88: The Dao is achieved, and the unity breaks through realms.

The Mourner of the Departed had fallen, and the Darkness army was in rout.

The remaining Darkness kin were hunted down by the Allied Forces, with less than one in ten surviving.

The Molten Demon General and the Soul-Devouring Spirit tried to flee, but Lu Qingxuan killed them from afar with the Chaos Ancient God Sword, stripping away their Origin entirely.

When the last twisted Darkness creature turned to ash in the sword light, the dark sky that had shrouded the Northern Territory for days finally began to dissipate slowly.

Sunlight spilled back onto the Battle-Welcoming Plain, illuminating the devastated land, and... the mountains of corpses.

There were those of the Darkness kin, and even more of the Eastern Domain Allied Forces.

This battle, though a victory for the Allied Forces, was a pyrrhic one.

Over four hundred Soul Transformation Cultivators had fallen, seven Body Integration Realm experts were lost, and countless others were severely injured.

But no one regretted it.

Because they had witnessed with their own eyes how that Holy Lord in black robes had used a Soul Transformation body to slay an Undergoing Tribulation Apostle!

The brilliance of that sword strike would be remembered by all survivors for the rest of their lives.

"Clean up the battlefield, treat the wounded, and tally the battle losses."

Lu Qingxuan put away the Chaos Ancient God Sword—this one-time disposable pseudo-Immortal Artifact was on the verge of collapse after slaying the Mourner of the Departed, but he had fully absorbed the Chaos Ancient God Dao charm contained within it.

He hovered in mid-air, his voice calmly spreading across the battlefield:

"All participants can use their battle merits within three days to go to the 'Myriad Laws Converging Hall' of the Grand Void Holy Land to exchange for Cultivation Techniques, resources, or apply to enter the 'chaos reincarnation cultivation tower' to Cultivate."

"For those who have fallen... their Personal Disciples or close blood relatives may enter the Holy Land's Outer Sect and enjoy the treatment of Core Disciples."

"The Holy Land will remember the merits of this battle."

As his voice fell, the morale that had been low due to the heavy casualties was instantly ignited!

The Cultivation Technique Legacy of the Myriad Laws Converging Hall!

The opportunity to Cultivate in the chaos reincarnation pagoda!

The worries of those who had fallen were also resolved!

"Thank you for the Holy Lord's grace!"

"We swear allegiance to the Holy Land to the death!"

The Allied Forces Cultivators, having survived the disaster, bowed one after another, their eyes filled with gratitude and fanaticism.

Jin Wanxiang and Mo Yuan looked at each other, seeing the shock and relief in each other's eyes.

They were glad they had made the right choice back then.

With such a leader, the Eastern Domain... might truly be able to carve out a path to survival in the coming Darkness tide.

---

Half a day later.

Grand Void Holy Land, the summit of the main Peak, in a secluded meditation room.

Lu Qingxuan sat cross-legged, his aura as deep and heavy as an abyss.

Suspended before him were three items:

A fist-sized, pulsing 【Undergoing Tribulation Middle Stage Divine Soul Essence】;

An 【Abyss Blessing Imprint】 radiating with the Dao charm of decay and death;

And that most special 【ten thousand ruins Resonance Mark】.

【System, begin deducing the optimal Breakthrough plan.】

【Command confirmed... Analyzing...】

【Plan 1: Conventional Breakthrough. Use the Divine Soul Essence as the main material, supplemented by massive Spiritual Qi to impact the Body Integration Bottleneck. Success rate: 99.9%, Realm after Breakthrough: Body Integration Early Stage (Stabilized), Estimated time: seven days.】

【Plan 2: Dao Law Fusion Breakthrough. Strip the 'death' and 'decay' Laws contained in the Abyss Blessing Imprint, use the Chaos Ancient God Dao Law as a furnace to forcibly refine and fuse them, forging a 'Chaos Death Dao Law' branch. Success rate: 78.5%, Realm after Breakthrough: Body Integration Early Stage (Foundation exceeds specifications), and master the power of Chaos Death. Estimated time: three days, Risk: May trigger Law conflict, damaging the Origin.】

【Plan 3: Taboo Resonance Breakthrough (Special). Activate the ten thousand ruins Resonance Mark, use the Chaos Ancient God Dao Law to reverse-invade and steal a sliver of 'ten thousand ruins Origin', integrating it into oneself. Success rate: 41.2%, Realm after Breakthrough: Body Integration Early Stage (?), will gain 'ten thousand ruins Resistance' and 'Pseudo-ten thousand ruins Perception', but may be marked by the ten thousand ruins will, encountering unpredictable backlash. Estimated time: Unknown.】

Three plans, with risks and rewards increasing incrementally.

Lu Qingxuan scanned them, almost without hesitation.

