Refining Dharmic Power, Ascending to Golden Immortal in a Century!

"The tenth tier..." Lu Changsheng now stood upon the tenth tier of the Heavenly Immortal Steps, the very highest level. After clearing the seventh through ninth tiers, he had earned three thousand points of immortal merit. Adding the three hundred merit from the fourth through sixth tiers, his tally stood at three thousand three hundred points. This was already a tremendous harvest. Yet even that paled in comparison to the reward for the tenth tier. Conquering the tenth tier yielded a staggering ten thousand points of immortal merit! Consequently, all eyes were riveted upon him. Every Immortal Monarch stared intently at Lu Changsheng. Not a single person dared look down on him any longer. After all, if he could clear the tenth tier of the Heavenly Immortal Steps, Lu Changsheng would stand superior to countless Immortal Monarchs. And that did not merely refer to those who had never seen the battlefield beyond the heavens, but also the seasoned veterans who had fought and bled there. There were Heavenly Immortal Steps beyond the heavens as well. Yet to this day, the Immortal Monarchs who had managed to pass the tenth tier could be counted on one hand. If Lu Changsheng truly conquered the tenth tier, he would become a living legend. However, the tenth tier was notoriously difficult. For on this final tier stood the most troublesome and formidable enemy found on the battlefield beyond the heavens—the You clan! *Buzz.* A colossal giant, its body pitch-black as ink, materialized on the tenth tier. It radiated a terrifying pressure. Its mere aura weighed heavily upon Lu Changsheng. Yet he could clearly sense that the figure's energy level remained within the Heavenly Immortal realm—at most, that of a Great Immortal Monarch. Even so, it felt far more horrifying than an Eight Tribulation Great Immortal Monarch. The You clan! This was a true member of the You clan! The invaders of the Heaven Realm were, in truth, the You clan. The Shadow clan, Ba, Demon-kin, and others Lu Changsheng had encountered before were strictly speaking merely slaves of the You clan. The You clan had conquered and enslaved these beings across countless worlds, reigning high above them. Now, the You clan was pushing forward with its invasion of the Heaven Realm, seeking to conquer and enslave the Immortals as well, turning them into just another race under their heel. Furthermore, Lu Changsheng knew of a unique characteristic of the You clan: the blood of the You clan! A single drop of You clan blood could allow a True Immortal to pass a physical tribulation. For any True Immortal, it was nothing short of a supreme treasure! Yet blood of the You clan was exceedingly rare, for the simple reason that obtaining it was nearly impossible. Securing a drop on the battlefield beyond the heavens was a monumental feat. Today, however, Lu Changsheng had his chance. If he could slay the You clan giant before him, wouldn't its entire flesh and blood become his spoils of war? A fervent light entered Lu Changsheng's eyes. "Hmm?" The You clan giant caught Lu Changsheng's eager gaze and instantly understood what it meant. "Hmph. A mere Heavenly Immortal dares covet this seat? Unfortunate circumstances led to my capture by a Taiyi Golden Immortal of your Immortal clan, who placed me upon these Heavenly Immortal Steps. To this day, every Heavenly Immortal who dared challenge the tenth tier has failed. You will be no exception!" This member of the You clan was exceptionally arrogant—or rather, supremely confident. He had not fallen to a Heavenly Immortal, nor did he believe it possible to be defeated by one. It had taken a Taiyi Golden Immortal stepping in to capture him. Thus, facing an Immortal Monarch of the Heavenly Immortal realm, the giant was filled with absolute confidence. A Heavenly Immortal could never be his match! "It is said that the You clan possesses no weaknesses, and that for a Heavenly Immortal to slay one is as difficult as ascending the heavens," Lu Changsheng said calmly. "Even so, I would like to try." With those words, Lu Changsheng held nothing back. Against a foe from the You clan, how could he afford restraint? *Buzz.* The Mortal Dao Fruit stirred slightly. Immediately after, the Illusory Realm descended! This was currently Lu Changsheng's most powerful means, effective against any lifeform possessing a mental consciousness. *Rumble!