In White Avian Hall, Thousand Mountain Star, Earth Cloud Mystic Realm, and Archean Eon Realm, Meng Chuan’s true bodies and avatars were immersed in cultivating the Essence Soul formulations.
After grasping an Origins law, one would’ve grasped the truth of the universe. They were qualified to create an Essence Soul formulation. Although the formulation they created would be slightly deviant because they had only grasped one Origins law, the Essence Soul formulation still had extremely long-lasting effects on the Essence Soul.
If one couldn’t create an Essence Soul formulation, their willpower would ultimately be limited.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
In Meng Chuan’s sea of consciousness, his Essence Soul was the Chaos Hole Core. It had condensed into a sphere that could withstand infinite tribulations.
Water flowed externally while dark water swirled around the Chaos Hole’s core like a Chaos Hole domain.
This was a change in Meng Chuan’s Essence Soul structure with the Chaos Hole law as the core. It was an improvement on his original, embryonic Essence Soul formulation.
Such an Essence Soul could be called a Chaos Hole Essence Soul.
My Essence Soul formulation might be called Boulder and Water. Inside, it’s a Boulder—the Chaos Hole’s core is a Boulder. In the future, it might be a universe that is the Boulder. On the outside is Water. The changes in Water are endless, and it can deal with changes in the outside world. Even though the universe is vast, there are endless mysteries beyond the universe.
In the 25th year of researching an Essence Soul formulation, Meng Chuan had completely figured out an Essence Soul formulation built atop his original foundation. It was called Boulder and Water.
But Meng Chuan vaguely felt that something was amiss with it.
This formulation could indeed summarize his cultivation thoughts. He could also easily fuse the Chaos Hole law into it and form a Chaos Hole Essence Soul. He could even plan his path to the Eighth Tribulation realm.
But deep in his heart… he felt that this formulation wasn’t the most compatible with him.
This isn’t what’s most compatible with me? Then, what is most compatible with me?
Meng Chuan looked inwardly at the Essence Soul, which had already become much stronger. His willpower had also improved greatly. The Boulder and Water formulation was definitely in no way inferior to Seventh Tribulation Essence Soul formulations. However, he vaguely felt that something was amiss.
Meng Chuan pondered hard and carefully pondered over the six Eighth Tribulation legacies. He hoped that it would trigger something.
In the 34th year of his research into the Essence Soul formulation, Meng Chuan finally understood the problem.
Yes, Boulder and Water is more compatible with me, but what’s truly compatible with me… is another path. In Meng Chuan’s mind, his Chaos Hole Essence Soul had already begun to transform into a painting that slowly unfolded.
Chapter 703 - Painting World
His Essence Soul transformed into a painting. Above the scroll, water swirled around the Chaos Hole’s core.
In the early stages of painting, one aimed for form, mind, and heart.
Painting wasn’t a complete replication of reality. Instead, it was a fusion of the features and charms extracted from reality with the painter’s internal understanding.
Paintings originated from reality, but they also transcended reality.
It was the same for cultivation. As a cultivator, Meng Chuan observed the operations of the world and comprehended everything in the universe. He used his heart as a painting and extracted his own understanding from everything before condensing his understanding into laws.
My cultivation path is also the path of painting. In the early days, I painted the world. Now, I paint everything in the universe. Meng Chuan came to a realization. To this day, I only paint space and Chaos Holes.
His true path wasn’t Boulder and Water, nor was it internal indestructibility in the face of infinite calamity and changes according to the situation externally.
Instead, it was painting—painting of the world.
Boulder and Water was only the result of his 7,000 years of painting the world. What if it was 70,000 years or even longer? The paintings he produced would be much more vast and beautiful.
I shall call my Essence Soul formulation ‘Painting World.’ Meng Chuan smiled.
Painting World was to paint everything he saw. When Meng Chuan was young, he painted People Resonance. After winning the war in Archean Eon Realm, he painted Backbone. During his growth, he had painted numerous paintings.
