Free Web NovelChapter 201.1: Lu Changsheng Stands at the Top of the Dao Foundation Realm, Shaking the Ancient Region; Eight Principles Pushed to Perfection (I)
"Is Lu Changsheng gone?"
"Yeah, looks like he really left. Incredible... The Ancient Region Heavenly Sect has produced an extraordinary figure."
"Do you think the Dao Lord Qing Xuan rushed out of the secret realm earlier because he also ran into Lu Changsheng?"
"Could be... Today, Lu Changsheng has crushed all the top Dao Foundation experts and Foundation Establishment Dao Lords in the third layer of the Ancient Region by himself. Is there someone out there who could be his match?"
"Is lu Changsheng already invincible in the Dao Foundation Realm?"
"From the Divine Treasury Realm to the Dao Foundation Realm, Lu Changsheng actually hasn’t changed much. He's always been invincible..."
"In just over a year, he went from being invincible at the Divine Treasury Realm to being invincible at the Dao Foundation Realm..."
Many people exchanged glances, all of them looking at one another in speechless disbelief.
Lu Changsheng's path of growth was like something out of a myth or legend, so astonishing that it felt almost unreal.
But while most had only watched the great battle from the sidelines, Su Tianwen and Zhang Tianyi had actually clashed with Lu Changsheng themselves, so the impression left on them ran far deeper. And yet, woven into their shock was something unexpected: a thread of excitement.
"Lu Changsheng's strength is earth-shattering, but it can also guide us. To think that divine techniques could be pushed to such a level..."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but that divine technique Lu Changsheng used at the end against Dao Lord Dongyang and Dao Lord Sho Xu... he created it himself, right? A compound divine technique built from five Principles.
In theory, we could deduce a compound divine technique of that kind too. Once we have a five-Principle compound divine technique, even a supreme Dao Lord won't be our match. The Martial Dao really stands above the Immortal Dao!"
For a moment, the two of them stared in the direction Lu Changsheng had disappeared, their faces flushed with eagerness.
The Martial Dao standing above the Immortal Dao was something they hadn't dared to imagine before while being at the Dao Foundation Realm. In theory, a martial artist who had forged a Dao Foundation could hold their own against a Dao Lord—but only in theory.
In reality, even a supreme Dao Foundation cultivator was still weaker than a Dao Lord. Su Tianwen and Zhang Tianyi themselves had failed to gain the upper hand in their clash with Dao Lord Dongyang and Dao Lord Shou Xu. They had even come out on the losing end, with both Principle Divine Stones taken from them.
And yet, those same Dao Lords had been crushed by Lu Changsheng with a single turn of his palm. That proved something: the Martial Dao was indeed powerful, and divine techniques were also powerful. It was just that Su Tianwen and Zhang Tianyi were not strong enough yet.
"Lu Changsheng... He truly is a genius who stands above both the Immortal Dao and the Martial Dao. At the Divine Treasury Realm, he dominated an entire generation across both paths. At the Dao Foundation Realm, he does the same," Su Tianwen said with a sigh.
It was easy to see that from this day forward, Lu Changsheng's name would spread across the entire third layer of the Ancient Region and likely beyond it. His reputation would shake the Ancient Region itself!
***
Lu Changsheng returned to the camp of the Ancient Region Heavenly Sect, which remained as calm and undisturbed as ever.
He was aware that the battle at the Heavenly Shackle Mountain Range had probably sent his name spreading through the Ancient Region once again, and likely not just within the third layer. After all, at the Dao Foundation Realm, he was already considered one of the most formidable combatants among the major Martial Dao sects, second only to those who had reached the Divine Ability Realm.
Those at the Divine Ability Realm were the pillars of their respective sects, figures of terrifying standing who had founded lineages and established legacies. To be recognized as a major Martial Dao sect in the Ancient Region, a sect needed at least one Divine Ability Realm expert among its ranks.
The Divine Ability Realm represented the very pinnacle of what was openly acknowledged in the Ancient Region. There may have been those who surpassed it, but they kept to the shadows, and Lu Changsheng had never heard of any.
The same held true on the Immortal Dao side. The strongest entities that were openly known were the Golden Core True Ones. Reaching that stage was the mark of a true Immortal Dao sect, for a Golden Core True One could live for a thousand years and anchor a sect for centuries, carrying it through generations of glory.
The Divine Ability Realm... still feels a long way off. Anyway, that's not what I should be thinking about right now. What matters is condensing the two remaining Principles, the Earth and Land Principles. This time, I managed to gather a great deal of Heavenly Demon Essence Blood...
Lu Changsheng took stock of everything he had gained. He had four Principle Divine stones in his possession, enough for the four Principles he had yet to push to Perfection.
