Chapter 121 - Tribulations!

Far away, aboard a massive flying artifact that resembled an ancient flying boat carved from solid quartz, the atmosphere shifted in a matter of moments.

Jade tokens—communication artifacts attuned to specific clan members and sect disciples began shattering in succession. Each one represented a death.

One man stood up, his entire body trembling with grief and shock.

"Lord Sect Leader! M-my sons! Even my daughter-in-law... sob... they’ve died! Lord, please! We need to check what’s happening in that place!"

Leonard, the Sect Leader of the Raging Seas Sect, maintained an Emperor-stage cultivation. His expression was tense, the face of someone weighing impossible choices.

"It seems quite an ominous inheritance was there," he said slowly, "But such deaths are possible. We can’t say if it’s not done by other people. It was a divine inheritance, anyone would lose morals in that situation. Seems like we need to steer the battleship to that side."

He paused, glancing at the horizon where the array’s golden light was faintly visible in the distance.

"I, too, am about to breakthrough to becoming a Sage. I will then pass on the sect leader position and become an ancestor... should I stake my life like this?" He sighed heavily.

But greed will win, as it always does.

He raised his hand, commanding the massive vessel toward the distant fog.

As Cale’s consciousness expanded through the soul harvest, his perception began to pierce the veil separating reality from the abstract.

He could see it now: the faint, shimmering flow of Yin and Yang energy that comprised the structure of this plane.

[Congratulations Host! For cultivating to Mid-Master Stage of cultivation!]

’Here it begins...’ Cale thought, feeling the dual progression activate. His cultivation and soul cultivation were now advancing in perfect synchronization.

[Congratulations Host! For cultivating to Peak-Apex Stage of Soul cultivation!]

[Reward: SOUL SHATTERING STRIKE]

[A powerful soul-attacking technique that concentrates the user’s energy into a single devastating strike, directly damaging the target’s soul. If the target’s soul is sufficiently weak, the attack can shatter it completely, resulting in instant death.]

[The technique can normally be used once per day. Its maximum number of daily uses can be increased by spending Blank Points.]

Cale smiled despite the chaos surrounding him. This was exactly the kind of defensive technique he needed against enemies operating at higher realms. Against Sages and Great Sages who relied heavily on soul-based techniques, this could help a lot.

But then he looked at the upgrade cost and nearly coughed up blood.

[10,000,000 Blank Points to Level Up to LVL.2]

’T-ten million?’ his mind reeled. ’Well, I will definitely get a huge amount after this harvest. Who knows... sigh, let’s not focus on that.’

The next breakthrough came almost immediately;

[Congratulations Host! For cultivating to Peak-Master Stage of cultivation!]

His perception expanded further. His senses became impossibly acute. His body, already phenomenally strong, underwent another round of enhancement; muscles becoming denser, bones becoming stronger, every cell of his being optimizing itself for greater power.

Then the sky changed.

Crack. Crack.

Thunder roared across the heavens like an angry god’s voice.

’Sigh,’ Cale thought with a mixture of resignation and dark amusement. ’Since I’m not in the original world, I have to face this now. Guess the world back has its own benefits, heh.’

The Thorned Lotus—his most powerful defensive artifact flew upward above his head, forming an umbrella-like protective canopy. It began spinning in spirals, building up defensive resonance.

But Cale knew better than to simply defend.

If he couldn’t repel the tribulation completely, he would absorb it instead. Make it part of himself.

Using his Law of Adaptability, he adapted to the incoming electrical energy, synchronizing his body’s frequency with the lightning’s nature.

Using his Law of Understanding, he attempted to comprehend not the lightning element in general, but this specific manifestation above him—this unique tribulation lightning that represented his next realm.

He activated his Law of Lightning, his Law of Fire, channeled Phoenix True Flames, invoked his Law of Self-Restoration to prepare his body for the inevitable trauma, and calculated using his Law of Death, the probability of whether this tribulation would kill him.

If he died, he died. That would simply be his fate.

