Lu Changsheng Battles a Seven-Dao Great Saint! Upheaval in the Dark Domain, Catastrophe Across Two Realms!

Just as Lu Changsheng returned to secluded cultivation to attempt his fifth world reopening, word of his impending breakthrough spread like wildfire through the Tianyuan Holy Sect. Many were stunned. How much time had actually passed? A little over three hundred years, that was all. In just three hundred years, Lu Changsheng was going to advance from a four-Dao Great Saint to a five-Dao Great Saint? Hadn't they said it took him nearly a thousand years just to advance from a two-Dao to a four-Dao Great Saint? Cultivation in the Great Saint stage only grew harder the further one progressed, naturally requiring ever more time. How had Lu Changsheng turned that completely on its head? Advancing from four-Dao to five-Dao had taken him a mere three centuries. The further along he went, the faster he cultivated. It defied reason! Had they underestimated him from the start? Yet on closer reflection, none of them had looked down on Lu Changsheng. If anything, they had regarded him with the highest possible expectations. "They only said a breakthrough is possible—it hasn't actually happened yet." "Indeed. Even going into seclusion doesn't guarantee success. Perhaps he merely caught a fleeting spark of inspiration and closed his doors to pursue it. It will likely take a long time before he genuinely steps into the five-Dao realm." "Still, if Lu Changsheng truly does make the leap from four-Dao to five-Dao in just three centuries, his speed would rival Holy Maiden Qingluan's. Forget high-rank Great Saint—he might even have hope of reaching the ninth rank!" "A ninth-rank Great Saint is a peak Great Saint! That is enough to establish an entire holy sect!" Only then did many cultivators seem to grasp the reality that Lu Changsheng had a genuine chance of becoming a peak Great Saint. A peak Great Saint was extraordinary beyond measure. Achieving that standing meant one wielded the strength to found a holy sect of one's own. Not all holy sects traced their lineages back to Emperors; many had been established simply by peak Great Saints. To create an entire holy sect from scratch showed just how immense a peak Great Saint's standing truly was. From that moment on, not a single person in the Tianyuan Holy Sect dared question Lu Changsheng's status as Lin Qingluan's Dao companion. Who in the Tianyuan Holy Sect dared claim they could become a peak Great Saint? Aside from Lin Qingluan, not a soul. And now, Lu Changsheng genuinely held that possibility. *** Lu Changsheng had no idea that his reputation within the Tianyuan Holy Sect had undergone such a transformation. He remained wholly immersed in the collapse and explosion of his Illusory Realm. The process demanded an immense stretch of time. One year, three years, five years, eight years, ten years... During his previous reopening—the fourth—the collapse, explosion, and reconstitution had taken twenty full years. The greatest drain of time lay in the explosion and subsequent evolution into a world. The vaster a world became, the more time its evolution required. After all, shaping every intricate aspect in detail was an exhaustive, time-consuming endeavor. This time, the evolution took thirty whole years before finally reaching completion. The newly evolved Illusory Realm seemed to bear an ever closer resemblance to both the Dark Domain and chaos. What was more, Lu Changsheng's foundation had deepened significantly once again. He now possessed the strength to effortlessly crush all six Daos of a six-Dao Great Saint without a shadow of a doubt. However, a seven-Dao Great Saint was an entirely different matter. A seven-Dao Great Saint was a true high-rank Great Saint, representing a qualitative leap in power. Though Lu Changsheng had confidence, whether he could genuinely hold his own against a seven-Dao Great Saint was something he would only know after a real test. Even so, his current strength had already grown terrifying. He could practically be treated as a high-rank Great Saint in his own right. Whether in the Dark Domain or chaos, Lu Changsheng's present strength stood at the absolute pinnacle. Next came the task of simulating a Great Dao. Lu Changsheng knew full well that Luo Yang was not the sort of man to part with anything without seeing tangible results first. Their agreement was fundamentally premised on him reaching the five-Dao realm. If Lu Changsheng failed to become a five-Dao Great Saint, Luo Yang would almost certainly refuse to grant him any more Dark Domain origin power. Only by actually breaking through would Luo Yang supply him with the