CHAPTER 877: CHAPTER 600: TURTLE SHELL

"No matter what, I must obtain it; it will be of great help to me in upgrading the Four-nine Mystic Skill."

Lu Chenzhou thought to himself.

"Senior, there should be a rest interval between the first and second stage, right?"

"Naturally."

Upon hearing this,

Lu Chenzhou sat cross-legged, and under the surprised gaze of the Three Feet Dragon Emperor, took out a Void Stone Tablet.

The Three Feet Dragon Emperor was slightly taken aback.

"You want to refine the Void Stele, rise to Fifth Rank Yuji Dao, and challenge a higher difficulty?"

Lu Chenzhou nodded.

The Three Feet Dragon Emperor smiled, thinking to himself: "The Void Stele is good, but for post-Entering Dao cultivation, it’s just the icing on the cake. This kid wants to whet his sword right before the battle, to go from Fourth to Fifth Rank? Difficult."

Lu Chenzhou calmed his mind, immersed his spirit into the Void Stele, and amidst the visions of Heaven and Earth Creation and myriad illusionary forms of the Daos, he saw a pitch-black turtle shell, with tadpole-shaped Daoist Texts flowing across its surface.

"This is the Yuji Dao."

With world-shaking comprehension, Lu Chenzhou forcefully imprinted each blinding Daoist Text into his mind.

Every single character held Yuji knowledge akin to the Big Bang of the universe; Qi Refiners could thereby study Arrays, Talismans, Immortal Techniques; Martial Artists could research Martial Arts and Divine Skills; as for the descendants of True Spirits who inherit special bloodlines, they directly imprint the knowledge of the Daoist Texts onto their bloodlines for generations to inherit.

The true essence of all transcendent paths in the Three Thousand Worlds is the research of these Daoist Texts.

Not long after,

The first Void Stele cracked open.

[Yuji Dao: Fourth Rank (23%) → Fourth Rank (74%)]

"As my comprehension deepens, the effect of the Void Stele becomes even better. Within the same time, I can memorize and digest even more Daoist Texts."

Dao Essence thickened around Lu Chenzhou.

The gaze of the Three Feet Dragon Emperor froze.

"How is this possible? His level in Yuji Dao is now several times what it was before refining the stele, and he’s already near the Fifth Rank. Is the effect of the Void Stele really this exaggerated?"

As a Great Power, the Three Feet Dragon Emperor knew even more about the Void Stele. So-called Void City was a special space forcefully carved into the void during the era of the Four Emperors, using their mighty Divine Skills.

The Four Emperors, by serving the Divine Court, acquired from Lu Wu the Great God a Divine Artifact: [Heavenly Origin Divine Stone], sourced from the origin place of this universe.

It contains the primordial Dao Essence of Heaven and Earth Creation, capable of evolving myriad Daos and even spawning special Dao Spiritual Objects—these are the so-called Void Beasts.

The Void Beasts fear neither physical nor spiritual attack; only Dao Essence can wear them down. After a Void Beast dies and its spirituality dissipates, its Dao Essence is extracted, forming Void Steles of varying levels.

Void Steles are divided into three classes.

Ancient Stele, Dao Stele, Emperor Stele.

Ancient Steles are generally refined at the Sea Realm and are useless to those in the Heavenly Realm. Dao Steles correspond to the Seventh and Eighth Realms; depending on the rank of the Void Beast, the refining effect varies.

As for the Emperor Stele, it is a Supreme Treasure only yielded by Great Power Level Void Beasts; since the birth of Void City, only one has ever appeared. In the end, it was acquired by the undercover Demon Daoist of the Supreme True Demon Sect embedded within the Four Sects, allowing this Demon Cultivator to step into the Great Power Realm.

What Lu Chenzhou was refining was just the most ordinary Seventh Rank Dao Stele. Normally, at least seven or eight would be needed to let a cultivator progress from Fourth Rank to close to Fifth Rank; at least ten would be needed for a safer breakthrough

"To use a Seventh Rank Dao Stele as if it were an Eighth Rank... If it’s not luck, then his comprehension is even higher than Alcohol King boasted."

The Three Feet Dragon Emperor muttered to himself.

