Chapter 552 - 331: The Ancestor’s Protection, the Flesh Body Attains Sainthood, the First Martial Saint in a Hundred Years

Divine light surged in Lu Mingyuan’s arms as his blood and qi roiled. Above, the tribulation cloud trembled. Eighty-one serpentine bolts of lightning flashed before a Divine Thunder, as thick as a bucket and tinged with purple, plummeted from the sky.

Over a hundred Celestial Dao Incarnations charged at him in unison.

With a wave of his hand, Lu Mingyuan summoned countless Blood Gluttonous Avatars. They transformed into Shadow Warriors and clashed with the Celestial Dao Incarnations.

’So what if there are a lot of them!’

’As if having greater numbers makes them special!’

High in the sky, the pagoda-shaped tribulation cloud rotated slowly. Below it, hundreds of figures clashed. Battle cries shook the heavens as figures were constantly blown to pieces.

Putting aside their actual combat strength, the spectacle was quite impressive.

The Cultivators of the Great Yan Camp, including the masters who had rushed over from the Taoist Sect to provide aid, all marveled at the scene.

None of them had ever witnessed such a multifaceted Celestial Tribulation.

To them, Lu Mingyuan, who was resisting the Celestial Tribulation below, looked a bit disheveled in his tattered clothes, but his movements remained graceful and effortless. A single wave from his ragged sleeves was all it took to summon more avatars to battle.

"This Divine Technique... it feels practically identical to our Taoist Sect’s ’Scattering Beans into Soldiers’."

Lady of Fortune and Blessing was especially astonished by this sight.

The expressions on the faces of the many Cultivators in the Great Yan Camp were surprisingly uniform—a mixture of admiration, astonishment, and a hint of wonder.

They had never seen Lu Mingyuan use such an ability before.

Yun Qinghe, especially, found the ability incredibly familiar.

’Could it be related to the Paper-cutting Adult technique I once taught him?’

From the void, the Sun Wheel Celestial Monarch saw the connection at a glance. "This young man is truly limitless," he praised. "To think he could adapt a Taoist Divine Technique for his own use."

Lady of Fortune and Blessing asked, "Are these Divine Techniques a fusion with Taoist Divine Techniques? How could you tell, Celestial Monarch?"

The Sun Wheel Celestial Monarch shook his head with a light chuckle. "It’s quite simple. His casting method works on the same principle as the Paper-cutting Adult technique. He has clearly studied Taoist Divine Techniques. Now that I see how close Lu Mingyuan is with the Taoist Sect, I finally understand why the Master holds him in such high regard."

"I see."

Lady of Fortune and Blessing nodded, looking pensive as she listened.

The Paper-cutting Adult technique is just a Minor Magic within the Taoist Sect, a fundamental skill that almost no one bothers to study in depth.

Naturally, she had never paid it much mind.

The Celestial Dao Incarnations charging from the pagoda cloud were all around the Thirteenth Realm in terms of strength.

Normally, an assault by hundreds of incarnations, empowered by the Celestial Tribulation and coordinated with the Five Elements Celestial Tribulation, would have caused Lu Mingyuan immense trouble.

But now, Lu Mingyuan had used his Blood Gluttonous Avatars to even the odds, completely holding off the Celestial Dao Incarnations!

This bought him more breathing room.

This was the strongest batch of Blood Gluttonous Avatars Lu Mingyuan had ever cultivated. For a short period, they could exert power nearly on par with a Martial Saint. However, after the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, their Primordial Qi would be depleted, and they would vanish.

Although he couldn’t tell how much the tribulation cloud above had shrunk, a realization dawned on Lu Mingyuan.

’This Celestial Tribulation should still consist of nine strikes.’

Above, lightning flashed once more as one hundred and eight thick, purple lightning serpents flickered into existence.

The mountains around Lu Mingyuan had long vanished. The land for dozens of miles in every direction had transformed into a massive lake of magma, and huge swaths of earth had been shattered by the aftershocks of the Celestial Tribulation!

’And yet, this is my Celestial Tribulation.’

Suddenly, the sound of earth-shaking drums echoed from above. Lu Mingyuan looked up to see two distinctly different armies emerge from the slowly swirling vortex of clouds.

One army was a motley crew of various races, bearing the traits of birds and beasts. Each was peculiar and distinct.

The Yao Race army.

The other emanated a sinister aura. They were humanoid in form but adorned with all sorts of wings and horns, and their bodies radiated a dense Demonic Qi.

Quite obviously, the Demon Race army.

The breakthrough to Martial Saint was within his grasp. If he could withstand this, his Flesh Body would become that of a Saint; if not, his Flesh Body would be destroyed!

Lu Mingyuan took a slow breath, tightening his grip on his twin blades.

He became a streak of light and charged toward the armies.

But soon, as Lu Mingyuan sensed the strength of these Demon Armies, the corner of his mouth began to twitch uncontrollably.

’Since when are the common foot soldiers at the Twelfth Realm?!’

’I can feel the profound malice in this Celestial Tribulation.’

’The Celestial Dao absolutely does not want me to break through.’

’Is this an after-effect of angering the Celestial Dao when I resurrected Qi Xingyan?’

’That seems highly likely.’

’First, I resurrect a Confucian Saint.’

’And now I want to break through to Martial Saint?’

’Do you think the Heaven and Earth Rules are just for show?’

Gradually, the sky all around Lu Mingyuan filled with the figures of the armies!

From beneath the pagoda cloud, a torrent of purple-black Celestial Thunder poured down, as a sky-spanning azure wind swept in...

Hundreds of li away, the Yuqing Ancestor Master and the Sun Wheel Celestial Monarch had already activated their Magical Treasures and readied their Divine Techniques, waiting for the perfect moment to intervene.

Even Lady of Fortune and Blessing and Immortal Zuo Ren, who were not well-acquainted with Lu Mingyuan, felt their palms sweat for him.

’What kind of decent Cultivator gets targeted by the Celestial Dao like this...’

’First it was the Myriad Manifestations Divine Tribulation, one of the top ten, and then it was the number one Purple Cloud Divine Thunder Tribulation.’

’And in the end, both tribulations came at the same time.’

In the blink of an eye, Lu Mingyuan’s figure was swallowed by thunder, wind, and fire.

The barrier of Primordial Qi around him rapidly disintegrated, but his body, already emitting a faint Golden Light, staunchly withstood the tempering of the Celestial Tribulation’s power!

One breath, then several...

The time it takes for an incense stick to burn passed, yet the Celestial Tribulation’s power continued to pour forth, bathing the sky for thousands of li around in a purple glow.

Beneath the Thunder Tribulation, his Flesh Body grew increasingly translucent and golden-yellow.

Lu Mingyuan could feel his arms and legs, which were already transforming into a Divine Body, actually adapting to the Celestial Tribulation’s power and slowly beginning to absorb it.