Lord Juling's Martyrdom! Lu Changsheng's True Realm Reaches Consummation, the Supreme Realm Is Born!

Silence! The entire perimeter around the arena fell completely silent. Everyone was struck dumb. In truth, many among them had witnessed countless battles before. Desperate struggles to the death were not unheard of. Yet not a single one resembled what Lord Juling had just done. Because this was martyrdom for the Dao! Many might not fear death. Yet fearlessness came in many forms. Some acted on a momentary burst of reckless courage. Some staked everything in a desperate struggle. Yet a death of martyrdom like this commanded the deepest respect. "A martyr to his Dao... a worthy opponent!" Lu Changsheng murmured softly. It had been a very long time since he had encountered a rival willing to die for the Dao. No wonder Lord Juling had been able to progress step-by-step to where he stood today. Anyone capable of such martyrdom would surely achieve greatness if only they could walk their path to the end. *Whoosh.* Lu Changsheng took a step and exited the arena. With his departure, the result became clear to all. Lord Juling had lost! He had died a martyr to his Dao. "As expected, Lord Juling still fell short; he was not Lu Changsheng's equal in the end." "Indeed. Lu Changsheng defeated Lord Hengguang and seized the title of Summit of the Universe right from his grasp. Naturally, he is extraordinary." "Even so, Lord Juling was remarkable enough. Even in defeat, he died for his Dao. Truly admirable." "Lord Juling was likely a fraction stronger than Lord Hengguang, yet still inferior to Lu Changsheng." "It seems that for another thousand years, no one will dare challenge Lu Changsheng again..." Voices buzzed in fervent discussion. No matter how admirably Lord Juling had met his end, the undeniable fact remained: he was dead. And the reigning Summit of the Universe was still Lu Changsheng! Leaving the arena, Lu Changsheng felt a torrential surge of fortune wash over him. He was already intimately familiar with this sensation. Without lingering, he descended from the stage, returned to his cave dwelling, and began digesting the fortune. As he absorbed it, Lu Changsheng reflected on Lord Juling. In Lu Changsheng's eyes, the path Lord Juling walked was essentially the "Extreme Dao"—taking a single path to its absolute limit. Even though Lord Juling had tempered and merged over a thousand Daos, what was his true core? It was still the Great Dao of Strength. That Great Dao of Strength was Lord Juling's true foundation. From beginning to end, he had walked the Dao of Strength; all other Daos were mere auxiliary supports. And Lu Changsheng had witnessed firsthand the devastating result of carrying a single Dao to its utmost limit. It was remarkably potent! At present, Lu Changsheng possessed too few decisive methods. A World Master's techniques appeared comprehensive, but too few could produce an instantaneous, catastrophic burst of power. In truth, Lu Changsheng had been studying the Hengguang Transformation all along. He had previously gained some insights into it, but even across a thousand years, he had not fully perfected the technique. That was why he had not deployed it against Lord Juling. Yet it was on the verge of completion. *I must perfect the Hengguang Transformation as soon as possible. Compared to the Extreme Dao, the Hengguang Transformation suits me best.* A spark of inspiration flickered in Lu Changsheng's mind. Over the past millennium, he had constantly researched the Hengguang Transformation, but had always felt something was missing. Now, after fighting Lord Juling and witnessing his path of the Extreme Dao, Lu Changsheng felt sudden enlightenment. Yes, the path of the Extreme Dao! To some extent, the principle of the Extreme Dao could be applied directly to his Hengguang Transformation. Namely, Lu Changsheng would pursue solely the power of transforming into a black hole. There was no need to consider superfluous elements. He would simply use the transformation to morph into a black hole, and he could even channel all the destructive power born from converting worlds directly into it. It would be pure, extreme destruction—ultimate annihilation. A technique born entirely for ruin. That perfectly aligned with the concept of the Extreme Dao. Once thoroughly perfected, its might would surely shake the heavens and earth. Lu Changsheng had not expected that his battle against Lord Juling would yield such an unexpected boon, providing the vital inspiration needed to complete the Hengguang Transformation. Of course, the transformation Lu Changsheng envisioned had diverged entirely from Lord Hengguang's original version. *Let's test it.