Beside the viscous demonic river, Lin Zheyu sat with his eyes closed, his breathing slow and steady. Several yao corpses lay around him. The bodies twitched and wriggled as if trying to reassemble themselves and revive. These yaos were the ones he had discovered nearby each time before using Origin Force to enhance himself. Since they were not particularly strong, Lin Zheyu had casually killed them.

Both of his hands were submerged in the viscous liquid. A vast mysterious energy surged forth, using his hands as a medium to frantically absorb the useful energy from the demonic river and draw it into Lin Zheyu's body. The Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art circulated again and again without rest. Under the influence of the mysterious energy, Lin Zheyu's true origin, blood qi, and essence rapidly depleted as they nourished, tempered, and strengthened his spirit and spiritual soul.

Within the sea of consciousness, the sphere of light representing his spirit and spiritual soul grew increasingly condensed. In the gray expanse above the sea of consciousness, the soul sphere shone like a small sun, emitting a gentle radiance that illuminated every corner. Forty-two martial true intents condensed into tiny points of light, circling the soul sphere in orderly orbits like satellites revolving around a planet.

Suddenly, a powerful yao emerged from the darkness and slammed violently into Lin Zheyu. The terrifying force sent him flying through the air. His eyes snapped open midair. A trace of killing intent appeared within them as a solid, true origin barrier instantly condensed around his body. His fist blazed with a scorching red glow while arcs of lightning crackled across it with sharp sizzling sounds.

His terrifying fist smashed toward the charging yao. The blow struck the bridge of its nose. An overwhelming force crashed down, and a cracking sound rang out. The yao let out a miserable roar and was slammed into the ground at twice the speed. After landing, Lin Zheyu moved instantly and appeared beside the planted Purple Thunder Demon-Slaying Saber, casually grabbing the weapon.

In an instant, the Purple Thunder Demon-Slaying Saber burst with dazzling light. Terrifying lightning exploded across the blade. In the darkness, hundreds of blade lights flashed like lightning before vanishing in an instant. The yao that had just crawled out of the crater was instantly cut into hundreds of pieces in midair, the fragments falling to the ground.

Lin Zheyu let out a long breath and muttered while looking at the yao's remains on the ground, "So weak, and it still dared to ambush me."

The moment he opened his eyes earlier, he realized he was no longer where he had been. Somehow, he was in midair, and a sharp pain surged through his body. For a moment, he thought he had been attacked by a powerful yao, and a strong sense of danger rose in his heart.

"Another yao is coming. Time to move."

Lin Zheyu frowned slightly. His figure flickered and vanished from the spot. His speed surged rapidly to five times the speed of sound. The scenery rushing past him remained perfectly clear.

Let's try six times the speed of sound.

With that thought, Lin Zheyu pushed his speed even higher.

At the second stage of the Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art, he had used 17 units of Origin Force. His spirit and spiritual soul had improved tremendously. Lin Zheyu's Perception Domain expanded rapidly and had already reached more than six hundred meters. This was inside the demon god barrier, where terrifying pressure and the dense Baleful Yin force suppressed his perception considerably. If he were outside, his Perception Domain would likely extend to a shocking radius of more than eight hundred meters.

Whoosh, whoosh.

Lin Zheyu's speed soared to a shocking six times the speed of sound. He felt powerful resistance pressing against him. Fierce wind howled past his ears, and occasional sonic booms erupted from his body as he broke through the sound barrier.

Six times the speed of sound works just fine!

A hint of delight appeared on Lin Zheyu's face.

He moved swiftly through the forest, his figure ghostlike and elusive. His terrifying speed caused more than a dozen afterimages to appear as he moved. This was the ability of the Phantom Flash Soul-Chasing Steps. This lightness technique not only granted astonishing speed and agile movement but could also create several illusory images during use to confuse enemies.

However, Lin Zheyu felt that such crude illusions would likely only deceive martial artists. For immortal cultivators who possessed spiritual sense, they would probably see through them at a glance.

Lin Zheyu darted through the dense forest at six times the speed of sound. His terrifying speed stirred violent winds that made the leaves rustle loudly. After testing his speed for several minutes, he finally stopped, breathing heavily.

Maintaining six times the speed of sound placed an enormous burden on Lin Zheyu. Even with the support of true origin, it was close to the limit of his physique.

At six times the speed of sound, my movement techniques cannot be fully unleashed, but at least I can avoid suddenly crashing into tree trunks now.

Six times the speed of sound was nearly the limit of his body. Even if he cultivated the Phantom Flash Soul-Chasing Steps to the fourth stage and reached Perfection, Lin Zheyu felt that his speed would not improve much further. Once past six times the speed of sound, even the slightest increase would place a terrifying burden on his body.

"I need to keep improving the Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art. This technique has not yet reached its limit. I never expected this martial cultivation technique to possess such astonishing potential," Lin Zheyu said to himself.

