Chapter 316

Two more months passed, and the outline of the star bridge within Ding Huan's consciousness universe became increasingly clear.

He felt that if he could further comprehend the Dao principles existing between the star systems, he would naturally step into the Star Bridge realm.

Each Zhou Tian of the Great Universe Art not only enhanced the depth of his true energy but also deepened his understanding of cosmic Dao principles.

To Ding Huan, this was normal.

The difference between his Great Universe Art and other cultivation techniques lay in the fact that once he comprehended the realm, the subsequent advancement became extremely easy.

He did not need to rely on pills to shatter constraints, as other techniques required.

The moment Ding Huan sensed the Dao rhythm of the Star Bridge and began attempting to materialize the first star bridge through his own comprehension, the Lei Jie crashed down.

Ding Huan had experience with Tribulation Crossing the Star Domain Lei Jie—it had been like scratching an itch, posing no threat whatsoever.

This time, Ding Huan paid it no mind; the Lei Jie of the Star Bridge realm was indeed far stronger than that of the Star Domain realm.

Yet his strength had also grown vastly beyond what it was in the Star Domain realm.

"Boom—boom—boom!"

To Ding Huan's surprise, the first wave consisted of only three bolts.

According to his Tribulation Crossing experience, he usually faced the Nine-Nine Lei Jie.

That meant he needed to endure eighty-one Lei Jie bolts to complete the Tribulation Crossing—was this three-bolt strike a dismissal of him? Or merely a waste of time?

Crack—crack—crack!

The first Lei Jie bolt, as thick as an infant's arm, struck Ding Huan's shoulder; the second slammed into his back; the third directly hit the crown of his head.

Crack! Ding Huan frantically gathered true energy through the Great Universe Art and punched out.

He didn't even draw his Departure Spear, believing that only by enduring the Lei Jie with his bare body could he gain maximum benefit.

A sharp crack echoed—his knuckle bones were shattered by the Lei Jie.

Had he not pulled his hand away in time, his fist would have been reduced to pulp.

In panic, Ding Huan frantically rolled his true energy into a defensive field to block the first Lei Jie bolt.

A spray of blood exploded—his arm was blasted clean off by the Lei Jie bolt.

This was only because he had frantically rolled his true energy, punched the bolt once, then used his true energy field to absorb part of its force; otherwise, he suspected that single Lei Jie bolt could have turned his entire arm into shredded pulp.

Ding Huan's scalp prickled—he was certain this had nothing to do with the Star Domain Lei Jie he had faced before.

If he continued like this, he wouldn't survive even the first three bolts of this first wave.

As the second and third bolts descended, Ding Huan dared not delay a moment.

He unleashed the iron pot within his consciousness with all his might, while simultaneously thrusting his Departure Spear toward the second Lei Jie bolt.

Boom!

Crack!

The second Lei Jie bolt shattered Ding Huan's Departure Spear; the third slammed into the iron pot with a dull thud.

Blood trickled from Ding Huan's lips; his spiritual sense surged, reattaching his severed arm.

Lightning flickered in the sky; Ding Huan's heart turned icy.

He knew the iron pot could not withstand the remaining seventy-eight Lei Jie bolts—was he truly going to perish beneath this Lei Jie today?

Ding Huan himself was utterly baffled: why was the Lei Jie of the Star Bridge realm so vastly different from that of the Star Domain realm?

The Great Universe Art surged wildly, rapidly healing Ding Huan's injuries while his cultivation level climbed swiftly.

The spiritual energy from the Star Vein and the top-grade Spirit Vein coiled around him like surging rivers—but to Ding Huan, these were utterly insufficient to solve the core problem.

The sky blazed with Lei Jie light, illuminating the entire Sword Storage Mountain, as six more Lei Jie bolts crashed down.

These six bolts covered Ding Huan's entire body, leaving him no room to evade.

Ding Huan held the iron pot above him, hoping it could shield him from more bolts; at the same time, he pulled out an unknown material from his Star House.

This material, harvested on Earth, looked like a massive iron block; since it couldn't be forged into a weapon, he had carried it with him all along.

Boom—boom—boom—three bolts were blocked by the iron pot; two slammed into the giant iron block; the final bolt, Ding Huan could only punch out again.

Wild true energy collided with the Lei Jie bolts, scattering radiant lightning.

Ding Huan dared not keep his fist in contact with the Lei Jie—he withdrew it immediately after striking.

Crack! His knuckle bones shattered again under the violent force of the Lei Jie.

Because he pulled his fist away in time, the residual shockwave struck Ding Huan's waist.

This Lei Jie bolt pierced his waist effortlessly, pinning him to the ground.

Ding Huan spat blood profusely, frantically healing himself with the Great Universe Art while absorbing spiritual energy to refine his Star Bridge Dao rhythm.

He swallowed a large gulp of a billion-year Sea Marrow; with the Great Universe Art's aid, his recovery speed increased tenfold.

Feeling the Lei Jie bolts continuing to gather overhead, Ding Huan was grateful he had obtained the billion-year Sea Marrow in the Fourth Sea Layer.

He had never imagined that even with his own formidable healing ability, he would one day need to use the billion-year Sea Marrow.

This treasure, capable of reviving the dead and regrowing flesh and bone from a single drop, he now swallowed in a massive gulp.

As his injuries healed, the Dao rhythm fused into his Star Bridge grew richer, and the bridge itself became clearer.

Boom—boom—boom!

