Top-Tier Perception Starts From Basic Fist Techniques

Across the world, countless people watched the same astonishing scene through live broadcasts. Lu Yuan had stepped into empty space as though solid ground lay beneath his feet.

"He... he is walking on air?"

"Are we certain Lu Yuan isn't using some kind of technological device? Is he really walking through the air using nothing but his own power?"

"Even at Fourth Growth you can't do that. Could Lu Yuan have already broken through to the Fifth Growth?"

The ability to fly had been one of humanity's dreams since the earliest days of civilization. Hot-air balloons, airplanes, and rockets had eventually carried humans into the sky and even beyond it, but all of them depended on machines. The deeper wish had always been far simpler and far more inconceivable: to rise into the sky through one's own power and move freely through the air without relying on anything else.

Even the Extreme Martial Dao had never seemed capable of making that dream a reality. A martial artist could reach Second Growth, Third Growth, or even Fourth Growth, yet true flight remained beyond the limits of the human body—until today.

Somehow, Lu Yuan had broken that limit, standing in midair before the eyes of the entire world.

To the rest of the world, Lu Changsheng's ascension was an incomprehensible miracle. Most assumed it was because he had broken past Fourth Growth, but only Lu Changsheng knew the truth—it was the power of his true body. The power of his true body had projected itself into this world, and he was drawing upon a tiny fraction of that power to support himself in the air.

After stepping into the sky and taking a few steps, Lu Changsheng stopped, and this left everyone confused. Billions of eyes fixed on his suspended figure, and the same question ran through every mind: how could standing motionless in midair possibly stop the Dark Star meteorite?

Then Lu Changsheng spoke, "I, Lu Yuan, founded the Extreme Martial Dao and opened a path into transcendence. But many of you still don't understand what transcendence truly means."

His voice spread across the surroundings with extraordinary clarity, carrying so far that everyone watching the broadcast could hear every word.

"Many believe catching bullets with bare hands, surviving a nuclear explosion with one's fleshly body, or smashing through a ten-thousand-ton warship with a single punch is transcendence.

"But that's not it. Today, I will show you what true transcendence is. This is also the path that all of you will walk in the future."

His words immediately caused an uproar.

"What does he mean? Surviving a nuclear explosion with your own body still isn't transcendence?"

"It has to count as transcendence. He probably means that's only the beginning, not the limit. Lu Yuan is about to show us just how far transcendence can really go."

"Just how far has Lu Yuan gone? Fifth Growth? Sixth Growth?"

The questions spread rapidly, especially among those who practiced the Extreme Martial Dao themselves. Their confusion was greater than anyone else's because they understood better than ordinary people how vast the gap between their own strength and Lu Yuan's truly was.

Some martial artists and evolvers had already reached Second Growth, and with every breakthrough, they had felt as though they were finally drawing closer to Lu Yuan.

Yet whenever he displayed his true strength again, they would discover that the distance between them had hardly narrowed at all.

People had once guessed that Lu Yuan had reached Third Growth, then after witnessing his strength they believed that he had to be at Fourth Growth. But each time, he'd prove that their estimates had fallen far short. Today, Lu Yuan's own words suggested that even Fifth or Sixth Growth were no longer enough to describe his strength.

After all, Lu Yuan had publicly declared that he would deal with the Dark Star meteorite alone. No one believed that a person at even the level of Fifth or Sixth Growth could possibly stop a meteorite capable of destroying human civilization.

"Watch carefully as I show you what absolute power and dominance is like. This is the power you can wield once you reach Seventh Growth!" Lu Changsheng's voice rang through the void.

Within the framework Lu Changsheng had devised for the Extreme Martial Dao, Seventh Growth corresponded to the Deity Transformation Realm.

However, it remained a theoretical stage for now. Reaching it through the Extreme Martial Dao itself would require an enormous amount of accumulation, and even Lu Changsheng did not know exactly what was necessary before someone could truly reach Seventh Growth.

Lu Changsheng himself was still only at the Fourth Growth in this world. His true body, however, was already an Earthly Saint who had condensed a Dao Body, giving it power comparable to the Deity Transformation layer. That was precisely why he could demonstrate the Seventh Growth despite not having reached it through the Extreme Martial Dao.

As the founder of this path, he wanted the people of this world to see for themselves what awaited them at its higher levels. And all he had to do was draw upon the power of his true body.

"Dao Body!" Lu Changsheng shouted. Instantly, his consciousness seemed to pierce through the boundaries of this world. Across that immeasurable distance, he saw his true body sitting inside a secret chamber of the Secret World Pavilion.

A faint smile appeared on its face. The next moment, a familiar and terrifying power descended into this world.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Lu Changsheng released the power of his Dao Body, and a ten-thousand-zhang figure manifested behind him, rising so high that it seemed to blot out the heavens and obscure the sun. At the same time, the surrounding space collapsed beneath its power, shattering piece by piece, leaving behind patches of pitch-black nothingness in its wake.

This world simply could not withstand such a level of power. The highest level of power it could normally support was only the Dao Foundation Realm, while a Dao Body belonged to an Earthly Saint—a level of power that gave off a much higher energy response.

In fact, the difference between the Dao Foundation Realm and the Earthly Saint was so vast that, if Lu Changsheng truly unleashed his power without restraint, he could shatter the entire world.

That was the incredible might of an Earthly Saint. In some secret worlds, a being at this level would make him an existence whose power was great enough to overturn heaven and earth.

As the Dao Body manifested, its overwhelming pressure descended upon the entire capital of the Jade Dragon Kingdom, and people collapsed to their knees one after another.

This was far more than mere physical pressure. It was a suffocating aura that crushed their spirits and weighed directly upon their souls, imposing an absolute suppression on their very existence. People reacted on pure instinct, recognizing the presence of an existence that towered far above them, while a primal, uncontrollable terror bubbled up from the deepest depths of their hearts.

"Wh-What kind of power is that? Is this Lu Yuan's true strength?"

"Seventh Growth! Lu Yuan said this is the power you get when you reach Seventh Growth. This is absolutely horrifying!"

"With power like this, no one would ever dare stand against him."

"Look at the sky! Even space itself can't withstand his power. It's collapsing around him! How could Lu Yuan possibly have reached Seventh Growth?"

"It's a miracle. This is truly a miracle!"

The entire world was shaken. And the phenomenon was not limited to the capital of the Jade Dragon Kingdom. No matter where they were, people who raised their heads toward the sky could see that massive Dao Body towering above the world.

Standing high in the sky, Lu Changsheng raised one hand. Behind him, his Dao Body moved with him, gathering its immense power into a single palm.

Whoosh!

The palm surged upward and expanded at a terrifying rate. Larger and larger it grew until, in the blink of an eye, it seemed to cover the entire starry sky.

Across the world, people raised their heads and found that the stars had disappeared from view. All they could see was that unimaginably large palm stretching across the heavens, and instantly, one phrase surfaced in their minds: Absolute power and dominance.

There was no better way to describe what they were witnessing. This was the power Lu Yuan had promised to show them, power great enough to reach beyond the world itself and seize the stars from the heavens. The sheer might contained within that palm was almost impossible to comprehend. If it struck with its full strength, even a celestial body could be shattered.

Soon, the palm grew too large for anyone on the ground to grasp its true scale with the naked eye. Satellites and astronomical observatories, however, continued to track it. And the images they transmitted left the entire world speechless.