Gu An withdrew his divine sense and sat down cross-legged, summoning his attribute panel.
Time to enhance my physique first!
Last time, it had taken two hundred million years of lifespan to achieve an upgrade. How many hundred million would it take this time?
If the cost turned out to be too high, Gu An knew he would have to abandon his plan for all-around improvements and focus solely on advancing his cultivation level.
Start with one hundred million years of lifespan!
Gu An's gaze locked onto the Hunyuan Dao Golden Physique displayed on the panel as he made up his mind.
System prompts began to pop up in succession. Gu An was mentally prepared for failure.
After all, it wasn't a tribulation breakthrough. Even if he didn't succeed, the evolutionary effects of his lifespan would still strengthen his physique.
Thinking this way, Gu An felt calm and relaxed.
When all the prompts settled, as expected, the Hunyuan Dao Golden Physique hadn't advanced.
He immediately invested another one hundred million years of lifespan. Again, the prompts appeared rapidly, and Gu An carefully observed them.
Still no success.
The third hundred million years went in.
As the prompts concluded once again, the result remained unchanged. Without hesitation, Gu An poured in another hundred million years of lifespan.
This time, the mounting pressure began to weigh on him. At this stage, achieving comprehensive enhancements seemed increasingly out of reach, even with six billion years of lifespan at his disposal.
Thankfully, on the fourth attempt, after an expenditure of four hundred million years, the Hunyuan Dao Golden Physique successfully advanced to the Hunyuan Boundless Physique!
The moment the success notification appeared, the Lifespan Barrier surrounding him activated, voraciously absorbing the spiritual energy of the Grand Dao from the void.
An overwhelming tide of Grand Dao energy surged into Gu An's body, causing his long hair to billow around him.
Gu An turned his attention to the Lifespan Barrier, watching the numbers indicating his remaining lifespan drop steadily.
It was consuming energy fast!
Fortunately, Gu An's lifespan was abundant enough to sustain it.
After observing for a moment, he closed his eyes and immersed himself in the transformative process of the Hunyuan Boundless Physique.
Meanwhile, the void within the Desolation Domain began to churn violently. Dark, shadowy figures stirred in the distance, their menacing forms undulating within the darkness. Divine senses swept through the surrounding void in every direction, and the influence of the Lifespan Barrier continued to expand.
Unlike a simple radial diffusion, the barrier caused segments of the void to be drained of their Grand Dao energy one after another, creating a ripple effect.
The barren continent Gu An was on was just one of the areas affected. While some powerful beings passed overhead, none seemed to notice the anomaly of the continent itself.
After half an hour, Gu An's transformation was complete, and his body had fully evolved into the Hunyuan Boundless Physique.
During the transformation, he hadn't merely absorbed Grand Dao spiritual energy—he had also drawn in the essence of the Grand Dao itself.
The Hunyuan Boundless Physique granted him unparalleled affinity with all Dao principles. From this point onward, comprehending any aspect of the Grand Dao would be significantly easier for him.
Additionally, he awakened a new power—Boundless Force.
The Boundless Force wasn't a transformation of spiritual energy but rather a manifestation of his own willpower. It possessed boundless creative potential and terrifying destructive power, capable of adapting to countless scenarios and unleashing unfathomable might.
As the sensations of his newly acquired abilities settled, Gu An felt that even relying solely on the Boundless Force, he could wreak havoc across the realms.
Four hundred million years of lifespan well spent!
Before this, his Hunyuan Dao Golden Physique had already consumed countless years of accumulated lifespan to reach its previous stage.
Gu An reflected on his past progress. His physique had evolved through the following stages:
Five Elemental Treasure Body
Innate Dao Body
Mysterious Sacred Body
Primordial Causal Body
Primordial Hunyuan Body
Primordial Supreme Dao Body
Hunyuan Refining Void Physique
Hunyuan Dao Golden Physique
Hunyuan Boundless Physique
Before reaching the Five Elemental Treasure Body, he had spent significant amounts of lifespan improving his spiritual root.
In Heavenly Spirit World, having a treasure body was considered top-tier. Zhu Xi's Primordial Devouring Origin Physique was roughly equivalent to his previous Primordial Causal Body, making it the most formidable physique Gu An had encountered prior to this.
Of course, in this era, Gu An had seen countless powerful physiques in the cycles of lifespan reincarnation.
