When Lucian had found the Space Dao bone from Alisa, he could at least guess it was related to space.
Given that it was a bone, it could only form inside an unique Spiritual Beast. As for how much stronger that beast was, Lucian wasn’t sure.
So far, all the beasts he had faced didn’t have anything like this. That meant it was at least from a Golden Core level creature, if not higher.
As the bone fragments merged with his forming Heavenly Palace, Lucian suddenly felt something!
At this point, the half-finished Heavenly Palace with the Dao Lotus in it, which was originally located in his Dantian area, appeared to have been lifted mysteriously!
Moments later, the Heavenly Palace had completely vanished from its original place, reappearing within the vast expanse of his sea of consciousness!
At the same time his sea of consciousness had been opened, slowly revealing more and more areas.
Additionally, thanks to the Space Dao bone, the space within his sea of consciousness stabilized more quickly than he had anticipated.
There was no pain in this process, rather it felt as refreshing as a spring breeze.
Initially the Heavenly Palace looked like a huge palace, filled with a majestic aura.
This was the most basic appearance of the Heavenly Palace. It was basically the same for all human cultivators.
This was also determined by the bloodline of the race.
Also during the materialization process, different changes would occur according to the varying cultivation techniques and the treasures used to merge.
As vast amounts of Spiritual Energy flowed into Lucian’s body from the lake, his Heavenly Palace continued to form.
After an incense stick of time had passed, the process finally completed.
The Heavenly Palace that took shape in Lucian’s sea of consciousness had deep crimson color, reflecting the nature of Lucian’s Crimson Flames Spiritual Energy.
The huge palace was simple in design, without any decorations or structures.
Lucian’s Heavenly Palace was supposed to be 199cm in height and width, matching his Dao Platform.
Yet, with the Secret Realm’s blessings, its size increased by 10cm, reaching an impressive 209cm!
As for the effect of the Space Dao bone, many insights appeared in his mind, but he temporarily suppressed them. Now he needed to focus on completing his breakthrough first.
Inside the palace, at its very center, a Dao Lotus slowly rotated, absorbing and refining the spiritual energy that flowed into the palace/body.
This was his Golden Core!
If the spiritual energy in his body was originally a spring, now it was a raging sea!
At the same time, his Qi Sense improved during the process, becoming sharper and extending his scan range.
…
As he opened his eyes, Lucian felt an unprecedented surge of power coursing through his body. The breakthrough had taken him half a month, and another week to stabilize.
Exhaling a long breath, he stood up. The water beneath his feet rippled slightly. The intense spiritual pressure that had once hindered him now felt like a gentle breeze.
He clenched his fist and threw a punch.
Boom!
The sound of air being torn apart echoed across the lake. Ripples spread out, disturbing the once-calm surface.
Compared to before, he felt he could defeat tens of him at peak of Foundation Establishment stage simultaneously. The power gap was that immense.
Lucian’s blood-red eyes gleamed with excitement as he opened his Status Panel.
—
[Status]
[System]: Fate Devouring System
[Name]: Lucian Bloodveil
[Realm]: Heavenly Palace Golden Core, Early stage
[Cultivation Technique]: Celestial Flame Lotus, 8th Level
[Innate Fate Movements]: Gluttonous (Purple); Dragon-Demon Physique (Blue); Child of Fire (Blue); Cultivation Genius (Green) (Upgradable); Longarms Blademaster (Green) (Upgradable)
[Fate Points]: 600 Strands
[Heavenly Fate Opportunity]: Can be stimulated by spending Fate Points; the more spent the easier it is to discover great opportunities. The greater the opportunity discovered, the longer the cooldown period.
[Harem Member(s)]: 6
[Main Quest]: 1
[Sub-Quest(s)]: 2
—
Seeing his Cultivation had already updated on the System panel, Lucian nodded in satisfaction.
Just as he was about to close it, he noticed two new side quests were now available!
Curious, he opened them.
—
[Side Quest(2)]: 2
[1> Protect Your Harem]
[Description]: The Crimson Sky sect wants to kill everyone from the Celestian Royal Family. Your woman, Eloise, is in great danger.
[Objective]: Protect her and completely destroy the Crimson Sky Sect.
