Modern World's Martial Dao Human Immortal

Chapter 172 Tribulation

"A hundred thousand cultivators who had refined their Divine Sense have died!?"

This number was astoundingly high.

It should be known that to refine one's Divine Sense is tantamount to embracing an entirely different concept.

Those who had not yet refined their Divine Sense were engaged only in basic societal production, ensuring the normal functioning of a sect's foundational level.

Their existence was akin to foundational keystones, continuously filtering out those beneficial for the development of the sect who had refined their Divine Sense.

This layer then, through the production of Spirit Stones and by filling in some key departments that required Spirit Stones for their operation, allowed the sect to function and, in turn, cultivate more of its management, core, and ruling layers, until ultimately forming the entire structure of the sect.

It's no exaggeration to say that to refine one's Divine Sense is to change one's destiny, to leave the base level behind. In any department, one could receive decent treatment, and even if one wished to join another sect, they would not be rejected.

And now, in an instant, over a hundred thousand of the elite layer had perished...

"Limitless Star Palace, in order to demonstrate their influence to the world, has dispatched over a dozen Patrol Heaven Warships to blockade our Nine Cauldrons Sect from all sides—east, south, west, north, and even the heavens above us are swarming with their warships and Heavenly Palace Cultivators."

Qin Yi said, "Such an all-encompassing blockade has naturally had an astonishing effect. I suppose you have also felt the instability in the Void Divine Realm as of late, right? But... Such a deployment of force inevitably leads to a relaxation of their defenses in other areas. It was during this time that the long-planned remnants of the Quicksand Sect infiltrated Sun Moon Peak, sealed off its Protective Formations one by one, and then a Great Technique Cultivator made his move... nearly destroying the entire mountain..."

"What will Limitless Star Palace do in response?"

Alkaid said.

"Such an act severely provokes the dignity of Limitless Star Palace. Whether it's to give an explanation internally or to show their fangs externally, they must take action. I don't know what specifically they will do, but... for the time being, they probably won't have as much energy to deal with us."

Qin Yi said, "Of course, they won't spare any effort in terms of economy, influence, and containment through the Cangwu Alliance, but at least they won't dare to mobilize over a dozen Patrol Heaven Warships and completely blockade our Nine Cauldrons Sect as they're doing now... After all, who knows how many remnants of the Quicksand Sect are still lurking within Limitless Star Palace's domain, and how many other forces dissatisfied with the overbearing nature of Limitless Star Palace are waiting for a chance to act."

Alkaid nodded his head.

The shift in attention of Limitless Star Palace...

It was the perfect opportunity for Nine Cauldrons Sect to strengthen and refit in secret.

Without further ado, he went straight to Purple Rose and took out a Jade Talisman.

"This is the design of a Treasure that upgrades the Purple Cloud Type-12 Flying Sword. Take a look."

"A Treasure!?"

Purple Rose was slightly startled, then couldn't help revealing a look of joy, "You... You can refine Treasures now?"

"Just this type of Flying Sword,"

Alkaid said, "Well, from Spirit Artifact to Treasure, it's indeed a big generational difference. Let's call it the Purple Cloud Type-13 Flying Sword."

He planned to name the future Medium Grade Treasure the Purple Cloud Type-14, and the Superior Grade Treasure, the Purple Cloud Type-15.

Of course, the Medium Grade Treasure was often a substitute for the Superior Grade, and Alkaid wouldn't bother too much. When he had enough funds and raised the level of the Formation, he would directly start designing the Purple Cloud Type-15, and it would perform up to the Fourth or even Fifth Generation standard.

If he could truly equip all elite Great Sword Cultivators with the Fifth Generation Flying Swords...

They would not only suppress the sword cultivators of Limitless Star Palace but in a clash with the Great Sun Sword Sect, it would no longer be them suffering a 40:7 defeat; instead, they would be the ones achieving such a victory against the Great Sun Sword Sect.

"I'll have Grandmaster Dong Liu from the water sect verify this immediately."

