Chapter 233: Upgrade! The Earth Expanded and the Origin Transformed!
The dark clouds in the sky were gone. That darkness also disappeared, like snow melting.
A brilliant light beam shone through the vanis.h.i.+ng clouds.
It shone on Nie Changqing. He felt very warm.
Nie Changqing had been scorched black. His body that had been struck by bolts of lightning and full of wounds started to heal slowly.
Nie Changqing sensed how unusual this light was. Sitting cross-legged, he was feeling it. He was releasing a golden glow after activating the power of element. As a result, Nie Changqing looked like a golden man at this moment.
“Maybe this is what Young Master talked about, the compensation after going through the calamity,” Nie Changqing thought.
He felt that under this light, not only were his injuries recovering, but also his comprehension of elements was improving fast.
While Nie Changqing was recovering, the people who witnessed the event completely went into an uproar.
He… He succeeded?!
Nie Changqing had really gone through that extremely terrifying Heavenly Lock Calamity successfully!
The first Heavenly Lock cultivator except for Young Master Lu was finally born in this world!
The cultivators sitting cross-legged around totally went crazy. It was a big shock for them.
They witnessed the birth of a great Heavenly Lock cultivator. How could they not be pleasantly surprised or thrilled?
Lv Mudui was standing with his wooden cane. Even a steady man like him failed to stay calm at this moment.
All of a sudden, his facial expression slightly changed.
He saw Lv Dongxuan coming back at high speed, gathering the lower piece of his robe, from somewhere beyond West Mountain.
Lv Mudui, holding his cane, with his beard slightly growing upward on both sides, turned around to run right away.
He had not got the pig blood ready.
If he did not run, Old Lv would make him cough up blood and announce the news to the world again…
It was really too much for him.
However, what a sharp-eyed man Lv Dongxuan was. The golden necklace around his neck vibrated, and he knew immediately Lv Mudui was going to run away, so he was standing on the way of Lv Mudui’s retreat.
Lv Mudui, despaired, was dragged back by Lv Dongxuan.
Nie Changqing achieved the Heavenly Lock Realm. This was certainly great news for White Jade City.
Lv Dongxuan found a piece of Divine Paper. He told Lv Mudui to cough up blood and write on it.
They were going to announce to the world that Nie Changqing had achieved the Heavenly Lock Realm.
The Overlord got to his feet, rubbing his chest. He looked like he was feeling complicated. He seemed unhappy and lost.
He had wanted to turn around to go back into the Trial PaG.o.da to go on cultivating.
However, at the thought of Nie Changqing’s breakthrough and his lagging behind, he suddenly felt frustrated.
He lost the desire to cultivate.
He left West Mountain and then rode his horse out of Beiluo City.
Nie Changqing realized his breakthrough in the remote West Mountain of Beiluo. Not many people in other parts of the world knew it.
However, some great cultivators sensed it.
In an old small mountain village where it was snowing…
Kong Nanfei, in an unkempt Confucian robe, was walking in the snow. Meng Haoran followed him.
All of a sudden, Kong Nanfei looked back.
He seemed to be a little lost. “Someone went through the Heavenly Lock Calamity successfully…”
“Who was that?”
“Nie Changqing? The Overlord? Ning Zhao?” Kong Nanfei murmured.
Smiling and waving his head, he said, “Well, it doesn’t matter who it was. It has nothing to do with me… If I can become a Heavenly Lock cultivator, I surely will be one sooner or later…”
Kong Nanfei stopped smiling. Then, followed by Meng Haoran, he started to walk in the snow again, to visit the famous mountains and rivers across the world.
******
North County.
Under Buzhou Peak.
Li Sansi, sitting on the back of his black ox, opened his eyes slowly.
He looked extremely bitter.
He was the first to achieve the Internal Organs, but at that moment, he had lagged far behind. He was not the first person to achieve the Heavenly Lock.
He exclaimed and expressed his frustration. Then he closed his eyes slowly and went on cultivating.
Snowflakes fell and acc.u.mulated on him. He looked like a snowman.
