Chapter 334: The Chosen One
Blood Qi surged through Joyce’s body. His Heart Fire hung suspended above the sea of Blood Qi in his chest, forming a phantom image above it—it was Joyce himself.
This was the Visualization realm: comprehending the self. The core will transformed into a visualization phantom, possessing incredible supernatural power, with strength approaching that of a “Demigod.”
Measured by the standards of the Prime Material Plane, the Visualization realm was equivalent to the peak of a Hero-class being.
Having just advanced to the Visualization realm, Joyce didn’t have time to reach the inner layer of the Pocket World. He expanded his phantom image, instantly enveloping himself and shoving Tyrone, who was standing nearby, out of the way.
“Get back! The Heavenly Tribulation lightning is an area-of-effect attack!”
Tyrone looked at the lightning, feeling an inexplicable sense of familiarity. He moved back slightly, watching old Joyce dodge somewhat clumsily. Suddenly, he reached out his hand. His Heart Fire burned, gradually extending until it touched the lightning.
Zzzzt!
It felt a bit tingly, Tyrone thought.
The lightning blended with his Heart Fire. Instead of attacking him, it was absorbed by his glazed Heart Fire, leaving traces of lightning within the flame and making it even stronger.
“I can absorb the power of lightning!”
Tyrone’s eyes flickered with the light of thunder. He hid on the edge, deliberately letting stray bolts of lightning hit him. Joyce saw Tyrone’s actions but was too busy surviving to pay him any mind.
About half an hour later, Joyce, having lost half his life, barely managed to survive the Heavenly Tribulation. Looking at the clearing sky, he snapped at Tyrone, “What were you doing just now? Didn’t I tell you to get back?”
Tyrone grinned playfully. “I discovered that lightning can actually temper the body and Heart Fire, so I gave it a try.”
Joyce frowned. He, too, realized that after surviving the lightning tribulation, although his body and Heart Fire were damaged, his potential seemed to have increased.
“It may indeed have miraculous effects, but it’s too dangerous. Don’t try it again!” Joyce warned.
Because Joyce had advanced to the Visualization realm, his vitality surged, and his lifespan extended. His status within the Andolf Natural Style skyrocketed, and he became a newly appointed elder of the sect.
Three months later, thanks to his close relationship with Joyce, Tyrone was promoted from a registered disciple to an initiate disciple.
Over the next three years, Tyrone gradually became a well-known figure in the Andolf Natural Style and even the entire city of Nataye—a weirdo who liked to mooch off other people’s Heavenly Tribulation lightning to train his body and Heart Fire.
Although the vast majority of warriors who survived the tribulation could attest that the lightning did indeed have a tempering effect, few wanted to risk their lives to do it.
Some people, envious of Tyrone’s rapid cultivation progress, tried to mimic him and mooch off the lightning. The result? Most of them died under the bolts, turning to ash.
A small handful managed to figure out a way to barely survive the leeching process. Tyrone grew closer to them, and the five of them gradually formed a small branch of the Andolf Natural Style, calling themselves the “Thunder Body Tempering Style.”
Three years passed like this, and Tyrone finally faced his own Minor Heart Reflection Tribulation.
Thick, dark clouds appeared in the sky. Tyrone didn’t hesitate; he ran straight from Nataye City into the wilderness outside. The members of the Thunder Body Tempering Style followed him.
“The Boss is finally undergoing his lightning tribulation! Hurry up, brothers!”
Four muscular men, stripped to the waist, chased after Tyrone. The scene was extremely awkward.
Tyrone ignored those four animals. Although he was honored as the “Boss” of the Thunder Body Tempering Style, only he knew he was a fake. He wasn’t withstanding the lightning to temper his body; he was being nourished by the power of the lightning.
Yes, he believed he possessed a rare “Absolute Lightning Affinity”!
Under the extremely admiring gazes of the four muscular men, Tyrone, stark naked, bathed in thunder and lightning, successfully passing his Minor Heart Reflection Tribulation.