resources he needed. Therefore, Lu Changsheng had to find a way to simulate a fifth Great Dao and break through in full view of everyone. The higher the profile, the better. It would be best if the entire Tianyuan Holy Sect was shaken to its core. Only that would guarantee a continuous stream of Dark Domain origin power from Luo Yang. At present, Lu Changsheng had only forty-nine strands of Dark Domain origin power left. If he wished to continue cultivating, he truly had to rely on the Tianyuan Holy Sect. To that end, he returned to his proven method: letting countless Daos collide and fuse within the Illusory Realm. After a full year, Lu Changsheng watched as Great Dao after Great Dao was conceived within the Illusory Realm. In the end, he selected one among them—the Black Fiend Dao. This so-called Black Fiend was fundamentally a form of baleful energy. Yet it was not the baleful aura left behind by a mortal's demise; rather, it was a profound force born in the instantaneous annihilation and collapse of heaven and earth. When a mortal died, they left behind baleful aura. When heaven and earth perished, they left behind the Black Fiend Dao. An ordinary cultivator had virtually no hope of ever comprehending such a Dao. But Lu Changsheng was different. His Illusory Realm underwent continuous collapse and explosion before re-evolving into a world time and time again. In essence, the Illusory Realm suffered collapse after collapse, only to be reborn anew. Throughout this recurring cycle, the black fiend was forged. Using this as his foundation, Lu Changsheng focused on letting various Daos collide and blend together. To his surprise, the Black Fiend Dao overwhelmed one Dao after another until Lu Changsheng chose it in the end. The corrosive aspect of the Black Fiend Dao was utterly terrifying. It had the power to corrode other Great Daos. In battle, once an opponent's Dao was tainted by it, no matter what kind of Dao it was, it would inevitably crumble away. It was an extraordinarily formidable Great Dao. Satisfied, Lu Changsheng began to simulate it. *Buzz!* In an instant, the heavens plunged into pitch-black darkness. Countless disciples looked up. The sky itself seemed to have turned dark as night. A heavy, suffocating pressure quietly descended over their hearts, as though some earth-shattering event was about to unfold. "What is going on?" "Such an immense anomaly, right here within the Tianyuan Holy Sect! What on earth is happening?" "Could someone be condensing a Great Dao?" "Wait, that really does look like a Dao coalescing! Who has been trying to condense one recently?" "Could it be... Great Saint Changsheng?" "Look toward Great Saint Changsheng's cave dwelling! Look at the faint outline of that Great Dao taking shape in the void! It truly is Great Saint Changsheng condensing a Dao—his fifth Great Dao!" "Condensing a fifth Dao so soon, after barely three hundred years... A high-rank Great Saint seems just around the corner, and a peak Great Saint is well within reach!" "Wait, what kind of Dao is Great Saint Changsheng condensing this time? Why does it feel so bizarre and ominous?" In an instant, countless eyes across the Tianyuan Holy Sect turned toward Lu Changsheng's cave dwelling and toward the sky above. *Whoosh!* Figures materialized in the void one after another. It was the Sect Master of the Tianyuan Holy Sect alongside a host of elders. Luo Yang stared into the sky with a complex expression. Lu Changsheng had genuinely managed to condense a fifth Great Dao. Mixed feelings churned within him—he felt pleased, but only to a point. Even so, he knew that the greater Lu Changsheng's talent, the more worthy he was of Lin Qingluan. As time passed, the Black Fiend Dao steadily solidified. Yet the moment it began to take form, the void itself seemed to undergo a terrifying corrosion. Every Great Saint standing relatively close to the Black Fiend Dao felt their own Daos being eaten away. In a flurry of panic, they scattered and fled from the vicinity. Luo Yang was no exception. As a Great Saint standing near the phenomenon, he felt the same eerie corrosion creeping into his own Dao. What shook him most was the realization that Lu Changsheng was not even actively driving it. In fact, the newly condensed Dao had not been unleashed at all; they were being affected purely by proximity to its inherent power. The more they realized this, the more profound their shock grew. "What kind of Dao is this, that it can corrode even our Great Daos?" "So many of us Great Saints standing together, and none of us can resist it?" "It is only a single Dao! While it cannot directly shatter ours in an instant, this