252: Nine-fold immortal tribulation, stepping into the realm of true immortality

The collapsed calamity eye, dark to its extreme, resembled a black hole at the Universe's end, brewing the ultimate annihilation that would conclude all things.

The condensed pressure suffocated the entire boundary realm battlefield; even space itself wailed, twisted, and was on the verge of complete collapse.

Xiao Zhuo's eyes burned with insane Battle Intent. Facing this ultimate Immortal tribulation, powerful enough to erase a Peak True Immortal, he not only didn't retreat but let out a long cry, actively charging towards the core of destruction!

"myriad souls bell, appear!"

With a sharp shout, the ancient and vicissitudes bell chime resounded throughout the Universe!

A primordial bell, only three feet tall, entirely dark gray, its surface inscribed with countless blurred Soul shadows that seemed to carry ancient wails and shouts, suddenly appeared above Xiao Zhuo's head.

As soon as this bell emerged, an ancient aura that suppressed all heavens and isolated all wan fa (myriad laws) spread, actually pushing back the terrifying pressure of the world-ending True Immortal Tribulation slightly!

This was one of Xiao Zhuo's greatest trump cards, a mysterious and indestructible defensive Magic Treasure—the myriad souls bell!

"Dong—!!!"

The moment the myriad souls bell appeared, the collapsed dark calamity eye violently trembled!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a pure, ultimate light, as if the first ray that split Chaos at the Universe's inception, or the final annihilation that returned all things to nothingness at their end!

A chaotic stream of light, indescribable in color, as if containing the Origin of all destructive Law of Thunder, struck the myriad souls bell silently, yet with a speed that transcended the limits of time and space!

Buzz—!

The myriad souls bell emitted an unprecedented, deep, and distant roar!

On the bell's surface, the blurred Soul shadows seemed to come alive, letting out silent roars and resistance. The bell body vibrated violently, yet it remained stably suspended. Its ancient deep gray color didn't dim in the slightest, and not even a tiny scratch appeared!

Indestructible! This strike, capable of obliterating a Peak True Immortal, failed to budge the bell's Main Body in the slightest!

However, Xiao Zhuo, sheltered beneath the bell, felt as if countless boundary realms were crushing him!

"Pfft—!"

A mouthful of golden blood mixed with fragments of internal organs spurted out! His terrifying Physical Body, comparable to the Peak of a Quasi-Immortal, tempered by eight Lightning Tribulations, and further enhanced by the Heavenly Demon Hegemon Body and Blood God Body, was instantly covered in spiderweb-like cracks, as if struck by billions of Chaos heavy hammers simultaneously!

His jade-like crystalline bones groaned inch by inch, almost shattering!

His internal organs felt as if they were kneaded and then reassembled, and intense pain swept through his Divine Soul!

Although the myriad souls bell blocked over ninety percent of the destructive energy impact, the transcendent vibrational force and the erosion of the supreme destructive Dao Principle contained within the world-ending tribulation lightning still penetrated the bell body, fiercely impacting Xiao Zhuo's body!

"Ugh ah...!" Xiao Zhuo let out a muffled groan, bleeding from all seven orifices, his body trembling violently, almost falling from the Void Realm.

The God-Slaying Blood Flame was forcibly suppressed back into his body, and the light of the Dao Principle of Freedom dimmed for a moment.

If not for his extremely profound foundation, he would have been shaken into dust by now!

The ninth world-ending True Immortal Tribulation passed with a single strike!

After releasing this ultimate strike, the calamity eye seemed to have exhausted most of its energy. The despairing darkness began to slowly dissipate and dilute, revealing the hazy boundary realm background once again.

The tribulation clouds surged back like a receding tide, contracting towards the center. The aura of destruction weakened, replaced by a kind of pure Chaos energy, like a survivor after a calamity!

"Now's the time!"

Xiao Zhuo endured the excruciating pain of his body almost falling apart, his eyes blazing with brilliance!

He abruptly put away the slightly dimmed myriad souls bell, disregarding his critically injured body, and transformed into a stream of light burning with residual blood flame. He charged against the dissipating tribulation clouds, fiercely rushing into the core of the soon-to-vanish calamity eye!

"Devour for me—!"

The Devouring Divine Body operated at an unprecedented limit! A chaotic vortex, a hundred times larger and as deep as a black hole, spun madly on Xiao Zhuo's chest, erupting with a terrifying suction force capable of swallowing the star seas!

The core of that calamity eye was an aggregate of the most fundamental destructive Law of Thunder and Chaos energy of the Ascending Immortal Tribulation! At this moment, this massive, ownerless, and dissipating energy was forcibly pulled and devoured by Xiao Zhuo!

