Chapter 454: Profound Heaven Upper Realm, the domain of great beings

Qinghe, in the General's Mansion.

Ever since the encirclement and suppression of the Blood Shadow Xueying Laozu, Li Rui had returned directly to Qinghe.

In his room.

He sat cross-legged, his entire presence as steady as a deep pool and as towering as a mountain, unfathomable.

Li Rui was lost in thought.

"Wan Fadian, Divine Profound Palace, Ji Lei, Si Feng..."

Name after name echoed in his heart.

He had devoured the Blood Shadow Xueying Laozu's spiritual fetus, and his Dao fetus had analyzed everything within it, including obtaining all of the Blood Shadow Xueying Laozu's memories.

Within the Blood Shadow Xueying Laozu's memories, he had obtained a great many secrets.

Among them were pieces of information regarding the cultivation world and the Fallen Immortals.

The Blood Shadow Xueying Laozu had spent a long time by Si Feng's side; as a trusted confidant, he naturally knew many things that the martial artists and cultivators of this realm were unaware of—secrets that even the upper echelons of the Purple Chai Jingong might not necessarily know.

For instance...

The previous Purple Chai Jingong actually inherited its legacy from the upper realm's Wan Fadian, while the Qingwei Sect originated from the Divine Profound Palace; both were supreme hegemons of the cultivation world.

Indeed.

It was precisely that Divine Profound Palace where Wu De resided.

Li Rui had never expected that his connection with the Divine Profound Palace would be so profound; not only was he stationed at their lower sect in this realm, but he was also well-acquainted with a cultivator from the main sect, Wu De.

According to what he knew, the status of the Divine Profound Palace in the cultivation world was extremely high; every time Wu De mentioned it, he did so with a face full of pride.

Not only that.

He also learned that the young Daoist who had killed Xuan Cheng outside the spirit mine that day was named Ji Lei.

He was a Fallen Immortal from Wan Fadian in the lower realm, a Second-Rank, proficient in the way of talismans, with methods that were strange and unpredictable.

He also realized...

His previous situation had been far more perilous than he had imagined.

If not for his sufficient caution, and if not for the protection of that behemoth, the Yu Kingdom's imperial court...

He might have already died who knows how many times.

Li Rui sighed inwardly at the difficulty of the path of cultivation.

Matters of cause and effect were truly hard to articulate.

The influence of letting the fellow disciples Yao Xue and Qu Chengfeng stay in Qinghe back then was far greater than he had imagined.

This was the terrifying aspect of cause and effect.

It starts from the insignificant, but once it manifests, it is like a landslide.

Impossible to guard against.

Avoiding the entanglement of cause and effect was naturally important; it was rumored that those great cultivators valued matters of cause and effect extremely highly and would not act lightly.

But what was even more important was having sufficiently strong power.

Li Rui looked within himself.

At this moment, the Dao fetus infant in his dantian was showing signs of constant anomalies, and divine dragons and immortal phoenixes were dancing around it—it was incomparably miraculous.

He knew.

This was a sign of an imminent breakthrough.

Indeed.

The Blood Shadow Xueying Laozu's spiritual fetus contained nearly thirty percent of the life force of a Second-Rank Heavenly Phenomenon; even if the Blood Shadow Xueying Laozu was a fake Heavenly Phenomenon who seized the Dao fruits of others, it was still extremely substantial.

Thus, as soon as Li Rui returned to Qinghe, he felt the signs of a breakthrough.

At this moment.

His essence, energy, and spirit, along with the Dao fetus infant in his dantian, had all reached their peak.

Li Rui slowly stood up.

He pushed open the door and walked out.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw his two disciples, Liang He and Liu Tiezhu, both there.

He spoke: "Xiao He, Tiezhu, I need to go into seclusion for a period of time. During this period, if anyone comes, turn them away for me. If you cannot block them, go find General Nie; if that truly doesn't work, then find Commandant Zhou."

Liang He and Liu Tiezhu nodded heavily.

In Qinghe.

Li Rui had an extraordinary relationship with Nie Siming, and he even carried considerable weight with Zhou Dinghai.

With these connections, there were not many who dared to barge into the General's Mansion.

"Master, please rest assured and go into seclusion."

Liang He said with a serious expression.

For a martial artist or cultivator, seclusion was a major event, and the greatest taboo was being interrupted.

If one suffered qi deviation because of this, the light consequence was days of cultivation going to waste, and the heavy consequence was immediate death.

To put it more severely, it was a blood feud.

Generally speaking, as long as it was not a mortal enemy, no one would do such a thing.

After giving his instructions.

Li Rui returned to his room.

Afterward, he employed the Earth Escape Technique and left Qinghe City.

A short while later.

He arrived in the deep mountains and old forests, hundreds of miles outside Qinghe City, where there was no sign of human life.

There was a cave here.

He had long since set up a large-scale Lotus Heart Array.

As an ancient array that had almost been lost, the Lotus Heart Array's function was naturally more than just hiding one's strength; this technique was actually used by cultivators to undergo their tribulations.

