Chapter 15: The Ingenious Use of Soul Beast Heavenly Tribulations, Arriving at the Far North Land
After modifying the planar rules and making promises to the Great Beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest, Lei Chen did not linger any longer.
With a slight thought, his figure vanished from above the Lake of Life, and in the next moment, he appeared deep within the origin of the plane.
This place was filled with hazy seven-colored light, and the vast power of the planar origin flowed quietly like a gentle ocean. Lei Chen's newly condensed perfect body sat cross-legged in the center of the sea of origin, feeling the close connection of breathing and pulsing in unison with the entire plane.
"The main part of the alliance with the Silver Dragon King is considered complete. Next, it's time to handle my own affairs," Lei Chen thought to himself. His consciousness sank into his body, sensing that wisp of the Thunder God Position origin that had been initially refined and integrated into his brow.
This purple-gold wisp of lightning origin was currently like a sleeping young dragon, lurking deep within his sea of consciousness, emitting a faint but essentially high-level aura of judgment and destruction.
The method for recasting the Thunder God Position was actually not complicated.
The power of thunder is one of the most violent forces in the universe. As long as he devours and refines enough heavenly lightning to nourish this wisp of God Position origin with its essence, it can gradually grow and be completed, eventually manifesting the glory of a full First-level God Position.
With Lei Chen's current status as the Plane Master, mobilizing the Douluo Plane's own lightning power was as easy as turning over his hand. Whether it was lightning in a storm or naturally occurring thunderstorms, he could easily gather and take them for his own use.
However, Lei Chen did not choose this seemingly convenient path.
"The heavenly lightning within the plane derives its energy from the plane itself. If I devour them, it's equivalent to 'taking from the left pocket and putting into the right.' The improvement to the overall volume of the plane would be negligible, and might even result in a slight loss due to the consumption of the origin. Why would I do such a foolish thing as robbing Peter to pay Paul?"
His gaze turned toward another, more 'efficient' source of lightning—the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning of Soul Beasts!
A Soul Beast's cultivation can be described as going against the heavens. Whenever their cultivation breaks through the hundred-thousand-year threshold, it triggers the descent of a Heavenly Tribulation. More importantly, these Soul Beast tribulations are not generated by the Douluo Plane itself, but originate from the vast, boundless Great Universe outside the plane!
For a Soul Beast, the Heavenly Tribulation is a test of life and death. Among hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts, not even one in ten can successfully cross the first Heavenly Tribulation.
Furthermore, for every additional hundred thousand years of cultivation, the power of the Heavenly Tribulation increases geometrically. Those who can survive several tribulations and become Great Beasts are as rare as phoenix feathers or unicorn horns in the long history of the Douluo Plane.
But while this Heavenly Tribulation is a devastating disaster for Soul Beasts, for Lei Chen—the Plane Master who intends to recast the Thunder God Position and is dedicated to increasing the plane's volume—it is an excellent 'tonic'!
"The energy of a Soul Beast's Heavenly Tribulation originates from the Great Universe. If I use the Authority of the Thunder God to devour and refine it, it is equivalent to the Douluo Plane absorbing a portion of pure energy from outside the realm for free. The overall volume of the plane will naturally increase."
Lei Chen's eyes sparkled: "Although the energy of a single Heavenly Tribulation might only be a trickle compared to the entire plane, bits and pieces add up. Over time, the gains will be extremely considerable."
In other words, every Soul Beast capable of attracting a Heavenly Tribulation was, to Lei Chen, a precious resource that could continuously 'generate income' for the plane. Their very existence, their cultivation, and the process of crossing tribulations were all contributions toward the promotion of the Douluo Plane.
"Unfortunately, Soul Beasts capable of attracting Heavenly Tribulations are simply too rare," Lei Chen couldn't help but feel a bit of regret.
A hundred thousand years of cultivation is a massive hurdle, and the Heavenly Tribulation every hundred thousand years filters out the vast majority of Soul Beasts, leaving only a handful of Great Beasts in the current Douluo Plane.
"Moreover, the frequency at which they trigger Heavenly Tribulations is too low, often requiring tens of thousands of years of accumulation..." Lei Chen mused, but then, the corners of his mouth curled into an arc, "However, there is a ready-made opportunity right now."
His consciousness, like invisible tentacles, crossed thousands of mountains and rivers, instantly enveloping that eternal frozen world at the northernmost tip of the continent—the Far North Land.
The perception of the Plane Master was meticulous, easily penetrating the biting cold winds and thick layers of ice to lock onto the two most powerful existences in the core region of the Far North Land.
One of the auras was pure and vast, like ancient, unmelting ice, containing the majesty of Ultimate Ice. Her energy level had already reached a critical point; with over 699,900 years of accumulated cultivation, she was only one step away from triggering the terrifying 700,000-year Heavenly Tribulation!
She was the ruler of the Far North Land, a being condensed from the purest ice-attribute Heaven and Earth Origin Energy—the Xue Di!
Not far from the Xue Di, another slightly weaker but equally sharp aura of Ultimate Ice had also reached the bottleneck of nearly 400,000 years of cultivation. That was one of the The Three Heavenly Kings of the Far North, the Ice Empress.
"Xue Di, Ice Empress..." Lei Chen softly spoke their names, the look of planning in his eyes becoming clearer, "The peak of 690,000 years, only a hair's breadth away from the 700,000-year Heavenly Tribulation."
"If I give them a helping hand, it won't be difficult to make their cultivation skyrocket by several hundred thousand years in a short time. That way, the Heavenly Tribulation can be triggered ahead of schedule."
"When the time comes, not only can I devour the tribulation lightning to accelerate the recasting of the Thunder God Position, but the Douluo Plane can also absorb a large surge of energy from the Great Universe. It truly kills two birds with one stone."
Thinking of this, Lei Chen no longer hesitated.
The opportunity to recast the Thunder God Position lay in the Far North Land.
With a movement of his body, the perfect form sitting deep within the planar origin became illusory. In the next moment, within an ice cave in the core of the Extreme North, Lei Chen's figure appeared silently, without causing a single ripple of energy.
Not far ahead of Lei Chen, an exquisitely beautiful figure stood quietly. She wore a white palace dress, her skin was as white as snow, and her features were so ethereal they didn't seem like something of the mortal world. She was indeed the ruler of the Far North Land, the Xue Di.
However, this usually majestic and cold Ice Queen did not notice Lei Chen's arrival at this moment. Her ice-blue eyes were staring fixedly at a snow lotus in the center of the ice cave that was swaying gracefully amidst the extreme cold, its entire body as transparent as ice crystal.
That snow lotus emitted a surging vitality and pure ice-attribute energy; its cultivation had impressively reached a hundred thousand years.
Gazing at that hundred-thousand-year snow lotus, the Xue Di's eyes held extremely complex emotions—reminiscence, and even a hint of a difficult struggle, as if she were contemplating a major decision concerning her own fate.
Lei Chen stood with his hands behind his back, making no sound to disturb her, simply watching the Xue Di calmly, waiting for her to return from her contemplation on her own.
After a moment, the Xue Di looked up dejectedly. From the corner of her eye, she finally caught sight of the figure who had appeared at some unknown time, whose aura blended perfectly with the surrounding environment.
"Who is it?!"
The Xue Di's expression changed abruptly, her ethereal voice carrying unprecedented shock, anger, and sharpness.