At the End of the Immortal Road, Who Stands at the Peak? One Glimpse of Wushi, and the Dao Becomes Empty

Xuan Yue Cave had many secluded ravines and ancient caverns, with countless gullies and streams flowing endlessly.

Ancient trees here blotted out the sky, while immortal vines formed bridges between the cliffs, serving as passageways.

Lu Zhou had only just approached when cultivators guarding the entrance of Xuan Yue Cave questioned him.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

It seemed Lu Zhou had moved too quickly. The people of Xuan Yue Cave had yet to discover that Qingxia, Lihuo, and the other sects had already been destroyed.

Nor had any of the people he had released from those sects warned Xuan Yue Cave.

Lu Zhou still could not be bothered to waste words with them.

Xuan Yue Cave had also supported bandits in committing evil deeds, though they had been more discreet about it than Qingxia Sect.

Of the five sects nearby, not one was innocent. They had committed far too many heinous acts.

Lu Zhou did not possess the magnanimity or compassion to save the world and rescue all who suffered.

But if he encountered evil taking place right before his eyes, and he had the strength to act, then he would certainly interfere.

He strode into Xuan Yue Cave.

Behind him lay two corpses.

Before long, every cultivator in Xuan Yue Cave had either been killed by Lu Zhou or driven away.

He walked deeper into Xuan Yue Cave, where there were many cliffside inscriptions and ancient ruins.

Lu Zhou formed his Divine Sense into a shape and, sure enough, saw faint mist curling about in the form of dragons.

He arrived at a tranquil area within Xuan Yue Cave, where a massive deep valley lay.

The Wushi Emperor Jade in his palm grew scorching hot, nearly flying out of his hand.

Lu Zhou summoned the Lihuo Divine Furnace from his Heart Divine Treasury. It instantly expanded, and as its lid opened, a powerful suction force emerged.

All the clutter and refuse in the gorge before Lu Zhou, along with a three-foot-thick layer of ground, flew toward the Lihuo Furnace.

In the blink of an eye, the valley that had nearly been filled with rubbish became bright and clear, completely cleaned out by Lu Zhou.

The Lihuo Divine Furnace floated in the air, terrifying Lihuo blazing within it. Shortly afterward, the divine furnace inverted and poured out a pile of ashes, as well as another piece of Wushi Emperor Jade.

With a hum, it seemed as though the Sound of the Great Dao rang out between heaven and earth.

The two pieces of Wushi Emperor Jade met, their radiance reflecting one another. Warm and crystalline, they glittered brilliantly as both burst forth with auspicious divine light.

Before long, following the guidance of the Wushi Emperor Jade, Lu Zhou arrived before a broken stone mountain.

There was an ancient cave there. Time flowed like water, the void like music, as though the Great Dao itself flowed forth.

When he reached this place, the two halves of Wushi Emperor Jade in Lu Zhou's hand grew even warmer.

They shone with gentle light that flowed through Lu Zhou's fingers, calming his mind.

Dressed in white, pure as snow, he stood with his hands behind his back before the cliff wall beside the ancient cave. He looked up at three lines of writing imprinted upon it, their characters nearly worn away.

"The Dao is vast—who can know it? The heart is unbound—who can restrain it? Things change in endless succession—what is not so?"

The years drifted by. It seemed as though time were flowing backward. Lu Zhou simply stood there, immersed in an incomparably ethereal state.

In a daze, he seemed to see a figure buried beneath dirt and dust, standing upon a desolate land.

The two pieces of Wushi Emperor Jade in his hand grew hotter and hotter. The stone cave before him trembled gently as its rocky surface cracked and continuously fell away.

The light spilling from the two Emperor Jades grew ever more blazing, flowing into the stone cave and illuminating it completely.

Lu Zhou stepped forward. A shattered scroll unfurled before his eyes, and within it, a flickering illusory figure appeared and vanished.

"Having gazed to the end of the immortal road, I see no ancients before me, no successors behind me. I alone stand upon the clouds."

Wushi's Words from over a hundred thousand years ago stirred Lu Zhou's heart.

His fists clenched unconsciously as that line echoed through his mind.

At the end of the immortal road, who stands at the peak? One glimpse of Wushi, and the Dao becomes empty!

Lu Zhou's eyes burned fiercely. He only hoped that, thousands or tens of thousands of years from now, when those who came after spoke of him, they too would remember his name and sigh in such a manner.

