Joe Di had no idea that Cynthia Winters suspected he possessed the World Tome. If he knew, he would have felt utterly wronged. The reason he became a Grand Arraymaster and Pill King actually had little to do with the World Tome. It was mainly due to the golden Dao thread in his sea of consciousness. Quinn Windflower also played a role by teaching him arraycraft, while Ji Ming instructed him in alchemy.
At this moment, Joe Di was also rushing at top speed. Now that he had the Tribulation Elixir, he needed to break through to the Tribulation King Stage as soon as possible.
Two hours later, Joe Di once again entered the Spiritstone Mountain. He never intended to take the Spiritstone Mountain with him; now, as he prepared to break through to the Tribulation King Stage, this place was perfect.
Joe Di’s favorite cultivation method was to crazily absorb spiritual energy while undergoing tribulation. The stronger the Lightning Tribulation, the faster he cultivated.
After leaving the Central Realm, Joe Di would soon participate in the True Domain Prodigy Trials, so he hoped to maximize his strength on Little Central Star.
He wasn’t joining the True Domain Prodigy Trials just to deal with the prodigies there—he also needed to prepare for the powerful cultivators of the True Domain. Not to mention the suspicious Golden Domain Lord, Cynthia Winters’s backers were also forces Joe Di felt he had to guard against.
Now that his identity as a Ninth-Rank Pill King was exposed, Joe Di didn’t believe the powers behind Cynthia Winters would remain indifferent. As long as anyone had designs on him, he needed the ability to protect himself. Ideally, he hoped to reach the Transforming True Stage before leaving Little Central Star.
Searching Spiritstone Mountain for the best spot to undergo tribulation, Joe Di decisively laid down two supreme spirit veins. Then, at the center of his tribulation site, he set up an offensive blade array. As soon as the Lightning Tribulation descended, he would activate the blade array to attack the lightning arcs.
Others would hope for weaker lightning arcs during tribulation, but Joe Di actually wished they were as strong as possible.
With everything prepared, Joe Di steadied his mind and took two Tribulation Elixirs at once. He’d learned from experience during his breakthrough to the Cauldron Lord Stage—one Tribulation Elixir alone might not trigger the Lightning Tribulation.
Joe Di’s plan was to first take two Tribulation Elixirs to sense the Tribulation King Stage, then swallow four more at once to trigger the Lightning Tribulation.
What Joe Di didn’t expect was that after taking two Tribulation Elixirs, the spiritual source formed by the pills surged like two mighty rivers. The terrifying spiritual energy would be overwhelming for anyone. The tribulation Dao resonance gathered within him was like a raging torrent—if he couldn’t find an outlet, it seemed his meridians would be torn apart in the next instant.
He had overestimated himself; Joe Di no longer dared to take a third Tribulation Elixir. Now, he frantically activated the Galaxy Formula, letting the starry meridians swiftly absorb the terrifying energy from the two pills and break through the barrier to the Tribulation King Stage.
Just this once, Joe Di touched the barrier to the Tribulation King Stage. He secretly marveled—what a miraculous pill. For someone like him, who usually struggled to reach the next realm, even two Tribulation Elixirs made it easy to sense the breakthrough. This cauldron-refined pill was truly extraordinary.
Joe Di was already sitting atop the Spiritstone Mountain, with two supreme spirit veins beside him. As soon as he touched the threshold of the Tribulation King Stage, the starry meridians began drawing in nearly tangible spiritual energy. In the next moment, nine thick lightning arcs crashed down.
It was happening. Already prepared, Joe Di pushed the Galaxy Formula to its limit, absorbing spiritual energy with all his might.
Boom, boom, boom! As the first wave of lightning arcs descended, Joe Di’s offensive blade array activated at the same time.
Normally, Joe Di’s tribulation would follow a pattern: the first wave would be nine arcs, the second wave eighteen, and so on until the ninth wave ended.
But now, before Joe Di even broke through to the Tribulation King Stage, his offensive blade array began actively attacking the lightning arcs. This provocation made the thunder above him grow even fiercer, and his Lightning Tribulation lost all pattern—countless lightning arcs crashed down endlessly, with no first or second wave.
Joe Di secretly felt relieved; if not for his divine-grade physique, just witnessing such a terrifying Lightning Tribulation would make anyone’s scalp tingle.
The Lightning Tribulation was terrifying, but its effects were obvious. Joe Di’s cultivation soared, and as the tribulation sensed him exploiting it, the endless lightning arcs could no longer suppress him—so the Lightning Tribulation abruptly became even more intense.
Crack! Under the massive lightning arcs, Joe Di’s body finally split open in a bloody gash, his bones fractured. Almost simultaneously, he broke through the Cauldron Lord Stage and entered the first layer of the Tribulation King Stage. The concentrated spiritual energy finally burst forth, and his cultivation made a qualitative leap.
No longer worried, Joe Di swallowed several pills and frantically activated his blade array, absorbing spiritual energy with even greater intensity.
The relentless, massive lightning arcs completely engulfed Joe Di. If anyone else were here to witness the tribulation, they’d probably faint from shock.
Beneath those thick lightning arcs, Joe Di’s figure was nowhere to be seen. If not for a swirling vortex of spiritual energy amid the dense lightning, no one would believe a living person could survive such a tribulation.
