Global Awakening: I'm the Only One Ready

The three Rankers could no longer sit still. All of them rose to their feet, their expressions grave. They did not know what had transpired within, but one thing was certain—Lu Yuan had obtained a great fortune and a terrifying legacy.

After all, Guang Chengzi was a famous Immortal in the universe. Whatever he had left behind had to be extraordinary.

Lei Xuan in particular looked as though fire were bursting from his eyes, consumed by envy. The opportunity was right before him, yet he could not even make any attempts to claim it, as he couldn’t enter the hall.

He was forced to watch helplessly as someone else claimed it. To make matters worse, someone from the Milky Way Starfield—a civilization he considered inferior—had claimed it.

How could he possibly bear it?

However, he also knew that his fury wouldn’t let him enter the hall. With no choice left, all he could do was wait outside.

”Lu Yuan will have to come out eventually. That is when we strike,” said the Three-Headed Ghost Ranker after calming himself down.

Among his people, there were figures considered Immortals, but none could compare to Guang Chengzi. How could he not feel resentful? Yet resentment served no purpose here. He could not allow his emotions to cloud his judgement.

”Exactly.” The Primeval Daemon Ranker nodded in agreement. ”The moment he comes out of there, we’ll cut off all his retreat routes. He will have nowhere to run. Everything he obtained inside will become ours.”

At first, his desire to kill Lu Yuan stemmed merely from the orders handed down from above. But now, for the sake of Guang Chengzi’s legacy, the killing intent in his heart became boundless.

”Indeed.” The Three-Headed Ghost Ranker spoke up. He waved his right hand, and eight small black banners appeared. Each banner bore the image of a Three-Headed Ghost, and it emanated a mysterious aura.

”This treasure was refined over many years by a Void Sage of my clan. It’s called the Tri-Head Firmament-Sealing Array. It can lock down everything within a certain range.

”Once trapped inside, one cannot break free without the help of a special technique,” he explained, looking at the other two. The meaning behind his words was clear. Once Lu Yuan was out, they would activate the array and trap him.

At that point, they would hold every advantage.

The Three-Headed Ghost Race had lost far too many clansmen to Lu Yuan. Their elders waiting in outer space would never let this grudge go.

”Good!” Lei Xuan produced a silver hammer surrounded by arcs of electricity. ”This was also bestowed upon me by an elder of my clan. It’s called the God Basher, and it specializes in attacking the soul.”

The Celestials knew that Lu Yuan’s physique was extraordinarily powerful. Defeating him through brute force alone would be difficult. With that in mind, they decided to attack his soul.

For all living beings, the soul was their most vulnerable part. They believed this would catch him off guard.

The Primeval Daemon Ranker did not hesitate either, producing a supreme treasure of his own clan—a sword roughly three inches in length, renowned for its ability to kill.

They would use the sword to deal with Lu Yuan’s formidable physique.

In other words, each of the three Rankers focused on three different things, but any one of these treasures would prove fatal on its own.

”Lu Yuan is definitely going to die unless he’s strong enough to turn the heavens upside down.” Lei Xuan smiled, satisfaction gleaming in his eyes. Before, they would hold back against one another even while working against Lu Yuan.

For the sake of Immortal Guang Chengzi’s legacy, all three had set aside their differences. They now shared a common goal, after all.

”I’ll go ahead and set the Tri-Head Firmament-Sealing Array to lock down the space here. Once he comes out, we strike.” With that, the Three-Headed Ghost Ranker sat down cross-legged and channeled his power.

Swoosh!

The eight small banners expanded rapidly, growing to several meters in height. They erupted with streams of light that converged on a single point, becoming a barrier that sealed off all cardinal directions.

Then, the banners melted into the surroundings. Even a Venerable King wouldn’t be able to sense their presence.

”Now, we’ll wait for him to come out.”

Lei Xuan and the Three-Headed Ghost Ranker exchanged glances. They saw the boundless killing intent burning in each other’s eyes.

They chose not to retreat. They would sit right here and catch Lu Yuan completely off guard the moment he came out of the gate.

If all went according to plan, they would succeed. As for how to divide the legacy and the fortune, all three tacitly avoided the subject, knowing that discussing it now would only cause discord among themselves.

It was better to wait until the matter was settled before dividing the spoils. That way, they could make full use of their temporary alliance. Without another word, they moved aside and concealed themselves.

***

The power emanating from the ”Immortal” character had finally dissipated. At the center of the yin-yang twin fish, Lu Yuan stood tall with an item in each hand—the jade slip and the Heaven-Flipping Seal.

However, he wasn’t studying the two treasures. His attention was fixed on the Celestial Emperor’s Edict in his mind. The ancient token had forced back that overwhelming power.

”No, not forced back. It scared it away.” Lu Yuan shook his head, carefully recalling what had happened. When the ancient token released that supreme and domineering aura, all the pressure on him had simply vanished.

He observed it closely, but found that the artifact had returned to its original state. Apart from the purple light emanating from it, there was nothing particularly special about it.

However, Lu Yuan could clearly sense that the Celestial Emperor’s Ancient Token seemed to have acknowledged him as its master. Yes, it had acknowledged him. That was why it unleashed its aura on its own at the critical juncture.

Lu Yuan believed it happened because his Innate Spirit had been constantly absorbing its purple light. Unfortunately, it was still incomplete, so he could not control it yet.

”The Celestial Emperor’s Ancient Token is indeed a forbidden artifact.”

Now, Lu Yuan was certain of one thing—it was somehow connected to the Celestial Emperor, and its true power had yet to be revealed.

