1896 First Variation

Every single Sword Qi flying around in the Sword Domain instantly turned, targeting the single bolt of lightning that had entered the domain.

They moved to attack it just as Alex used the Endless Severing Strike.

The nearly invisible sword slash flew toward the bolt of lightning that carried with it the aura of True Fire Dao.

It was no more than 20 meters away from Alex when he attacked it, so the point of clash between the two attacks was right in front of him.

Alex was immediately blown away, sent flying hundreds of meters as his flesh was ripped away from his body, his bones dropping off one after another.

The explosion sent out a shockwave that surprised Bai Jingshen as well. The aura of the True Fire Dao was a strong one, making him feel as though he was being burned while standing just around it.

Had he not protected the others here, they would've likely died from the fire.

'This is beyond the level of what that girl's Dao Lightning had brought down,' Bai Jingshen thought.

He could see that Alex had survived the attack and was getting back up. This was an attack that would have gravely wounded someone on the Immortal Origin 1st realm, and Alex had survived that.

His battle prowess had certainly reached quite an extraordinary level while he had yet to leave the spirit realm.

But, the next attack would be even stronger. Given how much Alex had suffered with just the last one, Bai Jingshen wondered if he could handle the next one.

Just as he thought that he sensed the aura that began to gather in the sky. It was one that he was very familiar with.

That was the aura of the True Metal Dao, and he understood what that meant.

If True Fire Dao contained its extreme heat and burns, the Metal Dao contained its sharpness, sturdiness, and cutting.

It would be a difficult thing for Alex to fight against. Not only that, it would be even stronger than last time.

'This is the last one. Don't mess this up,' Bai Jingshen thought.

Scarlet, Pearl, and Whisker stared at Alex on the broken island, each one feeling their bond. They could sense fear from Alex through their bond, but they could also feel excitement.

The man was excited at the challenge of it all, even though his life was on the line.

Alex stared at the sky, his hands trembling as he waited for the next and final bolt of lightning.

He wondered, in the small period of time he had, if repeating what he had done just earlier would help him in any way.

He knew the answer to that question was no, which meant he needed something else. But he didn't have anything else.

He had put everything he had into the attack beforehand, and that had barely done anything against the lightning bolt that contained with it the aura of the True Fire Dao.

Now, it was going to contain with it the aura of the True Metal Dao. Such an attack would be quite strong, making it…

Alex hesitated for a moment. Something occurred to him right at that moment, an epiphany when he was pushed to the end. That meant he had to change his attack, but it was a bit too late to do it all over again as the lightning was about to come down at any moment.

'Screw it!' Alex thought. If he was going to survive this one, he would have to take a risk for it.

Alex immediately stopped preparing his Endless Severing Strike and instead prepared the Endless Severing Strike again but with some changes.

When Alex had prepared the Endless Severing Strike as a nameless attack, it had in it 4 Dao that he constantly used to achieve that result.

These were the Dao of Sharpness, theDao of Cutting, theDao of Malleability, and the Dao of Ductility. Even after learning the True Metal Dao, hestillcontinued using those Daos separately, as that was how he had created the technique.

However, given how all those Daos belonged to the single True Metal Dao, instead of having to apply 4 different Dao, Alex needed to apply just 1.

While True Metal Dao was strong and used quite a bit of Intent, it was nowhere near as much as what he needed to use with 4 different Dao at once.

So, the moment Alex switched to the True Metal Dao, it smoothly applied itself to the technique in an instant. It no longer took Alex much time.

At the nick of time, Alex had upgraded the Endless Severing Strike to a better version of itself, a much stronger one.

And since he was only using a single Dao at the moment, that allowed Alex to add another one. The lightning had all but struck down from the sky, so Alex had no time to choose.

He used what he knew was the strongest one when it came to the Dao he had learned.

The True Fire Dao.

The two True Daos being worked at once gave Alex mental pain far greater than what he had experienced in all his life of using this technique, but he endured it.

Then, when the lightning bolt fell from the sky, he waited right until it entered the range of his Sword Domain, and then released it.

The Sword Qi within the domain rushed toward the lightning bolt, and following it was an attack that was more than just the Endless Severing Strike.

This was what Alex had intended upon when making his technique all those years ago. He wanted to create a base attack, on top of which he could add other Dao and Qi to create itsownvariation of attack.

This was the first of the many variations. A variation with True Fire Dao. A technique soon to be named...

True Immolation Strike

The attack was once again nearly invisible, but this time, it carried with it heat that left behind a visible trail of fire.

The fire burned hot, within which was an aura that sought to burn and melt anything in its path and destroy it.

When the attacks collided, they exploded once again, only this time there was a fiery explosion on top of it all as well.

Alex felt the force of the shockwave, but it was weak enough that he could hold on to his footing. He stood where he was, looking up at the explosion in surprise.

The explosion rang far and wide, leaving behind a large ball of fire that ascended toward the sky. Alex watched in pure astoundment as the area above him cleared, revealing the dark and cloudy sky.

Alex had not only survived the final Dao lightning, but he had done so without taking any damage at all. He had properly defended himself against the final strike, destroying it without taking damage himself.

He felt the aura stir in the heavens and looked up. He couldn't help but smile as he did so.

Many colors flashed in his vision, all promising new Dao that he had yet to learn. But those would have to wait.

The sky began clearing and sunlight peeked through it. Alex felt Immortal Qi flow into him from heaven, filling what was used up, giving him the strength that was rightfully his.

The truth that felt like a dream at all this moment finally became clear to him.

He had become an Immortal.