Chapter 598: Rapid Progress, Breaking Through to the Tribulation Body |
The flow of time in the Dark Realm and the Ice Abyss is different.
One day in the former most likely equals one year in the latter.
Xia Hong, who was cultivating deep within the Misty Marsh Forest, felt his heart churn uncontrollably when this conjecture arose in his mind. He immediately called out the Six-Armed Evil Abomination. After confirming his guess, he instantly thought about stopping his cultivation, considering whether to go directly to White Bone Mountain, to the Jade Skull Madam's cave dwelling, find that passage, and quickly return to the Ice Abyss.
Why did this conjecture arise?
Because during his seclusion, the incense cultivation amplification from the Ancestral Spirit Stele, which occurs once a year, suddenly activated on its own.
In the initial period after entering the Dark Realm, due to being parasitized and consumed by those Scattered Spirits, he was in a daze, his emotions inexplicably irritable and out of control, completely losing his sense of time. But after obtaining the Soul-Illuminating Lamp and having his skeletal manifestation Golden Body repaired, he had already returned to normal.
The incense cultivation amplification from the Ancestral Spirit Stele occurs only once a year, and the date is fixed—it is the Ancestral Sacrifice Day of Great Xia that he set, which is the ninth day of the ninth month.
The first incense cultivation amplification arrived so inexplicably; how could he not become suspicious? Later, when he called out the Six-Armed Evil Abomination and asked, he indeed received the answer that one day in the Dark Realm equals one year in the Ice Abyss.
He entered the Dark Realm on the ninth day of the first month. That means, by the time the first incense cultivation amplification arrived, nine months had already passed in the Ice Abyss.
From initial worry and panic, to slowly realizing that his own strength was simply insufficient, and rashly going to White Bone Mountain would be seeking death, to finally suppressing the distracting thoughts in his heart and continuing to immerse himself in the rapid advancement of his cultivation, Xia Hong's mental journey over these nearly six days was extremely tortuous and entangled.
"Hoo..."
But no matter what, he had ultimately endured through it!
Within the dark blue dense forest, Xia Hong suddenly let out a long breath, absorbing the last trace of medicinal efficacy. The dark red skeletal manifestation Golden Body behind him had already reached a staggering height of thirteen zhang, and from the core meridians to the internal flesh and blood, to the outermost skin membrane, everything had taken form.
In other words, he had already completed the entire cultivation of the Sun Manifestation Level stage, and the skeletal manifestation Golden Body had completely transformed into the higher-level Golden Battle Body.
"The Tribulation Body Realm of the Four Feudatories, or rather, the Tribulation Body Realm of the vast majority of the Ice Abyss, the form of their Battle Body Golden Body is literally the Vajra Dharma Body. It is not affected by the skeletal aptitude of the Sun Manifestation Level. Whether it's low-level Iron Bones or Silver Bones, or slightly higher Golden Bones or Jade Bones, or even my Burned Bones, as long as the skeletal manifestation is completely perfected, what finally condenses is called the Vajra Dharma Body.
The only difference probably lies in the strength of the Dharma Body and the individual's personal power!"
Recalling the description of the Tribulation Body Realm he saw in the Linchu County Library, Xia Hong felt the powerful aura emanating from his Golden Body, his mind stirring slightly.
The Battle Body Golden Body floating behind him slowly extended its right hand, clenched it into a fist, and suddenly struck out in front of him.
........
The extreme power contained within the fist violently pushed forward, instantly compressing the surrounding air to its limit, transforming into an invisible, sharp shockwave that shot out like an arrow, actually striking forward for a full hundred meters.
Don't underestimate a hundred meters. The Dark Realm is a world of soul bodies, imposing extremely strong restrictions on physical flesh bodies. Six days ago when he first arrived, even with the help of the Soul-Illuminating Lamp to see through those soul bodies, when he manifested his skeletal manifestation and unleashed his full strength, his effective attack range was at most a little over thirty meters. Now it was already more than three times that.
Moreover, it wasn't just the distance. The fist wind he unleashed was like an arrow, nearly condensing into a line within the hundred-meter range. This terrifying sense of power control was also completely incomparable to before.
