Chapter 126: Tribulation Thunder Tempers the Body, the Star Ferry Comes from the East

Three thousand miles east of Star Fall Lake lies the desolate and uninhabited "Nirvana Thunder Marsh."

This place is shrouded year-round in grey-black thunderclouds; the earth is scorched black, crisscrossed with gullies, and the air is filled with the pungent scent of ozone and sulfur. Thick, violet-black bolts of lightning dance like wild giant pythons, tearing through the clouds from time to time and slamming into the ground, blasting out bottomless craters. Violent thunder-Qi rages here; an ordinary Golden Core cultivator would suffer from chaotic spiritual power and physical damage within half a day of arriving. Even Nascent Soul cultivators must remain cautious at all times, not daring to venture deep into the core area.

This place is one of the famous forbidden zones of the Tianyuan Continent, rarely visited by anyone.

Yet today, a streak of cyan-grey light ignored the chaotic thunderstorms on the periphery and shot straight into the very core of the marsh, the region where the thunder was most dense and violent.

The light dissipated, revealing the figure of Lin Xuan. Feng Xi shrank its size and stood quietly on his shoulder, curiously observing the destructive thunder light all around. There was no fear in its cyan-gold eyes; instead, it seemed eager to try.

Lin Xuan had a profound reason for choosing this place. He had initially stabilized his Chaos Tribulation Dao and his cultivation had stepped into the late Nascent Soul stage, but the power within him was too unique and domineering—especially the Chaos Tribulation power that fused destruction and vitality. It required a sufficiently powerful external pressure to further temper and hone it, making it perfectly integrated and laying the most solid foundation for his breakthrough to the Soul Transformation realm. What place could be more suitable as a whetstone than this Nirvana Thunder, which was filled with the most Yang and rigid energy between heaven and earth, and likewise contained the artistic conception of destruction and rebirth?

He looked up at the churning, electric-snake-dancing thunderclouds, feeling the heart-palpitating heavenly might, yet his eyes remained calm, even carrying a hint of anticipation.

"Feng Xi, you stay on the periphery to absorb the thunder-Qi and temper your body. I must go deep into the Thunder Eye," Lin Xuan instructed.

Feng Xi let out a soft cry to show it understood, then flapped its wings and flew away. It found a relatively stable thunderstorm in the edge area, opened its beak to spit out a stream of cyan-gold true flame, and actually began to actively guide the lightning to temper its feathers and body. Its bloodline was extraordinary, and having been nourished by the Chaos aura, this Nirvana Thunder was also a rare tempering opportunity for it.

Lin Xuan took a step forward, his figure like a ghost, piercing through layers of thunder curtains and arriving straight at the very core of the Thunder Marsh.

Here, the sky hung so low it felt within reach; the clouds were as thick as lead, presenting a dull, violet-black hue. Countless dark purple lightning bolts, as thick as water barrels, poured down continuously from the clouds like a waterfall, striking an isolated peak below that was composed entirely of some strange, conductive metal. The isolated peak was scorched black throughout but still stood firm. The summit had been bombarded by lightning for years, forming a platform as smooth as a mirror. In the center of the platform was a "Thunder Eye" that constantly spat out blinding lightning, as if it led directly to the thunder veins at the heart of the earth!

Merely standing at the edge of the platform, the terrifying thunder pressure was enough to make an early-stage Soul Transformation cultivator change their expression, as the violent thunder-Qi crazily eroded everything foreign.

Lin Xuan’s expression did not change; a thin layer of grey-cyan halo naturally emerged around his body. The halo appeared thin, yet it blocked all the violent thunder-Qi, and even the tiny electric snakes that occasionally splashed over were extinguished silently upon touching the halo, turning into a wisp of pure thunder origin energy that was absorbed by the halo.

He walked step by step toward the Thunder Eye in the center of the platform.

The closer he got, the denser and more violent the lightning became. By the last ten feet, it was no longer individual bolts of lightning, but a continuous, torrential flow of lightning like substantial liquid! The destructive power was enough to vaporize refined gold and mysterious iron in an instant!

Lin Xuan took a deep breath, a flash of sternness in his eyes. He no longer used his Chaos Tribulation power for passive defense; instead, he actively withdrew the protective halo from his body!

"BOOM—!!!"

