Crushing Kuang Lei, Fortune Soars! Two Hundred Fleeting Years, Lu Changsheng's Dilemma!

*Boom.* Lu Changsheng struck. Without the slightest hesitation, all four layers of his world—the Mortal Realm, the Spirit Realm, the Lesser Thousand Realm, and the Great Thousand Realm—shook violently, unleashing terrifying might in unison. His True Realm expanded swiftly, sweeping toward Kuang Lei with thunderous, lightning-fast momentum. To Lu Changsheng's surprise, Kuang Lei seemed to offer no resistance at all. Instead, he stood quietly, waiting for Lu Changsheng's world to wash over him. *Whoosh.* Kuang Lei vanished, swept directly into the True Realm by Lu Changsheng. This sight momentarily stunned everyone. How could he have been taken into the inner world? And so easily? Hearing Kuang Lei's resolute words earlier, people had truly thought a fierce clash between dragons and tigers was about to unfold. Yet, this was all? Everyone knew that a Realm Lord's greatest strength lay in their inner world. Once drawn into an inner world, one essentially became meat on the Realm Lord's chopping block, entirely at their mercy. Kuang Lei was no exception. However, as time ticked by, the spectators began to notice clues. "The battle hasn't ended. That means a victor hasn't been decided yet. What's going on?" "Wasn't Kuang Lei swept into Lu Changsheng's world? He should have been crushed to dust by the world power long ago. How can the fight still be unresolved?" "Could Kuang Lei have a true trump card?" "If so, then this battle might have only just begun..." Excitement rippled through the crowd once more. The battle between Kuang Lei and Lu Changsheng did not seem so simple after all. The fight was still underway. At this moment, Lu Changsheng sensed it most clearly. Kuang Lei had indeed been swept into the True Realm, but he was not dead. On the contrary, after entering the True Realm and facing the crushing suppression of its terrifying power, Kuang Lei erupted with unimaginable physical strength. His body swelled violently. In the blink of an eye, he stood towering between heaven and earth, radiating immense vigor. Such was the terrifying nature of the physical path: pure, unadulterated strength that surpassed everything. Kuang Lei's entire arsenal was anchored in his physical body. That was why he had taken the gamble of stepping straight into Lu Changsheng's True Realm—he intended to rely on raw physical might to shatter Lu Changsheng's world from within. And in truth, Kuang Lei indeed posed a tremendous threat to the True Realm. *Rumble!* With punch after punch from Kuang Lei, nearly every strike brought about the collapse of a Mortal Realm. Even though Lu Changsheng possessed countless Mortal Realms, as they were repeatedly obliterated, the power of his True Realm steadily weakened. Furthermore, it wasn't just the Mortal Realms; Kuang Lei could even easily shatter Spirit Realms. Only the Lesser Thousand Realm and the Great Thousand Realm proved troublesome. The Lesser Thousand Realm was exceedingly vast, making it impossible for Kuang Lei to destroy it completely in short order. As for the Great Thousand Realm, Kuang Lei lacked the capability to shatter it in one blow. Therefore, Kuang Lei's tactic was to whittle down the Lesser Thousand Realm and the Great Thousand Realm bit by bit. By targeting the Spirit Realms and relentlessly destroying them, he could naturally weaken the higher layers above them. After all, all four layers of Lu Changsheng's inner world were intimately connected. *Hm?* *He actually found a vulnerability and came up with a method.* *Still, if this is all you have, you're far inferior to Zi Qianying...* Lu Changsheng immediately understood Kuang Lei's plan. He intended to grind Lu Changsheng down to death. Was that possible, though? How many Spirit Realms did Lu Changsheng have within his True Realm? They were practically innumerable. Meanwhile, inside the True Realm, Kuang Lei was enduring immense pressure every single second. No matter how formidable Kuang Lei's physical body was, how long could he hold out? "Great Thousand Realm, suppress!" Lu Changsheng mobilized the Great Thousand Realm with full force. Here, within his True Realm, he was God, capable of commanding all power. *Rumble!* Instantly, the boundless Great Thousand Realm shook. At the same time, it felt as though a colossal world descended from the heavens, bearing down directly on Kuang Lei's massive frame. Kuang Lei roared furiously, hurling punch after punch at the gigantic phantom of the Great Thousand Realm. Unfortunately, it was futile. His strikes produced only booming shockwaves and failed to inflict the slightest damage upon the Great Thousand Realm. At this moment, Kuang Lei felt despair. The physical body and raw strength he took such pride in seemed utterly pale and insignificant before this world. His earlier ambition to blast clean through Lu Changsheng's inner world by his own strength now seemed nothing more than an absurd pipe dream. *Bang!