His true origin far surpassed the true strength of martial artists, and its tempering effect on the spirit and spiritual soul was extremely powerful. Out of the original ten parts of the spirit and soul, less than one part of essence remained after being refined by true origin. If it were refined with the true strength of martial artists instead, it would likely remove only about two layers of impurities, leaving roughly 80% of the spirit and soul intact. The difference was obvious.

The process of refining the soul with true origin effectively reduced the total amount of spirit and soul. Because of this, even after the Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art reached the limit imposed by his physique, it still had room for further cultivation and improvement.

Lin Zheyu moved to a new location. To avoid attracting other yaos with the noise of killing them, he deliberately searched for a place where no yaos were nearby.

"This will do..." Lin Zheyu arrived beside a new tributary of the demonic river.

After confirming there were no problems, he gripped the Purple Thunder Demon-Slaying Saber tightly in his right hand and stepped into the river with both legs. The viscous liquid rose to about halfway up his calves. To prevent another sudden attack by yaos, he planned to use his legs as the medium this time to absorb the energy from the demonic river.

Just as Lin Zheyu prepared to use Origin Force again to enhance himself, the roar of yaos sounded from the distance. His brow furrowed slightly.

They're some distance away. Judging by the sound, at least one kilometer... Using Origin Force only takes a few seconds. It should not be a problem.

He did not hesitate and immediately sent out the thought.

Use 2 units of Origin Force to cultivate the Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

After several attempts, he had found that 2 units of Origin Force were the most suitable amount. The energy density within the small tributary of the demonic river was too low. If he used more than that, he would not be able to absorb enough energy. The enhancement using Origin Force took only a short time, and this time, nothing unexpected happened.

After a few breaths, Lin Zheyu slowly opened his eyes. A trace of fatigue appeared in his gaze. By this point today, he had already used 18 units of Origin Force and was nearing his limit. Although cultivating the Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art with Origin Force had greatly improved his spirit and soul, Lin Zheyu still felt deep exhaustion. This fatigue came from the depths of his soul, a weariness rooted in his spirit and will.

[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]

[Name: Lin Zheyu]

[Origin Force: 14]

[Skills: Phantom Flash Soul-Chasing Steps (Third Stage: 89%), Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art (Second Stage: 100%), Primordial Wuji True Technique (Third Stage: 59%)]

"Seven hundred meters already... This feeling is truly incredible..." Lin Zheyu could not help sighing in amazement as he sensed his current state.

Within a radius of seven hundred meters, everything felt completely under his control. The sensation was truly astonishing.

"I haven't reached the limit yet. I'll use 2 more units of Origin Force," Lin Zheyu said to himself.

His spirit and soul improved rapidly, and his perception surged. The sensation of everything within a seven-hundred-meter radius being under his control made it impossible for him to resist becoming absorbed in it.

Boom!

Suddenly, another rumbling sound came from the distance, but Lin Zheyu was no longer surprised. As his perception improved, he could hear more and more distant movements. Even his eyesight had improved. The darkness that had once been completely impenetrable now allowed him to see the scenery around him.

"Hm, someone is being chased," Lin Zheyu murmured in surprise.

Within his Perception Domain, a figure suddenly appeared, fleeing rapidly. It was a woman. Through the Perception Domain, Lin Zheyu could not distinguish her appearance or clothing. He could only sense the powerful fluctuations of spirit power around her. They were almost on par with the young man from the Directorate of Celestial Observation he had encountered before.

Should I help her...?

A thought flashed through Lin Zheyu's mind.

But he only thought about it and did not act. Soon, the woman rushed out of his Perception Domain, and Lin Zheyu could only faintly sense her growing farther away from his position.

Not long after...

A brilliant blade of light suddenly appeared between the sky and land and slashed toward the direction of the fleeing woman. Lin Zheyu was startled by the sudden attack and quickly circulated his concealment technique to suppress the fluctuations of his aura.

"An expert!" Lin Zheyu concluded. Even he had sensed a faint trace of danger from that blade of light.

"Interesting. Those two have started fighting..." Lin Zheyu watched the waves of energy coming from afar, curiosity appearing on his face.

I wonder which factions the two sides belong to. I'll go take a look later. For now, I should focus on improving my spirit and spiritual soul first, Lin Zheyu thought, suppressing his curiosity.

Only a stronger perception would allow him to detect danger more quickly and avoid it. When facing immortal cultivators who possessed spiritual sense, it would prevent him from fighting as if blind.

Use 2 units of Origin Force to cultivate the Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art.

As the thought was transmitted, Lin Zheyu began a new round of enhancement.

A vast, mysterious energy surged through Lin Zheyu's entire body as his spirit and soul rapidly grew stronger. This time, he sensed something unusual. When his spirit and spiritual soul reached a certain level of power, the world in his eyes experienced another astonishing transformation.