Chapter 553 - 331: The Patriarch’s Protection, Sainthood Through the Flesh Body, the First Martial Saint in a Century

Many Cultivators had already discovered someone was undergoing a tribulation here.

But for one, they feared being caught in the crossfire. For another, the auras of the Chess Saint and Gangzhu lingered in the area, seemingly locked in combat, so no one dared to approach.

The Qi Cultivators of the Taoist Sect and the Cultivators from the various Dynasties who witnessed this scene all felt their Daoxins tremble, regardless of their Cultivation level...

At that moment, Lu Mingyuan’s figure shot out from the curtain of thunder and sea of fire. He lowered his head, spat out a mouthful of blood, and then swallowed four or five glittering stamens from the Corrupt Divine Flower...

Just to get through this tribulation, he had already eaten nearly the entire, enormous Corrupt Divine Flower.

One must understand that under normal circumstances, a single flower like this, if used sparingly, could easily last an ordinary Sect for a hundred years.

He wiped the corner of his mouth, looked up, and, saber in hand, charged straight into the sky.

’I have to end this quickly!’

’Only by dealing with these troublesome grunts can I have more time to adjust my condition and face the final, ninth...’

RUMBLE!

’What’s going on?’

Lu Mingyuan, who was about to charge into the massed army, abruptly looked up. He saw Golden Light flashing from all over the pagoda, with bolts of Purple Gold lightning glittering—a full three hundred and sixty-five of them, matching the number of days in a celestial cycle!

’Not even a moment to breathe?’

Lu Mingyuan sighed softly. This was no time to hide his strength, so he directly took out the Yuqing Peach Talisman and the Buddha’s Relics.

He didn’t need them just yet, but preparing them this way would save his life if he couldn’t hold on any longer.

Suddenly, the roar of a dragon and the cry of a phoenix echoed from above. Dozens of streams of light shot out from the tribulation cloud, causing the entire cloud to scatter and collapse!

The vast power of the Celestial Tribulation split into two parts. Half of it condensed into the Five Elements Celestial Tribulation, while the other half formed dozens of Divine Dragons and Divine Phoenixes!

The dragons and phoenixes soared as the world plunged into darkness, as if reenacting the great cataclysm that shattered the heavens and earth in ancient times!

"Your Majesty, do not force yourself. A tribulation of this magnitude is no longer something you can withstand head-on."

The voice of the Sun Wheel Celestial Monarch reached Lu Mingyuan’s ears. "If you cannot hold on, call out immediately. My master and I will intervene to save you."

A look of surprise appeared in Lu Mingyuan’s eyes when he heard this voice transmission.

He hadn’t expected people from the Taoist Sect to have arrived so quietly.

And from the sound of that voice, it was the Sun Wheel Celestial Monarch himself?

As for his master...

’Isn’t that the Yuqing Ancestor Master in person?!’

’The Yuqing Ancestor Master came personally to protect me during my breakthrough?’

A new wave of shock crashed through Lu Mingyuan’s heart.

"Alright!"

With no time for pleasantries, Lu Mingyuan readily agreed.

He had been charging forward, but his figure immediately retreated.

He had discovered that the phantom armies of the Demon Races, which hadn’t been fully destroyed earlier, were being smashed to pieces by the onslaught of these dragon and phoenix tribulations.

Seeing this, Lu Mingyuan’s eyebrows twitched slightly, and his heart began to pound in his chest.

’They’re both parts of the same Celestial Tribulation, why are they so eager to destroy each other?’

He looked at the final Celestial Tribulation with a trace of fear.

’If I get hit by that, I’ll probably die for real, won’t I?’

"This is absolutely not a Celestial Tribulation he can withstand. It exceeds the limits of what a Cultivator can endure," the previously silent Lady of Fortune and Blessing suddenly spoke, urging the Sun Wheel Celestial Monarch via voice transmission.

"The situation with his tribulation is critical. His life is in danger. Celestial Monarch, senior brother, are you not going to offer your aid?"

"Let’s wait a little longer."

The Sun Wheel Celestial Monarch frowned slightly. "He hasn’t called for help yet."

"But..." Immortal Zuo Ren, who was also beside them, tried to persuade him, "If he waits until he has to call for help, won’t it be too late?"

He felt that even a Thirteenth Realm Cultivator, an Earth Immortal, or a Human Immortal of a sect would be blasted to smithereens by such a Celestial Tribulation.

Let alone a Martial Artist who had not yet broken through to the Thirteenth Realm.

The Sun Wheel Celestial Monarch explained, "Don’t be anxious. A Celestial Tribulation is also an Opportunity. Its power carries the Power of the Great Dao. The longer he can endure, the greater the benefits."

"If we intervene prematurely, he won’t be able to achieve a saintly Flesh Body and merge his Dao with the heavens and the earth."

As soon as his words fell, the forty-nine dragon and phoenix phantoms shrieked and roared, charging in unison toward Lu Mingyuan, who stood in mid-air!

’It seems this is the only way.’

After observing the characteristics of the two different tribulation clouds for a long time, Lu Mingyuan discovered a pattern.

As soon as the dragon and phoenix tribulation descended, he immediately took off.

In the next second, he was quickly locked onto by the Purple Sky Divine Thunder.

An immense cascade of purple Thunder bloomed across the sky, crashing down on Lu Mingyuan like a waterfall.

