He had seen him! After being left in the shadow, quite literally, of the being that was taking so much, he had seed smaller than Lind expected.
Unlike any other Fiend, he was not impossibly beautiful unlike in the vision he had seen in the past. Was that a petty revenge for Heaven and Earth?
He did not know but while he had felt the power of Divine Realm cultivators before, their true power made him feel like nothing.
He had been distracted by focusing on his weavings that he never felt a thing when the spirit world was invaded. Likely, the Great One had done that on purpose as well, but then the little girl sacrificed herself to save him!
He was suddenly across the world and looking back to see her forcibly aged!
The Fiend Qi had the effect of consuming all life. The effect on spirits was the sa. He had thought they were truly immortal but instead, he saw her fall apart before his very eyes!
Rage filled him and he let his full draconic power explode. He was not thinking. He only wanted to sink his teeth into the monster's throat!
Yet, the very instant he got close, pain wracked his body. Pain unlike anything he had ever felt flowed over him and he realized his grave mistake.
The Great One was a Divine Realm so of course he ca from the Divine Lands! A soul exposed directly to the purity of that place while alive would manifest a body!
He had tried to avoid the very issue but it was too late and far more potent than before.
He felt heavier and before he knew it, the Great One had left after making a threat against his family! Worse, Lind understood why he left and that ti was no longer on his side!
In fact, ti was moving forward at a normal pace but he could not evade what was coming.
Tribulation!
The Gold Tier tribulation was building but its power felt far more terrifying compared to what he expected. He realized the Rakathi Wastes had left him with a lack of understanding of what was about to happen.
He had faced his tribulations in extre circumstances and perhaps Heaven had taken pity on him at those tis.
Now, there was no pity. He was a dragon, progenitor, True Lord, and a Radiant Tier soul. His body would face tribulations that broke other cultivators with ease. He was also going to face them in succession!
Power built up and lightning slamd into him but it was a tribulation. It felt more like it was fusing his soul to his new flesh. The pain was receding but he knew that was temporary.
It was simply the necessary step for him to face what was to co.
Gravity weighed on him again. Blood flowed in veins and lungs took in air. He never realized how novel it was to feel alive. A soul was alive but the sensation of life was so much more visceral than before!
His senses also felt so limited. The fusion had made such that the body could withstand his soul by restricting his abilities. He had not considered such an approach.
He only just had ti to appreciate being in flesh once more when an all too familiar feeling ca from above. Black clouds filled the golden sky and the spirits scattered. His erald eyes shimred as he realized he would be facing the peak of each tribulation trial.
He was a Radiant Tier and had advanced far more in fields none had before. Compared to when he started, he had far more going on inside him.
"Oh boy." Those 2 words were the last he spoke as the first lightning bolt struck. It was pure power and his current body barely withstood it! He had not prepared and had no ti to do so but his draconic regeneration kicked in to repair the damage.
He quickly examined his new dantian and was shocked to find 18 fonts! The iron core at the center was a pure erald color unlike anything he had previously held too!
The 18 streams of elents were pure as well. What the hell kind of body had been made?!
He ignored his questions as he faced the next bolt of lightning. The 2nd bolt was at least 3 tis as powerful as the first. His body felt pain but the power was easily quelled by his soul. He realized his soul could guide the tribulation power far better than his body could.
He quickly changed his mindset and the following bolts were not nearly as terrifying, but empowering to his body. He improved its power and refined it far better than he had ever dread.
The Diamond Tier and Sky Realm tribulations were equally helpful. They shook the skies and the Sky Realm in particular had so many profession and elental additions that it seed to stretch forever.
His body was far more resilient than ever before but he beca grim as compared to all other tribulations, the next ones would not be so kind.
Law tribulations would not be easy and he had far more than the first ti he ca through. Further, ti was not on his side.
World and Sky Realm tribulations were asured in days but Immortal tribulations could be asured in months. He had no ti for that! The longer he took, the more ti the Great One could enact his plans!
Days could be acceptable but normal tribulations could not be tolerated.
