Chapter 473 - 472: Hand-Rubbing an Immortal Tribulation

Chapter 473: Chapter 472: Hand-Rubbing an Immortal Tribulation

Chapter 472: Hand-Rubbing an Immortal Tribulation

In truth, Luo Wusheng was very curious about how he was supposed to advance to the Nascent Soul realm.

Originally, he had thought that after his Golden Core transformed into a Star Lotus, the Nascent Soul might pop out from inside the lotus.

But now, there seemed to be quite a few problems.

His dantian was a sea of chaos... Could it be that he had to split heaven and earth first?

The moment this thought arose, Luo Wusheng saw the chaos within his dantian resemble the primordial opening of the cosmos. At the very center of the chaos, a point of auroral light ignited and rapidly spread outward.

Luo Wusheng could clearly sense that the existence within that aurora was his Nascent Soul.

So, almost instinctively, he let his consciousness seep into it—and what he saw made him freeze.

"A... tree?"

Luo Wusheng was a little dumbfounded. No matter from which angle he observed it, or by what means, that "Nascent Soul" which gave him a feeling of being connected to the very source was unmistakably a tiny sapling.

The sapling was still growing, branches slowly extending outward.

"Golden Core is a lotus, Nascent Soul is a tree... could it be that I’m actually plant-type?"

He mocked himself internally, but his focus was sharper than ever.

No matter what shape it took, his perception couldn’t be wrong. After the Star Lotus Golden Core, what he was seeing now wasn’t exactly unacceptable.

Moreover, he could clearly feel that this Nascent Soul Tree of his was extremely special.

For ordinary cultivators, advancing from Golden Core to Nascent Soul involved more than just condensing the Nascent Soul—there was another crucial step.

The Nascent Soul opens its eyes, communes with heaven and earth, and draws Dao Rhythms into itself.

Between heaven and earth, one finds the Dao Rhythm that suits oneself and chooses the Great Dao one will primarily cultivate.

This step is related to aptitude and comprehension, and also to the karmic encounters a cultivator has accumulated before reaching the Nascent Soul realm.

Cultivators who have long practiced fire-based techniques naturally find it easier to comprehend the Dao of Fire; the probability that their Nascent Soul will grasp a fire-related Dao is greatly increased. Even if it isn’t their primary path, they can still absorb a trace of fire Dao Rhythm.

For example, the sword cultivators of the Three Elemental Clan of the Sword Province mainly follow the Dao of Sword, yet still command traces of water, fire, and wood Dao Rhythms.

If this had been Luo Wusheng a month earlier, he would have had plenty of miscellaneous Dao Rhythms to choose from. For instance, because he frequently crafted Mountains-and-Rivers Jade, his familiarity with the Dao Rhythm of mountains and rivers was extremely high.

His aptitude had never lacked Dao Rhythms. In fact, even before today, he had already come into contact with a great many Dao Rhythms and gained profoundly deep understanding of them... such talent was terrifying.

But now, his method of advancement was already completely different from that of ordinary Nascent Souls.

While ordinary Nascent Souls were still struggling to make use of their single chance to "look" upon the world and absorb Dao Rhythms, Luo Wusheng’s Nascent Soul Tree had already been approached by a terrifying Dao Rhythm on its own.

It coiled around the first branch of the Nascent Soul Tree, forming several white-gold leaves that looked as though they were forged from lightning itself.

With a stir of his heart, Luo Wusheng instantly understood the true nature of this Dao Rhythm.

The Dao of Lightning—and not just any part of it, but the most fundamental aspect connected to heavenly tribulation lightning, even stained with a trace of immortal tribulation aura!

At that very instant, although he couldn’t spare any attention to consciously control his physical body, he could clearly feel the pressure of the immortal tribulation upon him lessen considerably, faintly becoming something he could manage.

This was also the exact moment his body made the motion of gathering lightning into armor.

Luo Wusheng felt his consciousness swallow hard.

Under normal circumstances, this near-origin level Dao of Lightning was already more than enough to serve as a cultivator’s primary Great Dao. Yet the Nascent Soul Tree in his dantian showed no sign of stopping its growth.

The second branch formed, accompanied by a clear and resonant phoenix cry. Exquisitely beautiful leaves of flame gathered at the branch’s tip.

The Dao of Fire—dominated by phoenix flames, with foxfire as a secondary aspect—shone in distant harmony with the lightning Dao on the neighboring branch.

The third branch, however, took Luo Wusheng somewhat by surprise.

