The Battle to Prove the Dao! Lord Juling, the Pinnacle of Strength, Proving the Dao Through Strength!

"Changsheng, Lord Juling must not be underestimated." "Take a look at the records of his past battles, and you will understand..." With that, Fang Chuan showed Lu Changsheng a series of battle projections. Within them were scenes of Lord Juling in combat. In these battles, no matter who he faced, Lord Juling essentially resolved the fight with a single punch. Moreover, after defeating an opponent, his strength would visibly surge the next time he appeared, amounting to a veritable metamorphosis before he easily crushed his next rival once again. This was remarkably similar to Lu Changsheng in the past. Each time he triumphed, his strength would leap by immense bounds before his next showing. In fact, Lord Juling's rate of improvement was even more exaggerated than Lu Changsheng's back then. That was precisely why Fang Chuan took him so seriously. Progress! Lord Juling progressed entirely too fast. The magnitude of his growth was staggering. A figure like this posed a genuine threat. Lu Changsheng narrowed his eyes slightly. Indeed, comparing the battle recordings showed that Lord Juling underwent a qualitative metamorphosis after every single fight. His growth was breathtakingly swift. Back then, Lu Changsheng had relied on the expansion of his True Realm, the augmentation of the Dimension Ascension Method he had created, and the accumulation of destructive power to grow stronger with each battle, frequently achieving qualitative leaps in power. Lord Juling was doing the exact same thing. Lu Changsheng would not underestimate him. The universe, after all, was unimaginably vast. Countless geniuses were born within it. If Lu Changsheng could pioneer the Dimension Ascension Method, others could certainly develop comparable pinnacle techniques. For instance, Lord Juling had undoubtedly forged an earth-shattering method of his own—one that allowed his strength to advance by leaps and bounds with every opponent he overcame. It was precisely for this reason that Lord Juling had issued his challenge to Lu Changsheng. Because Lu Changsheng was strong enough. Lu Changsheng had even defeated and slain Lord Hengguang. Such a formidable adversary filled Lord Juling with boundless excitement. Facing Lu Changsheng was, to Lord Juling, his act of "proving the Dao." He intended to prove the Dao through strength! He wanted to use Lu Changsheng as a stepping stone to charge into the Second Realm. Such boldness and courage were far beyond the reach of ordinary Transcendents. "Very well. Let us test him, then." "Let us see whether Lord Juling can truly prove the Dao through strength." "I hope he doesn't disappoint me..." Lu Changsheng spoke in a calm, measured tone. Deep down, he felt a faint flicker of anticipation. A thousand years of continuous byes had not been particularly thrilling for him. He had actually been looking forward to an opponent on par with Lord Hengguang. This Lord Juling was bound to be extraordinarily powerful. Perhaps he could bring Lu Changsheng a pleasant surprise. "Good. Since you've accepted, begin your preparations. You still have one year to get ready." "During this time, I will do my utmost to gather all available information on Lord Juling," Fang Chuan said in a deep voice. He had accompanied Lu Changsheng to the Summit of the Universe for a long time now. He had borne witness as Lu Changsheng forged miracle after miracle. He hoped that this time, he would witness him create yet another. Of course, this time Lu Changsheng stood as the favored defender, while Lord Juling was the challenger from below. As the news spread, the entire Summit of the Universe erupted into fervor. "I knew it! Lord Juling was bound to challenge him at the first opportunity. He fought his way up from the qualifiers without suffering a single defeat!" "Indeed. It hasn't been easy for Lord Juling, but his strength advances in monumental leaps. His growth is terrifyingly fast. Word has it this is his battle to prove the Dao—he intends to use Lu Changsheng as a stepping stone to reach it!" "Hmph, Lord Juling is far too arrogant. Who is Lu Changsheng? He is the man who defeated and executed Lord Hengguang, who held the title of the Summit of the Universe for thirty-six hundred consecutive years! His earth-shattering might is unfathomable. Lord Juling wants to prove his Dao on Lu Changsheng? Sheer madness! He is doomed to a crushing defeat!" "For an entire millennium, not a single soul dared challenge Lu Changsheng. Lord Juling is the very first, which only proves Lu Changsheng's terrifying