At Buzhou Peak.
A teenage girl was sitting on the bluestone, holding her legs. It was always like spring at the peak. Flowers were blooming, and gra.s.ses were fresh and green.
Zhu Long’s closed eyes slightly trembled. Her long eyelashes vibrated.
Someone broke through to the Heavenly Lock?
It looked something big would happen soon…
Zhu Long was vaguely looking forward to it.
******
South County.
Tang Yimo, in his seclusion, breathed out slowly.
“I’m still one step out of time. Eight Meridians Escaping, but my third meridian just can’t be open… What could be wrong?”
Tang Yimo looked like he was really disturbed.
He challenged the Daoist Pavilion on Tiandang Mountain so many times.
And he was beaten hard again and again by the formation Li Sansui deployed with the collective power of the Daoist Pavilion’s disciples.
Tang Yimo had thought he had been on the verge of a breakthrough, but in fact, there was still a long way to go.
Did he really have to go to Beiluo City to find a way out?
Tang Yimo seemed to be struggling.
He did not want to go to Beiluo. He had been there once. Beiluo City was too dreadful. That Young Master Lu was too dreadful.
He had better stay in South County and cultivate hard in seclusion here.
The birth of a Heavenly Lock cultivator made many strong people feel that the limits of the world could be surpa.s.sed. Many great cultivators vaguely had a hunch that something big would happen in this world.
******
Lv Dongxuan wrote a Tianji Order and let a Tianji Pigeon carry it away to announce to the world.
Nie Changqing achieved the Heavenly Lock Realm and became the first Heavenly Lock cultivator in the current world.
The Jianghu around White Jade City went into an uproar. So did aristocratic families.
The current Jianghu and aristocratic families were all focusing on training cultivators. Cultivators could be compared to martial arts pract.i.tioners in the past. Having martial arts pract.i.tioners was the only way to seek power.
Since they were training cultivators, the current Jianghu and aristocratic families were also seeking strength more than usual.
The birth of a Heavenly Lock cultivator was like how a swift horse stood out from average horses.
Nie Changqing’s breakthrough also directed a way for many cultivators, because it turned out the Heavenly Lock Realm could really be achieved.
No one outside of Beiluo knew about Kong Nanfei’s failure.
But the whole world would learn about Nie Changqing’s success.
It was cruel, indeed. On the way of cultivation, only the successful ones would be remembered.
No losers would be remembered.
The Sword Saint Hua Dongliu, who had just arrived in Beiluo City, happened to witness this great event.
He felt very emotional.
Cultivators were able to resist heaven’s power. Was going against heaven’s will the right way to cultivate?
The Sword Saint Hua Dongliu’s world was greatly shocked.
It was full of joy on West Mountain of Beiluo.
Of course, some people were happier than others, and others were actually worried.
Some people were happy with Nie Changqing’s breakthrough, and others were disappointed.
Leaning on the back of the Thousand Blades Chair, Lu Fan was looking at Nie Changqing bathing in the light. This light came from the Origin of the Plane. With the Origin’s energy in it, it was very helpful to comprehend elements.
If Nie Changqing could seize the chance, he would be able to improve his elemental power to a great extent indeed.
Heavenly Lock Realm was very powerful.
Compared to the Golden Elixir Realm, which only required to cultivate soul and Spirit Qi, the Heavenly Lock Realm was much more comprehensive.
Heavenly Lock cultivators not only had a strong body but also had powerful Spiritual Sense.
However, compared to the Golden Elixir Realm, it would be more difficult to make progress or cultivate for Heavenly Lock cultivators.
Of course, what Lu Fan cared about at this moment was not how Nie Changqing was.
At the sight of the prompt that popped up in the system page, Lu Fan breathed out slowly…
“This moment finally came…”
Lu Fan was very emotional.
The requirement for a Low Level Martial World to upgrade to a Mid Level Martial World had finally been reached.
Nie Changqing’s breakthrough made the whole Wuhuang Continent more powerful, so the requirement for the upgrade was reached.
