Chapter 716: Is It Human or Immortal?

Chapter 716: Man or Immortal?

The great hall was steeped in silence, a stillness so profound that even the faintest whisper of a needle dropping to the floor would have echoed clearly.

Master Miaoshou stared fixedly at the palms of Zhang Yu’s hands, his gaze locked onto the two cubes formed by spatial barriers hovering above them—one on each palm.

At the same time, vivid images from moments past replayed ceaselessly in his mind.

Amidst the ferocious onslaughts launched by both sides’ Nascent Soul True Lords, Zhang Yu had stood unmoved at the very center between the warring factions. With hands clasped together, he had twisted space itself—devouring light, sound, signals… like an abyss without bottom, swallowing every attack hurled toward him, even their treasured artifacts.

“Zhang Yu… while we were all unleashing our full power, he stepped directly into the heart of it—and alone, with his own strength, intercepted every single strike.”

This realization struck Master Miaoshou with thunderous shock. Immediately after came a torrent of questions, racing through his thoughts as he analyzed furiously.

“The reason he could absorb our attacks must lie first in the Celestial Sect’s technique, *Kunlun Within the Palm*. It is precisely because of this art that he can shrink our assaults and draw them into the hollow of his palms.”

“But then what? What method did he use to seal away the force we unleashed?”

“Could it be the Voidcloud Vault? No… the Voidcloud Vault cannot achieve such containment. Is this some kind of portable spatial barrier?”

Master Miaoshou’s eyes remained fixed on the cube hovering over Zhang Yu’s left palm. Inside churned furious torrents of lightning-fire, tempestuous qi, and sword-essence—the combined might of both sects’ Nascent Soul True Lords. These energies collided and swirled within, teetering on the edge of catastrophic instability. Master Miaoshou knew well: if not for the spatial barrier suppressing them, those forces would have detonated long ago, consuming Zhang Yu and the entire hall in an instant.

And Zhang Yu, standing directly before that maelstrom, would have been the first to perish.

“But even assuming it is a spatial barrier—how long could it possibly endure such overwhelming bombardment all at once?”

Clearly, Master Miaoshou was not alone in this thought. The other Nascent Soul cultivators watched Zhang Yu as though he held a live bomb in his hand—one that might explode at any moment, tearing him apart.

Yet in the next breath, under the stunned gazes of every Nascent Soul present, Zhang Yu smiled faintly—and clenched his left fist sharply, as if intending to crush the cube outright.

When he opened his palm again, there was nothing left. Neither the cube nor the raging energies within remained. All had vanished without a trace.

“What?!” Master Miaoshou’s eyes bulged wide. His pupils darted rapidly across Zhang Yu’s empty palm, scanning frantically—as if searching for where those vanished forces had gone, much like how his recent stock investments had simply evaporated into thin air.

It wasn’t just Master Miaoshou. Every cultivator in the hall—whether Xianyin True Lord or Leiji True Lord of the Loyalist faction, or Tiansha True Lord and Tianzhang True Lord of the Withdrawal faction—all now stared intently at Zhang Yu’s bare palm.

Then came Zhang Yu’s calm voice: “That energy was far too unstable. For safety’s sake, I dispersed it.”

“As for your artifacts…”

Hearing this, the assembled Nascent Souls tensed inwardly, fearing he might crush their precious treasures just as he had the chaotic energies.

But instead, Zhang Yu raised his right palm and said gently, “Please reclaim them.”

With a subtle tremor of his hand, the countless artifacts sealed within the cube suddenly expanded outward—like schools of fish breaking free from confinement—shooting forth from his palm in radiant streams.

Sensing the sudden reconnection with their lost treasures, the Nascent Souls hastily retrieved them one by one.

Having done this, Zhang Yu let out a quiet sigh of relief. Though he had appeared utterly composed throughout the confrontation, his spiritual power had been draining violently the entire time.

He understood perfectly: the reason he’d seemed so effortlessly able to intercept the combined strikes of both factions lay first in his mastery of the level-40 *Kunlun Within the Palm*, which allowed him to compress space and draw all attacks into his palms.

