Likely due to the Black Dragon World’s cultivation system having mental energy as its main focus, the Black Dragon World’s ‘heavenly tribulation’ focused on attacking one’s mind and consciousness, similar to an inner demon tribulation with some mental pain.
For ordinary cultivators, mental pain, which completely bypassed the defenses of one’s physical body, was much worse than pain directed to their body in terms of pure suffering.
But for Song Shuhang… As long as the pain did not reach a point where it was a blow that could instantly obliterate him, he would be able to grit his teeth and endure.
Based on the Black Dragon World’s heavenly tribulation of the Fifth Stage, he believed that he would be able to endure the Sixth Stage equivalent.
Of course, this was just an inference.
Song Shuhang still had a lot of things to prepare before actually heading to the Sixth Level of the Dragon Network and transcending the Black Dragon World’s heavenly tribulation.
First of all… he had to wait for his resurrection cooldown.
He still knew his limits. Although a person who had amassed a great amount of virtue wouldn’t have too bad of luck, that was completely separate from having and not having a means of resurrection.
He needed to have his means of resurrection at the ready before trying out something so dangerous.
Secondly, he had to wait for the virtuous lamia to adjust to her new state. The virtuous lamia had been a big help when he had been transcending the previous Black Dragon World’s tribulations.
In addition, he wanted to borrow a sum of ‘black dragon spirit stones’ from the Dragon Blood Tribe. Senior White’s clone gave him a black dragon spirit stone to top up with, but he was only left with 700,000 units of magical power flow after leveling up. When he had risen to the Fifth Level, he had used up 400,000 units of magical power flow. If he were to ascend to the Sixth Level, he would definitely require more black dragon spirit stones.
He was also going to ask Lady Kunna how to use the ‘magical power top-up device’ properly, how to cast magical techniques, and what to pay attention to when ascending to the Sixth Level.
There were still about three days before his resurrection item was ready, and this period of time was just enough for him to prepare what he needed to prepare.
Senior Scarlet Heaven Sword curiously asked, “What are you going to try out?”
Song Shuhang smiled slightly. “I want to enter the Sixth Level of the Dragon Network. Of course, not today. At the very least, I have to wait until my resurrection item is ready. There are still three days before then. During this time, I want to make the necessary preparations.”
“…” Senior Scarlet Heaven Sword said, “I feel that you should try entering the Sixth Level of Dragon Network before your resurrection item comes off cooldown.”
Song Shuhang looked puzzled. “Why?”
Could it be that there was something important he didn’t know about? Did his Resurrection Gold Coins have an effect on the Black Dragon World’s heavenly tribulations or something?
Senior Scarlet Heaven Sword calmly said, “Because you… Sigh, forget it, do whatever you want.”
Song Shuhang was baffled.
Senior, you can’t just say leave people hanging like that. Doing that leaves people feeling really uncomfortable!
Fairy Creation sang, “Ah~ Resurrection CD~ Fa Kyu~ Fa Kyu~.”
Song Shuhang responded, “Fairy Creation, language.”
Fairy Creation tilted her head, returning the Tyrant Cuttlefish’s Twin Blades to Song Shuhang. Then, she took a few steps back, retreating more than 10 meters from him.
“What’s the matter?” Song Shuhang looked at her suspiciously.
Then, Fairy Creation suddenly accelerated and rushed towards Song Shuhang.
Then she leaped up high, and her body began spinning.
One spin, two spins, three spins and a half~ Marvelous!
Afterward, she flipped her body around.
In the end, she entered Song Shuhang’s body head-first, disappearing without a trace.
Great dive!
“…” Song Shuhang.
A… new move?
Scarlet Heaven Sword said, “It must be her competing with Fairy ＠＃％×. After snatching lines, she went and came up with a new way of returning to your body?”
Song Shuhang looked up at the sky. After a while, he squeezed out, “I wanna die.”
Just thinking about how the virtuous lamia and Fairy Creation would now perform a variety of actions as they returned to his body after he summoned them out, his heart felt very stifled.
Senior Scarlet Heaven Sword said, “I feel that it’s quite pleasing to the eye. After all, from a human point of view, Fairy Creation and [email protected]#%× are superb beauties, right?”
“…” Song Shuhang.
Well, Senior Scarlet Heaven Sword’s words did make sense somewhat.
❄️❄️❄️
The reconstruction of the Dragon Blood Tribe was in full swing.
In the tribal chief’s guest room.
Song Shuhang sat across from the old tribal chief and Lady Kunna.
Li Yinzhu was lying on his lap. She woke up a while ago, looked for Song Shuhang, and went back into deep sleep again.
At this time, Song Shuhang was learning about the heavenly tribulation for ascending to the Dragon Network’s Sixth Level from the old tribal chief and Lady Kunna.
Lady Kunna herself was only at the Fourth Level, but she was a great master when it came to magical technique theory, and even rivaled those at the Eighth Level in this regard.
The old tribal chief was a veteran Fifth Level combat mage with rich experience.
“Mr. Shuhang, you haven’t reached the Sixth Level yet?” the old tribal chief asked in surprise.
He could sense that Song Shuhang’s mental energy was already at the Sixth Level.
Moreover, there was no need to talk about his combat prowess with how he was able to save the entire Dragon Blood Tribe by himself. At that time, the old tribal chief had even suspected that Song Shuhang was a Seventh Level or above combat mage, and he was simply concealing his strength.
