Ice Empress and Snow Empress were both stunned when they heard this.
Cross the tribulation now?
Perhaps seeing their concerns, Yao Shi told them not to worry. "Relax. You don't need to worry about this space failing to hold. Even if those six bolts of lightning you endured earlier struck at once, they still couldn't damage my Pure Land in the slightest."
"And don't forget, I also possess powerful healing abilities. Even without this space, I'm ninety-nine percent certain I can get you through the heavenly tribulation safely."
Yao Shi spoke with confidence.
Hearing this, Ice Empress swallowed and still asked curiously, "Then what about the remaining one percent?"
"Oh, that one percent is because I'm afraid I'll get too proud, so I won't say."
What thick skin!
That was Ice Empress and Snow Empress's current assessment of Yao Shi.
"I think we can give it a try," Snow Empress said decisively.
"Alright, then let's begin now."
Without saying anything more, once Snow Empress's origin had fully recovered, the three of them immediately left the Glazed Pure Land.
"Ice Empress, move farther away first."
After returning to the Far North, Yao Shi spoke to Ice Empress, who was still somewhat worried.
"Alright."
After Ice Empress flew away, Snow Empress began attempting to break through the seven-hundred-thousand-year limit once more. Dark tribulation clouds rapidly gathered overhead, seeming even larger than before.
Meanwhile, Yao Shi stood beside her, staring intently at the heavenly tribulation as it prepared to descend.
The tribulation lightning slowly condensed. Then, with a thunderous boom—
The first heavenly tribulation fell. Yao Shi had already activated the Glazed Abundance Pure Land, and the instant the lightning descended, he immediately pulled Snow Empress and himself inside.
The lightning struck empty air, leaving a deep crater where they had stood.
Inside the Pure Land, Yao Shi and Snow Empress were completely unharmed. They looked at each other and spoke in unison.
"This method works!"
Thus, for the second, third, and fourth bolts, Yao Shi continued using the same method, repeatedly pulling them in and out.
Perhaps because the first four attacks had all failed to hit their target, the fifth heavenly tribulation took longer to gather than any of the previous ones.
Boom—
With an explosive roar, the fifth lightning tribulation struck directly without any warning. Yao Shi was charred black before he could even react.
"Snow Empress! Yao Shi—"
Ice Empress's expression changed drastically when she saw this from afar. Her heart tightened as she cried out.
Fortunately, Snow Empress reacted far faster than Yao Shi. Before the lightning could touch him, she used Soul Power to form several layers of shields, offsetting much of the damage. Otherwise, Yao Shi might have been struck dead on the spot.
Because they had failed to enter the Glazed Pure Land in time, Snow Empress still suffered some injuries from the attack. Fortunately, since the previous four bolts had missed, her injuries this time were not too severe.
As for Yao Shi, whose body had been charred black beside her, he was already recovering rapidly. Before the sixth heavenly tribulation could appear, he directly pulled both Snow Empress and himself into the Pure Land.
The healing laws within the Pure Land continuously restored them, instantly returning both of them to full strength.
However, Yao Shi did not leave immediately this time. After that bolt of lightning had struck him down, he discovered that his body had undergone some changes.
"I... broke through to Four Rings!"
Yao Shi closed his eyes to sense the changes within himself, muttering in surprise.
As he closed his eyes and meditated, an emerald aura swirled around him, and his original three soul rings automatically emerged.
Yellow, purple, gold-green.
Then, his fourth soul ring slowly began to form.
Snow Empress watched Yao Shi's transformation in shock.
A self-generated soul ring?
A Soul Beast rebuilding itself?
And what was this gold-green soul ring? Weren't the highest-year soul rings Soul Beasts could produce blood-red, hundred-thousand-year ones?
Before Snow Empress could sort through this series of abnormalities surrounding Yao Shi, his fourth soul ring had already finished forming. It was still a crystalline, gold-green ring that gleamed with golden light.
But the changes had not stopped. The fourth soul ring began drawing the energy of the towering Ambrosial Arbor within the Glazed Abundance Pure Land toward Yao Shi.
His soul rings began changing rapidly. As that energy continuously poured into them, his first yellow ring and second purple ring instantly turned blood-red.
How was that possible? Soul rings could evolve?
Snow Empress was thrown off again. Are you the Soul Beast, or am I? You've only just reached Four Rings and you're already making such a spectacle. If you reach Title Douluo, won't you be able to slay gods?
The phenomenon dispersed, and Yao Shi slowly opened his eyes, crystal light flickering within them.
The enhancement of his first and second rings granted him two new soul skills: [Treasured Radiance Illuminates Sun and Moon] and [Crystal-Clear Glazed Body].
[Treasured Radiance Illuminates Sun and Moon] could increase either his own or another person's attack by fifty percent. This skill made up for his weakness of possessing only healing abilities, while [Crystal-Clear Glazed Body] could increase his physical strength for a short period.
"Let's go, Snow Empress. It's time to head out and face the final two heavenly tribulations."
After examining his newly acquired abilities, Yao Shi spoke to Snow Empress, who had turned her head away.
After Yao Shi finished speaking, Snow Empress still did not move. Without looking at him, she merely raised a finger and pointed at his body.
Snow Empress's strange behavior left Yao Shi confused. He lowered his head and realized that his clothes were in tatters, leaving his body completely exposed.
The joy of breaking through to Four Rings had made him forget that while his body could repair itself automatically, the clothes that had been reduced to ash by the heavenly tribulation could not.
Fortunately, Yao Shi's pale golden hair covered his private parts. He immediately took out a spare set of clothes from his storage ring and put them on.
Only after Yao Shi was fully dressed did Snow Empress turn back around and slowly walk toward him, her tone teasing.
"I never expected little Yao Shi to be a little boy. You're so pretty that I always thought you were a girl. Hahaha."
"Alright, stop laughing at me. We should head out now." Yao Shi felt somewhat embarrassed by Snow Empress's teasing, and his face involuntarily reddened.
Shocking! An older sister several tens of thousands of years old openly teased a thirteen-year-old boy. Was this the extinction of human nature or the collapse of morality? Jimi's suggestion: just electrocute her.
"Alright, alright. I won't tease you anymore."
Snow Empress was still smiling, her tone playful, as though the heavenly tribulation no longer concerned her at all.
The two returned to the snowy ground. The sixth lightning tribulation seemed to have been waiting for a long time and prepared to strike the moment they appeared.
Seeing Yao Shi actually put away the Glazed Pure Land, Snow Empress asked in surprise, "Little Yao Shi, why did you put that space away? The sixth bolt is much stronger than the last one."
"Don't worry, Snow Empress. My new ability seems capable of getting us safely through these final two bolts as well."
As soon as he finished speaking, lightning crashed down. Just as Snow Empress prepared to use Soul Power to block it again—
Yao Shi raised the index finger of his right hand toward the sky and murmured, "I say that all things possess spirits. Even inanimate objects are no exception."
Creation and Evolution.
Just as the lightning was about to strike Snow Empress and Yao Shi, a beam of green light shot from Yao Shi's fingertip toward the descending bolt.
Before you continue