Chapter 489: Chapter 294: Absorbing the Golden Crow Celestial Mandate, Great Yan’s True Dragon Reappears, Whereabouts of the Ascension Platform
He suddenly realized this was the very location of the Golden Crow Country’s Dragon Vein.
A truly and utterly pure aura was hidden deep underground, constantly nourishing the Golden Crow Dragon Vein.
This, in turn, flowed back to everyone in the Golden Crow Country, from the great Cultivator powers above to the common folk below.
This was the effect of Celestial Destiny and Fortune.
It could significantly increase a nation’s fortune and enhance its power.
What was National Fortune?
Lu Mingyuan had always considered the concept of National Fortune to be illusory and intangible.
Only recently had he come to a new understanding.
The so-called National Fortune determined the rise and fall of a country.
In a country with strong National Fortune, even if you were the most ordinary farmer in the dynasty, one of the old, weak, women, or children, or even a beggar, you would never go hungry. Life would be stable, the people prosperous, the elderly cared for, and the young educated.
Confucian Scholars would all have purpose, Qi Cultivators would have an endless stream of incense offerings, and their cultivation would advance unimpeded.
Conversely, if you were born in a country with weak National Fortune, even if you were the wealthiest person, a city’s Prefect, a member of the Noble Class, or one of the Ruling Powers, you would live in constant fear of war and chaos.
Because not everyone could be fed, some were destined to starve. Who would have the capacity to care for the weak?
In short, National Fortune could uplift a person.
It could give someone a better, higher starting point in life.
It was precisely because Great Yan’s Fortune had been so immense for the past sixty years that practically no country dared to provoke it.
Even if they did, their countries would be swiftly annihilated.
Now that its National Fortune was in decline, wars had broken out everywhere.
He reined in his scattered thoughts.
Lu Mingyuan’s body slowly levitated, rising into the air.
He looked down at the Sword Tomb below. The Blazing Fire Taotie Dharma Body within him could no longer hold back, unleashing a heaven-shaking suction force.
Taotie Divine Being!
Python and Sparrow Swallowing Dragon!
VWOOM!
In that instant, the earth trembled.
Apparitions of Qilins, Piyaos, dragons, and phoenixes surged forth in a moment.
Seven colors merged into one, becoming a pure, prismatic hue.
Wisps of golden Destiny could be seen coiling around the prismatic divine light.
The Celestial Destiny Divine Lotus!
One-sixth of it!
Even just one-sixth of the Celestial Destiny and Fortune was an incomparably precious treasure to Lu Mingyuan.
This was the Celestial Destiny and Fortune of the Golden Crow Country.
The immense fortune instantly swept across the heavens and the earth, engulfing the mountains and even obscuring the Tinder Tower, the glorious symbol of the Golden Crow Country, in the distance.
On the ground, Luo Qiufu’s gaze froze as she witnessed the scene.
A stunning sight manifested in an instant.
In the boundless sky, a Three-legged Golden Crow fully materialized, illuminating the heavens as it descended straight toward Lu Mingyuan.
An apparition of a Golden Crow, a thousand feet wide and three miles long, filled the heavens.
Within the Golden Crow Royal City, countless powerful auras sensed this fortune and abruptly awakened.
Strand after strand of Spiritual Sense and numerous gazes focused on this location.
Lu Mingyuan’s small Flesh Body, like a whale swallowing all creation, directly absorbed this Celestial Destiny and Fortune.
「At the same time.」
A Red-Eyed Golden Dragon shot out from within Lu Mingyuan’s body, soaring into the clouds. It coiled in the sky above, its presence overwhelmingly oppressive.
It gazed into the distance.
In the direction of the Great Yan Imperial Capital, from the Dragon Vein deep below, a golden current of air billowed forth, growing ever more majestic. A towering, hundred-meter-tall Red-Eyed Golden Dragon perched atop the Holy Bright Palace, tilted its head back, and let out a long, joyous roar.
"ROAR!"
The Cultivators in the Imperial Capital City were the first to feel the change.
In the unseen world, they seemed to sense that the bottlenecks in their cultivation, which had been stagnant for so long, were beginning to loosen.
「Back in the Golden Crow Royal Capital.」
Lu Mingyuan descended from the sky, a sense of joy rising in his heart.
He had only just broken through to the Late Stage of the Twelfth Realm, but now his Cultivation had already reached the peak of the Late Stage. He would soon break through to the Perfection Realm.
He was another step closer to becoming a Martial Saint.
"Are you satisfied now?"
Luo Qiufu stood opposite him, a self-deprecating smile on her face.
As the queen of the Golden Crow Country, she had personally handed over her nation’s fortune.
In other words, she was a traitor to the Golden Crow Country.
’But what choice did I have?’
’Perhaps, just as my sister said...’
’From the very beginning, I’ve just been a coward.’
Lu Mingyuan reached out and grabbed the slender wrist of the woman before him.
Taoist Qi flowed from Luo Qiufu’s wrist, resisting Lu Mingyuan, but after a brief struggle, she withdrew her power and let him hold her.