corrosive nature is dreadful beyond words. If exposed to it continuously, our Daos will eventually collapse!" "I seem to recall reading about such a Dao in the ancient records. It is called the Black Fiend Dao! It is said to appear only when an entire world collapses into dead silence, and even then, it is exceedingly fleeting. Virtually no one has ever managed to comprehend it!" Understanding dawned on the crowd. So it was the Black Fiend Dao. No wonder its corrosive power was so horrifying. "To think Lu Changsheng could condense such a terrifying Dao... With his Eternal Sword Dao, his Ice-Fire Dao, and now this Black Fiend Dao, every single one of his Daos is formidable beyond compare. A six-Dao Great Saint would likely be no match for him!" "Could he perhaps rival a seven-Dao Great Saint?" "That... is not impossible..." The elders exchanged glances. A seven-Dao Great Saint! That was a true high-rank Great Saint. Although reason urged them to say it was impossible—how could a five-Dao Great Saint possibly match a high-rank Great Saint?—they could not forget how Lu Changsheng, back when he was only a four-Dao Great Saint, had crushed Great Saint Hou Tong with overwhelming ease. And Hou Tong was by no means weak. Now, with the addition of this terrifying, corrosive Black Fiend Dao, Lu Changsheng's combat prowess had surged once again. For him to rival a seven-Dao Great Saint with five-Dao cultivation was no longer a pipe dream. It was a very real possibility. "Why speculate when we can test it directly?" A thought crossed Luo Yang's mind. "We request the presence of the Supreme Elder!" Luo Yang called out into the open air. Following his shout, a streak of light flashed across the void, resolving into an elder robed in azure. "Greetings, Supreme Elder!" The elders bowed in unison. In the Tianyuan Holy Sect, only high-rank Great Saints were qualified to hold the title of Supreme Elder. This azure-robed elder was indeed a high-rank Great Saint, revered as Great Saint Yuhua—a seven-Dao Great Saint who had once commanded immense renown. "Sect Master, why have you summoned me?" Great Saint Yuhua looked toward Luo Yang. Only Luo Yang, in his capacity as Sect Master, possessed the authority to disturb his seclusion. "I ask Elder Yuhua to test Lu Changsheng. Merely a friendly exchange," Luo Yang said in a low, solemn voice before offering a detailed explanation. "This matter concerns whether our Tianyuan Holy Sect might produce an invincible Great Saint of terrifying might..." The emergence of the Black Fiend Dao had shifted Luo Yang's mindset. Above peak Great Saints, there existed yet another classification: invincible Great Saints! It referred specifically to those peerless figures whose earth-shattering combat strength could suppress an entire era. If Lu Changsheng truly possessed the power to rival a seven-Dao Great Saint, then he stood a tremendous chance of becoming an invincible Great Saint in the future. If that was the case, Luo Yang would have to change his strategy. No longer would he offer resources merely for Lin Qingluan's sake; he would have to pull out all the stops to win Lu Changsheng over, providing him with the finest cultivation resources the sect could offer. The distinction between the two approaches was vast. Given the stakes, Great Saint Yuhua had to test Lu Changsheng in person. "Very well. I understand what to do," Great Saint Yuhua agreed. He too understood the weight of an invincible Great Saint. It was quite possible that even the Dao Comprehension Holy Sect had yet to realize Lu Changsheng's true worth. *Boom!* Great Saint Yuhua made his move. He held nothing back, striking with full strength right from the start. In an instant, seven Great Daos spanned the sky, bearing a weight that seemed capable of suppressing eternity itself. Even Lu Changsheng's newly condensed Black Fiend Dao appeared on the verge of fracturing under the immense pressure of those seven Daos. The terrifying spectacle left countless disciples dumbfounded. "What is happening? Seven Great Daos? Who is that?" "It looks like Elder Yuhua—a Supreme Elder! Why is he attacking Great Saint Changsheng?" "I don't know! Doesn't Elder Yuhua devote all his time to secluded cultivation? He rarely interferes in sect affairs. Why would he suddenly target Great Saint Changsheng?" "Wait, Elder Yuhua has no killing intent, nor is he crushing Great Saint Changsheng's Dao immediately. Is this... a spar?" "A seven-Dao Great Saint actively initiating a spar with a five-Dao Great Saint?" Everyone was bewildered. A high-rank Great Saint seeking out a five-Dao junior for a spar seemed absurd no matter how one looked at it. Yet the