[Reward]: 5000 Fate Points
[Status]: In Progress
—
[2> NTRed Azure Sword Sect’s Clan Leader]
[Description]: Azure Sword Sect’s Clan Leader has always been waiting for Alisa to break through. So when she does, he’ll surely find a way to capture her to use her as a Cultivation Cauldron to break through himself.
[Objective]: Fuck Alisa in front of her Ex-husband/Azure Sword Sect’s Clan Leader to destroy his Dao Heart before killing him.
[Rewards]: Unique Heavenly and Earthly treasures for all your Harem members to use while forming their own Heavenly Palaces
[Status]: In Progress
—
Lucian’s eyes turned cold as he read the first quest details. He had completely forgotten about the Crimson Sky sect. The same sect whose disciples once tried to kill him back on the mortal island.
“Those fuckers,” he muttered, his eyes flashing with killing intent.
Anger burned in his heart, but he forced himself to calm down.
“And I also need to bring aunt here,” As he pondered the situation, Lucian sighed heavily, “The Fate Points are too few. I also need to upgrade Eloise and Lyra’s Fates.”
Then his gaze turned to the second side quest. A cruel smile played on his lips as he imagined crushing that old man’s pride.
“It seems completing the main quest will take more time, but for now…”
He closed the semi-transparent panel, and looked ahead at the ancient temple. It was nearly a thousand meters tall and floating just slightly above the lake’s surface.
He glanced to his right, where Iris sat in deep meditation. Her brow was furrowed in concentration, her body radiating waves of powerful spiritual energy. She had clearly reached a critical moment in her breakthrough.
Then he took a step forward, and within a moment, he reached the closed doors of the temple. Up close, the doors were even more impressive – nearly twenty meters tall and made of jade.
Lucian placed both hands on the cold surface of the jade door, pushing with all his strength. But the massive door didn’t budge a single inch!
Frowning, he manifested his Dao Lotus, crimson flames erupting around him. The nine-petaled lotus appeared behind his head, radiating profound power.
With the lotus empowering him, Lucian pushed again. Still, the door remained unmoved.
“What!?” He was astonished. Even with his Golden Core strength and the Dao Lotus, he couldn’t open this ancient door!?
Lucian stepped back, his blood-red eyes narrowing as he examined the door more closely.
After that he tried several times, thrusting his Halberd and punching the jade surface with all his strength.
He even bit the door, hoping to activate his Gluttonous Innate Fate to directly refine/devour it, but nothing worked.
Growing frustrated, Lucian even burned a few drops of his precious Essence Blood to temporarily boost his strength.
But the result was the same. The ancient door stood firm, without even a scratch.
“Huff! Huff! Fuck it. I guess I’ll need Iris’s hel-” Then he suddenly stopped, “Wait a sec… didn’t Aldric say he was here for something? Did he mean this temple?”
“I should have asked him before killing him. Sigh, now I have no clue how to open this door,” Lucian muttered in frustration.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up, “Right, how can I forget, that sword!”
He immediately took out the palm-sized jade sword he had obtained from Aldric. Pouring spiritual energy into it, the sword grew larger until it reached its full size.
With a deep breath, Lucian swung the jade sword at the temple door.
Clang!!
But to his disappointment, the sword bounced off the door without leaving even a scratch!
The impact sent vibrations up Lucian’s arm, nearly making him drop the weapon.
“Damm it! Even this did not work!?” he cursed, lowering the sword, “No wonder Iris’s mother could not open it.”
However, inwardly he breathed a sigh of relief.
If that sword could have been effective, it meant Aldric had managed to bypass the Heavenly Rules to bring it in.
In this scenario, he would have needed to be extra caution when facing the members or disciples from ancient families and sects.
However, it appeared that all of his concerns were unnecessary.
Sitting on the lake cross-legged, Lucian looked up at the temple.
He still had one last idea, but it was so crazy that if he failed, he might sustain fatal injury to his cultivation foundation!
“I’m sure even with Iris’s power it won’t open. In that case…”
He didn’t stand up, but the space above his head began to distort.
Slowly, a huge Heavenly Palace materialized, floating majestically above the lake’s surface.
It was Lucian’s own Heavenly Palace, manifested outside his body!