Chapter 785 - 780: The Dao is Complete
After repelling Ang Xiao, Lü Yang finally sat down in the Sea of Suffering. He re-entered a state of concealment, ready to face any new enemies at a moment’s notice.
Fortunately, his luck was good.
Or rather, Progenitor Tingyou had acted quickly. If things had dragged on any longer, a new, powerful enemy might have been guided by karmic links to disrupt the proceedings.
But Progenitor Tingyou was simply too fast.
Before the Great Net of Karma Links could even react further to Ang Xiao being blocked, Progenitor Tingyou had already completed all the necessary steps.
BOOM!
At that moment, Lü Yang stood in the Sea of Suffering and looked up. He saw the Fruit of Sorrowless Heaven, wreathed in the Illusionary Colors of the Five Elements, beginning to look ethereal. It was as if it would undergo Ascension in the next second and reach a brand-new Realm, yet it was stuck at the final step, unable to advance even an inch.
"Alas..."
Suddenly, a sigh echoed faintly, filled with intense regret. The emotion it carried was so strong it even caused the surrounding waters of the Sea of Suffering to ripple in sympathy.
"Still a little off."
Progenitor Tingyou shook his head. He had thought that by using this method—like pulling himself up by his own bootstraps—he could directly obtain a Position comparable to that of a Great Perfected Lord.
In reality, however, he had fallen far short.
’Although a profundity was born and it has been elevated to the orthodox path, the foundation of the Fruit of Sorrowless Heaven is still too weak. That’s why it failed to complete the final qualitative transformation.’
To put it bluntly, the starting point was too low.
Every time he switched Fruits to begin the climb anew, the drop in his own Position was greater than expected. As a result, the final height he reached did not meet his expectations.
The solution to this problem was simple: he just needed the Fruit of Sorrowless Heaven to advance to the Emperor Fruit. The Position of an Emperor Fruit would be enough to push Progenitor Tingyou over the threshold of a Great Perfected Lord... Alas, even with Progenitor Tingyou’s Enlightenment, ascending to the Emperor Fruit was still something of a pipedream.
"...So be it."
In the next second, Progenitor Tingyou’s Qi trace soared. Boosted by this "rocket propulsion," the Fruit of Sorrowless Heaven had already climbed to a certain limit.
What came next was the fall.
Normally, such a fall would be fatal. Without a foothold at the corresponding Position, one would miss their step and be smashed to pieces, not even leaving a complete corpse behind.
However, Progenitor Tingyou had long prepared for this.
His expression remained unchanged as he performed another Daoist Hand Seal. The conjured Five Elements Fruit immediately unfurled, transforming into a screen of chaotic light.
SWOOSH!
Under the cover of this screen of light, the Position that should have been plummeting was suddenly slowed countless times over, turning into a gradual descent.
Lü Yang watched, dumbfounded.
"Holy crap..."
If anyone else had been here, they probably wouldn’t have understood what Progenitor Tingyou had just done. But he was different; he understood the principle almost at a glance.
A parachute!
After using the rocket propulsion method—the equivalent of pulling himself up by his own bootstraps—to elevate his Position to its highest point, Progenitor Tingyou had actually woven a parachute! It slowed the fall of his Position by countless times, both mitigating the damage from the drop and extending the duration of his peak state!
This was so damn ridiculous!
In that instant, Progenitor Tingyou’s Qi trace surged again, skyrocketing, exploding! From the initial Early Stage of Golden Core, it shot up to the Middle Stage of Golden Core in a flash!
And it didn’t stop!
According to Lü Yang’s "Fifth-rank Perfected Lord" evaluation standard, Progenitor Tingyou was now approaching the Peak of Second Rank. He had actually reached Lü Yang’s level!
But it wasn’t over yet!
BOOM!
A deafening crash echoed as the Sea of Suffering churned. Even Lü Yang couldn’t help but take a step back, a look of intense, pleasant surprise appearing in his eyes.
A breakthrough! First-rank Perfected Lord!
The Fruit of Sorrowless Heaven... its Dao is complete!
In an instant, Lü Yang felt a change ripple through the entire Sea of Suffering. Monstrous waves spread out, with Progenitor Tingyou and the Fruit of Sorrowless Heaven at their center.
Immediately after, a voice emerged in his mind. It was Progenitor Tingyou’s voice... And it wasn’t just him. The voice, much like the Dao of Arcane Body, also fell upon the Immortal Pivot, echoing in the ears of many Middle Stage of Golden Core cultivators, and then spreading through the Immortal Pivot to the entire Void Sea of Light!
The content was just a single sentence:
"All of you should know of my great achievement, which far surpasses that of my predecessors!"
HISS!
Hearing the voice echoing in his ears, Lü Yang sucked in a sharp breath. This broadcast to the entire Sea of Light was only a notch below the manifestation of a Dao of Arcane Body!
