Chapter 281.2: Returning to the Immortal Martial World, Fusing with the Flesh and Blood Martial Dao, Transforming into Countless Forms! (II)

One month passed, then two, then three...

Lu Changsheng devoted himself entirely to studying the Flesh and Blood Martial Dao, even attempting to deduce how it might advance beyond its original limits. He kept at it for half a year before finally coming to a stop.

Pushing the Flesh and Blood Martial Dao to the Earthly Saint level is far too difficult. Turns out I can't do it in a short period of time... For it to reach the Earthly Saint level demands total alignment with the Laws of the Immortal Martial World.

While I could theoretically devise a framework from a high-level, conceptual standpoint, putting it into practice would be far too troublesome.

Lu Changsheng paused for a bit before coming to a conclusion.

Actually, I don't need to push the Flesh and Blood Martial Dao to the Earthly Saint level at all. Not only would it be a very arduous endeavour, its ultimate power might not even rival the Saint Body system. I only need to extract its core strength—specifically, the ability to come back to life from a single drop of blood. And mastering that isolated ability is entirely within reach.

The Saint Body system is the bedrock of my cultivation; given its pivotal importance to any martial artist, discarding it is out of the question. And although my Saint Body can no longer be fundamentally altered, that does not mean my ordinary body can't be transformed. If I can infuse every part of my body with the immense vitality of the Flesh and Blood Martial Dao, I might still reproduce the effect of Blood Rebirth without changing my core cultivation system.

Normally, accomplishing that from scratch would take an enormous amount of time, but since I possess Kao Wen's physical flesh, I can bypass the struggle entirely. Refining and absorbing his flesh will be more than enough...

After half a year of devising this, Lu Changsheng had already worked out the entire process. With more than two million Perception points, his comprehension had reached an astonishing level, and he had repeatedly tested the method in his mind until he was certain it was viable. Furthermore, he also possessed Kao Wen's body—the Flesh and Blood Progenitor, and it already possessed all the qualities he needed.

As soon as Lu Changsheng made up his mind, he went into action. The first attempt succeeded without difficulty. From there, all that remained was the gradual process of refinement.

***

Over the next month, Lu Changsheng completely refined Kao Wen's flesh and blood and fused it into his own body. And as the fusion progressed, his own flesh and blood began to change. Vitality surged through every part of his body as the transformation spread from one place to another.

When the transformation was completed, Lu Changsheng separated a mass of flesh from his body with a single thought.

Condense!

The flesh twisted and gathered together, rapidly taking human form until another Lu Changsheng stood before him.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist," said Lu Changsheng with a smile.

"Greetings, my lord," replied the clone.

Lu Changsheng definitely found it a bit strange to be speaking to a clone of himself, but he was not startled. After all, this was no different from speaking to himself. Their thoughts were completely connected, with no barrier or possibility of misunderstanding between them. It was also impossible for the clone to disobey the original or one consciousness attempting to replace the other, because the clone was Lu Changsheng.

The clone's strength, however, was still a little lacking. It had been formed from only a small portion of Lu Changsheng's flesh, so its power was naturally limited. As such, he continued transferring flesh and blood into it until he had given it most of what his body could spare.

After a while, Lu Changsheng carefully sensed the clone's condition. That should be about enough... Its strength has reached the peak of the Human Saint level. It's a pity it can't carry a Saint Body, but as long as it can contemplate Laws and raise Perception on its own...

With that thought, Lu Changsheng put his theory to the test, and to his satisfaction, it worked. The clone was indistinguishable from his true body and could generate Perception points just as he had hoped.

However, after condensing a second clone, he quickly discovered a limitation. All of his clones were connected through the same mind. As long as that mental link remained intact, they could not contemplate the Dao independently and generate separate streams of Perception points. No matter how many clones he created, they were ultimately still operating as a single consciousness. In other words, there was no loophole that would allow him to multiply his Perception hundreds of times over with multiple clones.

But even with that limitation, the ability remained quite useful. If Lu Changsheng entered a secret world, or found himself somewhere that severed the connection between his true body and his avatars, the isolated avatars would become independent for the duration of that separation. Each could continue contemplating and generating Perception points on its own, and the moment their mental connection was restored, all of their accumulated insights would merge back together.

Furthermore, with this discovery, Lu Changsheng had found a way around two of the greatest obstacles standing in his path. The first was survival. As long as one clone remained alive, he would not truly die even if his original body were destroyed. His consciousness would persist in the surviving clone.

Of course, there would still be a tremendous cost. The clones possessed only flesh and blood and did not have his Saint Body. If the original body died, he would have to rebuild his cultivation and condense a Saint Body again through the clone—a process which would demand tremendous time and resources.

Ultimately, even with the extra layer of protection provided by the clone, losing his true body was still something he had to avoid at all costs.

The second benefit was exactly what Lu Changsheng had originally wanted: Perception.

From now on, whenever his true body entered a secret world or traveled somewhere that prevented him from contemplating the laws of the Immortal Martial World, he could leave a clone behind to cultivate in his place. Then, whether he spent ten years, several decades, or even longer away from the Immortal Martial World, his accumulation of Perception would no longer come to a halt.