deterrence. Yet as fierce as Lord Juling's momentum is, my bet is still on Lu Changsheng. Taking the title of the Summit of the Universe is never so simple." "Lord Juling may be mighty, but challenging Lu Changsheng now is premature. Lu Changsheng has spent a thousand years in seclusion, and each of his breakthroughs has always been massive. Who knows what heights he has reached after a millennium?" "Regardless of the outcome, this clash will be spectacular beyond measure—an event you might never see again..." Amid the chatter of countless cultivators, Lord Juling's challenge to Lu Changsheng stirred a tremendous sensation across the Great Universe. In particular, Lord Juling's bold declaration of "proving the Dao through strength" and treating this duel with Lu Changsheng as his battle of ascension sparked immense curiosity. What kind of foundation and confidence gave Lord Juling the audacity to make such a claim? Lu Changsheng was no unknown newcomer. He was hailed as the strongest champion of the Summit of the Universe in ten thousand years. Even Lord Hengguang had fallen before him. Fierce though Lord Juling's record had been, on the surface he still appeared far behind Lu Changsheng. Regardless of whether cultivators backed Lu Changsheng or Lord Juling, the word was out. Countless beings flooded into the Summit of the Universe. Many Sovereigns even arrived in their true bodies to observe the spectacle. Even Sovereign Feilong journeyed from Mount Feilong to the Summit of the Universe. However, he did not go to see Lu Changsheng. There was no need to visit him at such a juncture. What Lu Changsheng needed now was a quiet environment to adjust his state. Soon, the one-year buildup drew to an end. The challenge at the Summit of the Universe arrived right on schedule. "It has finally come..." "Today is the day I astonish the world. To prove the Dao through strength, I must defeat the reigning champion of the Summit of the Universe, Lu Changsheng. Only by striking him down can I prove my Dao, achieve perfection of the mind, and ascend to the Second Realm!" "No one can stop me—not even Lu Changsheng!" In the staging chamber beneath the arena, Lord Juling slowly rose to his feet. He was a special lifeform. His frame was colossal, towering over ten feet tall, and that was only because he forcefully suppressed his stature; otherwise, his true form would be vastly more terrifying. Lord Juling stood alone, with no entourage at his side. From the lowest preliminary rounds, he had climbed step by step through the ranks until he reached the position to challenge Lu Changsheng. He had never needed analysis. He had never needed to gather intel. He had not even needed to understand his opponents. The only thing Lord Juling had ever done was crush his rivals with sheer, terrifying strength. This time, however, was an exception. The one he was challenging was Lu Changsheng, the man who had slain Lord Hengguang. Lord Juling set aside his customary haughtiness and actively sought to learn about Lu Changsheng. The result left him thoroughly shaken. In Lord Juling's eyes, Lu Changsheng was indeed formidable. Even Lord Hengguang, whom Lu Changsheng had defeated, was remarkably powerful. How could anyone who reigned over the Summit of the Universe for thirty-six hundred years be anything less? Lord Juling had evaluated how he would fare against Lord Hengguang. Had it been him facing Lord Hengguang, he would have had a chance of victory. Unfortunately, Lord Hengguang had already been slain, replaced by an even mightier Lu Changsheng. Yet the stronger Lu Changsheng proved to be, the more excited Lord Juling became. A powerful adversary was always the best catalyst to draw out his latent potential. That was the entire purpose behind his journey to the Summit of the Universe. Before long, Lord Juling strode out from the corridor and stepped directly onto the arena stage. The gazes of the surrounding Transcendents converged upon him in an instant. Among them were more than a few Third Realm Sovereigns. Yet Lord Juling remained completely composed. Lu Changsheng had not yet arrived, so Lord Juling could only wait in silence. He did not have to wait long. A roar of cheers soon erupted around the arena. Lord Juling watched as a figure ascended the stage step by step, coming to a halt directly before him. The bearer of the title "Summit of the Universe," Lu Changsheng! By now, that name resounded across the entire Great Universe. *Swish.