CHAPTER 951: ACHIEVING THE IMPOSSIBLE

The shock from Max’s eighth lotus petal had barely begun to settle when a sharp, excited voice broke through the crowd. "Hey—look! After the bloom of the eighth lotus petal... the Divine Path Lotus hasn’t disappeared yet. Could this be...?

The words drew immediate attention like a spark in dry grass. Heads snapped toward the phenomenon in the sky, eyes widening as they realized the speaker was right—there was no sign of the Divine Path Lotus fading away.

The petals still shimmered, radiant and steady, as if they had no intention of leaving. Murmurs erupted instantly, the disbelief spreading through the masses like wildfire.

"How... how is that possible?" Thunder Lord’s voice was unusually unsteady, the composure of the hall’s master cracking as he stared upward.

"Don’t be too shocked," the tiger-masked leader of the Obsidian Tower interjected, his tone calm but his eyes burning with an almost predatory gleam. "You should know this already—unless all the petals bloom, the Divine Path Lotus will not disappear. And from the looks of it... Max’s lotus is of that kind."

"Impossible!" Tower Lord of the Void Soul Tower’s denial was immediate, his voice ringing with disbelief and a hint of desperation. "There has never been anyone in history to bloom the ninth petal on their first Divine Path Lotus phenomenon. Never! How could there suddenly be one now?"

The tiger-masked man gave a cold sneer. "Believe it or not, you will know soon enough."

Around them, the other leaders exchanged subtle, loaded glances. Their expressions ranged from cautious intrigue to genuine anticipation, each one silently acknowledging the rarity of what they might be witnessing.

Even the usually composed Palace Master Howard of Absolute Sword Palace leaned forward ever so slightly, his attention fixed completely on the heavenly lotus.

The air grew heavy as the entire gathering collectively held its breath. All eyes locked on the Divine Path Lotus, the anticipation so thick it felt as though time itself had slowed. They knew—the more petals one had, the slower the next would bloom. From the eighth to the ninth, the wait could stretch unbearably long.

Minutes crawled into hours. The sun shifted across the sky, shadows lengthening, but no one moved, no one dared to look away. The lotus remained there, suspended in the heavens like an unfulfilled promise, each second tightening the coil of tension in their chests.

Then—at last—the Divine Path Lotus quivered, a delicate tremor that seemed to ripple through the very air. Gasps echoed through the crowd as the tightly closed bud at its heart began to stir. Slowly, almost reverently, the final petal unfolded, its edges glowing with an ethereal light.

It spread wider and wider until it was in full bloom—the ninth lotus petal, flawless and radiant, had emerged for all to see. The moment was so monumental, so unreal, that the crowd stood frozen, their eyes wide, their minds struggling to grasp the reality before them.

Everyone was shocked—truly shocked this time. If everything they had seen before was already rare, then what had just unfolded before their eyes was nothing short of a once-in-a-lifetime miracle.

For generations, tales of the ninth lotus petal had existed only as a topic of idle speculation, a mythical possibility spoken of in hushed tones and fanciful theories. In the entire recorded history of the world of Acaris, no one had ever bloomed the ninth lotus petal in their first Divine Path Lotus phenomenon.

People knew of its existence in theory simply because, after eight petals, there would logically be a ninth—but it had always been nothing more than an untouchable dream, an unbroken record across countless millennia.

And yet, here and now, before their very eyes, Max had done the impossible. The ninth petal had bloomed in all its glory, dazzling under the heavens as if mocking the limits they once believed unbreakable.

"This... this makes Max the genius with the greatest potential in the entire Middle Domain—no... in the entire world of Acaris," the tiger-masked leader of the Obsidian Tower said, his normally cold and composed tone carrying an undeniable weight. "He alone stands as the one who has achieved the ninth petal in the Divine Path Lotus phenomenon." Even he, a man who had seen countless prodigies rise and fall, felt a strange sense of fortune for having chosen to come here the moment he sensed the descent of the Wraith of the World.

"Hahaha! This is good... This is very good!" Emperor Hermes burst into wild laughter, his voice booming like thunder as he imagined the possibilities. In his mind, he could already see the Great Ruler Empire crushing all competition and claiming absolute victory in the next Heaven Mandate Grand Tournament.

"Brother Hermes, this is indeed a joyous occasion!" Guild Master Orion of the Eternal Sun Guild added with a hearty laugh, sharing in the emperor’s unrestrained delight.

Palace Master Howard of Absolute Sword Palace allowed himself a light smile. Though Max did not belong to his force, the sight still filled him with relief. A man like Max, if not an ally, could be a devastating enemy. Fortunately, the way things stood now, he saw opportunities for alliance in the future—opportunities he intended to grasp.

President William of the Hunter Association also wore a smile, though his carried a smugness that none of the others possessed. After all, out of everyone here, he had been the first to recognize Max’s potential and appoint him as a guest elder of the Hunter Association. That decision, he felt now more than ever, was the single greatest move he had ever made in his life.

Only the old man with the long beard, the leader of the Bright Buddha Palace, remained still as stone, his eyes closed as though he were meditating—or perhaps retreating into a place far beyond the present moment.

Then, in a voice barely more than a whisper, he murmured, "It isn’t far away... it isn’t far away... it isn’t far away," repeating the words like an old, senile man who had long since lost his tether to the world around him.

His tone was neither joyous nor sorrowful, but carried a strange weight, as if those words were meant not for the ears of the living, but for something unseen, waiting in the distance.

And then, just as the crowd continued to bask in the unprecedented glory of Max blooming the ninth petal, the Divine Path Lotus began to shimmer faintly, its radiant form losing its solidity.

Slowly, like mist under the morning sun, it faded away into nothingness, taking with it the awe-inspiring vision that had held the world captive. The air seemed to grow heavier for a moment, as if marking the end of something extraordinary—only for that weight to shift instantly into something else entirely.

A deep, thunderous pulse of energy erupted from Max’s body, a shockwave so potent that the very ground trembled and the air cracked with invisible pressure. The atmosphere around him warped, his aura no longer that of a mere Master Rank cultivator. This was sharper, deeper, and infinitely heavier.

Max had crossed the threshold. He had stepped into the Champion Rank.