Deep within the great underground tomb.
The crowd waiting outside the Heaven-Reaching Gate grew restless after a long wait. Ever since that mysterious old man had rushed out, there hadn’t been a single sound from within.
Wang Zhiyao cautiously crept forward, peeking her head in to take a look, and was stunned.
The others followed her forward and scanned their surroundings. The vast tomb chamber was a ss, littered everywhere with things like shed bronze fragnts. Only the opened coffin and casket and the eighty-one bronze statues were relatively intact.
Not far away, they could see Kong Jisheng kneeling on the ground, long since devoid of life. As for Hou Wushu, the Earth Immortal from Sakata Heavy Industries, and Wu Xiaoxu, they were all gone.
"Dead..." Zhong Wuhe stared at Kong Jisheng’s corpse, muttering blankly.
An Earth Immortal was dead.
After a long silence, Wang Zhiyao spoke, her voice trembling:
"Wu Xiaoxu and the other two Earth Immortals, don’t tell they’re also..."
"Not necessarily." A Celestial Human swallowed and murmured, "After all, there are no bodies."
"But what if they were annihilated into dust?" Zhang Jifeng’s expression was grave. "And that old man who rushed out just now... with a single step, he created a Golden Great Dao and vanished in an instant. That was probably an Existence beyond an Earth Immortal, right?"
The group exchanged glances, but no one spoke.
After a long mont, Zhong Wuhe was the first to recover his senses, muttering to himself:
"If they aren’t dead, that’s one thing. But if they’re all dead... a major upheaval is coming."
The Earth Immortal from Sakata Heavy Industries didn’t matter much. Kong Jisheng was from the Kong Family. Wu Xiaoxu had displayed astonishing talent, able to fight a Celestial Human at the tender age of ten or so with extraordinary spirit. The most troubleso one was Hou Wushu.
He was an envoy from outside the pass, a symbol of the peace talks. If he died too, then all three of the Three-Headed Demons who ca through the pass would be dead. The consequences of that...
The group looked at each other, speechless. They all had a premonition of a coming storm.
...
「Origin」
The residual soul of the Dying Immortal drifted precariously in the absolute void of the Origin, his face filled with bewildernt.
’He rembered being perfectly fine just a mont ago. Then he saw a palm, and after that... there was no after that!’
’Who... who is this La Daoist?!’
’The Dying Immortal was completely floored. He was a Grand Grade, at the very least! After unleashing his full power, he was close to an Immortal. Even if he were facing a true Immortal, he might not be a match, but... but it shouldn’t have ended with just one slap...’
As the residual soul reeled in confusion, Lu Xuan respectfully perford a salute.
"Third Master."
The La Daoist nodded slightly, looking Lu Xuan up and down before saying with disdain:
"Three thousand years of Cultivation infused into you, allowing you to reach the Grand Grade Level. It’s not bad, but you can’t even defeat a Grand Grade at the sa level. You, you..."
Lu Xuan said helplessly:
"Third Master, the leap in power was too great. I couldn’t fully control it. I couldn’t even bring out ten or twenty percent of its strength. It would be strange if I *could* win."
The La Daoist pursed his lips and said:
"Which one of your senior brothers and sisters didn’t dominate an entire era of Years? The most formidable among them once attacked an Upper Celestial Venerable while only in the Immortal Realm!"
The residual soul to the side trembled violently.
’A disciple... at the Immortal Level... attacking an Upper Celestial Venerable...’
He stared blankly, his mind completely gone.
Lu Xuan, however, just scratched his head and asked blankly:
"An Upper Celestial Venerable? What’s that?"
"Above Immortal, of course." The La Daoist yawned. "Above the Heaven-Facing Palace is the Fifth Step, called Immortal. It’s equivalent to the level of a Celestial Venerable, Buddha, or Great Bodhisattva. The next level up is an Upper Celestial Venerable or a Great Buddha."
"And above that?" Lu Xuan asked curiously.
"Further up?"
The La Daoist chuckled.
"Going even higher... even in the most prosperous era of Years, such beings were extrely rare. Their words and actions could influence the grand trend of the heavens and earth. They are the strongest below the ancient ones, and they are qualified to contend for the Nine Dao Fruit Seats."
’Lu Xuan scratched his head in confusion. The Nine Dao Fruit Seats... he had heard his teacher ntion them before. They were supposedly the nine highest and most supre seats in all the Celestial Realms. Although there were nine seats, at most eighteen people could sit on them...’
The path of cultivation was finally becoming clearer in Lu Xuan’s mind.
The path began with the First Step: Jade Tower. Then ca the Second Step: Climbing the Divine Ladder, followed by the Third Step: Heaven Ascending Gate, and the Fourth Step: Heaven-Facing Palace.
The Fifth Step is Immortal. He didn’t know what the Sixth Step was called, but its practitioners were often referred to as Upper Celestial Venerables, Great Buddhas, and the like. As for the Seventh Step, that was the so-called handful of the strongest individuals beneath the Dao Fruit.
’Then is the Dao Fruit the eighth step?’
’And could a ninth step exist?’
Just as Lu Xuan was lost in his confusion, the La Daoist chuckled, rapped him on the head, and said with a chiding laugh:
"Don’t get lost in such pointless thoughts. You’re still at the Jade Tower stage. You might look similar to an ordinary Celestial Human, but you haven’t actually entered the Celestial Human Level..."
He paused, then added:
"Didn’t you have questions for that little guy over there? If you’re going to ask, ask quickly!"
Lu Xuan ca back to his senses. After another salute, he turned to look at the residual soul of the Grand Grade Immortal.
At this mont, the latter was curled into a ball, trembling. Its soul-body was like a guttering candle fla, looking as if it could be extinguished at any mont.
’The residual soul was truly terrified out of its wits. Who in the world... who *was* this La Daoist?!’
’In his mouth, Immortals were not worth ntioning, and Upper Celestial Venerables and Great Buddhas were treated as just so-so, as if they still weren’t worthy of his notice...’
’He didn’t dare to think about it any further. He almost wanted to cry. If he still had a physical body, he might have actually burst into tears... How could I be so unlucky?!’
’So many True Immortals had perford the grand ritual without any problems. How was it that when it was my turn, this happened? To run into the disciple of a suspected supre expert from the Ancient Tis?!’
Lu Xuan stepped through the void and walked forward, carefully observing this wisp of a Grand Grade Residual Soul, and felt a surge of emotion.
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