In the cultivation world.

When a great cultivator with profound realms broke through, they might attract a heavenly tribulation.

Heavenly tribulations come in all shapes and sizes.

Not all of them involved being struck by lightning.

At this time, the cultivator's state would reach an unprecedented low; if they were hunted by enemies at this moment, they would end up dead and their Dao extinguished.

Therefore, many array masters possessed arrays capable of masking the fluctuations of a tribulation.

The Lotus Heart Array was one of them.

It just so happened to possess the function of hiding one's strength, which was why Li Rui valued it.

Now, it was just the right time to use it.

Li Rui certainly would not attract a heavenly tribulation, but having learned from previous lessons, if he were accidentally stumbled upon by a passing cultivator, it would also invite considerable trouble.

With his cautious style, he naturally would not make the same mistake again.

Everything was prepared properly.

Li Rui then sat cross-legged in the cave concealed by the array.

Only a day passed.

Anomalies suddenly erupted in the cave.

A wild wind whipped up on flat ground!

A gust of wind, originating from who knows where, swirled around Li Rui as the center; however, what it whipped up was not dust, but the spiritual energy contained within the spirit stones.

A spiritual energy vortex!

And at this very moment.

Divine radiance flickered around Li Rui's body; his entire person appeared ethereal and transcendent, even more so than a Fallen Immortal.

His momentum reached an unprecedented height.

The next instant.

The spiritual energy vortex dispersed.

The Everlasting Green Qi spread outward like invisible tentacles.

One foot...

Ten feet...

One mile...

Ten miles!

But everything was far from over; the Everlasting Green Qi continued to spread, only stopping when it reached eighteen miles.

The power of heaven and earth within a full eighteen-mile radius was gathered into his single body.

One could imagine its power.

Profound Heaven Upper Realm!

It had been less than three years since Li Rui last broke through to the Profound Heaven Mid-Realm.

He had broken through again.

Not only that, but just having broken through, the range of the heaven and earth power he swept up reached a terrifying eighteen miles.

Ten miles was the minimum threshold for a breakthrough.

Li Rui was naturally different.

In one breath, he had raised it by nearly double!

This also meant that without using other methods, just by relying on the power of heaven and earth, he could crush most experts of the Profound Heaven Upper Realm to death.

His natural talent was fully revealed!

According to what he knew, when Yuan Dingting broke through to the Profound Heaven Upper Realm, it was only thirteen miles.

In other words.

He was even stronger in the Profound Heaven Upper Realm than that Saint of War.

But just as Li Rui thought everything was over and prepared to withdraw the Lotus Heart Array.

Anomalies erupted again.

Looking within himself, he saw the Dao fetus infant in his dantian—the anomalies around its body became even more magnificent, with mountains, seas, trees, and even the figures of living beings.

It was evolving the heavens!

Seeing this scene, even Li Rui was greatly shocked.

His path of opening the Dao fetus was vastly different from others who had Dao fetuses before; it was inherited from He Qiannian's Great Henglian.

He did not seek the heavens, but sought his own body.

It was to open up a world of his own.

Later, after achieving the Innate Immortal Martial Dao Fetus, the changes within his body's Dao fetus and Immortal Court were immense.

Simply put, he truly had the possibility of opening up a world on his own.

This was truly extraordinary!

Li Rui stared unblinkingly at the phenomena around the Dao fetus infant.

Now, having absorbed the Blood Shadow Xueying Laozu's memories, his knowledge was far superior to before, especially regarding Heavenly Phenomena.

Therefore, he knew.

The scene before him was clearly the deduction of the Great Dao.

And it was about to succeed.

In other words, he had comprehended the Great Dao almost the moment he stepped into the Profound Heaven Upper Realm.

Innate Immortal Martial Dao Fetus.

Invincible in both Dharma and body, naturally close to the Great Dao!

Li Rui widened his eyes.

Entering the Profound Heaven Upper Realm in the morning, and attaining a Heavenly Phenomenon by evening!

If this were known to outsiders, one could only imagine the shock.

Even Li Rui was greatly astonished.

According to what he knew, no one in this realm had ever been able to do this; even that Gao Tianxia, who stood above the entire world, could not.

Unprecedented!

The Innate Immortal Martial Dao Fetus was terrifying to this extent.

But just as the phenomena around the Dao fetus infant continued to change, they were extremely profound.

The sun, moon, and stars shifted.

Li Rui's seclusion in the cave lasted through day and night without him knowing.

He did not know how much time had passed.

A layer of dust had even settled on his hair and shoulders.

The next instant.

Li Rui opened his eyes abruptly.

A pair of eyes that seemed capable of stealing the divine brilliance of heaven and earth appeared exceptionally miraculous in the dark and narrow cave.

The Dao fetus infant within his body had already slowly stood up.

Above the Immortal Court, the sound of the Great Dao manifested.

It was clearly the aura of having attained the Great Dao!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 455 =====