxie had torn through its hull reopened, forcing it to descend. As for the Lu Clan, too much distance separated it from the Guardian Wings and the Hundred Blossom War Chariot to offer any hope of catching up with them.

The Twin-Winged Battle Chariot still remained in the contest. Overtaking the two leaders, however, was not easy for Liu Wuxie.

After laboring in vain to restore the Qilin War Chariot's momentum, Divine Steed Manor's participants finally conceded defeat. They stored the vessel for later repairs and accepted their elimination from the Divine Steed Tournament, an outcome no one had anticipated.

"So, who takes first place? The Heavenly Rift Pavilion or the Hundred Blossom Manor?"

The eliminated contestants joined the spectators, further swelling the crowd below.

Most of the crowd turned toward Liu Wuxie. "You're forgetting the Twin-Winged Battle Chariot. It's still right behind them." His chariot had eliminated even the favored Qilin War Chariot, making victory for either the Guardian Wings or the Hundred Blossom War Chariot seem less certain.

"He's fallen too far behind. Catching either of them now will be difficult."

The spectators sighed. Had all three divine steeds been abreast, the Twin-Winged Battle Chariot might have had a genuine chance. The Qilin War Chariot's two attacks had instead cost Liu Wuxie close to a hundred meters.

"One obstacle remains. Let's see whether the Guardian Wings or the Hundred Blossom War Chariot clears it first."

The Heartless Sect's representatives left the Sky Soaring Steed with little resentment over their loss. They realised that their failure to form an alliance with another faction had been a strategic mistake.

Mist spread over the course with one thousand meters left to the finish line, hiding the way ahead from every watching eye.

The Guardian Wings and the Hundred Blossom War Chariot slowed down and approached the final obstacle cautiously.

"Look at all those ice mountains," people exclaimed.

Through the mist, ice mountains appeared one after another. Striking even one would severely damage a divine steed.

"The Guardian Wings have stopped," someone said.

Steering around the ice mountains would have been simple enough, as they posed little danger on their own. The real threat was the piercing cold, which had frozen the Guardian Wings’ flight mechanisms.

As the final obstacle activated, the temperature around it plummeted. Even the spectators below hurried to raise their defenses.

Before long, the Hundred Blossom War Chariot halted as well, unwilling to advance recklessly.

Liu Wuxie immediately seized the opportunity to close the distance.

"In cold like this, the Twin-Winged Battle Chariot will struggle even more with the final obstacle. I believe that the Hundred Blossom War Chariot will win," an elder of the Heartless Sect concluded.

The Guardian Wings remained locked in ice, but the larger Hundred Blossom War Chariot began battering its way through the ice mountains.

No one was optimistic about Liu Wuxie. His Twin-Winged Battle Chariot offered no defensive measures, and his cultivation was only at the Spirit Immortal Realm. The spectators could not believe he would endure such a vicious cold.

Powerful wings had given the Guardian Wings its advantage in speed. Now the final obstacle had crippled that very strength.

The first obstacle had been designed against the Hundred Blossom War Chariot, the second against the Cloudbreaker Warship, the third against the Sky Soaring Steed, and the fourth against the Guardian Wings. Those four forces had possessed the strongest chances of victory. Liu Wuxie's interference, however, had helped them pass the earlier obstacles with ease.

"Force a way through!" Shang Bin ordered.

A defensive barrier spread over the Guardian Wings, holding the bitter chill at bay. Its wings quivered, then beat again, carrying the vessel forward as it avoided the ice mountains wherever it could.

By then, the Hundred Blossom War Chariot had taken the lead and left the Guardian Wings behind. Once they cleared this obstacle, only the final thousand-meter sprint would separate them from the finish line.

The same bone-chilling cold descended upon Liu Wuxie, forcing him to slow. His sword wings closed around the Twin-Winged Battle Chariot, enclosing him inside a spherical shell.

"What does he think he's doing? Is he really going to cross the ice mountain?" the Heartless Sect's elders asked, their expressions filled with disbelief.

"He has no idea where his limits lie. Let's watch him die," Nanmen Qing sneered, making no effort to hide his contempt.

The Twin-Winged Battle Chariot charged toward the ice mountains, and bitter cold swallowed its entire frame. Concealed inside, Liu Wuxie summoned the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron and set it to devour the icy energy around him.

The cauldron rapidly refined that exceptionally pure energy and poured it into the Desolate World. Liu Wuxie's aura rose, revealing the first signs of an approaching breakthrough.

"A White Jade Frostheart!" Liu Wuxie exclaimed as Ghost Pupil revealed the treasure buried deep within an ice mountain. All the icy energy originated from it. Obtaining the White Jade Frostheart would allow him to command the ice mountains, and refining it could carry him into the Profound Immortal Realm.

What escaped others' detection lay plainly before Ghost Pupil. Liu Wuxie saw through the ice mountains without difficulty. An ice-attribute spiritual array this powerful naturally required an ice-attributed treasure to sustain its core.

The earlier obstacle had operated on a similar principle, employing a spiritual array to condense Crimson Demon Lightning.

"Why has he suddenly turned?" the spectators asked, bewildered by Liu Wuxie's abrupt change of direction. Among them, only the manor lord of the Divine Steed Manor felt deep unease.

The White Jade Frostheart rested in the depths of the ice mountains, concealed beyond even a Golden Immortal's perception. How could Liu Wuxie have found it?