* With a thought, Lu Changsheng acted. His conceptual framework for the technique was already nearly complete; all that remained was practical trial. Previously, he had not finalized it because he had lacked a clear direction for its refinement. Now that he knew precisely where to adjust it, the opportune moment had arrived. *Buzz.* The next instant, Lu Changsheng executed the Hengguang Transformation. At the same time, a Mortal Realm within his True Realm collapsed in an instant. It collapsed violently and rapidly, ultimately forming a black hole. The black hole pulled at the surrounding space, nearly destabilizing Lu Changsheng's True Realm. And that had come from merely a single Mortal Realm! *Continue.* Without hesitation, Lu Changsheng collapsed one Mortal Realm after another into black holes, eventually fusing them into a single, colossal super-black hole. The super-black hole devoured everything around it. Lu Changsheng even directed a Spiritual Realm toward it to test its limits. The result was instantaneous: the Spiritual Realm shattered, swallowed whole by the super-black hole, and was completely annihilated. Furthermore, upon devouring the Spiritual Realm, the super-black hole expanded abruptly, its power multiplying by countless bounds! *Incredible!* *This super-black hole was formed purely from Mortal Realms. By all logic, it should never have been able to consume a Spiritual Realm, which exists on a far higher tier of power. Yet turning Mortal Realms into a black hole actually allowed it to devour a Spiritual Realm!* *If I used Spiritual Realms, Lesser Thousand Realms, Great Thousand Realms, or even the Divine Realm to manifest a black hole, just how terrifying would it be?* *What if, in the end, even the Supreme Realm were transformed into a black hole? How horrifying would that become?* Lu Changsheng's heart trembled with awe. Now that the transformation was perfected, its might was world-shaking, far exceeding his original estimates. After all, incorporating the philosophy of the Extreme Dao had made its destructive power vastly more terrifying. Yet precisely because of that Extreme Dao design, Lu Changsheng's version carried a major drawback. Once a world was collapsed into a black hole, that shattered world could never be restored—not even by drawing on the power of the True Realm. Fortunately, transforming into a black hole still occurred within the True Realm, meaning the energy remained contained inside. Given enough time, he could slowly nurture and birth those shattered worlds once again. The overall impact was minimal—it merely meant a slower recovery. Yet its raw power was astronomical, making it effortless to fight across realms. Crucially, this was a unique trump card tailored exclusively for World Masters. Any World Master could potentially wield it. The more worlds one possessed and the stronger they were, the more terrifying the black hole would become, and the greater its power. If Lu Changsheng were ever to disseminate this World Master version of the Hengguang Transformation, World Masters would no longer be seen merely as "difficult to deal with." They would instantly leap to the absolute pinnacle of combat prowess among peers of the same tier. In that sense, Lu Changsheng had essentially blazed a whole new path for World Masters. An immeasurable merit! Moreover, Lu Changsheng—or any other World Master—could use this technique as a desperate, all-or-nothing gambit. For instance, what if Lu Changsheng directly shattered his entire True Realm? With a True Realm encompassing countless worlds, if it all collapsed into a single black hole, what level of catastrophic might would be unleashed? Lu Changsheng could scarcely imagine it. *If I shatter my True Realm, could I strike down a Second Realm mighty figure?* A brilliant light flashed in Lu Changsheng's eyes. Still, short of a life-or-death crisis, there was no reason to destroy his True Realm. Even though a World Master would not truly die, shattering the True Realm would force Lu Changsheng to slowly reconstitute it from the Boundary Sea. That would take an excruciatingly long time. Furthermore, all the energy within the True Realm would be entirely drained, forcing him to restart his cultivation from the very beginning of the World Master path. The loss would be far too devastating. This was a method meant strictly for mutual destruction, akin to Lord Juling's martyrdom. Unless pushed to the absolute brink with zero alternatives, he would never shatter his True Realm. *My version has diverged drastically from Lord Hengguang's. Though inspired by it, calling it the Hengguang Transformation is no longer fitting.