seattlejaycees Chapter 365 - 233: Fellow Daoists, Draw Your Swords and Follow Me, The Ascension Platform of the Human Race, Beyond the Celestial Gate
Chapter 365 - 233: Fellow Daoists, Draw Your Swords and Follow Me, The Ascension Platform of the Human Race, Beyond the Celestial Gate
’The Saints of every generation, including the first Saint, the Confucianism Ancestor Master, the Taoist Ancestor of the Taoist Sect, and the six Buddhas who ascended to the Buddhist Heaven... could it be that they are all outside the Celestial Gate?’
Lu Mingyuan had never considered this question before.
So, the five great Saints of the Confucian Family, along with many ancient Saints and Sages who had reached the Saint Realm, and the numerous Immortals of the Taoist Sect, had all achieved Ascension to the Celestial Gate during the Middle Ages.
’With their immense power and long lifespans, perhaps they never truly died?’
The above was merely Lu Mingyuan’s own speculation.
He would only know the real truth once his Cultivation reached the Fourteenth Realm.
For the next year, Yue Baihe did not return to the small town.
Lu Mingyuan learned that she had been trapped in the Capital City by her family, placed under house arrest, and forbidden from taking a single step outside the family estate.
So, he dispatched his avatar that walked the Mortal World to handle the matter.
His true body could not leave Yulu Pass.
His own Realm was already very high.
Therefore, even his avatar’s strength was not to be underestimated, possessing power at the level of a Half-Step Human Immortal.
「One night in the Great Yan Imperial Capital.」
A swordsman in white appeared and infiltrated the Yue Family’s grand residence. The entire Capital City was alerted, mainly because the commotion was too great.
At first, the Great Yan Tributors, Daoist Institute True Monarchs, and Academy Great Scholars all came out to stop him.
But no one was a match for this Sword Cultivator.
His strength was simply too overwhelming.
No matter who it was, none could withstand a single strike from his sword.
Strangely, however, he didn’t kill a single person.
Even so, no one dared to block his path.
Even when the Taoist Sect later summoned an Immortal of the Upper Three Grades, they didn’t dare to provoke him and chose to let him pass.
They also informed the crowd of the man’s identity.
He was the new Defender who had been assigned to Yulu Pass several years ago.
Only then did the Grand Ancestor of Great Yan retract his hostility. After making careful inquiries, he learned the whole story: the Yue Family had forced the issue and offended this Upper Immortal.
He immediately had the entire Yue Family imprisoned, all to avoid offending Lu Mingyuan.
And just like that, Lu Mingyuan walked out of the Imperial City with Yun Qinghe, safe and sound.
From that day on, everyone in the world knew that this Lord Guardian was not to be trifled with.
「After returning to the small town.」
Lu Mingyuan immersed himself in year after year of Cultivation.
「Time flew, and a hundred years passed.」
As the Grand Ancestor of Great Yan’s time came to an end and he passed away in the Holy Bright Palace, a new era of warring states erupted.
Among them, a figure of great ambition and cunning emerged.
He was Cao Yunqing, the young Emperor of the Great Sui Dynasty. Seizing the opportunity of the Great Yan Grand Ancestor’s death before a new emperor was enthroned, he planned to unify the continents and contend with the Great Yan Dynasty.
To this end, Cao Yunqing even sent people to Qingping Town to request his old friend from years past, Zhou Yuan, to come out of seclusion. He offered him the position of National Preceptor of the Great Sui Dynasty, promising to treat him with utmost respect and share the National Fortune.
It sounded appealing, but to the current Lu Mingyuan, it meant nothing.
He now had one foot in the Ascension Realm and was attempting a complete Integration of the Martial Dao and the path of a Qi Cultivator. If he succeeded, he would achieve twice the result with half the effort.
Unfortunately, even after a hundred years had passed, he had not succeeded.
Before that, however, Yue Baihe had already begun to age.
