Chapter 549 - 329: Divine Venerable - , Ascension Saint Tribulation, Dao Alliance Reinforcements

Many Human Race Cultivators suffered heavy casualties.

The three Arhat Tributors from the Buddhist Sect who served Wu Quan, the Second Emperor’s Son of the Silver Frost Empire, had all sustained serious injuries.

Watching Lu Mingyuan snatch away the Corrupt Divine Flower left a bitter taste in his mouth.

’Why should the Great Yan Dynasty get to monopolize the Ascension Platform *and* snatch the Corrupt Divine Flower?’

All of the Silver Frost Empire’s hard work had only paved the way for someone else’s success.

He gazed at the Ascension Mountain Peak and noticed that many Qi Cultivators and Confucian Cultivators had already formed a circular Array.

It was as if they were protecting someone.

A tall, slender, snow-haired woman stood guard at the mountain’s entrance, sword in hand. Her beautiful face was cold and severe, her skin like solidified moonlight.

Yun Qinghe herself was guarding the pass with her sword, while the others had established a Guarding Array.

Everyone knew exactly what their purpose was.

The Emperor of Great Yan had not shown himself this entire time.

’A prodigy as powerful as Lu Mingyuan would surely want to seize such a great Opportunity.’

’It’s probably not that he didn’t *want* to seize it, but that he was too severely injured from reviving Qi Xingyan to make a move.’

’Yun Qinghe had clearly killed the demon and taken the flower herself for the sake of Lu Mingyuan’s safety.’

For a moment, the hearts of the experts from the various factions stirred.

They began to understand many things.

A few of them couldn’t help but feel the stirrings of greed.

At the same time, however, they were wary of Qi Xingyan’s presence.

If Qi Xingyan proved no match for the two throne-level experts, they could make a move, snatch the Ascension Platform and the Corrupt Divine Flower, and then leave the Dragon Peak Grotto Heaven.

The trip would be considered a resounding success, with bountiful rewards.

Many factions continued to watch from the shadows.

...

「Ascension Mountain Peak.」

Lu Mingyuan sat cross-legged in silent meditation within the Grand Array the others had set up, a bracelet clutched in his right palm.

It was Yun Qinghe’s Storage Treasure, and inside it lay a blooming, scarlet Divine Flower.

’I can’t believe a supreme treasure like this actually exists in the world,’ Lu Mingyuan thought.

Just by sniffing the mist released by the Divine Flower, he could feel the Primordial Qi throughout his body begin to boil violently, accelerating its circulation.

Lu Mingyuan took a deep breath. ’If I absorb this Divine Flower, I should be able to repair the cracks in my Flesh Body and break through to the Martial Saint realm.’

The Primordial Qi in his palm transformed into scorching True Flame, which he used to heat a petal of the Corrupt Divine Flower. Drop by drop, a crystalline, scarlet juice emerged, its color like that of wine aged for a thousand years.

He didn’t dare consume the petal directly.

He feared the power of the Divine Blood was too immense; it would likely make his body explode.

He would first try the juice rendered from the heated petal.

He drank the Divine Flower juice he had refined in his palm.

Once the juice entered his throat, it swiftly dissolved into a ball of scorching Divine Qi that rushed through his entire body!

The effect was like divine intervention.

Lu Mingyuan discovered that the cracks in his muscles, bones, and Acupoints were all showing signs of healing.

This scorching Divine Qi would attach itself to the cracks in his bones, continuously nourishing them.

It left Lu Mingyuan with an itching sensation.

After the itching subsided, new bone would grow in its place.

One had to understand, these weren’t ordinary broken bones. They were wounds from the backlash of the Celestial Dao. Without an extremely potent Immortal Medicine to mend them, the bones at his acupoints would be nearly impossible to heal.

The broken bones were a minor issue. The most critical problem was the cracks that had appeared in Lu Mingyuan’s Qi Sea Dantian and his Martial Arts Acupoints.

These injuries were all irreversible and could not be healed by ordinary Immortal Medicines.

But the divinity of the Corrupt Divine Flower was truly miraculous.

Just a few drops had healed one of his kneecaps.

’It seems this Divine Flower really does have rare benefits for the Flesh Body.’

Having confirmed its medicinal properties, Lu Mingyuan’s eyes lit up.

’It seems my Flesh Body can withstand the Divine Flower’s power.’

Having reached this conclusion, Lu Mingyuan decided to pluck off an entire petal and consume it directly this time, without heating it with his True Flame.

Even a single petal, once removed, was the size of a small boat and could easily be used as a skiff on water.

But this time, after Lu Mingyuan swallowed the entire petal of the Divine Flower...

A vast, boundless Divine Power surged out from his Qi Sea. Instantly, fiery patterns appeared on Lu Mingyuan’s Dantian, blazing to life and extending all the way to his left leg.

The heat of the flames was so intense that the top of Lu Mingyuan’s thigh and his lower abdomen began to ache, his body feeling as if it were about to melt.

Lu Mingyuan suppressed his astonishment and hurriedly activated the Blood Glutton Celestial Fall Scripture, mobilizing his Primordial Qi to surge toward his Dantian along his meridians.

At the same time, he sent his Spiritual Power inward, following the flow of his Primordial Qi, to investigate what changes were occurring.

When it reached the top of his left thigh, a scorching power surged back up through the meridian. His Spiritual Power felt as if it had fallen into lava and was being forcefully driven back.

Lu Mingyuan was startled and immediately focused all his effort on controlling his Primordial Qi.

