Early morning, bright with sunlight.
Gentle breezes drifted past, refreshing the spirit.
In Chang'an City, on a military airfield.
Several passenger aircraft accelerated and took off, surging directly into the sky.
Inside one of them, Lu Yuan sat upright in a chair, resting with his eyes closed.
Today was the day to depart for Ancient Mount Shu.
Just as Dean Zheng had said, all preliminary arrangements had been made. There was no need to trek on foot, for military aircraft were provided.
Though the cabin was not large, the plane offered superior speed. Following the global mutation, the distance between Chang'an and the Shu Region had grown vast; traveling on foot would have taken who knew how long.
Even with Lu Yuan's current strength, it would still take considerable time. Since transport was provided, why not take advantage of it?
Besides him, there were several other people in the cabin, three of whom he had seen before.
They were Zhu Qingyu, Qin Lan, and the Northern Emperor, hailed as one of the Five Great Sovereigns.
The rest were also students of Zhendan Academy, possessing quite decent strength at the fifth stage of the Initial Realm.
Presumably, they all belonged to the elite tier with strong talent.
As for Dean Zheng, he had already left two days prior to arrange matters in advance.
"Mr. Lu, the journey will take some time. Have something to eat first." At this moment, Zhu Qingyu walked over holding a tray. The food upon it was no ordinary fare, but exotic beast meat, which offered many benefits to the Awakened when consumed.
"Thank you."
With the Ancestral Dragon Breathing Method, Lu Yuan would suffer no ill effects even if he went without food for ten days to half a month.
Yet he did not refuse; he accepted it, though he did not eat it right away, setting it beside him as he closed his eyes to rest his spirit.
Ever since breaking twelve genetic shackles, Lu Yuan had discovered something different.
He could now clearly perceive the remaining shackles.
According to his estimates, breaking the subsequent shackles would not be difficult. The key lay in resonating with them.
Simply put, one had to nourish them with spiritual and soul power. Once nourished to a certain point, provided there was sufficient energy, they could be burst open.
Moreover, rather than one by one, several could be shattered all at once—though that depended on the strength of one's spirit and soul.
With the Ancient Bodhi Tree bolstering him, this was naturally no issue for Lu Yuan.
Thus, he was currently nourishing ten shackles at once. When the time was right, he could break them together.
This way, he estimated that breaking the rest and reaching the Golden Body Realm would not take too long.
"Senior, tell me, are you stronger, or is that Lu Yuan stronger?" Qin Lan looked toward Lu Yuan, then turned her head and whispered. This question had troubled her for a long time. Based on online discussions, the man was stronger than her senior, but she couldn't help feeling unconvinced. After all, her senior was the Northern Emperor.
Hearing this, the Northern Emperor paused in silence for a moment before saying solemnly, "He is stronger than me."
Those words caused everyone nearby to turn their heads.
It had always been a matter of online debate—incessant arguments over who was the number one among the Five Great Sovereigns and who surpassed whom, each person holding their own view. During this period, Winged Celestial, Asura, Ice Fairy, and the others had all successfully entered the Awakening Realm, demonstrating even greater combat prowess, so no consensus had ever been reached.
Yet now, right before their eyes, the Northern Emperor admitted he was weaker than Lu Yuan!
"Senior, why do you say that?" Zhu Qingyu was also intrigued.
The others nodded in agreement, eager to know the specific reason. After all, they hadn't even fought yet.
During this period, the Northern Emperor had been in Chang'an City all along. Since those present were all elite students who often trained together in their free time, they had naturally grown familiar with him. In the past, they would never have been so casual.
Hearing everyone's questions, the Northern Emperor cast his gaze toward Lu Yuan, watching him for quite a while.
"You all know my bloodline is special, most prominently reflected in my physique. Because of this, I possess an extraordinary perception when it comes to the human body. In terms of sheer physique alone, aside from Winged Celestial, I fear neither of the other two, and could even defeat them within a short span.
"Yet this Mr. Lu is different. Every time I sense his physique, I feel a sudden dread, my heart pounding with fear.
