Chương 195: Breakthrough - 7th Stage Qi Condensation

Ke Jun's hands passed through empty air where my face had been a moment ago. I'd used Blink Step to appear next to Liu Chang, who was being helped to his feet by Yan Li. The stone cultivator's body was a mess of cracked armor and blood, but his eyes still burned with that unshakeable determination that made him such an effective leader. Ke Jun's blood-red eyes fixed on me, widening slightly as he sensed the changes from my breakthrough.

"A demonic technique?" he mused, studying the energy fluctuations around me. Then he shook his head, that disturbing smile growing wider.

"No... not quite demonic, but fascinating nonetheless. The energy signature is unlike anything I've encountered in my considerable experience." I didn't bother responding. There was no point in hiding anymore - I'd been forced to drop the Shroud rune. Against an opponent like this, I needed every advantage I could get. Even with my recent breakthrough to Stage 7 and the support of the others, victory seemed like a distant dream.

"Master," Azure's voice held a note of concern.

"Are you certain about this course of action?"

"Not even slightly," I muttered.

"But I'm all out of smart ideas." I activated the Overclock rune. The effect was immediate and dramatic. The red sun in my inner world swelled up, its surface rippling with muscle-like patterns of deeper crimson and brilliant orange. My physical essence jumped from 33 to 45 units. The sudden surge of power felt like lightning in my veins, raw and untamed. The red sun's capacity increased significantly, and that meant more power for every other rune I had. But I wasn't done yet.

I channeled the blue sun's energy through my meridians, its cooling influence helping to stabilize the chaotic power of the Overclock. The combination of energies created something... new. The demonic-feeling aura coming off me should help mask the blue sun's presence - the last thing I needed was my ancestor getting even more interested in my unusual cultivation. More importantly, I was worried about who else might be watching.

In my admittedly limited experience, ancient tomb situations like this tended to attract vultures. Better to keep a few surprises in reserve.

"Your energy signature is quite fascinating," Ke Jun mused, studying me like I was an interesting specimen in a cultivation experiment.

"The World Tree Sutra was always known for producing... unique variations. But the problem with the World Tree Su—" Whatever he was about to say was cut off as Liu Chang launched forward, but this wasn't the stone-armored warrior I'd seen before. Instead, his qi surged in a pattern I'd never witnessed, forming what looked like ghostly armor around his body.

"Ten Thousand Ghost Prison!" Liu Chang's voice echoed with otherworldly power as spectral chains erupted from his body, each one trailing cold mist that made the air crystallize. At the same time, Yan Li's hands traced complex patterns in the air.

"Imperial Heaven's Gate!" A massive circular gate materialized behind him, radiating such pure authority that I felt my knees trying to buckle even though I wasn't his target. Ke Jun's eyes actually widened slightly.

"The Imprisonment Scripture and the Gate of Imperial Authority? How unexpected." His hands came together in a complex seal.

"But if you wish to discuss ancient techniques..." The air suddenly grew thick and heavy, taking on a reddish tinge. Where before he'd used those division lines, now globules of blood-red energy began forming throughout the battlefield, each one pulsing with hungry intent.

"Blood Essence Devouring Palm!" The technique was horrifying in its simplicity. Instead of trying to cut or divide, it simply... consumed. The blood-red spheres began drawing in everything around them: air, stone, even spiritual energy. Anything they touched was converted into pure essence that flowed into Ke Jun's spectral form. Liu Chang's chains shattered as they came in contact with the spheres, the ghostly metal being consumed instantly. But he wasn't done.

"Rising Ghost Tide!" The temperature plummeted as thousands of spectral forms that resembled Liu Chang rose from the ground, forming a protective wall around our group. Each ghost seemed to absorb some of the blood spheres, sacrificing themselves but disrupting Ke Jun's technique.

"Blood Sea Manifestation!" If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Ke Jun's counter changed the entire battlefield. The stone platform beneath our feet turned liquid, becoming a rolling sea of crimson energy that tried to pull us under. Each wave carried parasitic properties, attempting to infect our qi and turn it against us. This was some sort of pseudo-domain!

"Nine Heavens Waterfall!" Su Yue's voice rang out. Instead of her usual fire attacks, she somehow converted her flame essence into pure spiritual water that fell from above, creating a protective dome of purifying energy around us. It seemed that everyone was bringing out their trump cards. Shen Xuanyu seized the opportunity.

"Thunder Dragon Ascension!" Rather than his usual jade-colored lightning, pure white electricity coursed through his meridians. His body actually transformed, taking on draconic features as he launched himself at Ke Jun, becoming a living weapon of pure electrical energy. The ancient monster's response was immediate.

"Blood Dragon Counterstrike!" The crimson sea beneath us surged upward, forming a dragon of pure blood essence that met Shen Xuanyu's attack head-on. The clash was spectacular as white lightning fought against blood-red energy, each trying to overwhelm the other. But Ke Jun wasn't focused solely on Shen Xuanyu. His left hand made a grasping motion.

