Chapter 1864 - 599: Unexpected Failure, Reunion with Li Baobao (2)
Chapter 1864: Chapter 599: Unexpected Failure, Reunion with Li Baobao (2)
"Once more, this breakthrough is truly exhausting, I can’t endure it this time, I must use the Holy Tripod for protection..."
Xia Hong detonated the second set of Tribulation Qi Pearls and quickly extracted the Holy Tripod from within his body, placing it in front of him, then jumped directly into the tripod.
The Holy Tripod was already activated, burning with fierce flames. Since it was previously inside his body, it only affected the flesh. Now, as Xia Hong jumped into the tripod, even the Golden Body was enveloped in flames.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle...
The Golden Body, already restored to thirteen zhang, was burnt by the Holy Tripod’s fire. Yet, instead of diminishing, it surged with exaggerated speed.
Fourteen zhang... fifteen zhang... sixteen zhang...
Within less than a hundred breaths, Xia Hong’s Golden Body had grown to thirty zhang, and it was still expanding.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t see it now.
Indeed, as the massive Tribulation Qi exploded, the flesh around his heart grew rapidly, but the pain intensified more than before. Xia Hong’s consciousness was submerged again, and another round of screams began.
Boom... boom... boom...
However, this time, the pain was alleviated with the blessing of the Holy Tripod’s flames. Xia Hong’s response was markedly better than before. As the pain intensified, he unconsciously started pounding the tripod walls, trying to dilute the pain brought by the Tribulation Qi.
However, he punched faster and faster, the frequency increasing—from three punches in three breaths to three punches in one breath, four punches, five punches, up to eight punches, ten punches... until the punches were too dense to discern, and the echo from the tripod walls merged together, making it impossible to distinguish how many punches were actually delivered.
His punching power increased too, the shockwaves initially extending just over a dozen meters, soon expanding to several dozen meters, then over a hundred meters. By the time it wasn’t clear how many punches he’d struck, the furthest shockwave had already extended out three kilometers.
Boom...
Finally, after a long time, Xia Hong’s fists stopped abruptly. The three-inch flame in his heart returned to normal, the embryonic heart on the periphery was nearly fully formed, only a few blood vessels remained unsealed. But as more Tribulation Qi entered, it was only a matter of time.
"The Holy Tripod didn’t intervene from start to finish; unlike before, it couldn’t use resources to offset this pain, which means the Holy Tripod isn’t omnipotent, it has limits. If breaking through in the future, I’ll need to be cautious..."
Upon stopping, Xia Hong’s consciousness completely revived. He sat cross-legged in the tripod, closed his eyes, and used Inner Vision on his Golden Body, seeing that the embryonic heart was only three or four parts away from being fully formed. His pupils couldn’t help but reveal a hint of fervor.
Once the heart is fully formed, the Tribulation Body is achieved!
Afterward, he’ll be on the same level as the top experts of the Moao River’s Four Vassals, and the key is that Cai Qianshan, Chu Longteng, Fu Wanhe, and Li Gangfeng, the Four Great Landgrave, are all three to four hundred years old now, with Fu Wanhe, the oldest, even past four hundred.
And himself? How old is he this year?
Adding up these six years in the Dark Realm, he’s only 39 years old this year, not even one-tenth of Fu Wanhe’s age.
He has ample time to pursue the Venerable Realm and even higher realms, including the Great Saint Realm that Six-Arms mentioned earlier; one day, he might ascend it!
Xia Hong took a deep breath, suppressed the fervor in his heart, and continued focusing on the heart’s growth process.
"This..."
However, after watching for a while, he quickly realized something was amiss.
The flame in his heart, originally only three inches high, had heighted to nine inches. Correspondingly, the heart derived from the flame also expanded threefold, growing from fist-sized to as large as a human head.
Not just as large as a human head, the heart was still expanding!
Xia Hong quickly halted his Inner Vision, shifting attention to the outside world, his expression momentarily dumbstruck.
"How did my Golden Body become so large?"
He remembered clearly, at the Peak of Xianyang, his War Body Golden Body was only thirteen zhang, shriveled to just over one zhang due to Tribulation Qi devastation. After surviving the worst phase, the Golden Body restored to thirteen zhang.
But now... what did he see?
His War Body Golden Body had expanded to over forty-three zhang!
