Soul Sacrifice, the God Realm's Gaze

Gazing at the charred, shattered wasteland atop the mountain, where not a trace of life remained, Yu Yuanchen felt an indescribably complicated surge of emotions. There was relief at surviving the disaster, heartache over the destruction of that precious token, but more than anything, there was a faint sense of desolation and regret.

A super Soul Beast that had broken the shackles of its bloodline destiny and advanced to a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, a defier of fate with an unyielding will who dared to raise its fist against the heavens—yet in the end, it had still fallen beneath the merciless judgment of the Heavenly Dao. He admired that unyielding will. Though they had each harbored their own calculations, their experience of standing side by side against Heavenly Might had already left its mark on his heart. Now that everything had come to nothing, he could not help but feel melancholy.

"So in the end... it still failed to defy the heavens..." He let out a soft sigh and was about to step forward to inspect the remains, to see whether even the Spirit Bone had truly failed to survive, as he feared.

Just then, a sudden change occurred!

A faint yet incomparably pure spiritual radiance, surrounded by a soft halo, slowly drifted from the charred remains. Within that glow, the phantom of a miniature, crystal-clear Thunderclap Nethervine could vaguely be seen. It was the source of its transformed soul! Yet at this moment, the soul was incredibly dim, like a candle flickering in the wind, liable to vanish at any moment.

"Human..." A thought so weak it was nearly imperceptible entered Yu Yuanchen's mind, carrying endless exhaustion and a trace of relief. "Thank you... for your final assistance... If not for those two layers of barriers... weakening a trace of the destructive will in the final Thunder Tribulation... this newly transformed fragment of my soul... would not have remained either..."

Yu Yuanchen was stunned, then suddenly understood. His final act had not been entirely futile after all!

The soul continued to transmit its thoughts, carrying the calm of one who had seen through life and death. "My body has been destroyed... this remnant soul is rootless duckweed... it will disperse within a few days at most... In gratitude for helping me cross the tribulation... and for extending a hand at the final moment... I am willing to give you this remnant soul and my final foundation... all of it..."

"I shall... sacrifice myself to you!"

As soon as the words fell, without waiting for Yu Yuanchen's response, the soul's halo suddenly began to burn! A vast and incomparably pure power of soul origin, mixed with a trace of an immensely noble yet faint bloodline from the ancient Thunder God, as well as the divine radiance it had condensed after its transformation, surged toward Yu Yuanchen like countless rivers flowing into the sea!

This was the sacrifice of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast! Unlike hunting, it was a Soul Beast's voluntary and utterly selfless gift!

Yu Yuanchen only felt a warm, majestic force instantly envelop him. His soul seemed to be immersed in a hot spring, and an unprecedented sense of comfort and fullness washed over him.

The energy of that Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring gently merged into his body and combined closely with his Martial Soul without the slightest rejection! His Soul Power began to soar madly, directly breaking through the constraints of Level Seventy and rising all the way to Peak Level 72! However, most of its hundred-thousand-year Cultivation Level had been worn away by the Heavenly Tribulation, leaving only most of its origin essence. Otherwise, it would have been enough to propel Yu Yuanchen to at least Level Seventy-Five.

At the same time, that trace of Thunderclap Nethervine's Thunder God Bloodline and divinity also merged into his body. This power encountered the Law Imprint condensed from his own trace of Thunder God Power, as though creating some kind of resonance. They blended perfectly, making both his bloodline and that Law Imprint more solidified and profound.

At this moment, the imprint seemed to have drawn upon something in the unseen, slowly changing once again. Unfortunately, it appeared to be missing something, and the transformation came to a halt. Still, it seemed several degrees more imposing than before, and its radiance had grown brighter as well.

However, because Thunderclap Nethervine's body had been completely destroyed in the Thunder Tribulation, it could not produce a normal Spirit Bone. Yet the purest portion of its divine origin, the part with the greatest affinity for thunder, was drawn toward the Dragon Spear in Yu Yuanchen's hand—a weapon condensed through his Sixth Soul Skill, Thunderous Armament, and infused with a massive amount of Tribulation Lightning energy!

"Bzzzz—!"

