Chapter 2438: The End - Recommended song Skyfall

For the very short duration of Lex’s mutated Primordial Dao Body tribulation, no Dao Lords killed each other even on the Dream Arena. That felt a little ironic because now Lex felt like he was the one about to die.

Lex had always been proud of his defense, but today he experienced for the first time what it truly meant to have an overwhelming, unstoppable, irresistible attack. Whether it was the body Daekol pulled out as defense, Daekol himself, Lex’s defenses, or even his own body, not a single one of them had even slowed down the attack.

It wasn’t a hot knife through butter, more like a nuclear bomb eviscerating the butter itself.

The only thing that was able to resist the attack at all was the Primordial Dao Body itself, although Lex wasn’t quite sure how good a job it did because he couldn’t feel his legs.

To be more specific, as Lex lay inside a crater, his blurry vision looking up at what was probably the sky, he had no idea of anything. He didn’t know if Daekol was dead, he didn’t know if the tribulation was over, or what state his body was in, because he had not even a single ounce of spirit sense left to check up on himself.

He knew he was still alive, because, well, he was, and that about summed up the total extent of what he knew.

Somewhere on the fringes of his exhausted, weary mind, Lex knew that if something didn’t happen, he was going to die. Jack’s awareness could not help him at this moment because the moment the tribulation struck, Jack too fell unconscious. Maybe he too was on the verge of death, or maybe he was already dead - Lex had no way of knowing.

All he knew was that he was going to die if something didn’t happen.

"Rebirth by fire... rebirth by fire... rebirth by... rebirth..." Lex whispered in his croak voice, in the hopes that somehow the ability would activate. Shouldn’t this be the time it kicked in? Isn’t this what it was for?

Yet he felt not an ounce of fire, except the burning that was slowly building up in his spine as sensation finally began to return to him.

He blinked, and tears fell from his eyes, clearing up his vision somewhat. He raised his head... or tried to, and discovered that when his body weight was in tons, even lifting his head was a hard task.

"Come on... rebirth..." Lex muttered as he moved his right hand and discovered that... he still had a right hand.

Lex would have loved nothing more than to activate some healing ability at that moment, but he had no energy left in his body. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could not help but wonder when the reward part of the tribulation would come. Even if the Dao Body tribulation had no significant reward, shouldn’t his Major tribulation reward him with an upgraded body and soul? Should it improve him? Heal him?

But there was nothing.

With his right hand, Lex grabbed onto his head and lifted it, finally allowing himself to see himself. His legs were gone, but his torso and head survived. Even though they survived, there wasn’t much to see.

He was mostly bones - black, burnt to a crisp bones, but bones nonetheless. There was some stuff that could have been muscle or organ, but now it was in such a state that Lex didn’t even know what to call it.

His heart, however, seemed entirely fine for some reason. He would have loved to investigate why that was, but he had no means. He let his head fall back on the ground, causing a small boom.

"Last time I trust a damn phoenix," Lex muttered as he grit his teeth - hey, he still had teeth - and grabbed his heart. His vision was beginning to fade, his consciousness was beginning to weaken, and still the tribulation had offered him no reward, nor had the damn Rebirth by Fire ability kicked in.

But Lex refused to die. He had too much to live for. He had just decided to start dating again back when he was in the Hollow.

Lex squeezed his heart, though it was entirely unknown what he expected to come of that, there were no veins or arteries connected to his heart. They had all been burnt or destroyed. Even so, he squeezed. If his heart wouldn’t pump on its own, he’d pump it himself. If the damn Rebirth by Fire wouldn’t work, then he would just do it himself. This wouldn’t be the first time he’d recreated his body from mere remnants.

"I will not die," Lex grunted through gritted teeth. "Not today... I will... not... die..."

He fought with all his might, but his self awareness continued to fade. No amount of will power could change reality. Without his Sovereign realm, he was not really a Sovereign. Without the energy to use Domination, he could not force his supremacy on anything.

His thoughts became blurred, and then faded altogether so that there was nothing he could do anymore.

Yet his body did not stop. Even when his mind shut down, and even when he could no longer think, his hand kept manually pumping his heart.

Jack had prepared a tremendous amount of divine energy to send to Lex for his final clash with Daekol, but the tribulation had changed too quickly. He hadn’t had time to send it.

Liz had made a deal with Oaka to allow her to go help Lex at a critical moment, but that had to wait for the tribulation to end first. Unfortunately, when the tribulation ended, no one could find Lex.

There were so many contingencies he’d made, but none of them could be used. There were so many people willing to help him, but none could find him. In this moment, where all of Lex’s power was gone, and even his thoughts faded away, the only thing left was a grim determination not to die that had seeped into his bones.

A suffocating silence threatened to blanket what was left of Lex, only the irregular sound of a forcefully beating heart keeping it at bay.

What no one realized was that Lex’s tribulation was not fully over. The last word spoken by the figure in the sky hung around Lex’s body like a curse, siphoning energy from the tribulation to stick around just a bit longer, with no other purpose than to usher him into death. But the curse, too, was quickly dwindling.

On the border of the crater stood a figure, watching to see which would give out first - the curse from an entity long lost and forgotten, or Lex’s bitter resolve.