Chapter 80: The Pinnacle of Heavenly Rank

Leng Tian sat calmly by the lakeside, his body absorbing the dense vital energy of the space as the Sky-Gazing Sutra circulated within him. After consuming half a bottle of spirit milk, Queen Leilei of the Thorn Flowers retreated to her original spot, her floral form surrounded by a hazy glow. The enormous blossom was encircled by a milky-white halo, slowly rotating like a divine ring.

Countless thorn flowers stood quietly not far from Leilei, waiting for their monarch’s successful transformation.

Judas had returned, his translucent body flickering on the lake’s surface. Large, pale-yellow-scaled fish floated lifelessly atop the water; a closer look revealed they were all dead.

“Tsk, tsk…” Judas complained as he skimmed across the lake, “There are plenty, but all too weak. Even after eating so many, I haven’t filled the gap between my teeth…”

Ever since Leng Tian began his peaceful cultivation, Judas, eyeing the hills full of thorn flowers, planned a sumptuous meal. Though he disliked their appearance, he preferred eating them to starving. Just as this thought crossed his mind, Leilei’s voice echoed in Judas’s head, “You shadow demon, rejected by the world, don’t even think of touching my people, or I’ll call upon the spirit of the laws of this space and have you killed!”

Judas’s heart turned cold, sighing at his misfortune, and he left the area to search for something else to devour in the not-too-large space. Perhaps the shadow demon’s reputation was too notorious—he searched every corner but found not a single living creature. Despondent, he returned, hoping to indulge while Leng Tian was absorbed in cultivation, but fate was unkind; aside from the thorn flowers, no other life existed here.

Just as he prepared to enter Leng Tian’s brow and return to his natal rune for a nap, a pale yellow fish leapt from the water, attracting a ravenous wolf whose green-flamed eyes rolled desperately as it lunged forward.

The small lake was the only place in the space, apart from the thorn flowers, that harbored life. Here lived a species known as royal sturgeon, which were not particularly remarkable, save for the fact that they were once a favorite dish of the Holy Martial Emperor. The royal fish had no unique name; only because the emperor savored its flavor did later generations add “royal” to its name to mark its esteemed place at the table.

Judas, ignorant of its value, devoured the souls of over a thousand royal fish, complaining even as he finished, finding them tasteless. If the old monsters who knew the fish’s worth ever learned of this, they’d surely tear him apart.

Royal fish not only made the gods’ mouths water but also possessed miraculous properties for cultivation. Their flesh contained a mysterious power that solidified a warrior’s divine soul, enabling them to gather it at minimal cost and reach higher realms.

On the continent, every supreme saint lingered at the Mortal Transcendence stage for centuries before breaking through—even Guo Guo’s master, Saint Haotian, though exceptionally gifted, took seven hundred years to ascend. This shows that the second martial realm, the True Martial Stage, hinges on the condensation of the divine soul.

Judas, the squanderer of treasures, destroyed in a short time over a thousand royal fish that could have helped those stuck at Mortal Transcendence for years to ascend to sainthood.

“Assistant, stop right now, or I’ll call the spirit of the law to destroy you!” Leilei’s furious voice was transmitted directly into Judas’s mind.

Just as he was about to extract the soul from another royal fish, Leilei’s words startled him, making him leap in fright. Furious but unable to vent his anger, he suppressed it and replied, “It’s just a few lousy fish, is it really necessary to use such cruel means?”

“Lousy fish? Believe me, I’ll have the law destroy you right now! Do you know what this is? Royal fish, once the Holy Martial Emperor’s favorite! Now you’ve devoured their souls—besides tasting good, they’re useless!”

Leilei’s words brimmed with anger. Were it not for her critical moment of advancement, she would have chewed this vile creature to pieces.

“Holy Martial Emperor… damn…” Judas shuddered, cold sweat beading on his brow. He glanced at Leng Tian, who was still deep in cultivation, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hmph… when our master wakes, I’ll tell him what you’ve done with these treasures!”

“No, please!” Judas’s dark face turned the color of pig liver. Hearing Leilei threaten to expose him to Leng Tian made him panic immediately. The Holy Martial Emperor was a figure of unimaginable power—anything he liked could never be ordinary. If Leng Tian learned Judas had destroyed so many royal fish, he’d surely obliterate Judas’s soul.

Thinking this, Judas felt icy despair and quickly sent a message to Leilei, “Ancestress, I beg you! From now on, I’ll do as you say—never contradict you! Please, don’t tell him, or my life will be forfeit!”

