Chapter 286.3: The Will of the Masses Condenses the Martial Dao! Flesh and Blood Transforms, at Last Reaching Seventh Growth! (III)

At Divine Sword Manor, Lu Changsheng sat quietly in a room, his expression grave. His consciousness had extended to the skies, and he could clearly sense the embryo of the Martial Dao condensing more and more, as if it might become a true Martial Dao at any moment. Even so, that would still take time.

He stood there for a few hours, losing track of time as he focused on the embryo.

But at one point, his head suddenly jerked up.

Boom!

The sky shook, and in that moment, every blood descendant at Third Growth or above could sense the change in the sky. The embryo of the Martial Dao was no longer an embryo; it was gradually turning from illusion into reality. The will of hundreds of millions of beings had finally converged into a Martial Dao! It was the true Martial Dao!

Many people in the Divine Sword Manor sensed the Martial Dao condensing and could not help bursting into laughter.

"Hahaha! The Martial Dao has finally condensed! After so many years, we've finally gotten what we wanted."

"Fellow Daoist Lu is truly a god! How long has he even been in the Primal World? Just over a year and he's actually condensed the Martial Dao. Isn't this just unbelievable?"

"Now that the Martial Dao has condensed, we can shatter it any time we like and collect the Martial Dao fragments."

"No, not yet. The Martial Dao has only just condensed, and its level is still awfully low. This world's ceiling is Deity Transformation, so the Martial Dao has to grow to the Earthly Saint level before we can make the most of its fragments."

"That's right. Fragments at such a level aren't worth such a huge undertaking, not after the enormous price we've paid. We need fragments at the level of Earthly Saint!"

For the time being, everyone in Divine Sword Manor was overjoyed. Several years of effort had finally paid off.

The one who should have been the happiest about the Martial Dao condensing was Lu Changsheng. However, he knew he could not afford to celebrate just yet, as he had just reached the most critical moment.

Numerous thoughts were flashing through his mind.

Now that the Martial Dao has condensed, I need to draw down the laws within it. If the laws enter my body and my Flesh and Blood true body can withstand them, I'll soar to the heavens in a single step. From then on, the sky will be the limit!

However... If I can't withstand them and my body collapses, I'll have to devise the Flesh and Blood Martial Dao's Seventh Growth all over again...

He was well aware of the risks, but he did not hesitate. After all, he had already made up his mind a month ago.

Let's begin.

Just like that, Lu Changsheng perceived the Martial Dao and plunged his consciousness into it.

Rumble!

The newly condensed Martial Dao began shaking violently at once, and the violent tremors instantly alarmed a large number of martial artists.

"What's going on? The Martial Dao only just condensed. Why is it shaking so violently?"

"Could the Martial Dao be unstable? Don't tell me it's about to fall apart?!"

"It absolutely can't fall apart! If it does, all our work will have been for nothing."

The martial artists of Divine Sword Manor were starting to panic, thinking that the Martial Dao might actually collapse.

"Wait, that's... the laws of the Martial Dao?"

"Someone has drawn down the laws of the Martial Dao, straight into Divine Sword Manor."

"That direction... It's Fellow Daoist Lu!"

"Could Fellow Daoist Lu be trying to use the Martial Dao to break through to Seventh Growth?"

The Martial Saints of Divine Sword Manor had seen a great deal of the world. They knew all too well what laws could do. If Lu Changsheng was indeed attempting to draw down the laws, it had to be for the purpose of pushing his Flesh and Blood Martial Dao to the next stage.

Whether he would succeed, though, no one could tell just yet, not even the Earthly Saints themselves. After all, Lu Changsheng was essentially creating a method of his own—and at the Earthly Saint level, no less. They were only Earthly Saints themselves. How could they possibly know whether he would succeed?

Regardless, the Earthly Saints knew they had to protect Lu Changsheng and prevent any possible disturbances. So, they simply sat down cross-legged outside his room to stand guard over him.

Lu Changsheng knew nothing of what was happening outside. His heart and mind were wholly focused on his body.

