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On the pale gray Undead Sacred Soul Grass, the gray aura of death gradually transformed into rich vitality, merging into its being. Amid the grayish-white tones of its body, faint streaks of green began to emerge.
The Undead Sacred Soul Grass had gained life.
And from this spark of life, it generated its own unique vitality. This vitality then transformed back into death energy. Just as the green was about to fade, more death energy converted into life force, and the green hue grew even more vibrant.
The life force transformed again, followed by another conversion of death energy.
As the powers of life and death continued to cycle, the amount of energy exchanged between the two began to increase. What was initially an intermittent transformation became continuous. At every moment, death energy was being converted into life energy, followed immediately by an equal amount of life force turning back into death energy. Then, in the next instant, even more death energy transformed once more.
With the ceaseless cycling of these two energies, the pale gray exterior of the Undead Sacred Soul Grass was gradually overtaken by green.
Life energy finally overwhelmed the death aura emanating from its body.
Su Yu stood nearby, watching the transformation of the Reincarnation Grass without lending a hand.
In a moment, the Reincarnation Grass would need to withstand a heavenly tribulation. If Su Yu helped now, its life-death cycle mechanism would remain incomplete, making it difficult to endure the coming trial.
Heavenly tribulations in the Douluo Continent have always been destructive, descending with the sole intent of annihilating soul beasts.
Only soul beasts with extraordinary talents can survive such tribulations, and even then, they must elevate their strength to the absolute limit of that specific tribulation, or even break past it, to stand a chance of survival.
Within a tribulation, there is only destructive force—no trace of vitality, no so-called opportunities.
Yet, Su Yu intended to use the tribulation to complete the Reincarnation Grass's life-and-death cycle trial.
There are no hidden fortunes within a tribulation.
But the deadly crisis it brings is real and absolute. The terror of life and death has never been mere talk.
Su Yu had crafted the Reincarnation Grass with exceptionally high quality. Using the Sacred Soul Grass—an unparalleled celestial herb—as its foundation, he modified it to possess the attribute of life and death reincarnation, elevating it beyond the vast majority of soul beasts in Douluo Continent.
It could be said that even a true dragon would not dare claim superiority over the Reincarnation Grass in terms of origin.
Moreover, compared to other soul beasts, the Reincarnation Grass had the ultimate advantage in facing tribulations: it possessed the power of reincarnation. The heavenly tribulation itself bore no trace of new life, only destruction.
However, the Reincarnation Grass could convert the death energy born from the tribulation's destructive force into life energy, supplying itself with vitality amid annihilation to comprehend rebirth.
While the tribulation was incomplete, the Reincarnation Grass's ability perfectly compensated for it.
For the Reincarnation Grass, the heavenly tribulation was not merely a calamity but a test of the world itself—a gift from the heavens once every hundred thousand years.
Its transformation lasted for three days and nights.
When a soul beast breaks through the hundred-thousand-year threshold, its essence undergoes a transformation, bringing a dramatic enhancement. Its cultivation can surge significantly during this process.
However, few soul beasts ever seize this opportunity.
In fact, most hundred-thousand-year soul beasts give up on it.
After breaking through, their cultivation will increase by around a thousand years, at which point they must face their first heavenly tribulation—the hundred-thousand-year tribulation.
They typically allow their cultivation to rise naturally over time, extending their existence as long as possible while awaiting a fateful opportunity to undergo a transformation and survive the tribulation.
Yet Su Yu's Reincarnation Grass did not hesitate.
At the moment of its transformation, it broke through the hundred-thousand-year mark, instantly gaining several hundred years of cultivation.
After its metamorphosis, drawing upon the life-death energy gathered during the cycle, it absorbed the ambient spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and its cultivation soared straight to one hundred thousand one thousand years.
Boom!
A deafening rumble erupted from the sky.
Massive thunderclouds gathered, and a destructive aura surged across the land.
Su Yu, having faced tribulations before, remained calm.
Though the newborn Reincarnation Grass had confidence in withstanding the trial, it still harbored fear. However, that fear quickly transformed into excitement.
As a creation of Su Yu, it understood its strengths and characteristics well—it knew this tribulation was its opportunity.
If the tribulation was a force of destruction, then through the cycle of life and death, it would absorb that destructive force and fully convert it into its own strength!
"Hmm?"
In Sun-Moon City, Kong Deming was studying soul tools when he suddenly sensed the aura of a heavenly tribulation coming from the south.
"A tribulation?"
A hundred-thousand-year soul beast crossing its tribulation?
He halted his work, ascended several hundred meters into the sky above Sun-Moon, and gazed toward the tribulation site.
"It really is a tribulation."
Kong Deming's eyes flickered as he sensed the energy within the Sun-Moon Hall—and sure enough, his disciple was nowhere to be found.
