bookbashuk Chapter 354 Time flies, and one ascends to sainthood!
Chapter 354 Time flies, and one ascends to sainthood!
Chapter 354 Time Flies By, Ten Years to Ascend to Sainthood!
Soon after, the dense spiritual light surrounding Lu Yu gradually faded and eventually completely subsided.
He slowly opened his eyes, his pupils seemingly reflecting a galaxy of stars, or perhaps mirroring the ancient, weathered patterns of a map. His aura was deeper and more harmonious than before, subtly resonating with the world around him.
Even more remarkable is that the "Tai Ling Ancient Map" that was originally floating quietly on the stone platform has now transformed into a wisp of a scroll about a foot long, with its spiritual light contained within. Like the most loyal guardian, it floats quietly beside Lu Yu, communicating with him in spirit.
As if to demonstrate its profound power, the newly recognized Tai Ling Ancient Diagram trembled slightly, and a gentle spiritual light swept over Lu Yu.
Instantly, three sacred objects, each with a different shape but radiating powerful energy, appeared from Lu Yu's body.
A long sword, its entire body shimmering with a refined crimson-gold luster and its blade adorned with subtle patterns, stood silently suspended; it was none other than the Fallen God Sword.
A miniature palace model, shrouded in lightning, floats on one side; this is the Thunder Palace of the Inner Demon.
There was also a crystal longsword, which was crystal clear but slightly dim in light. It was the sword of the Heavenly Emperor in the past. The Heavenly Emperor Sword was damaged in the ancient war and its power is no longer what it used to be. It only retains the quality of a peerless sacred artifact.
Three sacred artifacts surrounded Lu Yu, among which the Heavenly Emperor Sword had the weakest aura, its blade trembling slightly as if it were unwilling.
The illusory image of the Tai Ling Ancient Diagram rippled slightly, and a gentle yet vast spiritual light, containing the power of soothing and nourishing, shot out, slowly enveloping the Heavenly Emperor Sword.
Buzz!
The Heavenly Emperor Sword trembled violently, emitting a clear and joyful sword cry.
Within the nourishing spiritual light containing the essence of the ancestors of the Supreme Spirit Items, its damaged and dimmed sword body began to brighten and become clearer at a speed visible to the naked eye. The fine cracks inside were smoothed and repaired, and an aura of sharpness and vastness surpassing that of a Spirit Item gradually revived and rose!
A moment later, the inspiration subsided.
The Heavenly Emperor Sword hovered in the air, its blade shimmering with light. Although it had not fully recovered to its peak Saint-grade level, its grade had been significantly upgraded from Spirit-grade to the level of a peerless Immortal-grade artifact.
The Grand Ancestor Tai Ming observed this clearly, his gaze lingering for a moment on the newly refurbished Heavenly Emperor Sword. A knowing glint flashed in his eyes as he stroked his beard and said, "This sword—it must be the sword of that ancient Heavenly Emperor, right? Truly extraordinary. Even though it was damaged and fell, its essence remains. Now, thanks to Brother Gu Tu's baptism and nourishment with his primordial spiritual light, it has been restored to its immortal grade. Congratulations!"
Immediately after a moment's thought, he turned to look at Lu Yu and said solemnly, "Disciple, if you wish to completely restore this sword to its Saint-grade level, my Tai Ling Ancient Clan has the corresponding resources to assist you. A peerless Saint-grade artifact deserves our clan's full support."
Upon hearing this, Lu Yu's eyes lit up, and a genuine joy appeared on his face. He hesitated slightly before cupping his hands and saying, "Master is willing to help me repair the Heavenly Emperor Sword; this disciple is eternally grateful!"
"But—is this too much trouble for the clan? After all, a Saint-grade peerless sacred artifact is no small matter. If a large amount of the clan's resources are wasted because of this, I will not feel at ease."
Upon hearing this, the Grand Ancestor Tai Ming laughed heartily, flicking his sleeves lightly, his expression calm and gentle: "You child, you've actually started worrying about your master and the clan."
His gaze was deep, and his tone carried a hint of calmness and confidence: "Forging a peerless sacred artifact is indeed no small feat. It requires gathering several sacred treasures, countless auxiliary materials, and countless years and efforts. Even for my Tai Ling Ancient Clan, it is not something that can be accomplished easily. But repairing it is a different matter."