"Before breaking through to the peak stage, your base strength, though it didn't double, increased by over 50 jun. It's now 170 jun. Even without using the Sacred Mark, relying solely on your own martial arts, you could already face off against an ordinary second-turn Tribulation Body Realm cultivator..."
With peak Sun Manifestation cultivation and 170 jun of base strength, setting aside the entire Mo'ao Chuan region for now, looking across the Four Feudatories, no one in the same realm could compare. Even without using the Beast Emperor Puppet, just relying on martial arts, the Sacred Mark, and the Shattering Divine Light, Xia Hong was confident he could test himself against even the current ceiling of the Four Feudatories—a fifth-turn Tribulation Body expert.
"Although the Battle Body Golden Body has already taken form, I haven't yet left the scope of the Sun Manifestation Level. It and my flesh body are still two separate things. To mobilize it, I still must manifest my full strength. So, dealing with those soul bodies remains very difficult.
Only by breaking through to the Tribulation Body Realm, allowing the flesh body and the Battle Body Golden Body to completely fuse, can I be free from the burden on my flesh body and, under the guidance of the Soul-Illuminating Lamp, truly deal with those soul bodies as I wish!"
Feeling the vast power within his body, Xia Hong's eyes first flickered with hesitation, but then immediately became firm.
This was already his sixth day staying in the Dark Realm. Six incense amplifications meant that three years had already passed in the Ice Abyss. It was now the fourteenth year of Great Xia.
If the war between Caiqiu and Chencang had already ended, and if the Four Feudatories within Mo'ao Chuan turned their gaze towards the Southern Foothills region, the situation of Great Xia, without its Lord Leader, was easy to imagine.
Xia Hong had absolutely no doubt about the abilities of his wife Li Xuanling and his younger brother Xia Chuan. But no matter how capable they were, their cultivation was only at the Sun Manifestation Level. During the three years he went to Mo'ao Chuan, he had left behind the Sacred Cauldron and the Frost Beast Stakes. Now, Great Xia had nothing.
"Great Xia's only reliance is its army. Fortunately, I had Qiu Peng bring back that batch of supplies I obtained from Mo'ao Chuan and Yang Market. If they can be utilized well, dealing with the threat from the feudal towns shouldn't be a major problem!"
His eyes became firm because Xia Hong had made a decision: to continue here and attempt to charge towards the Tribulation Body Realm.
Worry leads to confusion; haste makes waste. Even if he left seclusion and went to White Bone Mountain now, he wouldn't necessarily smoothly find the spatial rift to return to the Ice Abyss. There was also the formidable enemy, the Jade Skull Madam, waiting. Who knew how strong she was? The key point was that the Six-Armed Evil Abomination had previously mentioned that behind this Jade Skull Madam was a Blood Pool Patriarch, one of the seventy-two Ancient Demons under the Qishan Demon Lord. Without making complete preparations, rashly going over there could truly mean death.
"Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth—the Five-Element Tribulation Qi Beads. I entered the Blood Mire Plains twice and obtained thirteen in total. I sold three in Yang Market. Now I still have two sets left on me. So I have two chances to charge towards the Tribulation Body Realm. Calculating based on the cultivation efficiency here, it shouldn't take too long. It would be best if I succeeded. If I fail, I'll go directly to White Bone Mountain!"
For humans in the Ice Abyss to break through realms, the difficulty increases the further one goes—this is common knowledge. Breaking through to the Tribulation Body Realm couldn't possibly go smoothly. In fact, based on the content he saw in the Linchu County Library that year, charging towards the Tribulation Body Realm carries immense danger.
After breaking through to the peak stage of the Sun Manifestation Level and achieving the Battle Body Golden Body, to further break through to the Tribulation Body Realm, one must continue to open up the Golden Body's internal organs. This process is simply called 'opening the organs'.
The so-called 'opening the organs' means using a massive amount of Five-Element tribulation qi to impact the Golden Body, forcing the Golden Body, at the critical moment between life and death, to spontaneously generate the first of the five internal organ positions.
Because the pain of this process is over a hundred times stronger than Sun Manifestation bone tempering, and carries an extremely high risk of death, it is called the Five Elements Tribulation. Surviving it allows one to achieve the Tribulation Body, which is what the world calls the Tribulation Body Realm.