The Dragon Spear gave an incomparably joyous hum, breaking free from Yu Yuanchen's control and floating into the air. That portion of divine origin, as though it had found its most suitable vessel, poured entirely into the Dragon Spear! The purple-gold spear body erupted with dazzling divine light. The naturally formed Dragon Pattern upon it seemed to come alive, becoming even more complex and profound. At the spear tip, a tiny wisp of nine-colored lightning, condensed to the utmost limit, quietly gathered, and the pressure it emitted caused the surrounding space to distort slightly!

The radiance gradually faded, and the Dragon Spear slowly descended, returning to Yu Yuanchen's hand. The instant he touched it, a feeling of bloodline connection, as if it were an Extension of One's Arm, arose within him! This was no longer a mere creation of a Soul Skill. It had become a real weapon, bound to his life and capable of growth—an External Soul Bone! External Soul Bone Dragon Spear!

An even greater surprise came from the changes within his body.

Though the trace of Thunder God Bloodline that had merged into him was faint, its rank was extremely high. After entering his body, it directly set all his blood boiling! On a deeper level, under the stimulation and nourishment of this superior bloodline, his bone marrow actually began undergoing an intense transformation on its own! The step of Marrow Tempering, which would normally require countless efforts and vast amounts of time, and carried immense danger, had unexpectedly made a natural breakthrough through this fortuitous opportunity!

Bone marrow was the source of blood production and the root of Qi and Blood! Its transformation meant that the Qi and Blood throughout his body would undergo a qualitative leap, becoming purer and more immense. Both his Recovery Power and Life Force would reach a terrifying level!

What delighted him even more was that during the transformation of his bone marrow, as his Qi and Blood merged with that trace of divine bloodline, inspiration struck him. The Spiritual Power and Bloodline Power that he had long struggled to actively fuse now naturally showed the first signs of merging! Though they had only made initial contact, it opened an entirely new door for him! This meant that he could finally begin attempting the most mysterious and dangerous process of all—Skull Tempering!

By now, the fusion of Spiritual Power and Soul Power, as well as the fusion of Soul Power and Bloodline Power, which he had long achieved through his Fourth Soul Skill, Thunder God Power, combined with the initial merging of Spiritual Power and Bloodline Power at this moment, had formed a preliminary cycle and connection between essence—Qi and Blood—qi—Soul Power—and spirit—Spiritual Power—within his body!

"Essence, qi, spirit... the three can now initially merge..." An unprecedented gleam burst from Yu Yuanchen's eyes. "With the integration of Thunder God Power, I may be able to completely transform my Soul Power into an entirely new force of a higher essence, one that fuses the origins of essence, qi, and spirit!"

His thoughts raced. Drawing upon his own path and thunder attribute, he named this envisioned power Thunder True Essence.

This power was neither mere Soul Power nor pure Bloodline Power or Spiritual Power. It was the fusion and sublimation of all three, possessing both material and energy-like properties, containing the true intent of destruction and creation, and capable of freely transforming into all manner of properties. This would be the foundation upon which he would surpass his limits and ascend to the pinnacle in the future!

Furthermore, when he had previously comprehended Ultimate Thunder and formed the Five-Viscera Qi and Blood Great Cycle, the immense Qi and Blood circulating through that cycle, together with the power of five thunder Nature Transformations, had long been subtly nourishing and tempering his six bowels—gallbladder, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, bladder, and triple burner—as well as his other meridians. The tempering of his internal organs had already been preliminarily completed!

Flesh and blood, sinews and bones, internal organs, bone marrow—already crossed! He had nearly completed all four major stages of body refinement! Once Skull Tempering was complete, he would truly be able to forge a Golden Body and achieve a supreme physique! At that time, his physical body would become a world unto itself, his Qi and Blood would be like a dragon, and his Life Force would be vast. He had a vague premonition that if he cultivated this path to its limit, even achieving godhood, he might truly be able to regenerate from a drop of blood, or even reconstruct his body as long as a single thought remained!

Feeling the earth-shaking changes within his body, Yu Yuanchen slowly clenched his fist.