* *Since it relies on shattering worlds to manifest black holes—a lethal technique unique to World Masters—I shall name it the World-Destroying Black Hole.* A faint smile appeared on Lu Changsheng's face. He had created a supreme trump card for World Masters. Now, he possessed more than one lethal technique. Alongside his destructive power, he had the World-Destroying Black Hole. In extreme circumstances, he could even fuse his destructive power directly into the World-Destroying Black Hole, triggering an astronomical spike in its potency. Exactly how strong it would become, even Lu Changsheng did not know. With two major trump cards at his disposal, he felt thoroughly secure. Now, he only needed to focus wholeheartedly on advancing his cultivation. Over the next half year, Lu Changsheng digested all the fortune he had obtained. He then summoned his status panel: **Host:** Lu Changsheng **Comprehension:** Top-tier comprehension **World Master:** First Realm **True Realm:** 100% (307 expansions) **Purple Zenith Soul:** 10% (Inestimably noble; capable of braving the surges within the River of Spacetime) Looking at the panel, his Purple Zenith Soul had only advanced by 10%. This was remarkably slow. Merely 10%! His battle against Lord Juling had drawn the gaze of the entire Great Universe, yielding a colossal tide of fortune. Yet that vast fortune had moved the Purple Zenith Soul's progress by just 10%. This made Lu Changsheng realize that once a soul reached the Purple Zenith tier, any further advancement became extraordinarily difficult. *The Purple Zenith Soul must represent a threshold—a qualitative transformation.* *Many Second Realm mighty figures would not dare claim their souls can brave the surges of the River of Spacetime, yet my Purple Zenith Soul can. Thus, it is likely already stronger than those of most Second Realm mighty figures. But for that very reason, taking another step forward is exceedingly hard.* *When will the next metamorphosis of the Purple Zenith Soul occur?* Lu Changsheng now understood the unique nature of the Purple Zenith Soul. If he wanted it to transform again, he could only bide his time. Relying solely on the fortune from the Summit of the Universe would make further breakthroughs exceptionally arduous. Lu Changsheng thought of his avatars. He still had a portion of his avatars drifting through the Boundary Sea, constantly trying to attune to unique frequencies. So long as they aligned with the specific frequencies of other timelines, Lu Changsheng would have the chance to absorb alternate souls and bolster his own. Unfortunately, that relied purely on luck. He might hit upon a compatible frequency tomorrow, or it might take thousands—even tens of thousands—of years without success. He could not place all his hopes on that; it was merely a passive prospect. For now, he still had to rely on the fortune from the Summit of the Universe. This battle had also yielded a massive cache of source crystals, but they were no longer a primary concern; he already possessed more than enough. His current focus was expanding the True Realm once more. Bringing the Supreme Realm into being was his top priority. Ever since the birth of the Divine Realm, his True Realm had undergone another one hundred expansions. The cumulative count was already quite high. Now, it was only a matter of when the Supreme Realm would finally emerge. Time flowed by day after day. Ten years, twenty years, thirty, forty, fifty... Lu Changsheng was able to trigger an expansion of his True Realm once every ten years. As time marched on, the True Realm expanded again and again. Finally, upon the sixth expansion—sixty years later—Lu Changsheng felt the entire True Realm shudder. A faint aura of "consummation" pervaded the realm. A flash of insight struck him, and he instantly understood what was happening. The Supreme Realm! The Supreme Realm was about to be born! Lu Changsheng had awaited this moment for so long. Now, his wish was finally on the verge of fulfillment. Previously, no matter how powerful his True Realm was, it had remained unconsummated, lacking something essential. And that missing piece was the Supreme Realm. Without it, the True Realm could never achieve absolute perfection. *Rumble!