Next is the enhancement of techniques, ultimate arts, and divine abilities!
He started with the Boundless Grand Infinite Art.
Gu An used over three hundred million years of lifespan to upgrade the Boundless Grand Infinite Art into the Great Boundless Free Will Scripture!
This was followed by a half-hour inheritance phase. The Lifespan Barrier had already thrown the Desolation Domain into chaos, with entire races fleeing in panic.
After finishing the inheritance, Gu An continued to evolve his lifespan into power.
The Grand Thousand Mystical Void Art upgraded to the Great Thousand Free Mystical Void Art, consuming nearly three hundred million years of lifespan.
The Eternal Vast Measuring Dao Step transformed into the Primordial Yellow Eternal Dao Step, costing three hundred and fifty million years of lifespan.
The Formless Free Spirit Body advanced into the Heavenly Nether Purple Micro Saint Dao Body, consuming a full four hundred million years of lifespan.
Time passed quickly.
The anomalies in the Desolation Domain had already begun affecting Heavenly Spirit World. Both the Immortal Dynasty and Sacred Court dispatched grand cultivators to hold the line. While the demonic calamities within Heavenly Spirit World had not yet subsided, now there was terrifying activity beyond the heavens, leaving cultivators on both sides on edge.
However, with the Sword Master of the Dao standing guard, they didn't feel utterly hopeless.
"What's going on? Could it be that the demons have an even more terrifying existence?"
"No idea. Maybe it's related to the voice we heard yesterday."
"Don't be afraid. Though there are many frightening presences, if you pay attention, none of them dare approach Heavenly Spirit World."
"That's right! The Sword Master of the Dao is a transcendent existence beyond the Ninth Heaven of the Immortal Dao. Look at the Desolation Domain—when have we ever heard of such a being before?"
The cultivators of the Sacred Court and the Immortal Dynasty engaged in discussions, their voices filled with admiration and excitement. Whenever they compared the Sword Master of the Dao to the mysterious entities beyond, they felt an overwhelming sense of pride.
They weren't wrong.
The terrifying presences in the Desolation Domain indeed dared not approach Heavenly Spirit World. During Gu An's battle with the Annihilation God Emperor, many supreme beings had secretly observed from the shadows. When Gu An obliterated the Annihilation God Emperor with a single strike, those observers had retreated swiftly and remained shaken to this day.
More and more grand cultivators and ancient demons began emerging from Heavenly Spirit World. They gathered above the barrier of Dao Spirit Energy, standing guard in a state of readiness.
As they discussed the celestial anomalies, they inevitably mentioned the Sword Master of the Dao.
Some even suggested that the Sword Master of the Dao should be made the ruler of all under heaven, unifying the Sacred Court and Immortal Dynasty to prevent further strife. This proposal received widespread agreement.
Meanwhile, Gu An had just finished absorbing the inheritance of the Heavenly Nether Purple Micro Saint Dao Body, a body-refinement technique rather than a physique. It retained the characteristic of being immune to deductions and divinations, and it also awakened a new divine ability.
For now, Gu An chose not to delve into this newly comprehended divine ability. Instead, he turned his attention to his attribute panel. He still had 4.1 billion years of lifespan left.
However, the Lifespan Barrier's consumption was not insignificant.
After a moment of hesitation, Gu An made his decision: directly pour lifespan into cultivation!
This was to ensure success and avoid the possibility of failure during his breakthrough.
The usual strategy—one hundred million years at a time!
[You cultivate for twenty million years, using the Great Boundless Free Will Scripture at its peak to forcefully impact the Vast Heaven Free Immortal Realm, initiating a tribulation. You failed to endure the Cangxuan Dao Rebirth Tribulation and failed to break through.]
[You cultivate for forty million years, using the Great Boundless Free Will Scripture to forcefully impact the Vast Heaven Free Immortal Realm, initiating a tribulation. You failed to endure the Cangxuan Dao Rebirth Tribulation and failed to break through.]
Twenty million years for a single tribulation attempt?
Unbelievable!
Gu An was stunned. The last time he broke through, it had only cost five million years per attempt.
Was the Vast Heaven Free Immortal Realm really this overbearing?
And this was after he had already upgraded his physique and techniques beforehand.
Thankfully, Gu An had preserved 4.1 billion years of lifespan. Otherwise, success would have been uncertain!