537: Chapter 538 Sliced ​​into a Dog!

Lu Ming stepped inside, and the scene within the city was vastly different from the Cultivation World.

On both sides of the street, there were no Spirit Medicine shops, Magical Artifact pavilions, or Talisman stores—the logistical suppliers of the Cultivation World.

In their place were various blacksmith shops, martial arts academies, and training grounds.

The clanging of hammers and the shouting and roaring of intense combat rose and fell in succession.

The air was filled with the scent of sweat, the smell of rust, and a faint, lingering trace of blood.

The people in the city were not the Cultivators he was familiar with.

They possessed no Spiritual Qi within their bodies; to be precise, they lacked Spiritual Roots.

Their Dantian were empty, and none of the cultivation paths he was familiar with existed there.

Yet, their vitality was as abundant as a furnace, and they stood there like human torches, radiating a scorching heat that could be felt from far away.

Clearly, their physical bodies were incredibly powerful, with their muscles, bones, and skin tempered to the extreme; every movement they made carried the sound of wind and thunder.

A single punch could compress the air into a solid state.

A single stomp would cause the ground to crack.

This was not a Divine Ability, nor was it a Spell; it was pure strength.

"Hmm? Body Cultivators?" Lu Ming raised an eyebrow.

There was no lack of Body Cultivators in the Cultivation World, but perhaps due to incomplete legacies, he had almost never seen a Human Race Cultivator with such a powerful physique, aside from some Great Demons that had taken human form.

Yet, the Cultivators here seemed somewhat like those of the Body Refining path, but it wasn't entirely the same.

Body Cultivators used Spiritual Qi to temper their bodies and Magic Power to nourish them; at the root, they could not separate themselves from Spiritual Qi.

But these people had not a shred of Spiritual Qi in their bodies, relying purely on their physical vitality to reach such a level.

This was no longer Body Refining; they had embarked on a different path.

Lu Ming's Divine Sense, vast and boundless, spread out instantly, enveloping the entire city in a flash.

In an instant, the conversations and chatter of countless people flooded into his mind like a tidal wave.

Before long, he had gathered quite a bit of information.

This domain was called the "Qianyuan Domain," ruled by the Great Qian Imperial Dynasty, with thirty-six commanderies and one hundred and eight cities under its governance; the "Iron-Blood City" before him was one of them.

The Martial Dao practitioners of the entire Qianyuan Domain did not Cultivate Magic Power, did not refine their Divine Souls, and did not comprehend Laws.

They cultivated their physical bodies, their vitality, and their willpower.

They used their physical bodies to bear the power of heaven and earth, and their vitality to temper their muscles, bones, and skin, following the path of "one force overcoming ten techniques" and "one force breaking ten thousand Laws."

That is, entering the Dao through martial arts, and proving the Dao through strength.

Their Realm divisions were completely different from those of Cultivators.

Refining Essence, Bone Forging, Marrow Cleansing, Meridian Opening, Aperture Condensing, Core Embracing, Gang Transformation, Void Controlling, Body Integration, and Void Shattering.

Ten Realms, each step a new heaven.

Lu Ming roughly sensed the strongest person in terms of vitality in the city, and through the words of others, learned that it was a Void Controlling Realm Martial Artist.

He felt the opponent's strength and felt somewhat disappointed.

Despite their many Realms, they did not correspond one-to-one with the levels of Cultivators.

Those flashy-looking Realms, when stacked together, at best only reached the Golden Core level.

This so-called Void Controlling, being able to traverse the air with vitality without borrowing external forces, was at most equivalent to the Early Foundation Establishment Stage when compared to cultivation Realms.

Even the legendary Void Shattering experts they spoke of were barely equivalent to a Golden Core, or perhaps just the False Core level.

As for the rumors of "proving the Dao through martial arts and shattering the void"… well, they were just rumors, so it was best to take them with a grain of salt.

Lu Ming looked up to examine the space of this domain, understanding clearly in his heart that the upper limit of these guys had long been locked.

It wasn't that their talent was insufficient; it was that this path itself was a dead end.

He saw that in the void, chains engraved with countless runes were interwoven and entangled, hidden within the void.

Those chains were dense and layered, weaving the entire sky into a giant cage.

Not only did it imprison the freedom of the local inhabitants, but it also blocked the Luck required for the continued expansion of the Martial Dao, leaving the Martial Dao with no soil to advance further under these heavens.

"This doesn't quite look like the work of the Heavenly Dao," Lu Ming thought, feeling more and more that something was wrong the more he observed.

He had passed through quite a few domains, but this was the first time he had seen such a phenomenon of sealing the heavens and locking the earth.

Based on his understanding of the Heavenly Dao, since this domain did not rely on It to survive and would not blindly take like Cultivators, but instead could be self-sufficient—for such a self-reliant domain, even if the Heavenly Dao didn't praise or encourage it, it certainly had no reason to Seal it.

"So, this Seal is highly likely to be man-made?"

"But what is the point of doing this!"

A group of Martial Artists whose peak could barely touch the Early Golden Core Stage trying to figure out a Martial Dao path comparable to a Nascent Soul True Monarch was not just difficult, it was almost impossible.

