A thunderous roar split the sky as a bolt of lightning descended without warning.
Xu Yuan, caught completely off guard, was struck by the bolt.
Back on Douluo Continent, Xu Yuan had casually activated the three domains he now displayed.
The fusion of the three domains—his essence, spirit, and vitality—allowed him to seize control of heaven and earth. Whether it was Douluo Planet, controlled by its plane master, the Abyss, or even the demon plane without a master, Xu Yuan had employed this method before.
In the Abyss, he had taken it further; his powers were fully formed, and his inner realm replaced these domains entirely.
But fundamentally, the principle remained unchanged.
Thus, Xu Yuan naturally assumed this technique wouldn't provoke retaliation from the plane itself.
To his surprise, merely activating the three domains triggered an immediate backlash from the Holy Demon Continent.
"Does the lightning tribulation of this Holy Demon Continent get so lonely that it strikes down anyone who breaks the rules as soon as they're found?"
If Xu Yuan remembered correctly, neither the demons nor the human cultivators of this continent faced any form of tribulation in their cultivation.
So, was the tribulation just feeling neglected?
After inwardly grumbling, Xu Yuan braced himself against the first bolt of lightning.
Long Xingyu, who had been preparing to strike again, retreated further into the air to avoid collateral damage.
What was going on?
Having lived on the Holy Demon Continent his entire life, Long Xingyu had never seen a lightning tribulation before.
He couldn't believe that this outsider could provoke the wrath of heaven and earth.
What did he do?
By all accounts, the Holy Demon Continent was highly accommodating to outsiders. Knights could summon partners using summoning magic, even calling creatures from other planes. And then there were the demons.
The demons had never faced any retaliation from the heavens.
In fact, on this continent, the demons seemed to have an inherent advantage.
No human, regardless of who they were, could break through one million spiritual power because doing so would result in ascending to godhood and becoming part of heaven and earth.
However, the demons could surpass one million spiritual power without fear of merging with heaven and earth. The last and most powerful Demon Emperor, Feng Xiu, ascended to godhood at one million spiritual power.
Given all this, Long Xingyu was even more puzzled by Xu Yuan being struck by lightning.
Hadn't this person simply unleashed his own power?
Did his strength provoke the anger of heaven and earth?
Or was his method somehow harmful to the natural order?
While Long Xingyu pondered, Xu Yuan gritted his teeth and endured the lightning tribulation.
The tribulation on the Holy Demon Continent was unlike any he had faced before.
"This really hurts."
At this moment, Xu Yuan's body was fused with the entirety of his domain. The coverage of the three domains constituted his true self.
Thus, the damage inflicted by the tribulation had transformed into pure energy.
Long Xingyu felt no confusion about this.
On the Holy Demon Continent, once a cultivator's spiritual power surpassed ten thousand and reached the seventh rank, they gained an elemental body. This not only significantly reduced physical damage but also distributed all harm evenly.
"No wonder this is a plane where ascending to godhood grants God King-level power—the intensity of the tribulation is also incredibly high," Xu Yuan thought to himself.
He stared at the thunderclouds forming above, his eyes flickering.
The first bolt of lightning had come without warning. He wasn't sure if this was the culmination of the Holy Demon Continent's pent-up tribulation system.
Now, the second bolt was delayed, seemingly gathering energy to form a thundercloud before unleashing elemental force.
"Lightning tribulation..."
Xu Yuan gazed at the tribulation above, deep in thought.
He wondered whether this place could trigger a heavenly calamity.
Such a powerful tribulation might actually amplify the calamity's power.
Xu Yuan tightened his grip on the spear in his hand.
To avoid any mishaps this time, he hadn't brought any other soul spirits except for Jue.
Jue's existence was unique compared to other soul spirits. If forced to differentiate, Jue was more like a life-bound soul spirit, bound to Xu Yuan's blood, spirit, and vitality. Moreover, Jue had merged into Xu Yuan's martial soul, becoming the core of his three fused martial souls and occupying a significant portion of his soul power.
Since Xu Yuan's consciousness alone had traveled here, his spiritual origin remained on Douluo Planet, making it impossible to bring other soul spirits over.
However, Jue's unique existence allowed him to follow Xu Yuan through his essence, spirit, vitality, and replicated martial soul characteristics.
The spear in Xu Yuan's hand emitted a low hum, seemingly responding to his thoughts.
Though artificially created as a soul spirit, Jue was still technically a soul beast and thus bound by the heavenly calamity.
If Jue were to become a transcendent divine artifact—the strongest weapon-type martial soul in existence—then he could no longer remain shackled by the so-called heavenly calamity.
Heavenly calamity?
