Chapter 186. A Breakthrough, Becoming Stronger, Child of the Great Age

A radiant light erupted from Lu Yuan's eyes. Power surged through his entire body like a river breaking through a dam. His golden vital qi became even more radiant than before as it illuminated the entire room.

A full twenty-eight grotto-heavens were manifested. Within each stood a true god completely connected to himself. With a single thought on his end, he could draw upon them instantly, amplifying his strength twenty-eight-fold.

The power radiating from him had surpassed the Golden Body Realm. Now, he was emanating the fluctuations of a Venerable King. His aura had become boundless, profound, and magnificent.

Even though it was being restrained, it was noticeably far more terrifying than before. Fortunately, the Meridian Heavenmend Furnace was suppressing it, preventing any leakage. Even so, the faint fluctuations from within him remained terrifying.

Lu Yuan's foundation was deep, and his combat prowess had always been unfathomable due to the divine artifacts he possessed. This breakthrough had brought about a huge increase in his strength.

Lu Yuan realized one thing upon his breakthrough. Evolving in peace would no longer be possible.

I really have to find a place dedicated only to evolution in the future.

Lu Yuan's eyes glimmered faintly with delight.

At this rate, even the Meridian Heavenmend Furnace would no longer be able to contain his overflowing power. Every evolution would inevitably affect his surroundings.

The path of evolution was essentially the path to godhood. An Awakened's power would grow increasingly terrifying until even the world itself could no longer contain their power, especially upon reaching the Sage Realm.

The word "Sage" itself carried immense weight, and it represented a fundamental change from all previous stages of evolution. Upon entering that realm, one could survive freely in outer space. At its peak, one could even crush celestial bodies.

It was a true metamorphosis, and becoming a Sage meant one could no longer be measured by the standards of humanity.

Although the Venerable King Realm and the Sage Realm were only one realm apart, the gap between them was immense. It was so vast that it was difficult to express in words.

Lu Yuan's next goal was clear. The sixth stage of evolution. The Void Sage Realm.

Unfortunately, reaching it would be difficult. Even with his foundation, the challenge was immense. Across the starfields of the Outer Cosmos, Sages were the core of organizations.

The Sage Realm contained only three sub-realms, but in reality, it was divided into countless steps, each requiring vast amounts of resources to reach as well as an extremely high level of comprehension.

"Next, I need to stabilize my strength. Then I can go to some places to seek legacies and fortune..." Lu Yuan murmured to himself, thinking of his path forward. He had always been clear about his goals and knew exactly how to pursue them.

Most who reached the Venerable King Realm knew that advancing to the sixth stage was extremely difficult. It required vast resources, and most would never succeed.

However, Lu Yuan was different. He knew this world was still in the middle of its awakening. He knew countless legacies and fortunes were waiting to be discovered. As long as he seized the initiative, he could remain one step ahead.

It had been less than three years since the first Global Awakening, but he had already reached the fifth stage of evolution. In his previous life, no one had ever achieved such a feat.

Lu Yuan ended his contemplation and stepped out of the room.

The expedition to the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace had brought enormous gains to everyone, allowing them to grow far stronger than before.

Just as he had anticipated, Zhu Qingyu, Ice Fairy, and the others had each shattered multiple genetic shackles. Chunyang had even shattered ten at once. By Lu Yuan's estimation, all of them could shatter at least a dozen or even twenty.

The gap between them and Lu Yuan remained vast, but their progress was already remarkable. Breaking genetic shackles was never easy, after all.

Moreover, they were receiving guidance from the Three Immortal Islands, which meant they had access to systematic training that would greatly accelerate their growth.

Overall, the members of the Celestial Court were steadily becoming stronger.

Beyond that, the outside world had descended into chaos once more.

Many beings from the Outer Cosmos had gained support and allegiance from a few organizations in Huaxia. They seized blessed lands and transformed them into strongholds, preparing to welcome more of their kind.

The sight elicited dissatisfaction among the populace.

No matter how one looked at it, those beings from outer space were outsiders. However, they also knew the reality of things. More powerful beings would eventually descend, and there was no way to stop them unless they waged an all-out war on them.

However, how could Huaxia and Earth possibly resist them?

Fortunately, Lu Yuan slew a batch of powerful beings from outer space, intimidating the rest into silence. Compared to the advent of the first Global Awakening, things were relatively calm.

However, no one believed this peace would last long.

Everyone knew it was fragile and could shatter at any moment.

At the moment, Earth was being protected by some mysterious force.

What would happen once that protection vanished?

A sense of foreboding gripped everyone's hearts, and they knew that the only solution was to grow even stronger. Fortunately, the officials of Huaxia weren't idle. They were busy strengthening the Celestial Court and recruiting more Awakened to join their cause.

After hearing about the recent events, Lu Yuan remained calm. When beings from the Outer Cosmos had just descended, the chaos had been far worse. The fact that the world remained stable was already a good thing.

He just had to become even stronger, and the situation would not spiral out of control.

After taking a walk around the Trials Academy, Lu Yuan turned around to return to his residence. Along the way, he encountered Jiang Ningxian, who had just stepped out of her residence.