* The Illusory Realm manifested, crashing down like an entire crushing world to suppress the You clan giant. "What?" The giant's eyes widened. He realized at once that his consciousness had been swept into the Illusory Realm. Yet when it came to mental consciousness, the You clan was second to none. Suppress his mind? An ordinary Immortal Monarch could never hope to achieve such a feat. Lu Changsheng, however, was no ordinary Immortal Monarch. "Triple space of the Ancient Domain Heavenly Immortal battlefield!" The three layers of space pressed down, yet still seemed unable to fully subdue the giant. "Changsheng Dao Field!" Next, Lu Changsheng constructed the Changsheng Dao Field within the Illusory Realm, bringing its power to bear against the foe. "Ahhh!" The giant struggled with all his might. Remarkably, even with the addition of the Changsheng Dao Field, he could not be fully repressed. One had to admit that the You clan's mental consciousness was astoundingly resilient. An ordinary Heavenly Immortal Monarch would have succumbed to the Illusory Realm long ago. Yet this was still not the full extent of Lu Changsheng's Illusory Realm. "Boundary Sea!" Lu Changsheng mobilized the full power of his Illusory Realm, and the Boundary Sea manifested. The moment it crashed into place, the giant's consciousness felt as though it were shouldering the weight of an entire world. It was a complete world in all but the rules of time—a true world in every other aspect! No matter how formidable this You clan member was, he was still only at the Heavenly Immortal level. How could he possibly bear the weight of an entire world? "Suppress!" Lu Changsheng uttered a single word. His voice echoed throughout the vast Illusory Realm. *Crack!* The giant's formidable consciousness shattered like brittle glass, fracturing into web-like fissures. After all, the Illusory Realm contained a world; under the crushing weight of a world, no consciousness, however sturdy, could endure. "How is this possible?" "You... you have grasped the secrets of the world and become a World Master?" "No! In a mere Heaven Realm, among a mere Immortal clan, how could anyone master the Dao of Worlds and become a World Master?" "This is impossible...!" The giant roared in frenzy, overwhelmed by disbelief at the spectacle within the Illusory Realm. *A World Master?* Lu Changsheng's heart stirred. Had this creature misunderstood something? There was no time to interrogate him, however. Lu Changsheng's only choice was to grind the giant's consciousness to dust; otherwise, he could never overcome him. *Boom!* Under the full, unrelenting crushing force of the Illusory Realm, the giant's mental consciousness shattered into dispersed fragments. "Ah!" the giant shrieked. At the same time, Lu Changsheng unleashed his divine abilities, Mighty Power and Devour Spirit, striking the giant's physical body again and again. Yet he still could not completely destroy it. The You clan's flesh possessed an immortal property akin to that of a Heavenly Immortal—in fact, it was even tougher! In terms of pure physical resilience, even Lu Changsheng, who walked the Physical Immortal Dao, was far inferior to the You clan. Even with its consciousness shattered into fragments, Lu Changsheng's Mighty Power and Devour Spirit could not destroy the body. It was far stronger than he had imagined! People claimed the You clan had no weaknesses, and it seemed they were right. It was not that they excelled in everything; rather, Lu Changsheng sensed that their true forte lay in their flesh! Even so, a member of the You clan stripped of its mental consciousness was no different from a corpse. "Collect." Lu Changsheng decisively stored away the giant's remains. With the body in hand, why worry about lacking blood of the You clan? If this corpse remained a "living corpse," wouldn't it provide an endless supply of blood? Lu Changsheng understood full well how precious that blood was. To a degree, possessing an intact You clan corpse meant a steady stream of rare treasures, and even immortal merit, since You clan blood could be exchanged for merit beyond the heavens. *Whoosh.* Lu Changsheng was teleported out of the Heavenly Immortal Steps. Having cleared the tenth tier, he had earned a grand total of thirteen thousand three hundred points of immortal merit. Such an amount was a massive windfall, to say nothing of the You clan corpse that could be bled repeatedly. His conquest of the tenth tier was simply too shocking. Even after he departed the Heavenly Immortal Steps, not a single person stepped forward to converse with him. They merely watched him from afar. Only after Lu Changsheng vanished from sight did the crowd of immortals seem to snap back to reality. *Rumble!