The Power of the Heavenly Tribulation Bead, Bypassing the Plane Lord's Perception

Ten minutes later.

Ye Xinglan opened her eyes and saw that the once clean and orderly ground was stained with a pool of blood. She froze. "We were attacked?"

"It's already been dealt with." Nan Liujing turned and walked away. "Alright, let's keep going."

As she followed, Ye Xinglan looked back at the bloodstain once more.

During her meditation, she had not sensed any fluctuations from battle.

The word "companion" suddenly took on a deeper meaning.

The two traveled through the vast forest, and two hours quickly passed.

During that time, Ye Xinglan realized she had been tricked.

This guy called Lu Mingfei had no real combat technique at all. He relied entirely on charging forward head-on.

Soul beasts blocking the way were easy enough if they were ten-year ones; they would be scared off immediately. As for hundred-year soul beasts that were not particularly powerful, almost none could withstand a second strike from his staff.

That dark azure staff, covered in dragon scales and crackling with lightning, deeply shocked her. She had never seen such a violent martial soul before.

It gave her the feeling that a graze meant death, while a hit meant injury.

Compared to the graceful, agile style of a sword martial soul, it was simplicity taken to the extreme.

Yet vaguely, Ye Xinglan felt as though she had grasped something.

Why did a sword martial soul have to be graceful?

Since it was a weapon, what it should pursue was the quickest possible killing blow. One should never give an opponent more time to survive.

As they fought on, Nan Liujing also noticed that something was wrong.

He had encouraged Ye Xinglan because he wanted to secretly learn her combat techniques in reverse. Yet as he learned, Ye Xinglan gradually became just as straightforward as he was.

Ye Xinglan, who used to enjoy showing off pointless techniques in battle, seemed like a different person now. Every sword strike was vicious beyond compare.

Nan Liujing's heart immediately tightened. Damn it, had he led this girl astray?

He remembered that the screens in the Spirit Ascension Chamber could display what was happening inside the Spirit Ascension Platform. If Uncle Ye saw that his daughter's combat style had changed so drastically, would he not come looking for trouble with him?

"Watch out."

As Ye Xinglan used several ten-year Bloodclaw Bats to practice her accuracy, she happened to glimpse "Lu Mingfei" losing focus in battle from the corner of her eye. A dark-red Bloodclaw Bat behind him seemed to spot an opportunity and swiftly lunged toward him.

But the next second, she shut her mouth.

Dark blue arcs of electricity curled around Nan Liujing's left elbow. His figure flashed, moving like thunder as he drove out a shadowy elbow strike. The Bloodclaw Bat did not have time to react before an electric current mixed with overwhelming force slammed into its body.

With a bang, its body exploded amid the lightning.

Pale white points of spiritual energy fell and flowed into Nan Liujing's body.

He might genuinely not know other combat techniques, but he had studied the boss's elbow strikes frame by frame. It was all so he could teach those trash players a lesson on outdoor courts—the ones who looked like they were playing basketball but were really just hitting people.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Ye Xinglan let out a breath of relief. The Stargod Sword stabbed forth repeatedly, like starlight filling the air. Blood blossomed from the heads of the Bloodclaw Bats one after another as they dropped dead to the ground.

Once the nest of Bloodclaw Bats had been cleared, Ye Xinglan finally had a chance to rest. She raised her head to look at the sky and said quietly, "It's going to rain."

Nan Liujing looked up as well.

The dark clouds that had gathered for two hours had long turned the forest overhead dim. The dense black clouds seemed ready to fall to the ground, while the increasingly violent wind swept leaves up into the sky. Everything felt unbearably oppressive.

"Rumble!"

Suddenly, muffled Shocking Thunder rolled through the dark clouds.

At that moment, all the soul masters still struggling within the Spirit Ascension Platform were drawn to the thunder.

If this had been the ancient or prehistoric eras, such weather would have been incredibly dangerous for humans within a soul beast forest. They would have desperately sought a safe place as quickly as possible.

But within the Spirit Ascension Platform, the soul masters instead felt rather relaxed as they admired the rain curtain over the ancient forest, a sight difficult to see in the modern world.