His spirit battled the scorching power in his left leg for several full Hours before his Primordial Qi could finally complete one full circulation through the leg’s meridians.

Immediately after, the blood in his left leg’s vessels also began to flow.

Gradually, feeling returned to Lu Mingyuan’s left leg.

Fortunately, in the Spiritual World, several Hours passed in but an instant.

Lu Mingyuan looked at his left leg with his naked eye and saw that a golden, branded pattern had appeared on it. The meridians within had undergone a transformation; their network was now more complex, transporting Primordial Qi more rapidly. Everything had proceeded in an orderly fashion, as if his leg had transformed into a great world of fire—both heavy and filled with infinite mysteries.

This left leg had become incredibly heavy, completely different from the rest of his body.

’Could this be... the Divine Venerable Chapter?’

Lu Mingyuan guessed to himself.

When he broke through to the Twelfth Realm, his Blood Glutton Celestial Fall Scripture had already reached a state of Perfection, just one step away from the Divine Venerable Chapter.

And now, it was time to break through to the Divine Venerable Chapter.

Lu Mingyuan immediately checked his cultivation progress in the Blood Glutton Celestial Fall Scripture.

[Blood Glutton Celestial Fall Scripture - Divine Venerable Chapter (Thirteenth Layer: 1/10,000,000)]

"One thousand... Ten million!"

Lu Mingyuan carefully counted the zeros and couldn’t help but cry out.

He discovered that the energy required for cultivation after reaching the Divine Venerable Chapter had reached a terrifying figure.

In Lu Mingyuan’s Sea of Consciousness, his Spiritual Power coalesced into a small figure that sat before the Blood Glutton Celestial Fall Scripture and turned to the page of the Divine Venerable Chapter.

The text on the blood-red paper formed a series of obscure and difficult-to-understand symbols.

What is a Divine Venerable?

In all the Great Thousand Worlds, I alone am supreme.

From the heavens above to the earth below, I alone control the cosmos.

Upon reaching the Divine Venerable Chapter, a Cultivator must forge themself into a Divine Being. They must possess a powerful Flesh Body and an indomitable will to pursue the profound techniques of godhood.

Become the Divine Being that watches from above, fearing no man, no demon, no devil.

The essence of the Divine Venerable Chapter was to refine oneself into a Divine Body—the body of a Divine Being.

Only after reading this did Lu Mingyuan understand.

The changes in his left leg meant that it had already entered the initial form of a Divine Body.

’It seems consuming the Divine Blood will accelerate the process of cultivating a Divine Body.’

Lu Mingyuan understood.

He chose to continue consuming the petals to mend the cracks on his body.

...

Time passed quickly. In Half an Hour, he had consumed a total of eight petals.

Lu Mingyuan had mended all the cracks throughout his body and healed the injuries to his Acupoint Dantian.

At the same time, a scorching, symbolic pattern appeared on his right leg and both arms, resembling pillars of crimson flame.

When he stood up, he left two deep footprints in the ground, which collapsed under his weight, completely unable to bear it.

One must remember that the stone on Ascension Mountain Peak had resisted decay for ten thousand years and was far harder than ordinary rock.

Lu Mingyuan felt as if his arms and legs no longer belonged to him; he even limped when he walked.

These parts of his Flesh Body were indeed stronger than before, but he felt he couldn’t unleash their true power.

He felt unbalanced and clumsy.

It was like an eight-year-old child trying to wield a three-meter-long Heaven-piercing Halberd.

In fact, to a certain extent, the Heaven-piercing Halberd was more of a burden.

’To wield them freely,’ Lu Mingyuan believed, ’I must break through to the Martial Saint Realm.’

For a Martial Artist to forge a Martial Saint Body, they needed both supreme talent and an accumulation of various Opportunities.

If they succeeded, they could live for at least three thousand years.

Even if they were to die, their Flesh Body would remain incorruptible for ten thousand years.

The Martial Dao, unlike the path of Qi Cultivation, did not rely on inspiration or enlightenment. Instead, it demanded persistent effort and continuous, steady accumulation for an explosive release of power.

’It’s time to face my tribulation.’

Though his thoughts hadn’t ceased, Lu Mingyuan had already closed his eyes and focused his mind, entering a state of breakthrough.

A Divine Flame appeared in his chest; his Flesh Body’s myriad acupoints bloomed with starlight.

His Glazed Emperor Bones shone with a golden light, awaiting the Celestial Tribulation to forge a Martial Saint.

Suddenly, a clap of thunder echoed through the vast sky. Immense heavenly might surged wildly from high above and all directions!

This heavenly might alone was enough to make the various members of the Human Race exchange stunned glances, to make the Wilderness Great Demons look up and frown, and to strike fear into all living beings for thousands of miles around.

’How could another strange phenomenon appear in the sky?’

A gray cloud, a thousand feet in diameter, gathered and dispersed the golden, misty phenomenon caused by the Ascension Platform.

The gray cloud quickly expanded, and the entire world suddenly darkened as boundless Spiritual Qi swept in with immense force.

It was impossible to see where the tribulation cloud had come from. In a near instant, the sky was filled with dark clouds that pressed down menacingly.

A wave of heavenly might locked directly onto Lu Mingyuan.

「Meanwhile, on the island of the Ascension Relics.」

Several more Ancient Ships docked and landed. Countless figures of Qi Cultivators flickered into existence, landing on the dark, sandy beach.

Each of them wore a brown Daoist Robe, had a peach wood hairpin in their hair, and carried a uniform Flying Sword.

As their Daoist Robes fluttered, the two words "Dao Alliance" on their backs were particularly conspicuous.

...