After refining another Void Stele, Lu Chenzhou opened his eyes; reflected in his pupils were two pieces of turtle shell, and thick, almost tangible Dao Essence draped over his entire body.

"Dao Essence solidified—Fifth Rank." The Three Feet Dragon Emperor’s face showed anticipation. "Looks like the second stage won’t stump him. I never imagined the Xia Realm could produce two with the bearing of gods, the Dragon King and Lu Chenzhou. Sect Master, at last I see a glimmer of hope."

Lu Chenzhou stood up, clasped his fists, and said:

"Senior, I am ready."

"Then let’s begin."

The Three Feet Dragon Emperor no longer cared about the outcome of the second stage. Even if Lu Chenzhou couldn’t pass, with comprehension like his, he was already qualified to obtain the Sea Chapter’s inheritance.

As for the Heavenly Chapter?

Only Beidou God Monarch and the Dragon King have passed, and both completed the trial after reaching the Eighth Realm.

As for the Seventh Realm, as of now, none.

...

Golden Wilderness.

"Come!"

Lu Chenzhou stood firm as an ancient pine, still as if rooted. He folded his arms before his chest, muscles waking like slumbering dragons, rising and bulging, Yuji Dao Essence shrouding him like a Golden Bell Shield.

No dodging, no avoiding—a head-on clash.

Ahead, the Golden Horned King Beast was like an enraged bull, stamping its hooves, tearing up the earth; with a sudden charge, it shook mountains as if collapsing, its colossal body nevertheless nimble, becoming a thousand-li mountain crest charging forth.

Boom! The single horn stabbed forward, the Big Bell trembled and gave off a mighty sound. Enormous force transmitted, Lu Chenzhou was sent flying, ricocheting across the air like a billiard ball.

Lu Chenzhou looked at the rift in the surface of the Golden Armor.

"This King Beast’s penetration is incredible." He looked at the single horn on the King Beast and its sharp claws, sensing a familiar aura. "Penetrating Dao Essence? No, even higher than Penetrating Dao Essence."

Boom! The King Beast struck again, claws tearing open space. Five cold gleams clashed with the Yuji Dao-conjured armor, sparks flying, blasting Lu Chenzhou away.

"This is just the beginning. There’s still a quarter of an hour to go. If you can’t endure, you can dodge or attack anytime. Defeat the King Beast and you’ll be considered to have passed." The Three Feet Dragon Emperor smiled. "I forgot to tell you—even the Cangtian Dragon King of your civilization chose to actively defeat the King Beast to clear the trial. Only Beidou God Monarch, who by nature already cultivated Yuji Dao, passed perfectly."

After five minutes, Lu Chenzhou, battered like a sandbag by the King Beast, felt his innards roiling, Qi-Blood surging; many bones had been broken by force passing through them.

"Fifth Rank is still too tough. For a perfect pass, I’d need Sixth Rank Yuji Dao." Lu Chenzhou analyzed to himself. "It’s also because I lack skill with Yuji Dao—having Fifth Rank Dao Essence but no matching Cultivation Technique or Divine Skills, I can’t use its full power."

Bam!

Lu Chenzhou was sent flying again; the Yuji Dao was finally torn open, the single horn thrust in, but was clamped firmly by his powerful muscles. The berserk King Beast repeatedly whipped its head, slamming Lu Chenzhou onto the ground over and over.

In moments, his flesh was flayed into bloody shreds.

The Three Feet Dragon Emperor warned:

"If you continue like this, your life is in danger."

Yet Lu Chenzhou still persevered.

"He’s going too far... fine, no matter if he makes a perfect pass or not, I’ll just give him the King Beast’s blood as a reward."

The Three Feet Dragon Emperor was already prepared to go easy on him.

This kid is a genius of comprehension; I can’t allow the trial to damage his foundation. As for the trial rules—rules are dead, people alive.

After some time.

Lu Chenzhou’s situation got ever more precarious.

The Three Feet Dragon Emperor was going to end the trial and declare Lu Chenzhou had passed, but upon seeing Lu Chenzhou’s clear gaze and that state of self-forgetting, he froze: "Unity of Heaven and Man?"

He decided to watch for now. Unity of Heaven and Man is rare indeed. Even after cultivating to Great Power, he’s only experienced it three times—each time, it took him to a higher level.

