Chapter 478: Dragon Palace Fracture

Yun Che himself had entered an exceptionally subtle state. Suddenly, he felt no pain and heard no sounds; everything around him seemed to vanish instantly. He felt as if he were gently floating, freely soaring through boundless space. Between heaven and earth, amidst the chaos, it was as if only his own existence remained.

Vast, boundless, yet incredibly gentle worldly energy surged towards him, enveloping his entire body and flowing into his system. It healed all his injuries, restored his profound energy, and tempered his physique. This worldly energy felt both familiar and strange, far purer than anything he had experienced before. No, it was as if, despite being the same worldly energy, it belonged to an entirely different plane!

His consciousness told him that his Great Way of the Buddha had broken through once again!

Moreover, this breakthrough was fundamentally different from his previous ones. His earlier breakthroughs could be described as advancements within the same level, but this time, the strange sensation indicated a grand realm breakthrough, moving from one plane to another, higher plane!

Earlier, when he broke through to the third stage of the Great Way of the Buddha, Jasmine had told him that every three stages of the Great Way of the Buddha marked a watershed moment. The first three stages were considered the initial realm, and entering the fourth stage meant stepping into the mid-level realm. She had also said that for a mortal body to enter the fourth stage would be harder than ascending to heaven.

Yet now, less than three years after his last breakthrough, he had successfully entered the fourth stage of the Great Way of the Buddha, which Jasmine had described as "harder than ascending to heaven"!

The cultivation of the Great Way of the Buddha does not rely on combat, nor is it dependent on profound energy; its advancement primarily relies on comprehension and understanding. Over these eighteen months, Yun Che's Great Way of the Buddha had been active almost every moment, operating at its maximum and highest limits for over eighty percent of the time, absorbing an uncountable amount of worldly energy. Imperceptibly, his communication with worldly energy and his comprehension of the Great Way of the Buddha had continually deepened, finally allowing him to break through the bottleneck of the fourth stage and enter a completely new realm of the Great Way of the Buddha.

His physique, too, had undergone a complete and profound metamorphosis under the baptism of the higher-level Great Way of the Buddha.

With Yun Che's breakthrough in the Great Way of the Buddha, the speed of his injury recovery immediately accelerated, and the wounds on his body healed at a visible rate. Through his healing wounds, Jasmine clearly saw that his blood was distinctly tinged with a faint golden hue.

"The fourth stage of the Great Way of the Buddha... the first step towards the legendary 'Sacred Body.' He actually took less than five years, faster than Big Brother..."

Jasmine murmured softly, somewhat lost in thought. Even with her extensive knowledge, she was deeply astonished by Yun Che's breakthrough this time. While Yun Che had always exceeded her expectations with his first three breakthroughs, they had only slightly surprised her. This time, however, her feelings could only be described as "shock," because the breakthrough into the fourth stage of the Great Way of the Buddha was a completely different concept from the first three. Although his breakthrough was greatly related to the eighteen months of hellish spatial storm tempering, Jasmine knew very well that this was not the sole reason. Most importantly, it was his comprehension and luck—that is, the affinity and favor shown to him by heaven and earth, by chaos itself. Otherwise, if it were someone else with the same physique and strength but ordinary comprehension and luck, they would find it extremely difficult to achieve a breakthrough to the fourth stage of the Great Way of the Buddha in the same spatial storm, let alone in eighteen months—even in eighteen years, or a hundred eighty years, or a thousand eight hundred years.

The facts before her were telling Jasmine that Yun Che's comprehension and luck far surpassed that of her own brother.

Two hours later, Yun Che's body was fully tempered, the pagoda above his head vanished, and all his external and internal injuries completely healed. The moment he opened his eyes and his gaze lit up, a faint golden gleam flashed by.

"Very good," Jasmine nodded in rare approval. "I didn't expect you to break through to the fourth stage of the Great Way of the Buddha so quickly. You can now absorb higher-level worldly energy. The tempering of the Great Way of the Buddha's fourth stage will grant you an additional hundred thousand catties of arm strength, and your physical endurance and recovery ability will be no less than that bestowed by the Dragon God's bloodline. Combined with the Dragon God's bloodline, although you still lack greatly in raw power, your physical strength is already no less than that of a Half-Step Emperor, and your recovery ability even far surpasses that of a true Emperor!"

"You should now be able to control the 'Purgatory' state with relative ease! However, while your progress is astonishing, do not lightly attempt to activate the 'Heaven Shattering' realm."

The first stage of the Great Way of the Buddha granted four thousand catties of arm strength; the second, eight thousand catties; the third, twenty thousand catties. But now, at the fourth stage, there was a huge leap—an additional hundred thousand catties of arm strength! Although the increase in physical strength couldn't be directly perceived, it was certainly a similarly astonishing gain comparable to the arm strength.

With his current physique, recovery ability, and Great Way of the Buddha realm, ordinary spatial turbulence would cause him no substantial harm. He could survive within it without any pressure, even sleeping all day long if he wished.

Yun Che felt incredibly light, and his sight and hearing had become much sharper. With a slight thought, his body floated up. After his profound energy broke through to the Sky Profound Realm, he finally gained the ability to fly. In eighteen months, his profound energy had continuously advanced eight levels, now reaching the eighth level of the Sky Profound Realm!

In one and a half years, he had progressed from the peak of the Earth Profound Realm to the late stage of the Sky Profound Realm.