surreal sight was playing out right before their eyes. If even ordinary disciples could see that Elder Yuhua was initiating a spar, how could Lu Changsheng inside his cave dwelling fail to understand? The moment Elder Yuhua struck, Lu Changsheng had sensed it. He also recognized that there was no murderous malice behind the attack. As for the reason, a single glance at Luo Yang was enough to deduce the truth. Luo Yang simply wanted to test his limits. In that case, Lu Changsheng had no reason to hold back. He needed Dark Domain origin power. Only an astonishing display would convince the Tianyuan Holy Sect to throw its full weight behind him. Moreover, when faced with an authentic seven-Dao Great Saint, how could Lu Changsheng not yearn for a true battle? He wanted to see for himself whether his current strength could hold its own against such a powerhouse. "Rise!" Lu Changsheng shot to his feet. In the next instant, he stepped out of his cave dwelling and walked up into the void, one measured stride at a time. With every step he took, a Great Dao manifested. In the blink of an eye, all five of Lu Changsheng's Daos were laid bare, radiating a terrifying aura as they slammed head-on into Great Saint Yuhua's seven Daos. This was a seven-Dao Great Saint—a high-rank Great Saint striking with full force, withholding nothing. Knowing Lu Changsheng's reputation, Yuhua had no intention of pulling his punches. Two monstrous Great Saints mobilized the boundless power of their Daos in a frenzied clash. The resulting shockwaves swept outward in all directions like a raging tempest. That fallout alone silenced the watching cultivators in sheer terror; none dared approach, intuitively sensing that even a brushing graze from the peripheral shockwaves would reduce them to dust. At that moment, the onlookers were thoroughly awestruck. Though no victor had emerged, Lu Changsheng was meeting Great Saint Yuhua head-on. More incredibly, he was not being driven back in the slightest. The contest appeared entirely evenly matched. That fact alone said everything. Lu Changsheng truly wielded the strength of a high-rank Great Saint! Luo Yang was shaken to his core. He stared unblinkingly at the collision in the sky. Even with the immense regard he had held for Lu Changsheng—believing him invincible among six-Dao Great Saints and capable of perhaps exchanging a blow or two with a high-rank Great Saint—he had still assumed Lu Changsheng would fall short of a true seven-Dao master. Yet what was he witnessing now? Lu Changsheng was clashing toe-to-toe with Great Saint Yuhua without giving an inch. If anything, both combatants grew fiercer by the breath. Lu Changsheng's Daos were extraordinarily formidable, and as the fight wore on, he seemed to be steadily gaining the upper hand. If this continued, Great Saint Yuhua might actually lose! Never in his wildest dreams had Luo Yang imagined Lu Changsheng would be strong to such an extent. With merely five-Dao cultivation, he stood fully shoulder to shoulder with a seven-Dao Great Saint! At this moment, Luo Yang was utterly convinced: one day, Lu Changsheng truly had the potential to become an invincible Great Saint. An invincible Great Saint! Even if Lin Qingluan reached the nine-Dao realm, she would never dare claim such a title. It required overwhelming, peerless combat power. Lu Changsheng, capable of fighting across two entire tiers with shocking might, was the prime candidate to achieve it. "Great Saint Yuhua, Great Saint Changsheng, please stay your hands!" Luo Yang called out loudly. "The two of you are evenly matched. If this continues, it will turn into a fight to the death. This is only a friendly spar; let us not harm our harmony!" *Whoosh!* The two figures separated immediately. The Great Daos suspended in the void dissolved away, making it seem as though everything that had just occurred was merely an illusion. Yet every eye present had witnessed the battle. It had ended in a draw—or at least, no victor could be decided in the short term. In terms of sheer combat capability, Lu Changsheng truly rivaled a seven-Dao Great Saint. "Well done, Great Saint Changsheng. With you as Holy Maiden Qingluan's Dao companion, my mind is at ease," Great Saint Yuhua said, before turning and taking his leave. He was clearly thoroughly satisfied with Lu Changsheng. Watching Great Saint Yuhua's departing figure, Lu Changsheng felt a surge of exhilaration. He was now certain beyond all doubt that his strength matched that of a high-rank Great Saint. While the contest appeared to have been a dead heat on the surface, Lu Changsheng was fundamentally a chaos lifeform. He had not unleashed the