[I know you listen. I know you are more than a system. You safeguard the lives against the terrifying power cultivators gather. You could have prevented that but for so reason you did not. I can't wait. I can't let that being have his way. Either send
back as I am or let
face the worst you can give.] He sent out his thoughts to the core of the world.
The spirits reacted to his thoughts a bit but said nothing. The old woman could only look on grimly but the clouds paused. Pressure shifted before a change ca to them. The colors shifted and he felt the power of sothing beyond Laws gathering!
It seed his plea was heard. A twinge of fear filled him as he looked at the spirits before bowing to them.
[Thank you all, for everything.] He turned to the black clouds but it was not a lightning bolt that built up. It was sothing far more powerful. Beams of light of pure elental power struck him directly and lit every nerve on fire.
The pain was horrific but it was nothing compared to what ca next. His mind exploded with knowledge that changed everything! He thought he understood what he had been asking for.
He had been wanting to compress the Sliver, Shard, Crystal, and Radiant Tier tribulations into 1 but instead there was a more dangerous thod.
Dao. The power of Dao could be the crucible to expedite what he wanted but it was also sothing far beyond his ability to regulate!
Compared to any lightning, he suddenly understood the depth of his arrogance. He thought he could short circuit things by appealing to Heaven and Earth but he was reminded that while he had so leeway, it was not a shortcut by any ans.
He would simply face a more terrifying trial by fire that satisfied his request while adhering to the needs of the rules Heaven and Earth enforced. The power flowing into him was far beyond anything he imagined possible to endure!
Blood began to flow from his newly ford eyes, nose, and ears. His skin burned as it cracked. His ridians distorted as unchecked Qi stord throughout his body.
It had beco stronger thanks to his previous actions but it was not even close to enough. He collapsed under the strain but did not give up. He focused his soul and all his knowledge to funnel the power where it was needed to reforge the body into sothing more powerful.
He started with his dantian as if that collapsed, all else would fail. Originally, his crystal had beco the fla of his harmony. It held the 18 centers of elental power but it had been flawed.
He had yet to even understand Celestial Qi and what it could fully do. He had yet to fully grasp the imperfection in his body that had to be redied.
He had made adjustnts but it was only the best he could do with what he had. He had made choices to incorporate the elents but it was based on incomplete knowledge. Now, he knew far better.
His crystal had to be more. He saw the path of cultivation as a path of not just refinent of the body and soul but of exploring the greater world! He had his enemy but that was not the sole reason for his existence.
He had started for a much humbler reason. He wanted to understand.
His sliver and shard grew until a crystal ford. His body scread in pain as he worried it would breakdown before he was done but his soul flexed enough to protect it. It cost him.
It was a very vicious cost. mories. mories of his ti in the spirit world. mories he had made since becoming only a soul. He had no choice but to survive what was happening. His soul was not built of just his personality.
It was everything. It was the very foundation of his existence. He had to let part of it go to survive.
What he would keep would only be known when it was over but his crystal solidified into a new shape. He was always proud of being an elixir master, a Forger, and a weaver, but there was sothing he was more proud of.
He was proud of being a husband, a son, and a father. He was proud of his family. He was proud of being a part of them. He had strained that relationship but they did not let him go.
Yet, nothing could cover it all or represent him all. He could only be himself. In that mont, his crystal took the shape of a man with dragon scales. His body was laced with all the elents and Laws he understood in that very mont as the pain finally eased.
It was the shape of what he had to beco. A master of all the elents and the foundation between them. At its heart, an erald fla flickered like a sun. He was now unified in body and soul completely once more!
A vortex began to form as he slowly opened his eyes. His mories were disjointed but he saw an old woman in white smiling at him. He felt ward by her smile but sad that soone was missing.
He suddenly recalled a bright smile in a cherubic face. Tears fell as he was swallowed by the vortex. Yet that face was still imprinted on him. A face that belonged in a golden sky with silver clouds.
A little girl laughing as she waved goodbye to him flashed in his mind. It was so clear he could not dismiss it and he wept as he fell. Wherever he was going, he would never forget her. Not ever.
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