"The Heavenly Emperor Sword was originally a sacred weapon. Its foundation is intact and its spirituality remains. It only fell in rank because its origin was damaged in the ancient war. Now that it has been recognized by the ancient map and is nurtured by the spiritual power of its ancestors, it only needs to be supplemented with our clan's Primordial Gold Fusion Liquid and tempered for a period of time to be restored to the sacred rank."
At this point, the Grand Ancestor Tai Ming paused, a meaningful smile flashing in his eyes: "Moreover, now that you possess this sword, it will undoubtedly be a crucial asset in your future battles. You are the Holy Son of our clan; assisting you is assisting the future of our Tai Ling Ancient Clan. How can this be considered troublesome?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Yu felt a surge of warmth and gratitude. He silently returned the three sacred objects to his body, then solemnly bowed to the Tai Ming Ancestor and said, "Thank you, Master. This disciple understands."
"Yes, come with me, it's time to go to the Ancient Palace of Heaven."
Tai Ming Ancestor said no more. With a flick of his sleeve, he carried Lu Yu and the illusory image of the Tai Ling Ancient Diagram floating beside him. In a flash, the space rippled like water.
The next moment, they arrived deep within the Tai Ling Realm, a mysterious area shrouded in chaotic spiritual mist.
At the heart of the fog, a colossal palace, indescribably majestic and seemingly carved from a single piece of ancient divine jade, stands silently.
The palace doors were tightly shut, engraved with countless intricate and mysterious patterns, exuding a vast aura that suppressed time and space.
This is the Tongtian Ancient Hall.
The Grand Ancestor Tai Ming took out a uniquely shaped token and waved it at the palace door. The door slid open silently, and a dense, yet exceptionally pure and peaceful, ancient spiritual energy rushed out.
Stepping into the hall felt like entering a separate little world. The space was vast, the dome as high as the starry sky, and streams of pure spiritual liquid flowed on the ground.
What is most eye-catching are the lifelike statues standing throughout the hall.
These statues are made of various materials, including jade, bronze, and ancient wood, and their shapes and expressions are also different, some majestic, some benevolent, some fierce, and some transcendent.
Without exception, each statue exudes a vast aura and residual pressure unique to the Holy-Rank Heavenly Sovereign!
"These statues are all the manifestations of the holy ancestors who were fortunate enough to enter this temple and leave behind some of their own insights and experiences here."
Tai Ming Ancestor explained with reverence, "By touching the statues, if you are fortunate enough, you can sense the legacy they left behind. It could be cultivation techniques or supernatural abilities, or it could be cultivation insights or understanding of the Great Dao."
He pointed to several statues with particularly unique styles, his tone filled with reminiscence and respect: "Those are all Grandmasters of Saint-grade who were famous throughout the world in ancient times. One of them is a Grandmaster who has reached the pinnacle of the art of spirit arrays. The other is skilled in alchemy and can bring the dead back to life and defy fate. And the other one has forged more than one peerless Saint-grade artifact with his weapon-forging skills."
As he spoke, his gaze slowly shifted to the most ancient statue. The old man was thin and had an indistinct face, as if sculpted by time itself. He was almost integrated into the temple wall and could be easily overlooked if one did not look closely.
"As for that one—"
The voice of the Tai Ming Ancestor lowered slightly, and a trace of reminiscence appeared in his eyes. "It is the legacy left by a Saint-grade Spirit Array Grandmaster named Tianzhen Elder. He and our clan's Tai Ling Ancestor were sworn brothers. When the world-shaking war broke out on the Holy Abyss Continent and demons raged, the Tai Ling Ancestor went to the Holy Abyss in person. After hearing the news, Tianzhen Elder also went to help.
"But the old man of the Heavenly Array lived a carefree life and had no descendants or power. In order to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, he left a legacy for our clan before he left."
The Grand Ancestor Tai Ming looked at Lu Yu and solemnly said, "Now that you have been recognized by the Tai Ling Ancient Map, you are the future patriarch of our clan. You may enter seclusion in this Tongtian Ancient Palace for an unlimited period of time."
