Chapter 143: The Celestial Emperor’s Decree, Seclusion for the Breakthrough, The Great Elixir Formed

Lei Xuan spoke these words with absolute confidence. In his eyes, having Ying Long join the fray would merely be the icing on the cake. Even if he were not there, given the preparations they had made, there would be no issues at all. The three great clans had brought out their deep-seated foundations, and they possessed trump cards provided by their elders from beyond the Earth. Under such circumstances, how could they fail to kill a mere native of the Milky Way?

Therefore, although Lei Xuan was highly dissatisfied with Ying Long’s departure, he did not truly take it to heart. Furthermore, it made him feel that the Dragon Clan was fundamentally unreliable.

"Lu Yuan is incredibly difficult to kill; can we really succeed?" the head of the Zhou family asked with some hesitation. After all, before the arrival of the extraterrestrial beings, Lu Yuan’s performance had been overwhelming, making him almost invincible. He was hailed as the number one warrior, capable of fighting across levels, which was terrifying. He was even comparable to the elite sequences of some major clans.

"Rest assured, there will be no problems," Lei Xuan shook his head and chuckled softly. "You have no idea how much we have prepared for this. But before this matter fully unfolds, there are other things to do. Some races have been far too restless since their arrival."

"My strength has basically recovered by eighty percent. Now is the time to act. More major clans are about to appear, and we must stay ahead of them."

Hearing this, the head of the Zhou family nodded, acknowledging that this was indeed necessary, as the recent situation in the world had become chaotic. Regardless of the official authorities, some ambitious conglomerates and capital forces had begun to attach themselves to certain major clans, gaining immense growth in strength within a short period. Famous mountains and great rivers were being occupied one after another, and they were the only ones who had yet to make a move.

However, he thought of another matter and immediately asked, "Zhou Qiong has been in seclusion for a long time. Could something have gone wrong?"

"Her bloodline is extremely powerful, rare even within the Ji lineage. The item given by that great person can fully stimulate it. This seclusion is a transformation; once she emerges, she will truly be reborn."

Lei Xuan knew what that great person had given; it was a treasure even within the Ji lineage. Combined with Zhou Qiong’s own rich bloodline, the result after stimulation was unimaginable. It was very likely that after she emerged, she would be even stronger than he was. After all, the Ji lineage were the descendants of the Yellow Emperor, and the Ziwei Star Domain where they currently resided was among the top ten in existence.

"That is good, that is good." Upon hearing this, the head of the Zhou family felt joy in his eyes. He knew that with his daughter, the Zhou family would surely rise, perhaps even dominating the entire Milky Way Star Domain in the future. Coupled with the unique conditions of this world, in a thousand or even ten thousand years, the Zhou family would completely detach from the Ji lineage and become a truly independent great clan.

"Let’s put that aside for now. Next, it is time to execute our series of plans." Lei Xuan knew what the other was thinking, but he did not say more, as this was a decision belonging to the Ji lineage of the Ziwei Star Domain, and he had to comply. What he needed to do was create the best conditions before both clans arrived in full, which would count as a meritorious service. At the same time, by utilizing certain legacies to evolve further, these two factors combined might even raise his ranking in the sequence.

"Understood, I will go handle it immediately." The head of the Zhou family nodded and left.

In the end, only Lei Xuan remained, standing in place and looking toward the outside, his eyes sharp.

At the Mount Tai Trial Academy, after Lu Yuan and the others returned, most of them went straight into seclusion, as the harvest this time was truly immense and needed to be digested. The spiritual fruits, exotic herbs, divine weapons, and dragon blood were of great utility to them. Zhu Qingyu, the Pure Yang Little Celestial Master, the Ice Fairy, and Monk Huikong might be able to advance to the Golden Body Realm soon by utilizing these. Elder Ji and Elder Yun were also pleased, though both chose to temporarily allocate the limited resources to the Heavenly Court. Previously, they had pursued the quantity of awakened ones, but they had since realized that only truly powerful strength mattered.

The Heavenly Court was now basically tied to the Chinese official authorities. The rise of the Heavenly Court’s power would be a good thing for all the citizens of the nation. Just as they had decided before, they would build the strongest organization of awakened ones with Lu Yuan at the center!

As for Lu Yuan? He had also taken a small portion, putting it into the Ziwei Heaven-Mending Furnace. As for those divine weapons, they could all serve as nourishment for the Daluo Sword Embryo to promote its evolution. The Golden-Winged Peng, on the other hand, only took some dragon blood before heading to the Jade Emperor Summit with the Spirit Monkey. The two exotic beasts sometimes bickered, but they were actually quite fond of each other. Lu Yuan naturally would not stop them; after all, in the future, both the Golden-Winged Peng and the Spirit Monkey would be core members of the Heavenly Court.

In his room, Lu Yuan sat cross-legged. He did not immediately begin to cultivate, but instead took out the Heaven Emperor’s Ancient Token he had obtained in the Dragon Palace. Just like last time, after careful observation, there was nothing special about it. Without much hesitation, he cut his palm and let his blood drip onto the ancient token.

