Fantasy: Starting with a bowl, you can exchange it for endless cultivation.

This is the difference between the middle fourth rank and the upper third rank.

The difference lies in one being aided by divine soul power and supported by the power of heaven and earth, while the other can only fight with the true essence within their body.

But this gap, this chasm, has been broken and crossed by Gu Chen today.

Who says the four realms of a traveler cannot rival the three realms of a sage?

Others may not be able to do it, but Gu Chen can.

The same applies to the other forces who came to watch the battle.

They had just witnessed Gu Chen's remarkable ability to withstand a Grandmaster.

Unexpectedly, he didn't just tough it out, but instead fought back.

Above the void, the expressions of more than twenty Sword Sect disciples changed drastically, their faces filled with horror, and their confidence in their inevitable victory wavered.

Ye Ning steadied himself, the disdain in his eyes completely fading, replaced by solemnity and chilling intent.

"The Yamamoto family's killing god, One-Slash Slash, truly lives up to his name. And your physique—such powerful physical explosiveness! You're not an ordinary rogue cultivator; you're a member of the Yamamoto family!"

"So what if it is?" Gu Chen sneered at him. "Early stage Grandmaster, with this little combat power? Sorry, you're not even enough to tickle me."

Seeing that he had been killed by the God of Slaughter with a single blow, he mistook him for a powerful member of the Yamamoto family.

Gu Chen admitted it directly.

He was naturally willing to smear the Yamamoto family.

"Outrageous!" The other Sword Sect disciples shouted angrily when they saw Gu Chen being so arrogant.

Ye Ning coldly said in the arena: "At the mid-stage of Core Formation, you have the ability to refine a fourth-grade martial art to perfection and your physical strength is comparable to that of a grandmaster. You certainly have the right to be proud."

"I underestimated you, but don't be too happy yet."

"Since fourth-grade martial arts can't do anything to you, then I'll let you see the true martial arts of a grandmaster!" As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Ning's aura suddenly surged, and his previously restrained grandmaster power was completely unleashed, instantly turning the air in the entire canyon icy cold.

"A third-grade swordsmanship martial art, the Flowing Cloud Overturning Heaven Sword!"

Third-grade martial arts, surpassing fourth-grade, contain the initial power of the sword path of heaven and earth. It is something that only a master can use. It requires the fusion of the released divine soul power and the resonance of heaven and earth, and the activation of the power of the spiritual platform to activate the power of the third grade!

Compared to fourth-grade martial arts, there is a fundamental difference in level between the two, just like the difference between ordinary iron and spiritual weapons.

hum!

The Flowing Cloud Sword burst forth with white light, its hundred-foot-long snow-white sword energy soaring straight into the sky, as if the entire sky was covered by white sword light.

Endless condensed sword energy descended from the sky, layer upon layer, like an overturned celestial river, covering an area of ​​a hundred feet in radius, completely sealing off all of Gu Chen's escape space.

The sword's momentum was vast and powerful, its Daoist essence flowing and swirling. The chilling killing intent of the sword caused the void to distort slightly. It was a full-force strike from an early-stage Grandmaster!

This sword strike is enough to easily kill any cultivator at the peak of the Core Formation stage. Even the Flame Demon Crocodile, which is blessed by the heavens and comparable to the early stage of a Grandmaster, would be severely injured if it were to take the blow head-on!

Ye Ning's cold gaze locked onto Gu Chen, his killing intent chilling: "With your mid-stage Core Formation Realm cultivation, if you survive this sword strike, I will acknowledge your strength!"

Sword energy descended from the sky, covering the heavens and the earth, its power terrifying beyond compare.

Everyone present.

All retreated out of the canyon area.

That sword strike was truly terrifying.

Anyone at the peak of the Core Formation stage would surely die if they faced him.

Gu Chen is suspended in mid-air.

Everyone believed that Gu Chen had absolutely no chance of withstanding this genuine sword strike from a third-grade grandmaster.

Facing the overwhelming force of sword energy descending from the sky, Gu Chen's eyes were cold, showing no fear.

The Four Beasts Celestial Phenomenon Technique operates wildly, the Void Sacred Body is activated, the power of the void blooms, and it merges with the true essence of the five attributes—thunder, azure dragon, white tiger, vermilion bird, and black tortoise—and pours it into the Blood Transformation Blade in his hand.

