"Immortal"!

"If the Qi-Gazing Technique were cultivated to its peak, might it have a chance of standing alongside the Heavenly Eye and Double Pupils?" Fu Yuan asked with interest, mentioning the two supremely powerful and mysterious constitutions.

The first was the Heavenly Eye, known as the human immortal constitution. It was an extremely ancient constitution, traceable to the legendary Three-Eyed Immortal Lord of the early Immortal Dao Era and the Heavenly Venerable Qingyuan of the Mythical Era, both of whom possessed it.

Legend had it that, cultivated to its peak, this constitution could see through the myriad realms with one glance and survey all of past and present with another. It was truly extraordinary.

The second was the Double Pupils, known as the pinnacle of ocular abilities. They could see through the myriad Daos and all arts. This constitution was said to be invincible and was utterly terrifying. Those born with it had never suffered defeat, sweeping aside all before them and suppressing their peers as invincible existences.

The first Double Pupils wielder on record was Chong Er, the Human Emperor of the Mythical Era. He swept through his age and, at the peak of the Saint Emperor realm, fought a Great Emperor. After attaining the Great Emperor realm himself, he killed that opponent. He was one of the few beings recorded in ancient history to have killed a Great Emperor.

"Acquired arts cannot compare to innate constitutions." Zhuge Lingfeng shook his head, making it clear that the two could not be compared. Those were peerless constitutions that seized the fortune of heaven and earth and shook the sun, moon, and cosmos, rarely seen since ancient times.

"What a pity," Fu Yuan remarked. But he soon came to accept it. If there truly were a method that could rival supremely powerful constitutions like the Double Pupils and Heavenly Eye, how could fully developed Holy Bodies and Divine Bodies have performed the feat of fighting Great Emperors?

"You're strong. I look forward to meeting you after the tenth trial," Fu Yuan said gently. Before the tenth trial, storage rings were restricted. Spirit artifacts, spirit talismans, and many other methods could not be used.

The Zhuge Emperor Clan was renowned for its use of external aids. Its methods of controlling artifacts and objects ranked among the finest even among emperor clans and supreme Dao lineages, greatly enhancing their combat power.

"Fellow Daoist, which clan are you an emperor's son of?" Zhuge Lingfeng asked.

"Great Luo, Fu Yuan!" Fu Yuan replied, continuing onward, intent on reaching the summit of the ninth level.

"Great Luo?" Zhuge Lingfeng murmured, searching his memory. "The Great Luo Dynasty, or the Heavenly Court's Great Luo Heaven?"

"Fu Yuan, the surname Fu?"

"The forbidden surname of the Great Luo Dynasty!"

Zhuge Lingfeng suddenly realized what it meant. This was a major power that had once declared war on an emperor clan. Its foundations were astonishing, and it had once been called a pseudo-imperial dynasty. Even more terrifying was the power backing it.

"A living being who walked out of the Indestructible Forbidden Zone?" Zhuge Lingfeng ventured a guess. His clan had three ancient pavilions: the first was called Formation, the second Dao, and the third Years.

The Years Pavilion had eighteen levels, with records of the foremost powers. Every power above the ninth level had produced an emperor. The Great Luo Dynasty had once been on the eighth level, but later declined. When the rankings were revised five hundred thousand years ago, it fell to the seventh.

And on the eighteenth level, at the very pinnacle, were three powers that had never changed: the Indestructible Lineage, the Heavenly Court Lineage, and the Dao Venerable Lineage!

All the cultivators in the Lone Lamp Pavilion raised their heads, watching the youth in ink-black robes ascend to the summit.

The eighty-nine-thousandth step, the eighty-nine-thousand-five-hundredth step... the eighty-nine-thousand-nine-hundred-ninetieth step...

Every step the youth took resounded in their hearts. Everyone knew that this youth was destined to be extraordinary, to shine brilliantly on the World Road and become one of those who stirred the winds and clouds.

"I've never heard of an emperor's son like him emerging."

"He might be the successor of a secluded Dao lineage, or an ancient freak sealed in divine source. He's far too powerful. He suppressed a holy son with one hand; even among emperor's sons, he's in the strongest tier."

"Without fighting, how can they tell who is stronger or weaker? What is an emperor's son? They are flawless and perfect in every realm, cultivate the strongest arts and methods, and forge the strongest fleshly bodies and divine souls."