"It is as if within his body there slumbers a true dragon, terrifying beyond measure once unleashed."
All along, the Northern Emperor had absolute confidence in his physique. Even against an existence like Winged Celestial, he could engage in a fierce battle, and in a clash of pure flesh and blood, his odds of victory would be considerably higher.
Yet now, after observing Lu Yuan up close, the Northern Emperor's confidence had vanished without a trace, replaced by deep wariness.
This was a first for him.
It was the very first time he had felt this way since the global mutation awakened his bloodline.
"What?"
Hearing this, all of them were astounded.
They had never expected Senior Northern Emperor to directly admit he was inferior to someone else in what should have been his forte.
For a moment, the way they looked at Lu Yuan changed once more.
Finally, they pressed him again, asking who was truly stronger between Lu Yuan and Winged Celestial.
The Northern Emperor did not give a definitive answer, knowing that Winged Celestial's bloodline potential had been stimulated, making him stronger than before.
At this, Qin Lan and the others could only drop the matter with a sigh of helplessness and shift the conversation to other topics regarding this trip to Ancient Mount Shu.
Zhendan Academy had invited numerous Awakened; preliminary estimates indicated that at least ten thousand people would go.
Ancient Mount Shu possessed legends of sword immortals.
If one could comprehend and obtain a legacy, the benefits would be immense, so no one could resist the temptation.
Moreover, many elite students from the various branch academies had chosen to participate as well, including quite a few whose combat strength was not particularly high, but whose comprehension ability was extraordinary.
Currently, most powerful Awakened possessed potent bloodlines by nature, or had consumed spiritual fruits and exotic herbs that awakened the power of their bloodlines.
Bloodline and comprehension were sometimes discussed together, but strictly speaking, they were two entirely different things.
Bloodline indicated high potential and rapid evolution.
Comprehension was different.
Its most prominent manifestation was acute sensitivity to breathing methods, visualization methods, and the like, allowing one to thoroughly comprehend them in a short time and unleash their power.
It was equivalent to possessing great mental acuity; even if one's strength appeared modest for now, given time, their achievements would be far from small.
Of course, most of the time, bloodline and comprehension coexisted.
Those who chose to head to Ancient Mount Shu essentially held immense confidence in their own comprehension.
Qin Lan and the others listed several candidates, debating who was more outstanding and who could comprehend a superior legacy.
Among them, one person caught Lu Yuan's attention.
The Little Celestial Master of Mount Longhu.
Chunyang.
Although this person was not among the Five Great Sovereigns, he was universally recognized as possessing extraordinary comprehension. He had penetrated multiple legacies of Mount Longhu, achieving great mastery in each.
"It seems this journey to Ancient Mount Shu won't be too boring after all."
Hearing this, a smile touched the corners of Lu Yuan's mouth.
He had not been in deep seclusion, so he naturally heard everyone's discussion clearly.
In particular, the Northern Emperor's assessment had surprised him somewhat.
Evidently, the man was indeed quite formidable when it came to physique.
Lu Yuan was even wearing the Innate Qi Robe, yet the other had still managed to perceive a trace of what lay beneath.
Still, it did not matter.
So what if he had noticed?
Putting the thought aside, Lu Yuan continued sensing and nourishing the shackles deep within his genes.
Thus, time slipped by.
A few days later.
Boom!
A loud explosion caused Lu Yuan to open his eyes.
It turned out a bird of prey had been spotted leaping and provoking them repeatedly at high altitude, and it had finally taken a missile to shoot it down.
Such incidents had occurred from time to time over the past few days; a moment's carelessness carried the risk of being pursued.
Nowadays, only military aircraft dared fly at high altitude.
Ordinary passenger flights had long since been grounded.
Paying it no mind, Lu Yuan saw that the time was nearly up and looked out the window at the ground below.
Massive mountain ranges connected one after another, towering above the clouds. Some peaks were even level with the airplane, showing just how high they were.
The mountainsides were lush and verdant, overgrown with towering ancient trees, and the cries of ancient beasts could be heard from time to time.
