Chapter 83. The Ancestral Planet and the Saintess, Operation Mounting the Mount Begins! (1)

Living out his life once more, Lu Yuan knew too much. After hearing Chen Song's account, the answer clicked into place. The woman looking for the bronze cauldron was from beyond the stars.

It wasn't hard to figure out. In his previous lifetime, he had joined a group of mysterious individuals on their expedition to the Mausoleum of Mount Li. They knew every passage, every gate. It was through them that he made it to the final resting place of the First Qin Emperor.

He had never seen that woman himself. But he remembered with absolute certainty that it was an outsider from beyond the cosmos who reached the very end.

As for how that group knew so much about the Primordial Dragon's slumbering grounds? Lu Yuan still had no knowledge of that. But he was certain that there ought to be some huge secrets buried within.

And those people from the outer cosmos hailed from far-flung galaxies, and all of them were no simple individuals. And some, as far as Lu Yuan knew, were originally from this very world. They had simply vanished thousands of years ago into the depths of outer space for some reason.

He hadn't expected them to arrive so soon, and without a single ripple beforehand.

Then again, maybe they'd already arrived on Earth and had just been lying low.

So it begins... The true age of rising warlords.

A chill thought tugged at his mind. The Global Awakening had just started. It wouldn't be long before the floodgates burst.

More crises.

More enemies.

More monsters, both human and not.

But fortunately, unlike in his previous life, he wasn't walking in blind. This time, he was ready.

A new wave of plans to grow stronger quietly and steadily was already underway.

But after the call, Lu Yuan had no mind to keep meditating on the Heaven-Earth Sword. His focus shifted back to the mountain, to the stone steles and the people still immersed in them.

After several hours, the final phase of the comprehension was drawing to a close. Awakened like the Ice Fairy had each gained their enlightenment from the steles. As per their prior agreement, they transcribed what they learned and handed it over to Aurora Academy.

Out of the twenty thousand Awakened who had come this time, over half walked away empty-handed. Most of them didn't even reach the level 5 stele.

The five deans of Aurora Academy hadn't expected much from them anyway. They just needed one copy from each stele—nothing more.

And so, soon enough, after a few more hours, just as twilight brushed its golden veil over the ancient peaks, the Sword Stele Legacy of Ancient Mount Shu officially came to an end.

As for the next opening time of the mountain, that would be up to the Academy to decide. But for the current batch of Awakened who came this time, they probably wouldn't be invited back for another three years.

Afterward, under Dean Zheng's arrangements, Lu Yuan, joined by Zhu Qingyu and the Northern Emperor, boarded a plane to Chang'an.

Yet before he left, he could feel the weight of the Ice Fairy's faze.

From beginning to end, the Ice Fairy's eyes never left him. They were filled with wonder and shock. She felt that every time she met this man, he shattered her expectations in some new and brilliant way.

His strength ran deep. His aura was commanding. And his talent was peerless. She had never encountered someone quite like him.

Even Young Celestial Master Chunyang and Monk Huikong of Mount Jiuhua stepped forward to exchange a few words with Lu Yuan. Their words were filled with respect and calm without a trace of envy. After all, they were men of the non-secular path and could recognize true greatness when it stood before them.

Truth be told, most of those present felt the same. They looked at Lu Yuan with awe in their eyes.

That was just how people were.

When one surpasses others by just a little, they grow jealous—resentful, even. The thought in their mind was:

We're all on the same level. If he can do it, then I should be able to as well. I'm only lacking just a stroke of luck.

However, when one's power, influence, strength grows to a point where it's beyond comprehension, or catches up, then something interesting happens.

That resentment disappeared and was replaced by awe and acceptance. They began to accept that some people are simply born different. That there was a natural divide between men.

Instead of blaming luck, they turned inward and the quiet realization sank in:

I didn't do enough.

The logic was simple. Everyone, deep down, admired power. And right now, Lu Yuan was the embodiment of it.

On the flight back to Chang'an, even the mighty Northern Emperor and Qin Lan kept their distance. Their eyes flickered toward him like he was some unfathomable beast. However, none of them asked about the strongest divine technique despite burning with curiosity.

Compared to when they first set out, they were more cautious now, as if afraid even to look too long. Only Zhu Qingyu, having spent the most time near him, remained relatively at ease.

Upon returning to Chang'an, Lu Yuan wasn't quick to depart again. Under Dean Zheng's arrangement, he once more stayed at Aurora Academy.

He had much to digest—from the Primordial Dragon Breathing Technique to the Sleeping Dragon's Crimson Fruit to the divine sword art, Heaven-Earth Sword.

Even with his solid foundation, his body still needed time to acclimate to his yet-again-enhanced physique. Only by understanding his limits, knowing how his strength flowed through every cell could he fight at his peak.

Lu Yuan had been through much and he understood this all too well.

It was during this quiet stretch of days that news of the Sword Stele Legacy at Ancient Mount Shu exploded across the land.

When people heard that some had truly gained fortunes there—breathing techniques, divine arts—the world stirred with excitement.

Those who had once hesitated now buzzed with chatter. Now that they saw that there were really benefits to be gained and the danger was minimal. For most Awakened, Ancient Mount Shu had suddenly become the destination. A chance, however slim, to grasp a visualization method, to advance one step further on the path of evolution.

Thus, anticipation for the next opening soared.

Besides that, Lu Yuan had become the center of attention. Again.

Ever since his brutal victory over the Southern Sovereign, he was now back in the spotlight once again.

He who had climbed to the summit of Ancient Shu Sword Mountain.

He who had comprehended the supreme divine art etched upon the 99th Sword Stele.

Such a feat, after passing through the mouths of a few, then embellished by many quickly snowballed into a frenzy of attention.

And especially so once the firsthand accounts came in. Once people understood the sheer difficulty of ascending that peak, Lu Yuan began to gain respect.

Not only was he one of the Five Supremes, his comprehension far surpassed even the likes of the Northern Emperor and Ice Fairy.

There were bold predictions that Lu Yuan would one day stand at the pinnacle. And that his title of Human Sovereign stood without dispute.

Forum posts began to spring up, asking who was truly the strongest of the five?

And when the votes poured in, Lu Yuan's name soared past that of the Winged Celestial God and secured the top spot by a landslide. Everyone remembered the clash between the two and it ended with Winged Celestial God quietly taking a loss.

Even students at Aurora Academy claimed the Northern Emperor had personally admitted that in terms of physical strength, he was no match for Lu Yuan. Word was, the Northern Emperor had been struck hard by the blow and gone into closed-door cultivation ever since returning from Ancient Mount Shu.

The comment sections exploded. Lu Yuan's title as the Human Sovereign became an unchallenged fact.

Even Winged Celestial God's loyal followers had fallen silent. At least until news spread that Winged Celestial God had awakened his bloodline, and his strength had surged.

A battle clip of the Winged Celestial God against a powerful beast began circulating. Only then did the rebuttals come. They claimed that Lu Yuan wasn't necessarily the strongest.

But the momentum had shifted. Few took the debate seriously. And most felt that the doubt could be settled with a fight.

Deep down, many believed that a clash between those two titans was inevitable.

Lu Yuan, of course, knew none of this. And even if he had, he wouldn't have cared.