Wait, How Did My Digital Girlfriend Become a Sword Immortal? Chapter 820: Chen Huai'an - Mahayana!

Chen Huaian required the duration of a single stick of incense burning to restore his True Essence.

Meanwhile...

Maybe due to his primary form avoiding fierce combats on Earth Star, or possibly from immersing too deeply in the advanced cultivation of his clone, Chen Huaian realized that the nearly impossible barrier for typical cultivators simply vanished for him.

Advancing from the pinnacle of Void Fusion Realm to Great Ascension Stage demanded enlightenment from heaven and earth for an ordinary cultivator.

It called for exceptional insight.

It demanded grasping even a single thread of Dao Rhythms.

This thread might stem from Sword Dao, from Blade Dao, or from Calligraphy Dao; even pursuits like cooking or fishing could embody it... The principles of Dao in heaven and earth proved boundless and eternal. Slicing water with a blade formed a Dao, forging an iron rod into a needle represented a Dao, and persistent water drops eroding stone counted as one too. Dao embodied the core law of heaven and earth, the pinnacle of proficiency, the supreme regulation governing a world's function.

Reflecting on all his encounters in the Cangyun Realm.

The toughest obstacle for every Void Fusion Realm cultivator, he had silently overcome ages ago.

Ignoring his possession of Sword Heart and Sword Bone, disregarding his Original Dao Physique. Even without such advantages, nothing would hinder his current breakthrough. He merely had to merge the Sword Dao insights from Cangyun Realm with Earth Star's rules, enabling him to harness Earth Star's heavenly and earthly laws.

For Chen Huaian.

This demanded only the span of one stick of incense burning.

Muscle Tyrant cast a profound gaze at Chen Huaian and stayed silent.

Its immediate duty lay in cutting ties from Chen Huaian.

The countless gods and buddhas stood as its foes, yet they ought not to target Chen Huaian just yet.

Chen Huaian served as the Ancestral Dragon's successor, shouldering the task to defy the heavens.

Thus, Chen Huaian needed to stay concealed, to quietly build his power.

However...

A trivial Wu E, if worthy of death, then slay him!

"Human cultivator, don't assume that reconstructing this king's physical form lets you boss me around freely!"

Muscle Tyrant unleashed a dark, mocking chuckle: "This king will handle this vile creature first. If you're wise after that, why not serve as a servant boy in this king's service!"

With those words spoken, Muscle Tyrant's combat approach grew ever more savage. It ignored all harm from Wu E completely, embracing a tactic of harming the foe at great cost to itself, one thousand to the enemy, eight hundred to self.

"Chen Huaian!" Wu E sensed disaster looming if this persisted. While fending off Taotie's grip, he hastily declared: "You heard it yourself! Taotie counts as an ancient Fierce Beast; it bows to no one ever. Even if you preserved its existence, what then?

That mere body shell's life!

The real Taotie remains utterly disdainful of you!

Yet we Demon Immortals differ. Since we ascend to immortality through cultivation, it proves our lineages pure, our Virtues grand and acknowledged by this world!

Join me immediately to subdue Taotie!

This builds Virtue for your own path to immortality!"

Chen Huaian understood Muscle Tyrant remembered its origins but severed bonds for the broader scheme.

He offered no response either.

Having shared master-servant bonds before, mutual comprehension existed between them.

Muscle Tyrant already stalled for time. He simply concentrated on his breakthrough.

A fleeting chance silently drew near.

Heaven and earth grew utterly still.

The Sword Qi upon Chen Huaian's fingertip abruptly gathered without unleashing. The golden glow encircling his form slowly shifted to pale cyan. Resembling the March drizzle of Jiangnan, it wove through the flowing Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth.

True Essence in his dantian roared like a tidal surge in rivers. As it coursed via meridians across his frame, it evoked shards of poetic essence—not audible whispers, but sentiments weaving through Dao Rhythms. It resembled a gentle recitation of "There will be a time when the long wind breaks through the waves" amid clouds, or the bold liberation of "I entrust my sorrowful heart to the bright moon," subtly infusing his Sword Dao.

Though his eyes shut tight, he perceived the quivers of Sword Bone and Sword Heart inside him.

The "Dao Rhythms" other cultivators labored to grasp felt, to him, like meeting a longtime companion.

