Chapter 440: I Will Personally Shatter Your Fate and Grant You Heaven
"Master Brother, how do I use this Heavenly Human Breakthrough Pill?" Yang Luoluo asked, her bright, innocent eyes blinking with unrestrained curiosity.
The question hung in the air, a sentiment echoed in the focused gazes of An Zhiyue, Liu Ruyan, and Ruan Lingshan. Each woman watched Shen Anyu with a unique blend of hope and anticipation.
For An Zhiyue, this was the culmination of a lifetime of martial arts. The pill represented a bridge to the legendary world of Heavenly Human Unity, a peak so high that few ever reached it. The very thought of it sent a tremor of excitement through her, a current so powerful it threatened to shatter her usually composed, free-spirited demeanor. Any other martial artist would be a nervous wreck, consumed by anxiety, but An Zhiyue managed to keep her breathing even, though her heart hammered against her ribs.
Standing beside her, Liu Ruyan's foxy, almond-shaped eyes were shimmering with a complex mixture of emotions. Envy, sharp and poignant, was obvious. She longed for that power, for that breakthrough. But intertwined with it was a deep, genuine hope for her lifelong friend. The two feelings warred within her, creating a storm of longing and affection.
Shen Anyu simply smiled, a picture of absolute calm amidst the swirling tension. His voice was as smooth and unbothered as a tranquil lake.
"I will personally assist Aunt An Zhiyue in refining the pill's medicinal energy. Tonight, you will step into the Heavenly Human realm."
Liu Ruyan let out a soft, skeptical huff, her long, charming eyes narrowing with suspicion. "It's that simple?"
Her disbelief was understandable. A Heavenly Human Grandmaster was a titan, an existence that could dominate an entire region, a figure one might only encounter once in a lifetime. Legends spoke of martial artists secluding themselves for years, undergoing brutal preparations and risking their lives for even a sliver of a chance at this breakthrough. Could it truly be achieved so casually, without any ritual or preparation?
An Zhiyue voiced her own concerns, her tone laced with a rare hint of apprehension that softened her usual heroic confidence. "Don't I need to adjust my condition to its absolute peak? Meditate for a few days to purify my mind and then attempt the breakthrough?"
"Haha, there's no need for such trouble, Aunt An Zhiyue." Shen Anyu's laughter was rich and confident, instantly dispelling the tension in the room. "I will help you refine the Heavenly Human Breakthrough Pill right now. We will condense the three essences of spirit, qi, and mind, shatter the gate to the Heavenly Human Secret Lair, and ascend to the next realm—it will happen right here, right now, tonight!"
With a flick of his finger, Shen Anyu sent the pill flying. It streaked through the air like a miniature golden comet, a blur of light that passed effortlessly between An Zhiyue's parted red lips and pearly teeth, dissolving on her tongue.
Boom!
The instant the pill entered her body, it erupted. An impossibly vast and pure medicinal power, as potent as a raging tsunami, surged through every meridian, every vessel, every cell of her being.
Immediately, a dazzling crimson glow burst from An Zhiyue's body. The light was so intense it painted the room in shades of blood and fire. A phantom cry, resonant and powerful like that of a rising phoenix, echoed in the spiritual void, while her aura exploded outwards, visibly distorting the very air around her. The temperature in the room skyrocketed, and the pressure became a physical weight, pressing down on everyone.
"Step back," Shen Anyu commanded, his voice cutting through the phenomenon.
Liu Ruyan, Yang Luoluo, and Ruan Lingshan stumbled backward, their faces pale. A crushing force slammed into them, threatening to drive them to their knees. It was only Shen Anyu's invisible psychokinetic barrier that shielded them from the raw, untamed power emanating from An Zhiyue. Had it not been for his protection, they would have been flattened, their own inner qi thrown into chaos.
The three women could only stare, their beautiful eyes wide and their mouths agape, completely dumbfounded. An Zhiyue was now floating several meters off the ground, suspended in the air and wreathed in a cocoon of brilliant, pulsating crimson light.
"This… this is…" Liu Ruyan stammered, her mind struggling to process the scene. Was this what a Heavenly Human breakthrough looked like? It was beyond anything she had ever imagined.