All sorts of feelings welled up in Lu Fan’s mind.
Of course, Lu Fan did not choose to upgrade immediately, because he did not know whether the upgrade would cause any troubles.
At least, he could not choose to upgrade here.
Lu Fan had a hunch that this upgrade would not be simple.
“System, what changes will there be if a Low Level Martial World upgrades to a Mid Level one?” Lu Fan asked.
However, the system did not respond.
Lu Fan frowned.
When he had broken the barrier of the plane earlier, a magnificent tide of Spirit Qi broke out.
And the Spirit Qi and energy from this upgrade absolutely would not be weak.
Tapping the armrest of the wheelchair, Lu Fan was hesitating.
In the distance.
The light s.h.i.+ning through the clouds was slowly disappearing.
Nie Changqing opened his eyes slowly. He felt his mind was extremely clear as if his mind had been purified.
He could sense a wisp of golden consciousness. That was his Spiritual Sense.
As soon as his Spiritual Sense was activated, he seemed to be able to look farther and more clearly.
He saw Nie Shuang. With Spiritual Sense clinging around him, he could see Nie Shuang’s pores open because of excitement.
He also saw Ni Yu. He saw her put a sugar-coated Gathering Qi Elixir into her widely open mouth.
He could see so clearly. His senses were acuter.
Heavenly Lock Realm was really a new realm!
It was much more powerful than Internal Organs.
Nie Changqing activated his Spiritual Sense.
It moved toward Lu Fan.
Lu Fan, lost in thought, glimpsed at his Spiritual Sense.
Nie Changqing felt Lu Fan was like the burning sun, and his Spiritual Sense was forced to fly back immediately.
“Spiritual Sense is mysterious. It’s kind of a sign of Golden Elixir Realm and Heavenly Lock Realm…” Lu Fan said.
“Since you went through the Thunder Calamity successfully, I’ll forge a knife for you as promised.”
In the wheelchair…
Lu Fan raised his hand.
Trigrams were moving around in the palm of his hand.
In the distance, Gongshu Yu trembled at the sight of this, because Young Master was going to build a Spirit Tool.
With his eyes wide open, he looked at Lu Fan eagerly.
He saw one after the other Spirit Stones and compressed Spirit Fluid show up in Lu Fan’s hands. A white-hot flame was burning, distorting the air.
Gongshu Yu was extremely shocked at the sight of that flame. He could hardly believe what he was seeing.
For a forger, great flames could improve his product’s quality.
This flame was like the legendary divine flame.
Young Master was great indeed. He even had mastered such a flame.
The Spirit Stones had been melted. So were the fragments of the butcher knife that Lu Fan had collected.
Lu Fan controlled the blade with his Spiritual Sense. Soon, a knife came into being.
Lu Fan created many trigrams that he embedded later into the blade.
Without too much thinking, Lu Fan made a knife after the butcher knife.
The flame was gone.
Lu Fan waved his hand.
This knife started to spin fast in the air. Snowflakes fell on it, sizzling.
Lu Fan closed the palm of his hand.
The Spirit Fluid sprinkled on the knife that had been burned red like raindrops. The knife cooled down very soon. The dreadful fluctuation and the powerful fluctuation of Spirit Qi evoked greed and envy in the cultivators around.
“You’ll name the knife.”
Lu Fan waved his hand.
The newly forged knife flew toward Nie Changqing.
Nie Changqing’s eyes lit up. He caught the knife.
Although it and the old butcher knife looked very much alike, its blade was darker.
And several mysterious trigrams were flowing on the blade.
Grasping it by the hand, Nie Changqing felt a warm feeling spreading over his body from the palm of his hand.
Nie Changqing’s eyes lit up. He could feel how powerful this knife was. With this knife, his strength could be raised by 30 percent, at least.
Besides, with this knife, his control over his own strength had reached 70 to 80 percent.
What a treasure!
This knife was a Spirit Tool not any weaker or even more powerful than Jing Heaven Sword.
