Chapter 876: Chapter 599: The Invincible Three-Zhang Scripture (Monthly Tickets and Subscriptions Requested)
Golden stars.
Lu Chenzhou looked at the golden-haired youth leading the way. This was the Three Zhang Dragon Emperor—or more precisely, the spirit of the Dragon Transformation Ancient Road, imprinted with the Dragon Emperor’s memories.
The two arrived at the Scripture Pavilion. Thousands of jade scrolls floated like schools of fish, drifting weightlessly in the empty air.
The Three Zhang Dragon Emperor said, "According to the rules of the Dragon Transformation Ancient Road, any who reach the Seventh Layer are qualified to choose a combat technique here as a reward."
Lu Chenzhou’s telekinesis spread out.
"Seventh Rank ’Domineering Scripture’, Seventh Rank ’Heavenly Emperor’s Divine Palm’..." After glancing through, Lu Chenzhou shook his head. "Senior, these are all Seventh Rank cultivation techniques; they are useless to me. To be frank, I ventured into the seventh zone of the Ancient Road only to cultivate the ’Three Zhang Scripture.’"
The Three Zhang Dragon Emperor was taken aback for a moment, then smiled. "Interesting. It’s been a long time since I’ve met such an arrogant young man. From the very start, you wish to learn the technique I am most proud of."
"I can create these techniques myself; there’s no need to cultivate those of others," Lu Chenzhou replied.
"I, the Three Zhang Dragon Emperor, am not like the master of Yuan Mountain. I don’t favor indiscriminate teaching. Therefore, if you wish to cultivate the ’Three Zhang Scripture,’ the conditions are extremely harsh—you must possess Fourth Rank or higher Yuji Dao, and complete a test I set, with a pass rate of less than one in ten. Remember, my trial is deadly."
The golden-haired man stared at Lu Chenzhou.
"I accept."
Lu Chenzhou was completely composed.
"What audacity."
The golden-haired man pressed his palms together, chanting a spell. The golden stars buzzed and trembled; endless mountain stones and dust tumbled away, revealing the true form of the star.
An enormous, unparalleled beast head with a single horn—part dragon, part lizard, more like a Western giant dragon. Its flesh was immortal, its scales golden as the sun, with claw marks on its thick neck, exposing burning golden bone beneath.
"This is the true spirit’s head I once decapitated while wandering the Great Wilderness."
"The Golden Horned King Beast—its physical might and the defensive power of its scales both rank among the top three of all true spirits."
In his research of transformation divine skills, Lu Chenzhou was thoroughly versed in every true spirit recorded throughout history. The Golden Horned King Beast was a legendary name—pity that, of the thirty-two forms he currently commanded, this beast was not included.
"You have good insight."
The golden-haired man reminisced, high-spirited.
"Even such a strong defense can be slain. Truly, there is no absolute invincibility in this world..."
Lu Chenzhou, too, sighed in wonder.
The golden-haired man arched an eyebrow and retorted, "Why not? It’s just the defense wasn’t strong enough. The King Beast’s defense may be mighty, but compared with me, who commands the Yuji Dao, it is far inferior. Moreover, I believe that above Yuji Dao, there must exist an even greater Dao. It transcends the domain of Yuji, able to attain the realm of ’defense without defense’—I call this the Infinite Dao. When Dao reaches this realm, all things, the universe itself, may serve as my armor."
"Infinite Dao?"
Lu Chenzhou was thoughtful.
This was the second time he’d heard of such a Dao. The Aurora Empress had once said her senior brother, the True Monarch of Infinite, proposed a theory: above Speed Extreme stands ’Infinite’—beyond light, beyond time and space.
"Though I’ve never witnessed Infinite Dao myself, I believe it exists. It is the ultimate pursuit of us Extreme Daoists." The True Monarch of Infinite once said so.
Lu Chenzhou could not help but daydream.
Power Extreme, Speed Extreme, Yuji—could it be that the Three Great Extreme Daos all lead to the Infinite Dao?
