Chapter Thirty-Five: Refining the Heart of the World

Zhang Meng gathered all his spiritual power and unleashed his strongest technique, the Blade of Sun and Moon. A blazing sun and a frigid moon materialized, carrying the surrounding space as they rushed toward Lu Tian. As Zhang Meng’s cultivation advanced, the space shaped by the sun and moon grew increasingly tangible; perhaps, once he reached the Celestial Immortal realm, he could forge a true world through this transformation.

The space of the sun and moon enveloped Lu Tian in an instant, trapping him. Within this domain, the sun and moon attacked him in turns. Fireballs and icy blasts surged toward Lu Tian, who formed a barrier of spiritual power to protect himself, fending off the heat and cold. Then, grasping his artifact, the Ten Thousand Thunder Sword, and stepping through a mysterious footwork, he summoned the thunder from the sky to strike at the sun and moon within the space.

Thunder roared. Countless purple celestial lightning bolts crashed down upon the sun and moon, and in moments, the celestial bodies were shattered, the space fracturing like a broken mirror.

The space completely broke apart, and Lu Tian stepped out unscathed. Zhang Meng, however, suffered a backlash from Lu Tian’s forceful disruption of his domain; his spiritual power in chaos, he spat a mouthful of blood.

“Hurry up and hand over the Heart of the World. With your strength, you cannot possibly defeat me,” Lu Tian approached Zhang Meng and Wang Bo, his face full of arrogant pride.

“Is that so? The two of them alone might not be able to defeat you, but what if I join in?”

At that moment, Chen Yi arrived from afar and addressed Lu Tian. Witnessing Zhang Meng’s defeat, Chen Yi spoke up immediately, lest Lu Tian, in pursuit of the Heart of the World, dealt a fatal blow to his companions.

Zhang Meng and Wang Bo’s faces lit up with joy upon seeing Chen Yi. They were well aware of his power. Although they had never fought him directly, Chen Yi’s victory over the monstrous Dongfang Tian in the outer sect competition proved his formidable strength.

Now, with three of them on one side, they were confident that together they could defeat Lu Tian.

Lu Tian, seeing another powerful disciple of the Five Elements Sect arrive, grew cautious. He realized that if he wanted the Heart of the World, he would have to fight again.

“Very well, since the Five Elements Sect has sent another, come at me together! Don’t say I’m bullying you. Let’s settle it in one battle—winner takes the Heart of the World,” Lu Tian declared, pride evident in his demeanor.

“Since you say so, we won’t gang up on you. I have faith in my own strength. Let’s fight one-on-one,” Chen Yi replied, seeing Zhang Meng and Wang Bo nod their approval.

Upon hearing this, Lu Tian gripped the Ten Thousand Thunder Sword and summoned two bolts of heavenly lightning toward Chen Yi. Thunder and lightning flashed fiercely.

Chen Yi dared not be careless. He swung the Rainbow Sword repeatedly, accelerating his spiritual power, and unleashed wind-thunder sword energy to meet the lightning.

The sword energy and heavenly lightning collided in the air, erupting in a terrifying shockwave.

Lu Tian saw his summoned thunder easily repelled by Chen Yi’s sword energy and knew he faced a formidable opponent. He grew more vigilant.

Chen Yi, seeing Lu Tian momentarily distracted, leaped forward and slashed at him. His sword was swift; before Lu Tian could react, the Rainbow Sword was already before him, forcing him to raise his sword in defense.

Lu Tian was vexed. He despised close combat because summoning heavenly thunder took time. In usual battles, he relied on his speed to summon lightning and defeat his foes, rarely engaging in melee. But Chen Yi, seizing the brief moment Lu Tian was distracted, forced him into close combat—a situation Lu Tian was ill-suited for. Moreover, Chen Yi’s power, strengthened by the cultivation of the Dragon Elephant technique, far surpassed his own, leaving Lu Tian constantly pressured.

Within the Heavenly Sword Sect, Lu Tian was a top-tier genius, favored by the elders. Yet, here in the small world, he found himself suppressed by Chen Yi. Unable to accept this, Lu Tian gathered his spiritual power and shouted, “Thunder Sword!”

Electric light flashed across Lu Tian’s body. The spiritual power on the Ten Thousand Thunder Sword became wild and violent, and from afar, it looked as if he held a bolt of thunder in his hand.

The sword crackled with electricity, the surrounding space sizzled, and Chen Yi sensed a surge of violent energy coming at him.

Chen Yi’s eyes locked onto Lu Tian’s sword. With a sudden burst of sword light, his sword energy soared skyward and slashed forward, confronting the Ten Thousand Thunder Sword head-on, yielding not an inch.

Their terrifying techniques collided explosively in midair, and in this close-quarters duel, Chen Yi completely forced Lu Tian onto the defensive.

With a single slash, Chen Yi followed up with several more, twelve sword lights appearing in the air, locking Lu Tian in place.

Lu Tian, trapped by the sword lights and unable to escape, was forced to withstand all twelve of Chen Yi’s sword energies.

The power of the Wind-Thunder Phantom Sword, magnified by the immense strength of the Dragon Elephant technique, reached a terrifying level, causing blood to spurt from Lu Tian’s palm.

“Enough! I admit defeat—the Heart of the World is yours,” Lu Tian called out hurriedly as Chen Yi’s sword slashed toward him once more.

Lu Tian then activated his movement technique and departed, vanishing without a trace in moments.

“Chen Yi, thank you. If you hadn’t arrived just in time today, my brother Wang Bo and I would have met our end here. The Heart of the World is yours, a token of our gratitude. We’ll be leaving now; after all, there’s more than a month left in this small world, and we shouldn’t waste it,” Zhang Meng said, handing Chen Yi a silver-white object about the size of a fist, then leaving with Wang Bo.

Chen Yi stared at the silver-white Heart of the World in his hand, stunned. He had desired it greatly, and yet it appeared before him so easily. Watching Zhang Meng and Wang Bo depart, he too left to seek a secluded place to refine the Heart of the World.

In a hidden cave on the central mountain peak, Chen Yi gazed at the Heart of the World floating before him. He knew that in this small world, the Heart of the World was akin to a supreme spiritual artifact, though lacking the power of such artifacts. With his current strength, he could not refine a supreme artifact, but the Heart of the World had its own peculiarities—it could be refined with essence blood.

Chen Yi used spiritual power to force out his essence blood and touched it to the Heart of the World, beginning the refinement. The Heart of the World shone with silver-white light, resisting the invasion of Chen Yi’s blood, but he circulated his spiritual power to assist the blood in refining it.

His spiritual power enveloped the Heart of the World, helping the small red area of essence blood to gradually invade the vast silver-white region of resistance. Bit by bit, the red area expanded as Chen Yi’s control over the Heart of the World deepened.