* As the True Realm trembled, Lu Changsheng sensed a magnificent, boundless world coalescing into existence. It was a mighty world standing far above the Divine Realm—the supreme, sovereign existence within the True Realm. Hence, it was named the Supreme Realm. Only with the birth of the Supreme Realm could all the worlds within his True Realm form a unified, coherent system. This was an ascension hierarchy. For instance, ordinary mortal beings could start in the Mortal Realm and advance step-by-step through the Spiritual Realm, Lesser Thousand Realm, Great Thousand Realm, Divine Realm, and ultimately to the Supreme Realm. This perpetual ascension functioned simultaneously as an internal purification of the worlds. Through this mechanism, powerful individual beings would be systematically winnowed, allowing the entire True Realm to maintain a healthy, self-sustaining cycle. Even after ascending to the Supreme Realm, those beings could not simply rest easy forever. Lu Changsheng would grant the supreme beings of that realm a chance—a sliver of hope. If anyone could transcend the Supreme Realm, Lu Changsheng would permit them to depart the True Realm and step into the Great Universe as his subordinates. Though hope existed, it was exceedingly slim. Transcending the True Realm would be monumentally difficult for these supreme entities. Perhaps out of a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand supreme beings, not a single one would succeed. Yet this process would continuously filter countless peak existences. Only with hope came motivation—Lu Changsheng understood this clearly. If supreme beings were stripped of all hope, they would simply idle away in the Supreme Realm indefinitely, immortal and unchanging. Over eons, their numbers would only swell, creating an unsustainable burden rather than a healthy cycle. At last, the Supreme Realm materialized. For now, not a single supreme being inhabited it. Life would have to ascend into it from the Divine Realm. Currently, gods existed within the Divine Realm, and they would sense the emergence of the Supreme Realm. So long as they cultivated diligently, they would eventually ascend. Lu Changsheng was not worried in the slightest. With the birth of the Supreme Realm, Lu Changsheng's True Realm finally achieved complete consummation. Yet the True Realm continued to evolve. After all, achieving consummation through the birth of the Supreme Realm was an earth-shattering transformation that required considerable time to digest. Years drifted past. In the blink of an eye, another forty years elapsed. Exactly one hundred years had passed since Lu Changsheng's battle against Lord Juling. Lu Changsheng opened his eyes. He felt that after forty years, the True Realm had fully settled into absolute tranquility. He summoned his status panel to inspect his condition: **Host:** Lu Changsheng **Comprehension:** Top-tier comprehension **World Master:** First Realm **True Realm:** Consummated (Dimension ascension available) **Purple Zenith Soul:** 11% (Inestimably noble; capable of braving the surges within the River of Spacetime) Lu Changsheng noted that his Purple Zenith Soul had increased by merely 1%. In other words, a century's accumulation of fortune had moved the needle by only a single percentage point. It was agonizingly slow. However, Lu Changsheng had already mentally prepared himself for the difficulty of advancing the Purple Zenith Soul, so he felt no deep disappointment. What caught his attention was that the True Realm no longer displayed an expansion count. It was already consummated. Instead, it showed: *Dimension ascension available.* Lu Changsheng's heart jolted. He understood the meaning of this prompt. The method he had created was called the Dimension Ascension Method. In theory, once the Supreme Realm came into being, the entire True Realm could undergo dimension ascension. This had merely been his initial theoretical construct, formulated by synthesizing the techniques of many other World Masters. As for what would actually happen after dimension ascension, even Lu Changsheng was not entirely certain. *Dimension ascension... could it be tied to the Second Realm?* A possibility crossed his mind. The Second Realm! A realm whose practitioners were revered as mighty figures. Lu Changsheng remembered vividly that even before the birth of his Divine Realm, he had met the basic qualifications to attempt a breakthrough to the Second Realm. Yet back then, despite qualifying, his chance of success had been meager—around ten percent. Once the Divine Realm emerged, he had sensed that his chances rose to fifty percent—an immediate forty-percent leap. And now? With the Supreme Realm born and the True Realm consummated, Lu Changsheng could clearly perceive that if he attempted the breakthrough now, his odds would be extraordinarily high. At least ninety percent! While he could not guarantee absolute certainty, a ninety-percent chance was practically indistinguishable from certainty for most. From antiquity to the present, how many dazzling, peerless geniuses had the vast Great Universe birthed? Even among titleholders of the Summit of the Universe, they were too numerous to count. Yet even with the aid of fortune, almost none had ever possessed a ninety-percent chance of reaching the Second Realm. It was exceedingly rare—perhaps unprecedented. Lu Changsheng might very well be the first to attempt the Second Realm with a ninety-percent probability of success! Yet doubt still lingered in his mind. A ninety-percent chance still left a ten-percent risk of failure. And Lu Changsheng refused to accept failure. *What is still missing if I want a one-hundred-percent guarantee to reach the Second Realm?