Yun Che summoned the Dragon Fault and grasped it. The twenty-thousand-catty heavy sword, which used to feel profoundly heavy even when held with both hands, now felt as light as if it didn't exist in a single hand. He had not endured the past eighteen months of hellish experience in vain; he clearly knew his current strength was countless times greater than when he first entered the Primordial Profound Ark.

In just eighteen months, such progress was enough to shock anyone, but Yun Che felt no great surprise or joy, because only he truly knew what he had endured during those eighteen months.

"Has the Primordial Profound Ark stopped?" Yun Che asked Jasmine, looking around.

"It should have stopped, but I don't know where," Jasmine replied. "But that's not what you should be concerned about right now. What you need to think about is how to leave this place!"

"You have two choices... If you know how to set up formations, you can try to repair the profound formation on the stone door. If you don't have that ability, then you only have one option left: forcibly break open the stone door or the wall!"

Jasmine naturally knew whether Yun Che could construct profound formations, so the only way for Yun Che to leave was to blast open the stone door.

However, every brick and stone here originated from the ancient era, and their toughness was arguably beyond ordinary comprehension. Yun Che had only endured eighteen months of spatial turbulence, his body damaged countless times; if not for the Dragon God's physique and the Great Way of the Buddha, he would have died countless times. Yet, these bricks and stones had endured countless years of spatial storms, and no matter where one looked, there wasn't a single crack or sign of damage.

Although Yun Che's strength had surged, breaking open a stone door that had remained unscathed after countless years of spatial storms seemed utterly unrealistic.

Nevertheless, this was the only way to leave, so he had to try. Perhaps a miracle would occur.

Yun Che gripped the Dragon Fault, feeling a strength within him that he himself found hard to believe. He said, "My power and profound energy have surged severalfold during this period, so perhaps it's really possible to damage this stone door. Even if I can only cause a small amount of damage at a time, with persistence, I'll eventually be able to break through completely."

"Then try it," Jasmine said flatly, watching him with calm composure. She naturally understood the stone door's toughness far better than Yun Che, and she was even clearer about Yun Che's current level of strength than he was himself.

Yun Che stepped forward, stood before the stone door, and took a deep breath. With his Burning Heart activated, he raised the Dragon Fault with both hands. Then, with a furrowed brow, he gathered his profound energy and smashed down with a "Fallen Moon Sinking Star."

*Clang!!!!*

A deafening clang echoed, piercing Yun Che's ears like steel needles and momentarily robbing him of his hearing in searing pain. An immense rebound force, far exceeding his expectations, struck him. Yun Che's arms instantly went numb, and the Dragon Fault flew from his grasp, striking the wall with a loud *thud* before bouncing to the ground. Yun Che himself was flung backward, crashing heavily against the wall behind him, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.

From this powerful rebound force, Yun Che could almost gauge the immense improvement in his current strength compared to before. Yet, under such a strong rebound, he suffered no substantial injury apart from a brief disarray in his mind and vital energy. He quickly stepped forward, his gaze falling upon the spot where the Dragon Fault had struck the stone door... That spot was no longer smooth as a mirror; instead, a very small white dot had appeared!

Although this white dot was so tiny it would be overlooked if one didn't look carefully, a white dot had indeed appeared!

Moreover, as time passed, there was no sign of the white dot recovering. Joy instantly welled up in Yun Che's heart. Although it was an extremely tiny white dot, it clearly indicated that the stone door was not impregnable, and he now possessed the ability to damage it, even if only slightly.

And besides, that wasn't even his full strength!

"Oh," Jasmine said faintly, her gaze also fixed on the white dot, showing no particular emotion.

"Perhaps I really can blast this stone door open, bit by bit," Yun Che said excitedly. With the spatial storm stopped, his strength surged, and now seeing hope of leaving this place, Yun Che couldn't help but be thrilled. He stretched out his hand, and the Dragon Fault flew back into his grasp. He gripped the sword with both hands, his eyes gleaming with confident light.

"Purgatory!"

A faint profound light glowed around Yun Che, his aura instantly becoming ferocious. His eyes gleamed with a blood-red hue, and Phoenix flame surged to life, rapidly spreading across the entire blade of the Dragon Fault. With the "Purgatory" state activated, his body still felt somewhat heavy, but it was starkly different from the crushing sensation of mountains weighing him down or his organs nearly shattering. He believed that if his profound energy broke through to the Sovereign Profound Realm, he might be able to maintain this state continuously, without pressure, just like "Evil Soul" and "Burning Heart."

"This time, I'm sure I can blast a small dent!" Yun Che confidently roared. "A small dent each time, and eventually, I'll blast a large enough opening for me to get out!"

As his voice fell, Yun Che's aura swelled to its peak. With a fierce roar, he brought down the Dragon Fault, engulfed in Phoenix flame, with all his might...

*Boom!!!!!!!!*

The space around the stone door completely collapsed, and the entire world seemed to tremor. Yun Che had prepared himself for an immense rebound force, but the moment the Dragon Fault collided with the stone door, his arms instantly went numb, and he suddenly felt an unusual lightness in his hands...

*Clink……………*

A furious surge of power reversed, violently striking Yun Che, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood and once again crash heavily against the wall behind him, the impact much stronger than before. The Dragon Fault also flew from his grasp again, but this time, it had split into two pieces, flying in two different directions.

In the distorted space, a long, mournful dragon cry echoed...