physical might of his true body. If he were to erupt with everything—combining the Illusory Realm with his physical power—he was confident he could defeat or even slay Great Saint Yuhua. In other words, Lu Changsheng now possessed the strength to kill a high-rank Great Saint! Naturally, being in the Dark Domain, he would never expose his nature as a chaos lifeform unless pushed to the absolute brink. Even without it, matching a high-rank Great Saint was enough to earn Luo Yang's total recognition. After all, wherever one went, a high-rank Great Saint stood at the absolute pinnacle. "Great Saint Changsheng, congratulations on condensing your fifth Great Dao and advancing to a five-Dao Great Saint!" Luo Yang offered warmly. The other elders chimed in with their congratulations one after another. They might not have cared much about an ordinary five-Dao Great Saint, but a five-Dao Great Saint who could rival a high-rank master was another story entirely. Lu Changsheng's terrifying combat strength was on par with their own Supreme Elders; how could these ordinary elders dare treat him with the casual attitude of before? Even without Lin Qingluan's presence, no one in the Tianyuan Holy Sect would ever dare look down on him again. "Sect Master Luo, regarding the item I requested..." Lu Changsheng looked toward Luo Yang. It was time for the man to fulfill his promise. "Great Saint Changsheng, everything is prepared." Luo Yang tossed over a porcelain bottle without hesitation. Lu Changsheng swept his awareness through it and immediately discovered strand after strand of Dark Domain origin power inside. By a rough estimate, there were over a hundred strands—one hundred and five, to be precise. He was overjoyed. The amount provided by the Tianyuan Holy Sect was even greater than what the Dao Comprehension Holy Sect had given him. With these one hundred and five strands, he could easily undergo his sixth evolution of the Illusory Realm. "Great Saint Changsheng, this origin power represents virtually everything our Tianyuan Holy Sect could muster," Luo Yang said. "If you wish to obtain more, you will have to wait. It will take at least several centuries, if not millennia..." This supply had taken the Tianyuan Holy Sect immense effort to collect over time, and most of it came from their ancient reserves—a core part of the sect's deepest foundation. Procuring Dark Domain origin power was extraordinarily difficult. Lu Changsheng had already drained the reserves of the Dao Comprehension Holy Sect, and now he had exhausted the Tianyuan Holy Sect's reserves as well. Still, Lu Changsheng was in no hurry. The Tianyuan Holy Sect possessed plenty of other treasures—not least of which was the Great Dao Disc, which allowed him to reconstruct many more Daos. On that front alone, the Dao Comprehension Holy Sect could not compare. Lu Changsheng could comfortably remain here and cultivate in peace. After Luo Yang departed, Lu Changsheng returned to his cave dwelling. Having secured Luo Yang's trust, he had essentially gained the full backing of the Tianyuan Holy Sect. He pondered his next move. There was no telling when Lin Qingluan would break through to the nine-Dao realm. Since the Dark Domain origin power was already in his hands, there was no rush to refine it immediately. He would first visit the Great Dao Disc to reconstruct more Daos and push the Illusory Realm to its absolute limit. With that decided, Lu Changsheng headed back to the Great Dao Disc to resume comprehending and reconstructing Daos within his Illusory Realm. *Buzz!* While Lu Changsheng was deep in meditation, his message transmission stone suddenly vibrated. *Snap!* Lu Changsheng opened his eyes, forced to halt his comprehension. The vibrating stone was the token from the Chaos Alliance. The Chaos Alliance had sent him a message, though he had no idea what it concerned. Exercising great caution, Lu Changsheng sealed off his surroundings before carefully retrieving the token and sweeping it with his awareness. In an instant, his expression changed drastically. *Upheaval in the Dark Domain, return at once!* The brief message left Lu Changsheng filled with doubt and alarm. What kind of upheaval could possibly occur in the Dark Domain? Yet he could not afford to take a summons like this lightly. He resolved to return to chaos in person to find out. Lu Changsheng left his cave dwelling and bid Sect Master Luo Yang farewell, claiming he needed to make a trip back to the Dao Comprehension Holy Sect. In reality, he intended to head to the Cloud Dream Mountain Range to inspect the spatial passage. Luo Yang readily agreed, knowing that Lu Changsheng was neither a formal disciple nor an elder of the Tianyuan Holy Sect. *Whoosh!