"You've gotten even stronger again?" Jiang Ningxian's eyes lit up. She smiled lightly and added, "It seems your expedition to the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace was quite fruitful."

She appeared to enjoy chatting with Lu Yuan. Leaning against the wall, she smiled, eliciting small dimples to appear on her cheeks. If one ignored her identity, she was the perfect beautiful girl next door, and she truly had a pleasant personality.

She lacked the signature aura of superiority commonly found in people with the same identity as her.

"It wasn't that bad."

Lu Yuan smiled. Then, he proceeded to tell her about what had happened. They had spent only a few hours in the Dragon Palace, yet a month had passed in the outside world. He wasn't familiar with this phenomenon, but anomalies across the world would only become more common, along with bizarre folded spaces and Mythical Secret Realms.

Hence, he needed to learn more about such a phenomenon in advance.

"Time discrepancy?" Jiang Ningxian muttered. Then, she pondered over it before explaining things. It turned out to be not as uncommon as Lu Yuan thought, but it meant the folded space was unstable, or it contained a special energy.

The Eastern Sea Dragon Palace fell into the unstable folded space category, and it was probably due to a great battle that happened ages ago.

However, Jiang Ningxian had no idea what had happened there. After all, her ancestors had migrated to the Outer Cosmos long before that battle.

"I see. I understand." Lu Yuan nodded. At the very least, he had obtained some information about folded spaces.

"By the way, the Separation of Heaven and Earth has gotten even weaker. I may need to enter seclusion for a while. If anything comes up, look for Uncle Jiang," Jiang Ningxian said, smiling.

Jiang Ningxian's innate talent and bloodline were slowly being unraveled since the second Global Awakening. At the moment, she appeared weak, but she would eventually become a formidable Awakened.

Lu Yuan could see that it was only a matter of time. Had it not been for the Separation of Heaven and Earth, Jiang Ningxian would have been more powerful than him.

"Alright." He nodded in acknowledgment.

Then, the two returned to their respective residences.

However, Jiang Ningxian didn't immediately begin her seclusion.

"Father said the Milky Way Starfield is entering a Great Age that will ultimately lead to the golden era of the entire universe. Prodigies from many different starfields will compete for supremacy to reach the apex of evolution.

"The unique conditions of this world mean several Children of the Great Age will emerge from here. Will Lu Yuan become one of them?"

Jiang Ningxian recalled what her father had told her before she left. To put it simply, this place was far too extraordinary. In the future, it could become the center of the entire universe. As for the so-called Children of the Great Age, they were existences with enough providence and luck.

Of course, the natives of this world weren't just the ones who could become a Child of the Great Age. Anyone who had descended here would have a chance to receive the blessing of providence and luck.

However, anything related to providence and luck was extremely difficult to deduce. However, Jiang Ningxian believed that Lu Yuan was qualified to become a Child of the Great Age, especially with his performance so far.

"I need to hurry as well. Many people I know will appear, and a reunion with them will surely be interesting." Jiang Ningxian chuckled. Then, with a wave of her hand, a barrier of light descended, enveloping her.

With this barrier, entering seclusion posed no problems at all.

Elsewhere, Lu Yuan sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. Having entered the Venerable King Realm, his strength had increased dramatically. He needed enough time to adapt to his newfound strength.

At the same time, he needed to temper his organs again, purging them of all impurities and transforming them into something "divine" to ultimately achieve true unity between body and soul.

If the path of evolution were likened to crossing a vast sea, then the body would be the ship, and the soul would be the passenger. Both the ship and the passenger had to be together so that one could reach the other shore of the endless sea of suffering called "evolution."

Hence, the Venerable King Realm was an extremely important stage. After all, it was the final step before stepping into the Sage Realm. Lu Yuan dared not be careless at this stage of evolution.

After adapting to his newfound strength, he would temper his organs once more. This wasn't particularly troublesome for him. After all, the Eleven-Tier Blood Pagoda and the Great Sun's Flame Divine Furnace had already tempered his physique and organs to near perfection.

At this point, he just had to elevate them to a mythical level. Combined with the genetic shackles he had shattered, he would be able to unleash even greater power, and his potential would be even more terrifying.

Just like that, Lu Yuan entered seclusion. Unlike before, however, he didn't need to devote all of his attention to his evolution. He could split his focus. For example, he could monitor the outside world or study the Celestial Emperor's Ancient Token.

Several days later, Lu Yuan finally adapted to his newfound power. He became capable of controlling it as if it were his own limbs.

When he took out his communicator to check the news, a post caught his attention.

A video was attached to it, and it depicted a bizarre phenomenon happening in the Kongtong Mountains. Day and night, towering rays of multi-colored light would erupt from the depths of the Kongtong Mountains, shooting straight into the sky.

The video also depicted beings from the Outer Cosmos rushing toward it.

At the same time, the government departments tasked with monitoring the nation's famed mountains detected some mysterious energy fluctuations deep within the Kongtong Mountains.

The gathered data seemed to be saying that a massive space somewhere in the Kongtong Mountains was about to reveal itself to the world.