Chapter 53: A Steady Stream, Everything Settled
After gifting dozens of Ice Extreme Divine Crystals emitting extreme cold to the Xue Di, Lei Chen said no more.
Refining a lifebound divine artifact is not the work of a single day, especially for a first-timer like the Xue Di; it requires a long time to nurture and integrate. What he could provide were the top-tier materials; the rest would require the Xue Di to comprehend and explore on her own.
Just as the Xue Di solemnly put away the Ice Extreme Divine Crystals and was about to thank him again, a streak of emerald light galloped from the sky with a sharp whistling sound, landing before the Ice Palace in an instant, revealing the Ice Empress's crystal-clear scorpion body.
"Xue Di! Are you alright? That tribulation..."
The Ice Empress's tone was urgent. Her diamond-like eyes first nervously swept over the Xue Di. Confirming her aura was stable and vast, far exceeding the past, she breathed a sigh of relief. Then she looked at Lei Chen nearby and hurriedly lowered her head, respectfully saying, "Greetings, Your Eminence! I sensed the tribulation descending just now and was worried about the Xue Di, so I rushed over."
Lei Chen nodded slightly in response. His gaze fell on the Ice Empress as he said indifferently, "You've come at the right time. The Xue Di has safely crossed the eight hundred thousand year tribulation, and her cultivation has greatly advanced. Since you have reached the peak of four hundred and ninety thousand years and are only one step away from the five hundred thousand year bottleneck, there's no need to suppress it anymore."
As he spoke, a light flashed from his fingertip, and a piece of Ten Thousand Years of Mysterious Ice Marrow floated toward the Ice Empress.
"Consume it and break through right here. Your five hundred thousand year Tribulation Lightning will also be useful to me."
The Ice Empress was first stunned, then a look of pleasant surprise burst from her eyes. She had been stuck at four hundred and ninety thousand years for some time and already had a deep foundation. Had she not kept the Xue Di's reminder to solidify her foundation in mind, she could have attempted to charge through the bottleneck long ago. Now, with the Plane Master personally protecting her, it was practically foolproof.
She did not hesitate, swallowing the Ten Thousand Years of Mysterious Ice Marrow that emitted a majestic cold in one gulp. Her massive scorpion body suddenly erupted with brilliant emerald light, and terrifying energy fluctuations spread out with her as the center, causing the surrounding ice layers to roar.
She immediately prostrated herself on the ground, operating her cultivation technique with all her might, guiding this vast energy to strike that solid barrier.
With the help of the Ten Thousand Years of Mysterious Ice Marrow, the Ice Empress's breakthrough was a natural progression. In less than half an hour, her aura suddenly surged, breaking through the five hundred thousand year mark in one fell swoop!
Almost at the moment of her successful breakthrough, above the Far North Land, the tribulation clouds that had just dissipated gathered once more. Although their scale and pressure were far inferior to the Xue Di's eight hundred thousand year tribulation, that majestic heavenly power was still heart-palpitating.
"Boom-crack!"
A purple-red Tribulation Lightning, several times thicker and deeper in color than the one from the Ice Empress's forty hundred thousand year tribulation, tore through the clouds and struck down fiercely. Its energy level, though still at the Limit Douluo level, was significantly stronger than the last time.
However, this violent thunder failed to touch the Ice Empress at all. At the moment it descended, the purple-gold lightning pattern on Lei Chen's forehead suddenly lit up. A wide-bladed heavy sword, entirely purple-gold and surrounded by electric light, flashed into existence—it was the newly refined "Nine Heavens Thunderstrike Sword"!
Lei Chen did not personally devour this Tribulation Lightning. Instead, with a thought, the Nine Heavens Thunderstrike Sword let out a joyful hum and transformed into a purple electric dragon, proactively meeting the Tribulation Lightning!
"Chii—!"
The moment the Tribulation Lightning contacted the sword body, there was no earth-shattering explosion. Instead, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, it was completely devoured and absorbed by the Nine Heavens Thunderstrike Sword. The lightning patterns on the sword body seemed to come alive, their flow speed quickening slightly, and the sharp aura it emitted also faintly strengthened.
Following that, the second, third... until the final Tribulation Lightning were all handled by the Nine Heavens Thunderstrike Sword in the same manner, devoured one by one.