"Ten years inside the palace is equivalent to only one year outside. Moreover, the legacy of these saintly predecessors provides ample opportunity for enlightenment. It is an unparalleled treasure trove for breaking through bottlenecks. It is not too late to emerge from seclusion when you feel that you have made a breakthrough in the One Qi Transformation into Three Pure Ones technique."
He paused briefly, then added earnestly, "I suggest that you wait until you break through to the Saint-grade Heavenly Supreme before inheriting the Endless Light Body."
"By then, your true form will already be a Saint-level being, with a solid foundation and a powerful divine soul. Using a 'Three Gods Realm' avatar to support your Dharma Body will greatly increase your success rate and minimize the risks."
"Within this ancient hall, there are also many experiences and insights about breaking through to the Saint-level realm, which you can refer to as well."
Lu Yu bowed deeply: "Disciple understands and will follow Master's teachings."
"Alright, then I won't bother you any longer."
The Grand Ancestor Tai Ming nodded, his figure slowly fading. "Cultivate here peacefully. In a while, I will bring you the Primordial Golden Elixir needed to repair the Heavenly Emperor Sword."
"This item is leftover material from the repair of the Tai Ling Ancient Map after the ancient war. No one in the clan has used it since then. It's just sitting there anyway, so you don't need to worry about it."
As soon as he finished speaking, the figure of the Grand Ancestor Tai Ming had completely disappeared from the ancient hall, and the hall door quietly closed.
Inside the Tongtian Ancient Hall, only Lu Yu remained, along with the floating phantom of the Tai Ling Ancient Diagram beside him, and the dozens of silent yet infinitely wise sacred statues.
Lu Yu looked around at this excellent secluded cultivation spot, and with a thought, the illusory image of the Tai Ling Ancient Diagram rippled slightly, summoning the Heavenly Emperor Sword, which had been restored to its immortal grade, once again.
The ancient diagram cast a soft, spiritual light, like a warm bed, continuously nurturing the sword and helping it slowly recover its deeper essence.
Immediately, Lu Yu's gaze slowly swept over the rows of statues of Saint-level ancestors and the flowing stream of spiritual liquid in the hall, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "Such a treasure land, it would be too wasteful to only have the main body comprehend it."
He stroked his chin, a resolute glint in his eyes, then a thought struck him, and he said softly, "Now that I've reached the Three Harmony Realm, why not make the most of what I have?"
Before the words were even finished, whoosh! Whoosh!
Two figures slowly materialized on his left and right sides, their auras identical to his, only their robes were different colors: the one on the left wore a plain white robe, his temperament as cold as frost; the one on the right wore a black outfit, his eyes deep and unfathomable.
These were the two avatars he created by transforming one breath into three pure beings.
"Go to the statue of the Heavenly Array Elder."
Lu Yu said to the white-robed clone, "The array inheritance he left behind may be different from what I obtained before. If I can understand it, it may help me glimpse the path of a Grandmaster of Saint-grade Spirit Arrays."
"you,"
Lu Yu then looked at the black-robed clone, "Let's go to that grandmaster of alchemy. Although we have already obtained the Bodhi Enlightenment Pill, if we can understand the principles of its refining, we may be able to deduce an enlightenment-related prescription that is more suitable for me, which will be of great help to my future cultivation."
The black-robed clone smiled slightly, said nothing, and walked straight to a bronze statue with a kind face and a faint medicinal fragrance surrounding it. He reached out and touched it, and his spiritual energy quietly resonated with the statue.
With the arrangements made, Lu Yu himself slowly walked towards the center of the hall, where the spiritual energy was most concentrated, and spiritual liquid rose like mist, as if it were the place where the essence of heaven and earth converged.
He sat cross-legged, formed a mudra with his hands, and immersed his mind in the core mystery of "One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones".
"The Three Gods Realm—it's not that the clones are stronger, but that 'I' am no longer unique."
He muttered to himself, "Only when all three bodies can exist independently, cultivate on their own, and not interfere with each other can one be considered to have truly entered this realm."
The hall was silent except for the faint sound of the flowing spiritual liquid and the almost imperceptible spatial ripples caused by the three different insights gained from the inheritance.
The white-robed clone was immersed in the vast changes of the ancient array, while the black-robed clone wandered in the mysterious world of plant essences and the ever-changing alchemical fire.