Many people speculated about his identity in secret, speaking up in twos and threes. Fu Yuan's palm strike had astonished far, far too many beings.

"He's reached the summit! If he refines the Divine Fire, how strong will he become?"

At the eighty-nine-thousand-nine-hundred-ninety-ninth step, Fu Yuan stepped forward and reached the summit of the Lone Lamp Pavilion. The transparent platform flickered and became solid, an ancient black platform that blocked the view from below.

At the center of the platform stood a red lamp, blood-red to the extreme, containing an immense abundance of blood Qi and vitality.

"This is the Spirit-Tempering Fire."

Divine Fire flickered at the lamp's center, bewitching and beautiful, with a deadly allure that drew people into its thrall.

[Ding, check-in at the summit of the Lone Lamp Pavilion (false) successful. Congratulations, host, you have received a six-star reward. Rapid Cultivation has risen to lv3, increasing cultivation speed fivefold.]

[Ding! Check-in location refreshed. Please proceed to Sword Heart Mountain (ninth level) to check in!]

[Congratulations, host, you have triggered a special check-in. Please proceed to the summit of the Lone Lamp Pavilion (true) to check in. The check-in reward is a supremely powerful constitution (random)!]

[Note: Special check-ins are issued at random and may be abandoned!]

The system's ethereal voice rang out. To Fu Yuan's surprise, it had issued two check-ins at once.

Fu Yuan's delight showed on his face. Not many constitutions could be called supremely powerful. Those he knew of included the Double Pupils and Heavenly Eye, the pinnacles of ocular abilities; Human Emperor Blood and Immortal Blood, the pinnacles of blood; and Chaos Bone, Supreme Bone, and Banished Immortal Bone, the pinnacles of bone.

There were also terrifying constitutions involving the ominous, such as the Demon Embryo, Yao Heart, and Divine Veins. Every one of them could transform an utterly ordinary cultivator into a young supreme, able to fight an emperor's son at the same level, or even fight above their level.

Fu Yuan looked up. A black sun shone upon the world, while the tranquil sky was a expanse of white.

Golden light shone brilliantly in his eyes as he employed an observation method from the supreme heavenly scripture, the Dao Scripture. Hundreds and thousands of fine golden threads flowed through his pupils, forming mysterious runes.

Fu Yuan strode back and forth across the black platform, trying to activate the formation and find the true path to the summit.

Time trickled by. After half a day, Fu Yuan's forehead was covered in cold sweat. Even with divine soul strength surpassing his peers, he could scarcely hold on.

This was not as simple as consuming spiritual power. Once soul power was exhausted, it would take considerable time to replenish.

"This won't do. The consumption is greater than I imagined." Fu Yuan erupted with his full strength. His blood-red Qi Sea surged and boiled within his dantian, while his blood-red demonic body and golden divine body shone brilliantly.

Three Lives Return to One. His eyes flashed with golden light, blood Qi surged through the void, and his ink-black robes flapped fiercely. At this moment, Fu Yuan was like a demon god.

A nine-story bloodline tower hovered above his head, its nine colors-white, green, blue, black, yellow, orange, purple, red, and gold-shining brilliantly. Above the nine-story bloodline pagoda was an illusory chaos color, a sign that he would surpass a ninth-grade bloodline. A tenth-grade bloodline was about to take solid form.

As Fu Yuan unleashed his presence, a strange change began.

The dark, deep blood-red veins on the black platform began to flow. The Divine Fire flickering in the lamp became exceedingly eerie. Its deep crimson was fading, and the blackness of the wick was inexplicably spreading outward.

The transparent lamp also revealed its true form: a lotus, a black lotus.

Everything turned eerie. Black flames flickered at the center of the black lotus, while the blood-red veins lay still, dim and quiet.

"Immortal!!!"

A voice, faint and indistinct, echoed from an unknown source. It spoke an extremely ancient word, from a time long before the Mythical Era.

The entire Lone Lamp Pavilion began to shake. The stairs slowly dissolved, level by level. Hundreds of steps vanished every moment, disappearing into thin air from top to bottom.

"What happened?" The eighty-nine-thousand-eight-hundredth step dissolved. Zhuge Lingfeng walked through the air, and a formation activated, instantly transporting him outside the Lone Lamp Pavilion.