After his Essence Soul transformed, Meng Chuan felt that his Essence Soul was especially bright.
Perhaps he still had many doubts about everything in the universe, but he no longer had any doubts about his cultivation path. His mind and will had also transformed.
Compared to the Chaos Hole Essence Soul that he had previously comprehended, the current painting Essence Soul didn’t seem to have offensive traits, but it was more inclusive and vast.
The size of one’s heart determined their Essence Soul World’s size.
After condensing an Essence Soul from the painting, Meng Chuan’s mind became much more vast.
…
After creating an Essence Soul formulation, his most important goal before transcending the tribulation had been completed. In Archean Eon Realm, Meng Chuan leisurely flipped through the manual filled with 3,000 illusory arrays.
One required a long period of time to comprehend the 3,000 illusory arrays; it was very difficult for even an Eighth Tribulation Eminence to crack them all. Thus, Meng Chuan wasn’t in a hurry.
Time passed quickly. On the 79th year since Meng Chuan grasped the Chaos Hole law—
In a courtyard pavilion on Archean Mountain.
Meng Chuan leisurely sat in the pavilion with a black book in his hand. He suddenly looked up, and his gaze traversed spacetime and landed on an ancient planet in a distant river zone.
This grandson of mine really has quite some luck with opportunities. Meng Chuan smiled. His homeworld’s true body had the Spacetime Token, the silver cube combination treasure, and the many treasures left behind by Ancestral Master Archean Eon. Be it monitoring spacetime or sending an Essence Soul avatar across spacetime, it was very easy for him.
…
Heavenly Cycle River Zone, Seven Star River System.
On a nameless ancient planet, the void distorted as five figures appeared. They had different auras, and the weakest among them was a black-robed youth. This black-robed youth—Meng Yu—was only at the Third Tribulation realm. The other four were at the Fourth Tribulation realm.
“Everyone, let’s part ways here,” said Meng Yu with a smile. His brows were filled with delight; he had gained too much this time.
“Brother Meng, I owe you a favor this time. In the future, you have to visit me often,” said a fat elder.
“Definitely, definitely,” replied Meng Yu warmly.
“Let’s leave quickly. Something might happen if we delay,” said a purple-robed, middle-aged man. He was about to leave with Lesser Void Transference. He was rather good at spatial manipulation, but he had failed this time. The purple-robed man’s expression changed. “Not good.”
The other Tribulation Eminences, including Meng Yu, realized that something was amiss. However, the strongest amongst them was only at the Fourth Tribulation realm. Some of their homeworlds only had one or two Void Transference Talismans, so their outer realm true bodies didn’t carry any Void Transference Talismans with them.
They were prepared to abandon their outer realm true bodies when carrying out operations outside the safety of their homeworlds. After all, it was a trivial matter to reconstruct a body, while obtaining Void Transference Talismans was far harder.
But this time, the five of them were willing to pay a Void Transference Talisman in exchange for a chance to escape.
“Haha…” A deep laugh sounded.
A figure dressed in armor appeared, and his aura enveloped the entire ancient planet. The terrifying aura caused Meng Yu and company’s hearts to turn cold.
Fifth Tribulation Eminence? Meng Yu and company knew that things were going south.
With his excellent sword technique, Meng Yu could fight a Fourth Tribulation Eminence despite them being a realm higher than him. However, the gap grew with each increment in cultivation realm. The difference between a Fourth Tribulation Eminence and a Fifth Tribulation Eminence was huge!
A Fifth Tribulation Eminence could easily crush the five of them. There wouldn’t be any accidents.
“I heard that you discovered a Seventh Tribulation Eminence’s cave abode?” The armored figure’s voice spread throughout the planet. “Your luck sure is good.”
There’s a traitor.
Meng Yu and company were alarmed as they immediately realized that a traitor had appeared amongst them.
Before their team explored the ruin, they didn’t know about the ruin’s true situation. After exploring, they were pleasantly surprised to discover that the ruin was actually where a Seventh Tribulation Eminence lived in seclusion. Although there weren’t many treasures left behind by the Seventh Tribulation Eminence, and there wasn’t a single Eighth Tribulation treasure, the ordinary treasures used in daily life made ordinary Tribulation Eminences like them envious.