Meanwhile, Lu Yu himself was constantly deducing the profound artistic conception of "one divided into three, three combined into one, yet each independent."
As time flows by, within the Tongtian Ancient Palace, where the flow of time is vastly different from that of the outside world, time seems to lose its meaning.
The spiritual mist inside the hall remained thick, and the stream of spiritual liquid flowed ceaselessly. Only the dozens of sacred statues seemed to bear witness to yet another long period of silence.
I don't know how much time has passed, maybe five years, maybe eight years, or maybe—it's already ten years.
One day, the dense spiritual mist in the center of the palace suddenly began to churn and swirl violently, as if stirred by an invisible hand, forming a huge vortex of spiritual energy.
At the center of the vortex sat Lu Yu himself, sitting cross-legged.
At this moment, his aura had undergone a tremendous change. The originally vast and pure immortal spiritual power was undergoing a qualitative transformation and sublimation at an incredible speed, moving towards a higher and more profound level.
It was a transformation that transcended the accumulation of quantity and reached the level of qualitative change.
His tightly closed eyes suddenly opened, revealing no pupils, only a clear light like the beginning of chaos. The clear energy flowed, and within it, three blurry yet incredibly clear figures were constantly being created and endlessly cycling.
"I see----"
He murmured to himself, but his voice seemed to contain some profound truth, echoing throughout the hall.
"The Three Gods Realm is not about severing me, but about seeing my true self."
The moment he finished speaking, his white-robed and black-robed clones on either side of him, who were meditating, simultaneously shuddered and awoke from their immersion.
A light of enlightenment also flashed in their eyes. Their forms did not dissipate, but instead became more solid and agile, as if they had possessed truly independent "gods" and "intentions".
Immediately afterwards, without Lu Yu's control, the two clones transformed into two streams of light, one white and one black. Instead of merging with the main body, they circled and intertwined around it in an extremely mysterious trajectory.
The auras of the three figures began to resonate and surge wildly at this moment!
Rumble!
An indescribable, terrifying pressure suddenly erupted from Lu Yu, causing the entire Tongtian Ancient Palace to tremble violently. The sacred statues seemed to glow slightly, as if responding and witnessing.
The stream of spiritual liquid surged backward, and the spiritual mist was completely dispersed. Lu Yu's main body, along with his two clones, were enveloped in an incomparably dazzling cocoon of spiritual energy, containing vast amounts of power!
The Tai Ling Ancient Map, which had been quietly suspended to the side, seemed to be completely aroused at this moment. The map trembled violently, and the mottled patterns on its surface seemed to come alive, flowing with dazzling spiritual light.
It trembled slightly, then flew to the top of Lu Yu's head, showering down an even richer, warm radiance that enveloped the spiritual energy cocoon layer by layer, continuously nourishing and stabilizing the astonishing transformation taking place within.
Time seemed to stretch out at that moment.
I don't know how much time passed; it might have been a moment, or it might have been several months.
Click—
A soft cracking sound rang out, and a crack appeared on the surface of the huge spiritual energy cocoon. Then, like a chain reaction, the crack spread rapidly and finally shattered, turning into countless points of light that dissipated.
Within the spotlight, three figures stood side by side.
The one in the center was none other than Lu Yu himself. His aura was vast and unfathomable, and the spiritual power flowing around him had completely shed the shackles of the Immortal grade, reaching a completely new level that was enough to make heaven and earth tremble—the early stage of the Saint-grade Heavenly Sovereign!
On the left, Lu Yu, dressed in white, exuded an even more otherworldly aura. His eyes seemed to hold countless array runes that appeared and disappeared, and he had an unprecedentedly clear perception of the flow and structure of spiritual energy in the world.
On the right, Lu Yu, dressed in black, had a deep gaze and exuded a strange medicinal fragrance and a keen insight into the vitality of all things.
Most importantly, at this moment, the three figures are still connected in their hearts, yet each is independent and complete, with no distinction between master and servant.
Each one can be considered a complete "Lu Yu", possessing independent thinking, cultivation ability, and the vast spiritual power of the early stage of the Saint Rank.
Furthermore, all three originate from the same source and can resonate at any time through the mysterious One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones, unleashing a terrifying power far exceeding the simple sum of their components.
One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones, the third level, the Three Gods Realm, accomplished!
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