It was the "Heaven and Earth at My Mercy" he attained before the Sword Pavilion's Sword Tomb that year, deflecting sky-wide snow with Sword Qi. It was the fleeting savor of "What Can You Do to Me" when his clone shattered a Great Ascension Stage demon sage's suppression. It extended to the spirit lingering a millennium in the "Green Lotus Sword Manual"—the boundless liberty as the Poetry Immortal wielded his brush, the vast release of collapsing drunk on Chang'an Street, the unburdened wanderlust of sword in hand traversing the realms.

"So that's it..." Chen Huaian's thoughts plunged into the sword domain, his body appearing as a spectral illusion.

He felt Earth Star's heavenly and earthly rules converging upon him.

Bearing ocean's brine, wind's delicacy, yet no longer external powers requiring "fusion." Rather, like streams meeting a vessel, they instinctively bore him toward distant shores.

That strand of Sword Qi at his fingertip abruptly scattered, becoming myriad cyan glimmers.

Some formed half-bloomed green lotuses, hovering near his shoulder.

Some morphed into shattered Lunar Splendor, eddying about his wrist.

Others wafted afar on sea gales, molding the lingering North Sea gale into fluffy mist—this Sword Intent shed prior crushing might, retaining solely the essence of "carefree."

What defined carefree?

Carefree meant unbound by realms, unchained by laws.

Like gales threading bamboo groves, heedless of nodes; like full moons sailing endless seas, indifferent to billows.

The clash between Muscle Tyrant and Wu E slowly ceased.

Though a Demon Immortal, Wu E found himself drawn into the Dao Rhythms radiating from Chen Huaian's vicinity.

Muscle Tyrant's gaze brimmed with astonishment. It distinctly sensed no savage edge in that Sword Intent, yet it evoked deeper reverence than raw power—that marked genuine "Great Freedom," the liberation from Celestial God Clan bondage that even primeval Fierce Beasts craved.

Transcending the Three Realms, dwelling beyond Five Elements.

"The Big Boss's Dao... feels somewhat frightening..."

Muscle Tyrant squinted its eyes.

Such a pivotal enlightenment phase could brook no interruption.

It locked its stare on Wu E, body coiled tight.

Should Wu E stir in the least, it would meet a tempestuous assault and demise.

Precisely then.

*Pop—!*

True Essence in Chen Huaian's dantian abruptly burst forth.

The force proved gentle, not fierce, but rippled outward.

Every ripple encased a poetic verse's intent, diffusing through heaven and earth like spreading ink.

The boldness of "Heaven has endowed me with talents that must be put to use."

The expansiveness of "I must ascend the mountain's crest."

The liberated poise of "The light boat has already passed ten thousand mountains"...

These intents fused with Sword Dao, birthing an ebony light beam erupting from Chen Huaian's crown. Breaching clouds, it summoned swirling purple qi from the skyline.

True Essence, once raging toward Immortal Realm via nine unsealed Wells of Heaven, now flowed backward. Drawn by Sword Qi, akin to the Milky Way cascading inverted, it funneled into Chen Huaian's apex.

The Spiritual Energy tempest revolving around Chen Huaian endured a complete incense stick's duration.

"Supreme Carefree..." Chen Huaian at last unveiled his eyes.

Green lotuses mirrored in his irises. Lifting his finger once more, no cataclysmic Sword Qi emerged. A mere soft tap sent a cyan gleam drifting to the waves before Wu E.

Where the cyan light touched, the sea bloomed a translucent green lotus.

Upon its petals flowed the "Carefree Dao Rhythms" capable of melting heaven and earth's rules.

The golden aura about his form fully faded, yielding to a poise of "concealing edge in void"—Great Ascension Stage cultivation no longer demanded overt show, but flowed as instinctively as breath, achieving flawless unity of "I am the Sword Dao, the Sword Dao is me."

Sea winds swept by, Chen Huaian's robes billowed softly, as though poised to soar on gales, yet he stood firm on the waves, toes grazing crests like solid earth.

"The time for one stick of incense has arrived!"

"Now, it's your turn to perish!"

As the declaration ended, clear skies abruptly dimmed.

Stirred by Chen Huaian's lethal intent, this whole stretch of heaven and earth grew overcast.