But what was he if not a breaker of predestined fate?

CRACK.

The entire world flashed white.

A colossal lightning bolt descended from the heavens like divine judgment, striking the Thorned Lotus umbrella with force sufficient to obliterate mountains. The impact was catastrophic, and unlike normal lightning strikes, this was continuous—a relentless deluge of electricity that pushed Cale’s entire body deeper into the earth beneath him.

The pressure was immense. Like being pinned under a waterfall of pure force.

Even his supreme body, tempered by cultivation beyond mortal limits, was being dominated. This was how tribulations worked: the higher your potential, the stronger the trial. And if you endured, you would emerge as the strongest cultivator within your realm.

Cale gritted his teeth and began absorbing the lightning, pulling it into his body and converting it to his own power. It was impossibly difficult like heaven was feeding him through a firehose while his body could only grasp a single spoonful at a time.

The lightning continued, relentless, for ten full minutes.

With each passing second, his body was pushed to its absolute limits. His meridians burned. His core trembled. His very soul was being tested against the tribulation’s judgment.

Finally, with one last massive surge, the final lightning bolt descended.

Cale opened his eyes.

’It’s... it’s done! Hahaha!’

But he didn’t relax. The array still required his attention.

"Seems like because I was already a Grandmaster before and have experienced this, I had it slightly easier," he murmured, relief evident in his voice.

[Congratulations Host! For cultivating to Low-Grandmaster Stage of cultivation!]

[Congratulations Host! For cultivating to Mid-Grandmaster Stage of cultivation!]

Flames erupted around his body as his power surged outward. Being in the Grandmaster realm again provided a strange sense of familiarity and comfort.

Cale projected his consciousness into his mindspace, where his seven soul bodies existed. He distributed the coordination among them, each one working to channel power into Rexa, Emma, and Fiora.

The three women jerked violently as spiritual energy flooded into their bodies—power transferred directly from Cale, refined and purified for their specific cultivation paths.

Rexa’s cultivation surged.

Emma’s magical understanding expanded.

Fiora’s combat instincts sharpened.

Over the next ten minutes, all three advanced simultaneously.

Rexa broke through into Expert Stage.

Emma broke through into Expert Stage.

Fiora broke through into Expert Stage.

Then, Cale channeled even more power, pushing them further.

All three entered Mid-Expert Stage.

Now, they would be capable of defending him against threats.

Across the dimensional fabric separating different sections of the Sword Dao River, Cheon Yuha watched with barely contained excitement.

"What foolish people," she murmured, her eyes gleaming. "Even monks of various sects. Hahah."

Her subordinate approached cautiously. "My lady, are we going there too?"

"Idiot," she replied. "Do you want to go eat the bait too? Can’t your foolish senses see it?" She sighed, shaking her head. "Well, I doubt that. Since that man is the one I saw in the reincarnation lake, he must be..."

She trailed off, her expression becoming complex.

Leonard, standing at the prow of his flying battleship, gazed at the massive fog barrier in the distance. He extended his divine consciousness toward it, attempting to pierce through and sense what lay within.

The fog rejected his every attempt.

"I can’t even enter it with my own divine consciousness," he explained to his assembled sect elders, "Seems like there really is an unimaginable treasure. It’s obvious people will compare it with a world fragment."

Just hearing those words was enough to inflame the desires of every Sage-stage elder present. Their eyes gleamed with greed.

Leonard, accompanied by the Raging Seas Sect’s two Sage-stage ancestors, flew toward the array barrier at maximum speed. They began breaking through the outer walls, each barrier crumbling under their combined assault.

[Congratulations Host! For cultivating to Peak-Grandmaster Stage of cultivation!]

’Good,’ Cale thought with satisfaction. ’Now I’m at my original realm. From now on, it gets harder. Well, I’m all in for it.’

The pace of the harvest was accelerating. More cultivators were entering the array. More souls were being absorbed.

He closed his eyes and made the Thorned Lotus umbrella begin spinning again.

Another tribulation was coming.