The members of the Heavenly Lin Squad all turned pale.

"Damn it! We can't keep letting Xu Haoran treat us like this!" Xia Bao's face twisted with fury.

The Heavenly Lin Squad and the Five Peaks Squad had been rivals for years, and every encounter between them had ended badly.

Liu Yuan's expression was equally grim, but as captain, he forced himself to stay composed.

"Xia Bao, don't do anything rash." His voice was low and firm, cutting off whatever Xia Bao was about to do.

He took a slow breath before continuing, "Since the Five Peaks Squad is in Maple Leaf Valley, we’ll withdraw. Let's head to Frigid Valley instead. We can find the Ice Grass there too."

"But Frigid Valley is far. It's deeper into the Ancient Region than Maple Leaf Valley, and it's filled with Immortal Masters and Divine Treasury experts. If we run into one of them, we're finished."

"Exactly. One wrong move and the whole squad gets wiped out."

Everyone fell silent as unease rippled through the group. Liu Yuan himself was not without doubt. He knew better than anyone how dangerous Frigid Valley was, but Frigid Ice Grass could only be found in these two places. Even if you could technically find it in other areas in the Ancient Region, the quantities would be far too scarce to make it worth one's time.

Liu Yuan stood there a moment longer, then made his call. "Then we go back."

"Go back? Just like that?"

"Are you kidding me?"

“But what choice do we have? Last time, the Five Peaks Squad nearly wiped us out...”

The complaints died as quickly as they surfaced. Not long ago, they had taken a serious beating from the Five Peaks Squad's hands. That defeat was still fresh in their minds, and none of them were eager to repeat it.

As reluctant as they were, the Heavenly Lin Squad knew it was wiser to return to the Ancient Region Heavenly Sect empty-handed than confront the Five Peaks Squad. A few stalks of Frigid Ice Grass simply were not worth picking a fight they could not win.

Just as everyone had prepared to leave, Lu Changsheng ventured to ask, "Is the Five Peaks Squad really that strong?"

Liu Yuan looked at Lu Changsheng with a trace of scrutiny in his gaze. "Yes, they are. The last time we fought, we nearly got wiped out. Every member of the Five Peaks Squad has mastered two Domains. Xu Haoran, the captain and core of the squad, is the most powerful among them.

"He's mastered two Domains and three Intents, and he's condensed five layers of Divine Fortification. One supreme divine fortification, one top-tier, and three ordinary ones, altogether amplifying his physical body eighty times over." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Lu Changsheng's eyes lit up. Eighty times! That's almost as strong as mine.

In all his time cultivating, this was the first he had heard of another Divine Fortification martial artist whose body had been strengthened to that extent. It made sense now why the Heavenly Lin Squad would rather leave than cross paths with the Five Peaks Squad.

"On top of that," Liu Yuan went on, "both his Domains are at an exceptionally deep level of comprehension. In battle, his Domains can completely overwhelm mine, and the rest of his squad aren't weak either. We're simply no match for them."

"I see. How about I give it a shot then?" Lu Changsheng proposed.

His bold statement stunned the entire Heavenly Lin Squad, and Liu Yuan’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"Lu Changsheng, you've just arrived in the Ancient Region. I don't think you truly grasp how strong Xu Haoran really is..."

Lu Changsheng made no comment on that. He simply looked at Liu Yuan with a faint, unreadable smile.

After a moment of silence, Liu Yuan spoke again, this time in a whisper. "You could die..."

"Die?" A sharp glint crossed Lu Changsheng's eyes. "In the Divine Fortification Realm, no one can kill me."

Those words sounded arrogant, ridiculous even, but coming from Lu Changsheng, they carried a quiet certainty that made it hard to dismiss.

"You guys handle the rest of the Five Peaks Squad," he went on. "I'll deal with Xu Haoran."

Before the rest could say anything, Lu Changsheng crossed dozens of zhang in the blink of an eye. He now stood directly in front of Xu Haoran, who stood apart from the rest of his squad.

Xu Haoran gave a start. What the... Who's this? I've never seen him before.

He knew almost every supreme expert in the Divine Fortification Realm, so if he did not recognize someone, they were probably not even worth knowing, and by extension, not worth fearing.

"You're just a nobody, yet you dare act so recklessly in front of me?" Xu Haoran’s gaze turned cold, though he did not lower his guard.

The next moment, five layers of divine fortification enveloped him. With that level of protection, his confidence steadied at once. In all his years in the Ancient Region, not a single Divine Fortification martial artist had managed to shatter his divine fortification. Perhaps only a coordinated siege could exhaust it completely—and even in that case, he still had two powerful Domains in his arsenal.

"Great Sun Domain!" Xu Haoran yelled.

Instantly, a great sun blazed into existence overhead, pouring boundless light and heat across the valley. As it descended, Lu Changsheng felt an immense pressure pressing down on him. By his estimate, Xu Haoran had progressed the Domain to seventy to eighty percent. A Domain of that caliber could rival several ordinary ones combined.

Seeing Lu Changsheng standing motionless, Xu Haoran was unsurprised. Very few Divine Fortification martial artists could actually withstand his Great Sun domain. Even Liu Yuan, despite being able to manifest two Domains, had never been able to defeat him.

