Chapter 844: Chapter 568: Gazing Down Upon the Galaxy, I Am the World!
In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.
Nameless Island.
Lu Chenzhou sat motionless, like an old, weathered statue, his body marked with the mottled traces of time, dried flesh and skin cracked like ancient porcelain, covered in fissures.
His breath was all but indiscernible.
Close to death.
Even his heartbeat was barely perceptible.
Yet within his battered form, earth-shaking changes were unfolding—every piece of flesh, every single cell, torn apart by invisible power, then incessantly regenerated with new blood under the Withering and Flourishing Body’s immense restorative strength.
First Realm·Flesh,
Second Realm·Skin,
And so forth.
Tendons, bones, organs, marrow!
In the first six Realms of Martial Arts, each transformation is a total remaking of the body, but the Seventh Realm is a complete blood exchange.
Shedding the old, reborn anew—Blood Exchange and Rebirth!
With every rebirth, his aura surged a little higher.
Now, his Qi-Blood had soared to a million.
But it had not yet ceased.
Having crossed the five great hurdles of Qi-Blood, Spirit, Martial Arts, Acupoint, and Enlightenment of Dao, the final and greatest barrier before the Seventh Realm was the Great Calamity of the Inner Heaven and Earth. This so-called Inner Heaven and Earth, in truth, referred to the Martial Artist’s own flesh vessel; as for the so-called Great Calamity, it was the utter shattering of the mortal form, and, within excruciating pain, the Supreme Will suppressed the collapsed body, exchanging the blood and remaking a new vessel from its ruins.
This step could last as little as several days or as long as half a year.
Yun Meng Lake.
Eight figures stood tall between heaven and earth.
"It’s been a month..."
"Has the Great Calamity of the Inner Heaven and Earth not yet passed?"
"The stronger the flesh, the longer the Inner Calamity lingers. Lu Chenzhou may need three months."
"Blood exchange is hard."
"Once he is past the Inner Heaven and Earth Calamity, with Chenzhou’s strength, passing the Outer Heaven and Earth Calamity shouldn’t be a problem."
"But I wonder—how many Tribulations will Chenzhou face?"
"Generally, the greater the talent, the more calamities there are. I’d guess he’s like the Dragon King—eight Tribulations."
"Indeed, at least six Tribulations."
"Even though the Outer Heaven and Earth Calamity hasn’t been triggered, let’s not relax—Red Lotus might already be here."
"Shouldn’t we be hiding? If Red Lotus sees eight protectors here, maybe he won’t dare come?"
"If we hide, he’ll just think we’ve laid a trap. If we openly guard Chenzhou, perhaps Red Lotus, confident in his own strength, will try to break through by force."
...
Xia Star’s Core.
"My Lord Red Lotus, Lu Chenzhou is undergoing tribulation, location is a small eastern island in Yun Meng Lake—he is guarded by eight Seventh Realm protectors, four true bodies present, four clones descended."
The Ghost Empress’s projection appeared.
"Noted."
"Lord, if you go now, you’ll surely fall into the Parliament’s ambush. I advise you to strike when the Outer Heaven and Earth Calamity descends. With Lu Chenzhou’s talent, the scale, range, and difficulty of that calamity will be unprecedented. By then, chaos will reign; even those protectors might be forced to withdraw. That is your best chance to act—the downside is, you too may be swept into the calamity."
"Then I shall wait. When his Outer Heaven and Earth Calamity comes, I will add one more tribulation for him. If he still passes, then it is destiny—and I’ll have no grievances in losing."
The Red Lotus Demon Venerable—regards death as homecoming.
...
Mystic Sky Realm.
Eye of Truth.
"The Ghost Mother reports: Lu Chenzhou has begun tribulation. Red Lotus Demon Venerable plans to strike during the Outer Heaven and Earth Calamity."
Lady Forget-Worry looked to the gods.
"Let him be. If Red Lotus really succeeds, when this war is over, I will personally ignite the Divine Fire for him."
The Witch spoke with the calm of a deep pool.
Whether success or failure, their heart was as still as water.