The second step relied upon the level-40 *Grand Barrier of the Three Realms and Ten Directions*, which erected spatial walls to lock everything in place.

Without either of these two Celestial Sect techniques, none of what he’d just accomplished would have been possible.

Even so, channeling and containing the combined might of so many Nascent Souls was like a child swinging a sledgehammer—every instant demanded colossal expenditure of spiritual power.

In mere moments, eighty percent of his reserves had already been consumed.

And should his power run dry, causing the sealed energies to break loose, he himself would be the first to suffer.

Thus, he needed a third element—Descendant of Immortals.

The act of clenching his fist had opened a portal to the Descendant of Immortals’ domain, into which he’d poured the captured storm of power.

Only thanks to that independent space carved out by the Descendant of Immortals did Zhang Yu dare accept the full brunt of the Nascent Souls’ assault.

At that moment, Tiansha True Lord regarded Zhang Yu gravely and asked, “Chuyi—what exactly did you do?”

Zhang Yu replied calmly, “Ever since obtaining the Celestial Sect’s *Kunlun Within the Palm*, I have meditated day and night upon its mysteries—until at last, I pushed it to the peak of Nascent Soul cultivation: level forty.”

Some among the gathered Nascent Souls visibly stirred at this, astonished that Zhang Yu had advanced so far in such a short span.

Those who had witnessed his previous display—Tiansha True Lord, Master Miaoshou, and others—merely exchanged knowing glances, their expressions confirming their suspicions.

Zhang Yu continued, “Spatial arts are profoundly abstruse. The deeper I delve, the more I grasp their unfathomable complexity.”

“Fortunately, the spatial barrier erected by the Righteous Alliance offered me crucial insights, allowing me to synthesize strengths from both traditions…”

As he spoke, he extended a single finger. Light and air around its tip began to warp subtly—until finally coalescing into a spherical pocket of space, bounded by spatial walls.

None among the Nascent Souls present were weak or inexperienced; all were well-acquainted with the Voidcloud Vault.

Upon close inspection, they recognized this sphere bore striking resemblance to their own familiar storage spaces.

Toying idly with the orb, Zhang Yu added, “It was precisely through this synthesis that I collaborated with Master Ciji to develop the Boundary-Piercing Spike and the Voidcloud Vault—ushering in a revolution in spatial technology.”

“And the foundational breakthrough therein was, naturally, the technique of spatial scaling.”

Hearing this, Master Miaoshou’s eyes locked onto Zhang Yu’s fingertip—and the orb hovering above it. Inwardly, he mused: “Collaborated with Divine Lord Ciji? Could this sphere be a Voidcloud Vault forged by Zhang Yu himself?”

Staring at the orb, he suddenly felt it growing larger—vaster—expanding impossibly fast until it threatened to fill his entire field of vision.

Even Zhang Yu’s finger seemed to stretch upward endlessly, rising like a mountain peak, poised to lift the sphere into the heavens.

In that instant, Master Miaoshou felt himself no more than a mortal dwarfed before a towering peak—watching helplessly as Zhang Yu’s finger descended like a mountain upon him.

Then, just as suddenly, reality snapped back. The orb remained an orb. The finger, merely a finger. All proportions returned to normal.

But Master Miaoshou knew what he’d seen was no illusion. And judging by the murmurs and reactions of the other Nascent Souls nearby, they too had perceived something similar.

“Did space itself shift?” he wondered silently. “Just now… did Zhang Yu enlarge his fingertip—or did he shrink us all?”

Across the hall, Xianyin True Lord gazed at Zhang Yu in disbelief. *What is this boy’s true origin?* she thought. *How can he command spatial arts to such a degree? And… did he truly say he co-created the Boundary-Piercing Spike and Voidcloud Vault with Divine Lord Ciji?*

As if to confirm his claim, Zhang Yu transmitted evidence—left behind by Divine Lord Ciji—to all present Nascent Souls.

