Two Years Later, the Supreme Realm!

"Alright, I understand."

"Focus on your seclusion. I'll arrange everything."

Nine Nether nodded and did not ask how Lu Chen intended to break through. She knew everyone had their own secrets.

Lu Chen was now bound to her as one, so he would not harm himself.

Then, with a wave of Nine Nether's hand, two dazzling streaks of light shot out from the river of light before them—one azure, one crimson—and instantly flew before Lu Chen.

As the light dispersed, they turned into an azure crystal sphere and a crimson jade vial.

Within the crystal sphere, streaks of azure lightning slithered like massive pythons, carrying fierce and violent force as they constantly darted about, radiating a savage aura.

Inside the crimson jade vial flowed a fiery-red liquid like magma, emitting an extraordinary heat.

They were the Divine Wood Gang Lightning and Scarlet Flame Jade Marrow.

Lu Chen stored the two spiritual treasures in his Mustard Seed Bracelet, then bade Nine Nether farewell and departed.

Before leaving, he reminded her to keep a low profile and conceal her strength. Any revenge would have to wait until he broke through to the Supreme Realm.

A year and a half later,

Inside a cultivation chamber,

Lu Chen sat cross-legged atop a stone platform, his eyes shut as his consciousness gradually sank into his Qi Sea.

Within the Qi Sea,

The Divine Soul Little Person sat quietly in meditation. A vast ring of spiritual energy rotated slowly around the Divine Soul like a stellar halo, magnificent beyond compare.

At this moment, the Divine Soul was clearly different from usual. A terrifying heat suffused its crystalline surface, as though it might turn into flames at any moment and burn the Divine Soul to ashes.

This was a sign that Divine Soul Fire was about to ignite.

Divine Soul Fire was a flame born within the Divine Soul itself. It caused no harm whatsoever to the physical body, but it was lethally dangerous to the Divine Soul. If one could not endure its searing heat, the Divine Soul could very well be reduced to ashes.

Of the Three Minor Tribulations of the Sovereign, the Divine Soul Tribulation was the most dangerous. Once a breakthrough failed, there was no turning back—only death and the dissipation of one's Dao.

The Divine Soul contained a person's three souls and seven spirits. Once it was destroyed, one would lose all consciousness and become nothing more than a mindless body, like a puppet.

The Divine Soul Little Person wore a solemn expression. Taking a deep breath, it opened its mouth and inhaled. Countless streams of spiritual energy surged through the Qi Sea and were directly swallowed by the Divine Soul.

Sizzle! Sizzle!

As more and more spiritual energy poured into the Divine Soul, the surface of Lu Chen's Divine Soul suddenly became crystalline. Then, an extremely fine wisp of flame quietly condensed.

That tiny flame was crystalline in color, like burning glass. Yet it was precisely this small flame that caused the Divine Soul to tremble violently.

That was Divine Soul Fire!

A determined look appeared on the Divine Soul Little Person's face. Having endured the scorching of Undying Fire, this much pain was nothing to him.

His hands formed a cultivation seal, and crystalline flames continuously emerged across the surface of the Divine Soul. In just fifteen minutes, they had completely covered it.

Enduring the pain of the burning, Lu Chen changed his hand seal. A massive tidal vortex suddenly appeared within the Qi Sea, and wisps of violet flame rose from it, drifting toward the Divine Soul.

The Divine Soul Tribulation had three stages, each one a transformation. In theory, as long as one used powerful spiritual flames to temper an adequately powerful Divine Soul, there was no need to necessarily undergo all three stages.

The three trials of the Divine Soul Tribulation were merely preparation for entering the Supreme Realm.

If someone's Divine Soul was powerful enough, they could even skip the Divine Soul Tribulation entirely and directly open a Supreme Sea. The legendary old monsters who seized bodies in the Great Thousand World were all like this.

The violet Undying Fire slowly drifted over and merged with the Divine Soul Fire, covering Lu Chen's Divine Soul.

The temperature on the Divine Soul's surface abruptly soared, and piercing agony struck fiercely, making Lu Chen's consciousness shudder.

The Divine Soul Little Person's tiny face twisted in pain. An indescribable burning pain spread from within the Divine Soul, as if it were being incinerated.

Yet Lu Chen maintained his final shred of clarity, and the cultivation seal formed by the Divine Soul's small hands never wavered.

He knew that if he wanted to leap across all three stages of the Divine Soul Tribulation at once, he had to endure.

There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. The more one gave, the more one gained.

With the dual tempering of Divine Soul Fire and Undying Fire, he could shorten the time needed to pass the Divine Soul Tribulation by at least two-thirds.

And so, three months swiftly passed as Lu Chen endured bitterly.