* The next instant, the Great Thousand Realm descended, instantly crushing Kuang Lei's massive body into oblivion. Silence fell. Both on the arena and below it, an absolute hush descended. It was over. Everything had ended. Whatever thoughts, techniques, or lingering indignations Kuang Lei had held were now meaningless. Kuang Lei was defeated, and he was dead. Kuang Lei was not Zi Qianying. Kuang Lei walked the physical path; his entire strength resided within his physical body. Once dead, he was truly dead, with no hope of resurrection. Thus, this battle had concluded. Many spectators had already anticipated this outcome, yet they had still harbored a sliver of anticipation. What if? Reality had proven that even for a King-tier powerhouse with an extraordinarily robust physical body, entering Lu Changsheng's inner world to shatter its four layers was practically impossible. To break Lu Changsheng's inner world, there was only one way: to crush all four layers simultaneously with absolute power. Yet at the King tier, hardly anyone possessed such strength. Unless one was an "Invincible" powerhouse. Theoretically, the Invincible tier represented the absolute pinnacle of the first realm of Transcendence. To achieve the Invincible rank, one had to truly be invincible in at least one aspect. Unfortunately, Kuang Lei fell short. Even had he defeated Lu Changsheng and earned the right to challenge an Invincible powerhouse, he would almost certainly have suffered defeat against an Invincible ring defender. Lu Changsheng had triumphed once again. Returning to his cave dwelling, he carefully examined the influx of fortune. It was still immense—even greater than the last time. After all, this had been a true King-tier duel! At the Summit of the Universe, the attention garnered by each successive tier of arena was worlds apart. The King-tier arena drew an immense amount of focus, something the Overlord-tier ring could never compare to. Last time, Lu Changsheng's soul had strengthened by 15 percent, and this time would certainly not yield less. However, fortune required time to be digested; it would take at least several months to absorb fully. As for the source crystals, Lu Changsheng received them immediately. Beyond the 4.92 million source crystals won from betting, there was the 500,000 prize for his successful challenge. His total source crystals now reached a staggering 5.42 million! It was an astronomical figure. Now, Lu Changsheng was a King-tier ring defender. He had to defend his position, but the interval between defenses had increased from ten years to twenty. As a result, he could manage two True Realm expansions during each break. Lu Changsheng did not rush, choosing first to assimilate the fortune. Roughly three months later, the fortune was fully digested. His soul strength increased by 20 percent, reaching 52 percent. Yet a sense of urgency pressed upon him. After nine more successful defenses, he would be required to challenge an Invincible-tier ring defender. Currently, his True Realm possessed only four layers, with the Great Thousand Realm being the highest. Whether it could match the Invincible tier remained uncertain. Lu Changsheng himself felt it would be difficult. If he challenged an Invincible powerhouse as he was, he could not be sure of victory. *Unless the True Realm gives birth to a Divine Realm...* Lu Changsheng still had time. Thus, he set aside all other matters, concentrating in his quiet chamber on expanding his True Realm repeatedly. If someone challenged him, he could step forward to fight. After all, with a twenty-year gap between rounds, there was ample time to expand his True Realm twice each cycle. Unfortunately, twenty years later, Lu Changsheng received a bye. No one challenged him. Then came forty years, sixty years, eighty years, one hundred years... Time after time, Lu Changsheng received byes. In exchange, he used the intervals to continuously expand his True Realm: twice, four times, six times, eight times, ten times... For nine consecutive rounds, Lu Changsheng received byes. These nine rounds granted him eighteen opportunities to expand his True Realm. *Whoosh.* Lu Changsheng opened his eyes. He immediately brought up his attribute panel: Host: Lu Changsheng Comprehension: Top-Tier Comprehension Realm Lord: First Realm True Realm: 100% (142 Expansions) Soul: 60% (Fragmented) Over these years, he had also gradually gained bits of fortune, finally pushing his soul strength to 60 percent. His True Realm had expanded a total of 142 times, undergoing twenty-seven expansions after reaching the Great Thousand Realm. However, twenty-seven expansions were clearly nowhere near enough to birth a Divine Realm. In fact, he was still far from it! Lu Changsheng rose and exited his cave dwelling. After all, the time had arrived. Theoretically, he was now qualified to challenge an Invincible-tier ring defender. But this time was different from the past; Lu Changsheng intended to proceed with extreme caution. As soon as he emerged, Lin Qingluan and Fang Chuan arrived at the cave dwelling, seemingly having anticipated his emergence. "Junior Brother Lu, I knew you'd be coming out of seclusion around now," Fang Chuan said. "According to the schedule, with nine byes completed, you've earned the right to challenge an Invincible-tier ring defender. Which one do you plan to challenge this time?" "How strong are the Invincible-tier defenders?" Lu Changsheng asked. "Their