The Cycle of Life and Death
A solemn and ancient voice suddenly resounded in Tang San's mind.
"The Life and Destruction Dual Divine Test, First Trial: Complete the trials in the Forest of Life and the Abyss of Destruction, and increase your affinity with the Life God by 10% and the God of Destruction by 10%."
The oracle for the Second Trial followed immediately.
"The Second Trial: the cycle of life and death."
"Enter the Reincarnation Realm, and experience six complete lives in different worlds with different identities. Feel the joy of each birth, the pain of growth, the helplessness of aging, and the fear of death."
"The examinee must keep their soul from going astray, pass all six cycles of reincarnation, and not break down in spirit."
"One year in the Reincarnation Realm is equivalent to one day in the outside world."
The divine message gradually faded away, and Tang San's pupils contracted slightly.
Six complete lives? In different worlds, with different identities? Experiencing six complete lives from birth to death?
This sounds like a tempering of the soul.
Through experiencing life in its entirety, from its inception to its demise, through countless real-life encounters.
Tang San fell silent, his mind rapidly processing the information.
At the same time, Ye Lingling's body trembled slightly.
She closed her eyes, feeling the same voice echoing in her mind.
"Healing God Trial, First Trial: Assist Tang San in completing the First Trial, increasing affinity with the Healing God by ten percent."
The Second Trial: to accompany Tang San through six complete lives.
Ye Lingling opened her eyes, looked at Tang San, a slight smile curving her lips, her eyes filled with anticipation.
Being able to spend six lifetimes with Tang San, Ye Lingling must be overjoyed right now.
But Tang San couldn't help but feel a surge of resentment in his heart.
Experiencing life, or six complete lives? How long would that take!
A complete life, from birth to death, takes at least several decades.
Six times combined, that's several hundred years.
Although one year in the Reincarnation Realm is equivalent to one day in the outside world, according to this ratio, if each of the six lifetimes is an average of sixty or seventy years, that would be three hundred and sixty years.
Converted to external timeframes, the span is over a year.
Tang San felt a pang of sorrow.
The First Trial took more than two years, and the Second Trial will take another year. This Dual Divine Test Assessment is too slow.
There are still seven more tests waiting for me; when will I ever finish them?
What he wants most right now is to finish the assessment as soon as possible, then help Qian Renxue unify the continent, and then ascend to the Divine Realm to live a peaceful and carefree life.
But Tang San quickly suppressed these distracting thoughts.
He couldn't control the pace of the assessments; the only thing he could do was give it his all in every single one.
He believed that the Goddess of Life and the God of Destruction would not arrange such a test without a reason.
From the current perspective, the First Trial is to enable him to master the two extreme powers of life and destruction.
To simultaneously embody and fuse two forms of divinity in the future will require extremely powerful Soul Power.
If the soul is not resilient enough, it may be devoured by one of the opposing forces or torn apart by their conflict.
Six complete lives, each a tempering of the soul.
In those experiences, he will encounter different joys and sorrows, face different choices, and understand different states of life.
Tang San believed that those experiences would nourish his soul, making it more profound and resilient, enough to bear the dual divinity of life and destruction.
Tang San suppressed his frustration, took a deep breath, and gripped Ye Lingling's hand tightly, saying, "Let's go, let's go see them."
The two walked out of the secret room, but Shui Bing'er, Xiao Wu, and Dugu Yan were not in the courtyard at that moment.
Tang San calculated the time and guessed that they were currently undergoing the Third Trial, "Tidal Body Tempering."
Outside the courtyard, Tang San found a yellow-clad Soul Master on duty and asked him about the whereabouts of Shui Bing'er and the other two.
The yellow-robed Soul Master bowed respectfully. "Young Master Tang, the three distinguished guests are undergoing the Third Trial, 'Tidal Body Tempering.' If you walk along the mountain path east of Seahorse City for about half an hour, you will see the Raging Waves Desperate Realm."
Tang San thanked her and led Ye Lingling along the mountain path.
After walking for about half an hour, a deafening roar came from ahead.
That was the sound of waves crashing against the rocks, incredibly powerful, like hundreds of war drums beating simultaneously.
After turning a corner, the view suddenly opened up.
Raging Waves Desperate Realm.
It was a bay surrounded by towering black rocks.
The bay opens to the sea, where waves surge in from afar, are squeezed, piled up, and raised at the narrow entrance, then transform into a giant wave tens of meters high, crashing into the bay with immense force.
Inside the bay, three silver pillars stood erect, and three figures, their hands and feet bound by iron chains, gritted their teeth and persevered amidst the crashing waves.
On a platform not far away, Tang Chen and Bo Saixi were leaning on each other, watching over the three of them.
The contrast between the two is very strong.
Even when Tang San arrived, the two still refused to let go.
With a wave of his hand, Bo Saixi calmed the sea instantly, set the three of them down, and ended their cultivation.
Xiao Wu and the others immediately ran over and hugged Tang San, their longing for him evident in their expressions.
Tang Chen and Bo Saixi also came over.
Tang Chen patted Tang San on the shoulder, while Bo Saixi nodded and said, "You've been apart for a long time, have a little get-together. We'll come back in an hour."
After saying that, she and Tang Chen immediately flew away from the platform, as if they had some urgent business to attend to.
An hour is indeed a very short time!
Although it was very short, it was already quite an achievement for Shui Bing'er and the others, because the Tidal Body Tempering has a time limit.
Shui Bing'er needs an average of ten hours to complete the task, Xiao Wu and Dugu Yan need five hours.
Especially for Shui Bing'er, not a single moment can be wasted.
The group sat together, resting and sharing their experiences of the past year.
After they talked it out, Tang San learned that six months after they entered the Abyss of Destruction, Shui Bing'er and the other two had passed the Second Trial, "Break Through the Ring Sea Encirclement."
Eight months had passed since the First Trial ended. Shui Bing'er's Soul Power had increased by two levels, reaching level seventy-eight. Her Sea God Affinity had increased by five percent, bringing her total affinity to ten percent.
Dugu Yan's Soul Power increased by one level, and she received a level reward for the Second Trial, reaching level 85. The age of her Soul Rings increased by 500 years, and her Soul Ring Configuration was: four purple, three black, and one red.
Xiao Wu's Soul Power increased by two levels, and she received a level reward for the Second Trial, reaching level 77. The age of her Soul Rings increased by 500 years, and her Soul Ring Configuration was four purple and three black.
For the next six months, they continued to Tidal Body Tempering here.
The Tidal Body Tempering requires enduring water pressure far exceeding one's own limits. The body feels as if it is being repeatedly torn apart and reassembled by the waves, experiencing countless episodes of unconsciousness and awakening.
This extreme physical torture exhausted all their energy, making it impossible for them to calm down and engage in regular meditation and cultivation, so their Soul Power basically did not improve.
However, their physical fitness, bone strength, meridian resilience, and ability to withstand blows are undergoing a qualitative leap in this repeated tearing and rebuilding.
In the Sea God Trial, the First Trial is to rapidly increase Soul Power with the help of the Sea God's Light; the Second Trial is to traverse the Ring Sea to improve combat ability; and the Third Trial is purely for "strengthening the body and bones" in preparation for undergoing higher-level divine power baptisms later.
Tang San didn't stay long. Half an hour later, he encouraged the three of them and told them that he and Ye Lingling would begin their Second Trial in a few days, which would take about a year. Then he immediately took his leave and returned to his courtyard in Seahorse City.
Time is indeed very tight.
After a brief five-day rest to fully consolidate their Destruction Domain, Tang San and his companion immediately began the "Life and Death Cycle" test.