Chapter 180: Advancing to Nascent Soul, Basic Data
Looking at the three remaining senzu beans and sensing the towering giant spirit-tree of pure spiritual energy that was already poking into the tribulation clouds, Franklin showed a faint smile.
He should have done this back when he faced his Core Formation tribulation. Then none of the trouble would have happened. No matter how the lightning struck, so what?
Just as Franklin was thinking this, a booming roar erupted. Yang Thunder, who stood at the top of the giant spirit-tree, was struck by a tribulation bolt in an instant.
In that moment, Franklin's expression changed drastically. Yang Thunder's exact location vanished, leaving him only a faint sense of connection.
"Damn it, I just started and already lost a life-bound artifact?"
Franklin was speechless, but this was obviously not the time to get distracted. Right after the first bolt fell, the second, third, and fourth bolts almost simultaneously smashed down.
Franklin cast Tree World Descent eighteen times in total, wrapping the entire giant sky-piercing tree inside and out in nine onion-like layers.
As the four tribulation bolts crashed down, the top of the giant tree was already blasted to pieces, and the seventh layer's peak had been exposed.
The fifth, sixth, and seventh bolts followed. Each bolt was nearly half a meter thick. The sky-piercing tree had been penetrated through most of its height.
And Franklin did not stay idle. Spiritual energy surged from within him as he continuously repaired the scorched, gaping holes carved through the wood.
The eighth and ninth bolts followed. The giant tree now retained only its outer shell; the inside had been blasted into a massive crater that almost pierced through the base.
Just as Franklin was about to breathe a long sigh of relief, he heard You Wange's voice in his mind.
"Nine is the extreme number. There will be a second cycle of tribulation—two sets of nine, a total of eighteen bolts. Do not relax."
The instant he heard this, Franklin's scalp exploded. The tenth bolt, a white tribulation bolt a full meter thick, had already descended.
In the blink of an eye, the center of the sky-piercing tree was completely pierced through. The terrifying lightning consumed the spiritual energy within the tree as it charged straight toward Franklin.
Only when the lightning was fully exhausted ten meters above his head did Franklin finally exhale—only for the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth bolts to fall almost simultaneously.
Their terrifying force instantly vaporized a massive portion of the giant tree's interior. Endless lightning roared straight toward Franklin.
Franklin instantly summoned the protective barrier. The three bolts crashed down on it at once, draining his spiritual energy at a frightening pace.
His reserves were almost empty in moments. Franklin crushed three supreme-grade spirit stones and swallowed three senzu beans at once.
An endless surge of spiritual energy flooded into his body, then channeled through the Guardian Sword into the barrier. Only when one-third of his spiritual energy remained did the three bolts finally disperse.
Before Franklin could react, the fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth bolts formed and struck simultaneously, giving him no time to breathe.
Centering himself, feet braced, Franklin let his blood energy surge. His remaining spiritual energy gathered into his hands.
"Kame… hame… ha—!"
In the next moment, the protective barrier shattered. Franklin thrust his hands forward, and the lightning collided with the Kamehameha.
Though the beam only held back the lightning briefly, it still shattered the four bolts' accumulated penetrating force.
The remaining lightning slammed into Franklin's body. It was pure destructive thunder.
Relying on his lightning affinity, Franklin lay flat on the ground and guided most of the lightning deep into the earth.
Even so, the remaining force severely damaged all his internal organs, and every meridian and aperture in his body shattered.
With seventy percent of his body charred, Franklin managed a helpless smile. "So this is the tribulation holding back a little? Then how terrifying would a normal tribulation be?"
He really should have prepared more senzu beans. And he should have burned more lifespan earlier to draw items that could block lightning.
Quietly waiting for the eighteenth bolt to claim his life, Franklin saw a thin golden tribulation bolt fall straight from the sky.
Though curious about the color change, he could no longer think. He slowly closed his cloudy eyes. When it hit him, he felt nothing at all.
[Life-bound artifact Yang Thunder has evolved and returned. Gifted awakener, please check carefully.]
