Chapter 212: I Will Verify It

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Translated by Frog in the Well

Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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Was it because he crossed the boundary and reached the Soul Formation stage?

The pressure that had been crushing his entire body vanished as if washed away.

The spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, which had been intense enough to collapse the Nascent Soul, was no longer burdensome.

And,

as if to prove his growth, his Divine Sense rapidly expanded.

It easily exceeded the previous limit and broke through a 300km radius, but the growth did not stop.

‘Incredible.’

Everything within the vast range was as clear as if it were within his grasp, and his head throbbed as too much information was injected in an instant.

Just as he was trembling at the Divine Sense expanding endlessly past 350km,

his eyes met a man’s.

A thousand li away beyond the horizon, they recognized each other at a distance that could not be detected with the naked eye.

The Lord of the Divine Wood.

Or the Star-Shattering True Monarch; he faced that person whom he had seen in the True Realm of Illusory Dreams for the first time.

He was looking this way with an expression hard to read, and a bitter smile emerged of its own accord.

‘He is already here…’

An hour, no, if only he had come just ten minutes later.

In truth, the Soul Formation stage trial was not over yet.

Thinking of the lightning tribulation that would visit soon, the outlook was bleak; although he had set up formations nearby, it would be hard to endure if an expert who had reached the late Soul Formation stage made up his mind to interfere.

‘It can’t be helped.’

The situation was not good, but instead of complaining, he pulled up his concentration.

Shring.

Quietly pointing the drawn sword at the empty air, he whetted his senses and glared at the dark clouds that had covered the sky before he knew it.

The moment blue lightning shimmered in the sky that had turned dark with the sun blocked,

Boom…!

Simultaneously with his vision being dyed blue, he swung his sword, and the pillar of light plunging toward the crown of his head was cleaved.

The disaster sent by heaven; he cut and divided the lightning tribulation with his sword.

Pazzzzt!

The lightning bolt, bursting with fierce hostility, seeped into his physical body along the blade.

The fleeting moment when his bones and flesh were scorched by the intense lightning energy.

‘Ah.’

The spirit body obtained by reaching the great success of the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art.

He realized that the missing last piece had been filled into what he had already considered complete.

The ring of the Five Elements Divine Thunder in his mind rotated fiercely, absorbing a part of the lightning tribulation.

The heavenly punishment delivered to a cultivator who went against the natural order to proceed toward eternal life; he refined the lightning tribulation that emitted an imposing aura and converted it into magic power.

There was another, even more surprising occurrence.

The sleeping purple divine lightning roared with thunder, and as if it had become a wild beast, it began to swallow the lightning tribulation.

‘Did the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body possess such power?’

As the spirit body, which raised resistance to lightning strikes to the extreme, exerted its power, the lightning tribulation weakened significantly, to the point where the lightning energy he originally possessed could suppress it.

Although it was far more bearable than expected, he did not let his guard down.

Since he did not know how long the lightning tribulation would continue, he had to respond as efficiently as possible.

Rumble!

He absorbed a portion of the blue lightning tribulation pouring down in succession.

He refined it with the Five Elements Divine Thunder to replenish his consumed magic power, and grew his purple divine lightning whenever he had leeway.

While doing his best to respond to the lightning tribulation, he set aside a part of his consciousness to keep guard against the Lord of the Divine Wood.

For some reason, the opponent did not move, but he could not trust him, preparing to counterattack immediately should he strike.

How much time had passed?

The lightning tribulation that poured down without cease came to a sudden halt, and the lightning shimmering in the dark clouds was dyed purple.

An instant,

a thin line connected the heavens and the earth.

He cleaved the lightning tribulation in half with his reflexively swung sword, but the purple lightning tribulation did not disappear easily.

Remaining cut in half, it clung tenaciously and dug into his body.

“···!”

It was in a different class from the blue lightning tribulation he had easily shrugged off, and his soul felt as if it were burning under the heat digging deep into his bones.

Kaboom!

Simultaneously with the explosion that rang out late, everything in his field of vision was swept away by the shockwave and turned to dust.

It was a dumbfounding sight.

With just a single purple lightning tribulation, all the formations he had set up in the surroundings turned to ash.

They were formations he had reinforced using his Supreme Great Ability, but they were ruined in vain without even being properly utilized.

‘Is it to this extent even though I have the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body…’

Swallowing the blood that welled up, he strove to digest the lightning tribulation that attempted to collapse his body.