Unless… Lu Ming stroked his chin, feeling as though he had guessed something.

If it really was man-made, then doing so was simply out of fear of them becoming strong, choosing to nip them in the bud before they could grow.

This fit perfectly with Lu Ming's stereotype of those jealous and capable-hating old geezers.

If they were the ones who did it, Lu Ming felt it made sense.

That's right, Lu Ming directly locked the suspects onto that group of Nascent Soul True Monarchs.

Otherwise, just a Golden Core True Person alone wouldn't have the capability for such a massive undertaking.

"A Nascent Soul personally taking the field? Are they that afraid…" The more Lu Ming thought about it, the stranger it felt.

Even if the Martial Dao could eventually deduce a Realm comparable to or even above the Nascent Soul, it would require an extremely long time.

But looking at the current situation, it seemed they weren't giving them any room to grow at all.

"Could it be the universality of the Martial Dao, where one can Cultivate without relying on Spiritual Qi?"

There is a difference between immortals and mortals; without a Spiritual Root, one cannot Cultivate, which naturally filters out a large number of unqualified people.

But if the Martial Dao were to spread, that would be a different story.

They do not Cultivate Magic Power, do not refine their Divine Souls, do not contemplate Divine Abilities, and do not comprehend Laws.

They Cultivate their physical bodies, their vitality, their willpower, and even more so, themselves.

They use their physical bodies to bear the power of heaven and earth, and their vitality to temper their muscles, bones, and skin.

Once this new cultivation system without barriers spreads, it will inevitably spread like a plague, perhaps even squeezing the living space of Cultivators.

But then again, what does this have to do with the Nascent Soul True Monarchs?

Do they really think they care about the cultivation environment of a bunch of ants? What a joke!

"So, this means that once the Martial Dao is unleashed, it won't just affect the lower-level Cultivators; even the True Monarchs might be affected!"

Lu Ming couldn't help but associate this with the scene he had seen; those chains didn't just lock the freedom of all living beings in this domain, they also blocked the… Luck of the Martial Dao!

Luck! That's right, that's the thing!

In heaven and earth, all things are balanced; as one rises, the other falls, and as one falls, the other rises.

If the Immortal Dao flourishes, the Martial Dao weakens; if the Martial Dao prospers, the Immortal Dao will naturally decline.

Therefore, such a major event that shakes the Foundation of cultivation is what would alarm the Nascent Soul True Monarchs to take action personally.

"But why not just slap them to death and be done with it?"

Hmm, don't tell me it's because the Nascent Soul True Monarchs are kind and can't bear to kill? Heh, don't kid yourself; you'd make the True Monarchs laugh.

Lu Ming estimated that they simply couldn't kill them!

The Seal might have already incurred tremendous Karma.

If one were to sever the Karma of an entire cultivation system, the backlash would likely be something even a Nascent Soul True Monarch would not want to endure.

Therefore, as a last resort, sealing the heavens and the earth was the limit of what they could do.

But that didn't mean the Nascent Soul True Monarchs had given up on the idea of exterminating the Martial Dao.

Lu Ming felt the strength of the Seal here and quickly detected an abnormality.

"Interesting…"

With his current vision, it was easy to see that this domain allowed entry but not exit.

This meant that while the people inside couldn't get out, people from the outside could come in.

Why do this? Probably to prevent outsiders from accidentally stumbling upon this place.

If they couldn't get in, given the Cultivators' tendency to overthink, they would likely suspect that it was some kind of blessed land or Secret Realm, or the ruins of an ancient expert.

Then this matter would inevitably spread further and further, becoming more and more outrageous, eventually arousing the curiosity of countless people to travel there.

Although, with the handiwork of a Nascent Soul True Monarch, no matter how many of these guys gathered, they would still be a rabble and couldn't do anything to the Seal.

But the Great Dao is fifty, the Heaven's evolution is forty-nine, and one escapes. With the Martial Dao Luck being so suppressed, a sudden rebound might actually create a variable.

And surely the Nascent Soul True Monarchs should understand the terror of such variables.

But the Nascent Soul True Monarchs were limited by the Heavenly Dao and could not monitor and suppress it at any time and place.

Therefore, blocking is not as good as channeling; it's better to just leave an opening and let outsiders in.

This also meant that if by chance, a Cultivator had a certain probability of finding this place.

So when they arrived on this new continent, saw the new system, and realized they were trapped inside and couldn't escape, what would their reaction be?

Those with high cultivation would likely start a massacre, and as for those with low cultivation… they couldn't be any lower; even a Qi Refining Cultivator wouldn't be considered weak there.

Even if they weren't a match for some Martial Dao powerhouses, the brand-new cultivation system they brought would inevitably make some Martial Artists flock to it, causing an impact on the Martial Dao.

So no matter what, when the Immortal Dao and the Martial Dao collide, regardless of who wins or loses, it will inevitably pollute the Martial Dao Luck.

As time goes on, the Martial Dao will not only fail to rise but will instead decline more and more, eventually leading to extinction.