As the thunder sounded, bolts of lightning tore through the dim sky, leaving behind fractured-looking scars.

"Should we keep moving?" Ye Xinglan asked Nan Liujing after withdrawing her gaze. Without realizing it, she had begun to follow his lead.

Nan Liujing did not answer. He continued looking at the sky as cool raindrops gradually fell upon his face.

At that moment, the raindrops became as heavy as boulders.

Heaven Dou City.

As the fourth-largest city on the continent, its roads were always busiest during the evening rush hour. Massive traffic filled the streets, red taillights joining together like a slowly writhing fire dragon.

The blaring of horns interwove in the air heavy with the scent of earth, yet they seemed especially powerless. Traffic would not move no matter what. But what made people most anxious was not the congestion—it was the thick dark clouds that had gathered overhead at some unknown time.

Faint flashes of light could be seen within the clouds, accompanied by muffled rumbles.

In every bustling district, office workers wandered about like zombies after getting off work, seeking food and entertainment as they enjoyed the wonderful nightlife.

Until...

Boom!

In an instant, heaven and earth seemed to lose their colors. A pale silver bolt of lightning erupted from the clouds and plunged fiercely toward the ground.

For the tens of millions throughout the city, all sound vanished from their ears.

The pale silver lightning was like a sharp blade that tore through the heavens, plunging directly into the Heaven Dou Spirit Pagoda in the eastern part of the city.

The Spirit Pagoda's soul-guided protective barrier strangely failed to activate. The surging lightning followed the defensive core formation within the building and poured into the underground in one rush.

There lay the placement area for the Spirit Ascension Platform's core formation.

Shrek City.

Near dusk, fiery clouds spread across the horizon, magnificent as though a painter had sketched and brushed them across the sky.

A clear, pristine lake divided the enormous Shrek Academy in two. On an island at the center of the lake stood a cliff.

Two vines hanging down from the cliff had been modified, and with wooden planks added, they had become a swaying swing.

At that moment, the swing rocked naturally without anyone pushing it. A peerlessly beautiful woman with a clean, elegant appearance sat sideways on the lap of a handsome young man with a refined and gentle temperament, smiling brightly.

The woman wrapped both arms around the young man's neck and rested her head in the hollow of his shoulder. As the swing swayed and the breeze rushed toward them, her clear, bell-like laughter echoed out.

Her aqua-green dress fluttered in the air as though sprinkling down a gentle vitality. The plants near the swing brimmed with life, fresh and lush enough to drip with green.

They were none other than the current Master of the Sea God Pavilion at Shrek Academy, the Sky Pillar Douluo Yun Ming, who had condensed half a divine position.

The woman was the Holy Spirit Douluo Yali, hailed as the most beautiful and kindest woman on the Douluo Continent. During the plague that had once swept across the continent, she had saved countless lives with her own life force.

Yun Ming's fingers gently stroked his beloved's snow-white cheek, a gentle smile at the corner of his lips. But just then, a faint silver glimmer flashed within the fiery clouds on the horizon.

Ya Li seemed not to notice, but Yun Ming's gaze sharpened.

The swing gradually came to a stop.

"What is it, Brother Ming?" Ya Li raised her head in confusion.

Yun Ming stared directly toward the north. After a moment, he finally said in a solemn yet hesitant tone, "I think I sensed an opportunity for a breakthrough, and it's growing stronger."

Ya Li's peerlessly beautiful face changed slightly.

For many years, she had known of the great regret hidden within her beloved's heart: he had been unable to fully perfect his divine position. He had never been able to take that final step, as though heaven and earth themselves had imposed some restriction.

But now, the situation seemed to have changed.

Ya Li rose from Yun Ming's lap. Her gentle, pure face bore a rare look of seriousness. "Brother Ming, time waits for no one."

Yun Ming smiled as he stood, wrapped his arm around his wife, and placed a kiss upon her smooth forehead. Smiling, he said, "Then let's go see whether this opportunity for a breakthrough is real or false."

As his words fell, the two silently vanished.

At the other end of the continent.

Within a towering military harbor, huge numbers of warships were stationed.

A flag bearing a trident design flew high, whipping wildly in the sea breeze.

This was the base of one of the Sun Moon Federation's subordinate legions: the Sea God Legion.