Following the second lightning tribulation, the third…

His thoughts were cut off for an instant by the lightning tribulations that followed without giving him time to react properly.

Beeeep…!

A ringing in his ears as if piercing his temples was heard, and his physical body, which exceeded its limits, repeated collapsing and regenerating.

Grit. He clenched his teeth tightly enough for them to crumble.

Although it was painful enough to make his fingertips tremble violently, it was also gratifying on the other hand.

This was because the Insect-Armor Race carapace that had sprouted on the back of his hands disappeared completely, and the impurities that had accumulated without his knowledge during his hundred or so years of cultivation turned to ash and vanished.

The joy was short-lived.

The purple lightning tribulation did not stop; as it continued even after exceeding seven times, there was no room to think about anything else.

In the end, he poured his entire mind into enduring the lightning tribulation, and

Sssss…

before he knew it, the surroundings fell quiet.

Although he could not count precisely because his memory was cut off briefly in the middle, he felt he had withstood at least ten lightning tribulations.

‘…Ah!’

As soon as he regained his senses, he reflexively checked the Lord of the Divine Wood first, because it would be highly dangerous if the opponent launched a surprise attack now.

However, the Lord of the Divine Wood was still a thousand li away.

His eyes, which had been expressionless, were slightly widened, looking both surprised and pleased.

At that moment,

his spine went cold and his hair stood on end.

His instinct, whetted through countless death matches, warned him fiercely, and the entire world was dyed red.

Red Lightning.

Within a scenery where time seemed to have stopped, a blood-colored flash of light came down.

‘This is…’

It was dangerous; he mobilized all the blue lightning tribulation he had gathered in preparation for emergencies and used it like magic power.

Crackle!

The blue lightning tribulation massed in the air swirled and became the Five Elements Shattering Annihilation Wheel, and he stood to block the Red Lightning, putting forward the spell he reflexively cast like a shield.

However, it had no real meaning.

The Five Elements Shattering Annihilation Wheel, cast by pouring even the power of the lightning tribulation, vanished without a sound the moment it touched the Red Lightning.

It was a dumbfounding sight, but if he retreated now, he would die anyway.

Stepping forward, he thrust his sword.

Limitless, which was dwelling in the Starlight Afterimage Sword, burst forth all the sharp energy it had accumulated so far.

He drew back Limitless, which vibrated as if the power contained in the Red Lightning was too heavy, and the moment he took the Red Lightning, weakened by about twenty percent, with his bare body,

‘Urgh!’

His mind went blank.

Although the red flash that pierced through his body tried to sentence him to death, the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body, which raised resistance to lightning strikes to the extreme, enabled him to endure it.

The brief instant of time bought by the spirit body.

The Five Elements Divine Thunder rotated frantically, trying to absorb the Red Lightning thrashing inside his body, and the purple divine lightning also ran wild like a predator whose territory had been invaded.

‘Groan…’

Veins bulged all over his body.

It was painful.

As the three lightnings dug through his body, he could not even scream, feeling as if his bones, flesh, and nerves were all melting under the intense heat.

If he had not achieved the Undying Body by reaching the great success of the Five Viscera Hundred Tempering Art, he would have long since turned to a handful of ash and died.

Just how long did he endure the pain where even his soul was scorched black?

Boom!

A wall he did not even know existed shattered.

His physical body, which shuttled between life and death, broke through its limits and took a step forward, and although it had not reached Rank 5 yet, it became infinitely close to it.

‘Just before Rank 5!’

A minor trigger, or rather, if he only had time to cultivate quietly, his physical body would reach the Soul Formation stage class.

His fist clenched at the surprising news, but the joy did not last long.

The ring made of the Five Elements Divine Thunder collapsed.

‘Ah?’

As the barely maintained balance collapsed, the purple divine lightning could not endure either, losing the initiative as it was pushed back by the Red Lightning in an instant.

Rumble!

As if declaring victory, the Red Lightning, roaring with thunder, began to destroy his physical body.

First of all, the meridians serving as pathways snapped strand by strand.

Just as his heart and various other organs were burning up, and his dantian was also about to turn to ash,

the Five Elements Divine Thunder, which had been completely shattered into mere fragments, condensed into one again and emitted an energy several times stronger.

Hummmm!

As if a huge structure were moving, it rotated loftily and began to absorb the Red Lightning.