After entering the Tribulation King Stage, Joe Di’s absorption of spiritual energy grew even more intense. Sitting atop Spiritstone Mountain, flanked by two complete supreme spirit veins, he was in a world of pure, rich spiritual energy. Combined with the clear Dao laws revealed by the violent Lightning Tribulation, Joe Di quickly advanced to the second layer of the Tribulation King Stage.
Joe Di was overjoyed; if this trend continued, he was certain he could reach the fourth layer of the Tribulation King Stage with this tribulation.
He’d only been on Little Central Star for a little over two years, and with more than seven years left, reaching perfection in the Tribulation King Stage wouldn’t be a problem.
To Joe Di’s disappointment, just as he reached the second layer of the Tribulation King Stage, the Lightning Tribulation abruptly vanished. Though the surrounding spiritual energy still surged wildly, he no longer felt that exhilarating sense of cultivation, and the next realm became hazy. To clarify the next breakthrough, he would have to rely on time and accumulation.
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What happened? Joe Di frowned at the now calm sky, completely unable to understand what was going on.
But Joe Di quickly regained his composure. Though he felt a bit disappointed, he knew such shortcuts were only temporary. Without the Lightning Tribulation, his cultivation speed slowed considerably, though it still far surpassed the outside world.
He came to the Central Realm for two purposes: first, to search for high-grade spirit herbs and strive to become a Ninth-Rank Pill King. He wasn’t a Ninth-Rank Pill King yet, but it was only a matter of time.
Second, to work hard at improving his strength. When he arrived on Little Central Star, he was at the third layer of the Cauldron Lord Stage; now he’d reached the second layer of the Tribulation King Stage. His cultivation had advanced by a whole realm, but it still wasn’t enough.
Joe Di didn’t leave; he chose to continue his closed-door cultivation here.
......
Little Central Star was anything but small. As the visible spirit herbs were gradually snatched away, more cultivators, like Joe Di, hid away for closed-door cultivation.
Garrett too wanted to find a place for closed-door cultivation, but before that, he had to locate Big Brother Joe. In his first year on Little Central Star, his strength had already reached the ninth layer of the Soul Ancestor Stage. Without a Breakthrough Pill, he couldn’t advance to the Seabreaker Stage.
Big Brother Joe had told him that advancing without pills was better. But now, without a pill, he simply couldn’t touch the barrier to the Seabreaker Stage. Other than searching for Joe Di, Garrett had no other options. In Garrett’s mind, any cultivation problem could be solved by Joe Di.
After wandering Little Central Star for over a year, Garrett hadn’t found any news about Joe Di. At this moment, he stood by the edge of a nearly dried-up marsh lake, where a third-grade Iron Lotus bloomed in the center.
The Iron Lotus was low-grade and not very useful. Outside, some cultivators might dig it up, but here on Little Central Star, no matter how poor a cultivator was, no one would enter a marsh for a third-grade Iron Lotus—except Garrett.
Garrett didn’t care about good or bad; as Joe Di had told him, as long as it was a spirit herb, just dig it up regardless.
So, when Garrett saw the Iron Lotus, he didn’t hesitate to wade into the marsh and dig it out.
When Garrett dug up the Iron Lotus, he was nearly stunned. Beneath it was another spirit herb—the Soulsea Fruit, which Garrett recognized. The Iron Lotus had formed a natural concealment barrier, completely hiding the Soulsea Fruit. Without digging up the Iron Lotus, it would have been impossible to discover the Soulsea Fruit.
Garrett was ecstatic—he’d actually found a Soulsea Fruit on Little Central Star. For cultivators, among all sixth-grade spirit items, many would consider the Soulsea Fruit the most precious.
The Soulsea Fruit was the only spiritual fruit whose effects rivaled the Breakthrough Pill, giving Soul Ancestor Stage cultivators a high chance of advancing to the Seabreaker Stage. In terms of rarity, the Soulsea Fruit was more than ten times as precious as the Breakthrough Pill.
The Soulsea Fruit not only increased a cultivator’s chance of advancing to the Seabreaker Stage, but also expanded their sea of consciousness—and most importantly, it was a natural spirit fruit.
Garrett had long been eager to break through to the Seabreaker Stage. On Little Central Star, Seabreaker Stage was considered above average strength. If he could reach it, he’d have access to more places.
So, as soon as he got the Soulsea Fruit, Garrett couldn’t wait to swallow it.
Garrett had a pure lightning spiritual root and outstanding talent. After wandering at the Soul Ancestor Stage for a year or two, the Soulsea Fruit immediately let him sense the barrier to the Seabreaker Stage—and triggered a Lightning Tribulation.
Garrett’s Lightning Tribulation wasn’t as terrifying as Joe Di’s, but it was still far stronger than what most cultivators faced. Fortunately, his cultivation technique had been enhanced by Joe Di using the golden Dao thread, so even though the tribulation was fierce, it couldn’t take his life.
In just a few days, Garrett survived the Lightning Tribulation and broke through to the first layer of the Seabreaker Stage, stabilizing his cultivation.
A short segment of green spirit vein emerged where Garrett had undergone his tribulation, and he discovered it just as he was about to leave.
Rich medicinal spiritual energy surged from the green spirit vein. Even a fool could tell this was no ordinary spirit vein. As for how it appeared, that was easy to guess—Little Central Star was full of natural restrictions, and when the Lightning Tribulation shattered one, it was no surprise a spirit vein would surface.
“Royal Herb Vein?” came a surprised voice, and a fair-skinned man rushed toward Garrett. Before he even landed, his magical treasure was already attacking Garrett.
(That’s all for today’s update. Good night, friends!)