Skimming through the proof, their faces shifted repeatedly, their stares now fixed on Zhang Yu as though he were some unnatural prodigy.

Zhang Yu went on, “Later, the Voidcloud Vault gained spatial-locking capabilities. The key celestial-art technique enabling this lies in the spatial barrier’s ability to selectively filter matter passing through it.”

As he spoke, the sphere on his fingertip began to change color—first crimson, then orange, followed by yellow… cycling through seven hues until it shimmered with iridescent radiance, as though a captured rainbow now danced upon his fingertip.

Tiansha True Lord’s expression darkened. *He filtered light,* he realized with a jolt. *Filtered different wavelengths of light.*

His mind raced further—if even light could be so precisely sorted, could Zhang Yu not also filter their martial techniques, Daoist spells, even their artifacts? Was such a thing truly possible?

As former head of Security—now commonly called War—Tiansha True Lord immediately envisioned battlefield applications.

A cold dread settled in his chest. *If he can wield this art fluently in combat, he could launch unilateral offensives against us all.*

Meanwhile, Xianyin True Lord sighed inwardly: *How long has he even practiced Celestial Sect arts? Barely over a year… yet he commands spatial technology to this extent? Is this reasonable? Does it even align with the Dao of Immortals?*

*Who exactly is he…?*

Beside her, Tiansha True Lord harbored the same doubt: *Is he man… or immortal?*

In that moment, leaders from both factions found themselves gripped by the same suspicion—that Zhang Yu might be the reincarnated vessel of some ancient, transcendent being.

Otherwise, how else could one explain his meteoric mastery of Celestial Sect arts and spatial techniques in mere months?

And this, too, was a consequence Zhang Yu had long anticipated—and willingly accepted.

He understood clearly: as he revealed more of his talent and strength, waves of confusion, disbelief, and speculation would inevitably crash upon him, shaping the course of his future in ways both seen and unseen.

Even after the Celestial Court’s return, this influence would render his future even more uncertain.

Yet, for the sake of rescuing Ciji and Qingmu, and for protecting his comrades, he was willing to accept this price.

Unconsciously, as Zhang Yu’s strength grew, he gradually became the one standing in front of others, shielding them from harm.

Then Zhang Yu continued, “After perfecting the spatial filtering technique, I gradually discovered a more effective—and far cheaper—method to pierce through the Firmament.”

“The principle behind it isn’t difficult to grasp.”

“The Firmament erected by the Righteous Alliance also employs a filtering mechanism: it permits their own people to pass through but blocks ours.”

“Therefore, once we crack the Firmament’s filtering mechanism, piercing through it becomes effortless.”

“And the more people who achieve this, the more holes they’ll punch into the Firmament—until, eventually, the entire structure collapses.”

“Like this…”

With a flick of Zhang Yu’s fingertip, the original spherical space flattened into a plane. Instantly, countless tiny perforations appeared across its surface, as though relentlessly pierced by some invisible force.

When the holes multiplied to cover nearly the entire plane, its structure began to crumble—like a sheet of paper riddled with ten thousand arrows, shattering into dust.

As he spoke, Zhang Yu had already transmitted the blueprint of his newly designed artifact to everyone present.

Not only the Nascent Soul Sovereigns, but even those outside the main hall—Yan Qianji, Bei Wufeng, Jin Jun, Zi Yunzhen, and others—all received Zhang Yu’s design schematics.

From the very beginning, Yan Qianji had been watching the astonishing developments unfold before him, listening intently as Zhang Yu addressed the assembly of Nascent Soul Sovereigns.

The more he listened, the more astonished, awed, and incredulous he became: “A Boundary-Piercing Spike co-developed with the Divine Lord? The Void Cloud Vault? How could that possibly be…”

In Yan Qianji’s memory, Zhang Yu had barely set foot in the laboratory a handful of times, spending his days squandering the Research Society’s funds on his own cultivation.

Yet no matter how hard he tried to rationalize it, the undeniable truth remained: Zhang Yu, wielding formidable spatial techniques, had single-handedly halted the bloody clash between the two factions of Nascent Soul cultivators.

