Heavenly blossoms cascaded in wondrous splendor, and auspicious light welled up from the earth!
Across the vast Golden Ao Island, extraordinary visions unfolded.
Even in the boundless void, golden lotuses visibly blossomed, radiating endless divine brilliance and the resonance of the Dao.
The sight drew every disciple's gaze.
They had never seen anything like it before.
Duobao, Golden Spirit Holy Mother, Zhao Gongming, the Three Xiao, and the others were visibly shaken, bewildered and utterly awestruck.
"Master, what is happening?"
They looked toward Saint Tongtian in confusion.
He focused his gaze and sensed the fluctuations for a moment, then his expression filled with delight.
"These are... the fluctuations of someone attaining Great Luo?!"
Then he looked toward the source of those visions, and his astonishment deepened.
"It's my disciple Changqing!"
"Haha, your junior brother Changqing is about to become a Daluo Golden Immortal!"
At those words, Duobao and the others drew sharp breaths.
"What? A Daluo Golden Immortal?!"
"Junior brother Changqing has advanced so quickly? None of us have even touched the barrier to the Daluo Golden Immortal realm yet."
"To think... to think junior brother Changqing would astonish everyone with a single feat and pull ahead of us."
"Hehe, I want to watch junior brother Changqing break through to Daluo Golden Immortal."
As they spoke, everyone hurried out of Biyou Palace to watch from afar.
At that moment, above Gu Changqing's cave abode, an incomparably enormous Great Dao Golden Lotus, over a hundred thousand zhang across, hung high in the sky.
Within the golden lotus, laws flowed and order spread, profound beyond profundity.
Even more astonishing, Gu Changqing's figure had somehow come to sit within the Great Dao Golden Lotus.
Duobao and the others watched with only a hazy understanding.
Daluo Golden Immortal was a realm they had yet to touch, and they knew nothing of its mysteries.
Tongtian's voice rang out at just the right moment, explaining it to them.
"To attain Great Luo is to achieve three flowers gather at the crown and five qi returning to the origin!"
"What you see now is my disciple Changqing condensing his three flowers."
"And the grade to which these flowers bloom is enough to reveal the heights of a person's potential..."
Tongtian explained at an unhurried pace.
A cultivator's talent and ultimate limits would be revealed with absolute clarity when they attained Daluo Golden Immortal.
Ordinary cultivators mostly produced fourth- or fifth-grade blooms.
Most disciples of the Interception Sect's Outer Sect fell into this category.
For those at this level, Daluo Golden Immortal was their limit; advancing any further was difficult upon difficult.
A sixth-grade bloom, however, offered hope of reaching the Quasi-Saint realm.
Higher still, seventh- and eighth-grade blooms usually allowed one to cultivate to the peak of Quasi-Saint.
Beings such as the Three Pure Ones had once produced ninth-grade blooms, possessing the potential to become Saints.
As for anything higher...
Tongtian set aside his wandering thoughts for the moment and concentrated on Gu Changqing's process of condensing the three flowers.
He would see just what grade this lad's flowers could ultimately reach.
Under the gazes of Tongtian and the Interception Sect's disciples,
The Great Dao Golden Lotus in the void finally blossomed.
In the blink of an eye, the Great Dao Golden Lotus had already reached the fourth grade, without the slightest hindrance, as naturally as water flowing into a channel.
Tongtian's heart gave a sudden stir.
The first four grades came so easily?
This alone showed how astonishing Gu Changqing's talent and ultimate potential were.
And in the span of that single thought, two more grades blossomed in quick succession.
A sixth-grade bloom!
Tongtian rejoiced.
"Good, wonderful!"
"My disciple Changqing will surely reach the Quasi-Saint realm one day."
Tongtian was already quite satisfied with this.
After the Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, and the others, no one else in the world had any hope of becoming a Saint.
Thus, a sixth-grade bloom, corresponding to the Quasi-Saint realm, already destined Gu Changqing to become one of the greatest experts beneath the Saints.
Just then, Duobao cried out in alarm.
"Master, look! Why is junior brother Changqing turning transparent?"
Startled, Tongtian hurriedly looked over.
Gu Changqing, who had been sitting upright... or rather, sprawled drunkenly within the Great Dao Golden Lotus, was undergoing wondrous changes throughout his body.
Every inch of his flesh gradually became transparent.
They could visibly see blood and vital energy surging ceaselessly within him, while his sinews and bones shone with a profound, mysterious radiance.
Tongtian smiled, his heart settling completely.
"Hehe, there is no need to worry!"
"My disciple Changqing is reshaping his Dao body. From this point onward, he will no longer cultivate magical power, but laws and order instead."
Even as he spoke, Tongtian felt deeply surprised.
Gu Changqing could now truly be described as possessing golden muscles and jade bones.
Clearly, Gu Changqing's essence was utterly unsullied by even a speck of dust.
Was this... truly something a human being could possess?
But before Tongtian could ponder further,
as Gu Changqing finished reshaping his Dao body,
Three more grades gradually emerged upon the Great Dao Golden Lotus, blazing with divine radiance.
"Hiss... the ninth grade?"
Even Tongtian could no longer suppress the shock in his heart.
A ninth-grade bloom already placed him on the same level as the Three Pure Ones.
What kind of disciple have I stumbled upon, a genius whose brilliance eclipses ancient and present alike?
Tongtian marveled inwardly.
A disciple producing a bloom of the same grade as his master was a sight rarely seen throughout the ages.
Yet the shocks had not ended.
After the ninth grade, the Sky Above Golden Ao Island had already taken tangible form in laws and order.
Laws surged one after another, order interwove, and like wave upon mighty wave, they poured ceaselessly into the Great Dao Golden Lotus.
In an instant, Golden Ao Island became a feast of breathtaking beauty.
Even countless mighty experts beyond the island were drawn to the sight, their expressions filled with astonishment and awe as they stared in a daze.
A tenth-grade bloom...
An eleventh-grade bloom...
Tongtian felt a thunderclap explode in his heart.
Was this real?
Even as a Saint, Tongtian wondered whether his eyes were deceiving him.
What have I witnessed today?
My disciple Changqing has actually produced an eleventh-grade bloom?
This was far too astounding, enough to shake the world.
Tongtian had never even heard of such a grade.
If he had to compare it to someone living in this age, then perhaps there was only one person.
Dao Ancestor Hongjun!
Indeed!
Tongtian reflected that if anyone could produce an eleventh-grade bloom, only Dao Ancestor Hongjun could possibly do so.
At the thought, Tongtian trembled uncontrollably, and towering waves surged through his heart.
Excitement!
Ecstasy!
Nervousness!
All these emotions tangled together, leaving him unable even to voice his amazement.
Yet at that instant, Tongtian instead became clearer-headed than ever before.
"He has already reached the eleventh grade!"
"Can my disciple Changqing press onward in one stroke to the ultimate twelfth grade, unequaled throughout the ages?"
Boundless anticipation suddenly flared in his eyes.
But this time, after the Great Dao Golden Lotus reached the eleventh grade, nothing happened for a long while.
Tongtian's gaze dimmed.
In the end, could no one reach that legendary grade?
The thought had only just arisen in his heart.
Suddenly!
Gu Changqing, who had seemed fast asleep, finally moved.
He rose with his sword in hand, his aura surging to the heavens.
His eyes blazed, flashing with cold lightning that pierced straight into the firmament!
"With this sword, I shall forge a path no ancient has ever walked!"
"Twelfth-grade bloom, manifest!"
Before his words had faded, his sword had already thrust forth.
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