* Lu Changsheng's gaze locked onto Lord Juling. "In a thousand years, you are the first Transcendent to challenge me," Lu Changsheng said calmly. "Indeed, I am the one who challenged you." "This battle is not merely to decide victory and defeat, but life and death. Though you are a Realm Lord and immortal within the Great Universe, I have no doubt you will still stake everything on this fight." "Come, kill me! The stronger you are, the more boundless fortune I can gather to ascend to the Second Realm!" "Today is my battle to prove the Dao!" As soon as Lord Juling finished speaking, dazzling golden radiance burst from his form. Simultaneously, a towering, fiend-god-like titan hundreds of yards tall manifested across the void. Looking at Lord Juling's gigantic, fiend-god stature, Lu Changsheng remained impassive. Anyone capable of challenging him naturally possessed extraordinary means, let alone someone striving to prove the Dao through strength. *Boom! Wave upon wave of power surged.* Lu Changsheng did not hold back, instantly manifesting his five-tier world. Words were meaningless against Lord Juling. Only an exchange of blows would reveal his true depths. Thus, all five tiers erupted, sweeping toward Lord Juling with overwhelming majesty. Back then, Lu Changsheng's five-tier world had matched Lord Hengguang stride for stride. Now, a thousand years had passed. His True Realm had expanded a hundred more times, making the five-tier world far more formidable than before. "Come on!" Lord Juling grew even more exhilarated. He threw his head back with a ferocious roar and drove a fist forward. *Rumble!* The void shattered instantly. The terrifying force behind Lord Juling's punch collided head-on with Lu Changsheng's five-tier world. This was the power of five complete world tiers. It was equivalent to a single body violently clashing against five tiers of a world. What kind of mighty power was that? Even Transcendents who specialized in physical cultivation would never dare take it on directly, yet Lord Juling met it head-on with pure flesh and bone. And to everyone's utter shock, Lord Juling was not instantly repelled. Instead, Lu Changsheng's five-tier world shook violently, as if battered by an unfathomable concussive force, throwing all five tiers into instability. The weakest tier, the Mortal Realm, began to collapse outright. With all five tiers stacked together, Lu Changsheng was actually at a disadvantage. This sight left the onlookers dumbfounded, unable to believe their eyes. "Is that Lord Juling? Pure physical strength?" "Wait, doesn't Lord Juling follow the path of Dao smelting? How can his physical body be so formidable?" "This strength defies all reason. How can a Transcendent who smelts the Dao possess such horrifying power?" "Unbelievable... That's a five-tier world he's holding back!" Many spectators had witnessed the might of Lu Changsheng's five-tier world a thousand years ago. Yet under Lord Juling's single strike, the challenger was not pushed back in the slightest—in fact, he held the upper hand. This was completely abnormal. It defied logic. Yet the most surprised person present was Lu Changsheng himself. *Hmm?* *He blocked it?* *No, it's far more than just blocking. My Mortal Realm, and even the Spirit Realm and Lesser Thousand Realm, are cracking and collapsing. Lord Juling's power seems bottomless. If this goes on, even the Greater Thousand Realm will give way, and the Divine Realm might not endure either.* *Can Lord Juling's strength truly reach such heights?* Lu Changsheng found it baffling. He knew better than anyone how resilient his five-tier world was. Yet right now, it struggled against a single punch from Lord Juling? What was more, Lord Juling had not even unleashed his smelted Great Dao yet. Once he deployed Dao smelting, he would grow even stronger! In that moment, Lu Changsheng understood. Lord Juling's might was utterly monstrous. No wonder he was hailed as the pinnacle of strength; he truly had the qualifications to bear that title. Unfortunately, Lu Changsheng's True Realm had not yet attained its ultimate state. Otherwise, once the Supreme Realm manifested, it would suppress all beneath heaven! The two fell into a deadlock. Time ticked past, yet neither yielded a single inch. Lu Changsheng was indeed on the back foot, but he was in no hurry. Even at a disadvantage, his five-tier world could hold out for a very long time. The one who needed to worry was Lord Juling. In a battle of attrition, could he sustain such an explosive burst of force indefinitely? Though Lu Changsheng did not know how Lord Juling's body generated such astonishing might, physical strength always had its limits—especially during reckless bursts, which drained immense reserves. Lu Changsheng's current plan was simple: outlast