Jing Hongchen, sensing the disturbance, also quickly flew up to survey the scene.
"Xiao Yu? He said three days ago he was going out."
"So this is his doing."
Kong Deming now understood the origin of the soul beast undergoing tribulation.
Yet the fact that Su Yu had managed to raise a hundred-thousand-year-level soul beast in just half a year was truly astonishing.
However, the vast life force stored within Su Yu's Blade of Living Beings was indeed sufficient in quantity.
At that time, the Reincarnation Grass was merely undead, not a true life form. By using methods to enhance undead creatures, and with the immense life energy at his disposal, Su Yu forcibly elevated it to the hundred-thousand-year level.
Aside from Kong Deming and Jing Hongchen, naturally, others also sensed the disturbance caused by the heavenly tribulation.
However, the location Su Yu had chosen was far from Sun-Moon—remote and secluded. Only those who had reached the rank of Super Douluo, and were highly sensitive to spatial fluctuations, could detect it.
Zhongli Wu also sensed the disturbance. Unlike Kong Deming and Jing Hongchen, he directly left Sun-Moon and headed toward the site of the tribulation.
"I'll go assist Xiao Yu in guarding the area. You stay and protect Sun-Moon," Kong Deming instructed Jing Hongchen, then flew toward the direction of the tribulation's energy.
Heavenly Tribulation.
Su Yu closely observed the formation of the tribulation, his eyes fixed intently on every minute change. With his spiritual power and unity with nature, he had complete awareness of every shift in his surroundings.
What changes were occurring in the world's spiritual energy? What traits had been triggered?
Was there a fluctuation in the laws?
Su Yu keenly perceived every variation, and in the sea of his consciousness, a new rune began to take shape.
Thunder.
He had long been capable of condensing such a rune through his insight, but had never done so. Now, experiencing the heavenly tribulation firsthand, he gained a more intuitive understanding of the thunder's destructive power. He infused this new comprehension into the power of the Thunderous Infernal Vine, feeling that it could advance further.
Although the Thunderous Infernal Vine had already absorbed tribulation energy in the past, witnessing the birth of a tribulation now allowed it to refine and perfect its own heavenly tribulation power even more.
At the same time, a rune within Su Yu's sea of consciousness underwent a structural transformation.
The "Evil" rune quietly changed.
This rune was originally used by Su Yu to sense malicious intent—a safeguard against hidden schemes targeting him.
However, simple detection of malice was too limited and could be easily circumvented. Moreover, further advancement of this ability required tapping into the power of fate.
At this moment, as he observed the tribulation, Su Yu caught a glimpse of a related law—how the heavenly tribulation locked onto a soul beast. He integrated this insight into the "Evil" rune, and it began to evolve.
"Calamity"!
From now on, all calamities would fall within Su Yu's perceptive range.
By understanding the mechanism through which the tribulation targeted its victim, and using the power of fate to reverse-engineer the process, Su Yu derived this "Calamity" rune. It allowed him to sense calamities that had already locked onto him.
The process of the heavenly tribulation's formation lasted only half an hour.
Thunderclouds churned as destructive lightning crackled and surged.
Boom-crack!
A bolt of thunder, like pure annihilation, suddenly struck down, aiming directly at the Reincarnation Grass.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Hmm? Su Yu?"
Zhongli Wu arrived just outside the area affected by the tribulation and sensed Su Yu's energy. He spotted Su Yu and was visibly surprised.
He had no idea why Su Yu would be here.
Having just acted against Feng Ling, could Su Yu truly believe that the Holy Spirit Cult was soft and easily manipulated?
"Zhongli Wu, I advise you not to do anything reckless."
Kong Deming arrived just then, catching up and addressing Zhongli Wu.
Zhongli Wu restrained his impulse to act against Su Yu.
Su Yu's strength was formidable to begin with, and Zhongli Wu wasn't confident he could kill him in a single blow. Now, with Kong Deming present, any thought of making a move vanished from his mind.
If only Elder Long or my mother were here...
Zhongli Wu frowned. As the leader of the Holy Spirit Cult, he was baffled—where were their two top-tier powerhouses?
Since the end of the Soul Battle Tournament, Long Xiaoyao had disappeared without a trace. As for Ye Yueshui, even Zhongli Wu hadn't heard any news, which unsettled him. Though only ten days or so had passed, their absence weighed heavily on him.
Especially after Su Yu openly attacked Yueshui Alliance during the finals of the Soul Engineer Tournament. Using intelligence obtained from the Yueshui Alliance, Sun-Moon Hall had begun targeting the Holy Spirit Cult with increasing aggression. Zhongli Wu, despite his status, felt powerless.
The Holy Spirit Cult had thrived within the Sun Moon Empire largely because no local powerhouse had stepped forward to oppose them.
