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"Thud!"
As his final step landed firmly, Luo Nan came to a halt with pinpoint precision on the one hundred and thirty-sixth step.
He did not ascend a single step further. It was not that he was unable to, but simply that there was no need.
The very instant Luo Nan's feet planted firmly on that one hundred and thirty-sixth step...
"Hummm—!"
"Top-tier Trial Seven, First Trial—Traversing the Light of the Sea God—Complete."
"Trial Reward: Spirit Power level increased by one rank!"
As this majestic voice faded, a massive pillar of golden light suddenly shot forth from the Sea God's Temple atop Sea God Mountain, instantly enveloping Luo Nan within it.
This golden energy was of absolute purity; it surged into Luo Nan's body without the slightest obstruction.
Transforming into the purest form of spirit power, it frantically nourished every part of his body—his limbs, his bones, and his meridians.
Luo Nan closed his eyes, sensing the spirit power within him swelling wildly, like a volcanic eruption.
He had been stuck at the peak of Rank 97 for quite some time.
At the realm of a Super Douluo, advancing even a single rank requires a massive amount of spirit power—a feat as difficult as ascending to the heavens.
Yet now, under the direct infusion of the Sea God's Light, that solid barrier between ranks proved as fragile as paper; it was instantly shattered with overwhelming force!
*Rumble—!*
A terrifying pressure, beyond the power of words to describe, suddenly erupted from within Luo Nan!
The intensity of this pressure was such that it instantly forced back the dense Sea God's Light surrounding him by several meters!
High above, the clear clouds were instantly torn apart by the shockwave of this aura, creating a massive void in the sky.
Rank 98!
In this moment, Luo Nan's spirit power officially crossed the threshold from Rank 97 into the terrifying realm of Rank 98!
"This... this is..."
At that very moment, the other Guardians of the Sacred Pillars—who had just finished their duties and rushed over to witness the trial of the young man suspected of facing the "Top-Tier Seven Trials"—had just arrived at the foot of Sea God Mountain.
When they felt that cataclysmic, terrifying pressure sweeping down from the mountainside...
The seven Titled Douluo—including Sea Dragon and Sea Horse—were frozen in place, as if struck by lightning.
"Rank 98?! That aura... it is absolutely the presence of a Rank 98 Peak Douluo!"
Sea Dragon Douluo, the strongest among them, exclaimed in shock, his eyes bulging as if they might pop out of their sockets.
They had assumed that, while this young man possessed extraordinary talent and had triggered the Top-Tier Seven Trials...
...his youth meant he was likely only a Spirit Douluo, or at most, had just barely reached the realm of a Titled Douluo.
Yet, who could have imagined that this young man—who appeared to be barely in his early twenties—was actually a hidden Super Douluo!
Moreover, after completing the first trial, his strength had skyrocketed straight to Rank 98!
Rank 98!
Across the entire Douluo Continent, this placed him among the handful of invincible beings standing at the very pinnacle of power!
Standing at the foot of the mountain, Bo Saixi looked up at Luo Nan, who was bathed in a pillar of golden light; her deep, expressive eyes were filled with unconcealable shock.
"Rank 98... To think he has already reached such a level..."
A tempest of astonishment raged within Bo Saixi's heart.
She had an overwhelming premonition: without borrowing the power of the Sea God, relying solely on her own cultivation, she was likely no longer a match for the young man before her.
Even here on Sea God Island—even with the ability to channel the Sea God's divine power...
Facing a peak Rank 98 Douluo who possessed such terrifying physical prowess and mysterious hidden depths, she might not even be guaranteed a victory over Luo Nan...
"Truly, a hero emerges from the youth..."
Bo Saixi let out a long sigh, her tone filled with profound emotion.
She recalled her own youth; although she had been hailed as a once-in-a-century genius on Sea God Island...
She had still been far from this level at Luo Nan's age.
This young man was more than ten or even a hundred times stronger than she had been at that stage of her life!
Bo Saixi turned to look at the seven Sacred Pillar Guardians beside her—who were likewise too stunned for words—and her expression grew extremely solemn.
"You all saw it, didn't you?"
Bo Saixi's voice resonated in the ears of the seven guardians. "Although, for some unknown reason, he failed to directly inherit the Sea God's divine position—receiving only the 'Top-Tier Seven Trials' instead..."
"...judging by the terrifying potential and strength he has demonstrated, he will undoubtedly be able to ascend to a true divine position through his own power in the future!"
Upon hearing this high praise from Poseidon's High Priestess, Sea Dragon Douluo and the others exchanged glances before nodding in deep agreement.
"The High Priestess is right. Reaching Rank 98 at such a young age defies all convention in the Spirit Master world."
"His future is limitless," Sea Horse Douluo remarked with genuine admiration.
The others nodded in succession, fully agreeing with Poseidon's High Priestess.
...
Before the shock of the first trial had fully subsided, Luo Nan wasted no time in commencing the subsequent trials.
For Luo Nan—who had already reached Rank 98 and possessed a physique comparable to a deity's—the early trials of Sea God Island were truly as effortless as a vacation.
The Second Trial: Breaking the Ring-Sea Blockade.
The objective was to cross to the opposite shore by breaking through a blockade of sharks—led personally by the 100,000-year-old Demon Soul Great White Shark King, Xiao Bai—without killing a single sea spirit beast.
Faced with this seemingly impossible task, Luo Nan did not even need to employ his spirit abilities.
Relying solely on the terrifying pressure of his Rank 98 cultivation and the aura of superiority inherited from an Ancient Dragon King, he forcibly carved a path through the Ring Sea.
Under the crushing weight of Luo Nan's aura, those ferocious Demon Soul Great White Sharks were rendered unable to even twitch.
They could only watch helplessly as he strolled to the opposite shore as if taking a leisurely walk in a garden. He passed with ease.
The Third Trial: Tidal Body Tempering.
The requirement was to endure the immense weight of deep-sea sunken silver and the relentless pounding of violent waves, day and night, while standing atop a sunken silver pillar.
This was originally a brutal ordeal designed to temper the candidate's physical body; however, for Luo Nan—whose physique rivaled a divine artifact—
...the violent tidal onslaught felt like nothing more than a comprehensive, deep-tissue massage.
He even managed to enjoy a few comfortable naps atop the sunken silver pillar, successfully outlasting the trial's duration. Although the process had been ridiculously easy, the rewards from these two trials brought Luo Nan a genuine, pleasant surprise.
The reward for the second trial was the purification of the "Light Essence" within his first Martial Soul, the Golden Sacred Dragon.
The reward for the third trial was a massive enhancement of that very same Light Essence.
For a long time, there had been an issue within Luo Nan's body.
The quality of his second Martial Soul—the Dark Demon Dragon—had consistently surpassed that of his first, the Golden Sacred Dragon.
In the early days, this disparity had even caused significant problems, though he had eventually resolved the issue through the use of a Yin-Yang Soul Core.
Now, however, following the baptism of the Sea God's Light and the Tidal Body Tempering, combined with the direct infusion of power from the divine trial rewards...
...