A brilliant glint flashed in Lu Yuan's eyes.
The power throughout his body surged like rivers bursting through dams.
His golden vitality shone more dazzling and radiant than ever, illuminating the entire room.
A full twenty-eight grotto-heavens were nurtured into existence, each housing a true god, completely bonded with his mind and soul.
Whenever he willed it, he could mobilize them at any moment, boosting his combat strength twenty-eightfold.
Furthermore, the sheer aura radiating from his flesh had now surpassed the Golden Body Realm, stepping directly into the fifth stage of evolution—the Sovereign King Realm—profound and magnificent.
Even before being fully unleashed, it was already far vaster than before.
Fortunately, with the Ziwu Heaven-Mending Furnace suppressing it, none leaked outward.
Yet even so, it was terrifyingly formidable.
Lu Yuan possessed immense depth, and bolstered by numerous divine treasures, his battle prowess was astonishing. Breaking through this realm brought a massive leap in his personal strength, to the point where quietly cultivating and evolving had become virtually impossible in an ordinary setting.
"Under these circumstances, it seems I'll need to find a dedicated place for this in the future."
A smile touched his eyes at the thought.
He knew that if this continued, even the Ziwu Heaven-Mending Furnace wouldn't be able to keep his burgeoning power from leaking out.
And every breakthrough and evolution inevitably impacted the surroundings.
The path of evolution was the path to godhood; as extraordinary might grew increasingly terrifying, eventually even heaven and earth could no longer hold it down.
This was particularly true once one reached the Saint Realm. The word "Saint" carried immense weight and marked a fundamental departure from all preceding realms.
Reaching that level meant being able to survive in deep space and, at its pinnacle, even crushing minor astral bodies. It was a true metamorphosis in the evolutionary process, transcending what could still be described as human.
Therefore, despite being separated by only a single stage, the gulf between the Sovereign King Realm and the Saint Realm was astronomical.
It was difficult to put into words. Just as it stood now, Lu Yuan's next objective was the sixth stage: the Void Saint Realm.
Yet achieving it, even with his extraordinary foundation, would be exceptionally difficult.
Across the major star sectors of deep space, the Saint Realm represented the core backbone of power. Though it consisted of only three realms, in practice it was divided into numerous steps that had to be traversed and comprehended one by one.
"Next, I must stabilize my realm. Then I can set out for some famous mountains and rivers to seek inheritances and fortunes," Lu Yuan murmured to himself, deep in thought.
He had always maintained crystal-clear goals and thorough plans, knowing precisely what to do next.
For instance, ordinary people who reached the Sovereign King Realm understood how difficult advancing to the sixth stage, the Void Saint Realm, truly was. It required lengthy accumulation, and many ultimately failed to break through at all.
Lu Yuan, however, was different.
He knew this world was still undergoing its revival.
He understood there were countless inheritances and fortunes waiting; as long as he seized the initiative, he could perpetually remain one step ahead of everyone else.
At present, less than three years had passed since the initial mutation, yet he had already attained the fifth stage of evolution.
In his previous life, no one had accomplished such a feat.
Without lingering on those thoughts, Lu Yuan left his room.
The trip to the East Sea Dragon Palace had yielded immense benefits for the entire group. Over this period, everyone's strength and cultivation had undoubtedly undergone significant transformations.
Just as he anticipated, Zhu Qingyu, the Ice Fairy, and the others had all broken several shackles. Little Celestial Master Chunyang, in particular, had snapped ten. By estimate, this group would eventually manage to break at least a dozen or two.
Though a massive gap still separated them from Lu Yuan, their progress was already remarkable. Breaking genetic shackles was far from easy, and with instruction from the Three Immortal Islands, they had received structured training that allowed them to advance far faster than others.
All in all, the core cohort affiliated with the Heavenly Court was flourishing.
Beyond that, the outside world was growing turbulent once more. Many extraterrestrial beings had gained the backing and allegiance of domestic factions, seizing famous mountains and great rivers as strongholds to welcome more of their kin. This had stirred resentment among some of the populace.
After all, they were outsiders. Yet the people also knew this was simply how the situation stood. More and stronger beings would descend, and stopping them was impossible without an all-out war.
Given the current strength of Huaxia and Earth, how could they hope to resist?
Fortunately, because Lu Yuan had slain a batch of formidable extraterrestrial beings, no incidents targeting humanity had occurred during this interval. Comparatively speaking, it was more peaceful than during the initial mutation.
Yet no one knew that this peace was actually fragile and could shatter at any moment.
Earth was currently shielded by an enigmatic force. But what would happen once that force dissipated?
A profound sense of crisis weighed on everyone, and they knew the only solution was to grow stronger.
Fortunately, the authorities were not sitting idle. They were responding actively, building up the Heavenly Court and recruiting more Awakened to its ranks.
After exiting seclusion and learning of these developments, Lu Yuan remained calm. When extraterrestrial beings had descended in his past life, great turmoil had erupted; being able to maintain temporary stability now was hardly a bad thing. And as long as he continued to grow stronger, the situation would not spiral out of control.