"Place the Tribulation Qi Beads on the corresponding Five-Element organ positions of the Golden Body, then simultaneously crush them, allowing the Five-Element tribulation qi to instantly fill the interior of the Golden Body. Then, simultaneously tighten the meridians, flesh and blood, and skin membrane, locking the tribulation qi firmly within the body. The so-called tribulation qi can also be called death qi. With such a massive amount of death qi filling the body, the Golden Body will either be burst apart, or it will spontaneously generate the first organ, gradually sorting out the Five-Element tribulation qi..."
As his strength grew stronger and his cultivation stage progressed deeper, Xia Hong increasingly felt that the overall cultivation process of humans in the Ice Abyss, summarized, seemed to be a history of self-torture.
Cultivation in the Lumberjack Realm and the Digging Realm involves continuously absorbing the toxins contained within Frost Beast meat. During this process, while the toxins stimulate potential, antibodies are constantly produced.
Cultivation at the Digging Realm Extremes involves continuously pouring and destroying the skin membrane with extremely high-temperature beast blood, allowing it to regenerate anew, thereby achieving a reshaping effect.
The Warmth Realm is even more direct—destroying and reorganizing flesh and tissue. The so-called middle stage, late stage, and peak stage of this realm are precisely three rounds of flesh and blood reorganization.
The Sun Manifestation Level involves absorbing the energy contained within beast bones. This so-called energy, in Xia Hong's current view, is more like a high-level toxin. Using this toxin to continuously and intensely stimulate the bones achieves a tempering effect, forcing the bone marrow to regenerate. Because this entire process is extremely painful, Xia Hong occasionally even suspected that the so-called 'condensing the skeletal manifestation' of the Sun Manifestation Level was actually the flesh body's endurance reaching its limit, causing the soul body to separate due to unbearable burden.
Of course, this was just a conjecture and joke on his part, but it also illustrates from the side that the path to becoming stronger for humans in the Ice Abyss is filled with extreme pain and torment.
And now, the Tribulation Body Realm is actually even harsher!
Directly detonating the Tribulation Qi Beads inside the Golden Body, then locking the Five-Element tribulation qi within the body, forcing the Golden Body to open its organs—this is simply playing with one's life.
Tribulation Qi Beads are the energy cores of those Five Luminaries Realm Beast Emperors' flesh bodies. How terrifying the tribulation qi contained within them is, Xia Hong knew very well. Using the flesh body to withstand it head-on—forget that he currently only had Sun Manifestation Level cultivation; even a Tribulation Body Realm cultivator probably wouldn't dare.
Yet, the method to charge towards the Tribulation Body is indeed exactly like this.
Xia Hong, of course, wouldn't listen to just one source. Besides the Caiqiu Linchu County Governor's Mansion Library, he inquired a second time after arriving in Chencang, and even spent money to inquire once after entering Yang Market. The answers obtained all three times were exactly the same: to charge towards the Tribulation Body Realm, there is only this one method.
Moreover, because the tempering effect of this process is extremely strong, and the benefits of enduring through it are immense, even though there are spirit pills that assist in breakthroughs, the vast majority of exceptionally talented individuals wouldn't use them unless they were at their wit's end.
Xia Hong, of course, also couldn't possibly use them!
"Hoo..."
Taking out the first set of Tribulation Qi Beads from his storage bag, Xia Hong first took a deep breath. Then he slowly raised the beads, placing them on various parts of his Golden Body according to the correspondence rules between the Five Elements and the organs. His gaze then sank slightly; for a moment, he couldn't bring himself to make the final decision.
"Charging towards the Tribulation Body has an extremely high mortality rate, but this mortality rate is actually within a controllable range. If one feels unable to bear that massive amount of tribulation qi, one can voluntarily loosen the Golden Body's skin membrane and release the tribulation qi. The problem is, those who can charge towards the Tribulation Body Realm are basically exceptional talents of their generation. How easy is it to make such people willingly admit their own failure? Frankly speaking, when it really comes to that critical moment of choice, would I admit failure?"
Xia Hong inhaled slightly, reviewing the entire journey of leading Great Xia's rise in the Ice Abyss. His eyes almost immediately revealed unwavering determination.
He, of course, could not accept it!
From the Earthen Slope to Redwood Ridge, from Mirror Valley and Wuyuan to Longyou, from the north bank of the Ying River to the eastward expansion, until now, unifying the entire Southern Foothills region, repelling the feudal towns...