Lu Changsheng was thoroughly satisfied. The Flesh and Blood Martial Dao has proven far more useful than I expected.

He planned to leave several clones in different locations. Some would remain in the Sacred Region, while others could be hidden in the Sacred Earth, the Ancient Region, the Northern Region, or even places he had never visited before. The more scattered they were, the harder it would be for a single disaster to destroy every one of them.

Of course, the possibility of someone locating and destroying his original body along with every clone was exceedingly small, but there was no point in taking any risks. No one knew what dangers the future might bring, and to protect himself, having more contingencies could never hurt.

With the matter settled, Lu Changsheng finally turned his attention elsewhere. He had spent a considerable amount of time in seclusion, and by now he had more or less digested everything he had gained from his journey to the secret world.

It's time to go out and see how things are.

With that, he left the secret chamber and returned to the Hundred Flowers Sect.

The first person Lu Changsheng went looking for after leaving seclusion was Meng, the Demon Progenitor. He swept his consciousness across the Hundred Flowers Sect and found the Demon Progenitor almost immediately. What he sensed, however, surprised him.

"Fellow Daoist Meng, what happened...?" asked Lu Changsheng, staring at him in surprise.

Meng was completely different from when they had left the secret world. His aura had fallen to an almost negligible level. He no longer possessed the power of a Demon Progenitor, or even that of an Ancient Demon. At most, his cultivation seemed comparable to the Third Growth level, or more precisely, he was now just a Qi Refiner.

The former Demon Progenitor, who had once stood at the peak of an entire world, an undying existence, had somehow reduced himself to the very beginning of the Immortal Dao.

Meng, however, seemed entirely unbothered. He simply smiled, and said, "Fellow Daoist Lu, you've finally emerged from seclusion! As for what happened to me... Well, it's really quite simple. After learning more about the Immortal Martial World and its cultivation systems, I did a test and discovered that I possess a spirit root, and quite an exceptional one at that!

"I was never particularly skilled in Martial Dao to begin with, so I decided to abandon my old cultivation and start over with the Immortal Dao. I've only just begun, which is why I'm still at the Qi Refining Realm.

Lu Changsheng was surprised, but he chose to keep listening without interrupting.

"The Foundation Establishment and Golden Core realms shouldn't be too difficult," Meng continued. "Reaching Nascent Soul will require more effort, but I was once the Demon Progenitor. My former realm was already roughly comparable to that level, so getting back to it shouldn't be difficult. And since I once fused with a world, my comprehension of the Dao runs deep, which gives me a real advantage even at Deity Transformation."

Lu Changsheng nodded, finally understanding the situation. Meng's decision might have seemed drastic, but it was actually extremely sensible.

His spirit root gave him the qualifications to cultivate the Immortal Dao, while his past experience had already laid much of the foundation he would eventually need. Compared with forcing himself down an unfamiliar Martial Dao path, starting again as an immortal cultivator offered a much clearer route forward. Given enough time and resources, he might even be able to cultivate directly to the Deity Transformation Realm, which was comparable to an Earthly Saint.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Meng," said Lu Changsheng with a smile. "It seems you've found the path most suited to you. What do you plan to do from here?"

Although Meng's cultivation had fallen to the Qi Refining Realm, that did not mean he had suddenly become helpless.

The demon race had always relied heavily on the strength of their physical bodies, and Meng's physical strength had not disappeared along with his former cultivation. Its sheer power still stood at the absolute peak of the Human Saint level. Even now, there were very few people below the Earthly Saint level who could pose a threat to him.

Meng considered Lu Changsheng's question for a moment, then said, "Under normal circumstances, the best option would be to join an Immortal Dao sect and cultivate there step by step. But with who I am, I doubt I could even enter a major sect, and even if I could, I doubt they would ever trust me.

"I thought about it for a while, and decided that joining a sect wouldn't be worth the trouble. Once an immortal cultivator reaches Nascent Soul and Deity Transformation, cultivation depends increasingly on the individual, and the sect's importance gradually decreases. So after considering everything, I think remaining here at the Hundred Flowers Sect is the better choice."

Lu Changsheng smiled. "Well, the Hundred Flowers Sect would be happy to have you. And rest assured, although the Hundred Flowers Sect follows the Martial Dao, the Immortal Dao and Martial Dao are not truly separate in the Immortal Martial World.

"There's no need to worry about cultivation techniques either. We can find suitable Immortal Dao methods for you. And if you advance far enough in the future, you could even establish an Immortal Dao lineage within the Hundred Flowers Sect." ⅇℓ.

Lu Changsheng could tell that the Demon Progenitor had weighed this choice carefully, and that joining the Hundred Flowers Sect was clearly the wisest one.

Other factions would inevitably be wary of Meng's mysterious origins, but Lu Changsheng already knew exactly where he had come from and had no reason to distrust him. What the Demon Progenitor currently needed most was time and a stable place to cultivate, and the Hundred Flowers Sect could offer him both.