The fifth Essence Soul Tribulation is descending. Meng Chuan waited. He had made ample preparations for this tribulation. He spared no expense in refining a World Treasure. World Treasures were unique to Essence Soul Tribulation Eminences.
This was because one’s Essence Soul World descended from an illusion. World Treasures could make one’s Essence Soul World more ‘real.’ With a World Treasure, one’s Essence Soul World’s might would increase by several-fold. One’s overall strength would naturally increase in all aspects.
Whoosh.
In Meng Chuan’s sea of consciousness, a painting canvas floated in the air. Meng Chuan’s Essence Soul sat cross-legged on the canvas.
This painting canvas was a World Treasure.
Boom!
The Essence Soul Tribulation descended upon Meng Chuan’s Essence Soul directly.
The painting canvas was one with Meng Chuan’s Essence Soul. It also blocked the Essence Soul Tribulation, reducing its might.
…
Archean Mountain, Grotto-Heaven Pavilion.
“Meng Chuan, Meng Chuan.” Qin Wu came to the backyard in delight, but he didn’t see Meng Chuan. This puzzled Qin Wu. Where is he?
Creak.
A door in the distance opened, and Meng Chuan walked out.
“Meng Chuan.” Qin Wu smiled as he walked over, but his smile gradually disappeared. He looked at Meng Chuan solemnly.
At that moment, Meng Chuan’s eyes were filled with fatigue. He forced a smile onto his face. “I just transcended the fifth Essence Soul Tribulation.”
“The fifth Essence Soul Tribulation?” Qin Wu was astonished. “You have reached the Essence Soul Fifth Tribulation realm?”
“I originally thought that I was sufficiently prepared. My spiritual cultivation wasn’t bad, but I still suffered greatly,” said Meng Chuan self-deprecatingly.
“What did you encounter during your Essence Soul Tribulation?” asked Qin Wu.
According to the sect’s records, every person’s Essence Soul Tribulations were different. The Heavenly Tribulations targeted the cultivator’s mental weaknesses. The further one progressed, the more terrifying the tribulations became. Not to mention the fact that an Essence Soul Tribulation Eminence’s Heavenly Tribulation couldn’t be delayed. This caused the number of strong Essence Soul Tribulation Eminences to be fewer than Physical Body Tribulation Eminences.
“What did I encounter?” said Meng Chuan softly. “Nothing.”
“Nothing?” Qin Wu was puzzled.
“My consciousness entered emptiness,” said Meng Chuan. “There was nothing. I couldn’t see or hear anything. Nor could I sense any profound laws. I only know that a long, long time passed. Was it a million years? A hundred million years? It could’ve been even longer. I don’t know how long it was.”
Meng Chuan’s eyes were filled with fatigue.
He had experienced many hardships since he was a child; his heart had been tempered to the point that it was as sharp as a blade. It could slice through all obstacles, to the point that he could shrug off the Chaos Hole’s influence on his mental state.
However, time was a different beast…
Everything gradually turned to emptiness in the face of time.
In his infinitely-long solitude, Meng Chuan could only constantly recall the moving scenes he saw during his life. He thought of his father, mother, and wife waiting for him, but he was still exhausted.
He was really too tired.
“I survived.” Meng Chuan laughed self-deprecatingly. “In the past, I always felt that life could surpass time. However, after experiencing time… I realized that my cultivation isn’t enough. If this Essence Soul Tribulation had lasted two-fold, or even ten-fold, longer, my consciousness would probably completely blur and collapse.”
Only after experiencing it would one truly realize how terrifying time was.
“From your description, it’s really a temporal prison.” Qin Wu was somewhat shocked. “You can’t see or hear anything. There’s nothing. Furthermore, there’s almost no end to time. I believe I won’t be able to withstand it.”
“Thankfully, the sixth Essence Soul Tribulation is still very far away,” said Meng Chuan.
His cultivation realm was still far from the Sixth Tribulation realm. He still had a long time to accumulate his strength slowly, constantly temper himself, and improve himself.
I have a 110,000-year lifespan. I have plenty of time to cultivate my mind. Meng Chuan also decided to spend more effort on mental cultivation.
