Chapter 1453: Surviving the Heavenly Tribulation, Ascending to Refining Void

The heavenly light dimmed once again.

Yin-thunder power from all four directions was devouring the sun, about to drown everything; even the sun's light at the very center was weakening, on the verge of collapse, about to be extinguished.

"Yin-thunder laws…"

Jiang Ding murmured.

All around, the solar law net was crumbling, going dark, unable to withstand the heavenly tribulation's power.

Within it lay an invisible, unknown force he simply could not break free of in a short time; he could only slash out another sword. Rain threads from all four directions converged toward the center, converging, converging, all pouring into the Six Paths' Hell Path, and the Hell Path itself was shrinking, further compressing these particles.

Streak after streak of solar law net condensed into runes, reinforcing the Hell Path; in the void came the sound of sutra chanting, or perhaps the sound of reading, hazy and indistinct.

Behind the Hell Path, another Six Paths world emerged from behind Jiang Ding — the Hungry Ghost Path — reinforcing the Hell Path.

After the Hungry Ghost Path came the Animal Path, then the Human Path, the Heaven Path, and the Asura Path.

Six law worlds, six cycles, ring within ring; all power was concentrated here, shrinking, compressing, while outside, golden raindrops kept pouring in like an ocean, as if there were no end.

Under such terrifying pressure, the golden raindrops in the Hell Path gathered into water, then into heavy water, then were forcibly turned solid.

Yet this was still not the end.

The external pressure kept growing, kept growing; all the power of the Six Paths acted inward, and the pressure of the entire heaven and earth, of six worlds, converged on a single point.

The pressure at this central point was so terrifying that even laws collapsed in such an environment, ceasing to exist; only the most basic matter and particles remained, along with immortal Dao spiritual particles.

Compress, compress, compress again!

Finally, under pressure that seemed to have no limit, the outer electrons broke free of the atomic nucleus's binding, and two atomic nuclei fused, forming entirely new matter.

In the process of two atomic nuclei fusing to form matter, vast destructive energy escaped.

Through all manner of carefully designed coincidences, along the correct path that the immortal sect had explored through countless experiments, immortal Dao spiritual particles joined in as well, further exponentially amplifying and qualitatively transforming this process.

The first nuclear fusion was a beginning, quickly triggering a second, a third… ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million — countless identical reactions!

In an instant, terrifying beyond compare — fusion energy enough to make a Combined Dao Divine Monarch shudder — erupted, overwhelming like mountains and seas, devouring everything, drowning everything.

Just a sliver of the leaked pressure was enough to halt the expansion of the yin-thunder law heavenly Dao net, freezing it so it could advance no further.

"Immortal Technique Prototype to the Fifth Power · Water-Destroying Path Fusion Sword!"

"What a pity—

—This lord spent several thousand years developing it, from project initiation to the birth of results, consuming countless heavenly materials and earthly treasures, time and experience, condensing the lifetime wisdom of dozens of generations and tens of millions of cultivators in the immortal sect's laboratories, all of it here, yet not a single powerful expert celebrated its birth with their life.

Jiang Ding said with some regret.

Crack~

Crack!

The instant his words fell, the Six Paths, Six Rings world prison cage finally reached its limit, unable to further imprison and restrain the exponentially surging fusion power within the Hell Path. The sword technique began its next transformation: the Six Paths worlds opened from inside out in sequence, revealing a tiny gap.

Boom!

The instant this tiny gap appeared, the terrifying high-temperature, high-pressure destructive fusion energy inside finally found a point of release, erupting toward that point in full.

Whoosh!

This destructive fusion power, condensed to the extreme, formed a pale-blue flame beam, straight yet twisted, projecting a straight ray of light that landed at the very center of the yin-thunder law heavenly Dao net — the place closest to the heart of the Refining Void heavenly tribulation.

The yin-thunder law heavenly Dao net instantly froze.

Sizzle~

After that, no explosion occurred.

Centered on the destructive fusion beam, the entire yin-thunder law heavenly Dao net silently melted away, rippling outward like waves, rapidly spreading through all of heaven and earth.

