Chapter 171: Ascension

Ji Changming made the announcement.

Now that Liu Changfeng had a woman, Grand Dao Sect’s foremost strategist had him completely in the palm of his hand!

Liu Changfeng understood immediately.

He crushed the Thousand-Mile Stone.

“Sect Master, what’s going on?” Lu Ye’s voice came through from the Thousand-Mile Stone.

“Lu Ye, I’m going to tell you something—but listen carefully. Don’t act impulsively. You need to stay calm before you do anything.” Liu Changfeng gave him a warning in advance.

Lu Ye understood.

So something major had happened again?

“All right. Please, Sect Master, go ahead.”

“In Second Heaven, all of Grand Dao Sect’s top cultivators—along with a number of others—have been captured by the Jiang Clan and the Eternal Teachings Sect. I suspect they’re doing this to get to you. But you must not lose your head.”

“If you’re strong enough, then go save them. If you’re not, then don’t concern yourself with it—focus on your cultivation. If they die, then you’ll avenge them later. Kill your way back tenfold, a hundredfold.”

“If you’re not strong enough and act rashly, they’ll die. You’ll die too. And then there won’t even be anyone left to avenge them. That would be the real tragedy.”

Lu Ye listened in silence, saying nothing.

Liu Changfeng laid everything out clearly and pinpointed the crucial issue.

“Do you understand?”

Lu Ye’s voice came through, calm and steady.

“Yes, Sect Master. I understand.”

“Good, good... as long as you understand...”

“I’ll ascend right now.”

“Ascend right—what?! I just told you not to do anything rash, and you—”

“Don’t worry, Sect Master. I’ll kill them all.”

“Lu Ye! Lu Ye—!”

The transmission was already cut off.

The Thousand-Mile Stone in Lu Ye’s palm crumbled to dust. He looked up at the sky.

Breakthrough!

At this moment, the barrier of the True Lord Realm shattered completely.

All the resources he had gathered were consumed in an instant. Just as Jiang Die had predicted, First Heaven’s resources were truly limited. Even if he stayed here and cultivated nonstop, reaching the Heavenly God Realm would have taken him an eternity.

However, reaching the Earth Immortal Realm was more than feasible.

Earth Immortals—those who bore the title of "Immortal"—had already gained a measure of freedom. They could roam the starry skies, traverse the realms of death.

Lu Ye waited for a new type of poison to emerge.

He waited.

And waited some more.

Lu Ye’s brow furrowed slightly.

No new poison?

Was it because only six of them had poisoned him? Or because the conditions to trigger the last two toxins hadn’t been met?

Lu Ye figured it was more likely the latter.

Fine. No poison? Even better.

All the resources were fully refined.

Jiang Die... wait for me.

Wait for me to kill you.

Jiang Die’s actions had pushed Lu Ye beyond fury. This time, he wasn’t just

angry

—this was something else entirely.

A myriad of radiant lights descended from the sky.

Lu Ye lifted the concealment techniques—both his Heaven-Hiding Art and Dao-Hiding Art.

A force of ascension poured down from the heavens, trying to draw him up.

But Lu Ye’s body shook ever so slightly—just once—and the force, which would normally compel any cultivator at the Grand Completion stage to ascend, shattered under his resistance.

No rush yet.

At that moment, the Heavenly Dao—???

The Sacred Dao of the Nine Heavens—???

Such a powerful presence had appeared in First Heaven?

The rules established by the Nine Heavens Great Saints were enraged.

The rainbow-colored light dimmed, and in its place came billowing clouds of divine tribulation.

The Sacred Dao of the Nine Heavens had synchronized with the Heavenly Dao to form a divine punishment—for those who defied the rules.

Lu Ye smiled.

Finally.

What he lacked was precisely this: a divine punishment to help him complete the third tribulation of his

Nine Tribulations Indestructible Body

.

Divine punishment far surpassed ordinary heavenly tribulation.

It could even scale to the maximum strength of the one being punished.

Lu Ye’s current aura was that of an Earth Immortal, first layer.

As a result, the first divine punishment came at the level of an Earth Immortal, third layer.

The silver-white thunder even carried a faint golden gleam.

Lu Ye raised his hands gently, and the divine punishment force spun in his palms, spiraling inward, streams of power flowing into his body.

Thanks to his recent detox, his cultivation of the Yin-Yang Dao had proved unexpectedly useful.

The second divine punishment descended.

Lu Ye pulled again—this time as well, the lightning gathered obediently in his hands, as if the wrathful punishment had turned into a playful stream of fish, agile and tame.

The divine punishment grew furious.

What is this?!

What does this mean?!

You dare look down on divine punishment?!

The tribulation clouds surged violently in response.

Lu Ye’s expression finally grew more serious. He rapidly absorbed the energy of the first two divine strikes.

“Boom!”

A terrifying divine punishment, on par with the eighth layer of the Earth Immortal Realm, came crashing down on Lu Ye.

Lu Ye drew his sword.

Countless sword lights surged skyward, colliding with the divine lightning. Sword lights shattered; divine thunder broke apart.

A massive suction force burst from within Lu Ye’s body.

He devoured the stray tribulation energy without pause.

The fourth divine punishment surged straight to the ninth layer of the Earth Immortal Realm.

Clearly, the Sacred Dao was absolutely infuriated by Lu Ye—it had gone straight to the limit.

Lu Ye figured, if he passed too easily, the divine punishment might disperse on its own.

So he let it strike him.

“Boom!”

Lu Ye’s body turned charred and black.

Still, he ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) continued to absorb the lightning’s power.

“Boom!”

“Boom!”

“Boom!”

Each strike carried the peak force of an Earth Immortal. Their goal was clear: to utterly obliterate Lu Ye.

Lu Ye didn’t dodge, didn’t flinch. He endured every strike, countering with his body and the true essence of an Earth Immortal.

His body was shredded.

It looked miserable—horrific, even.

But Lu Ye remained calm. This level of damage was enough to fool the Sacred Dao.

There was no need to pretend to scream in pain.

At last, the final divine punishment came down. The thunderlight had already taken on a faint golden hue.

Lu Ye struck with a single punch.

The golden punishment froze midair, then dissolved into a sea of golden current, which Lu Ye rapidly absorbed.

His body rang with deafening booms. The destructive power within the lightning was converted into vitality, rapidly healing and reforging his body.

The tribulation clouds scattered.

A far more powerful force of ascension descended, pulling Lu Ye toward the Second Heaven.

Lu Ye did not resist.

His figure rose steadily, ascending through the radiant glow.

Layer upon layer of space melted away. Lu Ye passed through them, surrounded by primordial chaos.

From the First Heaven—

To the Second.

The ascension force brought Lu Ye to the

Ascension Pool

.

A thick mist filled the space—and Lu Ye absorbed it all immediately.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The third tribulation of the

Nine Tribulations Indestructible Body

was complete.

Around the Ascension Pool, powerful cultivators stood watching the mist.

And inside it—Lu Ye.

His face was identical to the image distributed by the Jiang Clan.

Wait... maybe even a little younger?

No matter. It was undoubtedly him.

Jiang Riying’s eyes lit up with wild joy. He had finally waited long enough.

“I’ll do it!”

With a roar, he lunged forward, unable to hold back from claiming this overwhelming merit.

The clan head’s reward for this would be enough to push his cultivation all the way to the Heavenly God Realm!

So—!

“Void Fist!”

Jiang Riying hurled a punch through the void. A vast swathe of empty space rallied to empower him.

He could feel it—this punch contained strength beyond anything he’d ever released before.

He was close.

So close now... to the Heavenly God Realm.