CHAPTER 862: CHAPTER 585: THE FOUR SUPREME ARTS

Taking Kunxu Ancestor as my master?

Lu Chenzhou felt no ripples in his heart.

After all, he was the True Disciple of the Yuan Mountain Master.

He even had a chance to enter into the retinue of Ancient Emperor Lanshan.

He lacked neither master nor inheritance.

However, if he could draw Kunxu Ancestor into his own camp, then to resist the Divine Alliance would surely become a mere trifle.

Yet such a figure was as the Divine Dragon—its head glimpsed, its tail unseen.

Whether friend or foe, it remained unknown.

Without Eighth Realm cultivation, one was not qualified to converse on equal footing.

Lu Chenzhou concealed the immense corpses of the Blood Flood Dragon Demon Venerate and Mountain Forest Demon Venerate on the spot, masking them with an array.

Now, in the form of a spiritual embodiment, it was inconvenient to carry these spoils to other worlds.

He could only wait for his true body to arrive and take them away together with the previous gains from the mines.

"Senior, I must trouble you to wait here for a few more years until my true body arrives to take away the inheritance."

Lu Chenzhou finally agreed to Qingyunzi’s request.

Qingyunzi laughed, "Good, very good. Those conditions I mentioned, just keep them in mind, no need to take them too seriously. It all depends on your own will. I trust your character and conduct, young friend."

Confronted with a reward vast enough to tempt even those of the Eighth Realm, yet not promising at once, instead considering deeply before agreeing—this youth was no ordinary man.

...

Blood Tree Great World.

Above the Blood Sea, a red-haired woman’s eyes suddenly widened. Then, drawing a deep breath, her voice turned grim:

"Heart Emperor reincarnate—truly extraordinary... With such dream realm divine power, it seems we must call on Mother Wangyou. What a pity, Blood Flood Dragon and Mountain Forest—both had the potential to become Demon Saints."

...

Mystic Sky Realm, Star Dome Sea, Eye of Truth.

Sect Lord of Eternal Life was pale-faced, eyes filled with disbelief.

"The Mountain Forest Demon Venerate, my agent in Kun Gu Realm, has suddenly died—a suicide by his own hand."

The Blood God’s expression was somewhat grim, saying:

"The Blood Demon sends word: a spiritual embodiment at Early Seventh Realm slew both Mountain Forest and Blood Flood Dragon in dream using the dream realm divine power—he is skilled in the Prisoner Demon Hand and is suspected to be the Heart Emperor reincarnate."

The other Evil Gods’ faces changed subtly.

"Didn’t Heart Emperor die?"

"Back then, it was Mother Wangyou herself who killed the Heart Emperor, even devoured his Great Dream Dao, establishing supreme nightmare law."

"Could it be that the Four Emperors still—by some means—cling to life?"

The Four Emperors—of the billions of cultivators of the Great Wilderness, only that ’four’ could make the gods wary.

The Witch spoke, "Regardless of whether he is truly Heart Emperor reincarnate, we must not take this lightly. Mother, as the ’God of Illusion and Nightmare’, this one is yours to deal with."

Mother Wangyou nodded with a gentle smile, "Very well, I will meet him."

...

The Great Gu Realm.

An extremely ancient Great World, in ages past had birthed an Ancient True Spirit—Gu Diao.

Gu Diao, king of illusion and dream, supreme at beguiling hearts and overturning all beings.

In the depths of Great Nightmare Realm stood a dilapidated statue—head like a raptor, single horn, lion body, vulture wings.

The statue spoke faintly: "Heavenly Gu, my child, go to the Eastern Extreme Territory, seek out for me a Seventh Realm Great Dream Dao cultivator; if you can devour him, I may return once more to my True Spirit form."

Piercing cries of an infant rang through the night, as a hooked-nosed Daoist wrapped in gray robes played a long flute, splitting the void and roamed the Ruins Sea.

...

One month later, Kun Gu Realm.

Within and without Corpse Palace, all trace of demons was gone.

Ninety thousand miles underground.