If that truly came to pass, then his journey through the Human World would not have been in vain!

At that instant, a seed took shape within Lu Zhou's heart—a seed that would make him ever stronger, stronger still, and invincible.

"A true man should press forward bravely, stand proudly above the clouds, look down upon the vast earth, roam the universe undefeated, and earn the reverence of those who come after."

He spoke those words aloud.

Who knew how much time passed before Lu Zhou's entire body began to glow.

Every pore of his body opened as he was cleansed by Wushi's Dao Rhyme, his spirit and flesh seemingly bathed in holy light.

When the thunderous crash of the cave's cliff wall collapsing woke Lu Zhou, he discovered that beneath Wushi's Dao Rhyme, he had undergone his eighth rebirth-like transformation.

Like Ye Fan, he had not heard any wondrous method or Emperor scripture.

Yet Lu Zhou felt that his entire being had been elevated. He was certain that his combat strength had risen once more.

The seed of an invincible heart had already taken root and sprouted within him!

Sign in!

He silently called for the sign-in.

Ding! The host has signed in at Xuan Yue Cave in the Northern Region. The host has obtained three instances of Great Emperor-level comprehension, which have been stored in the host's Qiankun Pearl!

A flash of delight passed through Lu Zhou's eyes.

Although, with the growth of his Divine Sense, Lu Zhou had discovered that his comprehension had also improved to some extent,

he also knew clearly that his current comprehension was separated from Great Emperor-level comprehension by a gulf as vast as heaven and earth.

He understood even more clearly just how much help a single instance of Great Emperor-level comprehension could bring him.

Not long afterward, Xuan Yue Cave also vanished from the Northern Region, leaving behind only a patch of bare ground.

Lu Zhou returned to Stone Village, but he did not immediately trade with Fifth Master Zhang for the Stone Garment, Stone Saber, and other ancestral treasures of the Zhang family.

Lu Zhou secluded himself in Stone Village to cultivate.

The first thing he did was use one instance of Great Emperor-level comprehension on the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art created by the Empress.

Although he did not intend to cultivate the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art,

he was very interested in studying it.

Especially the Myriad Transformations Sacred Art, One Thought Blossoms into Flowers, Sovereign Over All Under Heaven, and other Emperor techniques recorded in the forbidden chapter of the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art.

These were techniques on par with the Nine Secrets.

They had been specifically created by the Empress to counter the Nine Secrets.

He absolutely had to cultivate these Forbidden Emperor Techniques!

Time drifted by, and more than two months passed in the blink of an eye.

Over these two months, Lu Zhou not only studied the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art, but also refined source energy for cultivation.

It was during the second year after he arrived in the Big Dipper, on the day the system panel showed that he had turned thirteen, that he broke through to the Dao Palace Triple Layer and cultivated his Lung Divinity.

The Lung Divine Treasury connected to the spiritual path of qi, covering the internal organs. It occupied the highest position and was known as the canopy, the chief of the five viscera.

This Divine Treasury distributed essence, qi, and spirit throughout the entire body.

Every pore on Lu Zhou's body became clear and open. With every breath, he seemed able to commune with heaven and earth. He could distinctly feel that after breaking into the Lung Divine Treasury, the speed at which he drew upon the essence of heaven and earth had increased many times over.

He had now cultivated the Heart Divine Treasury representing fire, the Spleen Divine Treasury representing earth, and the Lung Divine Treasury representing metal!

Fire gave birth to earth, and earth gave birth to metal!

He was still cultivating his Dao Palace secret realm according to the cycle of the Five Elements.

His essence and qi surged around him, light flickering across his body. At some unknown point, the soaring sea of blood behind him had become increasingly solid, and something seemed to be faintly evolving within it.

Lu Zhou did not know whether this counted as his phenomenon.

Through the system panel, Lu Zhou learned that he was still a mortal body, except that the words "undergoing transformation" had been added after it!

System Name: Sign-in System!

Current Location: Signed in!

System Host: Lu Zhou!

Age: 13!

Cultivation: Dao Palace Triple Layer.

Physique: Mortal body (undergoing transformation)!

Cultivation Methods: Dao Sutra, Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art!

Secret Arts: Xingzi Secret, Mountain Embracing Seal!

Other: Two instances of Great Emperor-level comprehension, Qiankun Pearl!

Thanks to Boss Kong Shen for once again rewarding me with a monthly ticket!