Frenzied Assault on the Transforming True Stage

Joe Di came to a halt; he had reached the deepest part of Thunder Valley. Here, the arcs of lightning were much sparser, for nearly all of them were striking a massive, floating slab of green stone suspended in midair.

This slab of green stone measured nine feet in length, width, and height, hovering three feet above the ground. Countless lightning arcs fell upon it, vanishing without a trace.

This was undoubtedly a Primordial Thunderstone. Even though Joe Di had never seen one before, he was certain he couldn't be mistaken.

Joe Di did not take the Primordial Thunderstone away. Instead, he placed eight supreme spirit veins around it, then directly landed atop the thunderstone.

Boom! Boom! Boom! The moment Joe Di landed on the thunderstone, endless arcs of lightning crashed down upon him. With just one wave of tribulation lightning, his clothes were completely shredded.

Even Joe Di's god-tier tempered body could not withstand the violent, concentrated lightning arcs; blood mist burst from his flesh.

Yet Joe Di was thrilled. Ever since he'd reached god-tier body refinement, few tribulations had ever left him seriously wounded. The dense lightning arcs not only injured him but also filled him with exhilaration. The rich thunder source and spiritual energy gave him a profound sense of cultivation fulfillment.

Getting hurt was nothing. Back when he was tempering his body, when had his injuries ever been lighter than this? Besides, although the lightning arcs were dense now, at least they couldn't take his life. In the past, body refinement had often brought him to the brink of death.

The lightning arcs striking the Primordial Thunderstone nearly tore Joe Di's body to shreds. At first, blood mist drenched the stone, staining the area where Joe Di cultivated red. Later, even his bones began to crack.

Yet as the Starstream Technique circulated, it flowed ever more smoothly, and Joe Di's cultivation surged madly. Not only that, his god-tier refined body continued to strengthen.

As time slowly passed, Joe Di's body went from being wreathed in blood mist and fractured bones to gradually healing—his bones mending, his flesh and blood steadily recovering.

Half a year later, not a single scar could be seen on Joe Di's body, and his cultivation had advanced past the seventh layer of the Tribulation Life Stage, breaking through to the eighth. After a year and a half, he reached the ninth layer, and after two years, he achieved perfection at the ninth layer.

The lightning arcs still fell densely upon him, but they could no longer leave even the slightest mark on his skin.

Even among god-tier tempered bodies, there were still differences in strength.

Joe Di still did not stop cultivating—he was now charging toward the Transforming True Stage.

The starry sky meridians absorbed spiritual energy at a rate rivaling a massive millstone. Coupled with the concentrated thunder source spiritual energy, Joe Di's true essence surged with every passing moment.

The true essence gathered in his starry sky meridians grew ever more robust, yet the Transforming True Stage remained elusive—like a flower in the mist, impossible to grasp or even see clearly.

In cultivation, years can pass unnoticed. By the third year—his fifth year in Thunder Valley—Joe Di still had not touched the threshold of the Transforming True Stage.

Normally, if Joe Di failed to sense the Transforming True Stage after months of seclusion, he would stop and seek another path. Cultivation requires both tension and relaxation; stubbornly forcing the issue is never wise, and Joe Di understood this well.

But this time, Joe Di did not give up on charging toward the Transforming True Stage. He knew this was the best place for such a breakthrough—if he left, he might never find a better spot.

He was different from others—others might have the True Spirit Pill or the True Radish Pill. But he certainly couldn't obtain True Spirit Grass or Ice Radish. Without these two spirit herbs, what did it matter if he was a ninth-grade Pill King?

When the sixth year in Thunder Valley had passed and Joe Di still couldn't break through the barrier to the Transforming True Stage, he grew anxious.

Just because he couldn't advance to the Transforming True Stage on Little Central Star didn't mean he could do so elsewhere. If it weren't for Geng Ji's incident, things might be easier. After Geng Ji killed the son of the Star Severance Domain Lord in the True Domain, Joe Di might not even have the chance to cultivate after leaving Little Central Star, let alone attempt a breakthrough.

With only a few months left before leaving Little Central Star, Joe Di gritted his teeth and directly drew an unrefined arc of lightning into his starry sky meridians. Without the True Spirit Pill, he'd have to force his way through. Given his current body refinement, channeling the lightning arc shouldn't destroy his body.