The instant the message appeared, Franklin's eyes snapped open. The golden bolt was gone, the dark clouds above were rapidly shrinking.
When only a pitch-black pupil remained overhead, Franklin finally sighed in relief. It seemed he survived the eighteenth bolt thanks to Yang Thunder.
That black pupil gave him one final look before slowly fading. As it completely vanished—
Seven-colored radiance descended from the sky. Franklin, gravely injured and on the verge of death, felt his charred body rapidly regenerate. In an instant, he was fully healed.
Not only that—he sensed subtle transformations occurring within him. His soul was becoming tangible.
He could clearly feel that his consciousness rested upon his soul, and consciousness was the bridge between body and soul.
His Nascent Soul hovered within him, wrapped in seven-colored light. Its formerly golden form slowly grew transparent.
Its size shifted from an embryonic form into that of an infant several months old.
When the radiance fully dissipated, Franklin let out a slow breath. He crafted a black tracksuit from wood-attribute spiritual energy and tried extending his divine sense.
In an instant, his original ten-kilometer range rapidly expanded—twenty kilometers, thirty, forty—until it finally stopped at fifty kilometers.
He drew out the Dimensional Heavenly Tome and reviewed his fundamental changes once again.
Name: Franklin
Age: 30/2392 (Advancing to Nascent Soul adds 1,000 years; body advancing to Flesh and Blood Realm adds 1,000 years; 392 is original lifespan)
Race: Human (Saiyan)
Bloodlines: [Human Bloodline](Primary) [Super Saiyan Bloodline](Refined—essence kept, impurities removed)
[Super Saiyan Bloodline]: Requires 3% S-cells throughout the body to attempt evolving into a Super Saiyan; 10% to evolve again.
[S-cell Ratio]: 9% (Combat power increased by 90%)
(After transforming into a Super Saiyan, combat power increases fifty-fold under any conditions)
(Can transform into a Great Ape at will by looking at the moon; combat power increases ten-fold)
Spiritual Cultivation: Early Nascent Soul (Nascent Soul growth: eight months. When growth reaches nine years, eleven months, thirty days, it will achieve Nascent Soul Perfection)
Nascent Soul Stage: Allows spiritual-soul attacks; within divine sense range, spiritual energy is freely controllable.
Within divine sense range, all ambient spiritual energy becomes usable (higher cultivation takes priority).
Physical Cultivation: Early Flesh and Blood Realm (Average cell diameter: 999 femtometers; free flight; speed determined by physical strength)
Flesh and Blood Realm: Blood-qi becomes tangible; can enhance attacks or be used for rapid escape.
Effect: Attack power +100%, speed +300%; blood-qi recovers through food and rest afterward.
Soul Realm: Late Fourth Realm (Comparable to late-stage Nascent Soul experts)
Mindforce Cultivation: Selfless Realm (What the mind wills becomes the target; even with a drained body, one pushes onward; combat power +30%)
Sword Dao: Human Realm, Sword-Qi Stage
Life-Bound Artifacts: [Guardian Sword][Yang Thunder][Yin Water]
Techniques: Space Overlord Body Art (Fragment) · Yin-Yang Twin-Life Art
Spells: [True Sight: Blue][Intermediate Five-Element Arts][Immortal Ninjutsu][Life Burn][Kamehameha]
Divine Ability: [Spiritual Reality]
Innate Gifts: [Dimensional Heavenly Tome][Lightning Manipulation]
Dimensional Heavenly Tome: [Dimensional Summoning][Dimensional Space][Dimensional Travel][Mission List][Phantom][Bloodline Fusion Pills (5/10)][Soul Blade][Bloodline Purification Pills 26/30][Youth-Preserving Pills 25/30]
Overall Combat Power: ~66,000,000
(Cultivation increases power; S-cell boost 90%; mindforce boost 30%)
(Transforming into a Super Saiyan increases combat power fifty-fold; Life Burn increases combat power twenty-fold at any time; blood-qi boost is covered under Life Burn)
[Combat power is for reference only; numerical values are for visualization. Actual power fluctuates based on technique, talent, spells, and skills. Gifted awakener, judge accordingly.]