Unexpectedly, the other party was really only at the Fifth Level in the Dragon Network.
He’s also at the Fifth Level… I feel as if I’ve wasted my entire life. The old tribal chief’s heart was filled with emotion.
“In fact, the passage from the Fifth to the Sixth Level is very special.” Lady Kunna raised her glass and took a sip. This wine was a treasure of the Dragon Blood Tribe, and the taste was to her liking.
Lady Kunna slowly said, “According to ancient legends, only after one’s mental energy reaches the Sixth Level of the Dragon Network will their soul be cleansed and possess the qualifications to evolve into a pure soul, garnering various benefits. The biggest feature of Sixth Level Dragon Network mages is that they possess the means to suppress lower-level mages. Within the range of their soul energy, other Dragon Network mages whose realm is lower than the Sixth Level will be suppressed and affected when casting magical techniques.”
Song Shuhang nodded—this coincided with the attributes of Sixth Stage True Monarchs. After a Sixth Stage True Monarch turns their Golden Core into a Spirit Lake, they can project their Spirit Lake whenever they wish, creating a ‘Spirit Lake Force Field’. After being affected by the Spirit Lake Force Field, the spiritual power of cultivators below the Sixth Stage would be suppressed, and their casting of magical techniques, as well as combat prowess, would be affected.
On the other hand… the phrase ‘evolve into a pure soul’ made Song Shuhang a little concerned, and he kept this in mind.
The old tribal chief said, “In the Black Dragon World, the heavenly tribulation of the Sixth Level is a process where one’s mind and soul are purified. The specific process is similar to a kaleidoscope, it is different for every single person.
“However, there is basically nothing life-threatening when it comes to the tribulation of the Sixth Level. Even if one fails, it would only leave some wounds on their soul. Very few people have died, and it’s rare for those who attempt it to even have their strength regress.” After the old tribal chief had spoken until this point, he gently sighed, and then said, “When I was young, I tried to enter the Sixth Level of the Dragon Network but suffered some injuries to my mind and soul. Later, I tried a few more times but did not succeed, so I stopped trying. Perhaps my aptitude is limited to the Fifth Level.”
Song Shuhang asked, “Do you know of any of others’ experiences in transcending the tribulation I can use as a reference?”
Lady Kunna nodded. “I know of some, and I can tell Mr. Shuhang about them. I have received many Sixth Level mages, and listened to their descriptions of the event.
“Among them was Lady Hai. When she was in the midst of her Sixth Level tribulation, she felt like she was swimming in a sea of light. She swam from one end to the other, and when she went ashore, she advanced to the next level. She was a pure magical technique cultivator of the water system.
“There was also a combat mage of the fire and lightning system, Mage Danmo. During his Sixth Level tribulation, there was lightning that struck down from the sky, and some flames blazed from the ground. He desperately used all the means he had to fight the lightning and the flames. It took him a month to ascend to the Sixth Level.”
Song Shuhang asked, “So, the tribulation is related to one’s attributes?”
“No, not necessarily,” Lady Kunna said. “I know of a Lady Tu, who is also of the lightning attribute. For her Sixth Level tribulation, she was locked inside a cramped and dark room where she suffered violent pain every day. She had almost gone crazy, but seven days later, the small black room opened, and she successfully reached the Sixth Level.”
“…” Song Shuhang.
I keep on feeling that the Black Dragon World’s Sixth Level tribulation doesn’t follow a fixed routine whatsoever.
However, it sounded like there was no such thing as a ‘fatal’ tribulation. They were all types that could be supported by one’s will, and allowed one to be promoted rather smoothly.
“The several times I transcended my tribulation were all scenes of battle,” the old tribal chief said. “My tribulation of the Sixth Level was a battle against an evil beast. However, every time the battle was about to end, a huge black shadow would appear and swallow me in one bite, causing me to fail. Every time that black shadow appeared, things would become strange, and it was impossible to guard against it.”
“…” Song Shuhang.
Mm-hm, very random.
He wondered whether the Black Dragon World’s Sixth Level tribulation depended on one’s character and luck…
Lady Kunna, the old tribal chief, and Song Shuhang discussed many references, as well as the various types of tribulation.
Most of them were a kind of targeted mental torture. According to the different attributes and personalities of each practitioner, the experience they had for their tribulation was also completely different.
The three of them chatted late into the night before stopping.
In the sky, the ‘little sun’ created by the steel manifestation had set and gone to the other side of the Black Dragon World, shining on the people on the other side.
❄️❄️❄️
It was quite late at night.
Song Shuhang sat on the balcony with the wine from the old tribal chief in his hand and took a sip.
“Spicy,” he said softly.
He wasn’t too fond of the wine.
Behind him, the virtuous lamia came out. She adjusted her state, and in addition to that… Song Shuhang noticed that there was ‘power of virtue’ unceasingly gathering from the air, falling on the virtuous lamia.
“What’s going on?” Song Shuhang asked in surprise.
Senior Scarlet Heaven Sword said, “Your steel manifestation acting as a small sun and illuminating the Black Dragon World is an act of immense virtue. Naturally, the light of virtue gathered from this action would go to you.”
⊙_⊙ — Song Shuhang.
There was such a thing?
Senior Scarlet Heaven Sword said, “Right, as your power of virtue continues to increase, your mental energy and physical body will be enhanced as well.”