An inexplicable, immense power emerged, causing the entire room to vibrate and emit creaking sounds. Fortunately, this force did not last long before the Heaven Emperor’s Ancient Token disappeared. It appeared before the golden figure under the Bodhi tree, merging directly with the previous one and radiating light so brilliant it seemed to represent eternity.

Hum~

A more magnificent power emerged. The golden figure seemed affected, with purple energy surging on its body, looking exactly like a Heaven Emperor reclining above the nine heavens. At the same time, the Heaven Emperor’s Ancient Token reappeared. There was only one, its size unchanged, still inscribed with the two characters for "Heaven Emperor." However, the various mysterious runes within it were much clearer than before.

"It seems to have gained some special features." Seeing this, Lu Yuan felt a stir in his heart. The golden figure stood up and touched the Heaven Emperor’s Ancient Token.

*Chi!*

A voice that seemed to come from the ancient era appeared in his mind. More importantly, when Lu Yuan realized it, he discovered a translucent scroll on the Heaven Emperor’s Ancient Token. However, the scroll was empty, containing nothing. It was entirely purple, engraved with ancient auspicious beasts like the Qilin, True Dragon, True Phoenix, and Pixiu, which was astonishing. To describe it, it was somewhat similar to an ancient emperor’s imperial decree.

Since it was born from the Heaven Emperor’s Ancient Token, could it be called the "Heaven Emperor’s Edict"? He even had a premonition that he could write on this scroll and, by connecting with it, achieve something terrifying. However, when Lu Yuan tried to do so, he found that the golden figure’s fingers passed right through the scroll, as if there was nothing there.

"I need to find the third Heaven Emperor’s Ancient Token for this Heaven Emperor’s Edict to truly manifest," he concluded, realizing he had too few tokens to begin using it. But the problem was, he had no idea how many Heaven Emperor’s Ancient Tokens existed. On Mount Tai, he could rely on his past-life memories to obtain the first one, but the second was purely a matter of luck. As for others, he had no clue. This item was too special; anyone who obtained it would hide it. Lu Yuan felt helpless and could only take things one step at a time.

Forget it. Let’s start the evolution first. The Great Elixir in the Ziwei Heaven-Mending Furnace had been refined. This was the main purpose of his return.

He slightly turned his hand, and a round pill the size of a dragon’s eye appeared. This was a fusion of various spiritual fruits, exotic herbs, and even dragon blood. Its effect was incredibly strong, surpassing anything before, and even for him, it was immensely precious. The energy contained within it was something only Lu Yuan could withstand in this world. If someone else with a weaker physique were to take it, they would surely explode.

Without hesitation, he swallowed it.

*Boom!*

The pill melted upon contact, transforming into an incredibly terrifying, pure energy that rushed into his limbs and bones. Under the pressure of this powerful force, the entire room shook, and the alloy walls even showed signs of damage. There was no helping it; Lu Yuan’s strength was now too high, and the sheer aura of his evolution was terrifying. Helpless, he activated the Ziwei Heaven-Mending Furnace to suppress this aura; otherwise, the entire house would be destroyed.

After doing this, Lu Yuan steadily controlled the energy. His foundation was sufficient; what remained was digestion. He had long planned to make an all-out push this time to reach the next stage of evolution: the Sovereign King Realm. Then, he would practice the Ancestor Dragon Breathing Method. Since opening the fifteen cave-heavens last time, he hadn't put much effort into it. He would use this opportunity to solve both at once.

Evolution takes longer the further one progresses. For an ordinary person without special bloodlines or talents, it would take years or even decades to go from the fourth stage to the fifth. Of course, Earth was in a period of recovery, so conditions were special and it would be faster, but there was still a limit. Lu Yuan was different; his foundation was extraordinary, and the only thing he lacked was energy. To make him slow down and accumulate gradually would require reaching the sixth stage, the Saint Domain.

Therefore, as time passed, the power radiating from Lu Yuan’s body grew more magnificent. Behind him, the fifteen cave-heavens increased to twenty in a short time. Five true gods stood within them, identical to him. Not only that, the number of cave-heavens continued to increase. To charge into the fifth stage, the Sovereign King Realm, Lu Yuan had prepared for some time. Thus, this improvement would certainly not be as simple as before.

Days went by. The aura he radiated grew stronger, and the cave-heavens behind him reached twenty-five. Golden vital blood surged and boiled, billowing around him and turning the entire room into a sea of gold. This power was truly too immense. If not for the suppression of the Ziwei Heaven-Mending Furnace, everything around him would have collapsed and been destroyed.

Humanity’s transcendent power was, in other words, the path to godhood. The current Lu Yuan was definitely walking at the forefront of the world. Both his speed of advancement and his combat power were arguably the strongest. He had to be this way, for there were too many crises in the future and many secrets waiting to be explored. He had to walk the path of the supreme step by step.

With this conviction, finally, a few days later, Lu Yuan opened his eyes, and a more majestic aura surged from his body!