I wonder what will happen once all the tokens are gathered. He pondered for a moment. Then, he set the thought aside and turned his attention to the two items in his hands.

He roughly understood the origins of the Heaven-Flipping Seal, so he would examine it later. For now, the more pressing matter was the jade slip. He wanted to know whether it contained a breathing technique or a visualization method.

Without delay, Lu Yuan crushed it. A loud crack echoed, and characters emerged from within. Then, they shot toward his glabella, melting into it.

In his sea of consciousness, the characters shining faintly arranged themselves in an orderly fashion. The name of what was inside the jade slip finally revealed itself—the Daozang Visualization Method.

The Innate Spirit beneath the Bodhi Tree inside Lu Yuan’s sea of consciousness unleashed a burst of light that seemed to contain a boundless sea of wisdom.

The Innate Spirit was born from his fusion with the Bodhi Tree—a manifestation of his soul that had grown extremely formidable. It granted Lu Yuan heaven-defying comprehension, but it brought him more benefits than just that.

Strictly speaking, Lu Yuan’s soul was even stronger than his physique.

After all, the Bodhi Tree was the very tree beneath which Buddha had attained enlightenment.

Lu Yuan focused all his attention on comprehending the Daozang Visualization Method. Under his terrifying talent, it did not take long before he understood it completely.

The visualization method was authored by Immortal Guang Chengzi. It involved visualizing mountains and rivers, the myriad living beings, and the Dao of all creation, which was why it was named ”Daozang,” meaning ”Treasury of the Dao.”

It treated the human body as analogous to all living beings, allowing one a smooth journey down the path of evolution. It was especially effective in the early stages of evolution, allowing an Awakened to create a solid foundation for themselves.

In other words, it was the best visualization method for those below the Sage Realm. Of course, that did not mean it’d be useless afterward. It meant its effects were somewhat weaker compared to the earlier stages of evolution.

Still, it was one of the best visualization methods throughout the universe.

Unfortunately, it still fell short compared to the complete Dao De Jing.

”I can use this as a reference to ensure that my foundations are perfect,” Lu Yuan muttered to himself. This visualization method was indeed powerful, but he simply possessed something even better.

Of course, he knew that to reach the apex, a single visualization method or breathing technique would never suffice.

To reach the apex, he had to gather the strengths of a hundred schools and refine ten thousand techniques to ultimately forge his own path to the apex.

The Daozang Visualization Method was made by Immortal Guang Chengzi, who had an exceedingly high status among Daoists. For Lu Yuan, it perfectly complemented the Dao De Jing.

Lu Yuan turned his attention to the Heaven-Flipping Seal in his hand. It was damaged, missing even a portion of its form. Cracks spread across its surface, making it look as though it could crumble at any moment.

Perhaps it was damaged during the so-called Great Calamity. Yet even so, the power contained within made his heart tremble. He also found it extremely heavy in his hand.

Lu Yuan closed his eyes and extended his senses into it, but something was blocking him from probing any deeper into the seal.

”Restriction Arrays?” Lu Yuan opened his eyes, shock written across his face. In his previous life, he had heard that, when certain divine artifacts reached a certain level, they would develop their own arrays.

If a third party were to obtain those items, they wouldn’t be able to use them.

Treasures with their own arrays were considered Sage Weapons at the very least.

What were Sage Weapons? They were weapons that only Sages could forge. And not just any Sage, they had to be Sages on the seventh stage of evolution.

In the future, Lu Yuan could reforge the Great Luo Sword Embryo into a Sage Weapon once he reached the seventh stage of evolution. By then, its power would reach even greater heights.

It seemed the Heaven-Flipping Seal contained thirty-three arrays. He would need to refine all of them before he could wield the seal itself.

”And it’s damaged. If it were unscathed, how many arrays would there be?” Lu Yuan was deeply shaken, but the discovery only proved the Heaven-Flipping Seal’s formidable might.

Despite its power, it was still reduced to this state after that great battle...

Never mind. Let’s just try and see how many arrays I can refine. Lu Yuan set aside his thoughts, calmed his mind, and began refining the seal with his blood.

Having assimilated the blood essence of a Human Sovereign, he believed he could do it rather quickly. Contrary to his expectations, however, he only managed to refine three arrays even after several days of focusing solely on it.

”How is it so difficult? If I want to refine them all, I’ll have to spend at least a month or more...” Lu Yuan was speechless, but it made sense. The artifact was powerful; of course, the process of refining it would be challenging.

Still, he couldn’t stay here until he had refined all the arrays.

Zhu Qingyu and the others were still in the secret realm. They had been training for quite some time now. If he were to stay here any longer, something could go wrong on their side.

Lu Yuan stood up and put away the Heaven-Flipping Seal. Then, he stepped out of the yin-yang twin fish diagram, faced the great hall, and bowed respectfully toward its farthest corner.

”I, Junior Lu Yuan of the human race, offer my gratitude to you, Senior. Thank you for leaving behind this opportunity.”

Having received a massive boon from a senior in antiquity, Lu Yuan couldn’t just walk away without showing his gratitude.

Lu Yuan examined the rest of the hall once more. Upon confirming that there was nothing else noteworthy, he turned around to leave.

Entering the hall was complicated, but leaving was easy. He just had to walk forward; that was it.

The instant he stepped out of the hall, however, a powerful killing intent washed over him. Lu Yuan’s senses immediately noticed what was going on. Someone had been lying in ambush, and they had been waiting for quite some time now.