The Blood Ancient God said:
"They say the stronger the cultivator’s talent, the more Tribulations in the Outer Heaven and Earth Calamity. Chen Beiming had four; the Eternal Immortal is suspected six or seven; the Dragon King, eight. Lu Chenzhou is no weaker than the Dragon King—should also be eight. Add in a maleficent like Red Lotus—nine Tribulations, almost certain death. Perhaps we won’t even need to act; the tribulations alone will crush him. Such people will someday threaten the Universe. Judging from the cases among the Stars, the universe’s rules will not allow his kind."
"Nine Tribulations? Pity there’s the great curtain, else I’d give him a tenth," Lord Toad revealed a grim smile.
Beneath ten Tribulations, ten deaths and no life.
In days to come—Breakthrough Eighth, Breakthrough Nine, more calamities await. Lord Toad had imagined a hundred ways to send Lu Chenzhou to his doom.
...
Ancient Dragon World.
An ancient tomb filled with dragon beast skeletons.
Countless Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures grew wild here—Dragon Blood Coral, Dragon Blood Treasure Fruit—heavenly treasures in clusters, and even no shortage of Treasures of rarest grade.
This was the Forbidden Zone of the Ancient Dragon World—the Dragon Tomb. Only the hosts of empires, those of the Seventh Realm and above, may enter.
On this day,
The Dragon Tomb quaked.
A colossal creature, ten thousand zhang long, body slender, double wings sprouting from its back, antlers and eagle eyes, glossy mane billowing, awakened from slumber.
Golden pupils shone like searchlights into the clouds.
Dragon Power swept for ten thousand miles all around.
The colossal beast stared at a middle-aged man outside the tomb, with an ethereal, white-robed maiden by his side.
"Eternal Immortal greets the Senior."
"I know why you’ve come. But I must guard the Dragon Tomb; I cannot depart. As for the Divine Alliance, their hidden strength you must not underestimate—it’s more than just four World Venerables. If I act, and the Divine Alliance responds in full, it will only harm you. Still, if the Divine Alliance won’t unite against the Forbidden Zones, and even launches planar expeditions against other civilizations, that is to drive history in reverse. Though my Ancient Dragon Realm cannot openly oppose them, I can covertly offer you some treasures—to help your advancement. As for the price: if a Great Power arises from your Tianxia human civilization, in the future—you must, as much as you can, help our Dragon Clan survive this Great Calamity."
The great beast waved a hand, and a torrent of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and schools of fish swam the sky, swirling round the Eternal Immortal.
Myriad treasures’ glorious shine pierced the heavens.
The Eternal Immortal bowed with fist in palm:
"Thank you, Senior."
Though he was of the Eight Realms, he had only just entered, and the one before him was Late Stage Eight Realm—the strongest of all the Eights the Eternal Immortal had visited. Among the Eight currently confirmed alive, only the Dragon and Tiger Great Saint at Peak was stronger than this one.
By no means an exaggeration—
This was the mightiest living Dragon Clan being.
The Eternal Immortal departed.
E Xian followed with delicate steps.
In a timid voice she asked:
"Sir, where to next?"
"Returning Ruins Great World. We’ve already visited the Dragon and Phoenix; the Sea Clan, the Giants—all potential allies."
The Eternal Immortal gazed at the Lighting Order.
"Has tribulation begun?"
He was gratified—this day had finally come.
Seventy years—Breakthrough Seven.
The Dragon King’s legend is about to be broken.
...
Inner Scenery Land.
Everything changed.
All creation returned to chaos.
All was nothingness, all was zero.
Lu Chenzhou’s consciousness floated amid chaos—the agony of destruction birthing creation twisting him into a writhing shadow.
Who knew how long had passed.
The chaos began to revolve, like a vast nebula, enfolding countless substances, ever recombining and reacting, until at last—rose a Genesis Mountain standing in the stars.
Resplendent, multicolored, wondrous and grand.
Atop the peak, matter ceaselessly solidified; in what seemed like eons, a spherical heavenly body was gestated.
