Looking at the charred, shattered, and lifeless ruins atop the peak, an indescribable and complex emotion welled up in Yu Yuanchen's heart. There was the relief of surviving a catastrophe, the heartache over the destruction of that precious token, but more than that, a faint sense of desolation and regret.
A super soul beast that had defied the fate of its bloodline to reach one hundred thousand years, a defiant soul with an unyielding will who dared to strike at the heavens—in the end, it still fell under the ruthless judgment of the Heavenly Dao. He admired that indomitable will; despite their mutual calculations, the experience of standing side-by-side against the might of the heavens had left a mark on his heart. Now that everything had come to naught, he could not help but feel melancholy.
"In the end... you still couldn't defy the heavens, could you..." He sighed softly, preparing to step forward to inspect the remains, to see if it was as bad as he feared—that not even a soul bone had been left behind.
Just then, a sudden change occurred!
A faint yet incredibly pure glimmer of light, radiating a soft halo, drifted slowly from the charred remains. Within that light, one could vaguely see a miniature, crystal clear phantom of the Thunderclap Nethervine—it was its soul origin after transformation! However, this soul was now extremely dim, like a candle in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment.
"Human..." A thought, weak to the point of exhaustion, entered Yu Yuanchen's mind, carrying infinite weariness and a trace of relief. "Thank you... for your final assistance... If not for those two layers of barriers... weakening a sliver of the final thunder tribulation's destructive will... this soul of mine, having just transformed... would not have survived..."
Yu Yuanchen was stunned, then suddenly realized. So, his final actions had not been entirely in vain!
The soul continued to transmit its thoughts with a calm that had seen through life and death: "My shell is destroyed... this remnant soul is like duckweed without roots... it will dissipate in a few days... Grateful for your help in crossing the tribulation... and for reaching out at the final moment... I am willing to gift you this remnant soul and my final foundation..."
"I will... sacrifice myself to you!"
As the words fell, before Yu Yuanchen could respond, the soul's halo suddenly ignited! A vast and pure power of soul origin, mixed with a trace of incredibly noble, thin bloodline originating from the ancient Thunder God, as well as the divine radiance condensed after its own transformation, surged toward Yu Yuanchen like a hundred rivers returning to the sea!
This was the sacrifice of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast! Unlike hunting, this was a voluntary, unreserved gift from the soul beast!
Yu Yuanchen only felt a warm and vast power instantly envelop him; his soul felt as if it were soaking in a hot spring, bringing an unprecedented sense of comfort and fulfillment.
The energy of the hundred-thousand-year soul ring merged gently into his body, binding tightly with his martial soul without any sense of rejection! His soul power began to surge wildly, breaking through the shackles of level seventy and climbing all the way to the peak of level seventy-two! However, most of its hundred-thousand-year cultivation had been worn away by the heavenly tribulation, leaving only the essence of its origin; otherwise, it would have been enough to push Yu Yuanchen to at least level seventy-five.
At the same time, the Thunder God bloodline and divinity of the Thunderclap Nethervine also merged into his body. This power met the law imprint condensed from his own "Thunder God Power," seemingly triggering a resonance; they blended like milk and water, making his own bloodline and that law imprint become more solidified and deep.
At this moment, the seal seemed to be triggered by something in the dark, changing slowly once again. Unfortunately, it seemed to be missing something, and the change stopped, though it appeared slightly more majestic than before, and its luster was brighter.
However, because the body of the Thunderclap Nethervine had been completely destroyed in the thunder tribulation, it could not produce a normal soul bone. But its most pure divine origin, which had the highest affinity with thunder, was attracted by the dragon spear in Yu Yuanchen's hand—the one condensed from his sixth soul skill "Thunderous Armament" and infused with a massive amount of tribulation lightning energy!
"Hum--!"
The dragon spear emitted a joyful vibration, actively breaking free from Yu Yuanchen's control and hovering in the air. That portion of divine origin, as if having found the most suitable vessel, poured entirely into the dragon spear! The purple-gold spear body erupted with brilliant divine light; the naturally formed dragon patterns on it seemed to come alive, becoming more complex and profound. At the tip of the spear, a point of nine-colored thunder light, condensed to the extreme, quietly gathered, and the pressure it emitted caused the surrounding space to distort slightly!
The light gradually faded, and the dragon spear slowly descended, being grasped by Yu Yuanchen once again. The moment it touched his hand, a feeling of bloodline connection, as if it were an extension of his own arm, welled up! This was no longer a simple soul skill creation, but had transformed into a real external soul bone that was bound to his life and possessed growth potential—[External Soul Bone: Thunder Dragon Spear]!
And an even greater surprise came from the changes within his body.
The trace of merged Thunder God bloodline, though thin, was of an extremely high status. After merging into his body, it directly caused the blood throughout his entire body to boil! On a deeper level, stimulated and nourished by this high-level bloodline, his bone marrow actually began a violent transformation spontaneously! The step of "tempering bone marrow," which usually required countless efforts and time and was extremely dangerous, had been completed as if by natural order in this fortuitous encounter!
Bone marrow is the source of blood production and the root of bloodline power! The transformation of bone marrow meant that his entire body's bloodline power would undergo a qualitative leap, becoming purer and more vast, with his recovery power and life force reaching a terrifying degree!
What surprised him even more was that during the bone marrow transformation, as his bloodline power merged with that trace of divine blood, he had a flash of inspiration. His spiritual power and bloodline power, which had always been difficult to fuse actively, now naturally showed signs of merging! Although it was only an initial contact, it opened a brand new door for him! This meant that he could finally start attempting the most mysterious and dangerous task—skull tempering!