The third wave of Lei Jie bolts crashed down; Ding Huan prayed this wave would not exceed six bolts—if it did, he could not possibly block them.

To Ding Huan's dismay, this wave clearly exceeded six bolts.

Nine bolts descended in unison.

Ding Huan frantically activated the Great Universe Art, summoning the iron pot, the giant iron block, and the iron drum from his ring.

Moreover, he unleashed the Flying Smoke Sword and over a hundred defensive talismans.

Only because his consciousness was so powerful could he summon all these items at once.

Such terrifying Lei Jie bolts—if two struck him, he'd be in dire straits; if three hit him, he'd likely die.

Even though Ding Huan's divine sense was incredibly powerful, summoning so many artifacts at once was still extremely difficult.

You have to know that the magic treasures he had offered up, apart from the Flying Smoke Sword which had been refined, the rest had not been refined at all, so the difficulty of controlling them could well be imagined.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Waves of lightning arcs slammed into the iron cauldron, like giant trees crashing against city walls.

That iron chunk once again helped Ding Huan block a lightning arc, and the massive iron drum did not disappoint him.

A lightning arc struck the giant drum; the deep, resonant boom seemed ready to tear open the heavens, so muffled it nearly shattered the entire Sword Storage Mountain.

The Flying Smoke Sword, like the iron cauldron, shattered two lightning arcs.

Unfortunately, the Flying Smoke Sword was not a defensive artifact—it had an inherent flaw in resisting lightning arcs.

The final two lightning arcs tore through layer after layer of Ding Huan's defense talismans, then slammed into Ding Huan himself.

Ding Huan was not alarmed—he was delighted.

Although his hundred-plus defense talismans had been torn into nothingness, they had blocked the strongest strikes of two Lei Jie arcs.

Crack! Crack!

Ding Huan heard his own bones continuously shattering under the blows, and his heart surged with excitement.

This was the least injured he had ever been during two of his Tribulation Crossings.

Taking advantage of his light injuries, Ding Huan strained to construct the Star Bridge Dao Rhythm through the Great Cosmos Art; the first Star Bridge's outline gradually took tangible form.

The fourth wave of Lei Jie arcs descended again.

To Ding Huan's surprise, the fourth wave consisted of only six arcs.

This was settled.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Six lightning arcs surged downward like deathly blue flashes; Ding Huan hoped the iron cauldron would block three, the iron drum two, and the iron chunk one…

Ding Huan felt deeply frustrated.

If he had already refined the iron cauldron, would he even need the iron drum and iron chunk?

Would he even need to pull out the Flying Smoke Sword?

All his iron was half-baked.

The best of them, the iron drum, had only three seals refined. The iron chunk was meant to become an artifact—it was still in its raw state.

The iron cauldron was what he intended to refine into a defensive treasure, yet he hadn't refined even a single seal.

No—he hadn't even touched the edge of the seals.

Crack! Just one lightning arc sent his iron cauldron flying.

This lightning arc was a full rank stronger than the previous waves; as Ding Huan frantically refined the Star Bridge Dao Rhythm between star systems in his mind's cosmos, he hastily grabbed all his defense talismans and summoned them again.

Boom…

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

A barrage of dense Dao Rhythm collisions and explosions rang out; Ding Huan's iron drum was also blasted away, and the unknown iron chunk was flung off too.

Three consecutive lightning arcs slammed into Ding Huan.

Although the defense talismans had absorbed part of their power,

Ding Huan's body still bore several bloodied holes.

Even with his extraordinary recovery ability, the next instant he was soaked in blood.

Ding Huan immediately swallowed two mouthfuls of Eternal Sea Marrow and strained every ounce of his strength to channel the Great Cosmos Art for healing.

The sky still churned, brewing even more terrifying Lei Jie arcs.

Ding Huan stared at the impending Lei Jie arc; despair crept into his eyes.

If he could not break through to the Star Bridge Realm, he would absolutely not survive the next wave of Lei Jie.

When he could barely move, Ding Huan retrieved the iron drum and iron cauldron.

The Eternal Sea Marrow was indeed a supreme treasure; despite his grievous wounds—his body pierced by blood holes, bones and internal organs shredded—

under the combined power of the Eternal Sea Marrow and the Great Cosmos Art's Zhou Tian, he healed rapidly.

Boom! Boom! Boom! The fifth wave of lightning arcs had already fallen.

Ding Huan sighed.

He wondered—if he failed this Tribulation Crossing, would he be reborn again?

Then he shook his head; he felt he probably could not be reborn again.

He still didn't understand why he had been reborn last time.

Watching one lightning arc strike the iron cauldron, Ding Huan made up his mind—he abandoned attempting to break into the Star Bridge Realm and instead frantically refined the iron cauldron.

As the Great Cosmos Art and the iron cauldron's Zhou Tian formed, the instant the lightning arc struck the cauldron, Ding Huan faintly sensed the first seal within it.

This was the first time Ding Huan had ever sensed the seals inside the iron cauldron.

Had it not been for the falling Lei Jie arc, he knew refining this seal would have been a dream.

Now he intended to use the lightning arc to shatter this seal.

To Ding Huan's astonishment, under the Great Cosmos Art's Zhou Tian, the power and Dao Rhythm of the lightning arc were entirely channeled into the iron cauldron's seal.

With just this one strike, the seal trembled violently.

Then the second and third Lei Jie arcs struck the iron cauldron in succession.

Through the Zhou Tian between the Great Cosmos Art and the iron cauldron, Ding Huan's perception of this seal grew clearer and clearer.