* A clamor erupted around the Heavenly Immortal Steps. "The tenth tier... That Immortal Monarch actually conquered the tenth tier..." "I looked into it. His name is Lu Changsheng, known as the Changsheng Immortal Monarch! This previously obscure Immortal Monarch is now famous across the realm—a true rise to glory in a single battle!" "The tenth tier of the Heavenly Immortal Steps! Even more terrifyingly, he actually slew a member of the You clan and left its body completely intact. It's... unbelievable!" "A single drop of You clan blood lets a True Immortal pass a physical tribulation. How many drops can an intact corpse yield?" Greedy, fervent looks filled the eyes of countless immortals. Thirteen thousand immortal merit aside, the intact corpse alone was enough to stir intense envy. Some even wondered if the Heavenly Immortal Steps had somehow grown easier. Many Immortal Monarchs immediately stepped up to test their mettle. The results were brutal. Most could not even get past the first three tiers, and those who managed to reach the fourth or fifth tier found every step an uphill struggle. The difficulty had not changed at all. The Heavenly Immortal Steps had not become easier; Lu Changsheng was simply exceptionally powerful. Without relying on immortal treasures, Lu Changsheng's prowess could arguably rank him first among all Immortal Monarchs on the battlefield beyond the heavens. After all, the steps existed beyond the heavens as well, yet no Immortal Monarch there had managed to clear the tenth tier. Of course, many Immortal Monarchs derived their true combat strength from immortal treasures, spell arrays, and other external aids. In an all-out, no-holds-barred life-or-death battle, Lu Changsheng might not be the absolute first, but he was undeniably among the very best. *** Upon returning to his cave dwelling, Lu Changsheng immediately inspected his Illusory Realm. There, he noticed something unexpected. His Illusory Realm had suppressed the giant's mental consciousness and crushed it into pieces, but those fragments had not entirely dissipated. They were not indestructible; they simply required time to be ground away. Back on the steps, he had lacked the time, but now he had all the time he needed. Lu Changsheng focused his efforts within the Illusory Realm, patiently wearing down the consciousness fragments bit by bit. One month, two months, three months... It took Lu Changsheng a full half-year to thoroughly erase the fragments of the giant's consciousness. During this process, he passively absorbed some of the giant's memory fragments. They were disjointed and incomplete, posing no threat to him. Yet from these fragments, he caught glimpses of the You clan's ways. For instance, he saw snippets of their cultivation method. The You clan was born with extraordinarily sturdy physical bodies, and they capitalized on this advantage by continually tempering their flesh. When people said the You clan had no weaknesses, it was only relative. Their mental consciousness was also remarkably powerful—even the Illusory Realm could only temporarily shatter it, requiring half a year to obliterate it completely, which was vastly superior to that of an Immortal Monarch. Yet their bodies were stronger still. The path the You clan walked was one of proving the Dao through strength. Indeed, the words Lu Changsheng pieced together from the memory fragments were precisely "proving the Dao through strength." He recalled the giant's dying cry. *A World Master? Grasping a world... The You clan seemed completely shocked, even incredulous.* *What is a World Master? What does it mean to grasp a world? Why did it react so intensely?* Lu Changsheng frowned deeply. If possible, he would have liked to examine the giant's complete memories, but that was impossible. Had he not crushed the consciousness into fragments and slowly ground them away, he wouldn't even have obtained these scattered remnants. To seize someone's complete memories required forcibly extracting them, which was currently beyond the capabilities of his Illusory Realm. Even so, Lu Changsheng now knew that his Illusory Realm had been mistaken for something called a World Master, or grasping a world—something that appeared utterly terrifying to the You clan. This bolstered his confidence; the You clan genuinely feared his Illusory Realm, which proved it was an effective weapon against them. "With thirteen thousand three hundred points of immortal merit, I should be able to exchange for a Heavenly Immortal cultivation method." "Time to visit the Heavenly Court's Exchange Hall." Lu Changsheng rose and set off for the Heavenly Court's Exchange Hall. Exchanges could be conducted here just as they were on the battlefield beyond the heavens, as long as one had immortal merit. He calculated the remaining time. There were still over four years left before the century deadline to depart for the battlefield beyond the heavens—plenty of time to acquire an art and practice it. When Lu Changsheng arrived at the Exchange Hall, he immediately drew the attention of everyone present, having become a renowned figure. "Isn't that Changsheng Immortal Monarch?" "I heard he cleared the tenth tier of the Heavenly Immortal Steps and now holds over thirteen thousand immortal merit. How enviable." "Over ten thousand