Great Skill, Artless Form

Within Rongjun's exclusive training ground in the Taichu District, a bustling cosmic city was simulated. On the rooftop of a skyscraper. "It's been over ten years since I arrived in Chaos City." Barefoot and with disheveled hair, Rongjun stood on the skyscraper's peak, holding his Earth-Rending Blade, gazing down at the city below. It was a city he knew intimately, a city filled with cherished memories. "Father, Father..."

Rongjun murmured softly. "How long! How much longer until I become an Immortal? How much longer until I reclaim the name Tuman? How much longer until I can slay that bastard!" Rongjun whispered, "Father, I'm in pain. This pressure in my heart is unbearable." Tears welled up in his eyes. "Endure! I will endure. In the Virtual Universe Company, I will become the most outstanding among my peers... Right now, I'm inferior to Bolan, but in fifty years, a hundred years, a thousand years, I will surpass him! Until one day, I possess the strength to personally kill that bastard. I will go to his Imperial Capital Star, break into his God Kingdom, destroy everything he holds dear, and make him regret it bitterly before death!"

He clenched his fists, tears in his eyes. This hatred was etched deep into his soul, and every so often, he couldn't help but vent it. "Boom!" Rongjun waved his hand, and the simulated scene vanished instantly, reverting to a vast, enormous training ground!

"My teacher demonstrated the first axe technique for me. As long as I pass the third level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge, I can at least attend lectures from seniors who study the Giant Axe Chaos Tablet. My progress speed will definitely accelerate," Rongjun mused. "With my current strength, I should be able to pass the third level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge within the next year or two."

"Now, I have only one goal: to surpass Bolan!" Rongjun thought to himself. As for everyone else, they are no longer a threat, because Rongjun passed the second level in his fourth year after entering Chaos City... This speed far surpassed anyone else.

"Beep!" "Hmm?" Rongjun looked down at the screen on his arm, puzzled. A new email had appeared. "Oh, it's an email from Supervisor Bafen. Has someone else made a breakthrough? Others passed the second level slower than me, and the third level is much harder than the second, so it's impossible for anyone to be ahead of me. Could it be Bolan? But Bolan just passed the fourth level half a year ago, and the further you go, the difficulty skyrockets geometrically... He'd need at least another ten years to hope to break through the fifth level."

Puzzled, Rongjun commanded, "Open it." The email automatically unfolded.

"Luo Feng, attempting the Sky-Reaching Bridge for the first time in nearly ten years, has just consecutively passed the second and third levels and is now attempting the fourth level."

Rongjun's eyes widened instantly. "Good heavens! The, the, the third level has been passed?" Rongjun couldn't believe it. "I passed the first and second levels faster than him, and I even have a teacher's guidance. How is this possible..." "Madman, madman..." Rongjun's wide eyes were filled with shock.

...

Tiandi District.

In the garden of one of the villas, Jialaixi, shrouded in a black robe, appeared out of thin air. "An email, surprisingly?" Jialaixi pointed his finger at the air in front of him, and a screen appeared, displaying an email. He lightly tapped it open. The email content was simple—

"Luo Feng, attempting the Sky-Reaching Bridge for the first time in nearly ten years, has just consecutively passed the second and third levels and is now attempting the fourth level."

...

"How is that possible?" In a villa next to Jialaixi's, the corpulent giant 'Tao' stared at the screen before him in shock and fury, roaring, "Madman, that madman! He, he actually attempted the Sky-Reaching Bridge for the first time in nearly ten years and passed the second and third levels in one go! Madman, he truly is a madman!"

...

"Impossible!" Jiangmo, a handsome Taichu District member with long green hair and mysterious patterns on his face, stared at the screen in horror. "I haven't even passed the second level, yet he, he actually passed the third?"

...

Before Luo Feng's sudden surge, among this group of geniuses... Bolan had passed the fourth level, while Rongjun and six others had passed the second level. Everyone else had only passed the first level! It should be noted. Among the seven who passed the second level, Longyun was from the Primal Region, while 'Tao', Jialaixi, and Gusiluo were from the Tiandi District. Only Rongjun, Qianshui, and Wuka belonged to the Taichu District. This means that other members who initially entered the Taichu District, such as Jiangmo, Lansiluo, and Aichen, had still only passed the first level.

"Impossible! How could this madman have improved so much? There are nearly a hundred of us in the Tiandi District, and the gap between us and this madman wasn't that large. How could this happen?"

...

While the news of Luo Feng's sudden surge left the group of geniuses, who had been secretly competing and striving, utterly bewildered, Luo Feng had already begun his battle on the fourth level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge.

Gray, fierce winds howled, enveloping the bridge surface of the Sky-Reaching Bridge. Luo Feng stood on the bridge surface, his eyes beneath his battle helmet gazing at a tornado at the far end of the bridge. A voice emanated from within the tornado: "Choose your opponent: Warrior, Controller, or Illusionist. Defeat any one of them, and you may proceed to the fifth level."

"Controller," Luo Feng stated directly. "Boom!" Suddenly, a figure flew out from the center of the tornado. He wore silver-white battle armor and white battle boots, stood upon a Dark Cloud Shuttle, and carried a dark-golden long staff on his back. His eyes, beneath a silver-white mask, gazed at Luo Feng.