The golden-haired man interrupted his thoughts. "Show me your Yuji Dao, will you? If you don’t even have Fourth Rank, there’s no need to throw your life away."
Lu Chenzhou complied. Golden light enveloped his body, Dao Essence flowing. The golden-haired man nodded slightly.
"Not bad. Clearly, you have put real effort into Yuji Dao. With the attainments you currently possess, you have hope of obtaining the first seven layers of ’Three Zhang Scripture’—enough to be invincible amongst your peers."
The golden-haired man cast a spell. The giant beast opened its maw, sucking in Lu Chenzhou. When he next opened his eyes, he stood upon an endless golden wilderness.
The man’s voice rang down from the heights, "This is a world within the King Beast. Here, you cannot use any technique except for your fleshly body; no divine weapons or armor, and all laws except for Yuji will temporarily fail. I know you command more than one law, but it’s useless—the core principle of Yuji Dao is to stack the thickest armor and take the fiercest blows, so my first lesson is: get beaten!
Next, nine hundred million Soul Eater Worms, their strength ranging from the First to the Third Realm, will attack you. These insects are ancient anomalies, devouring all things. If you endure for twelve hours, you’ll receive the Mountain Chapter’s inheritance of the ’Three Zhang Scripture’..." The golden-haired man’s eyes looked to Lu Chenzhou expectantly. "That Alcohol King before you didn’t make it past the first round...Lu Chenzhou has been praised to the heavens, able to enter the 800,000-times Gravity Zone with only Middle Stage Seventh Realm cultivation. Surely the first trial will be no problem for him."
Upon the wilderness, countless golden flying insects appeared out of thin air, forming golden clouds that blotted out a thousand miles of sky, swarming toward Lu Chenzhou.
"Soul Eater Worms?"
Lu Chenzhou had encountered these while climbing the Star-Picking Tower, but never in numbers greater than tens of thousands.
Nine hundred million, even if mostly Mountain Realm, would pose a great challenge, even to the Seventh Realm.
After all, only physical body and Yuji Dao could be used here—otherwise, a single divine skill would wipe them all out.
"Remember, you may attack the Soul Eater Worms to pass, but that will reduce your trial evaluation. If you can endure twelve hours purely by defense, I have an extra reward for you."
The golden-haired man’s voice sounded again.
Lu Chenzhou, hearing this, simply sat down, letting the Dao Essence of Yuji flow around him. Without Immortal Armor, he was instantly engulfed by millions of worms.
The golden-haired man nodded slightly.
"He has great confidence in himself."
To this point, among the Three Great Fire Worlds, only eight people had passed the first round—three from the Beidou Region, one from the Southern Heaven Realm, and four from the Tianxia Realm.
Time passed.
At first, Lu Chenzhou thought this round would be easy, but gradually realized something was off. The Soul Eater Worms were actually nibbling away at the golden armor, condensed from his Dao Essence.
"These aren’t ordinary Soul Eater Worms."
Lu Chenzhou’s expression hardened slightly.
The golden-haired man said, "You must be curious. These worms are stronger than you think."
"Please enlighten me, Senior."
The Three Zhang Dragon Emperor’s face grew solemn. "Common wisdom says true spirits are noble entities—dragons, phoenixes, and the like. But in the late stage of the Divine War, an odd true spirit appeared out of nowhere in the Ruins Sea.
It looked like a monstrous insect. Born into the Ninth Realm, it called itself the [Mother of Night]. After it emerged, it devoured True Dragons and Heavenly Phoenixes for food, and could also swallow metal to grow. Within just a few centuries, its power neared Four Emperor Level, troubling even the Great Powers. The Divine Court was astounded—such a being born as a Ninth Realm true spirit, this only happened in ancient times; even true spirits of the ancient era had to cultivate to become so.
Some speculated that Mother of Night was an Evil God’s doing, but this theory was later disproved...for Mother of Night also indiscriminately attacked the Star Alliance, incidentally slaughtering eleven of our enemy’s demigods.