Thus, upon receiving Zhang Yu’s transmitted blueprint, Yan Qianji immediately devoured its contents with desperate intensity.

But as he read, he realized with bitter helplessness… most of it was utterly incomprehensible to him.

“There’s far too much immortal-cultivation knowledge here that I haven’t yet studied. To understand this blueprint properly, I’d need to take several new courses and pore over countless supplementary materials and research papers.”

Yan Qianji wasn’t alone in his confusion. Many Nascent Soul Sovereigns lacking strong artifact-refining skills were equally baffled.

Even cultivators with decent refining abilities—if they lacked foundational knowledge of spatial techniques—would struggle to grasp much of the blueprint’s content.

For instance, Lei Ji Sovereign, who had long since retired from frontline artifact crafting, found himself just as lost.

Lei Ji secretly sent a message to Xian Yin Sovereign: “Xian Yin, what’s your take on this blueprint?”

Xian Yin Sovereign didn’t reply. His full attention was already consumed by the design, his mind wholly immersed in deciphering its intricacies.

As the current head of the Artifact Refinement Department, Xian Yin Sovereign’s expertise was beyond question.

Moreover, having participated in numerous projects under Divine Lord Ciji, he had acquired substantial knowledge of spatial techniques. In the eyes of the assembly, if anyone could accurately judge the blueprint’s worth, it was undoubtedly Xian Yin Sovereign.

Under everyone’s watchful gaze, Xian Yin Sovereign slowly spoke: “Incredible… The artifact outlined in this blueprint truly could enable anyone using it to breach the Firmament—and with sufficient numbers, even bring about the Firmament’s total collapse.”

Hearing this, Lei Ji Sovereign immediately declared, “If that’s the case, there’s nothing more to debate! I wholeheartedly support Sovereign Zhu Yi. Let us all break through the Firmament and reinforce the Headmaster!”

On another side, representatives of the Earth-and-Wood Department—the other pillar of the Holdfast Faction—nodded vigorously in agreement. Tu Lishan spoke up: “Now that we have a solution, I, too, support Sovereign Zhu Yi.”

The layered Firmaments dividing the realms had long been the Ten Great Academies’ most pressing threat.

Ever since the Great Upheaval of Heaven and Earth and the outbreak of war, the Academies’ persistent disadvantage stemmed chiefly from the Firmament’s existence.

Now, hearing that the shadow looming over them all might finally be dispelled, the expressions of the assembled Nascent Soul Sovereigns shifted dramatically—even those who had previously advocated retreat now showed flickers of hope in their eyes.

After all, given a choice, who would willingly concede defeat? Who would accept plundered assets and evaporated wealth?

Every Nascent Soul Sovereign contemplating retreat thought of the inevitable stock and currency crashes that would follow, of the vast stores of resources they couldn’t possibly carry away, of future losses from relentless pursuit, of the wretched days of hiding and fleeing should the Divine Transformation cultivators lose…

How could such thoughts not fill them with bitterness? With stifled rage? With anguish?

Yet reason had dictated they had no alternative—that defeat and loss were unavoidable.

But now, Zhang Yu had offered them a glimmer of hope.

Still, facing this sliver of possibility, Tian Sha Sovereign remained coldly composed.

Spatial techniques were beyond his depth.

His artifact-refining skills paled in comparison to the masters of the Refinement Department present.

Thus, he found it impossible to judge Zhang Yu’s claims from a theoretical standpoint.

And the decision to retreat or hold fast concerned not just his own fortune, but the collective wealth of the entire Withdrawal Faction—a decision involving astronomical stakes. He couldn’t afford anything less than utmost caution.

As for Xian Yin Sovereign’s judgment… the man was, after all, the de facto leader of the Holdfast Faction. Tian Sha Sovereign couldn’t place his full trust in him.

So Tian Sha Sovereign resolved to confirm matters using the method he’d relied upon since ancient times—the one he knew best.

(End of Chapter)