Breaking Through to Domain Master

"You bestowed the Nine-Leaf Spirit Ginseng upon your disciple Lei Ming, and received a hundredfold return: ten Life Fruits." "Life Fruit!" Lu Qingshan's gaze fixed on the fruit lying in his palm. It gave off a warm, gentle green glow, its surface densely covered in profound natural patterns, like an emerald pearl that had distilled endless vitality into itself. He had struck it rich! That was his first thought. He had never seen one with his own eyes, but Lu Qingshan still knew the great name of the Life Fruit. The Life Fruit was a Cosmic Wonder. The Life Essence it contained was vast and boundless; even a World Master expert, no matter how grievously wounded, so long as a single breath of life remained, would have his injuries healed in an instant upon swallowing one. The Life Fruit was also called a World Master's second life. Many World Masters would bankrupt themselves and still struggle to obtain a single one of these supreme treasures. And he, Lu Qingshan, a mere Cosmic Level Ninth Stage, had obtained ten? A faint sense of crisis settled around him. Lu Qingshan knew that this news must never be allowed to reach anyone. If word got out, those lofty World Masters would cast aside their dignity and come to fight over it. With his meager strength—never mind Cosmic Level, even if he broke through to Domain Master, he could not protect such a treasure. He glanced at Lei Ming. This disciple was wholly absorbed in his breakthrough, his five senses sealed. When Lu Qingshan took out the fruits, he had deliberately kept them out of his line of sight. All ten Life Fruits were taken out. Hum! A surge of life force so mighty it made the heart tremble erupted, and a thick, viscous green instantly filled the secret chamber. Lu Qingshan did not hesitate; in an instant he put the fruits back into his interspatial ring, and the restless vitality slowly subsided. He frowned slightly. No good. The immense Life Force could not be fully concealed. If he ran into a sharp-eyed treasure appraiser, or certain strange insects and star beasts that were extremely sensitive to energy, even inside an interspatial ring it might not stay secret. It seemed he would have to study carefully how to preserve the Life Fruits—or simply use them up as quickly as possible. But the pressing matter was to solve his own inability to break through. Now that he had the Life Fruit, that was no longer a problem. The Life Fruit could even repair a World Master's Foundation, so healing his Cosmic Level one would naturally be easy. Lu Qingshan had already decided that once Lei Ming finished his breakthrough, he would immediately consume a Life Fruit to heal his damaged Foundation, and then charge at the Domain Master realm. He looked off to the side. His disciple Lei Ming was wrapped in the vast vitality of the Nine-Leaf Spirit Ginseng. He had long since touched the threshold of domain, and breaking through to Star Level was only a matter of course. Boom! A powerful wave of origin force exploded from within him. Amid churning air currents, he opened his eyes, unable to hide his excitement. "Teacher, I've broken through!" Lei Ming had never expected to reach the Star Level so quickly. With his current strength, he could now be counted among the experts of Horn Thunder Star. "Mm." Lu Qingshan nodded slightly. "Star Level, a lifespan of one epoch—that is enough. Next, you will bitterly cultivate the Thunderclap Nine Blades. If within ten years you can step into the first stage of domain..." His tone was flat, yet carried expectation. "Your teacher has other rewards for you." But feeling the transformation of his body, Lei Ming's eyes were firm. "Your disciple will not fail your expectations." Then he picked up the remaining greater part of the Nine-Leaf Spirit Ginseng and respectfully offered it up. "Teacher, this treasure is too precious. Your disciple broke through using only two leaves; please take back the rest." Lei Ming had just used the Nine-Leaf Spirit Ginseng and naturally knew how outrageous this treasure was. The life energy it contained was unheard of. He had used only two leaves and easily broken through, and he could even feel that his body had grown much lighter. "A treasure like this—even for an expert like Teacher, it must be precious, surely." Lu Qingshan waved a hand indifferently. "This is a gift from your teacher to welcome you. How could there be any question of taking it back? Still, as things stand with you now, possessing a treasure like this will only bring you trouble." He looked at Lei Ming, his tone brooking no doubt. "Swallow it all." Lei Ming