Without the barrier, the endless dark purple lightning, like sharks that had smelled blood, swallowed him instantly!

The blinding thunder light completely enveloped him; the terrifying high temperature and destructive energy crazily impacted his flesh, meridians, and even his soul!

Lin Xuan let out a muffled groan. Countless tiny electric sparks instantly appeared on the surface of his body; his skin cracked and charred black, and his hair stood on end. But not only did he not retreat, he sat down cross-legged at the edge of the Thunder Eye, his hands forming a profound seal.

"Chaos as the furnace, tribulation power as the fuel, heavenly thunder as the hammer... temper my Dao body, forge my soul!"

Inside his body, that Chaos Tribulation Crystal suddenly erupted with a brilliant cyan-grey light! The crystal rotated rapidly, actively guiding and swallowing the violent thunder power surging in from the outside!

This was not resistance, but... refining!

Using the characteristic of Chaos Tribulation power—which could contain all things and also derive all things—he forcibly incorporated the Nirvana Thunder, which represented the punishment of heaven and the most Yang and rigid energy, into his own circulatory system, transforming its destructive will and violent energy into "tribulation fire" to temper himself and polish the tribulation crystal!

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—!!"

Inside Lin Xuan’s body, it was as if countless lightning bolts were exploding and rushing. The newly formed Chaos Tribulation meridians were stretched to the point of near-rupture by the violent thunder power, only to be forcibly mended by the vitality surging from the tribulation crystal, becoming even tougher and wider. His internal organs, bones, and marrow were all destroyed and reshaped over and over again under the baptism of the heavenly tribulation; impurities were tempered and expelled, leaving behind only the most essential parts, and gradually branded with faint traces of thunder Dao patterns.

The most painful part was the soul. Lightning was inherently highly lethal to the soul. Lin Xuan’s Chaos Tribulation Sea churned violently under the impact of the lightning, as if it would be shattered at any moment. But he held fast to the single point of clarity in his spirit platform, using the cyan light spot in the tribulation sea that represented "life" as an anchor to guide the thunder power into the tribulation sea. He was not trying to assimilate the lightning, but to make his own soul adapt to, and even carry, the destruction and violence of the lightning, making it a part of his own Tribulation Dao!

This was an extreme pain, and also an extreme tempering.

His body constantly crumbled, charred, and then rapidly healed and regenerated within the lightning, repeating in a cycle. His aura was at times as weak as a candle in the wind, and at others, it surged like a volcanic eruption, extremely unstable.

Days passed.

Outside the Thunder Marsh, Feng Xi had completed its initial tempering; its feathers were brighter, and faint, tiny electric arcs jumped between them. It looked with some worry toward the center of the thunder, where the storm never ceased and seemed even more violent, but it could sense through their contract that although its master’s aura was fluctuating violently, it never truly declined; instead, it was becoming more solid and profound at a slow but steady pace.

One month later.

At the core of the Thunder Marsh, the terrifying thunder waterfall that had been bombarding for a month suddenly, without warning... weakened!

No, it was not weakening, but as if it had been forcibly "absorbed" by something. Over seventy percent of the lightning torrent surging from the Thunder Eye deviated from its original trajectory, gathering toward the charred, carbon-like figure sitting at the edge of the Thunder Eye, finally sinking into the crown of his head!

Lin Xuan’s body had changed drastically by now.

The charred skin on the surface peeled away layer by layer, revealing new skin beneath that was as crystalline as glazed jade yet contained explosive power. Beneath the skin, faint cyan-grey currents and purple electric light flowed simultaneously. His original hair had long since turned to ash in the lightning; the new hair now presented a strange grey-purple hue, moving without wind, with tiny electric sparks occasionally bursting from the tips.

He slowly opened his eyes.

The moment his eyelids parted, substantial purple electric light and cyan-grey currents flashed and vanished! Deep within his pupils, in addition to the original scenes of life and death reincarnation, there was now an added touch of the domineering and swift nature of thunder.

Peak late-stage Nascent Soul!

