Chapter 274: Chapter 144: Like a Demon Lord Descending from Heaven, Truly a Tai Sui God in the Mortal Realm

—Although the progress on his Dao Seed, the Dragon of the Morning Star (Sword), was not yet complete, he could still successfully advance whenever he wished.

But if he did so, he would be like a premature baby hatching from its shell too early. The quality of the Dao Foundation he formed would inevitably be greatly compromised.

And the Dao Foundation was crucial to Zhong Ming’s future. Therefore, he would never ruin his own foundation for the sake of a momentary victory.

"I’m sorry, my accumulation is not yet sufficient..." After saying this, Zhong Ming’s expression turned solemn, and with a gaze as sharp as a sword, he continued, "But rest assured, Your Highness. Even without breaking through, even if I must use my Qi Cultivation to fight those at Foundation Establishment, I am still invincible!"

Zhong Ming spoke with immense confidence, but Prince Qinghe’s face showed little sign of relief.

Evidently, he didn’t believe that Zhong Ming, who was still at the Qi Cultivation realm, could emerge victorious against a group of Foundation Establishment Cultivators, even if they had only just broken through.

But Foundation Establishment was Foundation Establishment. There was a world of difference between it and Qi Cultivation.

Furthermore, among those Cultivators who had forged a Dao Foundation, there was no shortage of prodigies. Their strength after breaking through was far beyond what an ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivator could compare to.

However, despite sensing the difficult situation, Prince Qinghe did not press Zhong Ming to break through again.

He was well aware of the importance of the Foundation Establishment step. To use his authority to force the issue would be to make an enemy.

He had asked before because he felt that with Zhong Ming’s exceptional strength, his accumulation must have already been sufficient...

’Alas, what a pity.’

After exchanging a few more words with Zhong Ming and offering some encouragement, Prince Qinghe departed.

Watching Prince Qinghe’s departing figure, and recalling his sighs and furrowed brow as he left, Zhong Ming knew instantly that the Prince was not very optimistic about his chances of victory.

This wasn’t out of contempt. Rather, the prodigies known as Daoists had already cultivated their Essence, Qi, Spirit, and Will to the absolute pinnacle of the Qi Cultivation realm.

Before breaking through, people like them represented the peak of combat power in the Qi Cultivation realm.

After advancing, their strength was such that they could even contend with ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivators who had completed Cultivating Evil. Rationally speaking, a cultivator still at the Qi Cultivation realm would be no match for them under any circumstances.

Therefore, Prince Qinghe, who was reasoning based on convention, was not wrong in his thinking.

’But I am not ordinary!’

His gaze hardening, Zhong Ming silently opened his attribute panel and turned his attention to the Body Forging Cultivation Technique he had been focusing on recently, "Star Heaven·Divine Monarch."

On the panel, this Cultivation Technique, with a grade as high as mid-grade Celestial Level, had already broken through from the Second Realm, Insight, to the Third Realm, Minor Achievement.

[Star Heaven·Divine Monarch, Third Realm, Minor Achievement (103/970,000), Traits: ① Starlight Body Forging, ② Armor of the Stars, ③ Morning Star·Candlelight Dragon (Sword), ④ Divine Monarch and Celestial General]

’The origin of the Demon Star Tai Sui is incredibly useful.’

The growth of the human body has many limitations, but the Demon Star Tai Sui does not. By harnessing the Power of Origin from the Demon Star Tai Sui, Zhong Ming successfully shattered the shackles of his physical body, allowing his daily cultivation speed to be hundreds or even thousands of times faster than that of an ordinary Cultivator.

Of course, this cultivation method was impossible for others to replicate.

Leaving aside the massive resources required for such rapid physical growth, the Forbidden Power contained within the origin of the Demon Star Tai Sui was enough to deter the vast majority of Cultivators.

If a Cultivator absorbed too much of the Power of Origin from the Demon Star Tai Sui, their body could be corrupted and mutate into a Forbidden Demon Object.

’But I have "My Heart and My Will, as Clear as a Mirror," as well as the Breaking Evil Golden Light and the Purifying Flame!’

The former allowed Zhong Ming to clearly perceive any parts of himself that were being corrupted, while the latter could use the Flame of the Sun to completely incinerate and purify that corruption.

With these two safeguards, Zhong Ming was able to proceed on his path of cultivation without any reservations.

’Still, even with all this, other people can’t advance this quickly...’

Numerous obstacles and layers of barriers—advancing in cultivation was just that difficult.

There were three great difficulties to rapidly advancing the "Star Heaven·Divine Monarch" cultivation: first was resources, second was demonic contamination, and third was the Skill Level and inherent dangers of the Cultivation Technique itself.

Opening acupoints in the bones of the hands, legs, and even the sternum was one thing, but when it involved the spine and the skull, things became troublesome.

When cultivating to this point, a single misstep could result in paralysis or becoming an imbecile.

To say nothing of the second stage of "Star Heaven·Divine Monarch," which involved constructing a Star Pattern Array Map and both comprehending and channeling the Power of the Stars—in short, the difficulty of cultivating "Star Heaven·Divine Monarch" was entirely worthy of its mid-grade Celestial Level rank.

Fortunately, for Zhong Ming, this third and most difficult point was practically a non-issue.

Heaven Rewards Diligence allowed his cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds, while Great Dream of Thousand Years gave him an infinite margin for error.

These two abilities complemented each other perfectly. When combined with the unsealing of his physical body by the Demon Star Tai Sui’s origin, and the purification by the Flame of the Sun, the result was Zhong Ming’s terrifying rate of advancement.

’Even though I didn’t run into any bottlenecks or obstacles, I still worked pretty hard during this time.’

After a moment of reflection, Zhong Ming turned his attention to the fourth trait of "Star Heaven·Divine Monarch"—[Divine Monarch and Celestial General].

Recalling the Divine Monarch and Celestial General he had summoned in his dreams—clad in Star Armor and wielding the Candlelight Sword—Zhong Ming couldn’t help but smile.

As the core trait of a Celestial Level Cultivation Technique, [Divine Monarch and Celestial General] was powerful. Its strength became even more absurd after Zhong Ming had located and opened all the acupoints in his bones.

’Setting aside my other abilities, with the Divine Monarch and Celestial General alone, I’m qualified to be a True Disciple in a Major Sect in the Prefecture City.’