Two figures stood side by side, gazing ahead at something formless and intangible, like mist or cloud, evolving myriad beings—something metaphysical.

"Is this the incarnation of a world’s will?"

Lu Chenzhou narrowed his eyes.

"Under normal circumstances, world will is fused with heaven and earth and sentient beings—unseen. Only now, having been driven out by the Evil God will and gathered here, can it manifest in form."

Qingyunzi, knowledgeable in many matters, explained.

Lu Chenzhou looked at the Martial Arts Tree.

[Kun Gu’s Entrustment (about to expire)]

[Note: Kun Gu’s will is on the verge of perishing; after its destruction, fortune returns to void and becomes ineffective.]

He saw that around Kun Gu’s will, countless fleshy tentacles like stag’s antlers were encircling it.

An evil aura and muttered chanting endlessly echoed in Lu Chenzhou’s mind.

It was as if countless demon ghosts were reciting scripture, performing a grand sacrificial rite.

At a thought, Lu Chenzhou manifested Prisoner Demon Giant Hand and slapped toward an antler.

Yet the hand passed through as if phasing through a game model, inflicting no harm—almost as though not in the same dimension.

"This place has already been too deeply corrupted by the Will of the Stars. The Will of the Stars is supreme; ordinary attacks are useless," Qingyunzi sighed softly.

"Is there truly no way to save this world?" Lu Chenzhou, having greatly benefitted from Kun Gu’s will, was naturally unwilling to see a world perish.

"To root out the Will of the Stars completely requires a Great Power to grind it away, bit by bit, with Dao Mastery level will. Otherwise, the only relief is to thoroughly sweep out the demons."

"I understand."

"Young friend, come to Kun Gu Realm soonest and take away the inheritance and treasures...this realm is beyond our salvation."

...

Time passed.

Tianxia human civilization rapidly developed and grew in the age of peace, preparing for the campaign to Mystic Sky.

In a blink, it was the year 2278.

Xia Realm, Yun Meng City.

Lu Chenzhou ended his meditation.

The Lantuo Heart Sutra slowly circulated, converting all world merit earned from slaying endless demons in Kun Gu Realm into pure spiritual power.

Spiritual power thus climbed rapidly, reaching 1.8 million prajna, approaching the middle stage of Seventh Realm.

It had been but three years since he had broken through Seventh.

"If I can maintain such progress, breaking through Eighth Realm in a century may well be possible."

Lu Chenzhou rose and looked at the Martial Arts Tree.

[Lu Wu Demon Cleansing Scripture: Perfection]

"Now that I have created the Supreme heart cultivation technique for post-Seventh Realm Heart Cultivation—Lantuo Heart Sutra—only a Supreme internal power for Martial Artists remains."

After Seventh Realm, Opening the Acupoint became a thing of the past.

To raise Qi-Blood, aside from consuming heavenly materials and earthly treasures, there were three methods.

First, comprehending non-spiritual divine skills. Each new divine skill adds a considerable amount of Qi-Blood.

Second, cultivating body techniques, refining the flesh, and generating Qi-Blood.

Third, cultivating Supreme-level internal power.

A Martial Artist cultivates spirit, essence, and energy simultaneously.

Essence means the body.

Qi is energy.

Spirit is the mind/soul.

After Seventh Realm, the chief significance of internal power is not raising Qi-Blood, but tempering the True Gang.

The more complex and powerful the divine skill, the greater its consumption.

To wield Nine Tribulation Lotus or 36 Transformations—such divine skills—without exhausting himself, greater demands are placed on internal power.

Lu Wu Demon Cleansing Scripture is an upper-level divine skill and a required cultivation method for Tiger Form; Lu Chenzhou had long since cultivated it to Perfection.

Thus, the next phase was to research a Supreme internal power fit for his high-quality divine powers, allowing him to unleash his ultimate moves more often.

He spread his palm, and over a hundred jade scrolls floated out. His consciousness dove into them, and countless world-shaking divine-level internal power arts, as well as many Qi Refiner mental methods, poured into his mind.

