Chapter 836: Chapter 560: New Phenomena in the Human World
The energy source for the Heavenly Observation Array is Mid-grade Primordial Stones.
There are four sets of the Heavenly Observation Array.
All four giant cities are equipped with them.
The cost of each set is as high as a million Mid-grade Primordial Stones.
Today, biofuel energy from Demon bodies, Primordial Stones, as well as the Five Elements Energy accumulated in arrays, are replacing mortal energy, becoming the core of technological transformation.
Human scientific research has never ceased. As early as the early days of the Great Catastrophe, Absolute Peak Experts had sent back war trophies from science-based worlds among the Three Thousand Worlds via the Candle Dragon Source Space, for scientists to study in the Human World.
Although cultivation is mainstream in this universe, there is no shortage of technological civilizations—for example, that civilization Lu Chenzhou saw in the Blue Mountain Ancient Emperor Illusion Realm, which had scientific technologies capable of contending with the Heavenly Realm. But after the Divine War, most sci-tech worlds lost their inheritance to war, their legacies dwindling and vanishing.
Yet all those civilizations have left behind their Fire Seeds.
All of this has been brought back to the Xia Realm.
In these peaceful times, the Elder Council is investing even more financial, material, and human resources to develop the sciences and array technologies. The Heavenly Observation Array is only the tip of the iceberg. In the next century, the Elder Council intends to make the Tianxia human civilization a super-civilization where technology and Martial Arts are both highly advanced, with cross-realm expedition and exploration capabilities, able to stand on equal footing with the Evil Gods.
"Greetings, Chief Lu Guardian."
"Lu Heavenly King is out of seclusion."
"When will Lu Heavenly King Breakthrough Seven?"
On the satellites,
one by one, cross-legged figures opened their eyes.
Chu Yu, Zi Long Daoist, Cold Moon Immortal, Elder Hanshan... The former Magic City, Hang City, Jiang City, Jinling, Su City, and dozens of other Base Cities surrounding Yun Meng Lake—totaling 91 Heavenly King powerhouses—became the regional heads of Yun Meng City. Each region will eventually accommodate at least a hundred million people, and within the regions, there are 868 Great Grandmasters, 6,286 Grandmasters, more than ten million Martial Artists. All the middle- and high-tier combat forces are distributed layer by layer, each in their post, constituting the basic defense system of the Mega City.
Only in this way can the 3.6 billion Human Clan members in the city be protected.
Lu Chenzhou clasped his fists and smiled:
"Thank you all for your hard work."
He now serves as the Deputy Chief Guardian of Yun Meng City.
His status is second only to the Chief Guardian, Old Man Yellow River.
He came to the Myriad Phenomena Daoist School, where many of his sect friends and kin now serve as Martial Arts instructors.
The teachers and students who saw him all saluted.
"Lu Shanjun is out of seclusion."
"A living legend."
"I’ve also met Chief Lu before!"
"Back in the Dragon City days, we saw him every day!"
For a while, teachers and students flocked from all sides of the Daoist School.
Seeing Lu Chenzhou out of seclusion, Old Ji grabbed him, pulling over Shi Ruyu and Ji Feiyan to sit and chat for a while.
"Junior brother, the Human World has changed a lot, hasn’t it?"
Ji Feiyan smiled.
Time had added yet another crow’s foot at the corner of her eye.
"Indeed, it feels like a lifetime ago."
Lu Chenzhou nodded.
"Now in these peaceful times, we no longer need to hide in the Jiangshan Map—we too can contribute to civilization."
Shi Ruyu sighed.
Old Ji heaved a sigh. "Nowadays, the security is too strong. In a city of billions, those killed by Demon invasions each year are less than a thousand. In the past, we wouldn’t have dared to imagine this."
Lu Chenzhou said, "We must still remain vigilant. The Evil Gods surely have agents in the Human World, but as long as you become a Grandmaster, you should be safe within Yun Meng City."
Shi Ruyu said, "A Grandmaster used to be one in a million. I see on the Martial Arts Department news that now in the newborn generation, for every hundred thousand people there’s a Grandmaster."