After strolling through the Trial Academy, he prepared to return to his quarters to consolidate his realm.
Along the way, however, he bumped into Jiang Ningxian, who was just walking out.
"Stronger again?" Jiang Ningxian's eyes brightened, and a smile spread across her face. "Looks like King Lu had quite the harvest in the East Sea Dragon Palace."
She seemed to enjoy chatting with Lu Yuan. Leaning her chin on her hands over the perimeter wall, two dimples appeared on her cheeks.
If one disregarded her origin, she looked like nothing more than an exquisitely pretty girl next door. Spending time around her revealed that her temperament was quite pleasant as well, devoid of any haughty arrogance.
"It went well enough," Lu Yuan smiled, then inquired about the matter of folded spaces.
His group had spent merely a few hours inside the Dragon Palace, yet a whole month had elapsed in the outside world. He was unfamiliar with such phenomena, and as the global revival and mutations deepened, folded spaces and mythological secret realms would only proliferate, making it essential to understand them ahead of time.
"The passage of time?" Jiang Ningxian pondered briefly before explaining. Such phenomena did indeed occur, though generally speaking, they indicated that the spatial secret realm was unstable or contained some peculiar energy.
The East Sea Dragon Palace's case stemmed from spatial instability, likely the result of an ancient battle.
Even so, she couldn't say for certain what had transpired there. After all, her ancestors had migrated to other star sectors long ago.
"Is that so? I understand." Lu Yuan nodded. At least he had gained valuable insight into folded spaces from her.
"By the way, as the restrictions of heaven and earth gradually lift, I'll probably need to enter seclusion for a while. If anything comes up, speak with Elder Jiang first," Jiang Ningxian said with a smile.
Ever since the second revival and mutation, her situation had been like this, as her bloodline and talents were no longer suppressed. Right now, her cultivation realm did not appear particularly high, but over time, she was bound to become immensely powerful.
Lu Yuan could sense this. He knew that without the suppression of this world, her realm would have exceeded his own.
"Alright." Without pressing further, he nodded in acknowledgement.
With that, both returned to their respective quarters.
Jiang Ningxian did not begin cultivating right away.
"Father said that the Milky Way Star Sector is ushering in a grand era that will ultimately sweep the entire universe into a brilliant golden age, where prodigies from every star sector will contend along the ultimate path of evolution. With this world's unique blessings, several Sons of the Great Era are bound to emerge. Will this Lu Yuan become one of them?"
She recalled her father's parting words before her departure. In short, this place was simply too extraordinary.
In the future, it might well become the center of the entire universe. And a so-called Son of the Great Era was one who gathered destiny and fortune into a single person.
Of course, such status was not restricted to natives of this world. Any who descended would have the chance to be favored by fortune and destiny.
Yet such matters were profoundly nebulous, impossible to clearly articulate or measure.
All Jiang Ningxian could think right now was that, judging by Lu Yuan's performance, he truly possessed the qualifications to become one of those Sons of the Great Era.
"I need to pick up the pace too. Many people I know will be showing up soon, and reuniting with them will certainly be interesting."
She chuckled softly and waved her hand, conjuring an indistinct barrier of light that enveloped her entirely in protective shielding.
With that, entering seclusion posed no risk.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Lu Yuan sat cross-legged with his eyes closed.
Having just broken through to the Sovereign King Realm and gained a surge of power, he needed to thoroughly digest and adapt to it.
At the same time, upon reaching this realm, he had to temper his internal organs once again, purging every impurity to divinize them and achieve a true union of spirit and flesh.
If the path of evolution was likened to crossing a boundless sea, the physical vessel was the boat, and the spirit was the voyager within. Only when the two merged into one could they reach the distant shore across the sea of suffering.
Thus, the Sovereign King Realm was of paramount importance, serving as the final step before achieving sainthood.
Lu Yuan dared not treat his cultivation and evolution at this stage lightly.
Once he fully assimilated his newfound strength, he would also need to retemper his organs. For him, however, that posed little difficulty.
Having fused with the Eleven-Tier Blood Pagoda and the Great Sun Flame God Furnace, his physique and internal organs were already near perfection, needing only to be divinized.
Coupled with the genetic shackles he had unlocked, this would unleash even greater might and unfathomable potential.
Thus, he entered seclusion, though unlike before, it did not demand his undivided attention. He could spare a thread of consciousness for other matters, such as monitoring the outside situation or studying the Ancient Heavenly Emperor Token.
Time slipped by.
A few days later, Lu Yuan had fully adapted to all his newfound power, commanding it as smoothly as his own limbs.
It was on that very day, however, that he pulled out his communicator to check recent news and notices, only to spot a particular post accompanied by a video.
The content was straightforward: Mount Kongtong had recently displayed unusual activity. Day and night, ten thousand fathoms of radiant haze shot straight into the sky, drawing an increasing number of extraterrestrial beings toward it.
At the same time, official agencies monitoring famous mountains and great rivers had detected profoundly mysterious energy fluctuations at Mount Kongtong.
It seemed a massive space that had previously remained concealed was now on the verge of emerging into the world.
Chapter 144