Lu Mingyuan then realized that her Cultivation was far inferior to his own. The events of his first life might repeat themselves. Thus, he began to gather all kinds of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects to extend her lifespan.
「For the past hundred years.」
Lu Mingyuan sat listlessly atop the city wall day after day.
He was only preparing to break through to the Fourteenth Realm.
Stuck at this bottleneck, Lu Mingyuan couldn’t help but recall what Xun Yu had said in his first life.
’If your Destiny is insufficient, you can also seek opportunities in the Holy Netherworld and the Wilderness World.’
And so, this Lord Guardian, the strongest in the history of Great Yan, traveled alone to the Wilderness World.
It was destined to be a path paved with rivers of blood.
Lu Mingyuan traveled to the highest mountain throne of the Demon Race and severed the head of a Thirteenth Realm Great Demon.
At that very instant, Lu Mingyuan discovered that he had finally broken through to the Fourteenth Realm as a Qi Cultivator.
On that day, blood stained the throne, and the entire Wilderness World trembled in shock.
A Human Race Sword Immortal had actually dared to trespass on the territory of the Demon Race.
At that moment, Lu Mingyuan felt as if he could ascend. In the distant sky, an illusory and intangible gate appeared. It was like the Celestial Palace Lingxiao Hall, home to countless Immortal Gods—its thirty-three levels of heaven were awe-inspiring to behold.
Lu Mingyuan was outside the Celestial Gate.
He clearly saw several obscure figures flash past within the Celestial Gate before vanishing.
Suddenly, Lu Mingyuan felt himself being suppressed by an invisible force.
In an instant, he lost all consciousness.
When he awoke again, he found that everything was already over.
His consciousness had arrived in a dark space.
An ancient voice rang out, "That which is not permitted must not be done."
Hearing this, Lu Mingyuan frowned and demanded, "Why does the Scroll World forbid exploring the Celestial Gate?"
The moment he saw the Celestial Gate, he was clearly suppressed by the Artifact Spirit.
One could imagine that this had exceeded the limits of what could be experienced within the Scroll World.
The remnant will left behind by the venerable Painting Saint had obviously not expected that someone within the Scroll World could actually reach such a stage and try to explore what lay beyond the Celestial Gate.
And so, it had forcibly ended this life of his.
"Crown Prince, your performance has indeed surprised me."
Suddenly, another voice spoke.
"You’re not the Painting Saint. You are... Li Sheng?" Lu Mingyuan guessed.
"Correct," the refined voice said faintly.
’The previous one must have been the voice of the Painting Saint, a Great Power from the Middle Ages. This one is clearly the voice of Li Sheng, the master of the Grand Thousand Canglan Map.’
"Although I don’t know what method you’ve used to clearly remember the memories of all your reincarnations, there are some things you are not yet meant to come into contact with. In these three lives, you have already done very well. But if you wish to experience the Reincarnations that follow, you cannot explore in that direction. Do you understand?"
Lu Mingyuan pondered for a moment before saying, "Fine. I understand."
He had touched Li Sheng’s bottom line and earned himself a warning.
’What I’m more curious about is why Li Sheng isn’t showing favoritism to Lu Yunqing by forcing me to withdraw from the Scroll World. Instead, he’s being so reasonable and allowing me to continue?’
"Good."
Seeing that he agreed, Li Sheng’s voice faded.
Rays of light emerged before Lu Mingyuan’s eyes. A new reincarnation was beginning once more.
From now on, however, he would be unable to explore the Celestial Gate again.
This also meant there was no way for him to break through beyond the Fourteenth Realm.
After all, this was a false world, not a real one, and some of its rules were incomplete.
The power within it was determined by the power of the Magical Treasure’s owner.
It would be impossible for him to cultivate to the Fifteenth Realm in this Scroll World.
...
The main plot of the reincarnation had essentially concluded. Next, the protagonist would emerge from seclusion and directly face the matter of the Emperor’s Throne.