If one’s mind was lacking, even if they could barely have the strength of a Sixth Tribulation Eminence, they might not be able to withstand the sixth Essence Soul Tribulation.
He had a very long lifespan. As a Primordial realm expert (Imperial Lord), he had transcended the first three Physical Body Tribulations and the fifth Essence Soul Tribulation; his lifespan had slightly increased from 100,000 years to 110,000 years.
…
Thousand Mountain Star.
In a cave abode deep within a mountain range.
Meng Chuan sat cross-legged in a chamber. Translucent beads circled around him. These were the Thirteen Universe Beads—a Seventh Tribulation treasure. It was the most suitable treasure for Meng Chuan in Ancestral Master Archean Eon’s vault.
The Thirteen Universe Beads was a Seventh Tribulation treasure—which fused time lineage laws and spatial lineage laws—allowing Meng Chuan to unleash his full potential.
This treasure was worth 3,200 cubes of Outer Realm Essence Crystals in Ancestral Master Archean Eon’s treasure vault—this was counted in Meng Chuan’s 300,000 Outer Realm Essence Crystals quota. It was twice as valuable as Senior Pang Ming’s Seventh Tribulation calabash. Such a treasure would be difficult to buy elsewhere, even if he had the money for it.
It’s about time. Meng Chuan flipped his palm, and Fiend Prison appeared in the outside world.
Inside Fiend Prison was an Eight-Headed Star Swallowing Snake’s corpse. Demon Slayer was currently stabbed into the corpse.
Meng Chuan had carried Demon Slayer with him during his thousand-plus years of cultivation. Demon Slayer had also grown with Meng Chuan. It could be said to be the most compatible divine armament for Meng Chuan. It was even better than the Bloodblade Disc—which he had refined as his intrinsic treasure. After all, it was a divine armament he had nurtured since he was weak. Meng Chuan had used Infinite Saber’s laws as Demon Slayer’s core, allowing it to grow greatly.
Demon Slayer had also reached the level of a Tribulation weapon. However, it required many external forces to increase its strength. This Eight-Headed Star Swallowing Snake’s corpse had enough flesh and blood for Demon Slayer to devour.
Demon Slayer has also reached the Fifth Tribulation realm. Meng Chuan could sense that nearly half of the Eight-Headed Star Swallowing Snake’s flesh had been devoured. Demon Slayer was completely satiated.
Although it was a Fifth Tribulation treasure, it was much more powerful than ordinary Sixth Tribulation treasures in Meng Chuan’s hands.
He had long prepared all sorts of treasures for melee-range and long-range attacks.
It’s time to set off and find Emperor Roc. Meng Chuan stood up and grabbed Demon Slayer. He sheathed his saber, placing it by his waist. He immediately walked out of the chamber.
Chapter 556
In a cave abode’s hall.
Gao Fang, Zhao Hongxiu, and Supremacy Qing Gu were reverent.
“I’ll be going out for a while,” said Meng Chuan indifferently. “I’ll leave my Essence Soul avatar to preside over Thousand Mountain Star. However, from today onwards, the three of you are not to leave it.”
“Yes,” Gao Fang, Zhao Hongxiu, and Supremacy Qing Gu obediently replied, not daring to disobey.
Meng Chuan nodded slightly.
His Essence Soul avatar had the absolute advantage with Thousand Mountain Star’s array formation. Even if several Fifth Tribulation Eminences joined forces, they wouldn’t be able to brea
k through Thousand Mountain Star’s defenses.
However, his Essence Soul avatar would be weaker away from Thousand Mountain Star. This was because up to now, Meng Chuan had only refined one World Treasure. It was carried by his outer realm body. The cost of refining a World Treasure was too great. It cost more than 3,000 Outer Realm Essence Crystals alone.
Physical Body Tribulation Eminences spent most of their Outer Realm Essence Crystals on their bodies! The price of cultivating their bodies to match powerful treasures was more than ten times higher than refining treasures.
Essence Soul Tribulation Eminences would spend most of their wealth on World Treasures.
In the Physical Body Fifth Tribulation realm, one could cultivate an extremely powerful body. At the very least, it cost 2,000-3,000 cubes of Outer Realm Essence Crystals with no definite upper limit.