Break it all!
"Do you wish to undergo the tribulation?" Xu Yuan murmured softly.
Looking at the lightning tribulation above, Xu Yuan didn't hesitate and immediately allowed Jue's actions.
The spear in his hand instantly transformed into a swirling mass of chaotic five-element light.
Based on the five elements, the light evolved into an even higher form of power, containing the essence of devouring.
The spear tip seemed to expand infinitely, transforming into a massive black hole vortex that devoured the second bolt of lightning descending upon them.
Long Xingyu continued retreating.
He didn't want to be accidentally caught in the tribulation.
Xu Yuan glanced at Long Xingyu and paid him no further attention.
Today's sparring session had ended.
It was originally meant to gauge the strength of cultivators on the Holy Demon Continent. Even after just a brief exchange, Xu Yuan already had a general understanding.
With his current strength, he stood no chance against Long Haochen.
Thus, he needed to seize this opportunity presented by the tribulation!
Perhaps, to truly challenge Long Haochen in the end, Jue would need to make a breakthrough and ascend to become a transcendent divine artifact.
The spear in Xu Yuan's hand emitted a resonant hum.
This sound spread far and wide.
Long Xingyu's pupils contracted sharply, and his gaze seemed fixated solely on the spear in Xu Yuan's hand.
What kind of spear was this?
Its intent was chilling, its momentum overwhelming, as if it sought to devour the entire world.
The imagery of encompassing everything erupted from this single spear.
In Long Xingyu's mind, a shadow of the spear emerged.
Not only Long Xingyu, but everyone near Odin Mountain heard the spear's hum and saw a phantom spear appear in their minds.
Around the spear, the five elemental energies intertwined, giving rise to thunder, spirit, and vitality. It then projected space, even appearing to pierce through time, etching this spear's mark deeply into their memories.
It was as if this spear had existed in their memories long ago.
An unparalleled divine spear!
Long Xingyu took a deep breath, his gaze heavy as he stared at the spear exuding peerless brilliance.
He could affirm that this spear was no less powerful than the Thrones within the Knight Hall.
Within the Knight Hall, there were six Divine Thrones. Aside from the Divine Throne of Eternity and Creation, the other five Divine Thrones were on par with this divine spear.
These five Divine Thrones were said to be left behind by gods, each representing a deity. The Divine Throne of Eternity and Creation, however, represented the Creator God.
The spear in Xu Yuan's hand gave Long Xingyu an intuitive sense—it had already reached the level of the Divine Throne of Doom and Slaughter he once wielded.
No, perhaps it was even stronger.
Xu Yuan focused on enduring the tribulation.
Though he had weathered countless lightning tribulations, this one was exceptionally difficult.
He felt that the intensity of the tribulation on the Holy Demon Continent was comparable to a full-force attack from a Main God.
Each bolt of lightning made it extremely challenging for Xu Yuan to respond.
However, a tribulation was still a tribulation, and the key to overcoming it lay in the vitality it contained.
With countless experiences under his belt, Xu Yuan easily identified the critical nodes and used Jue to devour the energy of the second bolt.
---
From this point, Jue's cultivation broke through to 200,000 years.
The tribulation for 200,000 years descended.
"Even in another universe, the mechanism of the heavenly calamity still follows."
At this moment, Xu Yuan was almost certain of the essence behind the calamity's activation.
It was a seed planted directly into the life essence of every soul beast.
Within the life essence of every soul beast, the laws of Douluo Planet had sown the seeds of the heavenly calamity.
No matter how far they fled—even to places beyond the reach of the Dragon God—they would still trigger the calamity upon breaking through.
Lightning and calamity intertwined.
The intensity of a 200,000-year calamity was far inferior to this tribulation, so it was quickly absorbed without causing much disturbance.
The third bolt of lightning descended.
Again, it was devoured.
The fourth bolt, devoured.
The tribulation for 300,000 years descended.
Still, it had no noticeable impact on the tribulation's intensity.
Then, the fifth through ninth bolts consecutively pushed Jue's cultivation to 400,000 years.
The third calamity descended.
Three consecutive calamities amplified the tribulation, with the aura of destruction growing denser.
"Is it not over yet?"
After enduring nine more bolts, even Xu Yuan was surprised. The thunderclouds continued to gather, showing no signs of stopping.
In fact, after the initial nine bolts, the power within the thunderclouds was nearly depleted. Yet, the clouds reformed, as if reigniting the tribulation mechanism, gathering once more before unleashing another bolt.
Now, after another nine bolts, the thunderclouds gathered again.
With a brief respite, Xu Yuan contemplated the source of the tribulation.
"Is it because I'm seizing control of heaven and earth?"