The sound of sword resonance echoed as sword-shaped black leaves formed upon the branch.

The Dao of Sword?

"Well... it’s not impossible. After all, I do have sword intent..."

It was just that compared to the first two branches, it felt... a bit low-tier.

The moment Luo Wusheng formed that thought, he discovered that the sword-shaped black leaves suddenly began to move.

They lifted off from the branch, gathered together, and fused into a jet-black broken sword.

With a single wobble, the broken sword vanished, leaving Luo Wusheng’s consciousness utterly dumbfounded.

...

Royal City.

As countless swords of lightning and flame manifested around Luo Wusheng, the gigantic roc that had previously withdrawn to avoid the immortal tribulation finally made its move.

Letting out a long cry to the heavens, demonic winds gathered, condensing into its avatar, which surged violently toward Luo Wusheng’s position.

Its response was perfectly reasonable—long-range attacks would effectively prevent it from being dragged back into the immortal tribulation.

Although it couldn’t understand at all why that weak ant could summon an immortal tribulation, nor why such a frail body could withstand seventy percent of its might without being annihilated, at this point, none of that mattered anymore.

Luo Wusheng might look ferocious right now, even as if he possessed the momentum to destroy the world, but in reality his physical body was extremely weak. The residual force of the immortal tribulation was still raging inside him, rapidly eroding his vitality. He was hovering on the brink of death—alive, yet not quite—giving off a strong sense of being all bark and no bite.

If he were to take the roc’s attack head-on, he would very likely die on the spot—death would disperse the tribulation, and there would be no immortal tribulation left to deal with the Netherkin race.

But setting aside the "no bite" part for now, the "bark" Luo Wusheng was showing was genuinely terrifying.

Facing the roc avatar formed from the raging winds, a jet-black broken sword appeared beside him.

Centered on that broken sword, the myriad lightning-and-flame swords shifted lightly through the void as if answering a summons, arranging themselves into an incomparably profound sword formation.

The demonic winds surged forward—only to meet ten thousand swords striking as one, condensing a momentum of "there is nothing in existence that cannot be cut by the sword." In the blink of an eye, the demonic winds were shredded to pieces, and as if unsatisfied, the sword momentum continued on, slashing toward the roc at the horizon.

Boom!

Heaven and earth trembled.

As the smoke and dust dispersed, the roc’s figure was revealed.

It didn’t look seriously injured, but its massive body had been forced far back.

After all, the lightning-and-flame swords were not true immortal tribulation. Their power was still somewhat inferior to even the thirty percent of tribulation force the spirit roc had endured earlier.

But without question, this was an attack capable of injuring it.

In the stunned gazes of those in the northern part of the Royal City, Tian Zhu glanced at the horizon, then at the flamboyantly dressed man beside her. A trace of something strange flickered through her lazy eyes.

"If he really is the Demon Sect’s Holy Saint... little turtle, I want to hear that story again, about how the Demon Sect Holy Saint only beat you by a single move."

Xuan Ming: "..."

Sorry, please call me Zhang Da Zhuang, the Demon Sect Holy Saint’s officially designated mining laborer.

He remained silent. Instead, Tian Zhu was rapped on the head by Wutong.

"Don’t lose focus. Properly maintain the formation so the Royal City doesn’t get caught up in the aftershocks."

The Royal City’s defensive grand formation—prepared well in advance—had already been activated before the great battle began... though when the Empress issued that order, she hadn’t anticipated that the one fighting on behalf of the Immortal Nation wouldn’t be herself.

At this moment, everyone in the Royal City suddenly felt a tug in their hearts and looked up at the sky.

Within the swirling tribulation clouds, three pale bolts of lightning gathered at the same time, locking onto the tiny figure in the heavens.

The immortal tribulation descended once more.

Yet Luo Wusheng in the sky seemed utterly unconcerned. Unhurried, he lifted his foot and stepped upward.

The immortal-soul-formed Human Immortal Stairway had only two steps remaining before the summit.

As his foot fell, the three bolts of immortal tribulation lightning plunged down like three pale thunder dragons.

And in that instant, Luo Wusheng made a move.

He raised his right hand and clenched it hard.

The three immortal tribulation bolts froze in midair, as if kneaded by some invisible force, forcibly twisted into a single strand—then shot forth like a spear of lightning, streaking straight toward the spirit roc at the horizon.

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Note: Link to the character Illustration:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lkIcPnCxeyuyZA4Kkb621dPC05UvWjhD