It wasn’t that she lacked the strength to fight back. For some reason, she chose to submit.
Lu Mingyuan’s eyes burned brightly as he said:
"I know what you’ve been thinking. You believe the Golden Crow Country can only survive by depending on others, by relying on the power of Great Yan. So you want to use yourself as a bond to strengthen the ties between our two nations and bring benefits to your country, right?"
"But just now, you seemed to show a hint of regret. That makes me curious. Is it because the future of the Golden Crow Country is still uncertain, leaving you utterly conflicted?"
Luo Qiufu forced a smile. "I have to admit, your ability to read people is truly impressive."
"But you missed one thing."
"I regret it because I realized I shouldn’t have thought so little of myself. There’s no place for me in your heart, so no matter how forward I am, it’s useless. Rather than suffer this humiliation, I should have been firmer from the start. Maybe then I’d have some dignity left. At the end of the day, I’m just not suited for this throne."
"Someone like you still needs dignity?" Lu Mingyuan said with a playful smirk.
"In this world, dignity is hard to come by. Every bit you can fight for counts."
Luo Qiufu said no more and turned to leave.
But she didn’t get far.
She felt her hand being pulled back.
"There may not be much room for you in my heart, but do you really think you can escape me?"
Luo Qiufu found herself held tightly in Lu Mingyuan’s arms.
All the strength drained from her body, leaving her weak and limp.
The moment she had turned away, she’d felt a pang of regret. ’Have I backed myself into a corner?’
After all, the Golden Crow Country still needed Great Yan’s help.
She just hadn’t expected him to be so direct.
Luo Qiufu looked at the familiar face and whispered, "I admit, I have strange feelings for you. It started back when you were Yang Erlang. You were already using me when you were pretending to be him, weren’t you? To me, you should be a villain, yet I can’t bring myself to hate you at all."
Hearing this, Lu Mingyuan just chuckled softly.
Then, with a wave of his hand, a Sword Intent Domain materialized, encompassing the area.
He scooped Luo Qiufu up in his arms, bridal style, and disappeared into the Sword Tomb Forest.
For a moment, the ten thousand swords in the back mountain rang out in unison.
...
「Cyan Nether Continent.」
A vast floating island ascended slowly, dotted with palaces and halls. Statues of the Four Symbols Divine Beasts, including the Cyan Dragon and Vermilion Bird, guarded the four cardinal directions. Chains linked the main island to smaller floating islands around it. Black specks moved through the void, which, upon closer inspection, were revealed to be countless Qi Cultivators riding on swords. All of them wore Daoist Robes, their bearing transcendent and pure.
On the Daoist Alliance Mountain, one could not see the sun, moon, or stars move, nor the changing of the four seasons. The weather was like spring all year round.
As the great unified force of the Taoist Sect, the Dao Alliance headquarters was situated atop a cluster of peaks. Compared to the Mortal World, this place was like another realm entirely.
A deep, resonant bell tolled, its echoes spreading throughout the entire Daoist Alliance Mountain.
At the summit, the Supreme Glazed Palace rested against a cliff.
Spiritual Mist swirled before its gates, Hongqiao bridges materialized in every direction, and Immortal Cranes danced in the air.
A handsome man in a flowing cyan Magic Robe stood in the center of the grand hall.
This was none other than the Dao Alliance’s Alliance Leader, the Sun Wheel Celestial Monarch, Ying Zhao.
Before him was an enormous Treasure, at least ten meters tall, consisting of nine constantly rotating bronze rings.
The Celestial Sphere.
This object was a man-made Magical Artifact used by the Dao Alliance for prognostication and Divination.
Its quality could not be measured by the grading system of Magical Treasures.
It could only be described as an invention born from the profound achievements of Qi Cultivators in the art of Divination.
With it, one could calculate a more specific and distant future.
Suddenly, one of the Celestial Sphere’s bronze rings began to glow faintly, and the small, engraved characters of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches started to appear.
The Celestial Sphere could calculate time, location, and outcome.
It could predict the occurrence of disasters in advance.
The Sun Wheel Celestial Monarch frowned as he looked on, noticing the anomaly.
"Within one year... the location is... Celestial Treasure Continent... the calamity is... a great tribulation concerning the survival of hundreds of millions of living beings!"
The Sun Wheel Celestial Monarch checked the results of the Celestial Sphere’s Divination and was plunged into shock.
"Celestial Treasure Continent... I believe that’s in the Nanli Dynasty. What on earth is going to happen?"
Just as the Sun Wheel Celestial Monarch was verifying the results and trying to deduce what would happen on the Celestial Treasure Continent...
"The Ascension Platform is about to emerge."
A remote, ancient voice entered his ears—a voice filled with the indifference of one who has witnessed seas turn to mulberry fields over ten thousand years of time.
"’The Ascension Platform... the last Ascension Platform in the world.’"
"’No wonder...’"
The Sun Wheel Celestial Monarch muttered to himself, his expression a mixture of joy and worry.
The joy was because the Ascension Platform was actually in the Central Plains World. The worry was because this location was also very close to the Wilderness World.
...
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