Mister Mu’s eyes betrayed a hint of admiration. “You were warned that you would be dismissed as my disciple if you didn’t take first place in ZENITH, which was a very harsh penalty. However, your reward for winning is correspondingly generous.”
Mister Mu then raised a hand and offered a Root of Intelligence towards Lu Yin.
Lu Yin blinked. “Master, do you have a lot of these Roots of Intelligence?”
“I like my tea,” Mister Mu replied. “Have you considered what you would like as your reward?”
Lu Yin thought for a bit, and then answered in a serious voice, “Your disciple wishes to break through to the Enlighter realm.”
Mister Mu showed no surprise. “Very well.”
Lu Yin felt a bit hesitant. “Master, your disciple may have some trouble with this breakthrough. There might be some obstacles.”
“Try,” said Mister Mu. He was as calm as always.
Without understanding why, Lu Yin grew confident and nodded in excitement.
“Wait.” Mister Mu took out another item. “First, open all three of your meridian points. You’ve already opened your lower meridian point, so the middle and upper points still need to be opened.”
Lu Yin stared at the huge pillar of tribulation crystals that stood in front of him in stupefaction. Mister Mu possessed such a thing? This was much, much larger than the pillar that Long Ding had used to open his lower meridian point, and it was actually even larger than the pillar that Lu Yin had obtained in the Dominion Realm.
“You should already know what it means to open the three meridian points since you’ve already opened your lower meridian point. Use these tribulation crystals to open your middle meridian point,” Mister Mu ordered.
“What about the upper meridian point?” Lu Yin looked at Mister Mu with high expectations.
Mister Mu raised a hand, and a branch appeared. This was not the leaf that Lu Yin had picked up in the Dominion Realm, but Lu Yin was no stranger to this branch. It was the same one that he had used to raise his physical strength to the limit in the Limiteer realm. He had then been given fatesand to suppress his strength.
“Is this- Is this branch Origin Matter?” Lu Yin felt shocked as he took the branch in a daze.
Mister Mu answered indifferently, “Indeed it is.”
“Is- Is this for your disciple?” Lu Yin became extremely excited. He had already picked up an Origin Matter, though he suspected that what he had picked up might be fake. Still, it might be real. As far as Origin Matter was concerned, the more the better.
Mister Mu observed Lu Yin with an odd expression.
Lu Yin started to get nervous.
“You’ll have to find Origin Matter on your own. I can send you to the Dominion Realm,” Mister Mu said as he took the branch back.
Lu Yin felt disappointed. Still, it was not unexpected. He felt that it was impossible to receive Origin Matter from Mister Mu. Even though the four ruling powers had Origin Matter in reserve, they had still sent their Junior Progenitors to risk their lives in the Dominion Realm to search for it on their own.
“First, worry about opening your middle meridian point,” Mister Mu stated.
Lu Yin grew excited. “Yes, Master.”
He had actually gotten his hands on two tribulation crystal pillars while in the Dominion Realm. One had come from the Voidsoul Palace, and it could be used to open a person’s lower meridian point as it was about the same size as the pillar that Long Ding had used to open his lower meridian point. The second pillar was the one in the Forgotten Ruins, and it had been a part of the trap that the monsters had set for the Junior Progenitors. In the end, it had fallen into Lu Yin’s possession. The second pillar was much larger than Lu Yin’s first and was nearly as large as the pillar that Mister Mu had just offered Lu Yin. These pillars could be used to open the middle meridian point.
Since Mister Mu had given Lu Yin a crystal pillar, the two that Lu Yin had found on his own could be saved.
The truth was that, at this moment, Lu Yin looked at Mister Mu as a Progenitor. He had shown that he was able to completely ignore a Semi-Progenitor, and he had also taken out an amount of tribulation crystals that even the four ruling powers would struggle to take out. What could Mister Mu be if he was not a Progenitor? Lu Yin’s understanding had expanded drastically while in the Perennial World.
However, Mister Mu was not aware of everything, and he did not know that Lu Yin had already picked up not only tribulation crystal pillars, but also Origin Matter.