At that same moment, the dragon and phoenix phantoms, Celestial Thunder, Celestial Fire, and gales of black ice assailed him from all directions—front, back, left, right, above, and below—threatening to grind his bones to dust!

Primordial Qi surged from Lu Mingyuan’s entire body, but he didn’t use a single offensive Divine Technique.

Instead, he followed the path of the Purple Sky Divine Thunder straight up, using a pair of divine arms to resist it.

Then, he surged straight up against the current!

He raced upward!

The few people observing the Celestial Tribulation all frowned and focused their attention.

Lady of Fortune and Blessing suddenly shouted, "Up there! He’s run into the thunderous light of the Purple Cloud Divine Thunder Tribulation!"

Immortal Zuo Ren also cried out in astonishment, "Is he trying to hide inside the Celestial Tribulation?"

Only the Sun Wheel Celestial Monarch, after a moment’s delay, understood Lu Mingyuan’s intention and smiled faintly. "He wants to use one Celestial Tribulation to deal with the other."

The power of the Celestial Tribulation, which had previously split into two, now collided head-on. The phantoms of the dragons and phoenixes were directly crushed by the Purple Sky Divine Thunder!

The azure dragon roared in defiance, and the Divine Phoenix shrieked in anger!

But in the end, they were all reduced to a rain of light across the sky, torn apart by the thunder tribulation crashing down from above!

It was just like when those dragon and phoenix phantoms had first appeared and torn apart the Demon Army!

However, Lu Mingyuan was not faring well at this moment either.

The two immensely powerful forces of the Celestial Tribulation surged forth, intersecting and colliding. The aftershock of their impact slammed into the fleeing Lu Mingyuan!

A wave of celestial might descended, pressing down on Lu Mingyuan and blasting him away.

Lu Mingyuan coughed up a mouthful of blood. His Primordial Qi was circulating at full power, and his Martial Dao Primordial Spirit resisted the oppressive might of the heavens and earth!

He opened his Heart Spirit, bracing for the aftershock of the collision and gritting his teeth to endure within the Celestial Tribulation!

He could only endure!

At this moment, the greatest threat—those dragon and phoenix phantoms—had been scattered by the thunder tribulation.

The probability of breaking through to the Martial Saint Realm was now close to ninety-eight percent!

’The Martial Saint Realm... I should be able to make it, right?’

Lu Mingyuan hovered cross-legged above Returning Ruins Cliff. His body was surrounded by a dense, holy light. His Taotie Martial Dao Primordial Spirit mirrored his Flesh Body’s posture, now completely suffused with Golden Light and exuding a profound Dao rhythm.

Achieving sainthood with the Flesh Body.

This was a Martial Artist’s sublimation on the Martial Dao, having little to do with the Divine Dao.

The Divine Dao was the Divine Dao, and the Martial Dao was the Martial Dao.

Lu Mingyuan’s mind became a clear and empty space. His own Dao emerged from the formless, extending endlessly between heaven and earth.

All his dead flesh sloughed off, and new skin grew in its place.

Lu Mingyuan had been charred black as charcoal, but under the nourishment of his Primordial Qi, his skin tissue was revived, and he quickly returned to his original appearance.

The myriad Acupoints of his Flesh Body—his skin, flesh, sinews, bones, meridians, and Qi Sea—all seemed to be plated in a layer of golden Holy Armor, as radiant as the sun.

His physical Acupoints emitted a faint, clear light, resembling a sea of stars.

’Is this the Martial Saint Realm?’

His Martial Saint Body was so light and ethereal it seemed as if it might drift away with the wind, while his Martial Dao Primordial Spirit looked as if it were carved from Immortal Jade.

His Sacred Consciousness slowly spread out, now able to probe ten thousand li away.

Heaven and earth are one with me; all things are born with me.

Fate no longer binds me; the Great Dao resonates with me.

A sense of peace settled in Lu Mingyuan’s heart, and the weight on his mind was lifted.

The shattered tribulation cloud in the sky transformed into boundless Spiritual Qi, gathering toward Lu Mingyuan.

The small Primordial Spirit opened its mouth and inhaled. This pure Spiritual Qi poured into Lu Mingyuan’s saintly body, completely devoured by his body and Primordial Spirit to support his ongoing transformation.

At this moment, an area of a thousand li in every direction was enveloped in rosy light. A rain of golden light sprinkled down from the sky. Any living being touched by this rain was cured of illness and disaster, and the elderly were filled with new vitality.

The people witnessed the birth of the first Martial Saint in several hundred years.

Just as Lu Mingyuan was breathing a sigh of relief, a purple glow swirled within the shattered tribulation cloud, and a bolt of purple Divine Thunder fell from the heavens!

It caught him completely off guard and utterly unprepared!

Fortunately, atop a mountain peak a hundred li away, a handsome Divine Monarch with long, frost-white hair opened his large hand. Yin Yang Qi flowed at his fingertips, and the nascent form of the Great Dao was revealed.

The majestic phantom of a Heaven and Earth Taiji Diagram, spanning ten thousand li, materialized above Lu Mingyuan’s head.

The Divine Thunder was incomparably tyrannical. Any living being could only bow its head before the Celestial Dao.

Yet this Heaven and Earth Taiji Diagram was completely impervious, able to neutralize the Divine Thunder entirely.

It had blocked this calamity for him just in time.

This time, even the Sun Wheel Celestial Monarch could feel a strange strand of Celestial Secret repelling the one undergoing the tribulation. After carefully sensing it, he couldn’t help but deduce some information in his heart...