The Prince Can Do Divination

Chapter 364 - 233: Fellow Daoists, Follow Me and Draw Your Swords, The Human Race’s Ascension Platform, Beyond the Celestial Gate

The darkness receded, and the Demon Barrier faded away!

The clouds parted to reveal the light!

After Lu Mingyuan landed, he personally helped Zhao Xuanwu to his feet.

After being helped up by Lu Mingyuan, Zhao Xuanwu gave him a slight nod. He then looked toward the Demon Race hundreds of miles away, his gaze instantly sharpening.

"Zhao Xuanwu, Defender of Yulu Pass."

"Will once again defend the walls!"

The surrounding Great Yan Sharp Soldiers also let out a thunderous, furious roar.

"Fight!"

"Fight!"

"Fight!"

Lu Mingyuan looked at the smiles on the soldiers’ faces and the surviving Cultivators of the town, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Yulu Pass was safe and sound.

But his True Qi had been completely drained, to the point that he had let his Lifebound Flying Sword shatter and crack.

His Realm deflated like a balloon, returning to its original state.

That last sword strike had been far too powerful.

Even a Fourteenth-Realm Great Demon would have been unable to withstand it.

That was why the enemy had retreated.

Lu Mingyuan didn’t know if he had scared them off himself, or if it was because of the great figures silently watching from the heavens.

Regardless, having experienced the feeling of the Fourteenth Realm, he had benefited immensely.

It was, in a way, a perfect report card for his third life.

「The next day.」

The weather was clear and beautiful.

"You just focus on healing. I’ll take care of things here."

At the stone monument entrance to Qingping Town, Lu Mingyuan smiled at the pale-faced, middle-aged man before him.

Zhao Xuanwu was severely injured and needed to recuperate, so he could no longer serve as the Garrison Commander.

And Lu Mingyuan, as a resident of the town who had turned the tide of battle, was recognized by the Three Religions and the Great Yan Court and appointed the new Defender.

"You brat, I knew you were something else."

As they parted, Zhao Xuanwu, pale and clutching his chest, still managed a faint smile.

Lu Mingyuan waved, half-joking. "Take on a few more disciples. Don’t push yourself so hard anymore."

"Since when is it your business?"

Watching the carriage disappear into the distance, Lu Mingyuan couldn’t help but chuckle and shake his head.

After this battle, Lu Mingyuan’s life returned to its peaceful rhythm.

Firewood, rice, oil, and salt; planting beans by the fence.

Then, one day, as happened once a year, a group of outsiders entered the town. They found Lu Mingyuan and begged him to come out of his seclusion to restore their nation, but he refused them all.

Although he was the Crown Prince of Jiang Country, it had been destroyed so long ago. ’How many people even remember such a small country?’ he thought. ’They just want to use my power for their own ends.’

In truth, he had grown indifferent to the affairs of the Mortal World.

Back then, when the old woman chose to pass her Cultivation on to him, she had, in a way, let him choose his own path.

He could stay in the town and protect this small corner of the world.

Or he could roam the Mortal World, resting his head in the lap of beauties.

But he knew better than anyone that his mission in this life was singular: to stand guard on these city walls.

There was also good news.

Yun Qinghe’s condition had improved significantly.

All along, Lu Mingyuan had been subtly influencing her, hoping she wouldn’t stray too far down the great Dao, guiding her when appropriate.

Fortunately, his status still earned him a great deal of trust.

"Husband, my family wants me to return now. What should I do?" Yun Qinghe said, her voice laced with worry.

"Just follow your heart," Lu Mingyuan said faintly.

Hearing this, Yun Qinghe nodded with determination. "Of course I don’t want to leave. But I still want to say a proper goodbye to that part of my life."

And so, Yun Qinghe left the town.

Lu Mingyuan was truly alone now, but he could endure the solitude.

He spent his days fishing, teasing the children, and taking on a few disciples in the town to enlighten them.

Living by the Great Wall year-round, Lu Mingyuan’s Destiny grew stronger and stronger.

He officially condensed the Three Flowers at the Crown and stepped into the Late Stage of the Thirteenth Realm.

At the same time, Lu Mingyuan continued to search for a way to break through to the Fourteenth Realm.

He created an incarnation to walk the Mortal World, visiting the major Blessed Land Cave Heavens to inquire about the technique for breaking realms.

At last, during an Inquiry Sword session with the Fuyao Sword Palace, he learned the truth.

In the current age, there was, in theory, no true Fourteenth Realm for Cultivators.

This was because many past sages of the Human Race had relied on alternative methods to enter the Fourteenth Realm.

For example, a Confucian Saint required the recognition of the Celestial Dao and had to rely on a Confucian Temple and the incense offerings of the entire world to maintain their Realm.

That was why Confucian Saints were almost always stationed at a Confucian Temple and rarely ventured out.

The Buddhas of the Buddhist Sect and the Celestial Monarchs of the Dao Alliance were much the same.

The main reason could be traced back to the time between the Mythical Era and the Middle Ages.

In those days, as long as a Qi Cultivator cultivated to the Fourteenth Realm, they could use an Ascension Platform to ascend through the Celestial Gate and become a True Immortal.

You could say that the Ascension Platforms were the guarantee of the various worlds’ strength.

However, the various worlds had fought fiercely over these limited Ascension Platforms.

In the process, many Ascension Platforms were shattered by the Great Powers of the Middle Ages.

Now, only a single Ascension Platform remained in the entire world. It was left behind in the Mortal World, and its whereabouts are unknown to this day.

With the Human Race having lost the Ascension Platforms, it became exceedingly difficult for subsequent Cultivators to break through to realms above the Fourteenth Realm.

They could only rely on attaching themselves to the Destiny of a continent or the world, or even to mountains and rivers, to truly establish their Realm.

This was also why one rarely saw Upper Three Grade Cultivators. They could not leave a particular place for long periods, as most of them were bound to guarding a single location.

The solution to one problem gave rise to another.

’What exactly lies beyond the Celestial Gate?’ Lu Mingyuan wondered.

The ancient texts recorded that the Celestial Gate was a remnant from the Mythical Era.

It was a channel connecting the Mortal World to the Divine Beings and a path for Ascension. Now, with the disappearance of the Ascension Platforms, no one had seen the Celestial Gate anymore.

’Wei the Ninth from the Cold Palace also said that once his Celestial Dao Oath is concluded, he will go beyond the Celestial Gate.’

’That means Wei the Ninth’s Cultivation is, at the very least, above the Fourteenth Realm.’