"What a ruthless plan to cut off their future!" Lu Ming, having seen through the True Monarchs' scheme, couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

As expected of those deep-thinking old geezers; only they could come up with such a vicious plan.

However, none of this was what Lu Ming cared about.

He didn't care whether the people in this domain had a future; he was pondering one thing.

Could he reap any benefits from it?

Lu Ming had an epiphany; despite the Martial Dao being sealed, it was still a system completely different from the Cultivation World.

And he was walking the Hunyuan Law, which now seemed all-encompassing, but in reality, he had been spinning within the framework of the Immortal Dao.

He devoured Laws, fused Laws, and controlled Laws.

But in the end, he was still walking the old path of the Immortal Dao, never jumping out of the framework of the rules.

In short: his perspective was too narrow.

The original intention of the Hunyuan Law was to encompass everything, and the Immortal Dao should only be a part of that "everything."

This thought had actually occurred to him after Lu Ming devoured the "Du'e" Law from Ming Wu.

Although Ming Wu did not walk the pure Buddhist path, at least he had shed a trace of the Immortal Dao's shadow.

So after devouring and refining it, it had played a huge role in improving his Hunyuan Law.

"Eh?" Thinking of this, Lu Ming suddenly remembered that the reason why there was no Buddhist inheritance in the Profound Spirit Domain might be that it, like the Martial Dao, had been suppressed or even exterminated.

But regardless, whether it was the current Martial Dao, or the Buddhist path, or even the Demonic Path, Ghost Path, Demon Path…

The three thousand Great Daos all lead to the same destination.

They should all belong to the "everything" encompassed by the Hunyuan Law.

So the Hunyuan path he was currently walking was far from enough.

He should care about the "Dao," not the "Law."

Although the Martial Dao was weak and its upper limit low, its concepts and Foundations could supplement what was missing in his Hunyuan Law.

As the saying goes, among three people, there must be a teacher for me.

Everyone on the path of the Great Dao, even an ordinary person without any cultivation, had something worth learning from.

Cultivators Cultivate the Heavenly Dao; Martial Artists Cultivate themselves.

The Heavenly Dao is flawed, but the self is indestructible.

One seeks outward, the other seeks inward.

The concepts are completely different, but who can say which path is right?

Perhaps there is no right or wrong; it's just a different choice.

But when the two are combined, one plus one is definitely greater than two.

Lu Ming withdrew his thoughts and began to ponder how to pocket the Martial Dao Luck.

He had intended to devour and refine it directly and violently, but as soon as his Divine Sense touched the Luck locked by the chains, he felt an extremely strong resistance.

That resistance was not conscious; it was the instinct of the Martial Dao Luck itself.

Just like a Martial Artist, they would rather break than bend.

The more you suppress it, the more it rebounds.

Lu Ming had a feeling that if he insisted on forcibly devouring it, it might trigger a strong backlash from the Martial Dao Luck.

It was truly a case of "better to be broken jade than intact tile," letting him get nothing at all.

So he couldn't come at it hard; he had to find a gentler method.

Lu Ming stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and soon had an idea.

That was to decide to enter the game himself, bring a max-level character into the newbie village, and Cultivate the Martial Dao with peerless momentum; he would definitely improve extremely quickly.

By this, he would suppress all the Martial Artists in the world, finally gain the favor of the Martial Dao Luck, and then completely take it for himself, devouring and refining it.

Lu Ming felt that this idea of his was quite good.

Then he would start from this Iron-Blood City beneath his feet.

Like clearing a dungeon, he would grind through one level after another, finally fight his way into the Holy Capital, capture the Great Qian Emperor alive, and thereby shake the world with his name!

But first, he had to get started with the Martial Dao; otherwise, everything was just empty talk.

So, Lu Ming's Divine Sense spread out again.

This time, it did not cover the whole city, but precisely probed into every study and every Scripture Pavilion of every martial arts academy in the city.

With his Nascent Soul Stage Divine Sense, just a glance was enough to directly copy all the Martial Dao classics without missing a word.

From the most basic Body Refining techniques to the most profound martial arts secret manuals.

From the introductory Mind-Cultivation Techniques of the Refining Essence stage to the offensive Martial Skills of the Gang Transformation Realm.

There were thousands of them in total.

He quickly went through these contents in his mind, and before long, he had mastered them all.

The Foundation of the Martial Dao lies in vitality.

Vitality is the root of the human body and the manifestation of life force.

In the Refining Essence stage, one refines the essence in the body to strengthen vitality and temper the skin and membranes.

When essence is sufficient, vitality is vigorous; when vitality is vigorous, life force is strong.

This is the first step of the Martial Dao, and also the most basic step.

Lu Ming was using Great Elder Lu Chenyuan's body at this time, setting everything else aside.

His False Nascent Soul dharma body's vitality could no longer be described as a furnace; it was simply a living volcano!

So he only needed to operate according to the Martial Dao techniques and guide that vitality to the right places.

In a moment, his skin and membranes were tempered.

According to the description, his skin should now be as tough as ox hide, impervious to swords and blades.

"……" Lu Ming was speechless for a moment, not knowing whether to consider this a success or that he had been "reduced to a dog."