While the gap between a Grandmaster and a Peak Grandmaster was one of degree, the leap to Heavenly Human Unity was a complete qualitative transformation. It granted the ability to tread on air, to command the elements—to become a god in the eyes of mortals. It was the ultimate dream for countless martial artists.
Yet, out of a hundred, or even a thousand Grandmasters, perhaps not a single one could ever hope to cross this chasm. But now, right before her eyes, her closest friend was doing it.
Yang Luoluo and Ruan Lingshan held their breath, their gazes locked on the spectacle, their hearts pounding in a mixture of fear and awe.
For An Zhiyue, the experience was a thousand times more intense. She was at the very center of the storm. Decades of brutal training, of sweat and blood, of pushing her body and spirit to their absolute limits… was it all about to culminate in this moment? Was she truly about to step into the Heavenly Human realm?
"Clear your mind of all distractions!" Shen Anyu's voice boomed in her consciousness, sharp and commanding. "Circulate your cultivation technique, touch the Heavenly Human Secret Lair, and do not be distracted!"
An Zhiyue's expression flickered with a strange emotion. In this moment, her beloved nephew sounded like a stern, unforgiving master scolding an errant student. It was an ironic reversal of their usual dynamic, where she was the one who lectured and guided him. Now, the tables had well and truly turned.
Shaking off the thought, An Zhiyue quickly reined in her turbulent emotions, forcing down the excitement and trepidation to achieve a state of mental calm. Following the profound principles of the An Family's ancestral cultivation technique, she began guiding the torrent of power. Her Martial Dao True Qi surged through her body, coursing through the twelve main meridians and the eight extraordinary meridians, completing cycle after cycle.
With Shen Anyu's spiritual guidance acting as a steadying anchor, An Zhiyue rapidly refined the pill's boundless medicinal energy. Her spirit, her qi, and her mind soared, reaching the absolute zenith of the Grandmaster realm until she felt herself press against a conceptual barrier—the mysterious and profound door to the Heavenly Human Secret Lair.
The greatest chasm between a Grandmaster and a Heavenly Human was mental power. A Heavenly Human expert could commune with the elemental energies of heaven and earth, infusing their every strike with devastating power. This was a dimensional advantage, a fundamental difference in the level of existence that was simply insurmountable for anyone below their realm.
A group of Grandmasters could perhaps overwhelm a Peak Grandmaster through sheer numbers. But even dozens of Grandmasters would be nothing more than cannon fodder against a single Heavenly Human. A Heavenly Human expert could utilize hit-and-run tactics, levitating out of reach and raining down destruction, capable of decimating an entire army on their own.
This was why they could dominate a region. In ancient times, they were beings who could challenge feudal lords and stand as equals to kings. Even in the modern era of devastating firearms, their status was sacrosanct and not to be underestimated.
Their power source was different. Acquired Martial Artists cultivated inner qi. This qi condensed into True Qi to enter the Innate Realm. But at the Heavenly Human level, it underwent another transformation, becoming Martial Dao True Essence. A single wisp of this True Essence was dozens of times more potent than True Qi, hyper-condensed and infused with the user's spiritual will.
Heavenly Human versus anyone below was truly a dimensionality-reduction strike.
Only a monster like Shen Anyu, armed with a God-Level Steel Body, God-Level Telekinesis, and an arsenal of heaven-defying abilities, could slaughter a Heavenly Human while still in the Grandmaster realm. Even a genius like Ye Linyuan, before being crippled by the God-level Curse Talisman, could at best contend with a Heavenly Human and barely escape with his life.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The medicinal power continued to surge. An Zhiyue's Martial Dao True Qi was gradually being compressed, refined, and sublimated, moving ever closer to the state of True Essence. Hours slipped by. Her aura swelled, growing more potent and oppressive with each passing moment. The sound of her heart was like a war drum, a thunderous beat that resonated through the room.
Liu Ruyan, Yang Luoluo, and Ruan Lingshan could only watch, their eyes filled with a potent mix of envy and awe. The crushing pressure emanating from their friend was a primal force, a weight on their very souls that reminded them of the vast gulf between them.
Suddenly, a crack appeared in An Zhiyue's composure.