trusted his teacher completely. Without hesitation, he grabbed the spirit ginseng, roots and leaves together, and swallowed it whole into his belly! "Urgh." The instant the ginseng entered his belly, Lei Ming's eyes bulged. A life torrent like heaven and earth collapsing exploded within him. His bones groaned under the unbearable load, and wisps of emerald essence spilled uncontrollably from his seven orifices. He felt like an air sac inflated to its limit, ready to burst at any moment. "Teacher...!" He howled in pain, struggling to suppress the raging energy within, only to find himself completely out of control. "Calm your mind." Lu Qingshan's figure drew close like a phantom, one palm pressing against Lei Ming's back. Hum! A stream of origin force, condensed like iron and utterly domineering, poured instantly into Lei Ming's body, brusquely suppressing and locking down the out-of-control life energy, forcing it back deep into his body. "Done." Lu Qingshan withdrew his hand, his voice as calm as an ancient well. "Refine the remaining medicinal power slowly. Bury this matter at the bottom of your heart; do not speak of it to others." Lei Ming, drenched in sweat from his narrow escape from death, felt the immense energy firmly imprisoned within him and nodded in awe. "Your disciple understands." "Go." The heavy stone door rumbled shut, sealing the inside from the outside. In the secret chamber, only Lu Qingshan remained. His eyes were calm as he flipped his hand and took out a Life Fruit. Without hesitation, he swallowed it in one bite. No guidance was needed. The fruit dissolved the moment it entered his belly, turning into a warm, vast current of life that in an instant washed through every limb and bone. His Foundation, withered like scorched earth after a long drought, greedily drank in this pure Life Essence like a whale swallowing water. A deficit of tens of thousands of years was repaired and made whole at a speed visible to the naked eye. In just a few breaths, the Foundation Lu Qingshan had been unable to repair for tens of thousands of years was restored to its original state—back to how it had been before he entered the Giant Axe Life-and-Death Battle. Within his body, an ocean of life force still surged. "The time has come!" A sharp light flashed in Lu Qingshan's eyes. He hesitated no longer and began his assault on the Domain Master realm. This was his fourth attempt, and he already knew the process by heart. The vast origin force within him condensed and evolved madly. In an instant, a brilliant star map woven of pure origin force emerged, countless stars moving along profound trajectories, every shift setting off tides of power. Lu Qingshan sealed his five senses and sank his mind wholly into mastering this starry sky of origin force. He lost all track of time... Boom—rumble— Deep in his consciousness, as if the universe were first opening, the revolving stars suddenly lost balance and madly collapsed and crashed toward the center. A pitch-black vortex that devoured all things instantly took shape. Its terrifying gravity not only tore at the remaining origin force but dragged even the vast life force in his body into it by force. "Condense!" Lu Qingshan's will was like steel as he roared in his heart. The black hole compressed and collapsed madly, its volume shrinking sharply, its density climbing to a terrifying level! Pff! Pff! Pff! At the same time, Lu Qingshan's flesh began to disintegrate. Blood and bone shattered inch by inch, but the life force swept into the black hole poured out endless vitality, repairing and reassembling him in an instant. Disintegration and repair, destruction and rebirth—the cruelest struggle played out within his shell of a body. The pain was like being carved by a thousand knives in slow dismemberment. Lu Qingshan's body shuddered violently, yet he did not even furrow his brows. The Singularity within his body, amid endless destruction and rebirth, compressed to the utmost! Finally— Hum... A strange trembling hum rose from the depths of his soul. A pitch-black Life Core, hovering between the real and the unreal, holding endless energy and the imprint of life, finally condensed completely! Domain Master—achieved! An indescribable sense of release swept through body and mind. He had finally succeeded! After 90,000 years of cultivation, Lu Qingshan had finally broken through to the Domain Master stage. The hundred and twenty years of life he had left became, in an instant, nine hundred thousand years. The limit of his lifespan no longer existed. The strands of silver in Lu Qingshan's hair now turned black as ink.