At this moment, Lu Chenzhou was steeped in a long-lost crisis; this feeling of dancing on the edge of life and death hadn’t touched the invincible him of the Xia Realm in ages.

For the fourth time in his life, he entered Unity of Heaven and Man, and beheld the pitch-black turtle shell again, this time clearer than when viewing the Void Stele.

Each Daoist Text appeared like a page from the Heavenly Book—inside Lu Chenzhou’s mind, like a supercomputer, he permutated and recombined these Texts tens of thousands of times in a flash, simulating the secrets of the turtle shell’s operation.

But outside, the King Beast cared nothing about all this. Its brute force mauled Lu Chenzhou, ripping flesh from his body and revealing nine-colored bones within, which it tried to swallow and grind away.

Pain! Piercing and all-consuming!

Lu Chenzhou gritted his teeth and held on.

The Three Feet Dragon Emperor’s face grew grave.

"Heavenly Tribulation Power? And Nine Tribulations!"

How could there be Nine Tribulations at the Seventh Realm?

No matter how he pondered, he couldn’t understand.

The King Beast, having swallowed Lu Chenzhou but failing to grind down the nine-colored bones, spat him out.

The King Beast beat its wings, howled at the sky, its horn pulsing ripples, Golden Light blazing forth.

"Not good..."

The Three Feet Dragon Emperor immediately ended the trial.

The King Beast vanished in an instant, but a beam of Golden Light shot forth, severing Lu Chenzhou’s neck; his corpse fell, head rolling to the ground.

"The trial is over."

The Three Feet Dragon Emperor picked up the skull and said.

Yet the nine-colored skull’s eye sockets gleamed with spiritual light, still lost in its own world, still mumbling things like "Almost there," "Just a bit more," as if in a trance.

"This guy... a martial maniac? Or demonized? That can’t be—the Immaculate State of Mind shouldn’t be demonized unless invaded by truly mighty Heavenly Demons."

The Three Feet Dragon Emperor was a bit shaken. He had seen much, but never anything like this, and wasn’t sure if he should heal Lu Chenzhou. He worried that a misstep might disrupt Lu Chenzhou’s great fortune.

"If he hasn’t awakened within seven days, I’ll use Heavenly Immortal Dew to rebuild his body."

The Three Feet Dragon Emperor gathered all the nine-colored bones from the ground, piecing them back into a human form. Gazing at the sight, he muttered in surprise: "This one’s bones could withstand a quarter-hour of the King Beast’s assault without breaking. Their toughness is almost the equal of Eighth Rank Spiritual Weapons. Especially the skull—struck by the King Beast’s innate Divine Ability, Golden Light of Cave Universe, it still wasn’t completely pierced."

Though the Golden Horned King Beast’s defense was tremendous, its true mastery lay in the Upper Dao of Penetrating Dao—the Void Dao. Void possessed the world’s ultimate armor-breaking qualities. If Yuji was the thickest shield, then Void was the strongest spear. Back then, to slay this beast, even the Three Feet Dragon Emperor almost perished.

The point of the second trial was to let a shield endure a spear’s strike, testing the trialist’s stacking armor ability.

Beidou God Monarch could pass unscathed because upon reaching the Seventh Realm, he had already comprehended Sixth Rank Yuji Dao. Alongside his physical body cultivation method, his defense was invincible within his level.

In a flash, three days passed.

That day, the pile of bones before the Three Feet Dragon Emperor buzzed and quaked, assembling together. Accompanied by nine-colored divine light and the deep and mysterious Withering and Flourishing Law, flesh and blood were instantly regrown.

"I understand." Lu Chenzhou looked at the Three Feet Dragon Emperor. "Senior, may I try the second stage again? This time, I know I can pass perfectly!"

"You have already passed."

"That was because you went easy on me, Senior."

"You’ve reached Sixth Rank in Yuji Dao?"

"No."

"Then it is still difficult to pass perfectly." But seeing the eagerness in Lu Chenzhou’s eyes, he sighed, "Fine, I’ll give you another try."

Back in the wilderness, Lu Chenzhou gazed at the Martial Arts Tree, already nine million zhang tall in his mind. A brand new leaf had grown, blossomed in an instant, and borne fruit.