Lu Chenzhou laughed, "Grandmasters live four Jiazi. Both of you are still young, and have used the Nine Apertures Exquisite Grass—it’s inevitable you’ll become Grandmasters, and there’s hope for Great Grandmaster too."
Previously, in the merit awards, Lu Chenzhou had received two stalks of Nine Apertures Exquisite Grass. Of his most important friends and relatives, Wang Xian and Lin Xia had already used it, so he gave one stalk to his Martial Arts guide Shi Ruyu and intended the other for Master Ji. Master Ji couldn’t bear to use it, and gave it to Ji Feiyan instead.
As for Li Yao, she didn’t need special help from him—her talent is excellent. She’s now a Grandmaster in the [Heavenly Pride Class] at the Myriad Phenomena Daoist School, doing special training to break through to Great Grandmaster.
Obtaining Nine Apertures Exquisite Grass through trials isn’t difficult.
In reality, given his status, it wouldn’t be hard to get more Linglong Grass from the Parliament and let his whole sect rise with the tide.
He just didn’t want to do that. Nine Apertures Exquisite Grass is a strategic resource—a good blade should be used on the edge—so it’s prioritized for the Heavenly Kings, and for Grandmasters and Great Grandmasters stuck at the Acupoint bottleneck, then for top Martial Arts Geniuses to help them break through further.
That’s why the Northern Guardian King proactively rewarded Lu Chenzhou with Linglong Grass—to let him give it to his relatives and friends.
With his help, it couldn’t guarantee his sect would all become Grandmasters, but at least it gave them the conditions.
In the end, if they could succeed, it would depend on their own fortune.
As the chat went on, Old Ji turned the topic:
"Chenzhou, when will you find yourself a partner? I see many powerhouses pass on their bloodlines before Tribulation."
Lu Chenzhou smiled:
"That’s because they aren’t fully confident in Breaking Seven—they fear their lineage will end. I have strong confidence in my Breakthrough Seven."
"No wonder. But I heard that after Breaking Seven, one is transcendent and no longer human—bearing offspring is very difficult."
"That’s true."
Lu Chenzhou had nothing to say to that.
Ji Feiyan said, "Uncle and aunt don’t worry, Dad, you don’t need to fuss either. Besides, Ruyu and I are both single, and totally focused on Martial Arts—you just don’t get it."
Old Ji rolled his eyes at her.
"Look who’s talking. You’re not one hundred percent for Grandmaster either. If something happened to you, what would happen to the Ji family line then? There are plenty of talented young people in Myriad Phenomena Daoist School..."
Ji Feiyan muttered,
"Can’t hope for the best, can you."
The four reminisced about the old days.
Their talk ranged from Martial Arts to everywhere under the sun.
"Haha, congratulations, young Lu, on breaking another boundary."
An old figure approached them directly.
It was Old Man Yellow River.
"You look more vigorous too, Senior,"
Lu Chenzhou stood up and smiled.
Old Man grinned, "My apprentice is a Heavenly King now. A happy occasion brings vigor. Come, Elder Council."
...
Battle Realm.
Boundless starry sky.
The Guardians of the four giant cities appeared.
The Northern Guardian King got straight to the point, "The purpose of calling everyone here is to address the last hidden threat to civilization."
Old Man Yellow River’s eyes lit up.
"Found the Ghost Empress of Ten Thousand Spiders and the Shadow Stream Dominator?"
The Northern Guardian King shook his head, "Those two are Seventh Realm but cannot shake the foundations of today’s Tianxia Civilization. I’m talking about the one slumbering in the Earth Core."
Alcohol King’s face changed slightly.
"Red Lotus Demon Venerable?"
Li Xiuying nodded.
"Now we have six in the Seventh Realm. Counting young Lu, that makes seven. It’s time for a final conclusion."
Emperor Hanu said gravely:
"The Red Lotus Demon Venerable belongs to the Nine-Pattern Demon Clan. If it has recovered full Seventh Realm strength, and we rush in, it could be dangerous fighting in the Earth Core Magma, its home territory."
The Seventh Realm powerhouses all discussed this intensely.
Alcohol King said, "My Alcohol Dao also belongs to the Fire Dao; flame is my home ground too. How about I send an avatar to search the Earth Core World first? Xia Star is so vast—it won’t be easy to find Red Lotus Demon Venerable in the magma ocean. We’ll find it first, then talk."