Rumble!

The calamity eye trembled violently, as if unwilling to be devoured. The remaining destructive lightning frantically erupted, attempting to completely obliterate this Heaven-Defying madman!

But Xiao Zhuo's Thunder Dao Body had already reached the critical point of transformation after absorbing the first eight Lightning Tribulations! Devouring this purest Origin of the calamity eye now was like lighting the final fuse!

"Om—!"

A hum, originating from the depths of his Bloodline, as if from an ancient Thunder Dominator, resonated within Xiao Zhuo's body!

The purple-gold lightning patterns on his body suddenly erupted with billions of dazzling divine lights!

The purple-gold color rapidly faded, transforming into a more noble, more violent color, as if containing the power to split heaven and earth—the color of primordial Chaos lightning!

Countless intricate chains of order, containing the Profound Truth of the Law of Thunder of the Great Thousand World, burst forth from his body, instantly intertwining and forming an enormous cocoon of Chaos lightning, firmly enveloping him!

On the surface of the light cocoon, countless lightning runes appeared and vanished, depicting the birth, destruction, creation, and judgment of thunder!

The Thunder Dao Body finally began its ultimate leap towards a Divine Body!

At the same time, after the tribulation clouds completely dissipated, the Chaos Heavenly Dao seemed to finally acknowledge the existence of the Undergoing Tribulation.

A vast, pure, and gentle torrent of Chaos energy, like the Nine Heavens Milky Way pouring down, surged towards the enormous lightning cocoon!

This was the gift from the Heavenly Dao after passing the Ascending Immortal Tribulation, the source for shaping an immortal body, condensing Immortal essence, and sublimating the Law!

Inside the light cocoon, Xiao Zhuo's shattered body rapidly repaired, reorganized, and strengthened under the nourishment of Chaos energy.

In his Sea of Consciousness, the silver rune representing the core of the Dao Principle of Freedom greedily absorbed Chaos energy and the remaining Law fragments of the calamity eye. The rune's structure became more complex and profound, its edges began to condense with brilliant Immortal Dao golden radiance, and countless tiny Immortal scripts containing the true meaning of the Great Dao flowed, condensed, and reorganized within the rune... The Natural Freedom Dao Principle Rune was transforming into a Zizai Dao Principle Immortal Script!

However, at this critical moment of transformation, an anomaly suddenly occurred!

"Blood Sea Devil Head! Die!"

At the end of the star dome, the immensely vast fleet of the Dao Yi Realm suddenly erupted with sky-high Killing Intent!

On the flagship, forged like a star, True Man Tian Xing's beard and hair bristled in fury, his eyes splitting with rage!

He had already confirmed Tian Luo's demise, and moreover, he saw that the Prodigy from the Blood Demon Realm was not only not dead, but was devouring the calamity eye and undergoing Chaos irrigation, about to achieve True Immortal status!

Once this Devil Head succeeded, the Blood Demon Realm would gain another unimaginably terrifying existence! The Dao Yi Realm was in danger!

"All ships fire! Target—that lightning cocoon! At all costs, interrupt him!!!" True Man Tian Xing let out a hysterical roar.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The Dao Yi Realm fleet's myriad cannons roared in unison! Countless beams of light containing destructive power, Talismanic Incantations of Immortal arts, and giant blades that tore through space converged into a destructive torrent, ripping through the Void Realm and rushing directly towards the Chaos lightning cocoon suspended in the center of the Shattered Realm (Cultivation Class) boundary realm, which was at the critical moment of its transformation!

"You Dao Yi Realm Offal! Don't you dare harm a single hair on my Holy Son of the Blood Palace!"

A bone-chilling, murderous roar echoed across the battlefield!

Xue Qin's figure, at some unknown point, had already stood at the forefront of the Blood Slaughter War City!

Behind her was the Blood Demon Realm fleet, obscuring the sky and sun, all demon ships' muzzles already charged with destructive Demonic Energy!

The boundary realm Void Realm completely boiled! The steel torrents of the Dao Yi Realm and the Blood Demon Realm furiously clashed in the shattered spatial storm.

Destructive cannon fire wove into a deathly net of light, each collision erupting with energy storms that tore apart stars.

Wreckage of warships and Cultivator corpses scattered like rain, then were torn apart and vaporized by the violent energy Turbulence, turning the battlefield into a purgatorial blood pool.

However, the core of the storm remained the gigantic cocoon, shimmering with lightning, suspended in the center of the Chaos torrent!

"Stop them!" Xue Qin's sharp cry pierced through the deafening roar.