Boom! When that lightning arc blasted into his starry sky meridians, it was like a bomb exploding inside an egg. The entire meridian twisted, the once-clear starry expanse thrown into chaos, and the spatial order within seemed on the verge of collapse. His true essence roiled like flames, surging uncontrollably.

He'd gone too far—this was a sign his cultivation might be ruined. His true essence, like a breached dam, spun out of control, and his sea of consciousness began to thunder.

Joe Di desperately circulated the Starstream Technique to wear down the lightning arc, fearing his body might explode before it was fully refined. At the same time, he frantically tried to mobilize the small grey stone deep within his sea of consciousness.

The golden law within the stone was powerful. Joe Di had long suspected it was merely residing in his sea of consciousness temporarily, not truly his own. Now, on the brink of life and death, he could only try to drive that golden law to help him. He also sent out his own intent: if he perished, the golden law would have nowhere to dwell.

Under Joe Di's powerful will, the little grey stone stirred, and the golden law began to emit rippling waves, as if worried that Joe Di might die.

Joe Di had visited the Fivefold Dao Tower and comprehended its most basic laws. As the golden ripples surged forth, he sensed a clear law of heaven and earth. With just one such law, he could perceive the barrier to the Transforming True Stage—far superior to any True Spirit Pill or True Radish Pill.

A brand-new cultivation barrier suddenly appeared in Joe Di's consciousness. In an instant, his heart was filled with wild joy—this was the barrier to the Transforming True Stage.

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Life or death mattered little now—Joe Di frantically directed all his true essence and the lightning arc within him to assault the shackles of the Transforming True Stage.

Crack! With just the first assault, a fissure appeared.

Joe Di's entire body shuddered as hundreds of acupoints were torn apart by the impact, turning him into a figure drenched in blood in an instant.

The lightning arcs raining down on him grew louder and thicker. Joe Di knew at once that his Transforming True Lightning Tribulation had begun.

Joe Di was keenly aware he was treading the boundary between life and death. Even with the help of the golden law, having touched the barrier to the Transforming True Stage, he could break through at any moment—but until he did, he was at constant risk of being blasted apart.

The lightning arcs on the Primordial Thunderstone had already been dense, but now, with the Transforming True Lightning Tribulation, they poured down like a torrential rain.

All Joe Di could do was desperately circulate the Starstream Technique and charge toward the Transforming True Stage.

Crack! As another explosion echoed within him, Joe Di felt the chaotic true essence congested in his twisted starry sky meridians suddenly burst forth. The lightning arc he'd drawn into his body vanished, and his meridians became as clear as before—broader and more magnificent than ever. The starry rivers within shone brilliantly, studded with countless distinct stars.

The tribulation continued, and as Joe Di breathed a sigh of relief, he frantically absorbed spiritual energy and thunder source to further elevate his cultivation.

Joe Di summoned the Tiansuo Blade, sending it crashing into the dense arcs of lightning above.

He wasn’t trying to block the lightning arcs, but to draw even stronger tribulation lightning.

Buzz! With the first strike of the Tiansuo Blade, it trembled among the lightning arcs, and Joe Di immediately sensed the blade growing stronger once again.

The Tiansuo Blade advanced from a mid-grade spirit weapon to a high-grade spirit weapon, its length now four feet and two inches.

Joe Di knew this was his final great harvest in the Little Central World. He summoned thousands of blades, sending them crashing outward.

Sure enough, the tribulation lightning raining down from above grew even fiercer under Joe Di’s assault, and his sea of consciousness began to tremble.

Joe Di had experienced multiple upgrades of his sea of consciousness and had cultivated Divine Sense Tempering techniques. At this moment, he knew an opportunity for advancement was at hand.

Without hesitation, he seized two stalks of black Scorchgod Grass and swallowed them. As the Starstream Technique circulated, he also activated the Divine Tempering Technique to refine his sea of consciousness.

Agonizing pain erupted from his sea of consciousness. The flames from the two Scorchgod Grass stalks were even fiercer than Dao Fire, threatening to reduce his sea of consciousness to ashes.

Yet Joe Di remained unafraid. His sea of consciousness was exceptionally stable and strong; two black Scorchgod Grass stalks could never destroy it. As the Divine Tempering Technique continued to operate, the Scorchgod Grass was gradually absorbed, and to his astonishment, the ten lines within his sea of consciousness blurred and finally merged into a single faint golden line.