Wherever it passed — laws, space, asteroid belts, heavenly Dao nets — all melted away without a trace.

Even the tribulation clouds were forcibly melted, despite the solar sword Dao law heavenly Dao net blocking in front; this destructive fusion power was simply too terrifying, utterly indiscriminate, impossible to block by any law or any force, not even exempting things imbued with the Sword Master's will.

In just one breath, the grand spectacle formed by the sixth heavenly tribulation vanished in an instant.

All anomalies, all upheavals, disappeared.

Even the Lei Gao Jie clouds paused, showing no further reaction for a long time.

After a long while, the final heavenly tribulation slowly descended.

This time its might was even more terrifying; the destructive thunder law net within the heavenly tribulation summoned three thousand six hundred law thunder flying swords, forming a terrifying destructive sword formation — seemingly inherited from an ancient, already-destroyed Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong — its offense unmatched in sharpness, enveloping Jiang Ding as countless destructive sword energies erupted.

Jiang Ding drew his sword and fought within, struggling, battling; fusion destructive beams bloomed again and again, shattering law thunder flying swords one after another, tearing apart the thunder law heavenly Dao net time after time, but beneath the enveloping Lei Gao Jie clouds, these law thunder flying swords revived once more.

They could not be cut down, could not be killed.

He fought within the thunder for a long time, struggled for a long time, until in the end he went entirely mad, burning his essence blood, slashing out a sword of ultimate sublimation, with power exceeding his limit—

—forcibly shattering this indestructible Refining Void heavenly tribulation; even the million-kilometer Lei Gao Jie clouds were blasted apart, not a single scrap remaining.

Finally, the cosmic starry sky shone down as usual; the Refining Void heavenly tribulation had ended.

"Refining Void!"

"Today, at last, it is achieved."

Jiang Ding stood in the starry sky, sighing without end.

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Having cultivated for many years, experienced many things, bid farewell to many old friends, visited many places, he had finally reached this point, completing the dream of his childhood.

Boundless heaven and earth spiritual energy and the light of the sun, moon, and stars rolled in, sinking into the solar law heavenly Dao net, being refined, transforming into magic power that poured into Jiang Ding's dantian, little by little restoring his injuries, restoring his dried-up magic power and divine sense.

Gradually, his entire aura grew stronger.

"Right now, I…"

Jiang Ding gazed at himself.

"Divine sense scanning range is one hundred seventy thousand kilometers, already surpassing many Combined Dao cultivators."

"My lifespan, with my stronger foundation, sword soul, and the Six Paths' effect of slowing the passage of lifespan, amounts to seventy thousand years in reality — a bit less than a Combined Dao cultivator."

"Enough, enough."

"Even without considering life-extending elixirs, I still have sixty thousand years. That's more than enough to carry out my various cultivation plans step by step. There's no need to be impatient for quick success."

"What matters most is the strength I have right now."

Jiang Ding lightly stroked the sword hilt, his gaze filled with longing: "For the first time, within this realm, within this cluster of worlds, I am no longer a weakling. I can already face every Dao Merging Divine Lord on my own."

"One has to say, this is a pity."

"Fellow Daoists, Divine Lords, you have committed so many acts that violate the Immortal Sect's laws. I truly hope you can grow stronger.

Please don't be too weak, don't trap me in the same dilemma as Zou Zou Xiyuan, dying in a barren realm, forever unable to transcend…"

He muttered to himself, endless ambition, endless greedy desire spreading in all directions.

He seemed not to have noticed, or had inadvertently forgotten, that after passing the heavenly tribulation, there is still one more trial known as the Heart Demon Tribulation.

He completely ignored it.

He noticed even less that within his pupils, a faint and illusory shadow of a butterfly flashed and vanished.

That beautiful, holy butterfly shadow, possessing infinite charm, making countless prodigies and heroes bow down and worship, gazed at her youth from deep within his memory, from the depths of his divine soul — affectionate and gentle, as if looking at her own husband.