However, the real windfall was the Heavenly Demon Essence Blood. He counted it carefully, and the final number was staggering.
"One hundred and eight drops?!"
It was an almost absurd figure. Lu Changsheng had never imagined that he would end that expedition to the secret realm with one hundred and eight drops of Heavenly Demon Essence Blood.
His original goal in entering the secret realm had been rather modest. He wanted ten drops from Xia Chenfeng and Zhao Yujian, plus four more that Zhao Yuanshan was carrying, bringing the intended total to fourteen. Even when he had later gone to block the secret realm's exit, he had been thinking about Principle Divine Stones, not Heavenly Demon Essence Blood.
Yet somehow, while only obtaining a handful of Principle Divine Stones, he had incidentally stripped nearly a hundred drops of Heavenly Demon Essence Blood from the Dao Lords and Dao Foundation experts he encountered!
Among those drops, a fair number were of the earth attribute. The land attribute was rarer, but even so, Lu Changsheng counted roughly eight drops of it. That was more than enough.
I'll start with the Earth Principle.
Lu Changsheng began contemplating the Earth Principle, and it did not prove particularly difficult. He moved through it with practiced ease, and before long, the seventh Principle took form within his Mind Space.
With that, he turned to the Land Principle. Despite the apparent similarity between the Earth Principle and Land Principle, they were, in fact, fundamentally different.
The Land Principle could essentially be understood as the magnetic field of the earth itself. It was a rare Principle, unusually difficult to comprehend. However, given Lu Changsheng's current level of Perception, it barely posed a challenge to him.
Before long, the eight Principle emerged within his Mind Space.
Hum...
Lu Changsheng opened his eyes. His Mind Space manifested with a single thought, and eight streams of radiant light pulsed and flickered within it. At last, he had finally comprehended all eight of his Principles.
With eight Principles, I suppose I finally stand at the pinnacle of the Dao Foundation Realm within the third layer.
There were others in the third layer who had comprehended six Principles, so in terms of sheer number, Lu Changsheng hadn't always held the lead. But those cultivators had essentially forfeited any hope of reaching the Divine Ability Realm.
Not everyone possessed Lu Changsheng's tremendous Perception, which had allowed him to comprehend all eight Principles in a remarkably short time. For those Dao Foundation martial artists who had managed to grasp six Principles, an entire lifetime of effort had been poured into that pursuit. As for cultivating those Principles to Perfection, that was simply out of the question. They could not live long enough to achieve that.
A Dao Foundation martial artist lived for three hundred years. If comprehending six Principles had already consumed over two hundred of those years, and forging the Dao Foundation itself had taken another seventy or eighty, there was simply no time left to bring any Principle to Perfection.
Lu Changsheng, however, was different. At this point, he had comprehended as much as eight Principles, and it would not take him long to bring all eight to Perfection.
He pulled up his Status Panel.
[Status Panel]
Host: Lu Changsheng
Perception: 75,730 (A Dragon Among Men)
Mental Principle: Perfection
Fire Principle: Perfection
Wind Principle: Perfection
Wood Principle: Perfection
Metal Principle: 49% (Progress)
Water Principle: 49% (Progress)
Earth Principle: 1% (Progress) frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Land Principle: 1% (Progress)
During this period, both the Metal Principle and Water Principle had advanced by another two parcent—but that was all. Lu Changsheng still had four Principles he had yet to push to Perfection.
I have exactly four Principle Divine Stones. Zhao Yuanshan once mentioned that if I ever had a spare one, I should give him a piece. Well, too bad, but I don't have any to spare right now...
Lu Changsheng remembered that conversation well. In truth, with the massive supply of Heavenly Demon Essence Blood he had accumulated, he could grind through a year or so of hard cultivation and bring both the Metal Principle and Water Principle to Perfection on his own, which would free up two Principle Divine Stones.
However, he had no intention of doing that. His cultivation time was too valuable to waste. Using the Principle Divine Stones would save him several months, so why wouldn't he just take the more efficient path? No, he was not about to hold back for someone else's sake. Zhao Yuanshan had done him favors, certainly. But none of those favors were significant enough to justify sacrificing his own cultivation.
If the opportunity comes up to obtain more Principle Divine Stones in the future, I'll give him one then.
With that settled, he took out all four Principle Divine Stones and channeled each one directly into its corresponding Principle.
Let's begin.
Lu Changsheng sank into the Principle Divine Stones and let himself be absorbed in contemplation of the four Principles.
While he was quietly contemplating his Principles in seclusion, the entire Ancient Region Heavenly Sect was thrown into a stir by the news arriving from the Heavenly Shackle Mountain Range.