strength... See for yourself." Fang Chuan produced a projection stone and waved his hand. An image coalesced in the air, showing a battle where someone challenged an Invincible powerhouse. Lu Changsheng watched the entire battle closely. When it finished, he fell silent. "Both combatants possessed Invincible-tier strength, and their combat prowess was likely greater than Zi Qianying's!" Fang Chuan said gravely. Stronger than Zi Qianying. In reality, Zi Qianying had become a benchmark. To be stronger than her meant being at the Invincible tier. However, when Lu Changsheng had fought Zi Qianying, he had actually gone all out. Others might not know, but Lu Changsheng knew very well that his victory over her had been a narrow one. Even though many years had passed and his True Realm had expanded numerous times—theoretically elevating its might considerably—he was undoubtedly much stronger than Zi Qianying now. Yet there had still been no qualitative transformation. Without a qualitative leap, facing an Invincible powerhouse posed real danger for him. Simply put, he lacked high confidence. "Where do these two Invincible combatants rank among the ring defenders?" Lu Changsheng asked. "They can only be considered very ordinary, middle-of-the-pack." Lu Changsheng remained silent. The Invincible tier was truly different, completely unlike the King, Overlord, or Vanguard ranks. An Invincible defender inherently embodied invincible strength in some specific aspect. Every single one of them was extraordinarily powerful, representing the absolute pinnacle of the first realm of Transcendence. In truth, only battles at the Invincible tier at the Summit of the Universe could capture the attention of the entire Great Universe. Every Invincible-tier clash gathered an unimaginable, sea-like influx of fortune, driving countless beings into a frenzy. That was the true charm of the Summit of the Universe. The earlier Vanguard, Overlord, and King battles served merely as warm-ups for the Summit of the Universe, acting as little more than a proving ground to nurture defenders for the Invincible clashes. Even so, it was exceedingly rare for Kings to produce an Invincible defender. It was simply too difficult. If even Lu Changsheng lacked full confidence, it showed just how hard becoming an Invincible defender was. "Having just received a bye, do I still have twenty years of rest according to the rules?" Lu Changsheng suddenly asked. "Yes, you still have twenty years of rest," Fang Chuan nodded. In fact, after a ninth successful defense, even by bye, a rest period was granted. It was just that in the past, Lu Changsheng had never taken it, choosing to challenge immediately after his ninth defense. This time, however, Lu Changsheng hesitated. "I want to wait another twenty years." "All right," Fang Chuan agreed with a nod. This was the first time he had seen Lu Changsheng hesitate. It was proof enough of how formidable the Invincible defenders were, forcing even Lu Changsheng to exercise greater caution. Lu Changsheng did not ask to wait twenty years without reason. In twenty years, he could complete two more expansions of the True Realm. Although a qualitative leap was still unlikely, two expansions would nonetheless enhance all four world layers, making the True Realm sturdier. In short, no expansion of the True Realm was ever wasted; each one raised his combat strength. Under the current circumstances, where a qualitative breakthrough was unavailable, gathering any additional strength possible would only benefit his upcoming challenge. "Then during these twenty years, I'll compile detailed information on those Invincible-tier defenders for you, Junior Brother Lu." "I'll trouble Senior Brother Fang, then." Fang Chuan took his leave. Lu Changsheng spent some time with Lin Qingluan. Knowing how important his cultivation was right now, she soon refrained from disturbing him further. Lu Changsheng returned to his quiet chamber. This time, he had twenty years. At best, that only allowed for two expansions of the True Realm. While expanding it twice more would marginally increase his strength, the practical effect was limited. Lu Changsheng fell into deep thought. He needed to quickly boost his immediate combat readiness in the shortest possible time. Otherwise, when he challenged an Invincible defender, he might truly have to rely on luck. What means did he possess to swiftly raise his combat power? Thought after thought flashed through his mind. Finally, an inspiration struck him, and a memory surfaced in his thoughts: The terrifying destructive torrent formed by Zi Qianying's Three Thousand Smelted Daos, surging forward and annihilating his True Realm. That image brought a sudden flash of insight. *The power of destruction?