merit... That's enough to exchange for a Golden Immortal-grade treasure..." "If only I had ten thousand merit, I wouldn't even know what to dream of." Most Immortal Monarchs looked upon him with envy. Everyone was searching for ways to boost their strength before departing for the battlefield beyond the heavens; every bit of added strength meant a greater chance of survival. Lu Changsheng walked over to the technique section. Heavenly Immortal cultivation methods started at one thousand merit, with higher-tier ones costing two to three thousand. After some consideration, Lu Changsheng selected a superior art near the top of the price range, spending three thousand merit on the Kunpeng Heavenly Immortal Art. The name carried great momentum. Being named after an ancient divine beast, it likely had ties to the Kunpeng. Its steep price of three thousand merit indicated it was far from ordinary. With over ten thousand merit remaining, Lu Changsheng decided to save the rest for later and returned to his cave dwelling to study the manual. Unrolling the Kunpeng Heavenly Immortal Art, he began his inspection. The Kunpeng Heavenly Immortal Art primarily cultivated dharmic power. What was the defining characteristic of a Heavenly Immortal ascending to a Golden Immortal? Dharmic power! Once one's dharmic power attained immortality, one became a Golden Immortal. So-called dharmic power was the energy residing within an immortal's body. Lu Changsheng had entered the Dao through martial arts, making him a Martial Immortal. Martial Immortals rarely relied on dharmic power, but that did not mean it did not exist. On the contrary, Martial Immortals possessed potent dharmic power; it was simply unique in that it continuously nourished the physical body. The stronger a Martial Immortal's dharmic power, the stronger their physical body became. Dharmic power could nourish not only the flesh, but also the spirit and all other aspects of an immortal. Even the Dao Fruit was linked to dharmic power to a certain degree; dharmic power nourished the Dao Fruit as well, though the process was exceedingly slow, requiring thousands or tens of thousands of years to show noticeable results. Once an immortal's dharmic power achieved immortality, they gained terrifying explosive strength and an endless wellspring of combat power. Its nourishing effects on flesh, spirit, and Dao Fruit were extraordinarily pronounced. Dharmic power was an immortal's foundation—the very source of their power. The defining trait of the Kunpeng Heavenly Immortal Art was vastness. Like the Kunpeng itself, it provided a ceaseless supply of dharmic power, several or even ten times that of peers at the same realm. Yet it had a drawback: because the dharmic power was so vast and abundant, guiding it to achieve immortality became exponentially more difficult. The premise of the Kunpeng Heavenly Immortal Art was to endlessly raise the capacity of dharmic power, pursuing a qualitative transformation through sheer quantity, completely disregarding the difficulty of transforming it into immortal power. It focused solely on stacking more and more energy. To facilitate this, the art could rapidly convert all types of energy into dharmic power, which shared similarities with Lu Changsheng's Myriad Spirits Immortal Body. "Let's test it." Lu Changsheng began cultivating the Kunpeng Heavenly Immortal Art. Such an art demanded high comprehension and great mastery; the higher the comprehension and familiarity, the better its efficiency. This involved an energy conversion rate: at Minor Mastery, the conversion rate was ten percent; at Major Mastery, thirty percent; and at Perfection, eighty percent. An eighty percent conversion rate was astonishing, but the gap between stages was equally immense. Many Heavenly Immortals spent their entire lives merely reaching Major Mastery; those who reached Perfection were exceedingly rare. Lu Changsheng, however, was unfazed. With top-tier comprehension on his side, cultivating the Kunpeng Heavenly Immortal Art proved effortless. In one month, he achieved Minor Mastery. In three months, he reached Major Mastery. In eight months, he achieved Perfection. In a mere eight months, he had cultivated a top-tier Heavenly Immortal dharmic power art to absolute Perfection! *Whoosh.