For example, the most precious item was nine Heart Calming Beads embedded in the roof of a chamber. Each bead was worth about 10,000 cubes. Back then, they had been fanatical. There were dozens of treasures in the cave abode, worth about 200,000 cubes.
The five of them had become wealthy during their reconnaissance. However, they were ambushed the moment they came out of the cave abode. The other party even claimed that it was a Seventh Tribulation cave abode. Nobody had known that it was a Seventh Tribulation cave abode before they explored it.
“There’s no need to try escaping; I’ve already set up an array formation,” said the armored figure leisurely. “As long as you hand over all your treasures obediently, I promise to let you leave safely.”
“Separate and flee.”
“There’s only one of him. Let’s split up and flee; there’s a chance of escaping!”
“Flee!”
Everyone, including Meng Yu, fled without any hesitation.
Gathering together? Ignoring the fact that there was a traitor among them, even if the five of them joined forces, they would be wiped clean by the Fifth Tribulation Eminence. Only by fleeing separately did they have a chance of escaping. After all, there was only one Fifth Tribulation Eminence.
It was impossible for them to allow themselves to be captured. For the sake of the treasures in their hands, they would do their best to seize any chance of escaping.
Most of the treasures I obtained in the cave abode are cultivation artifacts. The alchemy furnace should be rather precious, but there’s no way to use it to escape. Meng Yu determined a direction and fled quickly. At the same time, he felt rather vexed. That divine sword is quite valuable, but I have no hope of fighting a Fifth Tribulation Eminence with it.
If I had earned the treasures earlier, I would’ve long exchanged for a Void Transference Talisman.
Meng Yu was anxious.
Void Transference Talismans were life-preservation treasures for ordinary Tribulation Eminences, but he was too poor. Ever since he came out of his homeworld—Earth Cloud Mystic Realm—he had never had the chance to obtain a Void Transference Talisman. He had relied on his sword techniques to roam the world.
The reason why he was so accomplished in sword techniques was that he had spent almost all his energy on the Meng family’s ultimate technique—Immeasurable Sword Heart. As he cultivated, he realized how brilliant Immeasurable Sword Heart—which his grandfather had given him—was. At the very least, he had never encountered an ultimate technique more powerful than the Immeasurable Sword Heart in Earth Cloud Mystic Realm.
“No—” As a gray-robed man fled, he was the first to be intercepted by the armored figure. The gray-robed man raised his head in despair and stared at the armored figure. He had obtained the equivalent of 30,000 cubes this time. It was several times more than what he had accumulated over the years. How could he be willing to be robbed?
Boom!
The armored figure enveloped him with a palm strike, freezing the gray-robed man completely. The treasures were easily plundered.
“Next.” The armored figure phased away and chased after Meng Yu.
Meng Yu transformed into a sword beam. Even though he had to resist the array formation’s obstruction, his escaping speed was still extremely fast. However, the armored figure was already chasing after him speedily.
The armored figure wasn’t affected by the array formation, and his realm was extremely high. Every step he took allowed him to traverse over five million kilometers as he constantly approached Meng Yu.
What should I do? What should I do? Meng Yu was extremely anxious. The rare treasure I obtained in the outer realm is about to be snatched away?
Meng Yu watched as the armored figure approached him. However, he felt powerless. The difference in strength was too great; there was no way to put up a fight.
“Grandson, don’t panic.” A familiar voice suddenly sounded in Meng Yu’s mind.
Chapter 704 - Grandfather and Grandson's Reunion
Meng Yu was stunned. Grandson?
This familiar voice reminded Meng Yu of his grandfather, whom he had only met a few times.
“You still want to escape?” The armored figure’s lips curled into a sneer. How could a mere Third Tribulation Eminence possibly resist?