Leilei was silent for a moment, then seriously replied, “You said it yourself. If you ever go back on your word, I’ll tell our master everything. Hmph…”

Judas finally calmed down, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and glanced at the dead fish floating on the lake. Without hesitation, he swept up the corpses of a thousand royal fish and tossed them into the sea of flowers, sending a message to Leilei, “Quick, have your people eat all these fish. Otherwise, when that kid wakes up, I’ll still be in danger!”

“Alright!” Leilei agreed and ordered her people to devour the dead royal fish. Judas asked her again to promise not to inform Leng Tian, but Leilei seemed to have fallen asleep; his words vanished into oblivion.

Helpless, Judas returned to the lake to see if any royal fish remained, so he could flatter Leng Tian when he woke. In checking, he discovered six royal fish still alive, which delighted him. Like a guardian protecting a precious treasure, he hovered above the lake, watching the six fish swim beneath the surface.

The milky-white halo on Leilei’s blossom absorbed vast amounts of elemental power with each rotation, becoming ever more dazzling.

Leng Tian sat serenely, cultivating as waves of dense vital energy flowed through his acupoints and into his eight main meridians, where they were absorbed by the sea of true energy in his dantian.

Now, the sea of true energy had more than doubled compared to before—a rapid change owed entirely to the space’s rich vital energy.

Suddenly, the tranquil sea of true energy surged with waves, thunderous sounds echoing through the endless dantian as eight whirlpools formed within the lake. Their centers were pitch-black, bottomless, with an unparalleled suction drawing from the dantian into the void.

“Damn… this guy is about to break through again! Curse him to go mad—better yet, become an idiot! Heh, then it’ll all be mine. Once I have that miniature world, I can devour at will, and the law will be powerless against me!”

Judas had always planned to seize an opportunity to control Leng Tian, making him a puppet to freely devour the souls of men and beasts across the continent. With the existence of Purgatory, he no longer feared the law’s expulsion.

In the dim sky, rays of every color converged above Leng Tian’s head, bands of energy gathering from all directions. A five-colored auspicious cloud appeared high above him.

With a resonant hum, a deep-blue great blade flew from his dantian and hovered above his head. A blue beam shot from the blade into the five-colored cloud, while another blue ray below the blade entered Leng Tian’s dantian.

The true energy surged and roared, the eight whirlpools rapidly absorbing the tumultuous waves. As they grew, the sea of true energy diminished, until only eight enormous whirlpools remained, slowly turning and absorbing the endless vital energy.

The five-colored cloud in the sky expanded, from a few meters in diameter to five hundred meters before the energy bands stopped flowing in.

The deep-blue blade hummed again, and the five-colored cloud thundered, its dense energies following the blue ray, transformed by the blade and delivered into the eight dantian whirlpools.

The vibrant five-colored energies merged into the whirlpools, turning the clear true energy into a dazzling array of colors. As the power flowed ceaselessly, the whirlpools grew larger—not turning five-colored, but gradually shifting toward a milky-white hue.

Eventually, all the energy from the auspicious cloud was converted by the blade and sent into the dantian’s whirlpools. Leng Tian’s true energy finally transformed into a faint milky-white, this new energy radiating a pressure comparable to the formidable aura of Xuan-level experts.

Once the five-colored energy was exhausted, the eight milky-white whirlpools spun violently, their immense suction drawing streams of vital energy from dozens of miles around. In Leng Tian’s dantian, a tiny true energy whirlpool formed, swelling in an instant to several feet thick, absorbing the influx of vital energy.

Since the deep-blue blade appeared, Judas kept his distance, terrified that a stray mistake would cost him his life.

“Hummm!”

Leng Tian’s body shook as a powerful pressure spread from within, an irresistible aura enveloping the area. In the distance, countless thorn flowers trembled, emitting sharp cries as they retreated to escape the terrifying pressure.

“Finished, finished…” Judas, who had hoped Leng Tian would go mad, now felt utterly defeated after sensing this overwhelming aura.

Within the dantian, the eight whirlpools dispersed, and milky-white waves of true energy swept through the entire space, roaring like a stormy sea. Outside, Leng Tian let out a long, thunderous cry, shaking Judas’s mind like a bolt of lightning, almost knocking him out. “Damn… can there be any good days ahead?”

Peak of the Heavenly Stage!

At this moment, Leng Tian finally advanced to the peak of the Heavenly Stage, taking one more step toward fully recovering his cultivation!

Martial Dao Extreme Edge, Chapter 80: Peak of the Heavenly Stage—update complete!