* Using the teleportation array, Lu Changsheng quickly returned to the Dao Comprehension Holy Sect. "Greetings, Elder Lu!" The disciples guarding the array were startled for a moment before hurriedly bowing in respect. Lu Changsheng nodded and proceeded to pay a visit to the Sect Master of the Dao Comprehension Holy Sect. Upon learning that Lu Changsheng had made another breakthrough to become a five-Dao Great Saint, the Sect Master was overjoyed. Lu Changsheng then came up with a casual excuse to leave the sect grounds and took to the sky. The distance from the Dao Comprehension Holy Sect to the Cloud Dream Mountain Range was immense. Even at Lu Changsheng's speed, flying there took five full years. Had it not been for the urgent summons from the Chaos Alliance, he would never have made the journey back to the Cloud Dream Mountain Range under such circumstances. Upon arriving, he did not visit the Feiyun Sect. Through his flesh particle avatar, he already possessed complete awareness of everything happening there. Lu Changsheng slipped silently into the depths of the mountain range and reached the spatial passage. The passage appeared completely unchanged. Lu Changsheng stepped through and crossed over into chaos. There, Ancestor Qingchi stood waiting. "Changsheng, you've returned," Ancestor Qingchi said slowly. "Ancestor, what did you mean by upheaval in the Dark Domain? What has happened?" Lu Changsheng could not help asking. It was solely for this news that he had journeyed all the way back to chaos. Ancestor Qingchi let out a long sigh. "Perhaps it is a stroke of fortune, or perhaps a dreadful calamity. Who could have imagined that the Dark Domain and chaos are about to merge once again? Once the two realms merge, countless passages will tear open, eliminating every barrier between them. Cultivators from both sides will be free to cross over at will." "In other words... a great catastrophe is upon us!" Lu Changsheng's heart jolted. A great catastrophe! A catastrophe between the Dark Domain and chaos! Whenever such a catastrophe arrived, both sides would plunge into a brutal, earth-shattering slaughter where even source lifeforms and Emperors would fall. As for chaos lifeforms and Great Saints, their casualties would be beyond counting. Once it began, it would be a disaster engulfing the entirety of both realms. The Dark Domain lifeforms previously held within the Heaven Prison had been captured and suppressed during the last such catastrophe. "Ancestor, it feels as though not much time has passed since the last catastrophe. Logically speaking, there should have been a vast stretch of peace. How could another one be arriving so soon?" Lu Changsheng asked. Ordinarily, these catastrophes were separated by immense gulfs of time. Though chaos and the Dark Domain were two sides of the same coin, they generally existed without interfering with one another. Only at predetermined cycles would the two realms collide and merge, giving birth to countless connecting passages. After each collision, an exceedingly long era had to pass before the next could occur. There was no reason for another merger to arrive after such a short interval. It defied the natural order. Ancestor Qingchi fell silent for a moment before shaking his head. "This matter is rather peculiar. Strictly speaking, I shouldn't be telling you this, but you have rendered great service during your years in the Dark Domain. Once I share this, you must not repeat it to another soul." "I understand." Ancestor Qingchi took on a grave expression. "Chaos and the Dark Domain are two sides of a whole, and both generally follow set laws. However, external forces are capable of accelerating their merger and collision." "Beyond chaos and the Dark Domain, certain events have transpired. In truth, our two realms have merely been caught in the crossfire. It had nothing to do with us originally, but an accident has forced the realms into premature collision." "Regardless, the accident has already occurred. Neither chaos nor the Dark Domain can alter the outcome. The two realms are fated to collide and merge." Lu Changsheng fell silent. Beyond chaos? That was far beyond his current reach. Moreover, seeing how Ancestor Qingchi spoke with guarded secrecy and refused to elaborate, Lu Changsheng knew there was no point in asking further. If even a source lifeform was this wary, what meaning was there in knowing the full truth? The merger of the two realms was unavoidable. Now, Lu Changsheng needed to consider how to protect himself in the coming catastrophe. That was the most pressing priority of all.