* Lu Changsheng opened his eyes and summoned his status panel: **Host:** Lu Changsheng **Comprehension:** Top-Tier Comprehension **Mortal Dao Fruit:** 90% (Illusory Realm divine ability) **Myriad Spirits Dao Fruit:** 52% (Devour Spirit divine ability) **Flesh Dao Fruit:** 26% (Mighty Power divine ability) **Kunpeng Heavenly Immortal Art:** Perfection **Physical Immortal Characteristic:** Physical Immortality On the panel, the Kunpeng Heavenly Immortal Art was indeed at Perfection. "Devour." With a thought, Lu Changsheng circulated the art. A massive tide of immortal spirit qi was swallowed into his body, nearly eighty percent of it converting directly into dharmic power. The power then rapidly integrated into his flesh, spirit, and Dao Fruits. He could sense subtle improvements across every aspect. After reaching Perfection in the Kunpeng Heavenly Immortal Art, Lu Changsheng cultivated diligently for another month. His dharmic power surged dramatically, yet there was not the slightest inkling of it becoming immortal. If dharmic power could not attain immortality, what good was having vast reserves of it? Although the Kunpeng Heavenly Immortal Art aimed for qualitative transformation through sheer quantity, Lu Changsheng found this approach unreliable. Placing all hope on quantitative accumulation triggering a qualitative leap was little different from gambling on luck. Lu Changsheng had no desire to gamble. With top-tier comprehension, why rely on luck? What he wanted was certainty—a guaranteed, tangible path to immortal dharmic power, not a gamble. *If qualitative transformation through sheer quantity is unreliable, then I must refine my dharmic power strand by strand until an immortal characteristic emerges.* After a moment's thought, Lu Changsheng decided to make another trip to the Exchange Hall to find another Heavenly Immortal art. Could he create one himself using his top-tier comprehension? He could, but creating an art required references. Without reference materials, there was no telling how long it would take. He needed to establish his Heavenly Immortal art before heading to the battlefield beyond the heavens, leaving no time for self-creation. With ready-made arts available, why squander precious time? It merely cost some immortal merit. If merit wasn't converted into strength, it was useless. Furthermore, with his strength, why worry about lacking merit once he reached the battlefield beyond the heavens? Lu Changsheng returned to the Exchange Hall and searched the manual section for a long time. Eventually, he found an art called the Immortal Heavenly Immortal Art! The primary feature of this art was that it offered a hundred percent guarantee of birthing immortal dharmic power. Naturally, it carried a severe drawback: it required consuming immense quantities of dharmic power through continuous refining just to produce a single strand of immortal dharmic power. The process was agonizingly slow. Many Heavenly Immortals could spend their entire lives without refining much immortal dharmic power, let alone transforming their entire reserves. To Lu Changsheng, however, that was no obstacle. He exchanged three thousand immortal merit for the Immortal Heavenly Immortal Art and returned to his cave dwelling to inspect it. As it turned out, the art's drawback was not merely slowness, but an enormous consumption of energy. Its concept was continuous purification, condensing a vast amount of regular dharmic power into a wisp of immortal dharmic power to store within the body. How much power did that require? Refining an ordinary Heavenly Immortal's entire reserve of dharmic power might yield only a single sliver. Yes, merely a sliver, not even a strand—a hundred slivers made a strand! And even a single strand was practically negligible. By that calculation, an ordinary Heavenly Immortal would never ascend to Golden Immortal in their lifetime without some miraculous encounter. Yet reading this made Lu Changsheng's eyes light up. The Immortal Heavenly Immortal Art required vast amounts of dharmic power? His Kunpeng Heavenly Immortal Art could provide just that! It gave him over ten times the power of ordinary Heavenly Immortals—far more than he could ever expend. Using it to refine immortal dharmic power was the perfect synergy. As for the slow refining speed, that was even less of an issue. Minor Mastery might be slow, but what about Major Mastery, or even Perfection? It wouldn't be slow at all! Two superior arts complementing each other, covering each other's weaknesses—it was an absolute match. Lu Changsheng spent another half-year cultivating the Immortal Heavenly Immortal Art to Perfection. At the level of Perfection, the art could rapidly refine the abundant dharmic power within his body. What was more, this refinement operated continuously, without requiring much of his conscious effort. By his calculations, circulating both the Kunpeng Heavenly Immortal Art and the Immortal Heavenly Immortal Art simultaneously and uninterruptedly would yield one strand of immortal dharmic power per year. A century would yield one hundred strands! Once he possessed a hundred strands of immortal dharmic power, they could drive the remaining ordinary dharmic power within him to rapidly convert into immortal power. When that time came, ascending to Golden Immortal would be well within his grasp!