novelraw Chapter 871: The Red Lotus Blooms, the Three-Flower Path, Ascend to Godhood? Not Even a Dog Would!
Chapter 871: The Red Lotus Blooms, the Three-Flower Path, Ascend to Godhood? Not Even a Dog Would!
Dong Xun was finally terrified.
"I...I'm willing to give up the dragons..."
"I TOLD YOU TO GUESS, DAMMIT!!!!"
Lu Ding exerted force with his hands, his terrifying power expanding the wound on Dong Xun's chest, tearing flesh and bone apart alive.
"AHHHHH!!!!!"
RIIIIP!!!!
Blood sprayed, organs fell.
High in the sky, Lu Ding held half of Dong Xun's body in each hand, then finished the sentence the man had left unsaid: "Since you won't guess, then you can die."
THUD! THUD!!!!
The two halves of Dong Xun were flung to the ground, smashing deep craters; put together, they would form a whole.But now, he had died without a complete corpse.
At this moment.
Behind Lu Ding, high in the sky where billowing black smoke rose, a blood-red lotus bud, ready to bloom, opened its first petal.
After the Fifth Restriction comes God Ascension, then Spirit Refinement, followed by God Sealing.
This is the conventional path.
And Lu Ding, at this moment, within the unseen [Black Prison of Death's Body], had walked a path of the Three Flowers of Essence, Energy, and Spirit that no predecessor in this world had ever walked before.
Three flowers bloom, each with nine petals, corresponding precisely to the twenty-seven levels across the three traditional Qi Refiner realms of this world: God Ascension, Spirit Refinement, and God Sealing.
God Ascension?
Not even a dog would ascend.
Lu Ding clearly knew that these three realms—God Ascension, Spirit Refinement, God Sealing—sounded problematic just by their names. Who knows, he might even end up on a God Sealing List later—wouldn't that be utterly ruined?
How could he possibly walk the path of God Ascension?
Starting from modifying the [Sin Dragon Bone Seal], Lu Ding had intentionally distanced himself from the common Qi Refiner's path of God Ascension.
The preaching voice of [Golden Ao Island] had, amidst its vagueness, pointed him toward a new direction. As for what this direction was exactly...
Lu Ding didn't know, nor did he understand.
But he chose to believe.
After all, in matters like this, he'd rather make a mistake than do nothing.
In other words, what level are the Three Pure Ones? Would they still deceive him?
What level is the Golden Finger? Would it still deceive him?
If he couldn't trust these two, then Lu Ding was finished.
From crossing over to this world with nothing to now being renowned across the land, he had relied on the Golden Finger.
To put it bluntly, to put it even more bluntly, it was all given by the Golden Finger. At worst, you could take it back. Going through all that trouble, only to scheme against him in the end—that would mean the Golden Finger was purely insane.
Facing something insane, Lu Ding couldn't be bothered to argue. He had a loathing for stupidity and megalophobia; combined, the ultimate manifestation was that he was afraid of huge idiots.
The current result also proved the correctness of Lu Ding's choice.
Just having ascended to God Ascension, with one flower bud and one petal bloomed, he already possessed the strength to explosively slaughter an old-timer like Dong Xun who was in the Spirit Refinement realm.
Although his numerous skills played crucial roles within that.
Lu Ding's foundation of the Three Flowers determined his exceptionally high floor.
Such performance was simply promising for the future.
While satisfied, Lu Ding didn't forget to inspect Dong Xun's corpse.
Landing.
He saw the White Dragon, which had transformed into Dong Xun's arm, now on its last breath.
Added to the Azure Dragon Dong Xun had used earlier as a death substitute.
That made two.
But that was only two!
He was still missing the last one.
Lu Ding crouched down, rummaging through Dong Xun's corpse, checking if there was any place where a dragon could be hidden.
The severely injured White Dragon spoke in human language.
"You... you killed my master. Do you want to gain my recognition?"
"Don't... don't dream. I will absolutely never recognize a villain like you, who treats dragons as... as tools for pulling chariots, as... as my master."
"Unless you... you promise me that from now on.........."
Lu Ding took out Blood Frost. Without saying a word, he directly chopped it onto the White Dragon's neck. Head separated from body, dragon blood sprayed far away.
