Only three seconds? He's already the Lord of All Realms, so it doesn't matter.

Ye Xuan, far away in the capital, finally sensed the changes in the willow trees of Shuitian Village.

He was naturally aware of Li Chong and the High Priest's previous plan, but due to the dire situation at hand, he did not intervene and simply let Xianliu do as she pleased.

Once Xianliu reaches the bathing stage, she will possess a little self-awareness, much like a newborn infant.

Ye Xuan had always believed that the willow tree, which shared the same cultivation level as him, was enough to deal with the people of the capital, but he never expected that it could do so much.

"When it blooms, it contains both green and white energies..."

The changes not recorded in "The Immortal Willow of Immortality" suggest that my superpowers have indeed influenced this immortal technique.

He composed himself, and the battle in the capital remained a stalemate between humans and the Xuan Turtle. Because they had to protect Chen Qinghe, neither side could gain the upper hand for a long time.

But now the situation is different. Around Ye Xuan, an extremely pure blue and white aura has emerged, which is the manifestation of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth being compressed to the extreme after it has gathered.

These suddenly appearing blue and white energies did not originate from his Taoist robe, but from the immortal willows that had traveled thousands of miles.

"Oh no, he's going to use that trick again!"

One of the ritual practitioners noticed something amiss and recalled that Ye Xuan had once used a secret technique in Jiangning County that allowed him to quickly recover his strength, as recorded in the image stone.

He immediately drew out the cloud banner magic weapon he was carrying on his back. The banner unfurled wide, and the spiritual energy around both sides was absorbed into it.

This not only drained the spiritual energy from Ye Xuan's side, but also from the two royal retainers who were manipulating the Xuan Turtle phantom.

The enormous phantom of the Xuan Turtle grew increasingly blurry. Even after the halo completely dissipated, the blue and white aura surrounding Ye Xuan did not disappear.

Everyone was puzzled. "Could it be that his secret technique doesn't utilize the spiritual energy of heaven and earth?"

"That doesn't make sense..."

The high priest standing on the city wall could not see the intricacies of the matter at this moment. The more years he cultivated the "Longevity Technique," the more he understood the vast difference between mortals and immortals.

A sense of unease rose in the High Priest's heart, while Ye Xuan, standing amidst the blue and white energies, gained many insights.

His expression was calm to the point of indifference. He slightly raised his eyes, his gaze seemingly piercing through the thick city walls and palaces, landing on the white blossoms of the willows blooming by the lake a thousand miles away.

The blooming of the Immortal Willow not only directly nourishes the vitality and cultivation of the guardians of the ancestral hall, but also brings a peculiar resonance.

Ye Xuan couldn't quite explain this feeling of transcending nature, but he knew that his cultivation level was skyrocketing!

He has just entered the ninth level of Foundation Establishment and is gradually soaring towards the perfect state...

As his internal energy grew stronger, the magic array binding him at the gates of the capital city quickly lost its effectiveness.

Ye Xuan raised his hand to brush away the blue and white aura surrounding him, and his whole being seemed to have been reborn. His temperament was otherworldly, and even his eyes faintly carried a trace of divinity.

"Foundation Building Completed?!"

The people on the city wall were all in disbelief, especially the high priest who had reached the perfect state of self-realization.

It was precisely because he had spent many years to reach such a level that he knew how difficult it was to go from the ninth level of Foundation Establishment to Perfection; it was no exaggeration to call it divine retribution.

However, the young man in front of me underwent a complete transformation in just half an hour, rising to the pinnacle of this short-lived world.

More than fear, the high priest felt resentment.

He resented that he wasn't an immortal from the realm of longevity like this young man; instead, he was just a short-lived being whose life essence was drained at birth, and whose cultivation was stuck at the Foundation Establishment stage for his entire life.

I hate the injustice of fate, and I also hate my own lack of understanding!

At this moment, resentment was quickly replaced by self-abasement in the high priest's heart. As the chief priest of the ancestral hall, he was not without opportunities to come into contact with immortal techniques. However, he began to complain that he was not talented enough to comprehend the "Longevity Manual" which he had cultivated for many years without any success.

When he came to his senses and looked at the young man in front of him again, his eyes were full of sudden realization.

The meticulously prepared strategy seemed to have lost its last hope as Ye Xuan made unlimited breakthroughs in front of them.

Seeing the high priest's dejected expression and waning fighting spirit, the surrounding crowd quickly tried to dissuade him:

"My lord, the capital still has a protective array; we still have the strength to fight!"

But the high priest simply waved his hand at them, saying, "He is not a false immortal. Unless a celestial being descends, neither you nor I can contend with him."

After saying this, he took out a piece of yellow paper from his pocket, handed it to the crowd, and then ordered them to retreat into the city.

This special talisman, besides its complex and mysterious spiritual patterns, also occasionally flashes with purple lightning like small snakes, making it look like no ordinary object.

Whether it was the royal offerings or the rituals in the ancestral hall, everyone recognized that this talisman was the key to the royal capital's final activation of the grand formation.

"What are you doing here?"

The crowd was puzzled. In their view, although the young man had broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage, the High Priest was not yet at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage.

Only the High Priest himself knew how big the gap was between a Perfected cultivator and an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator. If it came down to comparing magical power, only he could contend with him.

The high priest stepped through the air and quickly arrived in front of Ye Xuan. He said:

"Do you dare to fight this old man?"

Ye Xuan nodded silently, leaving Chen Qinghe where he was. He wasn't worried at all that anyone would dare to launch a sneak attack or resort to underhanded tricks during their duel.

The two manipulated the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, causing themselves to float above the city gate, where they faced each other only a few meters apart.

The high priest's aged face instantly smoothed out the wrinkles, and he unleashed his century-long cultivation without reservation. His aura as a perfect Foundation Establishment cultivator pressed down like a mountain, almost suffocating the people on the city tower below.

Ye Xuan stood quietly in the wind, and blue and white qi began to emanate from his simple Taoist robe. The two qi gradually flowed like swimming dragons, and behind him, the faint shadow of a willow tree even appeared.

"After cultivating for 120 years, I have finally been able to witness the true demeanor of an immortal."

The high priest spoke slowly, his voice no longer arrogant as before, but rather carrying a hint of vicissitude.

He immediately formed hand seals, and behind him, in the direction of the ancestral hall, the ten-zhang-tall immortal statue suddenly trembled, and strands of pale golden light crossed the sky and merged into his body.

In an instant, the high priest's body shone with golden light, and his aura surged once again!

"Borrowing the power of immortals?"

Ye Xuan raised an eyebrow slightly. He could sense a trace of the aura of the Longevity Realm within the golden light. Although it was only a tiny wisp, it already hinted at transcending the limits of the Short-Lived Realm.

"Since this is a decisive battle, I dare not hold back."

As soon as the high priest finished speaking, his figure vanished from the spot.

The next moment, he appeared three feet in front of Ye Xuan, his withered hand reaching out, the golden light gathered in his palm transforming into an illusory longsword, which pierced straight towards Ye Xuan's heart!

This sword strike was as fast as lightning. Before the blade even arrived, the sword energy had already torn through the air, emitting a piercing shriek.

Ye Xuan neither dodged nor avoided, but slowly raised his right hand, and the blue and white energies immediately adhered to his index finger, which he then lightly tapped out.

The fingertips touched the tip of the sword, and a crisp "clang" was heard.

The sound of metal clashing resounded through the sky, and the shockwave exploded outwards from the two men. The bricks and stones at the city gate below shattered inch by inch, and even the arrow towers on the city wall were on the verge of collapse.