* He began examining his True Realm with utmost scrutiny. To break through to the Second Realm, the True Realm remained his absolute foundation. *The Second Realm... I should consult Senior Brother Fang Chuan for more details.* Lu Changsheng pondered. With a Second Realm senior brother right beside him, it would be foolish not to seek guidance. Once he had a clear understanding, he might find the key to absolute certainty. With that, Lu Changsheng rose and stepped out of his meditation chamber. A century had elapsed; it was indeed time to emerge from seclusion. He still held the title of Summit of the Universe and was required to accept challenges from invincible-tier arena lords every hundred years. He did not know whether anyone had stepped forward this time, though a bye was overwhelmingly likely. After all, he had forcefully defeated Lord Juling just a century ago. Exiting the quiet chamber into the cave dwelling, he found that Fang Chuan was not present. Lu Changsheng sent a transmission asking to meet. Before long, Fang Chuan arrived. "Changsheng, there was no need to end your seclusion so hastily. You will likely receive another bye this time," Fang Chuan said with a chuckle. Lu Changsheng was not surprised. A bye was only natural. After his dominant victory over Lord Juling, it would be abnormal if someone actually dared to challenge him. "Senior Brother Fang, I came out because I have questions regarding my cultivation," Lu Changsheng said earnestly. "Regarding cultivation? Speak freely, Junior Brother," Fang Chuan replied. "Senior Brother Fang, I wish to learn about the Second Realm. What truly defines the Second Realm?" Lu Changsheng asked deliberately, enunciating each word. As expected, Lu Changsheng was asking about the Second Realm. Fang Chuan had already guessed as much. Having claimed the title of Summit of the Universe, Lu Changsheng's next step was inevitably the breakthrough to the Second Realm. Virtually every Transcendent who earned the title succeeded in advancing, barring unforeseen disasters. For Lu Changsheng, the Second Realm was only a matter of time. "Those of the Second Realm are revered as mighty figures, standing supreme over the First Realm," Fang Chuan explained. "The First Realm is about transcending one's plane, whereas the Second Realm is about sublimation. For body-refining Transcendents, it is physical sublimation. Once achieved, the physical form becomes virtually indestructible across myriad tribulations. Slaying a Second Realm physical cultivator is monumentally difficult. A single drop of their blood can crush countless worlds, or even birth an entire golden age of cultivation! "For Transcendents who fuse Daos, the Second Realm means mastering the Dao and becoming the very source of their own Dao. With a single thought, they can use their personal Dao to stir the cosmic Great Daos of the universe, unleashing earth-shattering power with offensive might second to none! "And for World Masters like you, the Second Realm involves transforming your internal world into a plane, or at least matching one. When that happens, your every move carries the momentum of an entire plane crashing down in a grand, world-shaking display of astonishing force." Lu Changsheng understood. Compared to the First Realm, the Second Realm was indeed a qualitative leap. The two were simply incomparable. Once a World Master reached the Second Realm, their internal world would be equivalent to a plane. Could a world compare to a plane? Though Lu Changsheng currently possessed six tiers of worlds, they were still not a plane. Of course, planes varied in size and power. The vaster a plane, the more awe-inspiring its might. For instance, Lu Changsheng's home—the Dark Domain and Chaos Plane—was a dual-plane entity, naturally stronger than ordinary planes. Other planes were ten or even a hundred times larger than Chaos and the Dark Domain, representing a massive disparity. And what was the fundamental difference between a plane and a world? Lu Changsheng reflected. The primary difference lay in scale and completeness. A world's scale could never rival that of a plane, and