At that moment, a figure in the deep sea beyond the harbor slowly opened his eyes. Two blue-gold rays of light lit up the murky depths.

The churning waves on the ocean surface calmed in an instant.

Meanwhile, beneath the water, endless seawater surged toward this person and flowed into his body. The next moment, he seemed to merge with the seawater, his figure vanishing in an instant.

"Sure enough, only actual combat can influence this girl's integration of swordsmanship."

Inside the Spirit Ascension Chamber, Ye Changming watched the entire battle between Nan Liujing and Ye Xinglan and nodded in satisfaction.

Though the Ye Family Ancestral Swordsmanship was powerful, it only possessed form, not a soul that belonged to its wielder. To truly undergo transformation, one had to build upon the foundation of the Ye Family swordsmanship and gradually develop one's own path of the sword.

This could not be taught. Yet Nan Liujing's appearance had inadvertently helped Ye Xinglan find a breakthrough in this regard much faster.

"Why can't I change the viewing angle anymore?"

A startled voice rang out from one of the staff members operating the screen.

Everyone was drawn to the sound and instinctively looked over.

Just then, the soul-guided screen turned to static as though it had lost its signal, and the lights in the Spirit Ascension Chamber dimmed as well.

Ye Changming frowned and hurriedly activated his Soul Power to protect Na'er.

"What's going on?" The staff member who had led them here had not left. He asked his colleague in a deep voice.

"I don't know."

The three staff members had never seen anything like this before and were immediately at a loss.

They tried everything, but received no response.

While the staff checked the equipment, a sharp pop sounded, and the Spirit Ascension Chamber abruptly underwent a strange change. Time seemed to twist as strands of silver light floated through the air like a flowing galaxy.

Everyone within it still had their eyes open, yet they seemed to have had their pause buttons pressed.

The only one unaffected was Na'er.

She blankly stared at "Uncle Ye" beside her, then looked at the other staff members, completely at a loss.

Whoosh!

The situation changed again. The previously invisible screen somehow recovered, drawing Na'er's attention instinctively. What she saw was a pale silver bolt of lightning erupting from the thick dark clouds.

And directly beneath the lightning stood Nan Liujing and Ye Xinglan.

"Big brother." Na'er bristled like a frightened kitten. Silver light spread throughout her body, and her amethyst-like eyes instantly became vertical pupils.

Far away in an unknown space, Gu Yue, who was sealing her own Spiritual Sense, trembled involuntarily.

Her purple eyes opened, as though piercing through space to see a scene that she could not forget even with her Spiritual Sense sealed.

The Spirit Ascension Platform.

Dark clouds rolled like ink, blotting out the sun, moon, and stars as though the entire sky were collapsing.

"I say, isn't something a little wrong with this situation?"

Ye Xinglan stared at the continuously rumbling sky, a trace of fear appearing on her little face. She instinctively moved closer to Nan Liujing, her fair little hand reaching out to grab his arm.

When nature unleashed its fury, humans instinctively felt fear. Ye Xinglan was no exception.

Boom!

The moment Ye Xinglan finished speaking, a bolt of lightning suddenly shot down. Its target was precisely where she and Nan Liujing stood.

Nan Liujing's heart jolted. Within his sea of consciousness, the Heavenly Tribulation Bead, which radiated purple-red divine light, actively drew the lightning toward him.

The heavenly tribulation had arrived!

Without the slightest hesitation, Nan Liujing fiercely shoved Ye Xinglan away.

"You!" Caught off guard, Ye Xinglan was sent flying seven or eight meters and nearly lost her footing. A trace of dissatisfaction had just appeared in her azure eyes, but when she saw what was happening, she froze instantly.

A pale silver bolt of lightning, like divine punishment, fell from the sky and struck Nan Liujing in full.

His figure was no longer visible, completely engulfed by silver radiance.

A scorched smell filled the air, while the lingering might of lightning ravaged the surroundings as though it intended to reduce all living things to ash.

"Lu Mingfei!" Ye Xinglan's expression changed drastically as she cried out anxiously.

"Leave!" A voice filled with extreme pain roared from within the silver radiance.