Lu Yin had not yet opened all of his meridian points because he was afraid of being discovered, but there was no risk of that happening with Mister Mu present. Lu Yin could just return home with his master.
Such random thoughts drifted through Lu Yin’s mind as he placed both of his hands upon the crystal pillar and began to refine it.
Given Lu Yin’s strength, he refined the tribulation crystals much faster than Long Ding had.
Lu Yin had no way of knowing how long he spent refining the tribulation crystals. He might have taken a few hours or even a few days. Regardless, he eventually absorbed the entirety of the tribulation crystal pillar into his body. Everywhere, his skin tore open, and blood flowed down to his feet, painting them red.
Mister Mu quietly stood nearby. It was impossible to know what the man was thinking, and he did not even look at Lu Yin.
There was a deep roar as a powerful surge of energy shot into the sky. Lu Yin had succeeded in opening his middle meridian point, and he had stepped onto the same qualifying level as the Junior Progenitors. As of this moment, Lu Yin was certain that he possessed the strength to defeat any of the Junior Progenitors without relying on his God of Death Transformation, even if the Junior Progenitors did use the visualization method.
“Now you should immediately break through to the Enlighter realm,” Mister Mu said.
Lu Yin asked, “What about the upper meridian point?”
“You can open that even after you become an Enlighter,” Mister Mu replied.
“Wouldn’t it be better to open it before a breakthrough?” Lu Yin pressed.
Mister Mu stared at Lu Yin. “If you want Origin Matter, then you’ll need to find it yourself. You chose becoming an Enlighter as your reward.”
Lu Yin lifted a hand and brought out the leaf that he had found.
Mister Mu stared at it, stunned for a moment. There was a rare expression of surprise on his face and uncommon satisfaction in his eyes. “Open your upper meridian point now then. Treat the Origin Matter like the tribulation crystals, and absorb it into your body. This step is called rooting.”
He then grew a bit more serious as he stared at Lu Yin. “You did pretty well.”
Lu Yin let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the Origin Matter that he had picked up was not fake. After a second thought, he realized that that actually made sense. After all, how could the Junior Progenitors have been deceived by a fake? Also, Lu Yin had tried to absorb the leaf before opening his middle meridian point, and at that time, it had been completely unresponsive.
Lu Yin had just been praised by Mister Mu, and Lu Yin realized that he had never received any compliment from his master before. Thus, this bit of praise went to Lu Yin’s head. “Master, your disciple was able to defeat all of this universe’s four Junior Progenitors.”
Lu Yin was like a child fishing for praise from his elders.
A tiny smile that Lu Yin had never seen before appeared on Mister Mu’s face. “Junior Progenitors? That’s nothing more than self-deception.”
Lu Yin then began to absorb the Origin Matter as his master watched on.
Unexpectedly, this process involved no pain. The leaf simply and smoothly opened up Lu Yin’s upper meridian point, but then, the leaf remained in the meridian point and acted as though it was taking root. The only difference that Lu Yin noticed was that a certain glow had appeared on his body. This was not the light that appeared once a cultivator’s physical strength reached the limit for their realm. Instead, it was some kind of surging vitality that could not be described.
The entire process was very short.
Lu Yin opened his eyes and stared at his hands in an odd manner. Were there any changes? There was nothing to be found. His body felt exactly like it had after he had opened his middle meridian point, though there seemed to be some sort of subtle difference.
Suddenly, the void tore apart, and so did Lu Yin’s stomach. He did not have any chance to even react, as Mister Mu had attacked.
Lu Yin was shocked. He could not understand why Mister Mu would suddenly injure his own disciple. However, the next moment, something truly bizarre occurred; the wound on Lu Yin’s stomach healed within only a few seconds. The only sign of injury was the hole in his clothes, as there was not even a scar to be seen on his body. It was as if Lu Yin had never even been injured.
“Master, what happened?” Lu Yin was shocked.
Mister Mu explained, “This is what happens after you open the upper meridian point. There is now a seedling in your body that will give you endless vitality, and that will be the beginning of all changes.”
Lu Yin did not understand.