* Lu Changsheng's heart stirred. The power of destruction was far from weak. In fact, it was exceptionally potent. In terms of offensive might, destructive power ranked highest among all forms of attack! After all, it could annihilate entire worlds. Strictly speaking, the entire Great Universe was also a world. Even the Boundary Sea was, in a strict sense, a world as well. If one mastered the power of destruction, one could potentially destroy the Great Universe and the Boundary Sea. Of course, that was far from easy. At the very least, the destructive power Zi Qianying had produced through her Three Thousand Smelted Daos was not nearly that terrifying. Far from destroying the Great Universe or the Boundary Sea, it had failed to destroy Lu Changsheng's True Realm, unable even to shake his fourth layer, the Great Thousand Realm! Yet that did not mean the power of destruction itself was weak. Rather, the potency of her destructive power had simply been insufficient. The destructive force yielded by her Three Thousand Smelted Daos had lacked the necessary scale and depth. *True destructive power ought to be the earth-shattering force that accompanies the birth and death of universes—that is the strongest.* *The creation and destruction of universes, planes, and worlds are all accompanied by destructive power. My True Realm is currently still a 'world,' which means it theoretically gives rise to destructive power as well. That implies I have the potential to grasp it...* Lu Changsheng's top-tier comprehension went to work as he methodically analyzed the possibility of mastering destructive power. *The birth and death of worlds accompany destructive power. And doesn't the expansion of my True Realm involve the creation and annihilation of worlds? With so many Mortal Realms, their creation and destruction are completely natural. Every expansion inevitably gives birth to new Mortal Realms...* Lu Changsheng's mind raced. He simply drew upon the undying spark within the Azure Lotus Treasure Lamp once more and began expanding his True Realm. Throughout the process, he closely observed conditions inside the True Realm. In particular, was there destructive power accompanying the creation and death of worlds within it? This was crucial! As time passed, Lu Changsheng's True Realm began to expand just as it had in the past. During the expansion, he did not interfere with the process, focusing entirely on sensing destructive power. Giving it his full concentration, he truly sensed a wisp of destructive power. Although exceedingly faint, he genuinely detected it. Now that he had sensed it, Lu Changsheng naturally would not let it slip away. Within the True Realm, he was omnipotent, able to command every form of energy present—and that included destructive power. It was one thing when he hadn't paid attention before, but now that he knew of it and had even detected it, how could he pass it by? With a thought, Lu Changsheng acted. *Buzz.* A wisp of destructive power gathered around his hand. Though this wisp was minuscule, if gathered bit by bit, it could accumulate into a substantial quantity. If left alone without being gathered, the destructive power would soon dissipate. Furthermore, the more worlds were destroyed, the more destructive power would be generated. Naturally, Lu Changsheng would not deliberately destroy worlds; doing so would weaken his True Realm. But during the expansion process, the natural cycle of creation and destruction was entirely organic. What Lu Changsheng needed to do now was collect the destructive power born of this natural process and store it for when it was needed. Years drifted by. One year, three years, five years, ten years, twenty years... In the blink of an eye, twenty years had passed. Lu Changsheng's True Realm had expanded two more times. The True Realm itself had not improved drastically, but the destructive power Lu Changsheng had gathered was immense. *Whoosh.* Lu Changsheng opened his eyes. In his perception, a terrifying torrent of destruction now rested within his True Realm. This destructive torrent was suppressed by Lu Changsheng—or rather, sealed away. Within the True Realm, Lu Changsheng was omnipotent. As long as it was destructive power born inside the True Realm, he could naturally keep it suppressed. However, once it left the True Realm and erupted, even Lu Changsheng would be powerless to stop it. Yet he had no need to stop it. This was his trump card. Once unleashed, the destructive power was meant to eradicate his adversary or foe; there would be no need to halt its eruption at all. Still, the time had been somewhat too short. Twenty years of accumulation yielded only a limited amount of destructive power. If unleashed all at once, its might would reach a horrifying level, but whether it could heavily injure or slay an Invincible-tier ring defender remained unknown to Lu Changsheng. Even so, he knew this destructive power was exceedingly terrifying—far more frightening than the four layers of his True Realm. It was now Lu Changsheng's true trump card. Its sole drawback was that it was a one-time release of power. Once spent, he would have to expand the True Realm again and accumulate it anew, bit by bit. However, Lu Changsheng had no more time to accumulate. The twenty-year limit had arrived. Lu Changsheng stepped out of the quiet chamber to find Fang Chuan and Lin Qingluan already waiting in the cave dwelling. "Changsheng, you've emerged," Lin Qingluan said. Lu Changsheng nodded. "I've troubled you, Senior Brother Fang." "It was no trouble. Here is the information on the Invincible-tier defenders I gathered over these years. Have a look first." Lu Changsheng took the