Instantly, the crimson light of the Blood-Transforming Blade in Gu Chen's hand shot into the sky, and all the crimson patterns on the blade lit up. The ultimate killing intent of the blade broke through the clouds, and Gu Chen's divine soul power began to be released.

It also stirs up the great forces of heaven and earth, resonates with the great forces of the sword path, and rivals the great forces of the sword path that fill the sky!

A first-class martial art, the first move of the Nine Blood-Transforming Blades, stains a thousand peaks with blood!

With a single slash, a thousand layers of blood were unleashed, and the blade's light spread like wildfire!

The ultimate sword aura, capable of slaying even a Grandmaster in the early stages, erupted with a deafening roar!

Compared to the single-point kill of the God of Slaughter's One-Slash Slash, Bloodstained Thousand Peaks Blade has a wider range, more violent power, and more domineering blade intent. It is Gu Chen's true killing move to defeat a Grandmaster who is above his level!

A sky full of blood-red sword energy soared into the air, and a thousand-foot-long sword light crisscrossed the heavens and earth, tearing apart the white sword dao sky with its terrifying power to destroy everything, directly confronting the third-grade martial art Flowing Cloud Overturning Heaven Sword!

Boom!

The second earth-shattering collision resounded throughout the entire Fiery Mountain Range!

The crimson blade light and the white sword light completely merged, collided, and annihilated!

A terrifying energy storm raged wildly, leveling the towering mountain cliffs and causing the crimson rock walls on both sides of the canyon to collapse, with debris and lava raining down from the sky!

The violent shockwave of true essence spread ten miles away, causing the spiritual energy of the entire secret realm to fluctuate violently!

At the eye of the storm, two figures stood in stark contrast.

Gu Chen stood firmly, his Void Saint Body operating spontaneously, surrounded by faint Void Daoist rhymes, forcefully withstanding all the aftershocks. Though his clothes were disheveled, his figure remained still, and his aura was as steady as ever.

Ye Ning's face suddenly turned pale, his white clothes fluttered violently, and he was thrown back more than ten feet through the air as if he had been hit by a giant mountain. He felt a sweet taste in his throat and almost spat out a mouthful of blood, but he forced it down.

His Flowing Cloud Overturning Heaven Sword, a third-grade grandmaster sword technique, was actually defeated head-on by the opponent with a single strike!

The opponent's aura remained completely unaffected!

"No, impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Ye Ning was shocked, her mind went blank, and her understanding of the world completely collapsed.

At the mid-stage of Core Formation, he activated a third-grade saber technique and directly defeated a third-grade sword technique from an early-stage Grandmaster!

This level of combat power is no longer a challenge beyond one's level, but a complete and utter crushing defeat!

Gu Chen had just released his divine soul power, which stirred up the power of heaven and earth.

How did he, a mid-stage Core Formation Realm cultivator, manage to project his divine soul power outwards?

This is something only a Grandmaster-level expert can achieve by constructing a spiritual platform in their Niwan Palace (the center of their consciousness) and using that platform to project their divine soul power, thereby resonating with heaven and earth and enhancing the power of their martial arts.

Gu Chen, a mid-stage Core Formation Realm cultivator, was able to achieve this step in order to construct a spiritual platform within his Niwan Palace.

How did he do it?

Above the void, more than twenty disciples of the Sword Sect were completely dumbfounded.

Their proud Grandmaster-level senior brother was defeated in just two moves!

The fourth-grade martial arts were broken, and the third-grade martial arts were still no match. A dignified third-grade Grandmaster in the early stage was completely suppressed by a rogue cultivator in the middle stage of Core Formation!

This is mind-blowing and shocking!

What they didn't know was that the Blood Transformation Nine Blades that Gu Chen had just used was not a third-grade martial art.

It is a first-class martial art.

This first sword move, however, only reached the limit of the early stage of the third rank in terms of power.

First-class martial arts.

It is a martial arts manual created by a master who is second only to the two supreme beings of heaven and earth, and naturally it is not comparable to the ordinary third-grade martial arts that Ye Ning uses.

Moreover, the third-grade martial art he just used was probably not fully mastered by him, but only at the minor level.

The resonance with the grand scheme of things is not yet complete, and the full power of this martial art has not been unleashed.

Ye Ning was defeated in his second move.