Aside from certain cities, most of the outside world had become like this: resembling an uncivilized primeval wilderness steeped in a dense aura of savagery.
"Mr. Lu, we'll be descending soon. About half an hour left," Zhu Qingyu's voice came, reminding him to prepare early.
"All right," Lu Yuan answered, standing up to stretch his body.
They had finally arrived.
Meanwhile, on a clearing newly carved out at the foot of Ancient Mount Shu.
All around, fully armed troops had set up a cordon.
Tanks and armored vehicles were lined up in a row.
Anyone stepping a single step across the line would surely face overwhelming firepower.
Moreover, in the shadows, perhaps even more potent heavy firearms were already locked onto the area.
Inside the cordon, the crowd surged.
These were all Awakened, vast in number—preliminarily estimated at well over twenty thousand.
Evidently, as time went by, more and more people had gained supernatural powers and embarked upon the path of evolution.
At this moment, the Awakened in the clearing were all visibly excited, gazing into the distance ahead.
The legacies of Ancient Mount Shu—who wouldn't want to obtain them?
If the expedition to the Mount Li Imperial Mausoleum had stopped and killed many people with its three trials, here one only needed to sit in meditation and comprehend. It was vastly more relaxed and lacked great danger, which was also a major reason for its appeal.
Now, everyone looked ahead.
There stood an immense, towering peak whose summit pointed toward the sky like a sword, exuding profound majesty.
From above, flights of stone stairs extended all the way down to the foot of the mountain.
At set intervals stood a three-zhang-tall stone stele.
The steles were pitch-black and appeared unremarkable, yet each was engraved with the image of a sword—lifelike, as though it were a genuine divine sword.
Counting them up, there were ninety-nine sword steles in total, arranged sequentially upward.
The highest stood at the very summit.
Everyone knew that the stele at the peak contained the strongest, supreme legacy and fortune.
Of course, many felt there was no need to climb that high; comprehending the ones at the foot of the mountain would suffice.
"Old Zheng, how many sword stele legacies do you think we'll be able to obtain this time with Ancient Mount Shu opened?" At the mountain's foot, an elderly man spoke, looking at Dean Zheng beside him.
This old man was the dean of the Shuntian City branch of Zhendan Academy, surnamed Chen, and the highest-ranking among all branch academy deans.
Beside them were three others, two men and one woman, who were the deans of the other three supercities.
"Who knows? A dozen or so would already be pretty good," Dean Zheng shook his head. "And I reckon their rankings won't be very high either—at most around the thirtieth tier."
For this sword stele legacy comprehension initiative, Zhendan Academy had prepared extensively.
There were ninety-nine tiers in all, where the number represented the tier: the higher the number, the higher the rank, and naturally, the greater the difficulty.
Thirty tiers was roughly one-third of the way up.
"Indeed. Compared to the first tier, what level of comprehension would one need to comprehend a stele at the thirtieth tier?" another chimed in—the dean of the Shanghai academy, a woman in her thirties or forties.
She gave a slight sigh as she spoke, for she had tried it herself and indeed comprehended one art.
Yet its rank was not high, only at the fifteenth tier.
In fact, Zhendan Academy had previously mobilized all its elites, even inviting out several veteran Daoist priests.
Yet the highest anyone had reached was only up to the twenty-first tier, and none had succeeded in comprehending the legacy within that sword stele.
The difficulty was simply too great.
The required comprehension was far too high.
Thus, in the end, they could only pin their hopes on a larger crowd, casting a wide net, though none could be certain of the outcome.
"Look, Asura is here! Asura of Tianshen Technology!" someone exclaimed, looking toward the mountain path where several figures were walking out.
"Doesn't Asura use a saber? Why did he come to Ancient Mount Shu to comprehend sword stele legacies?"
"That's Ice Fairy! Ice Fairy is here too!"
"Two of the Five Great Sovereigns have arrived. This is almost as bustling as the Mount Li Imperial Mausoleum was!"
"Didn't you know? Word is that the Northern Emperor and the newly risen sovereign, Human Sovereign Lu Yuan, will also be coming."