"Select 3."

Being timid—is that the way of Cultivation?

Besides, he was already in a life-and-death struggle with the Void Abyss; being marked was only a matter of time. If he could steal a sliver of ten thousand ruins Origin in advance and understand the details of this ultimate enemy, taking some risks... was worth it.

【Command confirmed. Beginning execution of Plan 3: Taboo Resonance Breakthrough.】

【Warning: This process is irreversible, please concentrate all your mental energy, Host.】

Hum!

Lu Qingxuan's Divine Thought sank into his body, and the 【Chaos Ancient God Dao Law】 operated at full power!

Vast gray-white Chaos Qi surged from his pores, turning into a rolling sea of Chaos clouds in the meditation room.

In the center of the cloud sea, the 【ten thousand ruins Resonance Mark】 was wrapped in Chaos Qi and floated slowly to a position three inches in front of his glabella.

"With Chaos as the guide, the Ancient God as the mirror..."

"Open!"

Lu Qingxuan gave a low shout, and a tiny vertical line suddenly split open on his glabella—not a flesh wound, but a "Dao Eye" manifested from the power of his Divine Soul!

Within the Dao Eye, Chaos Return to Void rotated, Ancient God battle flames burned, and a sliver of pure, ultimate Chaos Ancient God consciousness pierced into the ten thousand ruins Mark like a probe!

Boom—!!!

In an instant, Lu Qingxuan's Divine Soul seemed to be dragged into a bizarre, indescribable, eerie world.

There was no up, down, left, or right, no time or space, only endless, writhing dark flesh, and billions of blood-colored eyeballs constantly opening and closing and turning within the flesh.

Every eyeball reflected the destruction of a different world.

Every piece of flesh exuded corrupted whispers capable of driving an Undergoing Tribulation Cultivator insane.

This... was the deep consciousness sea of the "ten thousand ruins"!

Or rather, the collective nightmare condensed by its remnant will after the ten thousand ruins fell!

"Another one... little bug..."

A low, chaotic murmur, like the overlapping of billions of voices, echoed around Lu Qingxuan's Divine Soul.

"Stealing... the power of the Ancient God... yet daring to spy on... us..."

"Stay... become... a new eye..."

Countless dark tentacles condensed from pure evil thoughts stretched out from the flesh, winding towards Lu Qingxuan's Divine Soul!

Wherever the tentacles passed, even the Chaos Qi was being rapidly polluted and assimilated!

At the critical moment.

The Ancient God battle flames within Lu Qingxuan's Dao Eye erupted!

"Fight—!!!"

A vast, ancient war cry, carrying bone-deep hatred, came from the battle flames!

That was not Lu Qingxuan's voice, but... the final Battle Intent contained in the ancient god remnant soul fragment!

The Battle Intent turned into a gray-white giant flame axe, slashing fiercely at those dark tentacles!

Sshhh—!

The tentacles were severed, emitting shrill wails, and thick black blood sprayed from the stumps.

"Ancient God... remnants..."

The will of the ten thousand ruins seemed enraged; more flesh began to writhe, and more eyeballs locked onto Lu Qingxuan.

But what Lu Qingxuan wanted was this momentary "gap"!

"Chaos Return to Void... Swallow!"

The Chaos Ancient God phantom formed by his Divine Soul opened its mouth and inhaled!

A tiny, imperceptible "thread" composed purely of Darkness Origin was forcibly pulled out from the ten thousand ruins flesh and disappeared into Lu Qingxuan's mouth!

【Successfully stolen: ten thousand ruins Origin (Trace amount) x1】

【Warning: The will of the ten thousand ruins has marked the Host! Hatred level increased to 'Life-and-Death Struggle'!】

As the System prompt sounded, Lu Qingxuan decisively cut off the Divine Soul connection!

Hum!

Consciousness returned to his body.

In the meditation room, Lu Qingxuan opened his eyes abruptly, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth—that was the backlash from the impact on his Divine Soul.

But in his eyes, an excited light flickered.

Opening his palm, a strand of pitch-black energy, as thick as a hair and constantly twisting and struggling, was frantically trying to erode his palm, but was suppressed by the Chaos Ancient God Dao Law.

This was... ten thousand ruins Origin!

Even if it was just a sliver, it contained essential information far beyond imagination!

"Refine!"

Lu Qingxuan did not hesitate and struck this sliver of Origin into the Chaos Return to Void in his Dantian!

At the same time, he swallowed that ball of 【Undergoing Tribulation Middle Stage Divine Soul Essence】 in one gulp!

Boom—!!!

Two immense energies exploded and clashed within his body!

If it were an ordinary Soul Transformation Peak, they would have exploded and died by now.

But Lu Qingxuan's Foundation had long exceeded conventional categories.