Only after acting did he speak; this was his habit.
"Annoying as hell."
"Why so much damn talk? Just die already, and you dare make demands? Are you even worthy!?"
With that, he tossed both Blood Frost and the White Dragon's corpse into the Red Coffin.
Lu Ding frowned: "Why isn't it here........."
"That shouldn't be..."
"Is there only two, or was it hidden somewhere else?"
Isn't this torturing a person?
The Nine Dragons Agarwood Chariot, counting the two collected today, only makes eight in total...
Although the gap between eight and nine is common, and the numerical difference doesn't seem large, the gap between a complete form and an incomplete one is truly vast.
If the Six-Dragon Incense Palanquin that had rammed Dong Xun earlier had been the Nine Dragons Agarwood Chariot instead, Lu Ding didn't believe that even with his full strength, Dong Xun could have survived, let alone overturned the Six-Dragon Incense Palanquin—that would be sheer fantasy.
Raising his hand.
The [Way of the Jinche] transformed into a gentle breeze that swept over, meticulously cutting Dong Xun's corpse into mincemeat.
Lu Ding looked left and right, his gaze settling on the [Golden Ao Island] that was continuously draining the Spiritual Energy from his body to maintain its suppression.
Beneath it, the Su Family patriarch, Su Changhe, was still being suppressed.
It must be said, although Lu Ding's realm wasn't high enough before, and the power of [Golden Ao Island] when used was limited, even so, it could suppress Su Changhe so he couldn't escape.
Considering the earlier combat situation.
Just dealing with Dong Xun alone had been somewhat difficult for Lu Ding. If he hadn't played some tricks and timed a breakthrough, it really wouldn't have been easy to secure victory.
If [Golden Ao Island] hadn't been suppressing Su Changhe today, allowing him and Dong Xun to join forces—one attacking from afar with artifacts, the other transforming into the Dragon God for close-quarters bombardment—Lu Ding would have been in real trouble.
Their coordination together.
Wouldn't be as simple as one plus one equals two.
This was also why Lu Ding didn't dare use large-scale, high-power techniques during his fight with Dong Xun. He was truly afraid that the expenditure would exceed the supply, leading to insufficient Spiritual Energy support for [Golden Ao Island]'s suppressing power and causing it to weaken.
If Su Changhe broke free then, it would be troublesome.
Now, it's fine.
Su Changhe is still being steadily suppressed.
Earlier, Su Changhe still felt, hmm, he could endure it. But the moment Lu Ding broke through to God Ascension and the first petal bloomed, Su Changhe instantly collapsed, suppressed under [Golden Ao Island], unable to move, his entire body covered in cracks, bleeding profusely.
Lu Ding walked over and looked at the suppressed Su Changhe.
"Old Man Su, let me ask you, how many dragons did Dong Xun bring out this time?"
Seeing Lu Ding appear, Su Changhe understood that Dong Xun had probably been defeated, killed...
For a moment, he couldn't help but feel sorrow in his heart.
Old brother, how could you leave just like that...
His bond with Dong Xun was deep. Though not family, they were closer than family.
Now that Dong Xun was dead.
Trapped in this predicament.
Su Changhe, who originally loved weighing pros and cons the most, now hardened his stance. He would no longer compromise, bow, or scrape for the sake of survival or benefit.
"Lu Ding, you want to know how many dragons Old Brother Dong brought out, is that it?"
Lu Ding nodded: "Do you have conditions?"
Su Changhe laughed miserably, his state wretched. He shook his head with difficulty: "No conditions."
"I just want to say, I won't tell you. I just want to make you suffer, hahahahahahahahahaha......... If you want to kill me, just kill me. If you want to torture me, bring out your methods."
"I can't beat you in a fight, but I can let you see how hard this old bone, who once cut off his tail to survive, can be today, hahahahahaha........."
At this point, Su Changhe forcibly gathered a breath of energy. Disregarding the suppression of [Golden Ao Island], ignoring the pain from the injuries caused by forcefully resisting the suppression, he shouted loudly: "Old brother, walk slowly! We've never been apart since we were kids. Wait for your little brother! This time, we brothers must walk together too!!!!"