him. His five-tier world might be under heavy pressure, but as long as it did not collapse in an instant, he could turn this into a war of attrition. Lord Juling could never outlast Lu Changsheng's True Realm. In truth, Lu Changsheng was not the only one thinking this way; many spectators around the arena saw through his strategy as well. Smiles returned to their faces, and they breathed a collective sigh of relief. Lord Juling's initial strike had genuinely startled them, making them wonder if Lu Changsheng was about to fall. Defeating Lu Changsheng, however, was far easier said than done. Many had nearly forgotten how notoriously difficult Realm Lords were to deal with. To rid oneself of a Realm Lord's entanglement and kill them, one had to rupture their world and cause it to crumble. Yet shattering a world required time. Unless one possessed the power to kill a Realm Lord in a single instant, the Realm Lord could simply grind their opponent down to dust. "As expected, someone who defeated Lord Hengguang and seized the title of the Summit of the Universe isn't so easily brought low." "I have already unleashed the full power of my physical body. Even though I hold the upper hand, completely breaking your world is virtually impossible." Lord Juling finally spoke. If the onlookers understood his dilemma, how could he not recognize it himself? The strength he had displayed was indeed immense, but it was not enough. At the very least, it fell short of crushing Lu Changsheng. "In that case..." "Great Dao of Strength!" Lord Juling roared. *Rumble!* The Great Dao of Strength suddenly materialized. As a Transcendent who walked the path of Dao smelting, the smelted Great Dao was his ultimate core. And the Great Dao that Lord Juling smelted was the Great Dao of Strength! Every Transcendent who walked the path of Dao smelting could incorporate all manner of Great Daos. In reality, Dao-smelting Transcendents had versatile, comprehensive repertoires. By smelting many varied Great Daos, they could respond to nearly any situation. Lord Juling, however, was different. He smelted only a single Great Dao: the Great Dao of Strength! Though he smelted only one, he had pushed it to the absolute extreme. Lu Changsheng could sense that within Lord Juling's Great Dao of Strength, numerous other Great Daos had already been smelted into it. Every single one of them had been meticulously selected by Lord Juling specifically to temper and empower the Great Dao of Strength. Each one served solely to amplify it. Under the cumulative enhancement of Dao after Dao, Lord Juling's Great Dao of Strength had reached this unfathomable level. "What astonishing comprehension!" "Those Daos... aren't there over a thousand of them?" "Every single Dao amplifies the Great Dao of Strength. No wonder Lord Juling's power is so terrifying, and no wonder he is called the pinnacle of strength. This... it's unbelievable that such a Transcendent exists!" "Ordinary Transcendents consider it a blessing to comprehend just a few Daos. Once they grasp one, they don't care what kind it is—they can't wait to smelt it into their bodies. But Lord Juling is different. The Daos he comprehended had to be strictly screened and planned. If a Dao fell outside his grand design, he would rather not comprehend it at all. To smelt over a thousand types of Daos under such constraints requires incomprehensible comprehension." "Many of those Daos amplify physical strength. Now we know the reason behind his terrifying physical power! The answer is actually so simple: it's purely the passive enhancement that the power of those Daos grants to his flesh..." Many Transcendents felt their hearts tremble with shock. It was a profound revelation, especially for those who walked the path of Dao smelting, Lin Qingluan included. Every Dao-smelting Transcendent fixed their eyes on Lord Juling. Could Dao smelting truly be done this way? Lord Juling seemed to have opened a brand-new path for them all. There was no absolute need to pursue versatility. Focusing on a single aspect and pushing it to the absolute extreme was viable too! One could still ascend to the apex that way! Of course, even if others tried to emulate him, virtually no one could reach Lord Juling's heights. Filtering through and selecting over a thousand specific Daos was simply impossible for an ordinary Transcendent. Even Lin Qingluan could not achieve it. Even with the Divine Tree of Fortune, she could never screen out a thousand Daos and smelt them all into a single path. Doing so would multiply the difficulty of comprehending Daos exponentially, severely dragging down one's cultivation speed and making a future push into the Second Realm nearly impossible. Naturally, if an ordinary Transcendent abandoned aspirations of reaching the Second Realm, dedicating themselves wholly to a single Dao and constantly reinforcing it, they too could achieve terrifying strength in the end. In short, Lord Juling's path left many Transcendents in awe. Lord Juling, however, cared nothing for how the outside world perceived him. By manifesting his Great Dao of Strength, he had essentially unleashed the entirety of his might. The Great Dao of Strength bore down upon Lu Changsheng's five-tier world with torrential force. *Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!