Rainbow Purgatory

Jiang Jiayao watched his elder brother die in battle here, and it felt as though his entire head had exploded. Though he forced down his grief, he could not help losing focus. He muttered, "How is this possible?! My brother was known as the new generation's God of War of Blazing Heaven. How could he fall here?! This must be fake!"

"Hahaha... Fake?! Hahaha... Killing a genius really does feel good! Go down and keep your brother company! Hahaha..." Elder Lu was in high spirits after his sneak attack had perfectly slain Jiang Jiahao. He immediately launched another attack. "Kid, I'll be taking your life! Sixth Soul Skill, Soul Chasing Stab!"

Elder Lu's intentions were simple: he wanted to use the same trick again. This move was immensely powerful and incredibly fast, leaving no time to defend against it. Moreover, he had just successfully ambushed Jiang Jiahao with it and caused his death, dealing a severe blow to Jiang Jiayao's state of mind and making him fearful of this soul skill.

Just as Elder Lu had expected, Jiang Jiayao did not dare take the attack head-on and chose to retreat. He quickly backed away, trying to regain his composure at once and escape this deadly trap.

"Run?! Do you think you can?" Seeing that Jiang Jiayao intended to flee, Manager Mo immediately moved in from behind to block him.

Seeing that there was no way out, Jiang Jiayao steeled himself. The fear he had felt upon seeing his brother killed vanished in an instant. He swung up his battle hammer and charged forward, declaring tragically, "Rather than stand here blaming heaven and earth, I'd rather fight a glorious battle! Even if I die, I'll be joining my brother! Come on! Fourth Soul Skill, Mammoth Fury Blast!"

Jiang Jiayao's fighting spirit surged, and the battle hammer in his hand seemed to answer him. It actually let out a roar as golden patterns slowly appeared across its fiery-red body. A purple soul ring behind him instantly transformed into a gigantic mammoth, which plunged straight into the Blazing Heaven Battle Hammer.

Without realizing it, Jiang Jiayao split into seven clones. Four attacked Elder Lu, while the other three attacked Manager Mo. All seven clones simultaneously brought down seven hammer blows.

Boom... Boom... Boom...

Forty-nine hammer strikes flowed forth in one seamless burst.

Because Manager Mo had already been heavily injured by Jiang Jiahao, Jiang Jiayao smashed him into a meat patty on the spot. Elder Lu, meanwhile, was driven back more than ten meters. He asked in shock, "What kind of move was that?"

Jiang Jiayao did not answer immediately. He was deeply confused himself. He had clearly never encountered this soul skill before, yet for some reason, he knew how to use it. Just as he was about to say he did not know, the name of the move suddenly surfaced in his mind—Mammoth Trample. He answered directly, "My Self-Created Soul Skill, Mammoth Trample."

"A Self-Created Soul Skill?!" Elder Lu was plainly stunned.

As Elder Lu stood in shock, more and more golden patterns appeared on the Blazing Heaven Battle Hammer. Jiang Jiayao's previously unfocused gaze also grew clearer and clearer, and his mind became increasingly sharp.

Elder Lu gathered his thoughts and said, "Even if you possess a Self-Created Soul Skill, it won't change your fate of being killed! Die! Sixth Soul Skill, Soul Chasing Stab!"

Jiang Jiayao's gaze became even clearer. He stepped forward and swung his battle hammer straight at him.

Boom...

The result was unexpected: Elder Lu was blasted away.

Elder Lu was even more shocked now. Staring wide-eyed, he said, "How is this possible?! What move was that?"

Jiang Jiayao smiled faintly. "It wasn't any move at all! You are merely a character created by this illusion, while I truly exist. Since I have already seen through your illusion, your destruction is inevitable. So this is the Path of the Rainbow—testing our true hearts."

Elder Lu's face twisted viciously. "What nonsense are you spouting?! What illusion?! Die! Seventh Soul Skill, Spear Shatter Fate!"

Jiang Jiayao shook his head with a bitter smile and smashed his battle hammer forward. "Since I've already seen through the illusion, why are you still struggling? Can't you save me some effort?"

That hammer blow directly smashed Elder Lu into pulp, and the illusion shattered along with him.

"Congratulations on passing the first trial, the Path of the Rainbow. Your reward is pure spiritual power. You will now enter the second trial, Rainbow Purgatory." As Jiang Jiayao's illusion collapsed, a voice entered his ears from every direction.

"Whew... That trial is finally over!" Jiang Jiayao had just wanted to sit down and rest when an extremely pure stream of spiritual power suddenly poured into his mind. Without another word, he immediately sat cross-legged and began absorbing it.

Deep within Jade Mist Lake, a lonely voice muttered to itself, "The best performer in that trial was that boy Hu Haoran. He broke my illusion almost immediately. Next was that girl Leng Xuewu. The worst was Jiang Jiayao. It's a pity my power is only suitable for girls; otherwise, Hu Haoran would certainly be an excellent choice. Let's see how they perform in the second trial..."

Half an hour later.

"Whew... This spiritual power is incredibly potent! It actually sent my spiritual power soaring from the Soul King level straight to the Soul Saint level. Give me a few more streams like this, and I'll be able to break through to the Title Douluo level with spiritual power alone." Jiang Jiayao spoke greedily.

When he came back to his senses, Jiang Jiayao found himself standing before a sea of fire.

"Endure the burning sea of fire for one hour, and you will pass the trial." The voice entered Jiang Jiayao's ears from every direction, telling him how to pass.

Jiang Jiayao froze upon hearing this, then shook his head and said, "Damn! Burned by fire for an hour? This time, I'm definitely going to lose every last hair!"

Though that was what he said, his feet carried him into the sea of fire without the slightest hesitation.

Within Rainbow Light Lake, Hu Haoran was already making his twenty-third attempt to endure for an hour. He had gone from lasting only a quarter of an hour at the beginning to half an hour now, and he had finally figured out some of its secrets. Hu Haoran discovered that this Rainbow Light Lake was tremendously beneficial for cultivating the body-tempering section of the Purple Firmament Thunder Art.

At first, Hu Haoran had no way to deal with the Rainbow Light Lake, which caused him unbearable pain. He repeatedly used his family's Cultivation Method to resist the impact of Rainbow Light Lake, but it had no effect at all. So he switched to a Cultivation Method superior to the Blue Lightning Dragon Emperor Art—the Purple Firmament Thunder Art. To his surprise, it brought unexpected benefits. The energy of Rainbow Light Lake could enter his body through the body-tempering method of the Purple Firmament Thunder Art and temper his physique.

This unexpected benefit had kept him excited for an entire day. According to the original plan, Hu Haoran would have needed to reach level thirty before going to cultivate at Star River Waterfall, the most famous waterfall in the Cangyun Empire. Even there, he could only cultivate the first level of the Water Strike Body Tempering Method. Yet Rainbow Light Lake contained a vast amount of ice- and fire-attribute Soul Power, making it perfectly suited for Hu Haoran to cultivate the Water Strike Body Tempering Method and the Fire Burn Body Tempering Method, perhaps even completing the Ice Fire Immunity Body. How could Hu Haoran not be excited?

Now, Hu Haoran endured the baptism of ice and fire every day. Gradually, he came to love this self-tormenting trial.