The Saint realm consists of three minor stages, from lowest to highest: ordinary saint, great saint, and Saint King.
The gap between each minor stage is like the difference between cloud and mud. Some ordinary saints spend their entire lives unable to break through to great saint.
Take Li Chaohui and An Zaitian, for example. They remained at the ordinary saint stage for thousands of years yet never became great saints.
From this, one can see just how difficult it is to become a Saint King.
Throughout the ages, every powerhouse who has reached Saint King level has, without exception, been a heaven-defying genius of their generation.
Upon hearing Yun Shan’s words, everyone felt their scalps go numb. No one had ever imagined that Supreme Venerable Wuji was actually a Saint King.
Only now did they understand why, during his fight with Dugu Wudi, he had only ever used one hand. From beginning to end, he had never taken Dugu Wudi seriously.
Even though Dugu Wudi possessed combat strength at great saint level, he was still no match for Supreme Venerable Wuji.
“I never thought this fellow had hidden himself so deeply. He became a Saint King without anyone noticing, no wonder he dared to repeatedly provoke our Azure Cloud Sword Sect.”
Yun Shan’s eyes were filled with deep wariness.
At the same time, he felt a trace of relief. Fortunately, he had not attacked earlier, otherwise he might very well have died here today.
“Now that Supreme Venerable Wuji has revealed his cultivation, his next step will be to strike against our Azure Cloud Sword Sect.”
“Supreme Elder, please come out of seclusion quickly!”
“If you do not emerge soon, our Azure Cloud Sword Sect will face utter annihilation!”
“We’re done for, we’re done for.” Lin Da Niao cried out, “Senior Dugu is no match for Supreme Venerable Wuji. Big Brother is in danger.”
“Danger? Ye Changsheng is as good as dead.” Wu Qianfan said.
Mo Tianji replied, “Big Brother is shrouded in dense destiny. He will not die so easily.”
Wu Qianfan refused to believe it. “Do you really think he still has any chance of survival against a Saint King?”
Yun Xi’s face was filled with anxiety. Her beautiful eyes glanced at Ye Qiu before she said, “Father—”
Before she could finish, Yun Shan interrupted, “Xi’er, I know what you want to say. Let me put it this way. Even if I were to act, not only would I be unable to change Ye Changsheng’s fate, I would die here as well.”
At those words, Yun Xi turned deathly pale.
On the ground, True Person Longbrow said in panic, “Little brat, Supreme Venerable Wuji was hiding his cultivation. Today we’re completely finished.”
Ye Qiu’s expression was grave. He had never expected Supreme Venerable Wuji’s cultivation to be this profound.
At the same time, he recalled what Old Nine had said earlier.
“That fellow from the Yin-Yang Sect is no ordinary saint.”
“Even the combined forces of the four saints from the Heaven-Mending Sect and the three holy lands cannot defeat him.”
“Only the sect leader of Azure Cloud Sword Sect could hold him off for a short while.”
In other words, Old Nine had seen through Supreme Venerable Wuji’s true cultivation long ago.
“Just who exactly is Old Nine?”
“Could it be that he wasn’t boasting? That he really was once an invincible existence?”
Thinking of this, Ye Qiu’s mind stirred. He once again communicated with the vermilion blood coffin.
Soon, a small gap opened in the coffin lid.
“Kid, why are you disturbing me again?” Old Nine asked impatiently.
“Old Nine, Supreme Venerable Wuji is a Saint King. Can you help me kill him?” Ye Qiu asked.
Old Nine replied, “Didn’t I already tell you? My physical body is incomplete. I cannot kill him.”
Ye Qiu continued, “Then please analyse this for me. If I lend the Cosmos Cauldron to Senior Dugu, and he uses four divine artefacts, will he be able to kill a Saint King?”
Old Nine said, “You underestimate the might of divine artefacts. The Cosmos Cauldron is not something just anyone can activate.”
Ye Qiu refused to believe it. “Not long ago, the young qilin used divine beast essence blood to activate the Cosmos Cauldron and helped me destroy a wisp of Supreme Venerable Wuji’s divine sense.”
Old Nine explained, “Divine beast essence blood can only make a divine artefact briefly unleash a fraction of its power. That does not count as truly activating it. Even if you used divine beast essence blood again to draw out the cauldron’s strength, that fellow called Dugu holding a single divine artefact still could not kill a Saint King.”
“You simply do not understand how terrifying a Saint King truly is.”
“Most importantly, with only saint-level cultivation, forcibly activating the Cosmos Cauldron would cause severe backlash. He would die and his dao would vanish.”
“Sigh. If my body were whole, a trifling little Saint King could be crushed with a single finger.”
Ye Qiu refused to give up. “What if I lend the Demon-Refining Pot to Senior Dugu? Could he kill Supreme Venerable Wuji then?”
“He still could not.” Old Nine said, “That is a demon race imperial artefact. It is extremely difficult for a human to wield it smoothly. Giving the Demon-Refining Pot to that fellow would be less effective than giving it to this little fox here.”
Ye Qiu’s heart sank. If neither the Cosmos Cauldron nor the Demon-Refining Pot could help Dugu Wudi kill Supreme Venerable Wuji, then their fate was obvious.
“Actually, if that fellow called Dugu were not missing one soul and one spirit, he would long since have stepped into great saint realm, or even broken through to Saint King.”
Old Nine saw the problem with Dugu Wudi and said, “Kid, I have a suggestion for you.”
“What suggestion?” Ye Qiu asked quickly.
Old Nine replied, “The best strategy is to flee.”
“You want me to run for my life?” Ye Qiu said, “Apart from Supreme Venerable Wuji being a Saint King, there are three more saints. How could I possibly escape?”
“Moreover, where would I even run to?”
Old Nine said, “Go to this little fox’s lair.”
Hm?
Ye Qiu glanced at the little white fox and asked, “Old Nine, do you mean for me to go to the demon race territory?”
“Exactly.” Old Nine laughed, “Go take a look at the demon race. You might find other gains.”
“That old daoist has a piece of saint-level array pattern, doesn’t he? Together with this little white fox, as long as the timing is right, you should be able to get away.”
“Besides, your destiny is dense. You are not fated to die young.”
Ye Qiu looked up at Dugu Wudi and said, “If I flee, Senior Dugu will certainly die.”
“Staying here is useless. With your cultivation, you cannot help him at all.” Old Nine said, “I do have a divine ability that can help him escape with his life, but he must agree to one condition of mine.”
Ye Qiu’s eyes lit up. “You want Senior Dugu to help you find your body, right? Fine, I agree on his behalf.”
“I need to hear him say it himself. Call him over.” Old Nine said.
Ye Qiu did not hesitate and immediately sent a sound transmission to Dugu Wudi.
Whoosh!
Dugu Wudi appeared beside Ye Qiu in a single step and transmitted, “Kid, that fellow is a Saint King. I am not his match. In a moment, while I hold him off, you seize the chance to escape.”
Ye Qiu transmitted back, “Senior, I have a friend who wants to speak with you.”
“What friend?” Dugu Wudi instinctively glanced at True Person Longbrow.
The latter looked completely bewildered.
“Not him. It’s my protector.” Ye Qiu said, “An extremely mysterious and once supremely powerful existence.”
“Oh?” Curiosity appeared on Dugu Wudi’s face.
Then Ye Qiu saw Dugu Wudi stand there expressionless, motionless.
Clearly, he was already secretly conversing with Old Nine.
A few moments later.
Dugu Wudi said, “Very well, I agree.”
Immediately afterwards, a wisp of black light shot out from the Cosmos Bag and entered the centre of Dugu Wudi’s forehead.