"Blood Essence Binding!" Threads of blood-red energy shot from his fingers, trying to wrap around each of us. Where they touched, they began draining spiritual energy directly from our meridians. Zhang Wei responded immediately.

"Nine Transformations of the Earthly Dragon!" His body shifted and changed, taking on characteristics of different beasts: scales of a dragon, claws of a tiger, eyes of a phoenix. Each transformation allowed him to break free of the blood threads while launching counterattacks of devastating physical force. I didn't waste the opening they'd created. Combining the enhanced power of the Overclock rune with every other technique I had, I struck from multiple angles simultaneously.

The scorpion tail aimed for vital points while explosive seeds detonated. Vines erupted from the blood sea itself, trying to entangle Ke Jun's spectral form. The Shockwave rune activated as my palm slammed into his back, causing him to cough out blood. For a moment, it seemed to work. Ke Jun's form actually stuttered, his outline becoming briefly unclear as our combined assault forced him to defend from too many angles at once. Then his eyes blazed with crimson light.

"Blood Sun Apocalypse!" I immediately Blink Stepped away. The technique was... terrifying. A miniature sun of pure blood essence formed above the battlefield, radiating waves of consuming force that began breaking down everything they touched at a fundamental level. The blood sea rose up in massive waves, each one capable of erasing anything it touched from existence. This was no longer a pseudo-domain, it was a legit domain!

"Imperial Mandate: Heaven's Shield!" Yan Li's technique created a dome of pure golden light above us, barely holding back the waves of destructive force. But Ke Jun was ready for that.

"Blood Essence: Ancestral Memory!" Suddenly the blood-red energy began resonating with something in Yan Li's golden light. Ancient patterns emerged in the barrier, weakness spreading through it like cracks in glass.

"The imperial qi in your veins," Ke Jun's voice was almost gentle, "it remembers when it was merely mortal blood. When your ancestors were simple governors perfecting basic cultivation..." The golden barrier shattered. What happened next was... brutal. Shen Xuanyu's thunder dragon form was the first to falter, his electrical energy being overwhelmed by the blood essence. His draconic features crumbled away as he collapsed to the platform, unconscious but alive, his meridians damaged but not beyond repair.

Zhang Wei's transformations couldn't fully protect him from the blood waves - he managed one final leap backward before falling to one knee, blood trickling from his mouth as his beast forms flickered and faded. Su Yue's waterfall technique held out longer than I expected, but in the end, even pure spiritual water couldn't completely resist the hunger of Ke Jun's blood essence.

She remained standing longer than she should have, but eventually her legs gave out and she crumpled to the ground, her spiritual energy nearly depleted but her core intact. Liu Chang... Liu Chang fought like a true warrior to the very end. His Ghost Prison technique created a fortress of spectral chains and vengeful spirits around himself and Yan Li, buying time for the Yan team leader to attempt one final technique.

The strain of maintaining such powerful spiritual manifestations was clearly taking its toll - blood ran from his eyes and nose, but still he stood.

"Heaven's Final Mandate!" Yan Li's last attack was devastating, a pure golden light that carried the weight of ten thousand years of imperial authority. For a moment, it actually pushed back the blood waves, creating a sphere of pure order in the chaos of Ke Jun's techniques. But it wasn't enough. It could never have been enough. The blood waves rose higher, their consuming force overwhelming even heaven's mandate.

Liu Chang and Yan Li were thrown back by the backlash of their failed techniques, their bodies slamming into what remained of the shrine's walls. They slumped to the ground, severely wounded but their spiritual cores still pulsing with faint life. Which left me as the last one standing. The Overclock rune was reaching its time limit. I could feel the strain building in my body, the red sun's energy becoming increasingly unstable.

The blue sun was working overtime trying to keep me functional, but there was only so much it could do.

"And then there was one," Ke Jun smiled, spreading his arms wide.

"Come now, my child. Enough of this pointless resistance. Your body is mine by right, the vessel I've waited centuries to claim. Why continue to fight the inevitable?" I looked around at the battlefield, now transformed into a roiling sea of blood essence. I had one option left. One final trump card that I'd been saving because using it could kill me. Hopefully not. Best case scenario? I'd just fall unconscious for a few days. Maybe a week. Possibly a month. And if it didn't work...

well, I'd be too dead to worry about it. I reached into my inner world, past the shrinking red sun, past the blue sun still trying to heal my overtaxed body, to where a tiny star pulsed with power that didn't belong in this world.

"Master," Azure's voice was urgent, "channeling Stellar Realm energy in your current state could—""Kill me?" I finished.

"Yeah, but the alternative is definitely dying, so..." I grabbed hold of that tiny star's power and pulled.