Purple Rose said, and then gave Alkaid a glance, "Shall we go to Red City together?"

"First, let's verify it,"

Alkaid replied.

After he raised the level of the Formation and was capable of refining the Purple Cloud Type-15, it wouldn't be too late to go to Red City.

As for now...

He had more important matters to attend to.

...

"Tribulation?"

The Great Cultivator of the Primordial Spirit Realm, Bai Lu, who was specifically responsible for protecting Alkaid, looked at him with a somewhat surprised expression.

However, recalling the abundant foundation Alkaid recently demonstrated when controlling the Nine Heavens Thunderbolt Sword Formation, she also had an epiphany.

"Ah, that's right. The reason you've delayed for so long in Divine Refinement Ninth Layer is to lay a more solid foundation, thus to accumulate thinly and erupt mightily, correct? With your current foundation of the Primordial Spirit, undergoing Scorching Sun Heavenly Thunder Tempering shouldn't be difficult."

Bai Lu nodded her head.

"I have come to consult with Hall Master Bai Lu on the specific matters regarding Heavenly Thunder Tempering."

"Specific matters..."

Bai Lu organized her thoughts for a moment and slowly said, "The Primordial Spirit is condensed from Divine Sense, formless and intangible, belonging to Yin attribute, while thunder is extreme Yang, hard and forceful. The process of tribulation is actually one of Yin and Yang clashing to temper the Primordial Spirit, a process with extremely fast efficiency, but also very perilous. Therefore, we cultivators in the Primordial Spirit Realm must do everything possible to enrich our foundation and elevate the Realm of our Primordial Spirit before advancing."

Alkaid nodded his head.

As soon as a Primordial Spirit Realm cultivator manifests their Primordial Spirit within the Heavenly Thunder Layer, the Yin attribute of the Primordial Spirit will attract the extreme Yang Heavenly Thunder to strike.

"Thunder Tribulation usually consists of three stages. The first stage involves drawing the first strike of Heavenly Thunder for tempering, up to nine Heavenly Thunder strikes. This stage is known as the First Rank Heavenly Tribulation. Following that, the cultivator must withstand ten to twenty-seven Heavenly Thunder temperings, known as the Thirty-nine Heavenly Tribulations, and the final stage, enduring the Ninety-Nine Heavenly Tribulations of eighty-one Heavenly Thunder strikes. After undergoing eighty-one Heavenly Thunder strikes, the strength of the Primordial Spirit will reach its peak, and then one can attempt to enter the Purple Cloud Divine Thunder Layer."

Bai Lu glanced at Alkaid, "Your foundation is very robust, which is probably sufficient for you to complete the First Rank Heavenly Tribulation in one go. However, I do not recommend you do this; no matter how robust the foundation, when it comes to cultivation, it is best to take it step by step. Rash actions can easily put you in danger."

"I will make a decision accordingly."

Alkaid spoke, curiosity evident in his voice, "I have heard that when undergoing Purple Cloud Divine Thunder Tempering, it is easy to comprehend the mysteries of Chaos and instantly condense a Dharma Phase. Is this rumor true or false?"

"In theory, that is indeed possible, but the power of the Dharma Phase does not lie in the comprehension of the mysteries of Chaos, but in being able to condense one's own Void Divine Realm! And to condense one's own Void Divine Realm, one must have a sufficiently powerful Divine Sense, which requires repeated tempering of the Primordial Spirit!"

Bai Lu explained.

"Void Divine Realm."

Alkaid murmured the term.

The Void Divine Realm could be understood as a network world, an information world.

But it belongs to a broad sense of network and information world, even leaning towards a quantum world.

The contained mysteries of the chaotic spacetime make the Void Divine Realm have no distance or delay restrictions in external communication.

The current Void Divine Realm used by the people is what the Dharma Phases left from the Moon Demon Empire war era; it is a public Void Divine Realm.

Any Sect or power can connect to and enter this kind of Void Divine Realm and send or transmit information on it.