"I can't get in, An'yu! I just can't get through!" she cried out, her voice strained with desperation. Her heroic and beautiful face was now etched with deep anxiety.
Her spirit, qi, and mind had reached their absolute limit. Her True Qi had fully transformed into nascent True Essence, flooding her Dantian Qi Sea like a hundred rivers returning to the ocean. The power was so immense it felt like she was about to burst, her meridians screaming in protest. Yet the great door to the Heavenly Human Secret Lair remained stubbornly shut, an impassable, monolithic barrier. Her foundation, despite her talent, was ultimately a step too shallow; her accumulation was still insufficient.
"Oh no!" Liu Ruyan, being a Peak Grandmaster herself, immediately recognized the danger. "If she can't break through smoothly, she'll suffer a catastrophic backlash! Her meridians could be crippled, and she might never be able to attempt the breakthrough again!" Her heart seized with terror, and she paced back and forth like an ant on a hot pan.
Yang Luoluo and Ruan Lingshan's faces went white with fright.
Amidst the rising panic, Shen Anyu's expression remained unchanged. That calm, almost lazy smile never left his lips.
"No matter," he said, his voice a soothing balm. "I am here."
Those three simple words washed over An Zhiyue, extinguishing the flames of her anxiety. Instantly, a colossal wave of Heavenly Human-level mental power surged from Shen Anyu's eyes, flowing into her body like a cool, silver river. It was a force so profound, so pure, that it easily navigated the chaotic storm within her, providing a pillar of absolute stability.
Shen Anyu's foundation was absurdly deep. With his God-Level Steel Body, God-Level Telekinesis, and countless other skills, the strength of his mental power, though he had only recently entered the Heavenly Human realm, was already among the absolute best.
But he didn't stop there.
The next moment, Shen Anyu activated his super-divine skill, [Sharing]. An invisible thread of connection shot across the country, and he borrowed a sliver of power from Susan, the Land Immortal who was thousands of miles away in the Imperial Capital. A faint, almost imperceptible golden corona flickered around him for a split second.
In truth, his own strength was more than sufficient. But this was his aunt. He was taking this extra step to make her breakthrough not just safe, but completely, utterly, and absolutely risk-free. After all, breaking through with a Heavenly Human Breakthrough Pill carried no inherent risk of failure or backlash. The issue was simply that the barrier his aunt faced was unusually thick and resilient.
Shen Anyu sighed inwardly. 'Aunt An Zhiyue is neither a destined heroine nor a Daughter of Destiny. Her innate Luck is just a bit lacking.'
Otherwise, a single pill would have been enough for a smooth, seamless breakthrough. If this pill had been given to Luo Yuhe, or even Liu Ruyan, their status as destined heroines would have provided them with the necessary Luck to shatter the barrier with ease. It wasn't that An Zhiyue's talent was insufficient; she simply lacked the invisible assistance of the world's favor. For that, she needed an external force to compensate.
Villains possessed luck as well. In the original novel, his maternal grandfather, the Hall Master of the Martial God Hall, was a Heavenly Human. But An Zhiyue, in that same timeline, died before she ever reached that realm. A villain's luck was a fickle, shallow thing compared to the boundless fortune of a Child of Destiny.
Of course, luck was just one factor. Opportunities and external resources were just as crucial. If one's luck was insufficient, it could be supplemented by other means. Shen Anyu plundered the luck of Children of Destiny precisely to make up for his own deficiencies. Without it, he never would have reached his current height so quickly.
According to the original script of this world, Shen Anyu was fated to be killed by the protagonist Ye Yan. His Aunt An Zhiyue, burning with grief and a desire for vengeance, would also fall to Ye Yan's sword. The mighty Yanxia Shen Family and An Family would be utterly annihilated by that so-called Child of Destiny upon his descent from the mountains.
But that was the old story. Now, Shen Anyu had awakened. Ye Yan was nothing but dust in the wind, and all his family members were safe and sound.
If those fates could be changed, why not this one?
Why couldn't Aunt An Zhiyue break through to the Heavenly Human realm?
'Heh heh.'
A dark, amused thought surfaced in his mind, sharp as a shard of ice.
'Let me break Aunt An Zhiyue's fate…'
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