* Lu Changsheng's Mortal Realm, Spirit Realm, Lesser Thousand Realm, and even the Greater Thousand Realm shattered one after another. An instant kill! This was an absolute wipeout! Only the Divine Realm remained, barely putting up a shred of resistance. Yet that was all it could do. At most, it could hold for a few breaths. Once those breaths passed, Lu Changsheng's Divine Realm would inevitably rupture, and with it, his True Realm would collapse entirely. The situation turned critically perilous in an instant! Yet Lu Changsheng's expression remained completely calm. Lord Juling had indeed delivered a pleasant surprise. He was an adversary far mightier than Lord Hengguang. Had Lord Juling been the one to challenge Lord Hengguang back then instead of Lu Changsheng, the victor likely would have been Lord Juling. However, there were no "what-ifs." The one standing on the arena stage right now was Lu Changsheng. And the one facing Lord Juling was also Lu Changsheng. "You truly have not disappointed me." "The pinnacle of strength, proving the Dao through strength... you indeed possess the right to claim that." "However, let us see if your pure strength can contend against a millennium of destructive power accumulated by this Lu..." Lu Changsheng's True Realm shuddered violently. He unleashed his destructive power. *Boom!* The destructive power erupted. How terrifying was a millennium's worth of accumulated destructive power? Back then, Lord Hengguang had been nearly wiped out in a single breath by Lu Changsheng's destructive power. Now, it was Lord Juling's turn to face it. Moreover, Lord Juling faced an entire thousand years of accumulated devastation. Just how vast was this destructive tide? Unleashed all at once, it slammed brutally into Lord Juling's Great Dao of Strength. The Great Dao of Strength could shatter any barrier, bringing entire worlds to ruin. Yet before pure, unadulterated destructive power, even the force of that Great Dao paled in comparison. As the torrential flood of destruction poured out, engulfing Lord Juling in an instant, everyone present knew that everything was over. Lord Juling could not escape the same fate that befell Lord Hengguang. Lu Changsheng stood quietly in the void, gazing in Lord Juling's direction. In truth, he could still sense him. Tempered and augmented by over a thousand Daos, Lord Juling's Great Dao of Strength was terrifyingly resilient at its core. Even as the destructive power tore through it layer by layer, it took time to completely eradicate. Yet remarkably, Lord Juling showed not the slightest intention of admitting defeat. Even in the face of death, he held his ground. After all, this was his Dao! The moment he conceded, even if he survived, his Dao would collapse. That would be equivalent to the shattering of his mind and spirit. Lord Juling could never accept such a collapse. "Hahaha! What of destructive power?! I am Lord Juling! My Great Dao of Strength can break all methods with pure force!" "Today, even if I burn myself to cinders, I will tear through your destruction!" Lord Juling threw his head back and laughed wildly. At the same time, his physical body began to burn. Even his Great Dao of Strength ignited. As his flesh and Dao burned away, they marshaled several times—even dozens of times—more power than before. This was Lord Juling staking everything on a single throw, willing to die just for this final clash. Even if he won, burning his Great Dao meant death was his only outcome. Yet he did it without hesitation. This was his Dao! *Boom! Wave upon wave of cataclysmic force erupted.* Lord Juling's body and Great Dao burned away entirely. A horrifying force erupted in that instant—a pure, supreme force that reached the absolute pinnacle of strength. It forcefully annihilated Lu Changsheng's destructive power. The torrential flood of destruction was brought to an abrupt halt. Yet atop the arena stage, all was empty. Lord Juling was nowhere to be seen.