“Thank you, Young Master!”
Nie Changqing was pleasantly surprised. He knelt down on the ground.
Although he had achieved Heavenly Lock, Nie Changqing did not think he could be a match for Lu Fan.
He felt Lu Fan as oppressive as always. The image that his Spiritual Sense had sensed also freaked Nie Changqing out.
“Heavenly Lock Realm is only the start of cultivation. Cultivation is a long process. You must be modest and prudent…” Lu Fan said.
Nie Changqing touched the knife. The blade was as black as ink. Even the sun did not reflect on it even a little bit.
The dreadful fluctuation contained in it made Nie Changqing pretty thrilled.
“My old knife was a butcher knife… But since it has been reforged by the Young Master, I can’t call it a butcher knife again…”
Nie Changqing touched it gently.
Then, a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. He focused his eyes on it. “Well, I’ll call it Dragon Slaying Knife then.”
Lu Fan did not say anything.
Nie Changqing could name the knife whatever he wanted.
The little Responsive Dragon lying p.r.o.ne on Lu Fan’s shoulders sprayed water at Nie Changqing unhappily.
As if it was saying…
“Bring it on! Come to slay me!”
Lu Fan smiled. Then he turned around and disappeared from West Mountain in the snowfall.
As soon as Lu Fan left…
Gongshu Yu came up to Nie Changqing to look at the knife in the latter’s hand fanatically.
“Could you let me have a look at Dragon Slaying?”
Nie Changqing certainly did not decline. He gave the knife to Gongshu Yu.
Gongshu Yu’s calloused hands trembled as he touched the knife. He was obsessed with tool refining all his life. And he almost spent a lifetime in building the secret weapon Pear Blossom in the Storm.
However, not until then did he realize tool refining involved so many unfathomable techniques.
“Young Master is great indeed… He used Spirit Stones as the foundation, burned and forged the blade with Spiritual Fire, and cooled it down with Spirit Fluid… This knife is really precious. It’s unparalleled!”
“This knife might be compared to a Spirit Tool of Heaven Level!”
Gongshu Yu’s lips were trembling.
He even cried.
In the distance…
Jing Yue was not very happy. His Jing Heaven Sword was also very powerful.
******
Lu Fan returned to Lake Island.
Ximen Xianzhi, completely buried in the soil except for his head, sensed his return.
Ximen Xianzhi had felt abandoned by the whole world when Lu Fan had left. Since Lu Fan had come back again, he was feeling much better.
Of course, if Ximen Xianzhi knew the Sword Saint Hua Dongliu had arrived but had been looking on by the Trial PaG.o.da, he might feel despair.
Lu Fan was sitting on the second floor of White Jade City Pavilion.
A gentle breeze blew by, causing his hair to flutter.
Lu Fan gazed at the option before his eyes…
Whether to upgrade the world.
Would there be any unpleasant surprises when a Low Level Martial World upgraded to a Mid Level Martial World?
After a long while had pa.s.sed, in White Jade City Pavilion, Lu Fan suddenly burst out laughing.
He felt stupid.
Wasn’t his goal to make the world upgrade and evolve?
But when the moment had come, why did he flinch?
“What am I afraid of?”
Lu Fan’s eyes narrowed.
He s.h.i.+fted his consciousness.
[“Do you want to upgrade?”]
“Yes.”
When that had been said…
Everything in the world seemed to quiet down in an instant.
It was extremely quiet.
And Lu Fan seemed to sense something.
He suddenly lifted his head.
Looking through the clouds in the sky, he saw the Origin of the Plane.
In that Origin of the Plane, strong energy surged, making the Origin expand…
On and on!
The Low Level Martial World was upgrading to Mid Level Martial World… And the energy of the Origin of the Plane was breaking out.
And this…
It was only the start.
Lines were jumping in Lu Fan’s eyes.
He raised his eyebrow.
He found the entire earth was shaking. While it was shaking…
The earth was also expanding. Mountain ridges and hills elevated their summits against the sky after appearing out of nowhere.
…