Chapter 203.2: Dao Lord Kong Ling Flees at the Mere Mention of His Name; The Ancient Region Heavenly Sect's Number One Dao Foundation Martial Artist! (II)
"Lu Changsheng, come with me," Zhong Yu said.
With that, Zhong Yu rose into the air and flew with Lu Changsheng toward the Transmission Hall.
"The Divine Ability Realm..." Elder Wen murmured to himself, his heart flooding with feeling as he gazed at Lu Changsheng's retreating figure.
When Lu Changsheng had first arrived at the Ancient Region Heavenly Sect, Elder Wen had already been a Dao Foundation elder. And now, Lu Changsheng was about to condense a divine ability and become a Divine Ability Realm grand elder. Meanwhile, Elder Wen was still just a Dao Foundation elder.
At this point, there was no comparison between the two of them.
Lu Changsheng was currently the greatest hope of the Ancient Region Heavenly Sect. The birth of a new Divine Ability grand elder would carry enormous weight across the entire Ancient Region.
It might take three years, five years, perhaps even ten. All that remained now was to see when Lu Changsheng would finally condense his divine ability and break through to the Divine Ability Realm.
Lu Changsheng followed Zhong Yu into the Transmission Hall, where the hall's elder received them in person.
"Hall Master Liu, this is Lu Changsheng. He is here to request the methods to the Divine Ability Realm. Lu Changsheng, you know what to do; give Hall Master Liu a demonstration," Zhong Yu said.
Hall Master Liu said nothing. He simply fixed his gaze on Lu Changsheng, and unless Lu Changsheng was mistaken, there was a faint gleam of something almost fervent in those eyes.
In any case, Lu Changsheng simply gave a nod.
Hum...
His Mind Space descended, and the eight Perfection-level Principles within the space manifested directly. The pressure of Lu Changsheng's Mind Space overwhelmed Hall Master Liu in an instant.
"Eight Principles? And all eight at Perfection. Unbelievable, truly unbelievable..." Hall Master Liu's eyes widened with evident astonishment. He knew better than most just how difficult it was to bring even a single Principle to Perfection. Lu Changsheng made it look effortless, as though a handful of Principle Divine Stones was all it had taken.
However, the truth was that other Dao Foundation martial artists, even those with Principle Divine Stones in hand, still found Perfection extraordinarily difficult to achieve. The stones did little more than improve one's odds.
"Hall Master Liu, your verdict?" Zhong Yu asked.
Hall Master Liu nodded. "No question about it. Lu Changsheng has pushed all eight Principles to Perfection. He is fully qualified to access the Divine Ability Realm methods. But beware, those methods are rather unique."
He then turned to Lu Changsheng with a respectful gesture. "Mhm, Junior Brother Lu, please follow me."
Hall Master Liu's courtesy toward Lu Changsheng was hardly surprising. After all, this was a future Divine Ability Realm grand elder standing before him. Among Dao Foundation martial artists, it was customary to address one another as senior or junior brother.
Lu Changsheng nodded, bid Zhong Yu farewell with a smile, and fell in behind Hall Master Liu as they made their way deeper into the Transmission Hall.
Evidently, this was not his first time in the Transmission Hall, but the place Hall Master Liu was leading him to now was clearly somewhere far more restricted. In fact, he had never known about this specific area.
They went underground, going deeper and deeper until they arrived at a great hall.
"This is where the information about the Divine Ability Realm is stored," said Hall Master Liu as he came to a stop. "The interior is rather unique. Even I am not permitted to enter. Only a Dao Foundation martial artist who has fulfilled the conditions for condensing a divine ability may set foot inside."
Lu Changsheng nodded, then walked toward the hall. The stone doors slowly rose with a deep, rumbling groan. He stepped through, and the doors lowered shut behind him.
The hall seemed to block one's perception, impeding all forms of spying and probing. Even Lu Changsheng's Sense Domain could not penetrate it, and the divine consciousness of the Immortal Dao would likely fare no better.
The hall was vast and bare, but as Lu Changsheng looked carefully, he noticed a figure in the center, seated cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed.
"Who are you?"
Lu Changsheng was taken aback slightly, but he did not act rashly. He had no idea who that person was, but given that not even Dao Foundation cultivators were allowed to come here without meeting specific criteria, it was very likely that this mysterious person was a Divine Ability grand elder.
Eventually, the elderly man broke the silence. "At last, after more than three hundred years, someone has finally come."
"Uhh... Who are you...? Lu Changsheng ventured.
"I am Lu Tong, Supreme Elder of the Ancient Region Heavenly Sect."
Lu Changsheng's heart jolted. He remembered that one of the Divine Ability grand elders of the Ancient Region Heavenly Sect was named Lu Tong.
"Oh... Greetings, Grand Elder!" Lu Changsheng made a deep bow.
The title of grand elder was more than fitting for someone of the Divine Ability Realm. Every Divine Ability cultivator had a lifespan of at least eight hundred years, not far short of the thousand years granted to a Golden Core True One.
"Grand Elder, have you been here this whole time?" Lu Changsheng asked, glancing around. The grand elder had just mentioned that someone had finally arrived after more than three hundred years. Had he really been waiting here for that long?
"I can come in and go as I please," Lu Tong said with a faint smile, as though he had predicted Lu Changsheng's question. "A place this small could hardly hold anyone for several hundred years. In fact, I arrived no more than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before you did."
Lu Changsheng nodded. One incense stick, huh?
That meant Grand Elder Lu Tong had known he was coming. Perhaps Hall Master Liu or Zhong Yu had passed word along beforehand.
But Lu Tong shook his head. "I preside over the Ancient Region Heavenly Sect. There is nothing within this sect, from top to bottom, that escapes my notice. That includes your extraordinary Perception. From the Divine Treasury Realm onward, through the forging of your Dao Foundation, your Perception has left me in genuine awe. To think it has continued surging even further with time...
"I have never seen or heard of someone with talent such as yours, not once in all my years. After all, with just the Perception you had before, you could not possibly have qualified to condense a divine ability in such a short time."
Those words struck Lu Changsheng like a thunderclap, leaving his mind reeling.
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