planes encompassed all things, being far more comprehensive and refined. "I understand. Thank you for enlightening me, Senior Brother Fang," Lu Changsheng said with genuine gratitude. "Haha, a minor matter!" Fang Chuan chuckled, then grew serious. "However, advancing to the Second Realm cannot be accomplished overnight. Junior Brother, you still hold the title of Summit of the Universe and can steadily amass fortune. With fortune aiding you, the breakthrough will be far easier. You must ensure you have at least a seventy-percent certainty before making the attempt. Remember, do not act with undue haste. "If an attempt on the Second Realm fails, your body and Dao will perish, and World Masters are no exception. Upon failure, even your mental imprint in the Boundary Sea will dissipate, resulting in true death." Fang Chuan's expression was grave, his tone stern as he warned Lu Changsheng. He must not rush! "I understand," Lu Changsheng nodded. He naturally knew better than to rush recklessly. When attempting the Second Realm, he refused to settle for seventy or eighty percent. Even ninety percent was not enough. He demanded absolute, flawless certainty—one hundred percent—before taking that step. After seeing Fang Chuan off, Lin Qingluan spoke up: "Changsheng, are you preparing to challenge the Second Realm?" Lu Changsheng looked at her and nodded. Lin Qingluan was his Dao companion and understood him deeply. He would never ask about the Second Realm without reason; inquiring meant he intended to make the attempt. Concern showed on her face. She was well aware of the immense risks involved. Throughout the vast Great Universe, countless brilliant figures had met their end on the path to the Second Realm. There were so many Transcendents across the universe, yet how few Second Realm mighty figures existed? That alone demonstrated how arduous the ascension was. "Do not worry, Qingluan. Without complete certainty, I will not attempt the breakthrough," Lu Changsheng said, taking her hand to comfort her. After spending several months accompanying Lin Qingluan, Lu Changsheng entered seclusion once more. He examined his state thoroughly. His perceived chance of breaking through remained around ninety percent, showing no change. He tried expanding the True Realm again, but found it impossible. The True Realm had reached its absolute limit; no amount of source crystals could force another expansion. For a time, Lu Changsheng found himself at an impasse. This was effectively a bottleneck. Throughout his cultivation journey, he had rarely encountered true bottlenecks, yet one stood squarely before him now. A ninety-percent probability would have sent other Transcendents into wild celebrations, prompting them to attempt the breakthrough without hesitation. Yet Lu Changsheng was different. He insisted on absolute certainty. He refused to gamble. Therefore, he had to find a way to achieve a full one-hundred-percent guarantee. Yet what was his True Realm still missing? *My True Realm reached its current state through my self-created Dimension Ascension Method.* *The Supreme Realm is theoretically the highest tier of world within the True Realm. However, that does not mean the Dimension Ascension Method itself has reached completion.* *Theoretically, my method has one final step: dimension ascension. Only upon ascending dimensions will the method truly be perfected. Could the missing element be dimension ascension?* Lu Changsheng examined himself and gradually found a clue. Dimension ascension! His True Realm still needed to undergo dimension ascension! Yet what did dimension ascension entail? What significance did it hold? Lu Changsheng did not fully understand the difference. Though he had created the method himself, it was synthesized from numerous disparate techniques. He had never witnessed this final "dimension ascension," so he naturally had no frame of reference. Consulting his master, Sovereign Feilong, would likely yield no answers either. He had never seen or heard of any other World Master who had achieved "dimension ascension." Lu Changsheng focused his gaze on the status panel once more: *True Realm: Consummated (Dimension ascension available)* He sensed it carefully. It seemed that so long as he wished it, he could initiate dimension ascension at any time. Moreover, this ascension carried no inherent danger. It was an intrinsic function of his Dimension Ascension Method. Only by cultivating through the Dimension Ascension Method and birthing the Supreme Realm would one naturally earn the qualification to ascend dimensions. *Since there is no danger, there is no harm in trying...* Lu Changsheng took a deep breath, his resolve firmly set.