Lu Changsheng scoffed. "Don't get cocky. You merely hold the light of a firefly, and yet you dare compare it to the brilliance of the moon in my grasp?"

In the next moment, the surroundings dimmed, as though the world had been swallowed by a vast and boundless starry sky. The blazing sun that had dominated the heavens just moments ago was instantly consumed, reduced to a lone speck among countless stars.

Then, the Starry Sky Domain descended on Xu Haoran.

Xu Haoran felt a sense of impending doom as an immense pressure bore down on him. At the same time, his mental strength was completely suppressed.

"What kind of Domain is this...?" Xu Haoran’s eyes widened as he hastily tried to manifest his second Domain. Though it was inferior to the Great Sun Domain, it was still a formidable weapon. But under this overwhelming pressure, he could not release it at all.

His face twisted with terror. He could not believe what was happening. What kind of Domain could crush his Great Sun Domain and prevent him from manifesting another?

Buzz...

In desperation, Xu Haoran tapped into his heart force. Heart force was not the same as mental strength, but with its help, the pressure bearing down on his mind could be significantly eased.

Using heart force to break free from Domain suppression was a common method, but only martial artists with a heart scale above seventy could use it in this way. Luckily, for Xu Haoran, his heart force was ninety-six!

With the aid of his heart force, Xu Haoran drew his sword and thrust it forward.

Whizz!

His blade came at Lu Changsheng with the force of a physical body amplified eighty times over. With power like that, he was certain that no Divine Fortification martial artist could defend it.

"Your Domain might be powerful, but of what use is it?" said Xu Haoran, his voice cold and steady. "Once I cut through your Divine Fortification and cut you down, your Domain will vanish on its own."

Schwing!

Lu Changsheng drew his weapon too. A crimson saber light soared skyward as he swung toward Xu Haoran's sword. The strike was further enhanced by his Domain, on top of the ninety-times physical amplification. Its power surged past one hundred thousand cauldrons, overwhelming Xu Haoran’s eightyfold amplification by a wide margin.

Boom!

Sword light and saber light collided, sending ripples surging outward in every direction. For a moment, the two strikes appeared evenly matched—but then, the outcome became clear. Lu Changsheng's overpowering saber light cleaved straight through Xu Haoran's sword light with unstoppable force and drove on toward Xu Haoran himself.

Xu Haoran’s expression changed at once. "What? Impossible! You managed to break through my sword light? Despite my eightyfold amplification? The power behind your saber light... Has it been amplified a hundred times? That's one hundred thousand cauldrons of strength!"

A hundredfold amplification and one hundred thousand cauldrons of strength—for a Divine Fortification martial artist to possess such power was simply inconceivable. For Lu Changsheng's Domain to be capable of suppressing both of Xu Haoran's meant only one thing: Lu Changsheng had pushed his Domain to Perfection. There was no other explanation.

Pushing a Domain to Perfection could only be achieved in the Divine Treasury Realm, after a martial artist nurtured it within the Mind Space. If a Divine Fortification martial artist truly had that much energy to spare, they would have long since pushed their heart scale to one hundred. Overall, cultivating a Domain to this stage was counterproductive for most martial artists.

However, Lu Changsheng was not like most martial artists. Bringing the Starry Sky Domain to Perfection had cost him little to no effort, and the payoff was evident. Against him, other Divine Fortification martial artists struggle to even manifest their Domains. His Starry Sky Domain was more than enough to suppress any of them.

Splurttt!

Lu Changsheng's saber light came down on Xu Haoran, and the divine fortification enveloping him shattered like glass. Xu Haoran went pale as he realized that his defenses could not hold against this strike, and if he faced it head-on, he would die.

The nearness of death sharpened his mind instantly. He reached for a treasure he had on him—a Teleportation Talisman, obtained through an exchange with an Immortal Master. It could only carry him a few dozen li at most, but that would be enough to evade Lu Changsheng's deadly strike. All he needed to do was crush it, and the teleportation would trigger instantly.

However, Lu Changsheng had already anticipated this. Liu Yuan had told him earlier that Xu Haoran likely carried treasures from the Immortal Dao, items capable of facilitating instantaneous escape. So, the moment his saber light landed, Lu Changsheng unleashed his Heart Sword.

"Sever!"

He pushed the Heart Sword to its absolute limit, unleashing dozens of strikes and depleting his mental strength in one go. He had anticipated that a single strike would not cut it here, so he decided to make up for power with quantity.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Dozens of invisible blades drove directly into Xu Haoran's mind, unleashing an explosion within it. The Heart Sword, combined with the mind-shaking power of the Nine-Character Mantra secret technique, hammered against his mind in continuous waves, cleaving it apart as the reverberations built and built.

"Ghaaaaah!" Xu Haoran's scream tore through the air. He froze as his mind went completely blank. A single strike of the Heart Sword would not have done much to him, but dozens crashing down like a tide left no room for resistance. His thoughts shattered under the assault, causing him to fall into an empty, stunned state.

He had meant to crush the Teleportation Talisman and flee, but now he was completely immobilized. Lu Changsheng's saber light cut through five layers of his divine fortification with crushing, unstoppable momentum, as if they were made of paper.

Splurt!

As the saber light cut into his body, Xu Haoran shuddered back to his senses, but it was already too late. It cleaved straight through him, splitting him from head to toe. The two halves of his body hit the ground with a wet thud.