True Man Tian Xing, like a burning meteor, led two Quasi-Immortals and hundreds of Undergoing Tribulation and Mahayana powerhouses, forming an arrowhead, fiercely tearing through the heavy iron curtain of the Blood Demon Realm fleet!

Their target was directly the lightning giant cocoon! They knew deeply that interrupting Xiao Zhuo's transformation was the Dao Yi Realm's only chance of victory!

"Blood Fiend God-Slaying Spear!" Xue Qin dared not leave the light cocoon. Her jade hand made a grasping motion, and the blood-colored Immortal essence around her body boiled, instantly condensing hundreds of dark-red long spears that tore through space, imbued with terrifying Evil Qi, and accurately shot towards the assault team!

Puff! Puff! Puff!

Several Peak Tribulation Stage Cultivators at the forefront had their protective Magic Treasures shattered like paper, were instantly pierced through, and their Divine Souls, before they could escape, were annihilated within the corrosive Evil Qi!

True Man Tian Xing snorted coldly, his sleeves fluttering. An Eight Trigrams Immortal Diagram, with flowing stellar trajectories, suddenly unfolded, blocking all incoming blood spears! The clang of metal was deafening, the Immortal diagram's light flickered violently, yet it remained unbroken!

"Xue Qin! You can't protect him!" True Man Tian Xing's beard and hair bristled like halberds, his eyes burning with insane determination, "Form the 'Dao Yi Immortal Slaying Sword Array'! Target—the light cocoon!"

Behind him, dozens of Mahayana powerhouses roared in unison, instantly forming the array!

Vast magical power and Law power converged in the Void Realm, condensing into a gigantic gray-white sword, a thousand zhang long, emanating an aura that would slay all things!

Where the sword's edge pointed, space annihilated inch by inch, striking directly at the light cocoon!

Xue Qin's pupils contracted! The power of this sword array was infinitely close to a True Immortal's strike!

In a hurry, she too found it difficult to completely block it! The light cocoon's transformation was at a critical moment; if it were hit, all would be lost!

"Boundless Blood Sea, Ten Thousand Demons Protect their Master!" Xue Qin rapidly formed hand seals, and the Blood Sea War City beneath her feet erupted with dazzling blood-red light.

Countless ferocious blood-colored demon shadows roared out from the Void Realm, fearlessly charging towards the Immortal Slaying Giant Sword!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The demon shadows continuously exploded under the brilliant sword light, and blood rain filled the sky.

Although the giant sword was only delayed for a moment, it bought Xue Qin a chance to breathe. She frantically urged her Immortal power, moving the light cocoon a thousand li in an instant!

Just at this moment—

An anomaly suddenly occurred!

A terrifying will, transcendent above the entire battlefield, as if from a higher dimension, containing endless pressure and an ancient aura, suddenly descended!

Time in the boundary realm battlefield seemed to freeze at this instant!

All fiercely battling Cultivators, whether from the Blood Demon Realm or Dao Yi Realm, felt an irresistible tremor in the depths of their Souls!

A gap silently opened in the Void Realm, and a blurry old man's silhouette in a plain white Daoist robe with a youthful face and white hair stepped out.

His form was indistinct, seemingly composed of billions of wisps of pure Qi, yet the aura he exuded suffocated Xue Qin, a Peak Quasi-Immortal!

"Heavenly Immortal Incarnation!" Xue Qin's face turned pale, showing shock for the first time. Although she didn't recognize this person, she knew this must be an Immortal Realm powerhouse from the Dao Yi Sect lineage!

"Old Ancestor Qian He!" True Man Tian Xing was overjoyed, as if grasping a life-saving straw, "This Devil Head's transformation is imminent; if he succeeds, the repercussions will be endless! Please, Old Ancestor, make your move and exterminate this fiend!"

Old Ancestor Qian He's usually calm eyes were now as cold as ten thousand years of profound ice, sweeping over the lightning giant cocoon without emotion.

He clearly perceived how domineering and how potent the aura brewing within the cocoon was! It even made his Heavenly Immortal Incarnation feel a hint of threat!

"The Immortal Realm has a Law: Immortals may not interfere with the Middle Thousand Realm Domain! Senior, you have crossed the line!" Xue Qin suppressed her fear and sternly reprimanded, attempting to block him with rules.

Old Ancestor Qian He's gaze fell upon Xue Qin, his voice indifferent but carrying an undeniable majesty: "Rules are made for the weak. This child is Heaven-Defying; if allowed to grow, he will surely become the Dao Yi Sect's eternal calamity. Today, this Old Ancestor will make an exception once to eliminate this hidden danger for the Sect!"