"According to the descriptions in 'Flowing Blood,' the difficulty continuously escalates the further one goes, and the rate of escalation becomes increasingly exaggerated," Luo Feng mused. "I wonder how strong this fourth level truly is." Because 'Flowing Blood' contained some simple descriptions of the Sky-Reaching Bridge, Luo Feng had a basic understanding. He had been somewhat confident about passing the third level, but for the fourth level... he had no confidence at all. But even without confidence, he had to try!

"Silver-clad man, I hope you'll use your full strength," Luo Feng called out. "Full strength?" The silver-clad man, standing on his Dark Cloud Shuttle, said in a low voice, "I only know one move. If you can block it, I lose." "Only one move?" Luo Feng was startled. "Take this!" The silver-clad man pointed at Luo Feng from afar. Simultaneously, countless dense golden miniature swords shot out from the dark-golden long staff on his back. Indeed, they were 'dense,' a vast number of golden miniature swords directly suspended before the silver-clad man, while golden threads imbued with the power of laws continuously floated and connected them.

"1600 golden miniature swords." Luo Feng's gaze swept over them, quickly determining the exact number. At Luo Feng's level, his soul-consciousness might not yet be as intelligent as an AI, but it was at least far superior to any past computer on Earth. "The entire Yan Shen Blade consists of 10081 miniature swords. The ninth stage of the Yan Shen Blade involves using all miniature swords to form the most terrifying attack," Luo Feng mused. "He's using 1600 miniature swords, so this should be the fourth stage of the Yan Shen Blade."

The third stage of the Yan Shen Blade, 'Sky Sword Style,' involves 9 golden swords suspended, each golden sword composed of 81 miniature swords, thus the third stage of the Yan Shen Blade uses a total of 729 golden miniature swords. The fourth stage of the Yan Shen Blade, 'Great Skill, Artless Form,' requires utilizing 1600 miniature swords to form a thick golden pillar nearly ten meters tall, like a support column in a grand hall. To be able to use the fourth stage, 'Great Skill, Artless Form,' at the Universe Level First Tier, is absolutely enough to sweep across the cosmos, rarely encountering an opponent.

...

Before the silver-clad man, the 1600 golden miniature swords were subtly spaced apart, countless intricate golden threads intertwining, forming complex patterns on the surface of the entire golden pillar, resembling a totem pole. Yan Shen Blade's Fourth Stage — Great Skill, Artless Form!

"This... no wonder it's only one move." Luo Feng's eyes widened. "The fourth level is actually this difficult. To form a totem pole... it requires extremely high comprehension of space and metal laws. It's essentially integrating the entire sword domain within that totem golden pillar. A casual strike possesses incredible, terrifying power." The totem golden pillar possessed immense power. Once formed, a casual strike could shatter mountains or unleash tsunamis upon the sea.

"Take this!" the silver-clad man roared. "I want to see just how powerful this move is!" Luo Feng, standing on his Dark Cloud Shuttle, unleashed his Hundred-Line Flow movement technique. His movements were already ghost-like. While dodging, he swiftly controlled and unleashed the Sky Sword Style's 'Nine Swords United,' and the golden greatsword instantly arced through the air, stabbing directly at the silver-clad man.

His insight into the essence of spatial laws made Luo Feng's attacks incredibly fast. Previously, when he used the Shadow Seven Absolutes Blade—'Epiphyllum'—to challenge the second level, his opponent could only frantically defend by circling their body with two battle blades, eventually luckily parrying Luo Feng's blade. But then Luo Feng executed a simple-looking thrust that was so fast the opponent couldn't react. When challenging the third level, he was similarly absurdly fast, and combined with the advantage of his consciousness strength, he completely overwhelmed his opponent.

"Rumble~~" The massive totem golden pillar rolled directly towards him. The surrounding space was subtly compressed. At this moment, as the totem golden pillar rolled, it seemed to be compressing space itself. "Thump!" The totem golden pillar was simply too massive. With just a slight roll, it traversed a significant spatial distance and collided with Luo Feng's golden greatsword. With a 'thump,' the golden greatsword was shattered and dispersed, breaking down into nine golden swords. "Whoosh~~~" The totem golden pillar swept through the air, and its spatial compression affected Luo Feng's movement technique. "Too fast!" Luo Feng couldn't dodge it at all, and the totem golden pillar directly struck him.

Challenging the fourth level, failed!

...

Sky-Reaching Bridge Plane, island center.

Zhenyan King, Longyu King, and Tongnan King all watched the floating screen before them. The battle description was slow, but in reality, it had ended in mere seconds. "Losing is quite normal," Zhenyan King nodded. "Indeed," Tongnan King also commented. "The Yan Shen Blade has nine stages, which can be divided into three phases... the first to third stages, the fourth to sixth stages, and the seventh to ninth stages. The third stage is still at least in the first phase, but the fourth stage clearly has a super leap in power. It's perfectly normal for him to lose."

"He's only been cultivating in Chaos City for ten years; we can't demand too much," Longyu King smiled. "In just ten years, he's gained insight into a trace of the essence of spatial laws, and his consciousness strength is so powerful. An unexpected gain, this Luo Feng is an unexpected discovery for me on this trip. He is stronger than Rongjun!" "In my opinion, he might even surpass Bolan in the future," Zhenyan King stated directly. "Haha." "It's still too early, don't get too carried away. Bolan had too much of a head start," Tongnan King and Longyu King both laughed. "Anyway, I have high hopes for him," Zhenyan King said.

Just then... In the center of the island, a figure, 'Rongjun,' emerged, followed by the corpulent giant 'Tao,' Wuka... one after another, individuals appeared.