Once the Divine Court discovered this, they were overjoyed and tried to communicate with Mother of Night, promising rewards in exchange for her fighting on their side. However, Mother of Night refused all communication."
"Why? Language barrier?"
Lu Chenzhou, defending against the insect horde, asked with curiosity. There was no doubt—before him stood a living compendium of history, privy to countless secrets.
He had to dig deeper.
"For Ninth Realm beings, there’s no barrier to communication—they can send spiritual messages directly. But Mother of Night seemed to possess only a devouring instinct, without higher intelligence... Ultimately, she devoured the Divine Court’s envoy—even though he was a demigod. This enraged the Divine Court, so the Dragon Emperor, together with several of Lu Wu’s Ten Tiger Generals, united to destroy Mother of Night. After her death, she became billions of flying insects. Worried she might resurrect, the Dragon Emperor sealed that entire battlefield and its world into the Ancient Road with a great divine power. Originally, the Dragon Emperor wanted to destroy every bug, but Chi Ji God left them alive, claiming that someday we might need Mother of Night’s power..."
"So Mother of Night still lives?"
"Her body is dead—these flying insects are all that remains. But her will is sealed in the deepest depths of the Ancient Road, personally suppressed by the Dragon Emperor’s supreme treasure!"
They both fell silent.
After ten hours, the Soul Eater Worms had devoured Lu Chenzhou’s golden armor entirely. They began gnawing on his flesh, making him itch all over. Knowing these were the body of Mother of Night, he grew more solemn still.
But given the difference in realm, none of these insects had yet broken his defense.
Still, he had a feeling that if this went on, one day he would be gnawed away completely. These insects were highly adaptive and evolved rapidly. With Mother of Night left in the Ancient Road, it was a ticking time bomb. What was Chi Ji God planning? Would he really unleash the Mother of Night against the Evil God in a mutually destructive final battle?
"You are the ninth to clear the first round within the Fire Seed Worlds. In Tianxia, only Eternity Immortal, the Priest, the Sky King, and the Cangtian Dragon King have done it."
The golden-haired man flicked his finger. A dark gold ore the size of a human head landed in front of Lu Chenzhou, along with a surge of information flooding into Lu Chenzhou’s mind.
[Three Zhang Scripture: First Layer (1%)]
"There are nine layers of the Three Zhang Scripture—three each in the Mountain Chapter, Sea Chapter, and Heavenly Chapter. Do you want to continue? The second round is far more dangerous. In your Xia Realm, at Seventh Realm, only the Dragon King and the Priest made it through. Eternity Immortal is strong, but in terms of flesh and defense alone, falls a bit short. Without Five Rank Yuji Dao, your prospects are grim."
"I’d like to try."
Lu Chenzhou said.
The golden-haired man smiled faintly.
"Awaken..."
Rumble! The heavens and earth trembled. The golden wilderness suddenly split open. Layers of golden rock were revealed—these were the scales of the giant beast, each the size of a plaza, inscribed with naturally-occurring, mysterious Dao patterns.
In an instant, a projected Golden Horned King Beast of similar realm to Lu Chenzhou appeared, four-footed, wings shadowing the sky, stretching over a thousand kilometers long.
Roar!
The might of a true spirit swept through heaven and earth.
"Dragon power?"
"The Golden Horned King Beast is also a dragon species—only different from ordinary dragon clan. This projection is equal in size to the original, but its power is reduced to match your rank, just one-thousandth of its true body. The second trial is simple: under the beast’s attacks, endure for a quarter-hour. Only Yuji Dao and fleshly body defense may be used. If you pass with passive defense alone, I shall reward you with a drop of Golden Horned King Beast’s blood—Ninth Rank..."
"Is that essence blood?"
Lu Chenzhou’s eyes flashed.
"Wishful thinking. The Ninth Rank essence blood was long ago used for artifact refining; what I’ve got is merely a lesser blood essence—but its value matches a low-grade Eighth Rank spiritual weapon." The Three Zhang Dragon Emperor laughed.