After bidding his friends goodbye he decided to help the last batch of people who wanted to go to the cultivation world. He opened the portal to the cultivation world, and the next moment he appeared inside the room that was given to him by the sect master.
The moment he stepped through the portal and returned to the cultivation world, however, he immediately sensed that something was wrong. A strange force brushed against him, it was subtle at first, almost like the faint pull of gravity acting on his body.
Arthur's eyes narrowed slightly as his perception expanded outward. It did not take him long to identify the nature of the disturbance, something was attempting to teleport him. The mysterious force was not particularly strong at the moment, and with his current strength resisting it required almost no effort from him, but the sensation did not fade. Instead, it slowly intensified with every passing second, like a tide rising against a shore.
Arthur folded his arms as he analyzed it calmly, allowing the pull to continue while he studied the pattern behind it.
"Interesting," he muttered to himself quietly. "At this rate… I can probably resist it for about an hour."
The thought immediately led him to another conclusion that made his expression grow thoughtful. In this world cultivators were said to eventually leave the mortal plane and ascend to the immortal realm once they reached a certain level of power. Perhaps what he was feeling right now was that transition.
Arthur had surpassed the limits of cultivation of this world as soon as he fixed the issue with his soul, and now that he had stepped into true godhood, perhaps the world was attempting to expel him because his existence exceeded what this plane could contain.
The idea reminded him of something Steve had once mentioned to him during one of their spars. In Thyrandel, once someone surpassed the Demi-God realm and stepped into the Minor God stage, the world itself would forcibly eject them to a dimension inhabited by gods.
Arthur frowned slightly as he remembered that conversation. "But when I returned to Thyrandel from the zombie world… nothing like that happened."
The contradiction lingered in his thoughts for a moment. "Is it because I don't follow Thyrandel's power system?" he wondered aloud. But that explanation did not fully satisfy him. After all, he also did not follow the cultivation system of this world, yet this mysterious force was clearly reacting to his presence here.
So why was this world reacting… while there was no reaction in Thyrandel?
Arthur slowly exhaled as another possibility formed in his mind. The laws governing each world might simply operate differently. Perhaps Thyrandel only expelled someone if they actively used power above the demigod threshold within its domain.
If that were the case, unleashing his full strength there might trigger the same phenomenon. That was a risk Arthur had no intention of testing. If he were forcibly sent to the divine realm of that universe, there was no guarantee he would be able to return to Thyrandel afterward, and there were still too many things there that mattered to him. Selene, Avalon, and the countless people depending on him were not things he could simply abandon.
Pushing those thoughts aside, he focused on the final task he had yet to complete in this world. A moment later he vanished from the room and reappeared deep within a forest several kilometers outside the nearest city.
Towering ancient trees surrounded him, their trunks were extremely thick with age and spiritual energy flowing through the environment like a mist. The air here was rich with vitality, the kind of place where cultivators would normally meditate to strengthen their foundations.
Arthur raised his hand and opened his dimensional storage space where he keeps the Spear of Heaven. The next second thousands of figures appeared around him instantly, their sudden arrival breaking the quiet of the forest as the young men and women looked around in astonishment.
These were the few thousand daring people who had chosen the cultivation world over the safer path Arthur had offered in Thyrandel. Most of them were young, between eighteen and twenty five years old, so he could understand their hotbloodedness. Their expressions carried the unmistakable mixture of excitement and nervous anticipation common among people about to step into the unknown.
Some immediately noticed the difference in the air. "This… What is this place?" one of them asked quietly.
"Is this spiritual energy?" someone muttered.
Another looked up at the sky through the branches and whispered, "So this is really another world."
Arthur stepped forward so they could all see him clearly and allowed his voice to carry across the group.
"As I promised, this is the cultivation world you chose to come to," he said calmly. The crowd gradually quieted as their attention focused on him. "This world is beautiful," Arthur continued, "but it is also far more dangerous than anything you have experienced before. Strength determines survival here. If you wish to live long enough to explore it, you will need to grow stronger."
The determination in many of their faces sharpened as they listened. Arthur then waved his hand again and thousands of bags and weapons appeared in the air around them, hovering gently in front of each individual.
"I prepared some essentials for you," Arthur explained. "Money, clothing, food… and weapons."
The weapons varied widely, ranging from swords and spears to hammers, halberds any weapons of many other shapes, each one forged from a material Arthur had developed during his earlier experiments with Alloy X. By combining mithril and orichalcum with the base alloy, he had created a new material and named it Alloy M or Mystic Alloy, that retained extreme durability while gaining exceptional energy conductivity be it mana or Qi.
Even without cultivation techniques, these weapons would perform far beyond ordinary weapons. One by one the newcomers accepted their equipment, some examining their blades with excitement while others secured the supply bags over their shoulders.