The 【Chaos God-Demon Body】 operated frantically, forcibly suppressing and channeling the rampaging energy!

The 【Chaos Ancient God Dao Law】 refined the ten thousand ruins Origin like a furnace, stripping away and analyzing the "disorder", "Chaos", and "devouring" essences within it, and reverse-fusing them into his own Dao Law!

The 【Nine-Orifice Primordial Dao Foundation】 bloomed with nine-colored radiance, stabilizing his nearly shattering Meridians and Dantian.

The Breakthrough officially began!

---

The first day.

Turbid "Acquired Impurities" began to seep from Lu Qingxuan's pores; this was a sign that his Physical Body was further transforming towards an "Innate Chaos Body" under the scouring of the Chaos Ancient God Dao Law.

The Spiritual Qi in the meditation room was drained, and the Holy Land's great array sensed it automatically, beginning to draw massive amounts of Spiritual Qi from the Earth Veins, forming a Spiritual Qi vortex over the main Peak with a diameter of over ten miles!

"The Holy Lord has begun his Breakthrough!"

"Such momentum... far exceeds an ordinary Body Integration!"

Throughout the Holy Land, everyone was watching.

---

The second day.

In Lu Qingxuan's Dantian, the originally illusory "Chaos Golden Core" began to collapse and reorganize!

The hallmark of the Soul Transformation Realm is "Nascent Soul Transformation", while the Body Integration Realm requires the complete Fusion of "Spirit" and "Body" to forge a "Dao Body Dharma Body"!

Lu Qingxuan, however, was walking a completely different path.

His Chaos Golden Core did not turn into a Nascent Soul, but under the tempering of the Chaos Ancient God Dao Law, it shattered directly, turning into billions of tiny Chaos runes!

These runes spread like stars throughout every inch of his flesh and every strand of his Divine Soul, beginning the deepest level of "Dao Law Inscription"!

What he wanted to forge was not an ordinary Dao Body.

But... a Chaos Ancient God Dao Body!

The Spiritual Qi vortex over the main Peak expanded to thirty miles, and the Spiritual Qi of the entire Eastern Domain began to flow towards the Grand Void Holy Land, causing suspicion among countless forces.

---

The third day.

The most critical moment arrived.

Seventy percent of the ten thousand ruins Origin had been refined, and its "disordered" and "devouring" characteristics were forcibly "ordered" by Lu Qingxuan using the Chaos Ancient God Dao Law and integrated into the 【Chaos Return to Void】 characteristic, causing its power to soar again!

And the Undergoing Tribulation Divine Soul Essence had been completely absorbed, allowing his Divine Soul strength to directly cross the Body Integration threshold and touch the Body Integration Late Stage level!

"Dao Body... Condense!"

Lu Qingxuan shouted low in his heart.

Billions of Chaos runes inside his body lit up simultaneously!

Hum—!

Blinding gray-white light erupted from his body. Within the light, an illusory Dharma Body, a hundred zhang tall, condensed entirely from Chaos Qi with Ancient God battle patterns flowing on its surface, slowly stood up!

The Dharma Body's face was blurred; only in its eyes, the left eye held Chaos Return to Void, the right eye the Ring of Reincarnation, and on its glabella was a faint ten thousand ruins black mark—the mark of "Pseudo-ten thousand ruins Perception" obtained after refining the ten thousand ruins Origin.

The Chaos Ancient God Dharma Body, formed!

And just as the Dharma Body condensed—

Boom!!!

Above the Nine Heavens, a space crack a thousand miles long split open without warning!

Behind the crack was not Void Realm turbulence, but... a vast ocean composed entirely of lightning!

Purple, gold, black, blood-colored... lightning of countless colors rolled and roared within it, emitting a terrifying Heavenly Might capable of destroying all things!

"This is... Nine Heavens Chaos Lightning Tribulation?!"

Deep within the Holy Land, a knowledgeable Grand Elder screamed:

"According to legend, this is the... World-Destroying Lightning Tribulation that only those Prodigies who act against the Heavens and have a Foundation that transcends the scope allowed by the Heavenly Dao will trigger when breaking through a major Realm!"

"A single bolt of this Lightning Tribulation is enough to blast a Body Integration Peak to death!"

"And here... is an entire sea of lightning?!"

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Even Lu Qingxuan himself, looking at the sea of lightning above his head, raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Heavenly Dao... does not allow an existence like me to break through smoothly?"

He stood up slowly, and the Chaos Ancient God Dharma Body looked up at the sea of lightning along with him.

"Then..."

"Shatter it."

As the voice fell.

The sea of lightning rioted!

The first bolt of lightning was purely golden, a hundred zhang thick, carrying the "Nirvana Divine Lightning" that could exterminate Divine Souls, and it crashed down!

