Archean Eon Art

Chapter 555: The Fifth Essence Soul Tribulation

The demon invasion had brought too much harm to humanity.

Meng Chuan naturally wanted to kill Emperor Roc, Imperial Lord Starquix, and Lady Blackmoon. Among the trio, Imperial Lord Starquix and Lady Blackmoon were very easy to kill. On the contrary, Emperor Roc was the most difficult to deal with. Meng Chuan had decided on how he planned on targeting Emperor Roc.

Emperor Roc left Heaven Peak River System and returned to Three Bay River System. That took it about a year. It mainly relied on its Golden-Winged Roc bloodline. It’s very difficult to break through the limits of one’s talent. Even if it breaks through to the Fourth Tribulation realm, its speed will be at most five times faster. However, it’s now ten times faster. It’s likely that Palace Lord Snowjade is traveling with it in tow. Meng Chuan made a judgment.

I’ll continue cultivating. I’ll take action when I reach the Essence Soul Fifth Tribulation realm. Meng Chuan continued refining and modifying Thousand Mountain Star’s array formations.

His spiritual cultivation and technique realm were already adequate, but the fifth Essence Soul Tribulation never descended.

He was afraid that the Essence Soul Tribulation would descend when he was dealing with Emperor Roc or when he was in a dire situation. That would be bad.

Therefore, he had to wait!

…

Time passed. In the blink of an eye, a year and a half had passed since he returned to his homeworld, which was in Three Bay River System.

There were also Chaos Holes in Three Bay River System. Meng Chuan chose a super-large Chaos Hole as his long-term training ground. He wholly viewed the Chaos Hole’s influence on his mind as a form of cultivation.

Huh? Meng Chuan, who was sitting cross-legged in the Chaos Hole’s depths, suddenly sensed that a Heavenly Tribulation was about to descend in three seconds.

He immediately took a step.

Time stopped.

Meng Chuan flew rapidly at this moment. The Heavenly Tribulation paused temporarily as he quickly arrived outside the Chaos Hole.

He threw out Fiend Prison and hid inside. As for Fiend Prison, it vanished from the outside world.

Come on. Meng Chuan sat cross-legged inside Fiend Prison as time began flowing again.

After returning to his homeworld for more than a year, he cultivated in Archean Eon Realm and the Chaos Hole. Over 80 years had passed overall. During these 80-plus years, Meng Chuan had passed the first three Physical Body Tribulations! Each Tribulation descended one year apart—which was the shortest amount of time possible. The fourth Physical Body tribulation would happen 20 years later at the earliest.

In fact, transcending the first three Physical Body Tribulations didn’t boost Meng Chuan’s strength much.

When he was at the perfected Primordial realm (Imperial Lord realm), he was already comparable to a Fifth Tribulation Eminence. Transcending the first three tribulations in a row didn’t increase his body’s strength by much. His overall strength had increased by less than 10%.

Boom!

The fifth Essence Soul Tribulation descended.

The body in his homeworld, the Essence Soul avatars guarding the demon sage passageway, the body in the outer realm, and the Essence Soul avatars on Thousand Mountain Star all suffered the Essence Soul Tribulation.

Meng Chuan was still confident if it were the fifth Physical Body Tribulation. This was because Physical Body Tribulations only tested one’s body! With an Imperial Lord-level paramount technique as his foundation, he could definitely withstand the fifth Physical Body Tribulation. However, Meng Chuan wasn’t confident transcending the fifth Essence Soul Tribulation.

This was because Essence Soul Tribulations tested one’s mind and spirit!

It was hard to tell whether one could pass tests of one’s mind. Even if he believed that his mind and spiritual cultivation level was sufficiently high, it didn’t mean that he could withstand the Essence Soul Tribulation.

Among Tribulation Eminences, quite a number of Essence Soul Tribulation Eminences were at the First and Second Tribulation realm. However, the further one progressed, the lower the number of Essence Soul Tribulation Eminences became. For example, about eight in ten Sixth Tribulation Eminences were Physical Body Tribulation Eminences.

The fifth Essence Soul Tribulation is descending. Meng Chuan waited. He had made ample preparations for this tribulation. He spared no expense in refining a World Treasure. World Treasures were unique to Essence Soul Tribulation Eminences.

This was because one’s Essence Soul World descended from an illusion. World Treasures could make one’s Essence Soul World more ‘real.’ With a World Treasure, one’s Essence Soul World’s might would increase by several-fold. One’s overall strength would naturally increase in all aspects.

Whoosh.

In Meng Chuan’s sea of consciousness, a painting canvas floated in the air. Meng Chuan’s Essence Soul sat cross-legged on the canvas.

This painting canvas was a World Treasure.

Boom!

The Essence Soul Tribulation descended upon Meng Chuan’s Essence Soul directly.

The painting canvas was one with Meng Chuan’s Essence Soul. It also blocked the Essence Soul Tribulation, reducing its might.

…

Archean Mountain, Grotto-Heaven Pavilion.

“Meng Chuan, Meng Chuan.” Qin Wu came to the backyard in delight, but he didn’t see Meng Chuan. This puzzled Qin Wu. Where is he?

Creak.

A door in the distance opened, and Meng Chuan walked out.

“Meng Chuan.” Qin Wu smiled as he walked over, but his smile gradually disappeared. He looked at Meng Chuan solemnly.

At that moment, Meng Chuan’s eyes were filled with fatigue. He forced a smile onto his face. “I just transcended the fifth Essence Soul Tribulation.”