His Seventh Soul Ring, a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring as deep as the starry sky and rimmed with a flowing halo of lightning, quietly revolved. The information regarding his Martial Soul Avatar—Thunder Sacred Dragon True Body—was already clear in his mind.

He could clearly sense that his current combat power, combined with Ultimate Thunder, the Thunder Sacred Dragon Martial Soul, the Hundred Thousand Year Seventh Ring, the External Soul Bone, and his partially completed body refinement, was no weaker than that of an ordinary early-stage Titled Douluo. Take Long Ye, the Long Family's newly advanced Titled Douluo, for example. If they fought, then with the suppression of his Martial Soul, Yu Yuanchen was confident that in a one-on-one battle, he could twist Long Ye's head right off.

It could be said that in this vast world, only the very top tier of people on the continent could still threaten his life.

In addition, he raised his head and looked in a certain direction. Something there seemed to be drawing him in the unseen, though the connection was intermittent due to the great distance. Yu Yuanchen thought about it for a while but reached no conclusion, so he temporarily buried the matter in his heart.

However, he put the matter aside because he had other things to do.

Great power brought absolute confidence. He looked toward Dragon City, and a cold glint flashed through his eyes.

"Long Family... Black Flame Demonic Dragon... it is time to settle this trouble once and for all."

The threats to his family, the pursuit by the Elephant Armored Sect—these grudges needed to be settled. With his current strength, he already had enough confidence to face them.

At the same time, a thought stirred in his mind as he calculated the time.

"The Five Year Agreement with Tang Chen and Qian Daoliu... has less than seven months left."

Thinking of those two friends and rivals, Yu Yuanchen's lips curled into an expectant smile. He truly wanted to know how far they had progressed over the past five years. And with the strength he possessed now, what kind of brilliance could he display on the battlefield of the Five Year Agreement?

He did not linger any longer. After one final glance at the mountain that had borne witness to a year of his arduous cultivation and a shocking tribulation, his figure transformed into a streak of purple-gold lightning and vanished in an instant.

The Hidden Dragon had leaped from the abyss, and the Holy Dragon had begun to roar. The continent's Wind and Clouds would surely be stirred into even greater upheaval by his return!

The God Realm stood high above countless planes. Within this eternal hall, constructed from pure laws and Divine Power, time itself seemed to have lost all meaning. The God of Destruction sat quietly upon his Divine Throne carved from dark-red crystal. Beneath his deep-purple cloak, the opening and closing of his eyes reflected the cycles of life and death of countless stars. He wielded the authority of destruction. He was the embodiment of all things' end, the inevitability of returning to nothingness. To him, the daily affairs of the God Realm were nothing more than a routine cycle through endless ages, incapable of stirring even the slightest ripple.

Yet at this very moment, his eternal, indifferent divine heart stirred slightly.

It was not some earth-shattering event, nor had some lower plane reached its destined end. The sensation was extraordinarily faint, like an insignificant pebble with an unusual glimmer being dropped into the depths of the calm, blood-red divine sea of destruction.

Following that unseen pull, his gaze pierced through the layers of barriers between the God Realm and the mortal world, ignoring the separation of space and time as it descended upon a plane called Douluo.

"Another Thunderclap Nethervine that resisted its destiny? What a pity, it was only half a step away. But that little fellow who helped it is a fine piece of uncut jade. He has also received the sacrifice of that thunder vine and obtained the Thunder God Bloodline."

After noticing the abnormal movement of that rune imprint, the God of Destruction was also somewhat surprised. With great interest, he murmured, "Oh? Even this incomplete Thunder God Seal has been sensed by the Thunder God Position. But it seems the Thunder God Position is badly damaged. It does not even possess the ability to bestow a Divine Examination from afar. Still, judging by this little fellow's performance, he has hope of repairing the God Position and becoming a god! Not bad. He is worth watching. One more main god would also strengthen the God Realm's foundation. Back then, that kid Thunder God was among the finest of the main gods under my command. Had he not fallen in the war against the divine beasts, it would not have been impossible for him to break through the shackles of his God Position and reach the realm of a God King. Heh. I wonder whether this little fellow will possess even a fraction of Thunder God's bearing in the future."