Evan Chu never imagined that this final lightning strike would be so overwhelming. In an instant, it engulfed him, and the pain tore through his body like knives. Before he could even react, he was blasted unconscious.
His body was covered in wounds so deep the bone showed, and the raging power of the lightning rampaged through him, as if determined to utterly destroy him. Yet Evan was completely unaware—being knocked out was a rare thing for him, but this time, it had finally happened.
Electric arcs crackled and danced across his body, making snapping sounds. The force of the blow drove Evan straight into the ground, flattening the mountain peak. Yet even as this happened, the tribulation clouds overhead slowly began to disperse.
Maybe the power of that lightning was so great that the clouds assumed Evan had been completely annihilated. What they didn’t know was that his wounds were slowly healing, though not quickly—wood-element healing was being suppressed and damaged by the lingering thunder.
In the sky, a seven-colored auspicious cloud began to form. If Evan had been awake, he would have been shocked—Sword Spirit Luna once said that the more colors in the ascension cloud, the greater the future potential. Seven colors was the maximum, meaning his prospects were limitless.
Evan remained unconscious, but as the auspicious cloud appeared, a tremendous pulling force lifted him into the sky. He drifted upward, landing on the cloud, and at that moment a massive rift opened in the air. In a flash, both Evan and the cloud passed through the rift and vanished. The spatial tear closed just as quickly.
On a platform saturated with Immortal Essence, two young men in their thirties stood guard. One of them grumbled, "Finally, someone has ascended from below. Our assignment is finally over—waiting tens of thousands of years for this day nearly drove me mad."
"No kidding. Not long ago, a woman ascended, and it turned out she was a princess from Solarion Palace. Good thing I was quick-witted, or I’d have lost my life right here. Let’s hope nothing goes wrong this time," said the other.
Soon, Evan appeared before the two of them, but the auspicious cloud was gone. He simply floated there, eyes tightly shut, still unconscious, leaving both guards baffled.
"This kid took such heavy injuries and still isn't dead? What kind of lightning tribulation could do this to someone? Looks like he's not ordinary at all," one guard remarked.
"Why bother thinking about it? Just toss him into the Ascension Pool. That’s the standard reward for anyone who ascends to the Immortal Realm. Once he comes out, he’ll understand everything. If he’s got talent, send him to the Emperor Martial Domain. If not, he can dig Immortal Crystals for three years. All we have to do is wait for the next batch of guards to replace us," the other replied.
"Exactly! After tens of thousands of years, we're finally free. Time to find a few fairy maidens and enjoy ourselves—I've been holding back for way too long," the first guard said, then sent a beam of white light toward Evan.
Evan was instantly pulled by a mysterious force into a massive pool several meters wide and over ten meters long, its surface shrouded in mist so thick that nothing beneath could be seen.
Evan vanished into the pool, disappearing from sight. This was the Ascension Pool of the Immortal Realm—a place every ascendee must enter. There were many such pools across the Immortal Realm, each corresponding to a different continent. Evan’s particular pool hadn’t seen a single ascension for tens of thousands of years.
Every ascendee to the Immortal Realm must enter the Ascension Pool. Inside is a miraculous medicinal liquid that transforms one’s physique. Before ascension, cultivators relied mainly on absorbing Stellar Power from Starstones, but after ascension, they can absorb Immortal Essence from Immortal Stones. In terms of quality, Immortal Essence is far superior to Stellar Power.
Of course, if someone could directly draw pure Stellar Power from the stars themselves, that would be a different story. But in the Immortal Realm, that's impossible—only beings of unimaginable power in the God Realm could ever manage it, and even there, such people are extremely rare.
After Evan entered the Ascension Pool, the medicinal liquid swiftly began to repair his body and transform it, though he remained unaware. Normally, no one can stay in the Ascension Pool longer than half an hour before the pool’s mysterious energy ejects them automatically.
Just then, two more young men arrived at the Ascension Platform. The original guards looked visibly relieved. One said, "You’re finally here. We’ve had enough of this godforsaken place. Now this miserable job is yours."
"What can you do? This Ascension Pool is the least active—other places see an ascension every hundred years, but here it takes tens of thousands. Anyone posted here would go insane. You two are free, but now we’re stuck," one of the newcomers complained.
"Don’t say that. If this kid turns out to be a heaven-defying genius and catches the eye of the Imperial Palace, you’ll be free too. Here’s the Ascension Ledger—take care of it, and good luck getting out of here soon." With that, he handed over a yellow booklet to the new guard.
"Let’s go. Time to claim our reward in the underground palace—we’ve waited long enough." The two departed, leaving the new guards watching their backs with envy and resignation.
Time ticked by. Evan slowly regained consciousness inside the Ascension Pool, feeling as if he’d died and come back—his whole body was aching. When he opened his eyes, he realized he was underwater, but this water was special, filled with a powerful energy that was rapidly healing his wounds.
Now awake, Evan instinctively began absorbing the energy from the pool. To his delight, he discovered it was rich in Immortal Essence—and he could easily draw it into his body.
Soon, his Chaos Dragon Force fused with the Immortal Essence, forming a new power. Evan felt it was even stronger than before, so he named it Chaos Immortal Force. His strength and defense had both improved—no doubt, this was the result of that final lightning strike.