Top-Tier Perception Starts From Basic Fist Techniques

After a short moment of consideration, Lu Changsheng decided to try shattering the Martial Dao with his current level of strength.

Boom!

He activated the Extreme Fourth Body, and his thirty-chi form was restored. Then, he gathered his full strength and struck directly at the Martial Dao.

The Martial Dao did not exist in any particular location. It permeated the entire secret world, invisible and intangible to ordinary people. Only those who had reached a certain level could sense its existence, or even make contact with it at all.

Lu Changsheng had obviously reached that level. And when his fist struck the Martial Dao, it shook violently throughout the void.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Martial Dao trembled violently. It was, after all, still newly completed. Before Lu Changsheng could capitalize on the damage, however, an immense stream of mysterious power surged into it, and the Martial Dao quickly stabilized.

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Lu Changsheng struck again and again, and each strike shook the Martial Dao violently. But no matter how fiercely he attacked, that mysterious power continued restoring whatever damage he caused.

As this went on, Lu Changsheng could not help but feel a sinking sensation in his heart. He stopped attacking. He had been so focused on obtaining the Martial Dao fragments that he had overlooked something important.

More than ten billion people lived in this secret world, and information could spread across the globe almost instantly. And now that the Extreme Martial Dao had been made public, people everywhere were beginning to cultivate it. Even children were practicing its basic methods.

Their collective recognition and conviction continuously reinforced the Martial Dao. Since more than ten billion people were sustaining it at once, the power flowing into it was virtually inexhaustible, making it extremely difficult to shatter.

Of course, for Lu Changsheng, shattering the Martial Dao was possible, but relying on his current level of strength alone meant he would have to spend an enormous amount of time going at it.

If I rely on my own strength, I'll have to keep accumulating power until I'm strong enough to overwhelm everything sustaining the Martial Dao. That could take three years, five years, perhaps even decades... There's no way I'm going to wait that long, so my only realistic option is to borrow the power of my true body... Good thing I don't have to wait too long for that.

There were only about four months left before he reached the three-year mark in this secret world. At that point, this world and the Immortal Martial World would draw closest to one another, allowing his true body to project a portion of its power across the boundary—the power of his Earthly Saint Dao Body!

The window would not remain open for long, but Lu Changsheng did not need much time. Once his true body's power had entered this world, he was confident he could shatter the Martial Dao, seize its fragments, and leave.

Having made the decision to wait, Lu Changsheng crossed the sea and returned to shore. He ignored everyone who tried to approach him and traveled directly back to the capital of the Jade Dragon Kingdom.

Once there, he entered secluded cultivation and refused all visitors. There was nothing else he needed to do now; he only had to wait for the remaining four months to pass.

While Lu Changsheng secluded himself from the outside world, the Jade Dragon Kingdom was anything but quiet.

His victory had sent morale soaring. Not only had he destroyed three of the Flame Dragon Federation's warships, but the remaining fleet had also been forced to withdraw, giving the Jade Dragon Kingdom a much-needed chance to recover. After the crushing pressure of the war, the entire kingdom was now swept up in celebration.

The Flame Dragon Federation, on the other hand, felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over them. They never could have imagined that a carefully devised military operation would be ruined by a single person.

This was a devastating setback, but the Federation's upper ranks were not disheartened. On the contrary, they were excitedly awaiting the results of an experiment.

Deep within a desert region of the Flame Dragon Federation, a secret weapons project had finally reached its most critical stage after years of research. If successful, the weapon they had developed could change the balance of power across the entire world.

Inside a distant command post, a researcher reported, "General Sheng, all preparations are complete. We can begin the test."

"Good. Begin." General Sheng pressed the start button.

Boom! Boom!

A thunderous explosion shook the desert. Far in the distance, an enormous mushroom cloud surged into the sky as a terrifying shockwave swept outward across the barren landscape. Even from the safety of the command post, the ground trembled violently beneath their feet.

Everyone was instantly shaken by the sheer destructive power they had just witnessed.

"Is this weapon really so powerful?"

"Hahaha! With this weapon, who in the world could possibly stand against us?"

"The Flame Dragon Federation's greatest era is about to begin!"

General Sheng burst into laughter, and the researchers around him could barely contain their excitement. After years of painstaking work, Project Zero had finally succeeded.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Just then, the telephone rang, and General Sheng quickly answered.

—General Sheng, what were the results of Project Zero?

"It was a success," he replied.

—Good. Produce another "Zero" as quickly as possible, and make it as powerful as possible. Ideally, it should be completed within three months. The situation has changed, and we may need to use it soon.

The General was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "I'll get it done."

He frowned as he set down the receiver. He had spent all this time isolated in the desert overseeing Project Zero, so he knew little about what else had happened within the Flame Dragon Federation.

What could have changed so drastically that the upper ranks were already considering using Zero? He wondered.

Whatever the reason, his orders were clear. Now that Project Zero had succeeded, they already possessed everything they needed to reproduce it. The next step was to build another Zero within three months, this time with even greater destructive power.

***

At the headquarters of the Extreme Martial Dao Center in the capital of Jade Dragon Kingdom, Lu Changsheng suddenly opened his eyes.

Huh? That fluctuation just now... Did the energy level response of this secret world increase?

Lu Changsheng's awareness was immensely powerful, to the point where he could sense changes in the overall energy level of a secret world. And what he had just sensed therefore came as a genuine surprise.

A world's energy level response represented the highest level of power it could support, and increasing that limit was extremely difficult. When Lu Changsheng first entered this secret world, its energy level response had only barely reached the Dao Foundation Realm.

Just now, he clearly felt that the energy level had risen to the peak of the Dao Foundation Realm. Although it had not crossed into the Golden Core Realm yet, advancing from the early Dao Foundation Realm to its peak was still a terrifying jump.

Lu Changsheng furrowed his brows. What's going on?

For the energy level response to rise so suddenly, something significant must have appeared in this world. His first thought was that someone might have developed an extraordinarily powerful new weapon.

That was entirely possible in a technological civilization. A major technological breakthrough could produce a tremendous leap in destructive power almost overnight, which in turn could raise the upper limit of power that existed within the world.

Still, Lu Changsheng was not particularly worried. The world's energy level response had only risen to peak Dao Foundation Realm, and his own strength at Fourth Growth was already comparable to that level. More importantly, with the durability of his current physique, even an attack at peak Dao Foundation Realm would find it extremely difficult to kill him.

Regardless, he wanted to know what had caused such a sudden change, so he contacted Senior Sister Xiang.

"Have the Jade Dragon Kingdom investigate this. I want to know exactly what happened."

By now, his position was completely different from when he had first arrived in this world. He was publicly recognized as the founder of the Extreme Martial Dao and the man who had ushered humanity into the age of evolution. His influence extended far beyond the Jade Dragon Kingdom, and no one within the kingdom would dare disregard a request from him.

After making the arrangements, Lu Changsheng closed his eyes and resumed his secluded cultivation.

Whatever had caused the world's energy level to rise, he had no intention of changing his plans over it. He only needed to hold out for a little more than four months. By then, his true body's power would project into this world, and everything he would be able to leave.