Chapter 1686: First Independent Soul Device

His hands quickly formed a seal, and a massive silver lotus totem appeared, covering his body from behind.

This was the most potent defensive technique of his Eternal Life Sacred Art, named the Immortal Golden Lotus, directly inspired by the massive Immortal Divine Lotus on his back.

The technique's principle involved rapidly freezing most of his internal life force, forming a protective barrier condensed from pure vital energy. Its durability and strength surpassed any other elemental defensive barrier in the world.

For anyone else, this Immortal Golden Lotus body protection, combined with the Elder's activated physical strength, would likely grant immunity to any attack below the Limitless Realm. Unfortunately, this time he faced Xu Yang, an entity capable of shattering even the heavens. How could such a defense possibly hold against him?

"Hahaha, old man," Xu Yang scoffed. "Open your eyes wide and witness how I shatter your defense!"

As Xu Yang finished speaking, the vertical sword momentum of the Long Rainbow Sword Dao showed no restraint. Simultaneously, the horizontal sword momentum, vast and imposing like a mountain, arrived.

Using the precise coordinates of the Elder's physical body as the origin point, the sword arts from both vertical and horizontal directions converged.

This instantly nullified the defensive limit at that point.

The intersecting sword intent, attacking a single point from two directions, represented the most powerful sword art Xu Yang could unleash. When all the sword intent fully erupted at that final point, the Immortal Golden Lotus developed fissures and ultimately shattered with a thunderous roar.

Subsequently, an increasing number of sword aura streams penetrated the Elder's physical body, freezing the old man's gaze in that instant.

"No, this is impossible!" the Elder cried out. "How can such terrifying sword art exist in this world? What dreadful sword energy can completely disrupt my internal restorative powers simultaneously!"

The Elder did not realize that the only weakness of the Eternal Life Art he had created was precisely Xu Yang's perfect manifestation of the intersecting sword art.

The intersecting sword energy Xu Yang unleashed was divided into vertical and horizontal parts, much like a pair of scissors, performing a cross-cutting action from two directions at the point of attack.

This approach meant that no matter how powerful the opponent's defense, it was utterly impossible to withstand two forms of combined attack at the same point. This was why the Elder's Immortal Golden Lotus shattered.

Meanwhile, his Eternal Life Art also became ineffective because the continuous flow of life force within his meridians could not immediately reach the body parts requiring repair.

The two streams of intersecting sword energy simultaneously destroyed the Elder's physical body and obstructed the transmission of life force within his meridians, fundamentally dismantling the healing principle of his Eternal Life Sacred Art.

The old man never dreamed that he would one day fall to such an unpredictable and bizarre sword art. He watched as his once robust body, with youthful appearance and white hair, was instantly pulverized by endless sword energy, until only a pure white, jade-like skeleton remained.

The Elder finally let out a furious roar. With his physical strength incapacitated, he prepared to unleash the power of his most potent soul phantom to launch a soul attack on Xu Yang.

Little did he know, Xu Yang was already prepared. After sensing that the opponent's physical body was completely suppressed by his intersecting sword art, Xu Yang's other sword soul had already been quietly summoned.

It was Canqing, the hermaphroditic sword soul.

The Canqing sword soul released red and blue soul auras. The red light, specifically born to suppress souls, was particularly prominent.

It firmly locked onto the old man's head, and with a single thrust, the sword struck.

The Elder's soul phantom, originally attached to the physical body, instantly disintegrated.

With the complete disappearance of this portion of the phantom soul power, Canqing's sword pierced through the old man's skull from the top.

This utterly destroyed the Elder's soul world.

Although his soul was resilient and constantly guarded the will of the Supreme God, this sword thrust meant that his soul essence would never again have the chance to control this physical body. His body and original soul power were completely severed, and this physical body no longer had any connection to the Elder.

As the Elder's skull shattered, Xu Yang finally ceased all attacks and let out a soft sigh. At the same moment, Sword Immortal Yun Wangji's soul reappeared beside Xu Yang.

"Hahaha, I can't believe you actually succeeded, A-Yang," Yun Wangji exclaimed. "Now, this incredibly rare Elder's skeleton is your ultimate trophy. Quickly devour it along with the jade platform beneath the Immortal Divine Lotus. I'm sure the Imperial Cauldron's artifact spirit is even more eager than you are."

As the great witness of this moment, Yun Wangji was also visibly excited.

At this moment, the complete artifact spirit of the Imperial Cauldron had already appeared in Xu Yang's palm. To devour such powerful heavenly treasures in one go, the Imperial Cauldron's most complete soul form had to be utilized for successful assimilation.

As expected, the Imperial Cauldron's artifact spirit expanded to more than ten times its previous strength, directly transmitting a continuous stream of dark golden artifact spirit light towards the lotus platform before it.

At the same time, Xu Yang's intersecting artifact soul flew out and directly severed the roots of the Immortal Divine Lotus, aiming to perfectly preserve its life force.

The Sword Immortal suggested that Xu Yang temporarily seal the Immortal Divine Lotus within his spiritual sea and plant it alongside the Ancient Tree of Life. These were the two most powerful sources of life force between heaven and earth, and perhaps they could create unique synergies when together in the same space.

Xu Yang decisively followed the Sword Immortal's suggestion, allowing his spiritual sea world to perfectly absorb this Immortal Divine Lotus, a rare sight in ten thousand years. It was likely the only perfectly preserved spiritual seed of its kind on the main continent.

It was important to know that all the life force of the entire Misty Rain Imperial Clan within the Immortal Mansion world originated from this Immortal Divine Lotus. Feeling this incredibly dense life force entering his limbs and bones, Xu Yang couldn't help but gasp, forcefully suppressing the immense excitement in his heart.

Such immense life force further refined Xu Yang's meridians and bones.

Inadvertently, it made the aura emanating from his own body even more powerful.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this powerful life force essence as a supply that the Imperial Cauldron's artifact spirit also benefited. It quickly devoured the perfectly intact jade lotus platform before it, along with every piece of white jade bone from beneath the old man's skull, into the cauldron.

"Master!" the Imperial Cauldron's artifact spirit announced. "The assimilation is complete. In merely forty-nine days, I can deliver the most perfect result for you. Your first divine artifact, forged by an autonomous artifact spirit, is about to be born!"