Before his words finished, the finger formed from pure Qi slowly lifted, pointing towards the lightning cocoon from afar!

"Flowing Light Finger!"

There was no earth-shattering momentum, only a highly condensed finger print, seemingly composed of pure Great Thousand World time Law, silently pointed out.

Where the finger print passed, space didn't shatter but directly returned to "nothing"! Time around it became sluggish and viscous! An ultimate will to erase all existence firmly locked onto the light cocoon!

This single finger, seemingly effortless, contained Old Ancestor Qian He's absolute control over the Law of Time! Its power far surpassed mortal imagination!

Xue Qin had no doubt that if this finger landed, even if the light cocoon survived, Xiao Zhuo within would surely have his transformation interrupted and his Divine Soul annihilated!

"No—!" Xue Qin let out a desperate shriek, blood-red light bursting from her eyes! Without further hesitation, her jade hand fiercely pressed against her glabella!

An ancient, dark-red mark, exuding endless blood fiend majesty, suddenly lit up!

"Blood Heaven Old Ancestor! Disciple Xue Qin, respectfully invite Old Ancestor's projection to descend!!!" She burned her essence blood, frantically activating the mark!

Buzz!

A similarly ancient, domineering, and terrifying aura, as if nurtured by boundless blood seas, emanated from Xue Qin's glabella, attempting to resist the Immortal might, outlining a blood-colored phantom in the Void Realm!

However—

The Flowing Light Finger was faster!

That finger print, containing the will to erase, had already penetrated layers of space, ignoring Xue Qin's summoned projection, and was about to strike the cracked lightning cocoon!

At a critical juncture—

"Crack!!!"

A crisp, Soul-shattering sound exploded!

The Chaos lightning giant cocoon enveloping Xiao Zhuo, at the instant the Flowing Light Finger was about to touch it, burst open with a roar!

Endless primordial Chaos lightning, like a breaching flood, erupted with a roar!

Dazzling lightning instantly swallowed tens of thousands of li of the surrounding Void Realm, illuminating the Shattered Realm (Cultivation Class) boundary realm as if it were daytime!

An indescribable terrifying pressure, like an ancient Vicious Beast awakening, swept across the eight directions, carrying an absolute will that transcended all things and controlled life and death!

In the core of the exploding lightning, a figure slowly stood up.

Bare-chested, his body was sculpted like Chaos divine jade, flowing with Chaos lightning. Every inch of his flesh and blood contained the mighty power to tear apart stars.

Countless mysterious and unfathomable silver Immortal scripts flowed ceaselessly on his body, carrying the true meaning of the Great Dao.

His aura was vast as an abyss, unfathomable, yet it harmoniously resonated with all things in heaven and earth, free and perfectly integrated.

Xiao Zhuo!

The Thunder Dao Body finally became the Thunder Divine Body!

The Natural Freedom Dao Principle Rune transformed into the Zizai Dao Principle Immortal Script!

His immortal body was reshaped, and Immortal essence condensed!

He—had ascended to True Immortal!

Xiao Zhuo slowly raised his eyelids, lightning and silver light intertwined in his eyes. His cold gaze instantly locked onto the "Flowing Light Finger" pointing at him.

Speechless.

He merely casually raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, and gently clenched his fist at that Heavenly Immortal's finger, capable of erasing a Peak True Immortal!

"Buzz—!"

In front of his palm, space instantly solidified and collapsed!

An invisible Domain, created out of thin air!

The "Flowing Light Finger," containing the Law power of a Heavenly Immortal, was still a hundred zhang away from Xiao Zhuo when it seemed to hit an invisible barrier!

Pop!

A soft sound, like a bubble bursting.

That Heavenly Immortal finger print, which had driven Xue Qin to despair and Tian Xing to ecstasy, was, under Xiao Zhuo's casual grasp, silently... annihilated without a trace!

The boundary realm battlefield fell into deadly silence!

Old Ancestor Qian He's unperturbed Incarnation's face showed astonishment for the first time!

Xue Qin's action of summoning the projection froze, her beautiful eyes filled with extreme shock and ecstasy!

True Man Tian Xing's ecstatic expression completely solidified, turning into endless fear and despair!

Xiao Zhuo's gaze swept across the battlefield, finally settling on Old Ancestor Qian He's Incarnation. A cold, all-controlling arc appeared at the corner of his mouth, his voice not loud, yet it boomed like thunder into the depths of every living being's Soul:

"A mere Incarnation, yet you dare to touch my transforming cocoon? Who gave you the guts!"