Massive amounts of tribulation lightning caused his Unhindered Self Heart Fire to mutate, changing from a transparent glazed color to a glazed color infused with lightning. From then on, Tyrone bid farewell to Nataye City and, leading the four muscular men who called themselves the “Four Thunder Generals,” began to travel across the entire Western Continent.
This journey was prompted by Teacher Joyce’s guidance. Summarizing the characteristics of those who had passed the Heavenly Tribulation in recent years, Joyce proposed a theory:
“To cultivate the human heart, first experience the Heart of Heaven. The human body is a small universe; heaven and earth are a great human body. Only by following Heaven and cultivating the heart can one achieve the Dao.”
To better follow Heaven and cultivate the heart, Tyrone and his group set out to practice this philosophy. This journey lasted ten years.
For Ace, ten years passed in a flash. As the Heavenly Tribulation became normalized for warrior cultivation practitioners, Ace’s understanding of lightning grew deeper. His Mental Imagery World would sometimes be clear and bright, and other times covered in dark clouds with roaring thunder.
This was the derivation of the 3-Ring Spell: Thunder Prison.
It created a large-scale lightning cage that continuously inflicted lightning damage on creatures within it, with bonus damage against Demons and Devils.
Through the giant vertical eye, Ace saw Tyrone advancing to the Visualization realm. Tyrone bathed in an ocean of lightning, his body and Heart Fire constantly strengthening.
In reality, Tyrone didn’t have any absolute lightning affinity. What he had was special care from Ace, the main consciousness behind the thought fragment. Ace intended to groom him into a true Chosen One to completely control the Pocket World.
Things rarely go smoothly. Although Tyrone successfully advanced to the Visualization realm, he forged a blood feud with a young man named Toby. His tribulation clouds and lightning had killed Toby’s entire family.
Over time, Toby was repeatedly defeated by Tyrone but escaped death every time. Each time, his strength increased drastically. Another twenty years passed, and both Tyrone and Joyce advanced to the Spirit Illumination realm, becoming “Demigods”—that is, Level 1 Life forms in the real world.
Toby attacked again. This time, he actually overpowered two “Demigods”. The battle devastated Nataye City; Joyce died in combat, and Tyrone was severely injured.
Thanks to the timely appearance of the Eye of Divine Punishment, Tyrone managed to escape with his life.
“I never expected the World’s Subconscious to evolve such a life form. The Heavenly Tribulation cannot detect him; he’s like a natural glitch. And he can directly absorb the origin aura from those he kills. Is this the world’s final resistance?”
Trapped inside the “Source,” unable to leave, a cold smile played on Ace’s lips. If he hadn’t discovered it, the opponent might have had a chance. But since he had found it, there was no chance left.
Ace didn’t rush to act. He wanted to use the World’s Subconscious’s final resistance to deduce the Level 2 path for the warrior cultivation method.
Under Ace’s care, Tyrone survived each near-death experience. After Toby advanced to a new realm called “Nether Communion,” Tyrone also advanced to the Nether Communion realm.
The so-called Nether Communion realm was a stage after Spirit Illumination. Spirit Illumination solidified the phantom image above the Heart Fire into a real “God” within the heart. Nether Communion involved communicating with the inner layer of the world, inscribing countless traces of rules upon that “God.”
Because Toby had hunted down many Pseudo-Sons of Destiny from both the Eastern and Western Continents, he was besieged by the Western Continent’s powerhouses led by Tyrone and the Eastern Continent’s Saints led by the Pope.
This battle turned heaven and earth upside down. Amidst the Heavenly Tribulation and the tribulation of men, Toby defied the odds to prove his Dao.
Toby forcibly broke through the layers of pressure from the Heavenly Tribulation. The World’s Subconscious was awakened, granting Toby its final favor. His solid-like “God” resonated with the world, donned a cloak of rules, grew suddenly immense, and merged with his body.
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