Three months later,

When Lu Chen opened his eyes, his originally pitch-black pupils seemed to contain burning glass-like flames, giving his eyes a crystalline clarity.

"Finally succeeded..."

Lu Chen exhaled. The glass-like flames in his eyes rapidly faded, while his tightly tensed body relaxed as though a great burden had been lifted.

All three stages of the Divine Soul Tribulation had been passed!

Next came opening the Supreme Sea and officially breaking through to the Supreme Realm!

Lu Chen took a deep breath and closed his eyes. After regulating his breathing for a moment and restoring himself to peak condition, he began preparing for the breakthrough.

He took out his Mustard Seed Bracelet and infused it with spiritual energy.

A flash of light passed over the bracelet's surface. At once, three thousand crystalline drops of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid shot out, forming a small amber-green lake that floated before him.

"Everything is ready. All that remains is the final push."

Lu Chen spoke softly. Then a determined look emerged in his eyes as he formed a cultivation seal with both hands and slowly closed his eyes.

As Lu Chen shut his eyes, the Spirit Gathering Pillars around him instantly bloomed with dazzling golden light. The dense spiritual energy immediately stirred, then surged toward him at an astonishing speed, pouring endlessly into his body.

Lu Chen's consciousness sank into his body. At this moment, torrents of spiritual energy came roaring in at a speed far beyond anything before. In merely fifteen minutes, his Qi Sea had reached its limit!

Though he could feel a faint stabbing pain from his Qi Sea, Lu Chen showed no sign of stopping. With a thought, the rate at which he absorbed spiritual energy instead became even more frenzied.

Because he knew the most crucial step was next. Only by shattering his Qi Sea could he replace it with a Supreme Sea.

"Shatter! My path to the Supreme begins now!"

Lu Chen's eyes suddenly opened, his gaze sharp. He inhaled deeply, and a torrent of spiritual energy rushed into his body, finally pouring into his Qi Sea, which had already reached its limit.

The spiritual energy there finally exploded completely under the pressure.

Boom!

The Qi Sea shattered in an instant!

The instant the Qi Sea shattered, Lu Chen's body jolted as if struck by lightning. His body trembled slightly, and cold sweat immediately beaded on his forehead, sliding down his face.

An indescribable agony spread through his entire body, nearly driving Lu Chen out of his mind.

Fortunately, Lu Chen had long anticipated this. He immediately steadied his consciousness and began the next step of the breakthrough.

At this moment, he could already sense that with the explosion of the Qi Sea, the vast spiritual energy originally stored within it had broken loose like wild horses, madly rushing toward every corner of his body.

Having lost the restraint of the Qi Sea, this spiritual energy, which Lu Chen himself had cultivated, had begun to slip from his control.

If he could not restrain the rampaging spiritual energy, even the meridians in his body would be crushed apart, leaving him utterly crippled.

"Open!"

Lu Chen's expression turned grave. His hands formed a complex seal, and he roared inwardly. At the site of the exploded Qi Sea, a tiny point of light suddenly flickered into existence. It was so minuscule it could almost be ignored, yet it burst forth with a powerful suction force.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

That suction force spread outward, instantly covering every corner of Lu Chen's body.

The rampaging spiritual energy immediately became docile, then rapidly surged toward the tiny point of light.

Sizzle! Sizzle!

That tiny point of light was naturally the Supreme Sea Lu Chen had just opened—or rather, it could only be called a "Supreme Source Point" for now, the initial form of a Supreme Sea.

All he needed to do afterward was absorb enough Sovereign Spiritual Liquid and spiritual energy into it, then nourish the Supreme Sea with his own spiritual energy until it was full. Only then would the breakthrough be complete.

The source point flickered faintly, accepting everything without refusal like a bottomless abyss and swallowing all that spiritual energy.

At the same time, the three thousand drops of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid outside sensed a terrifying suction force and rushed into Lu Chen's Supreme Sea.

Lu Chen sat cross-legged on the stone platform. With every breath, vast torrents formed from spiritual energy surged continuously from all around and poured into his Supreme Sea.

He nearly instinctively refined and absorbed the spiritual energy of the outside world, refining the three thousand drops of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid and ceaselessly converting them into his own spiritual liquid.

He shut out all external disturbances.

Three months later,

Lu Chen's tightly closed eyes finally snapped open.

Boom!

A sharp gleam flashed through his eyes. A massive pillar of spiritual energy thousands of feet tall erupted from his body, while an invisible pressure spread outward!

Vaguely, an endless and boundless ocean seemed to emerge behind him, exceptionally dazzling and resplendent. It was filled with spiritual energy liquid like violet crystals, its vastness seemingly capable of crushing mountains and shattering rivers!

This was the Supreme Realm!

At this moment, Lu Chen had finally stepped into the Supreme Realm!