Every moment carried Liu Wuxie nearer to the White Jade Frostheart. Divine Steed Manor had already missed its opportunity to act. With spatial laws thirty times denser than normal, even a Golden Immortal could not move freely along the Divine Rainbow Road.

"Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, it's up to you now," Liu Wuxie murmured.

Taking the White Jade Frostheart openly would create needless trouble. He had to retrieve it discreetly, ensuring that Divine Steed Manor would have no proof even if it knew he was responsible.

Absorbing the Profound Myriad-Aspect Sand had changed the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron at its very foundation. Its former pitch-black appearance had given way to something resembling primal chaos.

Deep inside the ice mountains, a black hole opened, its presence impossible for others to overlook. Divine Steed Manor Lord perceived it clearly. He had placed the White Jade Frostheart there.

"This is a disaster!" the manor lord exclaimed, staggering and almost falling headfirst to the ground. His connection to the White Jade Frostheart had suddenly snapped.

The Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron swallowed the White Jade Frostheart, erasing every trace of it. Even Divine Steed Manor could no longer determine where it had gone.

"Refine!" Liu Wuxie growled.

He had no time to spare. Reaching the Profound Immortal Realm would greatly improve his chances of crossing the ice mountains.

Although the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron consumed most of the icy energy, strands of cold still slipped through and made Liu Wuxie shiver. A breakthrough to the Profound Immortal Realm would transform both his physique and his cultivation completely.

Deprived of the White Jade Frostheart, the surrounding ice mountains began melting. The Hundred Blossom War Chariot accelerated at once, while the Guardian Wings shook off the cold that restrained it.

"You won't get through that easily," Liu Wuxie muttered.

To win, he needed to make the ice mountains serve him. If the Hundred Blossom War Chariot and the Guardian Wings escaped this obstacle, he would have almost no chance of catching up with them.

The Twin-Winged Battle Chariot could achieve remarkable speed, but both the Guardian Wings and the Hundred Blossom War Chariot could match it. Even Liu Wuxie doubted he could prevail in the final sprint. He knew that neither rival had revealed all its trump cards.

His best option was to imprison them among the ice mountains and deny them the opportunity to race for the finish.

The Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron's evolution had further accelerated its refining process. In only half a breath, it reduced the White Jade Frostheart to a white river that surged into the Desolate World.

Liu Wuxie had long been preparing his foundation for the Profound Immortal Realm. During his training in the Dragon Burial Mountain Range, he had absorbed immense quantities of energy and kept it in reserve.

A deep hum resounded within the Twin-Winged Battle Chariot. A powerful aura rolled outward, accompanied by a torrent of laws at the Profound Immortal Realm.

"He broke through?!" the elders of the Nanmen Clan and the Divine Will Gate exclaimed. Those who had mocked him earlier could only stare in disbelief, his breakthrough landing like a resounding slap across their faces.

"How is he doing this? How can he attempt a breakthrough while operating a divine steed?"

Controlling a divine steed required its operator's undivided attention. The crowd could not comprehend how Liu Wuxie had accomplished both feats simultaneously.

Vast quantities of immortal stones dissolved to sustain his ascent. His cultivation continued climbing until it reached the pinnacle of the first-level Profound Immortal Realm.

Liu Wuxie circulated the Desolate Devouring Art, and the surrounding space seemed to collapse. Dozens more Primal Chaos Shards appeared, a few of which Blackie snatched away.

The rest of the Primal Chaos Shards fed the Desolate World, strengthening its laws beyond their former limits. The larva beast also began growing faster.

The Hundred Blossom War Chariot and the Guardian Wings continued gathering speed, even as unease deepened among their occupants.

"Thousand Miles Frostseal!" Liu Wuxie called. With his breakthrough complete, he drew upon the White Jade Frostheart's power and rearranged the ice mountains.

The abrupt transformation caught everyone by surprise, including the Divine Steed Manor.

"He's changing the spiritual array!" people exclaimed.

The spectators were utterly stunned. From within his divine steed, Liu Wuxie had somehow taken control of the spiritual array on the Divine Rainbow Road, and no one could understand how.

Only ten meters separated the Hundred Blossom War Chariot from the exit. Just as it was about to clear the final obstacle, an ice mountain swept toward it and forced it back. The Guardian Wings met the same fate. The temperature fell even further, freezing both vessels where they stood.

The plea came from the Hundred Blossom War Chariot. "Shang Bin, get us out of here! Find a way, quickly!" Every effort to force a passage ended with the ice mountains driving the vessel back.

With both rivals trapped, Liu Wuxie saw no reason to hurry into the final sprint. He turned his attention to consolidating his cultivation. The breakthrough was still fresh, and stabilizing it required time.

Time passed slowly. The Hundred Blossom War Chariot made several further attempts to escape, only to fail each time.

"That brat is behind all of this! Drive him off the Divine Rainbow Road, and the problem is solved," Shang Bin declared.

Ice kept the Guardian Wings immobile. Liu Wuxie's divine steed remained far beyond its reach.

"I know that. But we can't even get ourselves out," the Hundred Blossom Manor's elder replied with a wry smile. Numerous experts occupied the vessel, yet none could free it from the predicament.

Their cultivation would let them fly freely without their divine steeds. Abandoning their vessels, however, would mean forfeiting the tournament and handing victory to Liu Wuxie.

"Switch to attack mode!" they exclaimed.

The Hundred Blossom War Chariot and the Guardian Wings had exhausted every other option. Both vessels entered attack mode.