"You mean everyone except Winged Celestial is here?"
The crowd watched Asura and Ice Fairy approaching from the distance, talking animatedly.
Although the sword stele legacies tested comprehension, those who possessed great strength certainly wouldn't have poor comprehension either.
Some also debated who would ultimately achieve the highest ranking.
Yet there was no consensus on such matters.
Comprehension and bloodline power were entirely different; one couldn't judge comprehension from outward appearance alone.
Soon, as time went on, more and more people arrived.
Among them were many figures from the so-called Top 100 List.
Yet at this, the eyes of the five Zhendan Academy deans showed little change.
Even though the event had not yet begun, they knew from past performance that these people were largely on the same level regarding comprehension; reaching beyond the twentieth tier would already be quite impressive.
Not until a short while later, when a young man dressed in Daoist robes appeared, did a hint of delight finally show on the five deans' faces.
"Little Celestial Master Chunyang of Mount Longhu possesses exceptional natural talent. It's said the Old Celestial Master called him a genius seen once in a century."
"Whether we can obtain an even more powerful legacy this time will depend on Little Celestial Master Chunyang's performance."
"I believe he can reach at least the thirtieth tier, if not higher."
They chimed in one after another, holding immense expectations for the Little Celestial Master, and even walked over to greet him.
Soon, the five deans' eyes lit up once more, for they spotted a young Buddhist monk from Mount Jiuhua. He was the personal disciple of the current abbot, bearing the Dharma name Huikong. He was also a figure whose natural talent rivaled that of Little Celestial Master Chunyang, ranking in the top ten of the Top 100 List.
One could hardly blame the deans for reacting this way. All along, monks and Daoists had been the quintessential exemplars of meditation and enlightenment.
Those obscure, tongue-twisting Buddhist doctrines and Daoist scriptures were effortlessly understood in the hands of such individuals.
In terms of pure comprehension, Little Celestial Master Chunyang and Monk Huikong were definitely superior to the so-called Five Great Sovereigns; they only lagged behind temporarily due to bloodline constraints.
Yet given enough time, they were bound to become exceptionally formidable Awakened in the future. Bloodline determined the floor, while natural talent and comprehension determined the ceiling!
Thus, the arrival of the Daoist and the Buddhist monk immediately sparked heated discussion.
Even Ice Fairy and Asura couldn't help looking over, realizing that the top rankings this time would likely be contested between those two.
"Has that Mr. Lu not arrived yet?"
At this moment, Ice Fairy turned toward the mountain path, lost in thought.
She had received word long ago that Lu Yuan would also participate in this sword stele enlightenment at Ancient Mount Shu. By all rights, he should have arrived by now.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, a group walked out from the distance.
Leading them was the Northern Emperor, flanked by Zhu Qingyu and Qin Lan.
As for Lu Yuan, he followed behind them, appearing thoroughly low-key.
Yet today was not like the past.
Lu Yuan was a newly risen member of the Five Great Sovereigns, crowned with the title of Human Sovereign.
Not long ago, he had struck consecutively against key figures from the Wuzhou Group and Longevity Genetics, even slaying the Southern Sovereign, generating tremendous buzz.
The crowd harbored immense curiosity toward him, and now that they saw him in person, virtually everyone turned their heads, eager to get a closer look.
However, not a single person stepped forward to strike up a conversation, for everyone knew he was an ominous god of slaughter.
He dared to kill right under the walls of Chang'an City.
He was someone they simply could not afford to provoke.
"Mr. Lu, you're quite famous now, aren't you?" Seeing this, Zhu Qingyu couldn't help teasing with a smile blooming like a flower.
Hearing this, Lu Yuan merely replied with a smile. Fame of this sort was something he cared nothing about.
At this very moment, he raised his head.
He looked toward that ancient Mount Shu sword peak.
Or more precisely, toward the ninety-ninth sword stele at the very summit.
Having obtained the Daluo sword core, how could he not match it with the most fitting divine sword technique?
In that case, he would claim it today!
Chapter 57