Chapter 1262 – Slaughter of the Dao Tablets
To use heavenly tribulation to temper the body, that was simply unimaginable!
Heavenly tribulation was originally the power of heavenly retribution, able to annihilate all of existence. Even using various means to block it wouldn’t be enough, much less directly withstanding it with the body.
For instance, take Dragon Fang. Dragon Fang was already a genius at the limits of potential. But, let alone tempering his body with heavenly tribulation, just three or four explosive strikes by the Thunder Sources would have shattered his spatial enchantments.
It was also because of this reason that many people thought it was impossible for Lin Ming to be so abnormal. Moreover, the performance that Dragon Fang had displayed so far had surpassed Lin Ming’s. Taking a step back, even if Dragon Fang was inferior to Lin Ming, the difference couldn’t be that great.
So, how could one direct the heavenly tribulation to temper their body whilst the other was beaten up so ruthlessly?
“I don’t think this is Lin Ming’s own ability. Dragon Fang climbed up higher than Lin Ming, and he also climbed up in a much calmer fashion. But, upon entering the 33,000 foot thunder dominion and then encountering the Thunder Sources, Dragon Fang was suddenly inferior to Lin Ming. I think this is because Lin Ming must have some special type of shield or rare treasure that can absorb thunder!”
In the crowd, many people agreed with this view.
The timeless history of the Divine Realm was untraceable. Since ancient times, there were countless heaven-defying characters that had refined powerful treasures. It was possible that there were those capable of shielding against the thunder tribulation atop the Divine Seal Altar.
“Yes, that’s also what I am suspecting. Lin Ming resisted those 27 Thunder Sources far too easily, as if his body wasn’t attacked by thunder at all. Moreover, he cultivated the Thunder and Fire Laws from the start, so it wouldn’t be strange if he had some rare thunder-attribute treasure.”
“Treasure is a part of one’s strength but it is still an external force. If Lin Ming were to arrive at this step using a treasure, then even though that’s wonderful of him, it cannot be considered a miracle.”
“If it’s like that then it’s only Lin Ming’s luck that is better. The Divine Seal Altar’s test just happens to suit him.”
“Heh, luck is also part of one’s strength. Dragon Fang’s luck is just far too poor.”
As everyone was speaking, this opinion soon spread through the arena. Everyone could find this more acceptable if Lin Ming had some amazing treasure.
And at this time, Lin Ming had already crawled up another 1000 feet, nearing the 80,000 foot mark!
From 70,000 to 80,000 feet, the purple sea became even wilder and more violent. Thick arcs of thunder howled through the world like purple dragons. Thunder split the skies, revealing an endless and dangerous energy.
At this time, Lin Ming’s entire body was wrapped in thunder. From his head to his toes, he displayed the endless glory of thunder!
Lin Ming’s state seemed to confirm everyone’s guesses. Otherwise, how could he turn a blind eye to so much thunder?
“This boy! Just how many secrets does he have on him?”
In Divine Dream Heavenly Palace, Empyrean Vast Universe was muttering to himself. Upon discovering that Lin Ming was able to perceive the Concept of the 33 Layered Heavens, Empyrean Vast Universe was sure that there was some secret on Lin Ming’s body, otherwise it was impossible for him to comprehend this sort of Concept.
And now, Lin Ming had broken through the 27 Thunder Source killing formation with an unstoppable momentum, even absorbing a portion of those Thunder Sources’ strength to use for himself. That had left Empyrean Vast Universe completely speechless. The power of heavenly tribulation was completely different from the power of ordinary elemental thunder, so how could Lin Ming refine it?
Suddenly, from his side, Empyrean Divine Dream quietly spoke. “Vast Universe, you seem to believe that Lin Ming had found some heaven-defying treasure, or perhaps he stumbled into some lucky chance, relying on some external force to advance to this point.”
“Didn’t he?” Empyrean Vast Universe turned to look at the white-clothed woman beside him. He didn’t think that a Divine Sea martial artist could rely on their strength alone to reach such a boundary.