He immediately struck out with his palm, hoping to freeze Meng Yu completely. But halfway through the strike, the armored figure’s eyes widened. He had already lost consciousness, and the might of the strike dissipated.
Meng Yu fled in fright as he used his sword technique to defend himself. Sword beams shielded his surroundings.
“Eh?” Meng Yu realized that, although the palm strike’s might seemed terrifying, it had completely dissipated. Only a tiny portion of it affected him, allowing him to withstand it easily. Following that, he saw the armored figure fall to the ground with a thud.
The armored figure remained motionless, no longer breathing.
He’s dead? Meng Yu was somewhat alarmed. A Fifth Tribulation Eminence silently died just like that?
A Fifth Tribulation Eminence could preside over an entire river system. Even in Earth Cloud Mystic Realm, they would occupy the top of the pyramid. Yet, he had died just like that?
“Grandson.” A voice sounded from ahead.
Meng Yu looked up and saw a white-robed, white-haired, and middle-aged man smiling at him.
“Grandfather.” Meng Yu revealed a look of delight as he ran over. Following that, he thought of something and immediately said, “Grandfather, shouldn’t we take back the treasures we obtained? Apart from that fatty, the others don’t have any relationship with me.”
“Snatch treasures?” Meng Chuan was slightly taken aback.
“Yes, 200,000 cubes’ worth,” said Meng Yu immediately. “A huge treasure trove!”
Such a treasure trove was enough to make Fifth Tribulation Eminences risk their lives. It even made Sixth Tribulation Eminences envious. It was no wonder Meng Yu was concerned. He knew that his grandfather was fighting a great enemy in Earth Cloud Mystic Realm, so a huge treasure trove should be able to help his grandfather.
Furthermore, Meng Yu was used to all kinds of schemes being pitted against one another while roaming the outer realm. His companions had only discovered the ruin with him; they didn’t have any relationship with him. Apart from the fat elder, the others in the cave abode even had a falling out with him for the treasures.
If it weren’t for the agreement they made beforehand and their unwillingness to shoulder the karma, they probably would’ve fought each other in the cave abode.
“I’ll destroy
that traitor then,” said Meng Chuan with a smile.
A snake-scaled man—who was fleeing—silently turned to dust. At the same time, Meng Chuan waved his hand and put away all the treasures. He also put away the Fifth Tribulation Eminence’s corpse since it was still worth something.
The fat elder and the purple-robed man fled in panic. When they felt that no array formation was suppressing them, they used Lesser Void Transference to escape.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
After the two successfully teleported and fled far away, they heaved sighs of relief.
We actually managed to escape? The fat elder and the purple-robed man were in an unfamiliar void. They were both glad and somewhat puzzled. A Fifth Tribulation Eminence had prepared an ambush ahead of time, yet they actually managed to escape? They were really lucky.
…
On the ancient planet, Meng Yu was somewhat surprised to see his grandfather let the two Fourth Tribulation Eminences go. “Grandfather, releasing one more person means losing tens of thousands of cubes of treasures. Grandfather, don’t you have a powerful enemy?”
“What I lack isn’t treasures but cultivation,” said Meng Chuan with a smile.
“Grandfather, what realm are you at now?” Meng Yu couldn’t help but ask this. He made a Fifth Tribulation Eminence die silently? How powerful is my grandfather?
Meng Chuan was stunned, but his expression didn’t change as he sighed. “I’m only a half-step Sixth Tribulation Eminence now. My enemy is a true Sixth Tribulation Eminence; he has been invincible in Earth Cloud Mystic Realm for many years. However, I’m an Essence Soul Tribulation Eminence. With me obstructing him, he can forget about controlling Earth Cloud Mystic Realm.”
Meng Yu understood; he knew how special Essence Soul Tribulation Eminences were. His grandfather relied on the Essence Soul Tribulation realm’s uniqueness to fight a Sixth Tribulation Eminence.
“What’s the name of the enemy?” asked Meng Yu.
“I can’t tell you. Karma will form if you know, and this enemy might discover your existence,” said Meng Chuan.
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