Ye Xinglan's eyes widened, and her hands instinctively clenched together.

After two hours together, trust had long since formed between them.

"Rumble!"

Muffled thunder sounded from the sky again, followed by another pale silver bolt of lightning.

The space along its path shattered completely, countless fragments falling away to reveal the darkness of another dimension. The entire Spirit Ascension Platform world trembled on the verge of collapse.

Countless soul beasts fled frantically, while the humans who had been leisurely watching the forest rain curtain all widened their eyes in boundless amazement.

This Spirit Ascension Platform was actually this incredible. It could even simulate lightning shattering space. Amazing!

Ye Xinglan might have been the only one who did not think lightning shattering space was fun. Her entire body trembled as an aura of death crushed the last trace of her hesitation. She hurriedly pressed the distress signal device on her right hand.

No one would die within the Spirit Ascension Platform, but if they suffered the pain of losing an arm or leg, it would be reflected on their real bodies. She was afraid.

"Aaaah!"

The second silver bolt of lightning exploded viciously atop Nan Liujing's head. A pain that penetrated deep into his soul spread through his body like a flood.

Nan Liujing's face twisted grotesquely. His skin split apart and blood sprayed out as he felt that familiar sensation return.

His soul seemed to shatter once more into hundreds of millions of fragments. Within every fragment was a painful memory of his desperate struggles in childhood, and now he seemed to be reliving every one of them from the beginning.

That was not all. The flesh and blood all over his body melted continuously like the liquid dripping from a burning candle.

His hard bones became as brittle as plastic weathered by time. His flowing blood seemed to have been boiled, becoming scorching hot. Every meridian running through his body ruptured.

Using the body of a soul master to endure a heavenly tribulation head-on, he was surely the first person in all of history, even if this heavenly tribulation was not a heavenly tribulation in the traditional sense.

Amid this terrifying devastation, a special mark on Nan Liujing's forehead was gradually being perfected under the cleansing of the heavenly tribulation.

Within the Heavenly Tribulation Bead, the Thunder God watched silently.

There were some things he had not explained to Nan Liujing in detail. The power of heavenly tribulation brought by the Heavenly Tribulation Bead was not the power of laws possessed by this plane, but the power of the universe's laws.

This cleansing by heavenly tribulation would leave an eternal, indelible Plane Imprint upon the inheritor of the Heavenly Tribulation Bead.

A Plane Imprint meant bypassing the recognition of a plane's consciousness or its Plane Lord and forcibly allowing oneself to be marked by the will of the universe.

In his future growth, the Plane Imprint would ignore any obstruction from the Plane Lord and forcibly help him gain the trust of the source laws of the plane he occupied. Even if the Plane Lord was dissatisfied, he would be unable to lock onto him and retaliate.

Through this method, those with a Plane Imprint could also accelerate their cultivation speed, though not to an extreme degree, since they were taking a special route.

Those following the normal path had a typical example in the Nether Emperor Ha Luosa. Born with the Netherworld Rebirth Domain, he was favored by the Plane Lord and became a Titled Douluo at nineteen, even surpassing Yun Ming's record for reaching the Titled Douluo rank.

What Nan Liujing needed to do now was continue enduring until the imprint was complete.

One heavenly tribulation after another continued to descend from the heavens, but after enduring the initial agony, Nan Liujing instead became calm.

The will he had tempered through countless desperate struggles since birth drove the Heavenly Tribulation Bead to help sustain his life, while the outline of the Plane Imprint became increasingly clear.

The Heavenly Tribulation Bead would help the weak, but not the cowardly.

Absolute will was the leverage the Heavenly Tribulation Bead could offer you.

And Nan Liujing happened to have it!

A clarification: Yun Ming and Chen Xinjie's Spiritual Power realms repeatedly fluctuated in the original work, being the Spirit Domain Realm one moment and the Divine Origin Realm the next. Since Yun Ming had condensed half a divine position, I simply set him as being in the Divine Origin Realm.

Then there was the issue of the legions.

The original work also kept changing this around. Chen Xinjie was with the Sea God Legion at one point, then somehow became part of the East Sea Fleet. I simply assigned him to the Sea God Legion, with the East Sea Fleet being a separate force.