The Red Lightning, which had been thrashed without restraint, seemed to hold out for a moment but was eventually subdued, and the energy of the Red Lightning refined by the Five Elements Divine Thunder became dense vitality and spread to all parts of his body.

It was thrilling.

His physical body, which was on the verge of collapse, recovered rapidly, feeling like life-giving water being sprayed on land parched from a long drought.

Rumble…

The dark clouds that roared with ominous thunder dispersed, and the hidden sun was revealed.

Within the gradually brightening world, he realized that all trials were over.

He had fully entered the realm of the Soul Formation stage, which was considered a legend.

Whoosh…

As he even absorbed the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth that had gathered from within ten thousand li, his mental fatigue also completely vanished.

His body was lighter than at any time since he was born.

Literally the optimal condition.

Upon reaching a proper Soul Formation stage, a sense of omnipotence as if he could do anything boiled within him.

Whew…

Scattering the intoxicating sense of elation with a single breath,

he looked at the Lord of the Divine Wood, who was still standing quietly a thousand li away, and asked,

“Why did you not interfere?”

If the Lord of the Divine Wood, who was in the late Soul Formation stage, had tried to interfere with the lightning tribulation, it would have been much harder, and he might have died during the breakthrough.

That was why he asked, but a much simpler answer than expected returned.

“Because only then can I verify it.”

“…I see.”

After a brief silence, Jin So-myeong nodded slightly and pointed his sword.

Having confirmed that they each wished for the other’s death, no more words were needed.

Vowing to pour his full strength into the first strike,

he gathered the remaining energy of the Red Lightning in his body, which was trying to disappear naturally as the lightning tribulation ended, and unleashed the Lightning Escape Art.

The moment he became one with the red lightning that was despairingly powerful,

the world stopped.

From the dust scattering in the wind to the stones rolling down the cliff, everything within his perception came to a halt.

Within the world filled with silence as even noise disappeared,

he kicked the ground, and the sunlight shining through the dark clouds was split by the blade.

Flash!

A single flash of sword light traversing the empty air aimed for the enemy’s brow.

Just before piercing the vital point, a pure white sphere of light that emerged in the empty air blocked the tip of the sword.

The sword wrapped in red lightning and the sphere that suddenly appeared made contact…

Clang!

At the intense repelling force, the sword blade vibrated as if it would break, and the destructive power he had charged with all his might returned intact.

It was an extreme fast sword technique unleashed with the power of the lightning tribulation, but it was blocked too easily.

For a fleeting instant, his eyes met the Lord of the Divine Wood’s.

Looking at the eyes that were quiet to the point of serene, he forced power into his arm muscles that felt like tearing.

Gently rotating the sword that tried to bounce off, he drew a diagonal line.

He had to land at least one strike before the power of the lightning tribulation was exhausted.

Rumble!

He unleashed the Lightning Escape Art with all his strength and accelerated once more.

An instant in which one could not even blink, he constantly swung the sword that had heated red-hot due to friction.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

He swung the sword at least hundreds of times, but…

all of them were blocked.

A dozen spheres of light swirling around the Lord of the Divine Wood; he could not even pierce through the lumps created by simply condensing magic power.

“To control the lightning tribulation, what a ridiculous power of control. Do you possess a spirit body?”

Seeing the opponent who even leisurely struck up a conversation, a hollow laugh emerged of its own accord.

‘He is really damn strong.’

He was in a different class from the opponents he had met so far.

Red Lightning. He had accelerated using the power of the lightning tribulation, but he could not land even a single clean hit.

As the Red Lightning was consumed before he knew it and was on the verge of exhaustion, he pondered where to use it and made a decision.

Crackle!

Red lightning dwelled in both of his pupils.

The Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye, unleashed with the help of the lightning tribulation’s power, read the possibilities, and he saw countless futures amidst the pain of his eyes burning.

“Ha.”

He could not hold back the chuckle that escaped the corners of his mouth.

And for good reason…

Because out of over tens of thousands of futures, there was not a single one in which he won.

‘I can never win even if I fight ten thousand times?’

At the despairingly bleak result.

Jin So-myeong, who had lost his words and only twitched his lips, suddenly smiled brightly enough to show his teeth.

‘Fine, great.’

He cast aside the Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye that concluded there was no chance of winning.

He made up his mind. He would verify if that was truly the case.

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