However, due to its openness and freedom, the information transmitted through the Void Divine Realm is easily interfered with, blocked, and even distorted or tampered with.

Therefore, key information between Sects is usually conveyed by Heavenly Palace Cultivators.

But, aside from the Myriad Beasts Sect, the Immortal Alliance, and the Limitless Star Palace, no power in the world has established a full-fledged system of Heavenly Palace Cultivators. For example, the Nine Cauldrons Sect, even covering the entire Sect and surrounding areas, there will still be a vacuum period for information transmission, not to mention other regions far from the Sect.

A private Void Divine Realm could perfectly solve this problem.

Cultivators could leave a part of their Divine Sense and Divine Consciousness in the Void Divine Realm to easily communicate regardless of the distance between them.

And this kind of information, unless one's own Void Divine Realm is breached, cannot be interfered with, blocked, distorted, or altered.

Crucially, once used to attack and descend upon a particular area, it can directly create an information black domain over that region.

In other words...

One could utterly destroy the communication and information of that Sect, including Divine Sense transmission and tactical guidance.

In today's age, once all of a party's information is entirely blocked and communication returned to a state of basic shouting, that battle...

Is essentially over.

At this moment, Bai Lu suddenly said, "Actually, the reason why the upper echelons have not yet decided whether to let you oversee a Sword Cultivation Academy under the Campaign Hall, or let you focus solely on Artifact Refining, or perhaps... not disturb your Cultivation, is because they do not know how to properly arrange your position."

She glanced at Alkaid, "Your command over numerous Primordial Spirits and Foundation Establishment Cultivators is being internally promoted by our Sect as a new type of Formation, while externally... it is kept a strict secret, but a very few of us at the Primordial Spirit Realm can still feel that this wonder... is a bit similar to the Void Divine Realm."

Void Divine Realm.

Alkaid paused to reflect.

The Divine King's secret technique did indeed have some semblance to the Void Divine Realm.

"At the moment, within our small circle in the Nine Heavens Domain, there is a bold... and even impractical speculation."

Bai Lu looked at Alkaid with hopeful eyes, even with longing, "Perhaps... one day in the future, you might be able to break the shackles in one go with the Primordial Spirit and rise to the Dharma Phase! Allowing our Nine Cauldrons Sect to become the fourth Sect in the Cangwu Great World that possesses a Dharma Phase!"

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"I'll do my best."

Alkaid said.

Thereafter, Bai Lu continued to introduce to Alkaid the precautions for using the power of Heavenly Thunder to temper the Primordial Spirit.

Although Alkaid had gathered more complete information from the "Divine Path" than what Bai Lu told him, he still listened patiently.

Three days later.

Alkaid did not waste any more time.

His Primordial Spirit left his body, transforming into a beam of light and soaring straight up to the Ninth Layers of Heaven.

Bai Lu, Zhang Jianlin, and a select few Primordial Spirit Realm Cultivators and high-ranking members of the Nine Heavens Domain who were aware of his plan to face the Tribulation all looked up.

Moreover, Zhao He, the Hall Master of the Campaign Hall, led two teams of Sword Cultivators to follow him into the clouds, keeping their distance as protectors, to prevent any disturbances.

Of course, Alkaid had to shoulder the process of Heavenly Thunder Tempering by himself.

For a Primordial Spirit Realm Cultivator, this was essentially a part of their Cultivation.

...

Upon reaching above the Nine Heavens, his Yin Attribute Primordial Spirit quickly stirred the Yang Attribute forces outside, immediately causing the atmosphere to roil and the skies to surge with wind and cloud.

The severely changing atmospheric environment caused the internal forces of Yin and Yang to clash violently, and in less than a minute...

"Boom!"

A bolt of Scorching Sun Heavenly Thunder streaked across the Void.

Drawn by the Yin force of his Primordial Spirit, the Heavenly Thunder aimed directly at where Alkaid was and struck down toward him.