"Opening Organs of the Golden Body is for the breakthrough to the Tribulation Body Realm. The entire cultivation process in the Tribulation Body Realm revolves around the organs within, specifically based on Five Elements Mutual Generation principle, completing the other four organs. During this process, the Golden Body’s scale only expands with new organs. In other words, including this breakthrough, there are only five chances."
Recalling the descriptions of the Tribulation Body Realm he had read, Xia Hong looked at his forty-three zhang high Golden Body, face mixed with shock and a hint of delight.
He’s encountered many Tribulation Body Realm experts of the Four Vassals, but only saw the Golden Body of two—Chu Tianxu and Cai Qiuhu, both of whom are Second Turn Tribulation Body Realm Cultivation, the former’s Golden Body approximately thirty-five zhang high, the latter slightly less at thirty zhang.
His Golden Body was thirteen zhang at the Peak of Xianyang. Now breaking into the Tribulation Body Realm, the first round of Golden Body’s expansion reached thrice as high.
No, it’s not just thrice!
"Gulp..."
Xia Hong swallowed his saliva, watching as his Golden Body continued expanding, becoming more and more excited. But soon, as he focused on the embryonic heart again, his excitement instantly dissipated.
The Golden Body’s scale surged, meaning the organs were expanding simultaneously. The heart that was initially fist-sized grew to head-sized, meaning the required Tribulation Energy naturally multiplied several times.
"So, the two sets of Tribulation Qi Pearls I prepared aren’t enough..."
Noticing the Tribulation Energy thinning inside his Golden Body, Xia Hong’s eyes turned gloomy, a strange surge of anger welled up inside him.
"In this Dark Realm, there’s not even a Cold Beast, let alone a Five Luminaries Realm Beast Emperor. In this world, it’s all soul bodies, where can I find Tribulation Qi Pearls? So this Tribulation Body Realm..."
It’s a success, yet not a complete success!
After enduring six days equivalent to six years in the Ice Abyss, failing at the last step due to insufficient Tribulation Qi Pearls, Xia Hong’s inner frustration was evident.
"My strength..."
Trying to calm himself down, Xia Hong thought of the previous pain endured, the inner anger kept boiling, clutching his fists tightly, intending to test his strength first.
With most Tribulation Energy consumed, since he couldn’t break through completely, he had to head to White Bone Mountain early.
He gently clenched his fist, sensing abundant power inside, yet inexplicably, his mood wouldn’t lift. Still filled with rage, he intended to punch forward.
"Found it!"
Before he could strike, a crisp voice came from the east side, interrupting him.
Frowning deeper, Xia Hong looked up, seeing two spiritual lights rapidly approaching him.
And not just that, behind these two spiritual lights was a dense array of light points.
"Lord Xia, run away!"
The Soul Lamp above Xia Hong’s head had been ever-present. He couldn’t see clearly when it was far, but as they approached within hundreds of meters, he saw that they were two women in white.
The girl in front, though oddly familiar, Xia Hong was certain he hadn’t seen her before;
As for the one behind, he recognized immediately—it was Li Baobao, who earlier in the Dragon Palace stole the Gold, causing him to end up inexplicably in the Dark Realm, trapped for six years.
And behind these two, the vast array of spiritual lights turned out to be thousands of armored soul body troops. According to Six-Arms’ prior explanation, those who could solidify spiritual bodies, wield Netherworld Soldiers, and wear Nether Armor were Demon Soldiers, two levels above Scattered Spirits in the Dark Realm?
"Daring to come for me!"
Already overwhelmed with anger, seeing thousands of Demon Soldiers led over by Li Baobao further fueled Xia Hong’s furious rage. The white-clad woman’s warning was dismissed as fake sympathy after inciting trouble.
"Roll!"
Without wasting words, Xia Hong stowed away the Holy Tripod and drew the Shattered Star Sword, slashing a Star River Sword Blade toward the two women, then turned and ran without hesitation.
Facing thousands of Demon Soldiers, even if he broke through the Tribulation Body Realm, he dared not claim endurance, especially having not successfully broken through. He wasn’t even sure if he could engage directly like Chu Tianxu and Cai Qiuhu.
So, running was inevitable!
As for the slash delivered, it was naturally intended to slow Li Baobao and the other woman’s pace. Xia Hong knew the logic of sacrificing allies for one’s survival.
Besides, these two women incited trouble; they weren’t good people to begin with.