Thus, relying on the fusion of spiritual power and soul power already achieved by his fourth soul skill "Thunder God Power," plus the fusion of soul power and bloodline power, and now the initial fusion of spiritual power and bloodline power, he had built an initial cycle and connection between his essence (bloodline power), qi (soul power), and spirit (spiritual power)!
"Essence, qi, and spirit... the three can now be initially fused..." A gleam of unprecedented intensity erupted in Yu Yuanchen's eyes. "With the integration of 'Thunder God Power,' I might be able to completely transform my own soul power into a brand new power of a higher essence, one that fuses the origins of essence, qi, and spirit!"
His thoughts raced, and combining his own path with the thunder attribute, he named this hypothesized power Thunder True Essence.
This power was not mere soul power, nor was it pure bloodline or spiritual power, but a supreme thunder energy that possessed both material and energy characteristics after the three were fused and sublimated, containing the true meaning of destruction and creation, and capable of converting into various properties at will! This would be the foundation for him to transcend limits and reach the peak in the future!
In addition, when he had previously comprehended the Ultimate Thunder and formed the great bloodline cycle of his five internal organs, the vast bloodline power circulating in that cycle and the five thunder nature transformation powers had already subtly nourished and tempered his six entrails (gallbladder, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, bladder, and triple burner) and other meridians, meaning the tempering of his internal organs was already initially complete!
Flesh, bones, internal organs, and bone marrow (already crossed)! He had nearly completed the four major steps of body tempering! Once he finished tempering his skull, he could truly "forge a golden body" and achieve a supreme physique! At that time, his physical body would become a world unto itself, his bloodline power would be like a dragon, and his life force would be vast. He had a premonition that if he cultivated this path to the extreme, or even became a god, he might truly achieve the incredible realm of regenerating from a drop of blood, or even reshaping his body as long as a single thought remained!
Feeling the earth-shaking changes within his body, Yu Yuanchen slowly clenched his fists.
The seventh soul ring, that hundred-thousand-year soul ring deep as the starry sky with thunder halos flowing on its edges, hovered quietly. The information of his martial soul true body—the Thunder Sacred Dragon True Body—was already clear in his mind.
He could clearly feel that his current combat power, combined with the Ultimate Thunder, the Thunder Sacred Dragon Martial Soul, the hundred-thousand-year seventh ring, the external soul bone, and his body-tempered physique, was already no less than that of an ordinary early-stage Titled Douluo. For example, the Long family's newly promoted Titled Douluo, Long Ye—in a one-on-one battle, relying on martial soul suppression, he was confident he could twist his head off.
It could be said that in the vast world today, the only people who could threaten his life were the very top tier of the continent.
Furthermore, he looked up in one direction. There seemed to be something there attracting him in the dark, but it was intermittent, perhaps due to the distance. Yu Yuanchen thought for a moment, but with no result, he temporarily pushed the matter to the back of his mind.
However, he put the matter aside because he had other things to do.
Powerful strength brought absolute confidence. He looked toward the direction of Dragon City, a cold light flashing in his eyes.
"The Long family... the Black Flame Demonic Dragon... it is time to completely resolve this trouble."
The threats from the family, the pursuit from the Elephant Armored Sect—these grudges needed an end. With his current strength, he had enough confidence to face them.
At the same time, his thoughts stirred, and he calculated the time.
"The Five Year Agreement with Tang Chen and Qian Daoliu... there are less than seven months left."
Thinking of those two close friends and rivals, a look of anticipation curled the corner of Yu Yuanchen's mouth. He was very curious: how much had they progressed in these five years? And what kind of brilliance could his current strength display on the battlefield of the Five Year Agreement?
He did not linger, taking one last look at the mountain peak that had borne a year of his bitter cultivation and a shocking tribulation, his figure turning into a purple-gold bolt of lightning, disappearing in an instant.
The hidden dragon had leaped from the abyss, and the sacred dragon had begun its first roar. The wind and clouds of the continent would surely be stirred into even greater waves by his return!
⁂
The God Realm, hanging high above thousands of planes—in this eternal hall constructed of pure rules and divine power, time seemed to have lost its meaning. The God of Destruction sat on his divine throne carved from dark red crystal; beneath his deep purple cloak, as his eyes opened and closed, one could see the trajectories of countless stars being born and dying. He held the authority of destruction, the embodiment of the end of all things, the inevitability of returning to nothingness. The daily affairs of the God Realm were, to him, merely a routine cycle in the endless years, unable to stir the slightest ripple.
However, at this very moment, his divine heart, which had remained constant and indifferent to all things, stirred slightly.
It was not some earth-shattering event, nor had any plane in the lower realms met its expected end. The feeling was extremely subtle, like a tiny, strangely glowing pebble being dropped into the depths of a calm, blood-red sea of destruction.
His gaze, following that mysterious pull, pierced through the layers of barriers between the God Realm and the mortal world, ignoring the separation of space and time, and landed on a plane called Douluo.
"Another Thunderclap Nethervine resisting fate? What a pity, just half a step away. But this little guy who helped it is a piece of uncut jade, and he even received the sacrifice of this thunder vine to obtain the Thunder God bloodline."
The God of Destruction was also surprised after discovering the movement of that rune imprint, and muttered with interest: "Ho, even this semi-finished Thunder God Seal has been sensed by the Thunder God Position. But it looks like the Thunder God Position is severely damaged, lacking even the ability to grant divine trials remotely. However, looking at this little guy's performance, there is hope to repair the position and become a god! Not bad, I can pay some attention to him; having one more main god can strengthen the foundation of the God Realm. Back then, that kid Thunder God was a leader among main gods under me; if he hadn't fallen in the war against the divine beasts, it wouldn't have been impossible for him to break through the shackles of the position and reach the God King realm. Heh, I wonder if this little guy will have a few shades of the Thunder God's brilliance in the future."
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: GodKun-Chan