’Does it have to be this dramatic?’
’The Ascension Ceremony... could this step of the transformation really create such a spectacle? If so, its significance is probably far greater than I imagined!’
Lü Yang turned around, only to see Progenitor Tingyou looking embarrassed, waving his hand and sighing, "That’s an overstatement. It’s not so dramatic as to ’far surpass my predecessors.’ I just have a tiny bit more Talent Skill than others, which allowed me to take a small step forward while standing on the shoulders of giants..."
Lü Yang was rendered speechless.
But he quickly grasped the situation and said with a solemn expression, "Progenitor... your Position will eventually fall back to its original state, right?"
"Correct."
Progenitor Tingyou nodded. "That is the drawback of my Dao. Before reaching the Other Shore, my combat power isn’t sustained. It will slowly decline."
"And after it falls, I need to rest for at least a day before I can climb again."
’It’s fine, not being long-lasting is great too!’
Lü Yang was already satisfied. Based on his calculations, at Progenitor Tingyou’s current rate of decline, he could maintain the combat power of a First-rank Perfected Lord for at least one Hour!
That was already a decisive level of combat power.
After all, if a battle couldn’t be resolved within an Hour, wasting several more Hours would be useless. It would be better to just run away.
’Too bad Ang Xiao ran away so fast...’
Lü Yang thought, grinding his teeth. If Ang Xiao had been a little slower, he could have teamed up with Progenitor Tingyou to give him a two-on-one beatdown!
Suddenly, the Sea of Suffering churned. A dragon’s head, as majestic as a mountain with magnificent horns, emerged from the depths. Its massive eyes were filled with horror.
"This... how is this possible! The ascension of a Fruit’s profundity?"
The Old Dragon Monarch!
Lü Yang’s gaze snapped over, and understanding dawned on him. ’This is the Tribulation that was supposed to come after Ang Xiao. Too bad the Progenitor was too fast and succeeded before it could arrive.’
The result was that the Old Dragon Monarch had arrived too late.
Of course, he couldn’t be blamed. He had already rushed over as fast as he could after receiving the guidance of the karmic links. The only one to blame was Progenitor Tingyou for being such a monstrous talent.
Just his bad luck, I suppose.
In the next second, the Old Dragon Monarch, who had just appeared, realized something was wrong. He immediately used Sumeru into Mustard Seed, reverted to his human form, and tried to return to the Current World.
However, Lü Yang’s voice rang out before he could:
"Progenitor! Now!"
RUMBLE!
Before his voice had even faded, Lü Yang and Progenitor Tingyou had already made their move. Lü Yang once again summoned his newly reconstituted Banner Spirits, borrowing the power of the Fruit of Thunderbolt Fire.
Progenitor Tingyou, on the other hand, wore a calm expression and slowly said:
"Stop."
The Ruyi Heart—all things as one wishes! All Phenomena bends to the will!
This wasn’t some kind of powerful control ability. Rather, under Progenitor Tingyou’s influence, the course of events was naturally guided toward a result where the Old Dragon Monarch could not move.
Progenitor Tingyou only needed to "make a wish."
Then, the Ruyi Heart would naturally make his wish come true.
Therefore, in the next second, the Old Dragon Monarch’s movements came to an abrupt halt. The injuries from the Tribulation Evil Profound Light, which had been concealed by Mu Changsheng, suddenly erupted!
This eruption instantly caused the Old Dragon Monarch unbearable suffering.
Not only did his movements stop, but more than half of his originally flawless dragon body instantly burst apart, and his mountain-like dragon head couldn’t stop spewing blood.
This directly caused his condition to take a fatal decline.
What was even more fatal was that Lü Yang’s attack had also arrived!
The attacks of countless Banner Spirits rained down on the Old Dragon Monarch like specks of starlight. They didn’t have much killing power, but they instantly stacked ten layers of a killing mark.
All Evil Beheaded, detonate!
[Judgment: You surpass the target in the Magic Domain, the Fruit Realm Domain, and the Realm Domain. The opponent has already entered a half-crippled state of grievous, incurable injury.]
Almost at the exact moment this prompt appeared.
AWOOOO—!!!
Accompanied by a world-shaking, miserable cry, the Old Dragon Monarch, whose old wounds had already reopened, could no longer hold on. His majestic dragon body just exploded with a BOOM!
Amidst the exploding shower of blood and light, a Soul swiftly returned to the Current World and fled into the Netherworld.
Death and reincarnation!
At this moment, the Old Dragon Monarch’s heart was filled with nothing but terror: He was dead! If he hadn’t been at the Middle Stage of Golden Core, this death would have caused him to fall from his Position as a Perfected Lord!
Having clung to life for so long, this was the first time the Old Dragon Monarch had ever regretted a decision so much... That day, at the Nourishing Life Master, he truly should not have made a move!