Lu Qingxuan did not dodge or evade; the Dharma Body raised its hand and punched out!

Chaos Ancient God Fist!

With the punch, Chaos collapsed, and Ancient God Battle Intent boiled!

Boom—!!!

The golden lightning was blasted apart by the punch, turning into golden light spots across the sky, which were inhaled and swallowed by the Dharma Body—this was the purest Lightning Origin, a great tonic!

The sea of lightning seemed enraged.

Immediately after, the second, third... ninth bolts of lightning struck simultaneously!

Nine-colored lightning, each bolt containing a type of ultimate Heavenly Punishment power: destruction, decay, Heart Demon, time, Karma...

With all nine bolts falling together, the momentum was enough to make an Undergoing Tribulation Early Stage Cultivator drink hatred!

"Well come!"

Lu Qingxuan laughed aloud, and the Dharma Body formed seals with its hands.

"Chaos Return to Void... Open!"

A huge Chaos vortex appeared on the Dharma Body's chest, rotating frantically and erupting with terrifying devouring power!

The nine bolts of lightning fell into the vortex like mud oxen entering the sea; they didn't even splash, and were swallowed and refined by the vortex!

The 【Chaos Return to Void】 characteristic, after fusing with the "devouring" characteristic of the ten thousand ruins Origin, had transformed to an unimaginable level!

The sea of lightning boiled completely.

Countless bolts of lightning poured down like a rainstorm, swearing to blast this Heaven-Defying person into slag.

But Lu Qingxuan's Dharma Body strolled leisurely through the sea of lightning.

One punch, shattering a thundercloud.

One mouthful, swallowing a lightning dragon.

Wherever he passed, the sea of lightning retreated, and the Heavenly Might dissipated.

This was no longer Undergoing Tribulation.

But... plundering!

Using the Heavenly Tribulation as nourishment to nourish oneself!

A full hour later.

When the last blood-colored "Karmic Fire Red Lotus Lightning" was crushed and absorbed by the Dharma Body, the sea of lightning across the sky finally dissipated unwillingly.

The sky returned to clarity.

And Lu Qingxuan's Chaos Ancient God Dharma Body was now as solid as a real body, a hundred zhang tall, standing between heaven and earth, and in the Chaos Qi flowing around it, there was even a faint trace of lightning patterns—that was the "Heavenly Punishment Resistance" obtained after swallowing the Lightning Tribulation.

The Dharma Body slowly shrank and finally merged into Lu Qingxuan's body.

He opened his eyes.

The Chaos Qi in his eyes was restrained, the Ancient God battle flames lay dormant, and only a trace of an aura as deep as an abyss flowed naturally.

Body Integration Realm... achieved!

No, it was not just Body Integration Early Stage.

After swallowing the entire Nine Heavens Chaos Lightning Tribulation sea, his Realm was directly stabilized at... Body Integration Late Stage!

And the Foundation was so solid, and the Dao Law so complete, far exceeding those of the same Realm by thousands of times!

【Breakthrough successful! Current Realm: Body Integration Late Stage (Chaos Ancient God Dao Body)】

【Chaos Ancient God Dao Law (Chaos · Elementary) Advanced to (Chaos · Intermediate)】

【New characteristics: ten thousand ruins Perception (Pseudo), Heavenly Punishment Resistance (Advanced), Chaos Creation (Can create embryonic forms of Intermediate Laws)】

【Physical Body strength: Comparable to an Undergoing Tribulation Early Stage Magic Treasure】

【Divine Soul strength: Touching the Undergoing Tribulation threshold】

【Comprehensive evaluation: True combat power, can slay Undergoing Tribulation Middle Stage, hard-fight Undergoing Tribulation Late Stage!】

The System prompt flashed by like a waterfall.

Lu Qingxuan clenched his fist slowly.

Feeling the power surging like a galaxy in his body, and... the ubiquitous Chaos Ancient God Dao charm.

He knew.

From this day on, the stage of the Eastern Domain... was already too small for him.

His gaze turned to the starry sky.

There, there was a wider world, and... stronger enemies.

"Void Abyss... ten thousand ruins..."

"Wait for me."

He whispered to himself, his Battle Intent like a flame in his eyes.

And at this moment, that mass of dark flesh deep in the endless Star Domain, billions of eyeballs turned simultaneously, locking onto the direction of the Eastern Domain.

"Stealing Origin... swallowing Lightning Tribulation..."

"Chaos Ancient God Dao Body..."

"This child... must not be left alive!"

The low murmur echoed in the Void Realm.

"Pass the order... to the other six Apostles..."

"Within a hundred years... at all costs..."

"Obliterate Lu Qingxuan!"

The darkness began a new round of surging.