Meng Chuan used an Imperial Lord-level paramount technique as his foundations. He could also directly devour Primordial Stones to improve his body. Together, his true bodies in his homeworld and the outer realm spent more than 5,000 cubes. On average, each of his true bodies used over 2,000 cubes. It was considered a small price.
For example, Patriarch Black Dragon and company had to pay a huge price to cultivate their powerful bodies because they took many detours.
Although a Fifth Tribulation Eminence can be said to be virtually impossible to kill, the price of losing an avatar is immense.
His true body in the outer realm consisted of his body, Essence Soul treasures, Thirteen Universe Beads—a Seventh Tribulation treasure—Bloodblade Disc, several other Sixth Tribulation treasures, a piece of flesh from a Seventh Tribulation Dark Peacock, thousands of Outer Realm Essence Crystals, and Void Transference Talismans. If he died in battle, he would lose about 20,000 cubes.
However, it was difficult for an enemy to kill him.
As an expert that reached both the Physical Body Tribulation realm and Essence Soul Tribulation realm and had Ancestral Master Archean Eon’s treasures, Meng Chuan was definitely one of the strongest Fifth Tribulation Eminences when it came to life-preservation means.
Time to go!
Swoosh.
Meng Chuan left Thousand Mountain Star. He quickly entered the River of Spacetime and headed straight for Snowjade Palace.
Moments later—
Meng Chuan arrived in the void where Snowjade Palace was. He looked at the empty void in front of him. Snowjade Palace is no longer here. Has Palace Lord Snowjade left with his cave abode?
From the looks of it, it’s indeed as I’ve guessed. Palace Lord Snowjade left Three Bay River System with his subordinates, including Imperial Lord Roc. Meng Chuan followed the karmic connection and locked onto Emperor Roc’s location. They have arrived at Yufang River System?
His figure moved. He immediately walked through the River of Spacetime and headed for Yufang River System.
…
Palace Lord Snowjade had reached Yufang River System more than half a year before Meng Chuan became an Essence Soul Fifth Tribulation Eminence. Yufang River System was within Goddess River Zone.
Two figures stood side by side in the silent void.
Palace Lord Snowjade was dressed in a light-blue robe. His face was ice-cold, and he naturally emanated a cold aura around him. Beside him was a grinning hunchbacked elder with gray eyes; a formless black fog surrounded him.
Most Supremacies and Imperial Lords had their own domains! As Fifth Tribulation Eminences, Snowjade and the hunchbacked elder naturally had their own domains.
For example, when Meng Chuan reached the Primordial realm, his Chaos Hole domain had also transformed into the stronger Primordial domain.
This was the case for those that followed the physical body lineage. Their bodies were akin to the core of a world. They naturally projected a domain that influenced their surroundings. An Imperial Lord’s domain typically spanned 500 kilometers. A Physical Body Tribulation Eminence’s domain could span thousands of kilometers to tens of thousands of kilometers. Ancestral Master Archean Eon’s domain only had a 30,000-kilometer range; it was relatively small.
An Essence Soul Tribulation Eminence’s Essence Soul World could cover a much larger area.
“Brother Snowjade, did you divine the location of the cave abode wrongly? We’ve been waiting here for half a month, but there has been nothing.” The hunchbacked elder frowned slightly. He held an incomplete token and carefully inspected the surrounding void.
“I’ve divined it at least ten times. There’s no mistake,” said Snowjade indifferently. He was filled with confidence.
“Then why can’t we find the cave abode?” asked the hunchbacked elder.
“This cave abode is located in a different spacetime dimension. It will only appear here at specific moments,” said Snowjade indifferently. “The cave abode will appear soon. Furthermore, it will stay here for a year. Just wait patiently.”
The hunchbacked elder couldn’t help but smile when he heard that. “Brother Snowjade, you are the best.”
Snowjade couldn’t be bothered to speak any further. If the other party didn’t have half the token, he wouldn’t have allowed the other party to enter.
As the two sides waited patiently, a figure suddenly appeared in the void and flew over.
“Oh?” The hunchbacked elder and Snowjade’s expressions changed slightly.