It was a Star.
Or rather—a Fixed Star.
Light banished the darkness. Lu Chenzhou awakened from the chaos, opened his eyes to behold the world, his gaze deeply shaken.
"My Inner Scenery Land."
Three Mountains and Five Mountains?
Five Lakes and Four Seas?
His Inner Scenery Land had transformed—utterly different from what other Seventh Realm told him, or what he had read in the Eternal Immortal’s Essays.
"Is it because of the World Dao? Or because my body and spirit both achieved Breakthrough Seven? Or is it the result of many factors combined? In any case, the path ahead for me—there’s no reference."
Lu Chenzhou calmed his heart and mind.
He quietly bore witness to the cosmos’ evolution.
The birth of a Fixed Star, its radiance illuminating all, its ejected matter, through ancient years, condensed a planet.
It began crimson,
Then turned azure blue,
At last becoming a shape he knew so well.
"I am the World!"
Lu Chenzhou had a revelation.
"The starry sky of Xia Realm gave rise to me, so my Inner Scenery Land instinctively mirrors its visage. Among those born in the Three Thousand Worlds, if one steps upon the path of the World Dao, one must ultimately walk toward Unity of Heaven and Man, this path of ’I am the World.’"
Other Martial Artists—
Their hearts bear Three Mountains and Five Mountains.
But he—he carries the universe’s starry sky within.
The entire Xia Realm!
Xia Star kept swelling greater.
He saw the continents and oceans.
Saw Three Mountains and Five Mountains, Five Lakes and Four Seas, saw the Million Mountains, saw the Three Thousand Weak Water, saw the Four Giant Cities, bustling with traffic, the Myriad Phenomena Daoist School...
"Is it so, I know everything upon Xia Star?"
Lu Chenzhou was spiritually shaken.
He could see Master Ji in her courtyard, see Shi Ruyu diligently practicing Acupoint opening in her Training Clothes, see the ordinary folk upon the avenue, but could not see any Grandmaster.
Nor could he see many other things.
Within his Inner Gaze, Xia Star was shrouded in layers of fog.
"I cannot see beyond the Sea Realm. As I am now, merely Seven Realms—how can I be omniscient? Perhaps only Great Powers—or Gods—can attempt such a feat."
He stretched his awareness beyond Xia Star, drifting in the boundless Void, finally halting at the edge of the Constant Star System.
"Within the Constant Star System, every being beneath the Sea Realm—if I so wish, I may view them from God’s perspective. This is the World Dao’s true wonder. Throughout the ages, only I have used the World Dao to step into the Seventh Realm. In mid-to-low-level worlds without starry skies, the World Dao at Seventh Realm would make one practically a God of that world—a World Will, omnipotent and ubiquitous. But with this comes limitation, for one’s potential is bound within that world. Yet not so for Xia Realm: its starry sky is infinite—Constant Star System, Tianhe System, Star System Groups, Super Star Systems—beyond the observable cosmos, endless. Here, the world has no bounds."
Lu Chenzhou withdrew his consciousness.
"From now on, my Inner Scenery Land will take the form of a star-filled sky—like a microcosmic universe overlooking the mortal world."
Ssshhhh——
In the starry expanse, the Martial Arts Peak appeared, rising ever higher. In this instant, all Martial Artists in the world, whether in Xia Realm or not, felt their hearts quake—they looked toward their Inner Scenery Land.
...
Myriad Phenomena Daoist School.
Old Ji stared in stupefaction.
Within his Inner Scenery Land, the Martial Arts Peak rumbled and shook, its summit shrouded in swirling clouds. Dimly seen were towering figures—dragons, monks, Daoists—standing tall and proud.
At the mountain’s crest, a middle-aged man raised his blade to the heavens.
The human ceiling—Eternal Immortal.
Upon the peak’s spiral stairs, a figure was steadily ascending. His steps were resolute; passing through the Spiral Stairs from the first platform, he soon reached the fourth, paused to ponder a moment, as if etching words there—then a Long Spear flashed in his palm, and he strode forth for the seventh stair.