“Cultivators who have opened all three of their meridian points are completely different from anyone who has not done so. There can be Realmbreakers in every realm except for the Progenitor realm. A Semi-Progenitor can never stand up to a Progenitor. Only a Progenitor can face another Progenitor. You now possess the qualifications to become a Progenitor.” Mister Mu gave a simple explanation.
Lu Yin grew excited. His injury had healed in an instant. How was this any different from repeatedly using the Ku Secret Art? Who would be able to defeat him in the future? As long as he faced someone within the same cultivation realm, Lu Yin could not think of anyone who qualified to be his opponent.
Lu Yin wanted to return to the Dominion Realm and revisit the Forgotten Ruins so that he could have a rematch with all of the Junior Progenitors. No, Lu Yin wanted to face off against an Envoy!
There was a fundamental change when one became an Envoy, and it resulted in a massive power spike. It could be seen in the simple fact that Enlighters could not enter the true universe. However, despite this massive handicap, Lu Yin was confident that he could challenge an Envoy with his newfound strength.
The transformation provided by opening all three meridian points was too incredible, and Lu Yin was currently over the moon.
It would have been perfect if he had managed to reach such a level of strength during ZENITH. He would have been able to defeat all of his opponents with nothing more than a single finger, and there would have been no need to use the God of Death Transformation at all. Lu Yin would have crushed all opposition.
“At this moment, you have finally stepped upon the threshold of cultivation. No one who does not qualify to become a Progenitor is even qualified to cultivate,” Mister Mu commented lightly.
Lu Yin asked, “Master, can your disciple attempt to breakthrough to the Enlighter realm?”
Mister Mu nodded. “Do it.”
Lu Yin sucked in a deep breath. This day could be considered the culmination of all of his efforts and preparations. With a thought, he brought out his Skyblaze Stone and used it to liquify a massive amount of star essence that he pulled out. He began to absorb the star energy and circulated it through his body. He had already become a peak Hunter, and he was only a single step away from touching the threshold of the Enlighter realm.
It was only one step, and it was an easy one to take. Lu Yin’s eyes suddenly snapped open, and the formcast model within his body dissolved and merged with his body. He had never even heard of a person using a formcast model when reaching the Enlighter realm, and Lu Yin believed himself to be the first.
Mister Mu was surprised.
The formcast model melted and merged with Lu Yin’s body as star energy surged like water past a broken dam. Lu Yin could hear the pounding star energy, and he felt the pain of his body being smashed apart. This pain was even slightly worse than what Lu Yin had suffered when opening his middle meridian point.
Mister Mu silently watched as Lu Yin took the step to become an Enlighter. Energy eruptions leaked out, but the star energy was all quickly absorbed back into Lu Yin’s body.
It did not take Lu Yin long to complete a cycle, and at that point, he had technically broken through to the Enlighter realm.
This breakthrough did not trigger Lu Yin’s seal, and the entire process was smooth, much smoother than Lu Yin had expected. However, the momentum from his breakthrough did not abate.
Enlighters cultivated like Hunters, but there was a reason why becoming an Enlighter was considered a watershed moment in one’s cultivation journey. It was because a human’s body would undergo a fundamental change during the breakthrough. Besides that, the cultivation method remained unchanged, and Enlighters also absorbed star energy to complete cycles.
An average cultivator’s power level would increase by 10,000 at the end of each cycle, and thus, they needed to complete fifty cycles to become an Envoy. Enlighters, unlike Hunters, had undergone a bodily transformation, and this fundamentally changed how quickly a person could absorb star energy. Despite this, most cultivators still failed to ever reach the threshold of the Envoy realm, let alone break through.
Each of the Ten Arbiters had been capable of becoming Enlighters long ago, and the reason why they had all delayed their breakthroughs to establish a deeper foundation. The deeper their foundation was, the greater the change after becoming an Enlighter.
After Unseen Light and others had broken through to the Enlighter realm, they had immediately completed twenty four cycles, which meant that they had completed three cycles in one push. After Shang Qing had become an Enlighter, he had completed twenty seven cycles. As for the four Junior Progenitors, each of them had instantly completed thirty cycles, which meant that they had essentially leaped up to a power level of 300,000 from their breakthroughs.
