In the chaotic void, within the Dual Realm!
Ye An stood amidst it all, his expression grave.
The Multiple Realm was an advanced ability within the Realm Dao, typically achieved by experts at the eighth or ninth realm. Attaining the seventh realm alone already marked one as a great genius.
Little had Ye An expected that Xu Zhiye, only at the fifth realm, possessed such power!
Ye An took a deep breath.
His opponent was far more formidable than he had imagined.
His mind raced.
Activating and folding the Multiple Realm would impose a tremendous energy burden on its user. However, within the Chaotic Void, one of the vastest energy seas in the world, this drawback was practically negligible for Xu Zhiye.
And the benefits were plentiful.
The Chaotic Void was characterized by oppression, corrosion, and penetration.
At this moment, Ye An found his martial intent being eroded more severely than before.
Moreover, he noticed that Xu Zhiye wasn't just standing by; the Chaotic Strangling Compass above his head continued to emit bursts of black light.
This meant the compass was still actively casting spells, releasing power.
Ye An surveyed his surroundings.
The realm grew increasingly dim, profound, and the oppressive feeling upon him intensified.
The advantage of the Chaotic Void was its boundlessness, but its disadvantage lay in insufficient explosive force.
To compensate for this weakness, Xu Zhiye had cultivated the Dual Realm, continuously releasing internal energy while trapping his opponent within, with the aim of eventually transforming quantity into quality.
A titanic dark tsunami gathered around Ye An.
He continued to stare straight at Xu Zhiye standing in the Surface Realm.
Every realm had its weaknesses, with the majority of these weaknesses being pivotal points within the realm.
The weakness of the Chaotic Void was evidently the Chaotic Strangling Compass above Xu Zhiye's head.
It served as the realm's pivot point and the initiator for all his techniques and energy conversions.
This was someone who could be described as extreme, even bordering on madness, in their genius.
All of Xu Zhiye's methods were constructed around his greatest weakness.
This meant that anyone engaging him in battle could easily pinpoint this weakness.
However, shattering this weak point required strength.
Xu Zhiye was a stubborn individual.
He hadn't tried to conceal his weakness through any clever means but instead openly exposed it, informing all his opponents that this weakness had been refined into an impregnable shield!
He didn't take shortcuts, making it impossible for his enemies to do so either.
To defeat him, one could only rely on absolute strength to break through his Dual Realm and shatter the compass.
There was no other way!
This was similar to Liu Dahuo's thinking; to defeat Xu Zhiye, one needed intensity, utmost intensity!
With this in mind, Ye An slightly bent his knees, raising his fists.
The Fist of the Supreme, mountains crumbling, flames of war, full power engaged!
His martial intent erupted within him!
In an instant, the Vermillion Bird's fire became ferocious, rising three feet high and swirling in all directions!
Yet Ye An did not strike, maintaining his stance like an unyielding rock, unmoving.
Within the Surface Realm,
Xu Zhiye remained unperturbed.
Ye An's choice was within his expectations.
He was accumulating power, aiming to induce qualitative change through a sufficient accumulation of energy.
Ye An too chose to accumulate power.
Xu Zhiye admitted that when it came to power accumulation, he was definitely inferior to Ye An.
But the problem was.
I don't need to accumulate power; I can just interrupt your accumulation.
After all, the initiative has always been in my hands.
A hint of contempt curved Xu Zhiye's lips as he slightly lowered his finger.
The eight tentacles of his Chaotic Strangling Compass above suddenly thrust downward like eight black auroras!
With the momentum of death, the eight tentacles pierced through the air, directly aiming for Ye An's heart!
"Aren't you going to dodge?" Xu Zhiye watched Ye An, who remained motionless, his brow furrowed.
In the blink of an eye,
The eight black lights were already within a foot in front of Ye An!
Suddenly,
Ye An moved like a swimming dragon, his figure swiftly swaying left and right, leaving behind densely packed crimson afterimages, evading all attacks!
Xu Zhiye smiled satisfactorily, looking up, "Dodged."
But the next moment, his expression froze, the smile disappearing.
Ye An had clearly diverted his attention to avoid the skill, but his martial intent had not dispersed.
Is he still accumulating power?
Wasn't it supposed to be interrupted?
"This shouldn't be?" Xu Zhiye was somewhat bewildered.
He quickly focused and wielded his blade, eight blades akin to wind slashing across Ye An's body.
Beneath the silent and pitch-black earth!
The figure of the youth engulfed in raging flames continued to sway, his feet swiftly shifting left and right, yet he remained standing, his center of gravity as steady as Mount Tai.
No matter how Xu Zhiye hastened the speed of his blade attacks, he couldn't touch even a corner of Ye An's clothes!
Moreover,
Ye An's movements with his footsteps bewildered Xu Zhiye.
Each step was perfectly timed, neither too far nor too close, just enough to evade his attacks.
His footwork kept changing, his figure moving within the vast realm, yet he gave the impression that he hadn't moved at all!
His feet seemed to have never left the ground, rooted like ancient trees in the depths of the earth.
But he clearly lifted his feet, so why did Xu Zhiye feel this way?
Suddenly,
Some profound martial arts knowledge from revered elders echoed in his mind.
"Do you think repeating a spell ten thousand times has any meaning?"
A young Xu Zhiye, puzzled, replied, "I don't think it has any meaning."
The elder admonished him earnestly, "All things in heaven and earth can undergo qualitative change through quantitative accumulation."
"Your Chaotic Void can, and so can everything else."
"When you earnestly and proactively practice a technique repeatedly, you will always discover details that can be improved."
"Perhaps after practicing three thousand times, you'll notice something, and after seven thousand times, you'll notice more."
"Unknowingly, you'll have practiced tens of thousands of times."
"At this point, you'll realize that although the technique you're using hasn't changed, it feels completely different from when you started."
"We call this feeling 'Heaven's Creation'."
"Perfectly straight, not deviating a hair, not wasting a drop of source energy, not needing seals, as if this technique had become your innate instinct."
Xu Zhiye listened attentively, somewhat puzzled, and finally asked, "Heaven's Creation, what's the use of it?"
His teacher fell silent for a long time before replying, "Actually, it's not very useful."
"It simply makes a technique easier to activate, consume a little less, and increase its power slightly."
"But it requires a significant amount of time."
"In theoretical terms, spending a lot of time to bring a skill to the level of Heaven's Creation isn't cost-effective."
"But in reality, every renowned expert possesses several skills that have reached the level of Heaven's Creation."
"There are no exceptions; all strong individuals have them."
"Even though they've done what is theoretically considered the most foolish thing."
"Yet in the end, they're the ones who become strong."
"And they all share one trait."
"We call this trait 'martial fanaticism'."
"Those who have truly repeated their training ten thousand times will find that what hinders you from training ten thousand times isn't time or energy, but yourself."
"You might be weak, but a martial fanatic is not."