“You leaked the information?” Snowjade frowned as he stared at the hunchbacked elder.
“No, we have already made an agreement. How can I violate our promise?” said the hunchbacked elder immediately.
Snowjade’s brows furrowed tightly.
At their cultivation realm, they cared more about karma. Once they made a promise, they would not easily violate it.
“He won’t be able to find us if we hide in this void,” said the hunchbacked elder.
As soon as he finished speaking—
Rip!
The mysterious person broke through the obstruction and flew towards the hunchbacked elder and Snowjade.
The mysterious person flying over was somewhat thin.
“Why are the two of you here?” The mysterious man was somewhat puzzled. When he saw the incomplete token in the hunchbacked elder’s hand, he suddenly asked, “The two of you together form a complete token?”
“Who are you?” Snowjade and the hunchbacked elder stared at the mysterious man.
The mysterious man smiled slightly. Behind him, an enormous, blood-colored beast phantom appeared.
“Shura Realm?” Snowjade and the hunchbacked elder were secretly alarmed.
Shura Realm was a high-level world. Even in the River of Spacetime, high-level worlds were extremely rare. This was because every high-level world had produced an Eighth Tribulation Eminence in history.
Shura Realm’s cultivation system was known as the Shura cultivation system. In the River of Spacetime, it was one of the top physical body cultivation systems. The advantage of the Shura cultivation system was the same as the Cosmos Body cultivation system—they were universal; anyone could master these cultivation systems. Furthermore, these two cultivation systems had detailed guidance on how to reach the Tribulation from the very lowest realm.
Although Meng Chuan’s Chaos Hole realm and Primordial Realm might be stronger, they required one to have a paramount technique as their foundation. They weren’t universal.
“The two of you can be considered fated to find this place,” said the thin man indifferently. “After entering the cave abode, how much you can obtain will depend on your means and strength.”
The hunchbacked elder and Snowjade exchanged looks and nodded slightly.
Since they didn’t have the confidence to kill a Fifth Tribulation Eminence from Shura Realm, they could only hold back for now.
When it came to one’s background, the hunchbacked elder and Palace Lord Snowjade didn’t care too much. With their strength, they had long joined the River of Spacetime’s top factions. A Tribulation Eminence from a high-level world
didn’t pose any threat to them.
“This is Palace Lord Snowjade. I’m known as Old Fiend Black Wind. I wonder how I should address you?” The hunchbacked elder grinned at the mysterious man.
“Me? Just call me Ta Gu,” said the mysterious skinny man casually. “After I leave the cave abode, I will leave Goddess River Zone. We might not meet again in the future.”
Palace Lord Snowjade was very cold. The mysterious man, Ta Gu, couldn’t be bothered to say anything else either. No matter how enthusiastic the hunchbacked elder was, he could only shut his mouth.
This wait lasted for more than a half-month.
Whoosh.
The void was somewhat distorted. If one’s realm was high enough, one could see a cyan door through the distorted void.
Snowjade and the hunchbacked elder’s eyes lit up. “It’s here.”
The mysterious man, Ta Gu, was very calm. He had already determined when the cave abode would appear.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
After a simple probe, Palace Lord Snowjade, the hunchbacked elder, and the mysterious man charged out of the distorted void and flew towards the cyan door.
…
Half a year after the three of them entered.
Whoosh.
Meng Chuan arrived in this area of the void by tracing the karmic connection between him and Emperor Roc.
The outer realm was boundless. It was even harder to find a small distorted void than searching for a needle in a haystack. However, Meng Chuan tracked Emperor Roc’s karma all the way before arriving here.
Oh? Meng Chuan flew over and was somewhat puzzled. I can clearly sense Emperor Roc’s karma in this area. Why can’t I find it? Is there a space hidden around here?
With a thought—
Meng Chuan’s Essence Soul World spread out in all directions; the vast painting world enveloped the distorted void.
What’s that? Meng Chuan’s figure flashed as he turned to look at the distorted void. He could even sense a cyan door hidden within his Essence Soul World.
Chapter 557 - First Probe of the Cave Abode
Archean Eon Art c1-766 Page 310