In just one month, with the help of the Nirvana Thunder Marsh—a place of heaven and earth’s creation—and the incomparably domineering cultivation method of the Chaos Tribulation Dao, he had not only completely stabilized his realm but also pushed his cultivation to the limit of the Nascent Soul stage! He was only one step away from the Soul Transformation realm, where one transforms from mortal to divine and condenses a primordial spirit! Moreover, his physical strength, tempered a thousand times by lightning, had reached an unfathomable level, comparable to a Soul Transformation body cultivator! His soul was even more condensed like diamond, unafraid of ordinary thunder, fire, or wind tribulations.

More importantly, he had successfully integrated part of the origin characteristics of the Nirvana Thunder into his own Chaos Tribulation power. The current Chaos Tribulation power not only possessed the characteristics of returning to nothingness and life-death cycles, but also added a touch of the swiftness and violence of heavenly punishment lightning, making its power even greater!

With a thought, a wisp of grey-purple current jumped from his fingertip. It was silent, yet it caused the surrounding space to slightly distort, emitting a heart-palpitating destructive fluctuation.

"The power of the Nirvana Thunder Tribulation... not bad." Lin Xuan nodded with satisfaction. The harvest from this tempering far exceeded his expectations.

He stood up, changed into a spare cyan robe (the subtle changes in his hair and eye color could not be hidden for the time being), and with a flash, appeared beside Feng Xi, who was guarding the periphery.

Feeling the deeper, more terrifying, yet familiar aura from its master, Feng Xi chirped happily and rubbed against him affectionately.

"Thank you for your hard work." Lin Xuan stroked Feng Xi, his gaze turning toward the northeast, where the Imperial Capital was located. "I have been in seclusion for a long time; it is time to go back and see. I wonder how things are with Huangfu... Your Majesty."

Just as he was about to set off, he suddenly felt something and looked up sharply toward the deep, high heavens.

Almost at the same time, far away in the deep palace of the Imperial Capital, Emperor Chengping, Huangfu Hao, who was reviewing memorials, and the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, who was sitting in the Star Observation Tower, also seemed to sense something; they stopped their actions simultaneously and looked at the sky.

They saw that deep in the clear night sky, in the southeast direction, a point of silver light was moving from far to near, rapidly enlarging. That light was not a star, but a soft yet resilient silver radiance, as if it carried some ancient and vast will.

A moment later, the silver radiance was clearly visible; it was actually a silver flying vessel as large as a small mountain, with a flowing, strange, and ancient design, its entire body shining with star runes! The flying vessel crossed the firmament silently, as if drifting outside the laws of this world, its speed astonishingly fast, and its target seemed to be... the territory of the Tianyuan Dynasty!

On the side of the flying vessel, a profound emblem composed of stars shone brightly under the moonlight.

"That is..." Huangfu Hao put down his vermilion brush and walked to the window, his brows slightly furrowed. He could feel that the pressure emitted by the flying vessel was not domineering, but as deep as the sea, far beyond any flying magic treasure known to the Tianyuan Continent.

On the Star Observation Tower, the blurred face of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion Master lifted slightly, looking at the silver flying vessel, and muttered to himself: "Star Ferry... Old Man Star River, you finally sent someone. Faster than expected."

His fingers calculated slightly in his sleeves, and a moment later, he let out an almost inaudible sigh: "Tribulation luck is entangled, and foreign guests have come from the east. I fear this Tianyuan Continent, which had just calmed down a little, is about to have waves again. Young friend Lin Xuan coming out of seclusion is just in time; I wonder if his newly born Chaos Tribulation Dao can handle these uninvited guests from overseas..."

The silver Star Ferry, like a silent traveler of the starry sky, slowly lowered its altitude and finally hovered above an uninhabited sea area outside the eastern border of the Tianyuan Dynasty. It did not directly break into the dynasty’s airspace, appearing quite restrained, yet it also signaled a transcendent posture.

Powerful spiritual senses, like mercury pouring onto the ground, swept from the Star Ferry toward the continent gently but irresistibly, carrying a sense of inquiry and assessment.

The tranquility of the Tianyuan Continent was completely broken by these uninvited guests from the endless vast sea.

Lin Xuan looked from afar at the silver giant vessel hovering in the distant sky, his grey-purple hair fluttering gently in the night wind, a flash of solemnity and eagerness in the depths of his eyes.

"Overseas guests... they seem very strong," he said in a low voice, then took a step, his figure merging into the night, and sped toward the Imperial Capital.

New challenges and opportunities had already descended upon this world along with this Star Ferry.