The Northern Guardian King nodded in agreement.
"Originally, with Chenzhou’s Causality Eye, he should be able to directly track Red Lotus Demon Venerable’s location. But as Chenzhou said, Red Lotus Demon Venerable got a treasure that blocks causality, so now we can only search like looking for a needle in a haystack."
Lu Chenzhou thought for a moment, then said:
"My Causality Dao has made some progress these past years. I’ll try again to see if I can find Red Lotus and the others."
The powerhouses all looked toward Lu Chenzhou, stunned.
Old Man laughed, "Whenever everyone is at their wit’s end, young Lu always brings us a pleasant surprise."
The Northern Guardian King smiled broadly.
"Great, then we trouble Lu Heavenly King to search."
"I’ll begin casting now."
Lu Chenzhou sat down cross-legged on the ground.
The third Dharma Eye on his brow opened. He saw countless threads of causality radiating from himself outward.
He looked at the Martial Arts Tree.
[Causality: Fifth Rank (3%)]
In these past years, in addition to Opening the Acupoint and Spiritual cultivation, Lu Chenzhou has delved most deeply into the Way of Cause and Effect.
Causality became his second Fifth Rank Dao.
Progressing only slightly behind World, while Power Extreme, Withering and Flourishing, Lightning, and other established Daos are still at Fourth Rank.
No other reason—Causality Dao is just too useful.
Combat-oriented Daos like Power Extreme, although Fifth Rank is a qualitative leap, mean less strategically than the Causality Dao’s ability to track enemies.
With his current combat strength, he is not lacking a Fifth Rank combat-focused Dao, so his cultivation choices reflect that.
"Eye of Calamity" has also been cultivated to the limit, birthing a Divine Seed that greatly enhances Spiritual talent.
[Calamity Divine Seed (Ninth Rank) ...
Effect 1: Greatly boosts Martial Arts Comprehension in Spirit.
...
Effect 5: Calamity Entanglement. By gathering a Calamity Seed within the target via Spiritual Power, the cursed will have their luck invisibly weakened. This does not work on targets whose spiritual power far surpasses his own.]
Essentially, the Eye of Calamity’s curse operates by using causality threads to bring misfortune upon enemies.
This involves the mysterious domain of Fate.
With his broadened horizons, after witnessing the blessings of various World Wills, Lu Chenzhou understood: Fate is real.
Fate is the thread connecting people and the World.
Every living being possesses Fate.
It is only a matter of quantity; the true Geniuses favored by the World naturally possess much more.
Time flows.
Lu Chenzhou seeks among the tangled web of causality.
Suddenly, Lu Chenzhou grasped a crimson thread. In his vision, the image of the red-robed man appeared, and then the scene of their great battle in that small realm.
"Back then, Red Lotus Demon Venerable’s avatar battled me, establishing direct causality between us—making it easier to use that causality thread to find its original self. In the unseen cycles of cause and effect, there is predestination," Lu Chenzhou sighed.
Seven days later.
Lu Chenzhou shut his Dharma Eye.
His pupils were bloodshot.
After taking Earth Immortal Dew, he said, "I can roughly pinpoint Red Lotus Demon Venerable’s position now, but its treasure still interferes—so the result may need further confirmation."
The Northern Guardian King smiled:
"Good, that’s far better than searching aimlessly."
Old Man Yellow River said:
"What about the Ghost Empress of Ten Thousand Spiders, the Shadow Stream Dominator? And that Eye of Truth group—can they be found?"
Lu Chenzhou shook his head: "I have no direct causality with the Ghost Empress, and she too has a causality-blocking treasure. With my present attainments in Causality, it’s hard to track; same for Shadow Stream Dominator... But if my Causality Dao grows stronger, there may be hope. As for the Eye of Truth, they left the Xia Realm long ago."
The Northern Guardian King said:
"Most likely, the Eye of Truth group is hiding in the Mystic Sky Realm. With the Evil God’s means, they’re very difficult to find if they hide. No need to worry about them anyway; their true bodies are all in the Forbidden Zone."