Dragon Elephant Heaven-Supporting Divine Skill, Beiming Sea Storage Profound Skill, Divine Light Chapter, Sumeru Mountain Scripture...and even the fearsome Blood Dragon Devouring Heavenly Demon Skill.

"With my comprehension, except for Dragon Elephant Heaven-Supporting Divine Skill, any other divine skill I can master at first learning."

Lu Chenzhou immersed himself—one internal power after another simulated in his mind, swiftly brought to Perfection.

He sometimes sat in Grotto Heaven, sometimes went to the Martial World, sitting and discussing Dao with Xia Realm sages.

Through countless trials and errors, he sought his own path.

He pored over the Eternal Immortal’s Sketchbook; surveying the current dozens of Supreme divine skills of Da Xia, ninety percent were combat skills.

Seventh Realm strongmen—including Lu Chenzhou—break through mainly by the Dao of combat skills.

After breaking through Seventh, in the long road of cultivation, they seek to create internal power that suits themselves.

Many strongmen have been stuck at early Seventh Realm for years, unable to raise their Qi-Blood and True Gang, and thus remain blocked at this bottleneck.

If this can be solved, Seventh Realm cultivation would go much smoother.

Those who have no hope of self-creation will cultivate internal power arts pioneered by others.

But the result will never match self-creation.

With his ambition, Lu Chenzhou would rather spend more time to create his own than tread another’s path.

But the difficulty of forging Seventh Rank internal power was clearly far higher than creating a combat skill.

After a year of deep pondering, he sought help and contacted Eternal Immortal.

At this time, Eternal Immortal was roaming Ruins Sea, his eyes brimming with dazzling starlight as he spoke:

"Recently, you destroyed the Corpse Palace in Kun Gu Realm, didn’t you?"

This matter he had told no other, hiding his merit and name.

"Yes."

"Well done. It seems your spiritual divine ability is outstanding; Blood Flood Dragon and Mountain Forest Demon Venerables are not easy foes—only the veteran strongmen of Da Xia’s Seventh Realm can suppress them securely." After praising Lu Chenzhou, Eternal Immortal asked, "Why did you seek me out?"

"Senior, how did you forge your internal power?"

"Whether of body or mind, both can generate energy, called ’Qi’. A Supreme internal power uses the Dao you have realized to mobilize this ’Qi’, producing various energies: the Qi Refiner’s mana, the Martial Artist’s True Gang, the Heart Cultivator’s spiritual energy...all paths return to the Dao. Since you tread the World Dao, you may commune with the world’s Qi."

"The world’s Qi?"

Lu Chenzhou seemed to understand.

"Others use their dantian as Qi Sea, but what if I use the world? What if I use the star sea?"

His World Dao was unique, allowing a mystical harmony with Xia Realm’s will.

That had shown even during his breakthrough to Seventh.

His Inner Heaven and Earth reflected the starry world itself; he could observe the masses on every planet.

Vaguely, he glimpsed his own path.

It was madness—unimaginable.

But if he succeeded, the number of times he could wield his divine skills would far exceed others.

Indeed, if he cultivated it to the utmost, his energy would be the world’s energy—endless and inexhaustible!

Eternal Immortal went on: "As of now, Da Xia possesses only four and a half Supreme internal powers.

The first is my Eternal Immortal Scripture—balanced and gentle, its ’Eternal Immortal Gang’ suits most Martial Artists.

The second, Dragon King’s Heavenly Treasure Manual—unyielding and fierce, cultivating both inner and outer, focusing on strength and killing. The ’Heavenly Treasure Gang’ poured into divine skill can boost its power out of nowhere. This was forged from Dragon King’s Dragon Elephant Heaven-Supporting Divine Skill.

The third is Yaochi Immortal’s Eternal Youth Technique; after mastering, ’Eternal Spring True Gang’ grants undying body and life span extension—a Seventh Realm life span reaching twenty jiazi.

The fourth is Hui Kong Abbot’s Great Vajra Skill, focused on defense. ’Vajra True Gang’ grants invulnerability to myriad techniques—ideal for defensive divine skills."