“The fifth Essence Soul Tribulation?” Qin Wu was astonished. “You have reached the Essence Soul Fifth Tribulation realm?”

“I originally thought that I was sufficiently prepared. My spiritual cultivation wasn’t bad, but I still suffered greatly,” said Meng Chuan self-deprecatingly.

“What did you encounter during your Essence Soul Tribulation?” asked Qin Wu.

According to the sect’s records, every person’s Essence Soul Tribulations were different. The Heavenly Tribulations targeted the cultivator’s mental weaknesses. The further one progressed, the more terrifying the tribulations became. Not to mention the fact that an Essence Soul Tribulation Eminence’s Heavenly Tribulation couldn’t be delayed. This caused the number of strong Essence Soul Tribulation Eminences to be fewer than Physical Body Tribulation Eminences.

“What did I encounter?” said Meng Chuan softly. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?” Qin Wu was puzzled.

“My consciousness entered emptiness,” said Meng Chuan. “There was nothing. I couldn’t see or hear anything. Nor could I sense any profound laws. I only know that a long, long time passed. Was it a million years? A hundred million years? It could’ve been even longer. I don’t know how long it was.”

Meng Chuan’s eyes were filled with fatigue.

He had experienced many hardships since he was a child; his heart had been tempered to the point that it was as sharp as a blade. It could slice through all obstacles, to the point that he could shrug off the Chaos Hole’s influence on his mental state.

However, time was a different beast…

Everything gradually turned to emptiness in the face of time.

In his infinitely-long solitude, Meng Chuan could only constantly recall the moving scenes he saw during his life. He thought of his father, mother, and wife waiting for him, but he was still exhausted.

He was really too tired.

“I survived.” Meng Chuan laughed self-deprecatingly. “In the past, I always felt that life could surpass time. However, after experiencing time… I realized that my cultivation isn’t enough. If this Essence Soul Tribulation had lasted two-fold, or even ten-fold, longer, my consciousness would probably completely blur and collapse.”

Only after experiencing it would one truly realize how terrifying time was.

“From your description, it’s really a temporal prison.” Qin Wu was somewhat shocked. “You can’t see or hear anything. There’s nothing. Furthermore, there’s almost no end to time. I believe I won’t be able to withstand it.”

“Thankfully, the sixth Essence Soul Tribulation is still very far away,” said Meng Chuan.

His cultivation realm was still far from the Sixth Tribulation realm. He still had a long time to accumulate his strength slowly, constantly temper himself, and improve himself.

I have a 110,000-year lifespan. I have plenty of time to cultivate my mind. Meng Chuan also decided to spend more effort on mental cultivation.

If one’s mind was lacking, even if they could barely have the strength of a Sixth Tribulation Eminence, they might not be able to withstand the sixth Essence Soul Tribulation.

He had a very long lifespan. As a Primordial realm expert (Imperial Lord), he had transcended the first three Physical Body Tribulations and the fifth Essence Soul Tribulation; his lifespan had slightly increased from 100,000 years to 110,000 years.

…

Thousand Mountain Star.

In a cave abode deep within a mountain range.

Meng Chuan sat cross-legged in a chamber. Translucent beads circled around him. These were the Thirteen Universe Beads—a Seventh Tribulation treasure. It was the most suitable treasure for Meng Chuan in Ancestral Master Archean Eon’s vault.

The Thirteen Universe Beads was a Seventh Tribulation treasure—which fused time lineage laws and spatial lineage laws—allowing Meng Chuan to unleash his full potential.

This treasure was worth 3,200 cubes of Outer Realm Essence Crystals in Ancestral Master Archean Eon’s treasure vault—this was counted in Meng Chuan’s 300,000 Outer Realm Essence Crystals quota. It was twice as valuable as Senior Pang Ming’s Seventh Tribulation calabash. Such a treasure would be difficult to buy elsewhere, even if he had the money for it.

It’s about time. Meng Chuan flipped his palm, and Fiend Prison appeared in the outside world.

Inside Fiend Prison was an Eight-Headed Star Swallowing Snake’s corpse. Demon Slayer was currently stabbed into the corpse.

Meng Chuan had carried Demon Slayer with him during his thousand-plus years of cultivation. Demon Slayer had also grown with Meng Chuan. It could be said to be the most compatible divine armament for Meng Chuan. It was even better than the Bloodblade Disc—which he had refined as his intrinsic treasure. After all, it was a divine armament he had nurtured since he was weak. Meng Chuan had used Infinite Saber’s laws as Demon Slayer’s core, allowing it to grow greatly.

Demon Slayer had also reached the level of a Tribulation weapon. However, it required many external forces to increase its strength. This Eight-Headed Star Swallowing Snake’s corpse had enough flesh and blood for Demon Slayer to devour.

Demon Slayer has also reached the Fifth Tribulation realm. Meng Chuan could sense that nearly half of the Eight-Headed Star Swallowing Snake’s flesh had been devoured. Demon Slayer was completely satiated.

Although it was a Fifth Tribulation treasure, it was much more powerful than ordinary Sixth Tribulation treasures in Meng Chuan’s hands.

He had long prepared all sorts of treasures for melee-range and long-range attacks.

It’s time to set off and find Emperor Roc. Meng Chuan stood up and grabbed Demon Slayer. He sheathed his saber, placing it by his waist. He immediately walked out of the chamber.