Chapter 197: Great Yuan Warrior

The huge spiral repeatedly struck the bottleneck of the Cloud Condensation Realm. With every impact, Jiang Xincheng could feel the barrier loosening. After thousands of attempts, there was finally progress, and Jiang Xincheng couldn’t help but feel overjoyed.

Perseverance was key.

Breaking through a bottleneck required such a spirit. Only with this mindset could one fear no hardship, gradually overcome the bottleneck of the Cloud Condensation Realm, and step into an unprecedented new stage.

Jiang Xincheng was not anxious. The trials and experiences of his previous life had tempered his will into something unbreakable. He had spent ten years in his past life, so what was there to rush about now?

It took ten years to forge a sword, and only then could the bottleneck of the Cloud Condensation Realm be broken. This time, however, Jiang Xincheng did not need that long. Now, he was going to break through the major bottleneck of the Cloud Condensation Realm and advance to become a Great Yuan Warrior.

Snowflakes danced wildly, covering the ground. The snowfall was heavy, the largest Tianhai City had seen in years.

Many people were playing in the snow, enjoying this rare and heavy snowfall. They had no idea that beneath the snow, inside a small, broken sweet potato cellar, someone was attempting to break through one of the most critical bottlenecks for a practitioner.

The Three Tempering Realms and Foundation Building—once broken through, practitioners would enter an entirely new major realm, a level where they could be called experts, capable of being recognized as masters anywhere in the world.

The Cloud Condensation Realm signified dominance over a city and being hailed as a hero by contemporaries.

Even in later eras, a Great Yuan Warrior of the Cloud Condensation Realm was considered a powerful figure, holding an extremely prestigious status as part of the social elite and a pillar of society, let alone in the present.

It was Year 5 of the New Era, and Great Yuan Warriors of the Cloud Condensation Realm were exceptionally rare. Any one of them was qualified to dominate a city and become its Overlord.

Jiang Xincheng remained fully focused, continuing his attempts. The bottleneck barrier began to shake slightly, with white marks growing deeper, gradually nearing the other side of the barrier. A faint smile crossed Jiang Xincheng’s face.

The spiral drill continued to steadily pierce through, getting closer and closer to breaking the bottleneck. Jiang Xincheng remained calm and unhurried, steadily controlling the spiral drill as it repeatedly struck the same spot.

At one moment, Jiang Xincheng felt a sudden tremor throughout his body, as if he were immersed in an indescribable world. At that very instant, a small hole appeared at the tip of the spiral drill, allowing Jiang Xincheng to glimpse the other side—the vast world of the Cloud Condensation Realm.

It was a broader space and a more powerful world. As strands of Primordial Force flowed into it, Jiang Xincheng clearly felt these forces becoming purer and stronger at a visible rate.

He smiled faintly. If an ant hole had already appeared in a thousand-mile embankment, then a breakthrough was not far away.

Seizing the moment, Jiang Xincheng continued to control the spiral drill, pushing it deeper into the small hole, widening it further. The entire bottleneck of the Cloud Condensation Realm began to tremble, on the verge of collapse.

Time passed second by second, and the bottleneck barrier was on the brink of collapse. A gleam flashed in Jiang Xincheng’s eyes as he pushed his Spiritual Sense to its limit, directing the massive spiral drill to strike the heavily damaged bottleneck barrier with all its might.

“Boom…”

Thousands of drills led to this final, forceful strike. With this impact, the bottleneck barrier crumbled completely, and the surging Devouring Origin Force rushed into a much vaster space.

In this broader space, immense pressure surged forth, instantly compressing the nearly Cloud Condensation Realm-level Devouring Origin Force into clusters of white clouds. These clouds then converged toward the center, forming an even larger cloud.

Condensing mist into clouds, blooming like flowers!

This was the hallmark of the Cloud Condensation Realm, signifying that Jiang Xincheng’s strength had truly broken through the Bone Training Realm and stepped into the Cloud Condensation Realm. He had become a Great Yuan Warrior, earning the qualification to dominate a region.

At the same time, Jiang Xincheng vaguely sensed his current lifespan.

200 years!

A full 200 years. After breaking through to the Cloud Condensation Realm, the longevity it granted Jiang Xincheng far exceeded that of ordinary practitioners.

According to the collective understanding of practitioners worldwide, upon reaching the Cloud Condensation Realm, a Great Yuan Warrior typically had a lifespan of around 150 years, with some even living only 130 to 140 years. Few exceeded 160 years, especially in this era where the strongest Primordial Force Cultivation Methods were only at the low Mysterious Rank. Almost no Primordial Warrior who broke through to the Cloud Condensation Realm had a lifespan exceeding 160 years.

Even in later eras, statistics from major factions showed that the longest-living practitioners after reaching the Cloud Condensation Realm only lived to 180 years. Yet, Jiang Xincheng, after breaking through, had a lifespan that surpassed the longest-living Great Yuan Warrior of later eras by 20 years and exceeded the global average lifespan of 150 years for Great Yuan Warriors by a full 50 years.

What did 50 years mean? It was equivalent to half an ordinary person’s lifetime. Breaking through the Cloud Condensation Realm had granted him half a lifetime more than an ordinary person. What then, if he were to break through to the Rain Transformation Realm, the Stream Formation Realm, or even the Jianghe Realm? How much longer would his lifespan become?

With a foundation already so much higher than that of ordinary practitioners, what would his future achievements be?

After 150 years, every additional ten years represented not just longevity but also a difference in cultivation foundation. A ten-year gap meant at least a twofold difference, highlighting how solid and resilient Jiang Xincheng’s cultivation foundation was.

A towering building rises from the ground. Jiang Xincheng had already built a cultivation foundation several times stronger than any practitioner in his previous life. His achievements in this life would far surpass those of ordinary practitioners.

A Great Yuan Warrior of the Cloud Condensation Realm could not only vaguely sense their lifespan but also release Primordial Force externally, possessing immense offensive power.

However, before testing this ability, Jiang Xincheng needed to fully stabilize his Early Stage Cloud Condensation Realm. He smiled faintly and focused entirely on operating Devouring the Cosmos, drawing the Primordial Force from his Meridians into his Dantian. There, it was refined and purified, transforming into a massive white cloud tinged with hints of gray and black.

After days of cultivation, Jiang Xincheng’s body now housed four Devouring Vortices. The first three were as large as water jars, indicating that he had perfected the first three levels of Devouring the Cosmos.

The fourth Devouring Vortex, however, was only the size of a watermelon, having just entered the minor achievement stage. There was still a long way to go before reaching perfection.

Under the influence of the fourth level of Devouring the Cosmos, the Primordial Force in Jiang Xincheng’s body condensed from a mist-like state into clouds at an astonishing speed. It became several times purer and stronger than before.

The Primordial Force from the surrounding world surged madly into Jiang Xincheng’s body as Devouring the Cosmos operated, rapidly expanding the Primordial Force within him at lightning speed.