As for strange treasures, there were all kinds. The Divine Realm was too broad and boundless and had existed for far too long. It was normal for there to be treasures that Empyrean Vast Universe wouldn’t be able to sense. Just speaking of the Magic Cube alone, there were only several people in the entire Divine Realm that knew of it. The Ancient Elysium Seal’s artifact spirit also knew of it, but the only reason that it had discovered the Magic Cube within Lin Ming’s body was because Lin Ming had displayed it when the artifact spirit was trying to destroy him.
The white-clothed woman faintly smiled. “Lucky chances, treasures, these are things that Lin Ming has in abundance. And as you think, they are definitely heaven-shaking. But, the reason he can absorb the power of heavenly tribulation and use it for himself isn’t necessarily because he is relying on some external force, but due to his own abilities…”
“Own abilities?” Empyrean Vast Universe knit his eyebrows together. “A thunder-attribute cultivation method on the level of a transcendent divine might can only stand on par with thunder tribulation in terms of the Laws, so even that can’t truly utilize thunder tribulation. Lin Ming is only at the early Divine Sea realm, but you think he used his own strength to refine that heavenly tribulation?”
Empyrean Vast Universe couldn’t think of any way this was possible. But then Empyrean Divine Dream said, “If Lin Ming were to have experienced heavenly tribulation himself… then from that basis, Lin Ming would be considered as having surpassed the Heavenly Dao Laws. If that is true, then if this were to be coordinated with a supernatural power of the thunder attribute, then there might be that possibility…”
As Empyrean Divine Dream spoke, Empyrean Vast Universe was shocked.
“Experienced heavenly tribulation!? You think he somehow managed to galvanize heavenly tribulation at the Divine Sea realm? How is that even possible?”
Heavenly tribulation was the punishment of the Heavenly Dao. When there was something that tried to surpass the constraints of the Heavenly Dao, the Heavenly Dao would summon heavenly tribulation against that existence in order to exterminate it.
Up to this point, Empyrean Vast Universe had withstood three heavenly tribulations.
The first time was when he had become an Empyrean. His first time experiencing heavenly tribulation had also been the most terrifying time.
The second and third times had been brought down when Empyrean Vast Universe created an Empyrean spirit treasure. The treasure itself had to withstand heavenly tribulation, not Empyrean Vast Universe.
For the first of the two treasure heavenly tribulations, because the quality of that treasure was insufficient, it had been destroyed and failed to come to completion. The second time the treasure was successfully refined, and the finished product of that had been the current Divine Seal Altar replica.
Besides creating an Empyrean spirit treasure, composing a transcendent divine might would also summon heavenly tribulation. Empyrean Vast Universe’s transcendent divine might was only half complete, thus it wasn’t yet able to summon heavenly tribulation.
As the saying went, the heavens would never seal off all roads. Heavenly tribulation always allowed a chance for survival, no matter how slim it was. Once one crossed heavenly tribulation, the benefits were tremendous!
There were many martial arts geniuses whose strength far surpassed those at their level, many with a Holy Lord or World King cultivation, who thought to arouse heavenly tribulation to temper their bodies and use this method to surpass the Heavenly Dao. But, they did not have the ability to offend the Heavenly Dao. So how could Lin Ming, who was only at the early Divine Sea realm, possibly accomplish something like that?
Empyrean Vast Universe felt that this was unimaginable. Even a child God Beast, equal to a human with a Divine Sea cultivation, would not be able to quicken heavenly tribulation.
Empyrean Divine Dream didn’t speak further. Instead, she silently watched as Lin Ming continued climbing up the Divine Seal Altar.
Empyrean Vast Universe also remained silent. He was well aware that if Divine Dream were to say something, she naturally had faith in her own words.
If all of this was true, then that youth known as Lin Ming was far too terrifying. His potential would be far superior to Dragon Fang’s, someone who had successfully cultivated the Three Lives Pupils.