Arthur finally pointed toward the distant horizon where the faint outline of city walls could barely be seen between the trees. "If you travel in that direction, you will eventually reach a city," he said. "That is the best place to begin your journey." He paused for a brief moment before finishing quietly, "Good luck." Before anyone could ask more questions, Arthur vanished.
…
He returned briefly to the sect where he had stayed earlier and immediately headed toward the sect master's chamber. The mysterious force pulling on him had grown noticeably stronger by now, though he continued to resist it without difficulty.
A few minutes later he arrived outside the chamber doors, where two guards stood watch.
Arthur stopped before them. "I want to meet the sect master."
The guards exchanged uncertain looks. But before they could question him a calm voice from inside said, "Let him enter." So they opened the door and Arthur stepped inside.
Sect Master Liwei was seated cross-legged on a cultivation mat surrounded by faint currents of spiritual energy, but the moment he saw Arthur enter he stopped his cultivation and stood up. "What happened?" he asked curiously.
Arthur considered explaining everything but quickly decided it would take too long. Instead he released a small fraction of his power. The effect was immediate. Liwei's body froze as an overwhelming pressure descended upon him like an invisible mountain.
His instincts screamed danger, he could sense Arthur was much stronger than him, so strong that he felt he wouldn't even be able to move before getting killed if Arthur wanted to kill him. Instinctively he bowed deeply. "Senior… forgive me. I failed to recognize your greatness," he said hurriedly.
Arthur waved the apology dismissively. "There is no need to worry. I have no intention of harming you," he said calmly. "In fact, I am grateful for the assistance your sect provided. The pagoda allowed me to overcome a bottleneck that had troubled me for quite some time."
He reached into his storage space and produced a fist-sized purple crystal that glowed faintly with mysterious energy. "This is one of the most valuable materials I have in my possession. Even I have not fully uncovered its secrets." He extended it toward Liwei. "Please accept it as thanks."
Liwei hurried forward and accepted the crystal with both hands. Although he had no idea what the crystal actually did, anything described as precious by someone of Arthur's level could not possibly be ordinary and later he would be able to uncover its secrets slowly. "Thank you, Senior," he said respectfully.
When he looked up again, Arthur had already disappeared. Left alone in the quiet chamber, Liwei stared down at the crystal in his hands, "Who… exactly was he?"
His mind was filled with questions but there was no one to answer.
…
Far away from the sect, Arthur appeared high above a barren plain and allowed the mysterious force to continue strengthening. Nearly half an hour passed before the pressure reached a critical threshold.
The sky above him darkened suddenly as massive storm clouds gathered, with lightning flashing through them as thunder echoed across the horizon. Arthur felt gravity was growing heavier around him, so he decided to descend to the ground below.
BOOM!
The first bolt of lightning struck without warning, crashing down onto him with explosive force. The strike engulfed him completely, but Arthur did not even move as the lightning dissipated around his body. "So this is the legendary tribulation cultivators face while ascending?" he murmured thoughtfully.
More lightning strikes followed immediately, striking again and again in rapid succession. Each bolt carried enough power to annihilate mountains, yet to Arthur they felt little more than faint taps against his skin. After nearly a minute the barrage stopped, though the storm clouds still churned above him.
CRACK! BOOOOOOM!
Then a pillar of golden lightning descended from the sky like a beam of divine punishment. Arthur finally felt a slight tingling sensation across his body. The next pillar was stronger, then another after that, but none of them managed to harm him.
By now his body was so strong that it could withstand even attacks that could kill a minor god so it was especially easy for him to withstand the tribulation, and the lightning strikes felt like little more than static electricity.
Another minute passed and the golden lightning pillars stopped dropping from the cloud.
Arthur glanced upward, he assumed the tribulation was ending, but the clouds suddenly flashed with a different color. Crimson lightning began flickering through the storm.
Arthur frowned slightly. "That one looks different."
The next strike fell directly onto him and this time he felt his skin burn slightly. The red lightning grew stronger with each strike, the destructive force escalating rapidly until the ground around him had been reduced to a massive crater.
When the final bolt faded, Arthur stood in the center of the devastation with his body already regenerating the minor damage inflicted by the storm.
The dark clouds dispersed slowly and in their place appeared a radiant golden aurora descending from the heavens. Arthur braced himself for another attack, but instead the aurora flowed gently into his body.
Warm energy spread through him and he felt his reserves expand noticeably. Arthur raised an eyebrow in mild surprise feeling the amount was quite substantial. "So this is the reward for overcoming the tribulation?" he muttered.
The moment the final strands of golden energy were absorbed by his body, the world rejected him completely. And Arthur vanished from the cultivation world.
***
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