But now, due to Su Yu's influence, both Kong Deming and Jing Hongchen had undergone substantial power increases. Not only that, they were becoming increasingly active, their stance toward the Holy Spirit Cult unmistakably hostile.
"A hundred-thousand-year soul beast… may the fated one claim it," Zhongli Wu murmured, eyes locked on the Reincarnation Grass amidst the tribulation, unwilling to give up.
Even just absorbing its soul could extend his own cultivation by 20,000 to 30,000 years—let alone the long-term extraction of high-quality soul energy.
"Hmph! Are you sure you want to fight my disciple and me right here?" A dangerous gleam flickered in Kong Deming's eyes.
The cult leader of the Holy Spirit Cult... perhaps today would be his end.
Faced with Kong Deming's threat, Zhongli Wu's expression darkened with caution.
He knew he couldn't beat Kong Deming.
Even without battle armor, Kong Deming possessed strength at the limit level. And his battle armor was one of the most refined and complete sets in existence—once fully fused, even Ye Yueshui couldn't contend with him.
Kong Deming's standoff against the Evil Emperor had already shown that his power stood at the very summit of the Douluo Continent.
Apart from a select few with special abilities, no one could rival him.
The Holy Spirit Cult's leader wasn't someone who could be easily eliminated.
The vice-cult leader, perhaps—but the leader himself was off-limits for now.
If the leader were to fall, chaos would erupt within the Holy Spirit Cult. Countless evil soul masters would scatter, making it far harder to wipe them out in one fell swoop.
For now, the goal was to keep Zhongli Wu essentially trapped in Sun-Moon, while targeting the cult's evil soul masters elsewhere.
Once they had tracked down most of them, Zhongli Wu's usefulness would end.
As for Long Xiaoyao and Ye Yueshui…
Kong Deming believed that even if Zhongli Wu died and the Holy Spirit Cult's evil soul masters fled, those two wouldn't care.
At the level of Limit Douluo, ambitions began to shift.
Long Xiaoyao had remained in the Holy Spirit Cult only for Ye Yueshui's sake, and likely wouldn't get involved. Ye Yueshui, on the other hand, had always been ambitious—even after reaching Limit Douluo, she sought to elevate her Soul Engineer rank and pursue greater power. Perhaps even divinity was not beyond her aspirations.
The Holy Spirit Cult might just be a tool to fulfill her ambitions. But if Zhongli Wu were gone, managing the cult would demand time and energy. Would she still care?
Or perhaps... true war would begin.
The cult might no longer serve any real purpose for her.
Of course, Kong Deming could be wrong—but that wouldn't stop him from proceeding cautiously, aiming to dismantle the Holy Spirit Cult completely.
Facing Kong Deming's threat, Zhongli Wu had no choice but to obediently watch the Reincarnation Grass undergo its tribulation.
The tribulation proceeded smoothly. Though the preparation had only taken half a year, the grass's foundation was extraordinary.
After completing the tribulation, the Reincarnation Grass transformed into a beam of light and merged into Su Yu, entering the pocket dimension created by the Blade of Living Beings through his brow.
Seeing this, Zhongli Wu was astonished.
What's Su Yu's connection with that grass?
After all that, it didn't get hunted—it just merged with him?
Could it be... another of Su Yu's soul spirits?
During the Soul Battle Tournament, Su Yu had showcased both primary and intermediate battle armor, baiting the Holy Spirit Cult into acting—only to reveal that he also possessed advanced and super battle armor.
Given that he'd shown only two soul spirits so far, having a third wouldn't be surprising.
But—
"Can a soul spirit continue to undergo tribulation after it's already been formed?"
Su Yu had said before that a soul spirit could continue to grow in age after its formation, and his soul spirit cultivation system even provided methods to extend soul ring years.
But becoming a hundred-thousand-year soul ring required a heavenly tribulation?
Or did undergoing a tribulation make the soul spirit even stronger?
At that moment, Zhongli Wu felt like he had a thousand questions swirling in his mind as he tried to process what he had just witnessed.
Could it be that even after becoming a soul spirit, it still retained basic traits of life?
Could it even... reproduce?
The more he thought, the more wary he grew of Su Yu and his people.
"We can't let Sun-Moon Hall continue converting more soul spirits."
If they could be inherited, then over time, how many hundred-thousand-year soul spirits would Sun-Moon Hall's future experts possess?
The implications were terrifying.
There was no time to let Sun-Moon Hall develop further.
Zhongli Wu resolved to start discrediting soul spirits—their latest creation.
As the Reincarnation Grass completed its transformation and tribulation, Su Yu's mind echoed with the message from the God of Life's trial:
"Fourth trial complete. Reward: Guidance from the God of Life."
(End of Chapter)