materials. The information on each Invincible defender was exhaustive; Fang Chuan had clearly poured a great deal of effort into it. However, the number of Invincible defenders Lu Changsheng could actually challenge was quite limited. After all, Invincible ring defenders received a fifty-year rest period after every battle. Naturally, very few defenders were currently available to accept a challenge. Yet Lu Changsheng could wait no longer. According to the rules, he had to issue a challenge. If he exceeded the time limit without challenging, it would count as a forfeit, and he would lose his opportunity to challenge. Lu Changsheng reviewed the records one by one, with Fang Chuan answering whenever questions arose. This review took several hours. Finally, Lu Changsheng finished reading. He spoke slowly: "What about this Yuan Jiuzhen?" Hearing Lu Changsheng mention Yuan Jiuzhen, Fang Chuan finally breathed a small sigh of relief. Among the profiles he had provided, Yuan Jiuzhen appeared on the surface to be one of the easier defenders to deal with—meaning his strength was relatively ordinary among the Invincible tier. Fang Chuan had feared that Lu Changsheng might be stubborn, just as before, insisting on challenging the most formidable Invincible defender. If that happened, things would become extremely troublesome. Fortunately, Lu Changsheng understood the gravity of the situation. "Yuan Jiuzhen hails from a Sovereign-level faction. He is a member of the Divine Alliance and a disciple of a Divine Alliance Sovereign," Fang Chuan explained. "He walks the physical cultivation system, possessing an extraordinarily powerful physique renowned for invincible defense. His defense truly is exceptionally robust, and to this day, he remains undefeated. There have been times when his opponents were clearly powerful, yet unable to breach his physical defenses, only to be ground down to death by him." Fang Chuan continued, "Choosing Yuan Jiuzhen should be a wise decision. Frankly speaking, the other defenders are all terrifyingly strong. That said, even Yuan Jiuzhen is considered to possess invincible physical defense—he is invincible in that one aspect, which is why he became a ring defender in the first place. If you have no way to break through his physical body, you won't be able to do anything to him, leaving him in an invincible position." Lu Changsheng understood Fang Chuan's meaning. Invincible physical defense? That was indeed troublesome. If one couldn't kill Yuan Jiuzhen, one would simply be worn down to death by him. Invincible-tier ring defenders all needed to possess a trait that was essentially invincible in some domain, and for Yuan Jiuzhen, that was physical defense. Fang Chuan was deeply concerned: if Lu Changsheng chose Yuan Jiuzhen, could he break through his physical body? If he couldn't, Lu Changsheng was essentially doomed to lose. After all, Yuan Jiuzhen's offense was only slightly weaker relative to his defense. Once his body proved impenetrable, he could wreak havoc inside Lu Changsheng's True Realm without restraint. At that point, Yuan Jiuzhen's attacks would undoubtedly tear through Lu Changsheng's inner world layers one by one. The outcome would be virtually foregone. However, Lu Changsheng was no longer the same as before. After carefully considering all aspects of Yuan Jiuzhen, he felt this opponent was actually the most suitable for him. After all, Yuan Jiuzhen was already considered a softer target among the Invincible defenders. If Lu Changsheng didn't challenge Yuan Jiuzhen, whom else could he challenge? Besides, invincible physical defense? It so happened that Lu Changsheng had accumulated the destructive power of two True Realm expansions. He wanted to see whether Yuan Jiuzhen's physical defense was stronger, or the True Realm's destructive power reigned supreme. "Senior Brother Fang, let's go with Yuan Jiuzhen," Lu Changsheng said. "Are you certain?" Fang Chuan couldn't help asking. Lu Changsheng knew what Fang Chuan meant. He smiled and said, "Senior Brother Fang, I don't have absolute confidence this time, so I naturally won't stubbornly seek out the strongest Invincible defender. Besides, every Invincible defender is invincible in some aspect; this Yuan Jiuzhen is more than worthy of being my opponent. Battling him will certainly yield no small amount of fortune." Fang Chuan nodded in satisfaction. It seemed Lu Changsheng had a clear plan. That being the case, he felt much more at ease. "Good. Since you've made up your mind, I'll make the arrangements for you. This battle will certainly draw immense attention, possibly even the gaze of Third Realm Sovereigns. Once you win, you will truly cause a sensation across the entire Great Universe. You must prepare thoroughly." Fang Chuan cautioned him repeatedly. Lu Changsheng nodded. "Don't worry, Senior Brother Fang. I will prepare well. While I won't claim it's foolproof, I have considerable confidence." He understood the importance of this battle. His words were a slight revelation of his hand, meant to keep Lin Qingluan and Fang Chuan from worrying excessively. With that, Fang Chuan left the cave dwelling and set out to arrange the challenge against Yuan Jiuzhen on Lu Changsheng's behalf.