If the rise of Great Xia were compiled into a thrilling story, then Xia Hong would undoubtedly be the sole protagonist of that story. All the characters that had appeared before—the Wooden Puppet Ghost, Mirror Immortal, He Yuanhun, Hou Hu, Li Tiancheng, Xiang Fuhai, Yang Fa, Yang Zun, and so on—no matter their strength or their final outcome, they were destined to be supporting characters in this story.
Even putting aptitude aside, recounting the experiences of these past years was enough to make boundless confidence surge within Xia Hong's heart.
What is the Tribulation Body Realm? Above it is the Revered Form Realm, and there's also the Great Sage Realm the Six-Armed Evil Abomination mentioned before, which is several realms higher than the Revered Form Realm?
If a mere Tribulation Body Realm could make him admit failure, then how could he continue leading Great Xia forward in the Ice Abyss? How could he face those powerful and terrifying beings of the Dark and Holy Sun Realms?
"Not admitting failure doesn't mean stubbornly persisting to the death. I still have the Sacred Cauldron as my greatest reliance. Looking back at previous breakthroughs, whenever I reached my limit, it could provide me with assistance. This time should be no exception."
Confident as he was, facing the unknown, Xia Hong's heart ultimately gave birth to a trace of reverence. He quietly activated the Sacred Cauldron within his body, and only then did he focus his attention completely on the five Tribulation Qi Beads inside his Golden Body.
Suddenly, as if thinking of something, Xia Hong turned his head to look towards the direction of White Bone Mountain to the west, his brow slightly furrowing.
"Five days ago, the Sacred Cauldron had an unusual movement, as if it detected some familiar aura. Such a thing had never happened before. A familiar aura... in this Dark Realm, could there be something sharing the same origin as the Sacred Cauldron?"
As this thought rose in his heart, Xia Hong couldn't help but feel somewhat unsettled.
The Sacred Cauldron is a system building. If there really was something sharing its origin, then it most likely also had a connection to the system.
However, now was not the time for him to worry about this. His only task at the moment was to seize these two charging opportunities. As long as he broke through successfully, he would have more confidence when going to White Bone Mountain, and his hope of returning to the Ice Abyss would be greater.
*Bang...*
Having made up his mind, Xia Hong no longer delayed. With a thought, he directly crushed the five Tribulation Qi Beads inside his Golden Body, then rapidly tightened his skin membrane, placing the entire Golden Body in a sealed state.
...
Long before deciding to attempt the charge, Xia Hong had already mentally prepared himself, knowing he would face extreme pain.
But when the tribulation qi truly exploded inside his Golden Body, and the excruciating pain inflicted by that massive amount of Five-Element tribulation qi on the Golden Body first transmitted to his flesh body and then surged into his mind, he instantly buckled.
He truly buckled, in the literal sense!
Originally sitting cross-legged, he directly collapsed onto the ground, letting out a roar of extreme agony from his mouth. He kept tearing at his own chest, his entire body twisting and writhing on the ground, looking exactly like a maggot being roasted by blazing fire, utterly miserable.
"Hng..."
First, a large amount of drool overflowed from the corners of his mouth, which soon turned into thick smoke mixed with sparks. The thick smoke was laced with a bloody mist, clearly from the high temperature inside his body evaporating his blood.
Green fluid continuously seeped from his eyes. That fluid was obviously highly toxic, burning wherever it flowed, quickly disfiguring Xia Hong until he was completely unrecognizable from his previous appearance.
He soon stopped vomiting and wailing, instead starting to cough violently. With each cough, yellow dust sprayed from his mouth, as if someone had forced a large amount of sand and stones down his throat, quickly creating a murky, dusty mess around his body.
Before the coughing stopped, fiery red molten metal began to gush from his nose. The molten metal was mixed with numerous blood-red streaks, clearly indicating that blood from within his body was also being expelled.
Finally, it reached his ears. Liquid began to continuously overflow from Xia Hong's ears. At first, the liquid was normal—just water. But slowly, it also carried traces of blood, and later turned completely red, no different from fresh blood.
Xia Hong's low, suppressed screams soon turned back into wails. He ultimately couldn't withstand this extreme pain and began to scream violently.