He was an Earthly Saint, and the root of his strength was his Earthly Saint Dao Body. His flesh, however, had already been converted into that of a blood descendant, and it had even reached Sixth Growth. Thus, when he drew the laws of the Martial Dao into himself, the laws were going into his blood descendant body.

Once the laws of the Martial Dao actually entered his blood descendant body, that body instantly started to collapse.

Lu Changsheng's body was extremely powerful. Its defense, regeneration and resilience were all formidable and plain to see. However, it was not truly indestructible. Now that he had absorbed those laws, that extraordinary body was starting to crumble, his flesh caving in. Ten percent of his body, then twenty... thirty, forty, fifty...

Lu Changsheng maintained an utterly solemn expression. Naturally, he was driving his flesh to devour the laws frantically, hoping to fuse the laws and his flesh into one completely.

However, these were Martial Dao laws condensed from the will of hundreds of millions of beings. How powerful were they? How could devouring and fusing with them possibly be easy? Ninety-nine people out of a hundred would probably fail to make it through the trial. Going from Sixth Growth to Seventh Growth was like crossing a chasm cut by heaven itself.

Even so, Lu Changsheng held on. He could not use the power of his Earthly Saint Dao Body because that would accomplish nothing. He had to rely on the power of his blood descendant body and make his flesh devour the Martial Dao laws. Otherwise, his flesh would have no chance to undergo transformation, which meant remaining stuck at Sixth Growth.

Sixty percent, seventy, eighty... Before long, eighty percent of Lu Changsheng's flesh had caved in and crumbled away.

Lu Changsheng took a deep breath.

Buzz!

The next moment, a large amount of flesh welled up inside his body, quickly restoring his blood descendant body. It was the flesh Lu Changsheng had built up over time. That was another advantage of the Flesh and Blood Martial Dao.

With his flesh replenished and his blood descendant body restored to its former state, Lu Changsheng went on devouring the Martial Dao laws. Of course, the new flesh reacted to the laws in the exact same way. Before long, it started collapsing all over again. When about eighty percent of his flesh had disintegrated, Lu Changsheng restored it yet again.

That cycle continued for several days, until eventually he had completely used up all the flesh he had stored up. Still, the transformation had yet to occur.

Thirty percent, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy... If Lu Changsheng's blood descendant body collapsed again this time, his cultivation attempt would end in failure.

Lu Changsheng's brow furrowed slightly. Still no way through?

Eighty percent, ninety...

At last, after Lu Changsheng had lost ninety percent of his flesh, he faintly sensed that one clump of flesh had devoured the Martial Dao laws and, surprisingly, had not been worn away. It had survived—more than that, it seemed to have given rise to a thread of entirely new flesh. The thread was very weak, as if it could collapse at any moment, but it actually proved remarkably resilient.

Lu Changsheng keenly perceived that newborn thread of flesh, but he still could not stop his blood descendant body from collapsing.

Ninety-one percent, ninety-three, ninety-five, ninety-nine...

At last, Lu Changsheng's blood descendant body had collapsed completely, and the sealed chamber was plunged into silence. However, a closer look would have revealed a single thread of flesh still remaining. It clung tightly to the laws, even devouring them little by little.

What truly mattered was that this thread of flesh had endured. Even as it kept consuming the Martial Dao laws, it did not crumble away. Before long, it actually split off another thread of flesh. Just like that, one thread had become two, then the two threads quickly became four, and four became eight. The new flesh was rapidly multiplying.

The Martial Dao laws, on the other hand, seemed to have a hole torn in them. They were steadily being consumed by the flesh.

It was a sight to behold. The threads of flesh had gathered into a clump. The small fleshy mass then went on gnawing at the Martial Dao laws, growing stronger without pause.

Two hours went by, then four, then six... In that short period of time, Lu Changsheng's body had been fully restored, and the last thread of the laws had been completely devoured by his flesh.

Whoosh!

Lu Changsheng's eyes snapped open, blazing with light.

"Seventh Growth!"

He had finally pushed the Flesh and Blood Martial Dao up to Seventh Growth, putting it on par with Deity Transformation cultivators and the Earthly Saints. At last, the Flesh and Blood Martial Dao had become a path to the heavens!