At this time, the unconscious Dragon Fang finally woke up. He had been directly sent into a spirit ship from Vast Universe Heavenly Palace. Through the spirit ship’s portholes, he had a direct view of the competition. Moreover, because he had a superior position and view, he could see everything much more clearly than the audience did.
He immediately spotted Lin Ming.
“This height is…”
Dragon Fang took a deep breath. He original believed that with his own strength, if he were to fight Lin Ming, there was an extremely high chance that he would win. But now, Lin Ming had actually crawled 77,000 feet up the 33rd step, only 3000 feet from his record.
And by the time Dragon Fang had reached that height, he had consumed over half his true essence and his bodily condition had been at its worst.
In contrast, Lin Ming’s entire body sparkled with sheets of thunder, as if his body had become liquid lightning. His blood vitality soared to the heavens, far stronger than his own.
“How is he doing this?”
Dragon Fang was confused and consternated. Lin Ming’s strength should be less than his own, and he also didn’t have the Three Lives Pupils.
When Lin Ming climbed up the Divine Seal Altar, the method he used was far more difficult than the method Dragon Fang had used. He climbed with far less ease than Dragon Fang.
And now, by the time Lin Ming climbed where he was, he was in his greatest state and had nearly reached the area where Dragon Fang had failed.
Dragon Fang, no matter how hard he thought, couldn’t figure out just what was happening.
“I wasn’t able to clearly see how you crossed that Thunder Source tribulation at 70,000 feet, but once you encounter the tribulation of Dao tablets at 80,000 feet, I will take a good look at just how you cross that.”
With things having arrived at this point, Dragon Fang believed that Lin Ming could reach 80,000 feet.
Time slowly passed. Lin Ming’s body roared, explosive crackling sounds coming from every joint in his body. Even his soul was flooded with an endless power of thunder.
And at this time, Lin Ming finally reached the 80,000 foot height. Once he crossed this height, he would have to resist the bombardment of 33 Dao tablets!
The 33 tablets were no longer just the power of thunder, but formed from the world Laws. They represented the will of the Heavenly Dao and were far more formidable than those Thunder Sources from before.
When Dragon Fang formed his spatial mirror images, each one was able to cut down three Thunder Sources. But against these Dao tablets, his spatial mirror images were only able to cut down one. The disparity between them could be imagined.
The audience watched everything with bated breath.
“80,000 feet! He finally reached 80,000 feet!”
“Hehe, I’ve been waiting for this moment. Lin Ming will soon have to withstand the tribulation of those 33 Dao tablets. Before, I suspected that Lin Ming was using some sort of special thunder-attribute treasure to block those Thunder Sources. If this is so, then now that he is facing these 33 tablets he will have to reveal his true strength.”
“It’s suspicious but the truth. Besides that, there is no other possible explanation. Lin Ming is strong, but his strength absolutely cannot reach such a degree. Now, the 33 Dao tablet tribulation he must withstand is different from the power of thunder. These Dao tablets are truly formed from the Laws themselves. If Lin Ming has any treasure, that treasure will be useless from now on. It will be impossible for him to pull any more tricks.”
As everyone spoke, at this time, countless Law runes began to appear around Lin Ming. These Law runes had multi-hued colors, each color representing different Laws. Moreover, the strangest thing was that these Laws were immensely different from the Laws currently existing in the Divine Realm.
Lin Ming looked at those ever-changing Law runes around him, a thoughtful look on his face. “These Law runes, they each represent the Laws of the 33 Layered Heavens. Among these are Laws of the essence gathering system, Laws from the body transformation technique, and even Laws from the Divine Dream Law… this could be called all-encompassing!”
Lin Ming still didn’t understand what the 33 Layered Heavens were. But now, he had an extremely faint idea. The 33 Layered Heavens represented every single energy system in the universe, and also the fusion of every martial path’s Great Dao!
If so, then only by perceiving the 33 Layered Heavens would he be able to walk down his road of martial arts and reach the peak!