But wasn't that normal?
Any cultivator, upon reaching a certain level, sought to control the forces of heaven and earth.
Was this something to be wary of?
"Could the Holy Demon Continent possibly have sensitive skin?"
As Xu Yuan grumbled, he grew more cautious.
He realized that the Holy Demon Continent might indeed have such a mechanism.
Upon reaching one million spiritual power and ascending to godhood, one would be assimilated by heaven and earth.
How many gods had this plane already assimilated?
Who discovered this mechanism?
Could it be that, relying solely on the intuition of 990,000 spiritual power, none of the strong individuals throughout history ever took the ultimate gamble?
When their lifespans reached their limits, did they ever attempt to seize a sliver of survival?
Why did heaven and earth assimilate gods?
Was it because gods truly had the potential to incorporate the entire universe?
Setting aside the initial reasons for assimilation, could it be that this plane, having assimilated so many gods, was itself controlled by those gods?
Assimilation must have its own significance.
Take, for example, those Divine Thrones.
The Divine Throne of Doom and Slaughter—was it not the case that a Doom and Slaughter God appeared long ago, ascended to godhood, and became the embodiment of apocalypse and slaughter within the laws of heaven and earth?
Under the influence of those laws, a Divine Throne condensed?
There was no time to think further—the next round of tribulation had already descended.
"Jue, continue enduring the tribulation!"
The second round of nine bolts provided Jue with the foundation to trigger a 500,000-year calamity.
At Xu Yuan's command, another layer of calamity merged into this trial.
Subsequently, the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth rounds—totaling thirty-six bolts of tribulation—were devoured by Jue, pushing his cultivation to 600,000 years.
At 600,000 years, the fluctuations emanating from Jue shook the very fabric of space. The area where Xu Yuan stood seemed on the verge of collapsing into spatial turbulence.
Long Xingyu retreated further.
He swallowed hard, withdrawing rapidly, grateful that he had earlier led Xu Yuan away from Odin Town.
At this moment, he fervently hoped that the Federation was rushing to provide support.
With such a massive tribulation, the Federation must have already been alerted. It was just that their response was too slow.
Such a colossal tribulation, continuously fueled by that madman.
Feeding?
Devouring?
Fattening it up before consuming it?
Long Xingyu understood Xu Yuan's intent, but precisely because of this, he grew even more fearful.
A madman like this—if he failed, the disaster he brewed would be catastrophic.
A tribulation powerful enough to swallow him—if it spread uncontrollably, the resulting devastation would be incalculable.
"Hurry up! Aren't you stationed nearby?"
Long Xingyu wished he could physically drag the holder of the Divine Throne of Wisdom and Spirit, 'Xu Yuan,' here faster.
"The tribulation at 800,000 years has indeed intensified."
Xu Yuan panted, sensing the combined power of the tribulation fused with the 800,000-year calamity. His eyes flickered with a hint of fear.
He knew that part of the reason it was so terrifying was due to the multiplicative effect of the previous calamities.
"Jue, is it enough?"
Xu Yuan communicated with Jue.
"It's enough!"
"Then charge forward with all your might and overcome the tribulation for 900,000 years in one go!"
Xu Yuan seemed to experience a final surge of energy as his wounds healed completely. The three domains contracted, enveloping his body.
More accurately, the domains transformed into the shape of his body.
Boom!
With the integration of the 900,000-year tribulation, the power of the lightning doubled instantly.
A single bolt sent Xu Yuan crashing to the ground. The spear hummed loudly, his hands trembling uncontrollably as the lightning surged through his body.
Even with his affinity for lightning, Xu Yuan felt the bone-deep intent of destruction.
"The Dragon God was truly generous to the soul beasts, investing so heavily in this."
"Xu Yuan, you've finally arrived!"
Beside him, Long Xingyu sensed a presence rapidly approaching. Turning back, he saw a radiant golden light speeding toward them and immediately sighed in relief.
He looked at the golden orb, his expression tinged with reproach.
Xu Yuan, in the midst of enduring the tribulation, couldn't help but tremble slightly as he gripped the spear.
He heard it.
Who?
Xu Yuan turned his head, looking toward the direction of the golden orb.
Through the radiant golden glow, he discerned the figure within the orb.
At this moment, the wielder of the Divine Throne of Wisdom and Spirit—'Xu Yuan'—was staring at Xu Yuan.
At this moment, the two Xu Yuans locked gazes.
An indescribable sensation arose.
'Xu Yuan' looked at Xu Yuan, studying his face, then glanced at the intricately patterned spear in Xu Yuan's hand.
He stopped beside Long Xingyu, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"My son has arrived."
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