When the tribulation clouds had completely dispersed, the Nine Heavens Thunderstrike Sword flew back into Lei Chen's hand. Its brilliance was withdrawn, but upon careful perception, one could find that its lightning origin had indeed grown a bit, its power increasing by about twenty percent.
"Not bad." Lei Chen lightly stroked the sword body and nodded slightly.
Although the energy level of the five hundred thousand year tribulation was far from the God level, for the Nine Heavens Thunderstrike Sword, which was already at the divine artifact grade, this small improvement was not huge, but it was real nourishment. He knew that the path of a divine artifact's promotion was long, and it was all about a steady stream, accumulating little by little.
As long as there were more and more Great Beasts over a hundred thousand years old in this plane, the Tribulation Lightning would be continuous. This sword would eventually grow with him to the realm of a Super Divine Artifact.
The Ice Empress had also stabilized her five hundred thousand year cultivation by now. Feeling the significant increase in her power, she joyfully came before Lei Chen and the Xue Di: "Thank you, Your Eminence, for helping me break through!"
Lei Chen put away the Nine Heavens Thunderstrike Sword, his gaze sweeping over the Snow and Ice Empresses as he instructed: "The matters here are concluded. You two must practice diligently and stabilize your realms, especially the Xue Di. The refining of the Ten Thousand Years of Mysterious Ice Marrow can be done slowly; there's no need to rush for success. When your cultivation reaches nine hundred thousand years, I will naturally come again."
"Yes, we shall follow Your Eminence's orders!" the Snow and Ice Empresses responded in unison.
Lei Chen said no more. Seven-colored halos flowed around him, and his figure gradually faded, finally merging into the void and completely disappearing into the swirling snow of the Far North Land.
The next moment, in the Sea of Origin at the very core of the Douluo Plane, Lei Chen's figure quietly appeared, sitting at the center of the endless seven-colored flowing light.
He closed his eyes, and the Plane Master's vast perception, like an invisible network, instantly covered every corner of the entire Douluo Plane.
Since he exiled the God Realm into the Space-Time Turbulence and completely took control of this plane, all the arrangements he had made had now entered the right track and were showing a flourishing trend.
In the Far North Land, the plan to recast the Ice God's Position was progressing steadily. The Xue Di's cultivation was advancing by leaps and bounds, and the refining of her divine artifact was already on the agenda.
On the Continent, the recasting of the God of Angels' God Position was also proceeding in an orderly manner.
Ye Guyi held the Angel Sword, purifying evil and accumulating holy power. Meanwhile, Ye Xishui, Zhongli Wu, and others, acting as key future "sacrifices," saw their cultivation improve under the assistance of The Innate Secret Method and the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, greatly increasing their chances of breaking through to the God level.
The cultivation of the plane's peak experts was even smoother.
Under his observation, Du Busi of the Body Sect, relying on The Innate Secret Method and the unique environment of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, had reached the pinnacle of physical tempering. His body faintly glowed with an immortal luster, clearly only one step away from forging a true Divine Body.
Meanwhile, veteran Limit Douluos like Mu En and Long Xiaoyao, as well as newcomers like Xuan Zi, after receiving complete inheritances, were progressing far faster than before and were not far from touching the threshold of the Divine Body.
It could be foreseen that in the near future, the Douluo Plane would surely give birth to its own true God-level experts.
In the vast ocean, the chess pieces he had placed had also taken effect.
Due to the pain of losing her husband and her hatred for Tang San and humans, the Demon Empress's actions became increasingly eccentric and violent, constantly devouring other Sea Soul Beast tribes. Her world-destroying villainous behavior was continuously intensifying the conflicts and panic within the ocean.
In contrast, the kind Sea Princess and her Merfolk Clan were silently protecting the weak, accumulating prestige and potential Power Of Faith.
The script of replicating the path of the First Generation Sea God and cultivating a new Sea God to cut off Tang San's faith was playing out smoothly according to his expectations.
Even he himself, after this period of busyness, had successfully refined the "Life Guardian Divine Armor," a defensive Super Divine Artifact, and the "Nine Heavens Thunderstrike Sword," a growth-type divine artifact with infinite potential. With one for offense and one for defense, his system was beginning to take shape.